“Dancing In My Mind” / “Electric Blue” (WEA K 18930) January 1982
This is the start of my deep trawl into the short-lived, long-forgotten, neglected and perhaps ignored, neo psychedelic underground scene in Britain that flowered for a short while at the start of the eighties, before disintegrating.
The scene had it’s centre in London at a Club / Hang-Out called the ‘Groovy Cellar’ where ’60s throwbacks could trip out and dance to obscure records played by The Doctor.
Several combos formed, some from the ashes of mod-revival bands. These new groups wanted to create their very own neo psychedelic sounds. Mainstream groups such as The Undertones, The Damned and The Stranglers, to name a few, also dabbled with a psychedelic music form. I will highlight the relevant singles and album tracks worthy of investigation.
I don’t know much about this particular High Tide. They only released two singles and were gone! Some band members may have formed other outfits but I don’t know at the time of writing.
“Dancing In My Mind” / “Electric Blue” on the WEA label was probably released in conjunction with a compilation called ‘A Splash Of Colour’ – both relics were released during January 1982.
I bought ‘A Splash Of Colour’ in June 1983 so was a little late to the party, by which time most of the bands featured on the LP had either broken up or were no longer recording.
Both sides of the High Tide single featured on the so-called revival album and both really stood out and appealed to me straight away.
“Dancing In My Mind” is commercially strong with it’s trippy guitar riff and swirling keyboard sound. The backing vocals / additions are also memorable and this number fully demonstrated that a new psychedelic sound was possible that simply wasn’t a rehash / copy of something from the 1966/67 period.
“Hold your flower to me,
The High Tide
Let it grow through me.
You’re the crystal in my mind.”
The High Tide had created a neo psych noise which had possibilities but alas this single was to be their last! What the members did next is anyone’s guess.
The flip “Electric Blue” is also an acid blast, the lyrics are more introspective, strange whispers meander around the weaving psychedelic keyboard, the drums are louder with echo, the pace is slow to begin with but does become a hard-driving tripper before descending once again into a slow-paced morass of whispers and bizarre organ notes.
Discography:
Baby Dancing / Letter From A Coward (Sunday Morning) 1981
Dancing In My Mind / Electric Blue (WEA K 18930) 01/82
ACID REVOLVER 
3 responses to “The High Tide – Dancing In My Mind (WEA)”
Hi Colin. I was a participant in the scene. I have a few press cuttings still and have been collecting psychedelia ever since. I have around 5000 albums and 400 singles. I used to go to the groovy cellar and a few other clubs like Spectrum. I saw most of the bands on the scene and shopped at Sweet Charity and the shop in Carnanby St who’s name escapes me atm.
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Mark, that’s great that you were actually part of that scene. I’ve always lived in the Sunderland area so only bought the records. I used to buy my paisley and polka dot shirts from by mail order from Melanddi in Carnaby Street. I’ve been buying psych and 60s garage records ever since the early 80s. Good to hear from a fellow psych fiend.
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[…] was re-recorded for the psych compilation ‘A Splash Of Colour’ then renamed “Dancing In My Mind.” This earlier version is a lot less polished and contains some synth which I didn’t detect on […]
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