The inaugural release from Strawberry Records, ‘Halcyon Days’, set out the new label’s stall with extreme confidence. Taking cues from the now defunct RPM Records’ ‘Looking Back’ series, its three discs came packed with cult mod tunes, alternative floor fillers and a whole raft of feelgood 60s sounds. With very little overlap between those earlier releases from RPM, it proved there was far more to be mined in terms of Zoot Suit gold. Simply put, ‘Halcyon Days’ was one of 2019’s finest anthologies; an unmissable box set for anyone with the vaguest of interests in underground mod sides and Northern Soul nuggets.
Sequels are often inferior by their very nature, and complied of stuff that wasn’t quite good enough to make the cut the first time around. ‘I Love To See You Strut’ features many of the same acts, and you’ll find reasonably well known cuts from The Who, Dusty Springfield, The Kinks, The Zombies and Manfred Mann among its many treasures – tunes that many devotees of 60s comps will likely already have elsewhere – but it couldn’t ever be considered a lesser listening experience.
