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Staying with some of the "bad boys" of The British Invasion. Wildly popular and influential in their native UK, The Pretty Things were relegated to the more-or-less/ also-ran category. And it stuck with them for the better part of their careers - which was a shame because it wasn't true. The Pretty Things were true originals and, as legend has it, The Pretty Things and The Rolling Stones were very much in competition with each other even to the point of members crossing over briefly into each others bands.

With all that in mind - here is the rundown of what's up on the player tonight.

The Pretty Things - BBC Saturday Club - Jan. 8, 1966

1. Sitting All Alone
2. Midnight To Six Man
3. Buzz The Jerk
4. L.S.D.

The end of the week is coming. Play this one loud and get ready for Friday Night.

It seemed like every band that were worth their salt was plunging mind-deep into the genre of Psychedelia around 1968. The Pretty Things were only one of the myriad of bands setting rock or R&B aside and tinkering with mellotrons, tablas and phasing. Departing from their longtime label Fontana and settling into the EMI fold and eventually their newly founded Harvest offshoot, The Pretty Things set out to record some pretty extraordinary sessions. Working with Norman Smith (who did the first Pink Floyd albums and who later gained fame as "Hurricane" Smith . . .but that's another ball of wax), they crafted a series of singles and albums that stand out as high points in the bands career, with their masterpiece album S.F. Sorrow as something of a legendary forgotten classic.

One of those tracks we're playing tonight, Talkin' About The Good Times was their second single under the new label and direction. Released in February 1968 and three months after the release of their initial single Defecting Grey (which we'll play at some point, don't worry), The Pretty Things quickly established themselves as the arch purveyors of all things musically hallucinogenic and would keep them in that direction until they up and changed once again. But that wasn't for a few years into the future.

Tonight it's black lights, calico walls and no looking back.

Depending on who you spoke to, The Pretty Things were either a Poor Man's Rolling Stones, or The Rollling Stones were a Poor Man's Pretty Things. There was a time early on when they were neck and neck in the popularity polls, had various members go in and out of each others bands in the beginning and, had fate gone the other direction, could very well have been The Pretty Things we hear all about today, still touring some almost fifty years later.

But no. It didn't work that way. And The Pretty Things have more or less been relegated more to background legend and "rumors attributed to . . ." than "Worlds Greatest Rock n' Roll Band". Still though, The Pretty Things were a very influential band in their heyday, during the time of the first British Invasion, and even transitioned over to a great Psychedelic period in the mid-late 60's. But came the 70's and, like a lot of bands, and music in general, got a little lost along the way. And The Pretty Things, though still together and touring (with personnel modifications) were not in top form.

But they were still a great act to see live, even if their studio work lapsed into the formulaic. This concert, recorded by the BBC in London in 1973 is from that period and they take off when they're in familiar territory such as their last number of the set, the immortal Route 66. It gives some indication of where they were when they first were gigging and why they had the reputation they did.

And consider they may have worn the mantle The World's Greatest Rock n' Roll Band and it kind of makes sense.

(If they only had Mick - they would have out Rolling Stoned The Rolling Stones)

Of all the so-called "British Invasion" bands of the 1964-1965 period, the one that stands out as being criminally ignored by U.S. audiences would have to be The Pretty Things. They were without question one of the most raw, loud and rowdy bands of the period, which may have been the reason they weren't picked up by any labels in the States until the late 60s. Reading press reports from New Musical Express and Melody Maker, their concerts and club dates were near-riots and their personal exploits became stuff of rock n' roll legend. It was said The Rolling Stones, whom various members of The Pretty Things were associated with early on, paled by comparison. They were, above all, a huge influence on a number of blues-based bands of the period - not only The Rolling Stones, but The Yardbirds and several others.

This track, Can't Stand The Pain, epitomized who they were during those early days when I picked up one of their first eps on import "The Pretty Things On Film".

If you're not familiar with them - now's the time to get acquainted with a legend.