Whenever the CD player in my car refuses to spin a disc without stuttering spastically, I resort to a cache of mixed tapes that I’ve stashed in the center console for that very musical emergency. More often than not I find myself taken by surprise with the songs I included on tapes with titles like Macaroni Doesn’t Kill You, Only Purple Potions Do or The Way Your Mind Works is God’s Own Sweet Mystery or Snood Serenade, etc., etc. Yesterday it was “Take a Heart” by The Sorrows.
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Most of the songs on my mixed tapes were culled from the tribble-like collection of 45’s that lived in mini record crates atop my LP shelves like some kind of white trash third-story addition. But I don’t own any singles or albums by The Sorrows, so how “Take a Heart” wound up on side two of An Ascending Curve of Persuasion is a mystery to me. I’m glad it did though…
The AllMusic Guide, via Wickipedia, describes The Sorrows as “one of the most overlooked bands of the British Invasion.” They play “a tough brand of R&B-infused rock that was eventually termed “Freakbeat” — remember The Creation a few installments back? The Sorrows’ sound “recalled The Pretty Things (though not as R&B oriented) and The Kinks (though not as pop oriented).”

One interesting sidebar to the band’s history: even though they never charted higher in the UK than #21, lead singer Don Fardon got to #3 in the UK and #20 in the U.S. with his cover of “Indian Reservation,” which Paul Revere & The Raiders took to #1 on the US charts in 1971. “Take A Heart” — whether it’s sung in English or Italian— is clearly a timeless pop gem that deserves to be overplayed rather than overlooked — which is exactly why it’s the Happy Medium Song of the Day.
(Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)
Picture
A rare group photo of The Sorrows.