Me, I'm a coffee man, have been ever since high school when I used to bunk off homeroom at Monterey High and go to the doughnut shop across the street for a chocolate glazed and a cup of black, no sugar while I read the Dallas Morning News. Plus, I'm from Texas, where tea is served iced or not at all. But over the last couple of years, I've developed a fondness for what the veddy English Roy Wood terms a jolly cup of tea. It's supposed to be good for you, for one thing, but it's also a nice way to clear your mind and sit for a few minutes in the late afternoon or evening. In fact, there's a cup of Wilson Select Earl Grey from Upton Tea Importers (www.uptontea.com) just to my left as I type, being sniffed curiously by Angus the Scottish Ninja Kitten, who serves the same editorial function here at Little Hits New England that Mickey does at the home office.



I can think of no band with a greater disconnect between their hit singles and what their actual albums sounded like than Roy Wood's Wizzard. Remembered almost solely these days for their great glam rock 45s "See My Baby Jive" (acknowledged by Bjorn and Benny as the direct inspiration for ABBA's chart-topper "Waterloo") and "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday," Wizzard's albums were unfailingly odd. The weirdest by far was their 1973 debut Wizzard Brew (released in a different sleeve as Wizzard's Brew in the US, by the same label who mistakenly named ELO's untitled debut No Answer after a staff member's note about an uncompleted call placed to EMI's London office was misinterpreted). Containing none of the four UK chart hits Wizzard scored in 1973, the album is basically the Move's sludge rock epic Looking On distilled through a combination of Gary Glitter and Chuck Berry. But smack in the middle, ending side one after the 14-minute boogie "Meet Me At the Jailhouse," there's "Jolly Cup of Tea," a two-minute salvo of bizarre music hall nonsense setting chanted mass vocals against a Salvation Army parade band. This was released by a major label, folks. It hit the album charts. The 1970s were much weirder than many people give them credit for.

-Stewart Mason