Pendulum
History:
Pendulum was a popular coal-region lounge rock quartet from Millville, PA. This outfit initially started out as a traditional rock & roll band but transitioned throughout their at leas decade stay on the club scene. Pendulum consisted of frontman Bob Hock on lead guitar and lead vocals, Gene Sterner on bass guitar, rhythm guitar, and vocals, Rick Dworsak on a multitude of keyboards (including organ, clavichord, electric piano, piano) and vocals, and finally the fantastic Mike Swank on drums.
Pendulum only released one album on Baldwin Sound Productions, which is odd since the recording service specialized in traditional gospel albums. The self-titled record was released in 1974 and features some strange cover tracks. These include stabs at Jethro Tull, Uriah Heep, The Rascals, and Bad Company. The album is noted for it's corny yet energetic sound and prog covers. These guys knew what was in at the time and adapted to it.
Most of the members of this group are still alive and kicking. No idea how long the band survived after this album though.
Review:
Pendulum (1974, Baldwin Sound Productions)
Rating: 6/10
A solid affair that certainly made the local coal miners happy. Very good instrumentation and vocals however the cheesy levels are quite high on some tracks. The song selection is extremely notable and funny considering these guys were older than their contemporaries.
I was revolted but still enjoyed their horrid cover of "Locomotive Breath" which somehow clicked despite singing the wrong lyrics. "Black Cloud", which was originally a country song by Eddy Arnold, is pretty good too and the long proggy breaks on "Give Me Good Lovin" are groovy.