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Power Of Zeus: the band


 

The Gospel According To Zeus
Rare Earth [cat no. RS516]
1970

Side 1:
It Couldn't Be Me
In The Night
Green Grass & Clover
I Lost My Love
The Death Trip

Side 2
No Time
Uncertain Destination
Realization
Hard Working Man
The Sorcerer Of Isis (Ritual Of The Mole)

line-up:
Joe Periano: guitar

Bill Jones: bass

Dennie Webber: organ, harpsichord and piano

Bob Michalski: drums

 UPDATE - POWER OF ZEUS FOUND! - CLICK HERE

As far as I can tell, Power Of Zeus released their one and only album on theRare Earth label in 1970. The Gospel According To Zeus is an inspired amalgam of screaming rock histrionics, oddball psychedelic strangeness and some of themost intuitively funky yet blisteringly heavy music ever committed to tape. Thealbum has become highly sought after by breakbeat collectors, hip hop producersand other such connoisseurs of aged vinyl because of the lengthy "open" (ie solo) drum break in the final track, The Sorcerer Of Isis (The Ritual Of The Mole). The record currently sells for around 80-90 from break dealers. A CD reissue was made available in the late 90s but that is also relatively scarce.

There's a rumour that some pressings of the Power Of Zeus album have a slightly different, harder-sounding version of the break, and that these copies presumably the product of a different mastering were pressed with labels in a much deeper shade of orange than on the normal version. This sounds completely ludicrous, but then again, I thought the tales of a 12" of Big Beat by Billy Squier were fables until I found one.

Rare Earth - the band - were Motown's flirtation with rock, a band so out of keeping with the rest of the label that they were given their own imprint. They released a number of albums of their own as well as many others by a slew of like-minded and similarly inclined artists, and ended up basically being Motown's white offshoot. Rare Earth was the US home for British psychedelic outfit The Pretty Things, and R Dean Taylor (of There's A Ghost In My House fame) also put records out on the label. Several acts only made one LP on Rare Earth. These included Magic, Matrix and, of course, Power Of Zeus. There's a link to a thorough Rare Earth discography on the links page.

I hope that, in the fullness of time, I'll be able to find out more stuff about Power Of Zeus, what happened to the band members, whether they made any other records, and what the whole thing was about. When I do, I'll post it all here. I ought to also point out that if anyone from the band thinks I'm being out of order by using their name, I have no wish to offend you can have the URL if
you want it. Just let me know.