The Leopards - Kansas City Slickers (1977)

Fronted by Dennis Pash and Kevin Sanders The Leopards were simply a lost treasure. Released on their own Moon label, 1977's "Kansas City Slickers" found the pair managing to out-Kink The Kinks. Mind you I'm not talking mid-1970s comeback Kinks, rather mid-1960s primetime Kinks! These guys managed to nail Davies and company's magical mid-1960s sound without coming off like mindless clones. Their energy and enthusiasm for this material simply exploded across the album. Showcasing all original material (penned by Pash and Sanders), tracks like 'Mind of My Own', '57 Chevy' and 'Bugle Boy' were catchy, clever and effortlessly evoked Davies at his creative best. For cryin' out loud they even managed to capture The Kinks' very English delivery including music hall influences ('It Must Be Love'). Don't believe it? Check out the opener 'Road To Jamaica' or 'Dancing in the Snow'. And they were from Kansas to boot ... This is one of those albums where it's simply hard to pick a favorite performance, but if pushed into a corner I'd give the nod to 'Recess' or 'the pretty ballad 'I Wonder If I'll Ever See You Again'.