The Milkshakes - Fourteen Rhythm & Beat Greats (Stereo Version) (2025)

From the opening rasp of “Seven Days” to the dying chimes of “Wo’ Now”, the frenzied beat goes on. Even the more subdued tracks are given that unmistakable Milshakes brand, pointing to The Milshakes being the undeniable leaders of world beat!” It says here.

Following on from the imaginary international success of their debut album Talking Bout… and the 45 “It’s You” c/w “Please Don’t Tell My Baby”, the Milkshakes decided to squander what little money they had left on another long-player. The result was the cleverly-titled, if slightly boastful-sounding, Fourteen Rhythm and Beat Greats. Indeed, if you close your eyes and unplug the record-player, all 14 – count ’em (next time you open your peepers) – finely-crafted tunes on this LP could almost qualify as “great”, depending on where you stand, musically. I recommend just around the corner, out of earshot for best results.

Featuring such live favourites as “Black Sails In The Moonlight” and Red Monkey”, the general consensus was that this was The Milkshakes’ finest work to date (ask them yourselves). That must be partially true, as London’s prestigious Big Beat Records figured it was good enough to reissue on their very own prestigious Big Beat record label – twice. But that was 40-odd (yikes…!) years ago, so please try and control your excitement and form an orderly queue… although the sooner they sell out, it can be repressed – yet again – with the blue masthead.