The Ingoes – Before We Were Blossom Toes (2010 Sunbeam Records, SBRCD5077)
Review by Rebecca Jansen

Among the also-rans of manager/producer Giorgio Gomelskiy’s stable of groups, The Ingoes proved to be tenacious as much as talented. After paying dues in German clubs The Ingoes, made up of former Gravediggers and Cheynes lead guitarist and songwriter Eddie Lynch, were found worthy of bookings at both the Marquee and the Crawdaddy clubs. From this period comes CD opener “Fast Eddie” a solid original instumental.

Lynch and Brain Godding sparked each other as songwriters and as vocalists, evidenced here by a further four originals, three of which would go unreleased entirely. The recordings from this period would rate as excellent album cuts from any group in Englabnd if not quite hit single candidates (one would turn up as a b side to French and Italian versions of the Beatles’ “Help” however).

In early 1965 The Ingoes headed to Paris and a residency at The Bus Palladium. It was while here that Gomelsky engineered Lynch’s replacement with Jim Cregan and the group’s lone EP was issued for the French market. Unfortunately for lovers of variety all four tracks on the record have the same beat for the listeners to dance something dubbed the “Monkiss” with photo dinstructions on the back sleeve. Remaining unissued however were better cuts of “Watcha Gonna Do About It” and “Jump Back”, plus an original by Godding “Ready Packed People Of Today” which attempted to be meaningful but would not have been out of place on an early Bee Gees album. The Monkiss dance EP failed to set the Continent alight for the Ingoes never mind getting any airplay back home in England. The next Gomelsky plan for the group would involve a name change.

So, what of The Ingoes? Going by this collection they’d have to rate as a promising Mod leaning group, but mainly a footnote to the Blossom Toes story following the departure of Eddie Lynch. While Godding and Lynch were collaborators though they showed a lot of potential, and had that group been given a chance in their homeland might’ve been spoken of alongside The Creation or even The Small Faces. Sunbeam as usual provides a great looking and sounding package with enlightening liner notes by Brian Godding himself (dated April 2010). There are many rare photos, scans of the rare picture sleeves, and fifteen tracks total including every vintage released Ingoes recording.

Both CD and LP are available from Sunbeam Records in the UK and various retailers elsewhere.

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