3 Pioneering Psychedelic Songs I Know You’ve Never Heard

The following three songs are considered pioneering psychedelic songs from before the era of psychedelia really took off. And unless you’re a diehard fan of all things trippy and ethereal, you might have never heard them before. Let’s change that, shall we? Let’s take a look at just a few pioneering psychedelic songs that every fan of the genre should know.

“I Hear A New World” by Joe Meek from ‘I Hear A New World’ (1960)

This is by far one of the trippiest early-1960s songs I’ve ever heard. In fact, the whole of the record I Hear A New World by Joe Meek is a trippy, distorted, reverberating experiment in how weird someone could get with early-60s music tech, while still producing very listenable tunes. In a way, Meek predicted the rise of psychedelia, namely through the chilling lyrics, “I hear a new world calling me.” Apparently, he heard the call of the genre before it even really existed.

“Any Way You Want It” by The Dave Clark Five from ‘Coast To Coast’ (1964)

Alright, you’ve probably heard this song before. It’s been covered by the likes of KISS, The Ramones, Tom Petty, and others. However, you might have missed the OG Dave Clark Five version.

Psychedelia was starting to rumble under the surface of mainstream pop and rock music in 1964. However, it hadn’t quite bubbled over yet. And when it comes to this hit from The Dave Clark Five, without any effects, it sounds like just your average British rock tune with a touch of power pop. But with those experimental effects, a la Adrian Kerridge and Dave Clark, “Any Way You Want It” sounds completely ahead of its time. Through the use of reverb and distortion via an Echoplex, this tune predicted musical trends that would eventually become mainstream in just a couple of years.

“Risveglio di una città / Awakening Of A City” by Luigi Russolo (1913)

How about some really old proto-psychedelia? Warning: This song is a little disturbing if you don’t know what to expect. To some, it sounds hellish, short, and bizarre. But when you consider how the song was made, it really does seem worthy of a spot on our list of pioneering psychedelic songs.

Italian composer Luigi Russolo is considered by many to be the first noise artist. He was fascinated by futurism and avant-garde music. “Awakening Of A City”, recorded way back in 1913, was created through the use of his bespoke intonarumori noise machines to mimic the sound of an industrious city. His work in sound experimentation would touch psychedelia decades later, and noise music decades after that.

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