itle:  Dick Domane
Company: Map City
Catalog: MAP-3013
Year: 1970
Country/State: Rhode Island
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG+
Comments: minor ring wear; promo sticker on back cover

I'll admit I bought this one without having a clue who Dick Domane was. In fact I bought it because the Map City label was a known quantity to me - the bands Purple Image and Yesterday's Children recorded for Map City. The amazingly ugly pea green vomit cover art also caught my eye, though not in a good way. Yes, it made my list of ugliest cover art ...  

I don't claim to know a great deal about Dick Domane. Born Richard P. DiDomenico, he seems to have made his recording debut with a 1960 single for the small Warwick, Rhode Island based Wye label:

- 1960's 'Alone' b/w 'You're So Conceited' (Wye catalog number 5-1006)

I'm not sure where they fit in the discography, but there were a couple of other early-1960s singles:

- 'Make Me Yours' b/w 'Dearest Lee' (Joy catalog 45-231)
- 'This Is Goodbye' b/w 'Don't Pity Me' (Almont catalog number 312)

By the late 1960s he was a member of the Rhode Island based horn outfit The Blue Jays who recorded a 1970 LP "Nascence" for Map City. That seems to have somehow led to a solo deal with Map City, resulting in the release of 1970's cleverly-titled "Dick Domane". Working with producer Pete Anders and most of The Blue Jays, the album showcased a largely original set of material with a heavy emphasis on late-1960s-styled pop. While some dealers have tried to label this as psych, with the exception of the opening track 'I'm Only Dreamin'' and 'Bad Dream' it really wasn't. True, tracks like 'Saturday Morning' had a modest rock edge and included tasty dollops of fuzz guitar, but this wasn't a psych, or rock album, rather was clearly a pop collection. That certainly wasn't meant as a slam since I'm a big fan of pop and to his credit Domane had a talented for penning commercial melodies. He also had a nice and highly commercial voice that was easily as good as AM popsters like Tommy James, Gary Puckett, or Dennis Yost.

- Easily one of the best songs on the album, 'I'm Only Dreamin'' managed to blend a great sunshine pop melody with heaps of psychedelic effects including fuzz guitar, backward tapes, lysergic-flavored orchestration. A fantastic song and sad that little else on the LP came close.  rating: **** stars
- 'Such An Early Hour' was a surprisingly funky country-rock number. Image a really good Brewer and Shipley song and you'll have a feel for the song.  rating: *** stars.    
- 'Since You Left Me' showcased the AM radio side of Domane's repertoire. A mid-tempo pop song, this one could easily have been mistaken for a Gary Puckett and the Union Gap track. Great it you liked that genre, but probably had limited appeal for psych fans. rating: ** stars
- Apparently written and previously recorded by The Blue Jays, 'I Can't Imagine' was a glistening slice of harpsichord-propelled sunshine pop, The song would have made Curt Boetcher, or The Monkees quite proud. Super commercial and radio friendly it's surprising this one wasn't tapped as a single. rating: **** stars
- 'Complete with Association-styled backing harmonies, 'Hang On' was another slice of AM top-40 pop. Probably too saccharine for most listeners, it was still better than much of the stuff you would have heard on the airwaves back in 1970.  rating: ** stars
- Kicked along by a crunching John Vastano fuzz guitar, 'Bad Dream' was the album's most rock oriented performance and easily the standout track.  You can only imagine what an album full of this stuff would have done. rating: ***** stars  
- Complete with a tasteful horn arrangement and some nice bass from Bob Fiocco, 'Sane One' found Domane taking a stab at a more bluesy sound. Roughing up his voice a bit, the results were surprisingly enjoyable.  rating: **** stars  
- Starting out as a pretty ballad 'Fragmented People' quickly morphed into a fuzz-guitar powered pop song that also happened to sport the collection's weirdest lyric. I've listened to the song dozens of times and don't have a clue what this one was about (enforced conformity ?), which probably helped explain why I like it so much. Bob Fiocco provided a nifty bass line while Domane turned in another great vocal on this one.   rating: **** stars
- 'Hey Don't You Know' returned to power-pop territory bearing a passing resemblance to something Tommy Roe might have recorded.  Very commercial and radio-ready. rating: **** stars  
- The lone cover tune, the ballad 'Maybe' had a distinctive early-1960s feel. Imagine a good Righteous Brothers track and you'll have a feel for the general sound. I will tell you that even though the song was rather pedestrian, Domane turned in a killer vocal.  rating: *** stars  
- This comparison will probably sound stupid, but to my ears the ballad 'Sunday Morning;' sounded like a cross between Procol Harum and a blue-eyed soul outfit like The Classics IV. Not sure why I liked this one so much, though Vastano's soulful guitar didn't hurt at all ...  rating: *** stars
- The horns returned for 'The Sun Never Shines' which was another decent power pop number, this time with a bubble-gummy edge. rating: *** stars

No way to avoid the fact that this is one weird little album. Too poppy for psych fans and too psych for pop fans. Combined with the hideous cover its no surprise that this one disappeared in an instant. Still it's worth checking out since you can still locate copies at a reasonable price.

"Dick Domane" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) I'm Only Dreamin' (Dick Domane) - 
2.) Such An Early Hour (Dick Domane) - 
3.) Since You Left Me (Dick Domane) - 
4.) I Can't Imagine (Dick Domane) - 
5.) Hang On (Dick Domane) - 
6.) Bad Dream (Dick Domane) - 

(side 2)
1.) Sane One (Dick Domane) - 
2.) Fragmented People (Dick Domane) 
3.) Hey Don't You Know (Dick Domane - John Vastano) - 
4.) Maybe (Richard Barrett) - 
6.) Sunday Morning (Dick Domane) - 
4.) The Sun Never Shines (Dick Domane) - 



RCA Victor catalog number APL1-0091

Domane was subsequently a member of the New York based horn band White Water who recorded a 1973 set "Out of the Darkness" for RCA Victor.

I've never heard them but Domane has also released a couple of private press albums:


"A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That" and "In the Clouds"

He also has a small website and myspace presence at:
http://dickdomane.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dick.domane