The Millennium - Magic Time set

[EgoHanger1966]

Seeking fans of The Millennium/Ballroom/Curt Boettcher/Sagittarius!!!! Trying to get into this stuff but with so many releases (and costly, OOP cd's), it gets a bit messy and confusing. Many people say that the Millennium - Magic Time set is the place to start. Would you agree? I keep getting outbid on ebay, so I wouldn't know yet!

[Myk Luhv]

There was an exhaustive eight CD box set released in Japan last year that included basically everything associated with Boettcher including The Ballroom, The Millennium, and his solo work as well as B-sides and various unreleased tracks. (Possibly Sagittarius material too?) That might be a bit much unless you're a real fanatic or completist but frankly I think the Magic Time box set is too since, to me, Boettcher produced a whole lot of slight sunshine or vaguely psychedelic pop, and only Begin is an album that lives up to the hype surrounding his acclaim.

[KittyKat]

If you haven't heard the material at all, check out YouTube. There are posts of songs from all those projects on there, although I'm sure not all of them.

[kwan_dk]

Count me in as a Millennium/Ballroom/Boettcher/Sagittarius fan! And I'd go for the Magic Time set which neatly gathers the most important stuff in one place. But like KittyKat says, check a lot of the stuff out beforehand on Yuotube so that you feel sure that this is your type of music before you pay the steep price of the set.

If you like these, be sure to also seek out Sandy Salisbury's Do Unto Others album (also issued by UK label Poptones as 'Sandy'). In my opinion it rivals anything by the Ballroom, Millennium and Sagittarius...

Sound samples here:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/do-unto-others-mw0000040245

[EgoHanger1966]

If you haven't heard the material at all, check out YouTube. There are posts of songs from all those projects on there, although I'm sure not all of them.

Oh, I've heard the material, and like it....it's just that there are so many compilations of this material - some have a few tracks that are not on one, but are on another...and then that one has something not on the others etc....just a bit confusing!

[kwan_dk]

It is indeed confusing. I bought the Sonic Past Millennium 'Pieces' comp when it was released quite a few years ago but didn't find it to be that worthwhile a purchase if you already had Magic Time. The Curt Bottcher 'Another Time' rarities disc from Sonic Past is pretty good though.

I'd go for Magic Time, the first Sagittarius album and the Sandy album... That should be more than enough Boettcher to last a while.

Speaking of Boettcher, for anyone interested, Andrew Sandoval compiled a very nice Come to the Sunshine Boettcher special in 2012.

http://cometothesunshine.podomatic.com/entry/2012-03-23T13_44_07-07_00

[EgoHanger1966]

I've been sucked in by the sunshine pop and now have:

Millennium - Begin, Pieces, Voices.
Curt Boettcher - Another Time

..and Present Tense by Sagittarius is on it's way!

[roll plymouth rock]

Friar Tuck & His Psychedelic Guitar is a pretty cool one! Ballroom vox all over that record. Curt Becher - There's An Innocent Face is totally under-rated too