Beneath the Apple Tree

by Hopkirk & Lee

It’s kind of a great big indie secret, isn’t it? Very little is known about the band, there are so many speculations as to who are ‘Alex Hopkirk’ and ‘Ronnie Lee.’ Probably just pseudonyms, are they possibly the Reid brothers? Michael Head? even Beulah has come up… there were also some news they worked at a Rough Trade store and later released as a band called Bitter Herb. Whenever their name comes up, people are surely talking about them, we have all been curious to find out. They are not on Spotify. They released just 4 songs, all good, and then gone. The track ¡Free Arthur Lee! is 2 minutes of perfect blissful pop song. This one was released to a broader audience via Elefant Records’ Casablanca compilation in 2002. It’s an obvious no and tribute to Arthur Lee of Love.

I have a special fondness for the track Summershine, so much so I uploaded it on YouTube years ago, so people can find it and listen to it. Whoever they are, this gem of a release made quite an impact on me as a young one that I just had to have it, and I do, and I hold it close to my heart as I sleep. Ok, I don’t, but maybe I should.