Uriah Heep - Demons and Wizards (1972)

My high school jamming buddy Ramlan Said, who was a much better guitar player and singer than I was, introduced me to this album which he played at his big kampung house in Jawi. It's an LP that has some great, beguilingly dynamic songs and a Roger Dean cover painting that ranks as one his most inspired. Unfortunately, the album was panned by the clueless pro-establishment critics of the time, who also bashed cool folks like Black Sabbath and Stray who operated on the fringes of rock from around 1969 to 1973.

One of the set's highlights, 'The Wizard', still entrances me like no other song does... Actually, talking about 'Wizards and Demons' has made me curious about Ramlan. Wonder where he is now? I remember his big, hospitable family (his mum made sure visitors were well fed!) and all the strange Russian-made gear in their house (apparently his dad had worked at the Malaysian embassy in Communist-era Russia in the '60s). There was even a Russian-made electric guitar which thrilled me no end... There's another memory from this period that I have tried to suppress for years — Ramlan and I did a pathetic version of Albert Hammond's puerile hit 'It Never Rains in Southern California' in our school talentime. It was embarrassing, not only for the silly song choice, but also because of the way Ramlan burst out laughing during the second chorus. Ah, the follies of youth!