Alongside the Small Faces and the Who, London’s ACTION were undoubtedly Britain’s premier mod band during the mid 1960s, recording their first single as the Action for Parlophone in October 1965. As THE BOYS the quintet put out a 45 for the Pye label a year before but until the excellent book on the Action In The Lap Of The Mods was published in 2012, it wasn’t widely known that the group did an audition for the Decca record company in May 1965. Some copies of the book included a very limited edition vinyl 45 extracted from an acetate recently discovered from that audition, which was a supreme version of the Temptations Why You Wanna Make Me Blue. That recording makes a welcome re-appearance on IN MY LONELY ROOM and also emerges on CD for the first time. Unbelievably another acetate from that Decca session has surfaced, one side of which features a wonderful interpretation of one of many people’s favourite Action tracks In My Lonely Room, which incredibly surpasses the later recording for EMI and has a real ‘live’ feel to it. On the flip was a fine rendition of the Impressions’ You’ll Want Me back, which finds the Action in a more mellow blue eyed soul groove and showcases perhaps the most Reggie King’s leap in vocal prowess in the comparative short space of time since the band’s recordings for Pye as the Boys barely six months previous.
    Not that the Boys’ single for Pye was a slouch – far from it – and Top Sounds round off the EP with another previously undocumented recording. Committed to acetate during their time as the Boys was one of Reggie King’s earliest compositions, and Fine Looking Girl exposes further the pre-emptive Action in rather good form indeed.
    Restored to the best possible standard from the original acetates, these four tracks are a fascinating, important and invaluable document of the emergent Action during late 1964 and 1965, and Top Sounds are justifiably elated to place these superb recordings together for the first time. With the blessing of Action drummer Roger Powell and delivered in full vintage 60s style packaging, IN MY LONELY ROOM is sure to excite Action fans everywhere and in all probability – unfortunately – may well be the final release of ‘new’ vintage Action recordings. Your last chance to catch some new unbelievable ACTION!