The Left Banke

The Left Banke are one of the best and most definitive examples of ‘60s Baroque pop, combining lush orchestral instrumentation like string arrangements and harpsichord with melancholic songwriting and the occasional hint of psychedelic fuzz. Though they never reached the same level of commercial fame as contemporaries like the Zombies or the Beatles, the Left Banke had two substantial hits, including “Pretty Ballerina” and the Top Five, oft-covered “Walk Away Renee.” The earliest phases of the Left Banke lasted roughly four years, between 1965 and 1969, but the band re-formed in 1978 to work on a long-shelved third album, Strangers on a Train, and subsequent generations of music fans discovered the band’s early chamber pop when compilations like 1992’s There’s Gonna Be a Storm: The Complete Recordings 1966-1969 began surfacing.