Thursday, 24 January 2008
This is grunge at its finest, vol. 1
And one day I found this incredibly violent gem of ‘em (The Swamp Rats), “Hey freak”, WRITTEN BY THEMSELVES and 10 times more electrifying than any cover they did, because they add a killer groove and a real badass despair that makes it similar to the wonderful “It’s a hard life” by Michigan geniuses the Why Four, pushing it even further in the dirt. That’s real grunge mates.
So I went out of my room filled with renaissance masters paintings and flew southwards, until I came up to the garbage room where I was certain there was better things to find than the perfect place for a mudhoney revival. And I did well : I went back to my victorian chambers with new crumbs of treasure : The Huns’ “Destination lonely” (later poorly covered by Cheater Slicks) and The Vipers’ “In vain”, mid-sixties crudeness at its peak, love and wildness, fear of boredom and loneliness, life. Yeah.
And here is the magnificent St Matthew and the angel by Il Caravaggio, that humanity lost forever during WW2 :
The Swamp rats - Hey Freak
Huns - Destination lonely
The Vipers - In vain
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Black Cats
The`Black Cats`were from Barcelona and released a few albums and a handfull of singles.i`ve not seen this single mentioned and the tracks featured are not on the retrospective cd, so this will be unfamiliar to many ears.Los Gato Negros are probably best known in trendy mod-circles for their freakbeat version of John Fred`s Hey,Hey Bunny.
this was a great charity shop find for me as the Sam Sham & The Pharaohs song `Ring Dang Do` is a favourite frat-swinger round the high rise offices of Go Faster.`Maria Lola` rules the roost though as a moody garage brooder.the only downer with this EP is the cover for some reason makes me feel utterly depressed.
Los Gato Negros - Maria Lola
Los Gatos Negros - Ring Dang Do
Monday, 3 December 2007
Gyro and the ever Young , Young
this odd post-punk 45 is testament to how keen a certain bunch virtouso 70s rockers were to branch into the more `experimental` `diy` areas that were opened up after the Sex Pistols vomitous legacy was being mopped up.the band in question was Sad Cafe.they were formed in Manchester 1977 and through vocalist Paul Young(looking rather moody below) had a foot in the cities music scene since 1963,when a lesser known beat combo The Toggery Five were formed.
The Toggery Five-Bye Bye Bird
interestingly(for some maybe)this sole single by Gyro was brought to light through the early efforts of famed Manchester producer Martin Hannet(Joy Division,Happy Mondays).his Rabid records(office pictured below) was the imprint for many mancunian punk bands(Jilted John,Slaughter & The Dogs etc).
ok i`ll stop this waffleing(and brackets) and let you enjoy this Gyro track,not before saying Paul Young(1947-2000)also went on to sing for Mike & The Mechanics...hows that for a musical legacy.
Gyro - Purple And Red
The Fabulous Frauliens
It was a dream, of course, but it feels now more like a memory. I pulled up to a record shop with my mother in the car with me. She said she'd wait for me. I went in and my old Geography teacher was in there, looking at rare 45s. He was pulling out crazy records; super rare local press garage records, but with bizarre eighties picture sleeves. He wouldn't let me look properly though. Behind the counter was a man I somehow knew to be a dealer I'd used in the past but never met, or even seen. He looked like the old man that JP was so obsessed with in the café a few weeks ago. He said nothing but slowly pointed to the back room. I found myself walking back there, but I had become seized by an all encompassing fear and dread. I halted, and looked up above me. I saw the same white spider that led me to the Silk Winged Alliance 45. I jolted. The old man was in front of me, beckoning me forward. The backroom was really small, and filled with junk. In-between chair legs and lawnmowers, I could see strange white shadows. A telephone was ringing. I went to pick it up. It was a conch shell. I spoke into it in an uncontrollably slow voice. It was JP. He was talking so fast I couldn't keep track of him. Then he whispered to me, as if from behind the cabinet in front of me, 'It's the witches record on the old gramophone. You need this one.' I looked up and saw a cat stood on its hind legs, dressed in Edwardian costume, holding the gramophone. I walked towards it and the record started playing. It was deafeningly loud. I remembered my mother outside. I felt like I'd been in the shop for hours. I suddenly noticed that there was no door. I looked back round and the cat was gone, but the music was still playing loud. The gramophone was floating in mid air. I grabbed the record, quickly, and turned again in panic. The old man stood in front of me smiling, holding a white cat in the palm of his hand. The cat had eight legs. I awoke with a start. I reached over to my bedside table, and there was a record lying on it. I looked at it. It was the record from the dream! The Fabulous Frauleins 'Practise of Evil' - I called JP immediately.
Fabulous Frauliens - Practice Of Evil
Fabulous Frauliens - Days Gone By
Sunday, 2 December 2007
Silly Girl
This young opportunist apparently had some success in Hollywood as reported by a Victoria,Canada newspaper.Victoria was the home of Peter Kelch, and wether it was misfortune or lack of work in the celluloid city he found himself back in the northwest,determined to make himself a star.
Kelch created his own music label ,Terra which was to be the instrument with which he would unleash the blaring `Silly Girl` and the less psychotic,but no less silly`Cry On My Shoulder`.i say silly but really i mean overly dramatic....this mans shrill falsetto moments remind us that we are all animals with a strong sense of desire.
Peter Kelch - Silly Girl
Peter Kelch - Cry On My Shoulder
.....more posts on the way!watch this space.
Friday, 9 November 2007
Some breathtaking clumsy ballads
The Barons - I'll never be happy
The Innsmen - I don't know
Midknights - I don't have to wait
Friday, 21 September 2007
pogo pogo
In the seventies my mum worked in a record shop in middlesex called capital records(no connection to the dreadful emmissions of captal radio)and somewhere along the line her and my dad got wind of the punk murmerings. I don’t think they had green mohawks or anything, although my mum did once wear an esso boiler suit to see Eddie and the hot rods in maidenhead. Now they live in the countryside in France, and when I visit them I often sample the local cider, and go through the boxes of punk 45’s, and I’m afraid to say, escorting the occasional one back to my own dwellings in the british isles. They don’t always sound as good when I get them home, in that sense it’s a bit like that affair with the burly foreign waitress that you always regret. Because of their seemingly erratic music buying policy there is a certain amount of wading to be done, but each time I go to visit I’m bound to find something else that I know will be played over and over again. When I first started getting into good music I was pretty pleased to find they had a lot of vinyl to wade through that id heard or read good things about,but the real thrill was putting on something i'd never heard of and blindly waiting for the song to start up.who would call a band 'fish called human' for pitys sake,and furthermore have a melodic b-side called here come the nuns? or what was the singers from the mekons singing about on 32 Weeks("it takes one week of your life to buy a mattress!") ?. … Some of my favourite ever times of listening to music are in Normandy, waving around a bottle of cloudy cider, the old walls reverberating to the records..as something like Outside View by Eater bursts into gear and the hills roll into the distance outside.....still no bondage trousers in the village though,and long may that continue.
Thursday, 13 September 2007
The Lee VI's
Friday, 31 August 2007
Fuzz (On My Cardigan)
While in France recently i picked up a couple of these nice promotional EPs.Boum Bomo appears to be a kids and teens clothing company.the emphasis here is on style and the pursuit of leisure through music.i like to think of the crockery and ornaments that would become slightly misplaced by these teenagers as they gyrated to `Patrick Jerk` in the dark well-kempt living rooms of France.
the first EP pictured is the first of an 18 disc series featuring Raymond GUIOT and his orchestra.it is pretty horrible, all horns...not hip at all.this is odd because the records the young teen is playing on the cover are a handful of Beatles LPS including Revolver and not least the monster fuzz beat gem Jaques Dutronc EP `Les Playboys`.
Jaques Dutronc-On Nous Cache Tout, On Nous Dit Rien
the second EP pictured is volume 8 and really gets into the gear of the swinging music of the time and delivers some fine, brain melting fuzz guitar.`Patrick Jerk` is a great tune despite its obvious session musician clinicalness and seems to float around in my head a lot these days.the band, Les Pros really give Mr GUOIT a run for his money.`Spring A Liverpool` featured on volume 4 of the series is also apparently a good one.
Les Pro`s - Patrick Jerk
The Silken Spider
I finished my milkshake breakfast, and jumped into the car. I was heading out to a place that JP had found out about. I had on my tourist clothing, which was my uniform whenever I went out to these kinds of places. I got in there, and quietly smiled a greeting. There were a few racks of LPs. No titles of any real interest, but I grabbed a few and took them to the counter. I engaged in a polite exchange with the guy behind the counter. I casually asked if he had any singles. He said there were some ’small ones’ out the back. I went back there. It was hot and dusty, and there wasn‘t much light. There were a few boxes tucked away amongst a pile of junk. I had a look through, but there was nothing of interest, a few vaguely interesting titles, perhaps, but I was wary nowadays, I could smell bad country and polka records a mile off. As I was getting ready to leave the room, I saw a flash of white behind the boxes. I looked over but there wasn’t anything there. It gave me the creeps, for some reason. I took a quick look down there and I saw a small cardboard box, with no more than ten records in it. It seemed to be filled with local looking items. I dipped in and the first thing I pulled out was an Accent label. My heart stopped. I thought for a moment of the Human Expression, but this was something else, on a blue label, a band with a curious name: The Silk Winged Alliance. Just then I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a large white spider resting on the side of the box. I jumped back quickly. Spiders give me a cold chill. I sat for a moment on the floor, the other side of the room, still clutching the disc. I picked myself up and took the record back into the store. ‘Just this one,’ I told the guy at the counter, still in a daze. He smiled at me and said ‘for that old thing? Give me fifty cents.’ I pulled out some change and put it in his hand. ‘Some pretty wild critters you’ve got out the back,’ I told him. ‘Critters?’ He said looking puzzled, ‘I’ve never seen any critters back there.’
I sat outside in my car, thinking. I couldn’t go back to that box, in case I ran into that spider, but there could be more treasure in there. I resolved to call JP, and get him to go. With that, I picked up my phone, and drove back to the milkshake store for lunch.
The Silked Winged Alliance - Flashback
- Hometown
THE RAISED HOUSE"The Griddle Man"
I plunged a plate into the murky swamp beneath and tried to erase Viv’s sordid presence from my mind. I regarded the washing brush angrily. It was coated with rancid cooking oil and sat dismally at the side of the sink.
I had been at work for about an hour by now and I felt entitled to a break. I removed my white hat and made my way back to my makeshift bookshelf, situated very prominently beside the work surfaces and deep fryers.
“Hmm,” I said, regarding the books very shrewdly.
In an ideal world Viv would’ve done the decent thing and stood aside while I had a look at the titles, instead of huffing about beside me, chopping salad for the day’s garnishes.
As I examined the books, I was already mildly disturbed by the recollection of yesterday’s fiasco, whereby I spilt a plastic jug of heated custard over the book I’d been midway through, The Pregnant Tycoon.
I seemed to recall hurling the book in question into the far corner of the kitchen by the sinks, and made a mental note to retrieve it after my break. Although it was probably near ruined, I was enormously proud of the size of my collection, and couldn’t bear the thought of being one down.
For the moment though, I just went for the first one that caught my eye:
“I think I will move on to The Good Italian,” I announced very loudly, purely for the benefit of Viv, who wouldn’t know a decent romantic novel from Moses.
I pulled out The Good Italian and made my way to the back room. The back room was separated from the main kitchen. It was where the big chest freezer was located, as well as shelves of tins and pots, and clung to the revolting old cooking oil that covered every surface.
I sat atop the freezer, and after a few minutes of trying to digest the first paragraph, I gave up. The thought of the The Pregnant Tycoon was bothering me to the point where I couldn’t read on.
I thought the best idea would be to put it in the microwave for a few minutes to dry off, then once it’d dried I’d be able to scrape the custard and filth off. After popping it in for a ten minute spell, completely ignoring Viv’s perplexed glare, I was back on the chest freezer, learning of the Italian’s exploits.
*
By now my break was almost over, and the official line was that yesterday’s washing up needed to be finished before the lunchtime rush. When I say lunchtime, I really mean eleven o’clock, which is when a group comes in for the Early Bird meal deal: a hot meal and a drink for three pounds, provided they have finished eating by eleven-thirty. To me it seemed a very early time to eat dinner, but Daz was very strict. He always snatched away their plates at eleven-thirty on the dot, regardless of whether they were still eating or not.
After glancing very quickly in the direction of the washing up, I decided to take a little bit longer on my break. I went back to the freezer and picked up my copy of The Good Italian and scanned the page for a familiar looking passage.
“Ooh,” I said loudly, settling upon a highly charged occurrence, whereby The Italian “plunged his sword into the moist soil beneath.”
I could tell at the beginning of my second sitting with the Italian, that I was beginning to warm to him.
I leant over, still smiling at the aforementioned sentence, and took out a bottle of milk. I must’ve spent the next half an hour or so in a blissful reverie, drinking milk and reading about this tall, violent Italian, who to all intents and purposes, treated everyone like a puddle he’d stepped in.
At one point Viv poked her gruesome head round the corner to request assistance with the preparations, only for me to silently salute her with the middle finger.
Thursday, 30 August 2007
Tonights radio Show!(THURS/30TH SEPT)
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Cheapo UK Labels#2 Cannon, Bacon,Diamonds and Meek?
The Ravers - Lets Dance
Another abominal feux american slab o` cheese.yes.BUT not without its charm....The Cannon label was set up by opportunist Allan Crawford(right)in the early sixties.he saw the market for cover songs probably more than most being a contributer to the offshore radio shows of the day radio Carolina and radio Atlanta.he also interestingly owned the Festival label in Australia.this label was the imprint for a formidable oz punk gem;The Black Diamonds-I Want Need,Love You
caught here in what seems to be a daytime Australian soap.
Crawford also owned the Crossbow,Rocket and Sabre labels and managed to get extra work for relatively well known acts of the time, one of them being Elvis Costello`s Father Ross MacManus who he described as thus:"My favourite singer of them all was a man called Ross MacManus, who was Joe Loss's main vocalist, and he used to always be there recording for me. Whenever we did Elvis Presley's numbers, he was magnificent and better than Presley. Elvis often used to sing off key — I don't know why he was such a worldwide success, because he was not very good in my opinion."
on my meanderings researching the Cannon label a disputable bit of trivia popped up.Frank Bacon, who recorded a handfull of songs for the Cannon is reputedly also known as one Joe Meek. Apparantly he was looking to make extra money on the side with these cover songs.as far as the production goes you will not hear any crazy keyboards or washes of echo on these recordings, but there is a tinge of the manic that would suggest Meeks touch.is the singer on the example given here, Sheila (a Tommy Roe song) really Joe Meek? i did a comparison with some of his vocal efforts and there is much difference between them.
we need an expert. anybody?
Frank Bacon(Joe Meek?)- Sheila
Little Things
I was woken by JP on the phone. It was hard to make out what he was saying because there was so much background noise. I tried to ask him where he was, but he said he had to be quick. I was to meet him at Rydell's Café later that morning. He'd found a guy who use to work at JCP records here in North Carolina. I knew the label, and had a few pieces in my collection back home. They released several worthy garage discs, and I was always eager to investigate further.
I went to meet him and, as ever, he was distracted. He kept looking across at an old man that was sitting in a booth on the other side of the room. He told me that he had arranged a meeting with this guy, but he couldn't go himself. He said I should go to the guys house and gave me an address. I finished my milkshake and got up to leave. JP said goodbye, still watching the old man, who hadn't moved since we'd arrived there.
I went over to the address, and knocked on the door. A quite elderly man answered the door. I introduced myself, and after the usual formalities, I broached the subject of the label, and any possible records he may have. He smiled, leading me to the back room. He had piles of old stock records. I scanned though them and found a nearly complete set of the great JCP garage discs. While I was looking, he was affably sharing anecdotes of the old days. It was a pleasant afternoon.
When I got back I played through the stack of 45s on my portable. This record by a local Raleigh band called the Sands particularly struck me. Finding items like this is what it's all about.
The Sands - Little Things
Monday, 13 August 2007
Wednesday, 8 August 2007
was this band trying to be ironic? maybe they just excepted their roll in a complex world of teen self depriciation.
this is a classic case of a mid-sixties band that had a kooky(but downright silly)name. others that spring to mind are The Jerms, The Insex,The Eggs,The Snails,The Fone Book,The Menn, The Pratt's Bottom '5' and hundreds of others.some of the more whacky ones seemed to be conjured up by younger bands looking to gain some sort of notoriety with their poor spelling skills and homespun musical thrashings.
The funny thing about The Dawks song here which was featured on a `66 Dayton Ohio radio/Battle Of The Bands comp is that its not at all kooky or gimmicky but has a moody tinge and is relatively sincere. ok its got the pop edge and mersey tinge but the guitar work possesses an otherworldlyness that ....well unites all dawks across the globe.
The Dawks - Good Thing
Thursday, 2 August 2007
the raised house pt.1
"Hello father," i quacked as he descended, dressed head to toe in faded denim. I had placed a copy of my life's work, Coltrane Timetable, a long-winded and largely inaccurate history of Robbie Coltrane's career. "Father may I be the first to say that you appear incurably camp in this garb I see before me!"
Father merely grunted, and began sniffing the skimmed. "A bit iffy if you ask me," he murmered.
"Well I suppose it is cow's urine," i reasoned, leaning back in my chair casually.
"Eddie Spatch said he saw you on his wall the other night," he said, squeezing himself into a chair opposite. Eddie Spatch! What was this cretin saying now about me?
"How does he know it was me?" i scoffed.
"He said a clean-shaven lad of twenty-three, wearing that silly film crew jacket of yours.
Silly jacket? I presume he was referring to my "cast and crew only" jacket that i had woven myself in the attic, two winters ago.
"Anyway, it couldn't have been me, I am not clean-shaven!" I thundered, referring to the continuing work-in-progress that was my moustache.
"He said the lad in question was swaying about with a bottle of sherry, shouting something like 'Satanists Unite'."
"Ah that," i grimaced, rolling the words around in my mouth like an unpleasant boiled sweet, as if to say, 'you have me there, father, I shan't protest any longer.'
After a lenthy pause, where we both sipped our tea pensively, I came out and asked it straight.
"Do you have five pounds I could borrow please?"
"What for?" he snapped back, a challenging smirk appearing on his weather-beaten exterior.
"Luncheon."
"Why don't you take yer own sandwiches in like I do?"
"There are a lot of things that you do father which fall short of my targets. And those grotty little sandwiches you insist on escorting across town every morning are indeed one of them. There is a man called Flathead who owns an Internet Cafe, that provides egg and chips and two pounds fifty, and that is how I choose to replenish my body's energy resource at one p.m."
"Well what's the other two-fifty for?" he sneered, reaching into his backside pocket."
"Internet access," I replied matter-of-factly.
And with that I was gone, out into the hall, sniggering. Out into the rain-soaked street. I felt deliciously devious, for Flathead, as I know only too well, had no internet to speak of! And the only spam being deleted was if a particularly misguided builder chose to partake in what was know as "Flathead's Cold Platter."
(to be continued......)
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Gordon
whilst listening to the excellent new Messthetics #103 i stumbled apon The Cravats `Gordon`.These lot self-released `Gordon` with the help of band member Chris Shend`s mum who loaned them £400 to press 1000 singles.this amusing quote came from a recent interview with two members of the band:
"My Lovely Mum lent us £400 to make Gordon and we're still paying her back. She wanted me to be happy and so allowed me to be an anarchist in the conservatory after 6pm"
a copy of the single managed to find its way to Pete Stennet`s Small Wonder records, where they subsiquently brought 500 copies to put out with their own stamp on the center label.
The band formed in 1977 in Redditch as a reaction to seeing The Stranglers in Birmingham.The band had four members at this point,Chris Shend,Robin Dallaway,Martin Seys and Ethos Yapp.`Gordon` was recorded as a demo with some other songs in 1978.
Dale Jowett writes:
"The band didn't have a clue what to do once inside the studio so an in-house engineer took charge.When he handed them the finished tape they didn't know to what to do with it."
`Gordon` captures all the very British,simplistic rhythms that are found in Crass` music.but which came first?both bands formed in `77.maybe Crass heard `Gordon` when they too joined Small Wonder to record a single in 1978, and were heavily influenced by its sound.or maybe they were just doing similar things at the same time.this is speculation until the facts can be uncovered.
The Cravats-Gordon
The Cravats interview can be read here:
http://http://www.trakmarx.com/2004_02/07_cravats.htm
The Cravats own website:
http://www.thecravats.com/
Thursday, 26 July 2007
The Lead...
I heard this record a few years back. I'd got it in a tape trade with this kid, SP. It was on a tape marked 'Sacramento Bands.' I'd dug up most of the 45s from the tape, but there were no leads on this one. I checked through my Notes. I had them down as having three singles in total, two as Group B and one as The Spokes, none of which were in my reference library. I'd given Sacramento a good look over, but no-one there could help. SP's copy seemed to be the only one around, and it was firmly under lock and key.
I mentioned it in passing to this girl Martha while we were sat in the free bar at the San Pedro Record Convention. She leaned over and whispered in my ear that I should come with her, and maybe we could work something out. She had been on my back for months trying to get a copy of this unknown 45 I had been holding in a quantity of two. We sat for a bit longer talking the talk with record guys, then split when it was least suspicious to do so. She took me back to her motel room, and produced a cache of 45s. Three different records, five copies of each. I asked her where she got them from, but she wouldn't tell me. I handed over the disc she wanted, and I got a copy of each of the three in return. The other two were fine records, and seldom seen, but the Scorpio was the one I wanted. I left the motel room some hours later, under the cover of night. I sat on the roadside and smoked a cigarette feeling good about the treasure in my rucksack. I had to hit the road in the morning, I had a tip from JP on a rare 45 he'd been sniffing out for me. It was complicated, he said.
Group B- She`s Gone
The Mo-dettes (as in MODE-ttes not Modettes no mods here!) released this cover of "Twist and Shout" as a flexi-single with the first pressing release of their version of "Paint it Black" in the year of 1980. In contrast to a particularly haunting cover of "Paint it Black", this is pretty upbeat. The Mo-dettes were formed in London in 1979 with stateside born guitarist Kate Korus (former Castrators & The Slits), Swiss born ballet student Ramona Carlier who had left her homeland for lack of its punk culture, and two brits June Miles-Kingston and teen
runaway Jane Crockford. Interestingly Kate and Jane met on the set of The Great Rock'nRoll Swindle, where Jane had been sharing a flat with Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten!Listen! Listen! Listen! If you dont like it and have the receiptI'll give you a full refund!
The Rain(in Britian)
the UK is pretty soggy right now,in some places a months worth of rain fell in one day,so what better way to celebrate than to highlight some pre-teen garage winners!
first up is The Five.information about these young`uns is speculative.from the label scan you can see the song is written and maybe performed by Tommy and Terry Jacobs.there has to be a 3rd member becuase of the bass.Chas Kit from Garage Hangover mentioned recently they may be from Dallas.is there much rain in Dallas? well, whichever way these kids were probably no older than 11 when they recorded this 4 chord stabber.i like the way the singer moves away from the mic whilst singing to maybe concentrate on his guitar playing or scrutinise the drummers bad timing.
the flip to this,being equally good, can be heard at GarageHangover.com
The Five-Idon`t Care If It Rains All Night
here is a band from Melbourne,Australia which appear on the great ozzy comp`Its A Kave In` which contains the incredible `I`m So Small` by The Crests.again the theme of rain persists,the frantic break in the middle of the song actually sounds like a deluge.genius stuff.
the scan above is another record by the band of which i have never heard(from the vaults of Bosshoss).`Rain` is from an acetate.
The Leprecauns-The Rain
thanks to bosshoss for scans
Thursday, 19 July 2007
YOU BONZO!
This is Neil Innes` son in an almost aggressive cover of the famous Slade song `Cum On Feel The Noize`.Neil Innes was one of the founder members of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band.no doubt his son Miles would have been introduced to all manner of strange musical ideas.perhaps the Slade song seemed to cut through all that unnecessary avant-garde garbage, well after all its what the kids wanted right?
This is taken off Morgan Fisher`s LP `Minitures` which i was delighted to have the money to purchase recently.it contains a few post-punk attrocities which will be posted in time.
Miles Innes-Cum On Feel The Noise
Live!
here is a live recording of The Bachs at Skokie Valley Jnr High 1967.this reel-to-reel turned up in one lucky bloggers postbox not long ago.these are 2 snotty(literally) takes on The Stones Under My Thumb/Satisfaction.whats up with the fake sneezes?is it not enough to put down your your fave girl with a scathing mysoganistic rant, but then to sneeze on her? this is truly the lowest of the low.....disgusting,i`m going home.
well maybe its not a sneeze at all...just the singers way of getting revved up....
Their much-lorded, rare Out Of The Bachs `68 LP fetches a pretty price.i did manage to locate a reissue LP itself quite a rarity, but fluffed it...damn.
The Bachs- Under My Thumb/Satisfaction
Rockabilly Supreme
Being a novice with rockabilly i beg to ask the question`does it get any better than this?` Eddie Daniels has everything that a rockabilly singer should have in my books,the almost goofy country voice that isn`t shy with the falsetto.both sides to this 45 are killer and have been comped on Desperate Rock n` Roll Vol1. it is alleged that Eddie Cochran sessioned on these tracks which may have added an extra bit of character to the music.note the sax and guitar mirroring each other,crazy stuff.Daniels had one more 45 on Ebb which i have yet to hear,again both sides are ment to be great.
Eddie Daniels-Hurry Baby
Natives
This is a nice little beat mover, with a good scream and break.don`t no much about this group other than they recorded another B side `Tommorow` which is ment to be wild.for the budget collecter(me) this was a nice little find.
could there be a link bewteen the Native American tribe The Commanches? i think not .the word commanche means `human being` or `the people` in this language.
The Commanches-Missed Your Loving
Cheapo UK labels#1
independent UK record labels in the 50s/60s were on a tiny scale in comparison to the US.the emphasis was less to do with a regional scene that could boast acts that would sell records in the area. subsidery/indie labels in Britain provided some of the smulchiest,corniest music around.....poor rip offs of American acts sold to the consumer for cheap so that more money could be made by not paying royalties to the original artists. but why would you not want the real thing?...well as long as the melody is there for Joe Bloggs to whistle to, it dun`t really matter dus it.
we will be posting more of these charming gems soon.
The Promineers had one hot organist.
The Promineers-Topsy Part II
Extra Tough Looking Man
James Bond...last of the summer wines style.
here is something i found in Paris.if these guys were thinking of cashing in on the James Bond explosion, they missed the mark.though the track has a definate sense of drama to it,its difficult to imagine the suave sophisticated 007 flapping around to this music.
if anyone is familiar with the UK long running tv series Last Of The Summer Wine, you could almost imagine Sean Connery appearing in a more recent episode, with this instrumental being a special one-off theme tune.
this lot are probably from Holland as the record is made there(Imperial Records)
James B & tHE Starliners-Oh! Oh! Seven
Monday, 16 July 2007
Gordon Brown?
Here we have the Statesmen from Tacoma WA.A while back when we were regularly frequenting the houses of parliment(and stealing savoury snacks), we got the lowdown on Gordon Brown`s(pictured far left,click on photo for better view) hazy past.it seems as though his original place of residence was in the pacific northwest of america, and he was in a spunky 60s r&b band called the Statesmen.it seems obvious the band was named by him in his endevour to be the country`s(UK) `top man`. WE ARE SURE HE WILL DENY THIS NOW,BUT WE KNOW THE TRUTH.
The Statesmen-Intro from reel to reel
photo taken from pnwbands.com
Damn!
Scary
its interesting to note that Joe Meek employed this band who were formally known as The Raiders containing the vocalist Rod Stewart.Joe immediately dismissed young Rod from the band....
rod `the mod`-euurrrgh
The MoonTrekkers-The Bogey Man
Czech Heavy Psych Find
The Matadors EP -Hate Everything Except Of Hatter/Get Down From The Tree/I Think Its Gonna Work Out Fine/Indolence.
This is a 45 that was found a couple of weeks ago at the local flea market. A Czech Psych outfit that are known for the song `Down From The Tree` which can be found on Nuggets II.The version on this e.p. is different from the self-titled LP version that appears on the compilation,with less production and a grittier sound.`Hate Everything Except Hatter` contains the hilarious line `your selfish,your stinkin`,your bad`.this is pretty cheezy psych, with a certain amount of naivety to it.there probably weren`t too many psych bands around Czechoslovakia at the time.
I couldn`t find any info on this EP .it would be interesting to see a picture sleeve if it exists.the sleeve pictured is a generic label sleeve.
The standout track here is `Indolence`.