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MORE REVIEWS OF SINGLES THAT HAVE BEEN WALLOWING IN MY COLLECTION FOR YEARS!

Well, a couple of these are recent acquisitions but still, a hefty portion of these random plucks have been hanging around here quite a long while and like, maybe they oughta get their due respect now before nobody on this planet of ours is gonna give a durn!

Roy Orbison-"Crying"/"Candy Man" (Monument Records)

This big 'un (once referred to as a "rock bolero"  ---- and you thought I was bad!) isn't offensive to my musical make up one iota, but frankly I'd rather be spinning Von Lmo if I had the time. I actually prefer the flip with a more rollicking country feel that perks me up like a good Charlie Rich song but hey, much better hearing "Crying" on the car radio than "Spinning Wheel" played to the point of insanity.

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The Untamed Youth-"California Street"/"Jennie Lee" (Norton Records)

I saw these guys put on a totally whacked out and over the top running across the other side screaming all the way show long ago, and thankfully their records (like this particular item) have the same blurt of energy within the grooves as they do when experienced in person. These tracks are about as authentic to the ideal of early rock 'n roll as this blog is to the spirit of the Golden Age of Rock Fandom, and although I was a tad disappointed that the flipster was not the Jan and Arnie song well, there are a whole lot more things to be disappointed about in life so why get worked up over it?

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Funhouse-"All Is All"/"Let's Go!" (Kuba Enterprises)

Here's a platter outta nowhere that features ex-Kongress/Von Lmo bass guitarist Kip Kuba and perhaps even Lou Rone, also of Kongress/Von Lmo fame (see BLACK TO COMM #25). Dunno for sure if Lou is on here (judging from the label Kuba obviously is) because some of the members listed in the credits seem to be using aliases, but it sure sounds like him so I would ponder so! Still wish he was around so I could ask him personally...

Even a good thirty seconds into this 'un you can tell that Funhouse were a pretty straightforward hard rock group, one that happened to be bubbling about way way WAY under the New York scene in the late-eighties which is why you've never read any hotcha info on 'em in the fanzines of the day. This Crash Landing '88 single proves just how brass knuckles the group were when it came to hard rock in an age when the term most certainly became an oxymoron...surprisingly potent heavy duty sound (heavy metal utilizing the seventies use of that term as an adjective) which satisfies and perhaps meant even MORE especially in an age when hair groups and watered down glitz ruled the day. This single roars on like those bands that ended up on the BONEHEAD CRUNCHERS series which is especially cool given how this was recorded a good fifteen or so years after the heyday of local (good) hard rock singles! And with alla that MTV jive that was ruining rock 'n roll seemingly for good back in those horrid times it just reverberates in my soul all the more. 

I wish I knew about this 'un when it first came out a good thirty-plus years back! Well, I woulda loved snatching this one up promowise 'stead of the reams of horrid aural Glade Air Freshener amerindie drivel that dolts who thought that BLACK TO COMM was a carbon-copy college music journal were wont to send my way.

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Shackle-"Mr. Tripper"/"Mr. Lover" (Hybrid Records)

I searched for this one after reading Eddie Flowers' reminiscence re. some "weird Meltzer-influenced rock writer from Chicago" that went by the moniker of Graham Carlton who once picked up a hitchhiking Flowers back '74 way. Funny, but I can't find any examples of Mr. Carlton's scribing anywhere on the web which is a shame since he sounds as if he coulda been a real contender if only because he was "weird" and a "Meltzer-influenced rock writer from Chicago" which sure does sound quite appealing. Well, it sure comes off a whole lot better'n being a "normal" and "Christgau-influenced rock writer from Chicago" ifyaknowaddamean...

Carlton's group Shackle, at least judging by this single that escaped sometime in the mid-seventies, may not be Vom but they're still a good enough listen-to for fans of the seventies self-produced single sweepstakes. Playing acoustic garage-y tunes with a sound that hints at things to come, Shackle do a drug song on the a-side --- I dunno if it is pro or con but at this point I'd say the former given how chemical brain stimulation seems to have been the rule of the day. The flip's a little sweeter in tone but is still a good enough bet for some mid-seventies post-psychedelic era sampler of the future. Of course it all makes me wanna know more about the man behind it and his writings, so if anyone out there has any personal recollections regarding either of 'em well, keep 'em secret like you've always done!

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Jan and Dean-"Popsicle"/"Norwegian Wood"  (Liberty Records)

This late '66 release was one of many attempts to salvage the Jan and Dean team after Jan's fateful drive to (or at least near) Dead Man's Curve. I'm glad it did fairly well considering the a-side was originally issued a good three or so years earlier and I'm sure Jan needed all the help with the bills that were comin' his way. The Beatles cover sadly does hint at the downslide that acts like Jan and Dean were experiencing at the hands of the mop top brigade to the point where they hadda jump onna bandwagon to remain up to date, but danged if I don't find this arrangement way better'n the original. You might think so too but you're all just too "sophisticated" to agree, hippydippys you are and shall remain.

Oh, and if Miss Roseann Zimmerman of 6 Brian Road Wapping Connecticut wants her old record back well...tough turds you gave it up!

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The Mob-"Witch Hunt"/"Shuffling Souls" (All The Madman Records, England)

The Mob were thee early '80s anarcho-punk band with the most classiness to 'em, even more than the Cravats or Astronauts who were rather classy compared to the smellier acts roaming 'round. They played a straightforward and surprisingly melodic rock 'n roll that owed a whole lot to the English blare that was sellin' like hotcakes a good five years earlier and besides, they didn't come off like a buncha screaming menopausal women all upset because they couldn't write their names in the snow.

This is but one of a handful of singles (not forgetting their album) and perhaps the best, with a '77 approach that most likely is due to the influence of this one group whose name I just hate to bring up. You know, that band whose mere mention evokes years of the might of the music they played being co-opted and downright ruined by the recent upcropping of young gifted and snoozeroo types who churn out chords learned off internet sites and do it all in an annoying plastic jewelry and dyed blue hair sorta way. And as for the women...

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The Zantees-"Rockin' In The House"/"Mornin' Light" (Little Ricky Records)

These Zantees just barely predated the big rockabilly upheaval of 1981, but for some strange reason they never did get the kinda notoriety the likes of Phantom, Rocker and Slick did. I guess they just didn't have the same kind of publicity machine rollin' behind 'em (or heapin' bags of cocaine to use for promotional purposes) but wha' th' hey????? 

This debut sure 'nuff was a rather convincing cause for the Zantees being higher up on the rockabilly totem pole than they unfortunately are. Straightforward yet not cloying and pandering to the giddier gnu 'billy fans, nor are they "down pat" with their approach like too many of these revivalists were. The so-so sound quality only helps me believe even more that this is the real deal homage to a music (what'm I sayin' --- A WAY OF LIFE!) long gone but certainly not forgotten, 'least by the kinda folk who lived through the fifties and sixties enjoying it without feeling guilty like alla them hippies did. 

Certainly not the kinda music that a buncha cling ons woulda whipped up after hearing "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" thinkin' they could do better by using more mascara. Will be seeking out the Bomp! album for a re-assess one of these eons.

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The Spades-"You're Gonna Miss Me"/"We Sell Soul" (Zero Records seventies reissue)

Pre-Elevators Roky taking it into territory that was even more primitive than a good portion of those other home made singles of the sixties we all know and love. The "Emil Schwartze" version of "Miss Me" cranks with a basement rock passion that I gotta admit makes the better known hit sound slightly staid, while the early version of "Don't Fall Down" has that repeato-riff lurch that recalls that one group mentioned in the Mob writeup whose mere name I want to refrain from using because of reasons I don't wanna repeat for that sake of not boring you all to bits --- you can read all about it above. As expected the low-fi quality adds the overall intensity of it all.

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Elvis Costello-"Watching the Detectives"/"Blame it on Cain"; "Mystery Dance" EP (Stiff Records, Belgium [the yellow vinyl ones you usedta see all over the place!])

I'm sure you don't remember, but Costello really was at the top of his form during them early days when people thought alla that punk rock stuff of his was so offensive! Well at least he was at the top until he left the underground credo of Stiff and Radar records and became what some people would call a big time "new Dylan" 'r something like that. Phony reggae on the a-side ain't as derivative as some might think while the live flip's still got that booma-la-fa that kinda dissipated when Costello landed on F-Beat. 's hard to believe in this day and age, but people like Costello and his pal Nick Lowe were pointing music in a whole better direction away from the usual AM offal and FM phony stoner mentalities that seemed to be such a rage during the worst moments of them already worst days. As if any of that mattered now that it's ALL  over, done 'n stick a fork in it.

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The Birdhouse-"My Birdman"/"Don't Wanna Shake" (Powerhouse Records, England)

Hitting the underground rock scene smack dab at the beginning of the Big Detroit Rock Revival of the mid-eighties, the Birdhouse weren't Australian but they sure had the same sense of all-out high energy madness as the best practitioners of Michigan homage --- ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS, RADIO BIRDMAN, THE PINK FAIRIES, UMELA HMOTA 3, THE FUN THINGS and about a hundred other groups whose monikers I'll remember about ten years after this review is posted. 

Off key vocals might make some of you purists wish for the return of The Masked Ginny Lynne, but they fit in swell with the straight ahead guitar rock cacophony that the Birds thrust forth. Not only that but these guys (and one gal) get pretty rambunctious when it comes to keeping the spirit of rock 'n roll going in the face of all that eighties gloss we all hadda suffer through. One of the highlights of the real underground revival of the day, and anyone who's read the eleventh issue of my crudzine should already know that by now.

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Pylon-"Cool"/"Dub" (Caution Records)

For being from Athens Georgia, and for being there during the early-eighties days of new unto gnu wave, AND for being there during a time when musical acts from that locale and era were being incessantly hyped in the pages of various publications we thought shoulda known better --- well, it is halfway there. Pylon played a good enough (I guess) post-something rock complete with a lead singer who reminds me somewhat of Lydia Lunch with a backing band that was about as angular as many of those English groups of the day. If you miss the mail order mania you had way back when if only because there weren't any local record shops selling these things and you had no other choice but to save your pennies and choose your purchases wisely well, this 'un'll bring back really fond memories of how just one little record like this could brighten not only your whole day but a good portion of the week as well.

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Girl Trouble-"Tarantula"/"Old Time Religion" (K Records)

For the life of me I can't remember even possessing this single let alone having heard it before, but since a whole lotta trauma's gone down since them days no wonder my memory's as clogged up as a peanut butter lover's toilet. 

To be totally upfront tippy top honest about it, I really do feel like such a doofus knowing that this platter has been moiling away in my collection for decades awlready because it's such a good 'un that I coulda been enjoying all these years! Girl Trouble take the better moments of the Cramps and various other retro-creep types and crushes 'em all together to come up with a wild rock 'n roll sound that doesn't come off all posed and coy like a lotta these acts can get. Pretty straight ahead in approach and outcome to the point where I think it coulda even put a smile on the faces of some of those strict and stodgy early rock fans who loathed anything that popped up after 1959. 

And I was briefly under the impression that "K" Records and Calvin Johnson were as bad as a few of those amerindie snobs sure led us to believe! Feh!!!

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THE VIBRACATHEDRAL DRUM ORCHESTRA/THE VIBRACATHEDRAL STRING BAND (Freedom From Records)

This particular one outta a million Vibracathedral Orchestra releases sports a splattering percussion workout on one side and what sounds like various stringed instruments of different nationalities being plunked in a seemingly random fashion on the flip. You'll be surprised to hear me say this, but this does have somewhat of a skewered avgarde appeal to it which does jigsaw in with the other Vibracathedral Orchestra recordings I have heard o'er the years. It may sound rather put on-ish when compared to the "serious" percussion ensemble works of composers such as John Cage and Lou Harrison or those Sun Ra string workouts from the sixties, but it's here for you if you want it and who knows but you just might!

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The Boston Tea Party-"Free Service"/"I'm Tellin' You" (Flick-Disc Records)

As far as non-hit late-sixties rarities go this is nothing special, although the Boston Tea Party did have a flicker of an idea as to what AM rock shoulda sounded like even if they were part and parcel to the neckerchief and Nehru jacket scene of the day. Of course  it has that '69 hipster groove to it that makes you think that this is just the kind of record Fred from SCOOBY DOO woulda spun while trying to get some you-know-whatie offa Daphne, but so did some other boff efforts of the time like, say, It's All Meat and they weren't one bit bad at all! Sure it misses the mark as far as the type of music I love to associate with the late-sixties goes, but even with its lackluster style and approach I'd take this over Steam any day!

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Charlie Wiener-FOR OTTO SCHMIDDLAPP 7-inch 33 rpm "mini album" (Lode Records)

No shittin' ya, this is a really important (and that ain't no everyday exaggeration given that I printed "really" not only in italics but in bold and underlined t'boot!) recording that has some notable significans when it comes to documenting the the Cleveland First Wave underground scene. That's only because original Rocket From The Tombs bass guitarist and singer Charlie Wiener performs a number on this '75 release that (no foolin'!) was actually a part of the original Rocket set list! Now there might have been others on here that popped up into the mix but "Ixnay Guys (Loose Lips Sink Ships)" has been documented as one of the group's early pre-"serious" version of the group efforts and like, for that reason alone any Cle music fan should at least have its ears perked up regarding this rarity even if only a little...

I was hopin' that Wiener's old "Funn Bunns" would have backed the guy up thus making this about as close to a document of the early Rocket as we can get at this time (Wiener and Behemoth, free them tapes!) but eh! If it's any consolation Viking Saloon owner and one-time Rocket sitter inner Dick Korn plays drums so maybe you can ooze even more historical significance outta this even though this ain't exactly whatcha'd call underground rock by any stretch of the imagination.

Naw, Wiener's pretty well settled into his "Hot Country" groove which did him rather well o'er the years, so if you're expectin' some sorta Detroit rock assault whatever you do don't look here. But for alla you readers who have even a slight curiosity about the early Rocket well..."Ixnay Guys" sure doesn't come off like what I woulda imagined the original quartet to sound like one bit, it being a downright rockacountry rouser with a pretty hotcha beat that keeps your entire innards palpitatin'. 

The rest dives even deeper through the country sphincter with a romantic moaner ("It's Over"), a patriotic (I think) paen to the upcoming Bicentennial ("America") and a love song to the wife ("For My Wife").  Sure it ain't anything for the standard BLOG TO COMM turdburger to delve into, but it sure is a curiosity that needs to be documented especially for those of us who were fans of the Cle underground way way back and still wanna know every little shard and detail about Cleveland's seventies under-the-underground. If you're curious enough I guess you locate your very own copy somewhere, just don't ask for (or steal) mine!

By the way, if you want to see a "meeting of minds" or at least both Rocket From The Tombs bass guitarists talking about things like Crocus Behemoth and Peter Laughner, just watch this (unfortunately truncated right when it was getting good!) video shot at Cleveland's Beachland Ballroom:

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The Left Banke-"Queen of Paradise"/"And One Day" (Camerica Records)

Having not listened to this 'un in nigh over thirty years all I can say is --- "a" side is gunky disco cash-in from an act on the rebound that was way above doing such trash. However, it still does have what I would call at least a shard of serious "Greg Shaw approved" pop appeal that makes it worth at least one spin. I prefer "And One Day" which even I'll admit also reflects the miasma that we used to call seventies teenbo radio, but this one comes out shining if only because of the talent behind it. Kinda like a slightly pepped up version of solo Eric Carmen without the gloop. Very West Coast sounding for a New York-based group, but for that matter not as potent as that previous Left Banke reunion attempt that gave us those tracks on the HOT PARTS soundtrack. Still, it is an artyfact that's important enough for whatever Left Banke fans that remain after all these years.

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Kack Klick-"Lord My Cell is Cold"/"One More Day and One More Night" (House of Guitar Records)

A pre-Churchmice Armand Schaubroeck getting way ahead of the low-fi repeato riff crowd. That is, if this really is a 1963 recording like some sources out there have been telling us for years. Shaubroeck's vocals mix the Jagger and Dylan sneers that were so prevalent '65 way while the music has the same cheap garage sound (and barely "there" performance) that made those Lou Reed Primitives/Roughnecks recordings the 180 degree opposite of them "well produced" and "pristine" pop efforts that were popping up in the fambly collection. Deep and soulful recordings that definitely matched Schaubroeck's mental state while serving time in the pokey.

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Elephant's Memory-"Mongoose"/"I Couldn't Dream" (Metromedia Records)

Don't know (or care) what you think, but "Mongoose" was one of the better and shoulda been bigger singles (other'n in Pittsburgh where it hit #1) to come outta the rather pathetic year of 1970. Considering the success that horn bands like Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears were having at the time it's not surprising that this 'un did as well as it did, but while those acts were doing their strictly commercial pump up the kiddos sounds Elephant's Memory had a pretty snazz way of mixing the brass with a particularly good creepy-crawl that separated this 'un from the usual cuddly cute that was then passing for AM radio (see labelmate Bobby Sherman for an example). Flip's one of those neo-retro numbers with whistling and a piano, a bit on the minor side but a bit spright and toe-tapping. Quite pleasing to the hammer and stirrups. Coulda even passed for a Montage outtake!

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Super K-"Recurring Nightmare"/"Go Go" (Citadel Records, Australia)

From outta the eighties Detroit rock revival scene that took Australia by storm (see Birdhouse review above) came this spin that I recall gobbling up like anything way back when. "Recurring Nightmare" does have a downer edge to it with a melody that reminds me of "96 Tears" filtered through a Jim Morrison barbiturate haze. Fitting music for an era (and a label) that held past accomplishment in such a high esteem. "Go Go" is kinda/sorta bubblegum with bite and femme vocalizing. Something that really would throw off people who hears the "a" side and expected more angst. I didn't think rock 'n roll had it so good back in the eighties (the worst era for rock until the nineties, oughts, teens...), but records like this helped ease the misery.

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The Phantom-"Love Me"/"Whisper Your Love" (eighties-vintage Dot Records knockoff)

 

Rockabilly makes its way to the Dot label with this over-the-top-and-then-some screamer that put the oomph in the budding genre 'n then even more! I'm sure that a vast majority of people would think that "Love Me" had NIL to do with any sort of idealized romantic interest and come to think it doesn't, but it's still a crazed impassioned call that I'm sure woulda wowed some of the looser members of the female persuasion had this 'un only gotten out more. "Whisper" sounds like whatcha'd expect from something in the old Southern rock 'n roll style, 'n I still have a hard time believing that Pat Boone had ANYTHING to do with this guy!