THE USUALLY STROONAD-Y SINGLES THAT I BET YOU WISH YOU OWNED! WELL, AT LEAST OSMOSE SOME OF MY OWN PERSONAL JOY BY READING ON...
Just another trip into the forgotten no man's land of singles either bought, stolen, inherited or just magically popped into places you'd least expect!
The Tune Rockers-"No Stoppin' This Boppin'"/"Easy Does It" (Pet Records)
Yes, from what I can discern these Tune Rockers are the same ones who did the ultra-boff "Green Mosquito" for United Artists Records, that being a record which actually made enough of a noise to the point where the Rockers got to "lip-synch" it on AMERICAN BANDSTAND back 1958 way. This release on the smaller and therefore less prestigious Pet Records "obviously" came out right after the United Artists deal collapsed, and for a follow up it ain't that bad. Both sides feature a bouncy, rollicking "Raunchy"-styled rhythm on what seems to be the exact same song only with a few lead sax/guitar changes and some fine-tuning here and there. I'd rate it up there with all of those other late-fifties/early-sixties instrumental rock groups who seemed to hold down the fort while all the girls began gettin' giggly over those teen idols who were on the ass-scent at the time.
Mouth & Macneal-"How Do You Do?"/"Land of Milk And Honey" (Philips Records)
Awww it ain't that bad! But I'd be lyin' if I didn't say that it sure was stuff like this which made me shun the AM with a pre-teen vengeance! In all "How Do You Do?" sounds just like the kind of record that your just popping into adolescence female cousin would purchase and spin a few times with her galpals while the folks were away and the siblings were handily locked in the basement just so's they would come up and cause any trouble. And considering that this very same platter is the same one my very same cousin purchased with her hard-earned almost five decades back, you know I'm right!
The Infidels-"Mad About That Girl"/"A Thousand Years Ago" (Jim's Records)
My cuz (brother to the cuz mentioned in the previous review) once told me that there was this kid goin' to Sharon High School who wore a jacket with the Infidels' name embroidered across the back of it along with the various punk accouterments which were part/parcel to a lotta counter-countercultural kids making their existences known back during the saggy days we called the eighties. Of course nobody liked this guy, but as I coulda told ya even then this Infidels fan was the only RIGHT THINKING BULB IN THE PACKAGE while all of the MTV swillers who made his existence a living Hades are the real turds in the toilet ifyaknowaddamean...
Here the first of what I believe were a few Infidels records, and if this Youngstown band's single is any example then the youth of the past were even more Quindlanesque than I originally gave 'em credit for! This is straight ahead good time power pop with a decidedly Ohio flavor which would figure since Blue Ash's Frank Secich did the production! And although many of you readers might shriek at the "twee-ness" of it all I find the thing rather pleasing along with many of those other faves you might have seen mentioned in an old issue of BOMP! Good for a break from the standard snizzle that I tend to spin during my ever-growing free time.
It will remind you of, in lieu of what a dungheap a good portion of your musical life has been, just what downright entertaining pop spins could be found in between the AM glitz and FM ponderousness that had been pushed at us for almost a good forty years on end!
The Shadows of Knight-"Shake"/"From Way Out To Way Under" (Shake Records)
The Shadows of Knight under the spell of the Kasenetz-Katz Bubblegum Army sound just as swell as they did under the spell of Bob Traut and Dunwich. "Shake"'s a brave stab at keeping the Top 40 charts of 1968 rock 'n roll-oriented and it's too bad the thing relatively flopped or maybe we wouldn't have hadda put up with David Crosby's brand of sap in the upcoming years. The instrumental on the flip has a surprisingly strong urge to it that one wouldn't necessarily associate with teenybopper music...pretty underground-y if you ask me! If the original owner "M. L." happens to be reading this (check masking tape on label), ya ain't gettin' yer copy back no matter how much ya beg!
Knickers-"Drums of Love"/"Denunciations" (Reckless Records)
Mid-seventies powerpop that kinda sounds like the half-way point between the likes of the Blue Ash/Raspberries style and the eighties breed a la the Infidels mentioned above. Featuring TROUSER PRESS editor Ira Robbins and some future Blondie guy, these Knickers really know how to revive those mid-sixties Beatles ideas merging 'em with the New York sound making for a record that should have been a big under-the-counterculture hit 'stead of a posthumous memorial. Yet another one of those "coulda beens" who ended up more like "never weres", though I get the idea that even if the Knickers had stuck around a little longer they would have been buried under the weight of many a Sire Records cutout cluttering up the bins of 1979.
Elvis Presley-"Shake Rattle And Roll"/"I Got a Woman" (White Knight Records)
Don't let that "Blue Moon Boys" tag fool ya...this is early Elvis long before his plunge into a diet more attuned to your average BLOG TO COMM writer's. Sound quality's actually pretty good considering the age and the performance is that of the early days of rock 'n roll long before it got gunked up thanks to the interference of people who never shoulda gone near a microphone, or a recording booth, or a talent agency for that matter. Hokay, to be rather au contraire about it like you all think I would be I gotta say that I do prefer Von Lmo's version of "Shake Rattle And Roll" while the Ray Charles live at Newport "I Got a Woman" with that extended riff where Charles keeps goin' "nyahh nyahh nyahh" is tops in my book as well! Hoo boy, am I a controversial figure in this sad and sorry business called rock fandom or what!
Johnny Kannis-"King of the Surf!"/"Pushin' Too Hard" (Dog Meat Records, Australia)
Fans of the Australian neo-Detroit rock scene take notice! An early nineties reissue of Kannis' RCA single on the a-side with a ne'er before released spin onna back, both sides taking the old standbys and, while not adding anything new to them, still make for a rockin' time. Reminds me of all the hope many people above the equator had for the Antipodean scene, at least until many of the newer acts began to lose their intensity and we discovered that some of the people who did reside down there could be real creeps! As usual, this is gonna have me diggin' more Australian by-now rarities outta the crates for a good posthumous analysis of which recordings like this are most deserving of!
Hackamore Brick-"Searchin'"/"Radio" (Kama Sutra Records)
Hey, it's a familiar spin around the BTC orifice and since the a-side's now on a number of ONE KISS LEADS TO ANOTHER reishes it ain't like it's a rarity any mo'! But man if it just don't feel GREAT picking up a single and slappin' it on a good ol' fashion-style turntable just like we usedta do back when we were a whole lot younger and the impact coulda knocked ya right off your seat! Like any classic side by the rest of the seventies plowed unders (Flamin' Groovies, Stooges, Sidewinders...) one of those records that sure makes one glad that things like ears were invented.
The Bags-"L. Frank Baum"/"Max Roach" (Stanton Park Records)
My relatively recent review of THE NEW WIZARD OF OZ got me into thinkin' about this particular record, and as far as a tribute to that loathed by me moom pitcher goes (the original WIZARD OF OZ that is), I gotta say that I like it more than I thought I would goin' into the thing.
Pretty good metallic thud music with a wild coda that'll make any of those eighties hair groups go bald. The flip has about as much to do with Max Roach as Little Archie but it's a wild speedthrough that'll have you catching your breath in no time! Did I tell you that both sides play at 33 rpm giving you way more music for your buck? Gonna hafta search out these Bags' (not to be confused with any other Bags since these guys came from Boston) album with the cheap paste up cover which lies somewhere in my should be massive but ain't (just did some inventory!) collection!
The Bags-"Hide And Seek"/"I Know" (Stanton Park Records)
Another one from the above group, and while it's not quite as over-the-top manic as "L. Frank Baum" these sides do hold up a whole lot. Well, at least they hold up way more'n any of that fake hard rock that the likes of Andy Secher had been pushing on downer kids who'll believe anything as long as it's presented in a lowest common denominator fashion. I discern a bit of classic-era T. Rex influences on the flip which I gotta say helps things out a bit. In all, a group that I sure wish got more coverage back when they were up 'n about, though with all of those "rock critics" using up their precious time hyping the likes of Sade no wonder these Bags flopped about like they did!
Dizzy and the Romilars-"Elizabeth's Lover"/"Star Time" (Jimboco Records)
This got reviewed a loooong time ago but wha' th' hey as R. Meltzer once so succinctly put it. This Comateens spinoff might have had various elements of future new unto gnu wave elements but when this came out most rock pretensions on the underground scene were relatively under control (or least I would like to have thought so). In fact this is quite intense in its own electronic rock way and has nary a trace of that same ginchiness that made the early-eighties such a dreary place. Comes with a neat insert which you can turn into your own Romilar box!
Lucky Wray-"Teenage Cutie"/"You're My Song" (Starday Records)
Early Link Wray on guitar with his brother Ray aka Lucky aka Ray Vernon singing and other brother Doug doin' somethin' but I don't think its drums on this definitely swinging country side. Echoes of future Raymen glory can be heard on the plug side, though the flip's a real slow weeper that hardly does anything for my sense of rockism. If you have the Norton MISSING LINKS albums you'll hear the a-side and MUCH MORE to satisfy your soul. If not you can still get 'em and the sooner the better for all you rock 'n roll losers out there!
The Barbarians-"Hey Little Bird"/"You've Got To Understand" (Joy Records)
As far as Beatle ripoffs go these Provincetown straight guys had the usual Bugs/Spiders/Centipede types beat all hollow. However why did Joy Records decided to put the definitely more upbeat "Understand" on the flipside since this is the one that woulda been the best bet for moptop chart-topping success. With business moves like that it's no wonder that they didn't stay in business long! Available on a number of NUGGETS imitations, but having a single, albeit a repress, in my grubby hands sure enhances the whole rock 'n roll spirit of it all a lot quicker if I do say so myself!
Davey Payne-"Saxophone Man"/"Foggy Day" (Stiff Records, England)
Ian Dury sideman goes solo and proves that by the time this was recorded no one was safe from the new-unto-gnu wave fashion that was beginning to permeate the under-the-counterculture listening world to the point of madness! Whereas Stiff Records in 1976 was pub, psychedelic and proto-punkish enough to please a lotta fans of the Big Beat, by the time the eighties rolled in it had fallen into the same glitz rut as a whole lotta other bright hopes who shoulda known better given past rock experiences. At least we had over-the-edge hard and offensive rockers like MX-80 Sound, Von Lmo and Black Flag to alleviate the disappointment that many of us were beginning to feel, eh?
The Subs-"Gimme Your Heart"/"Party Clothes" (Stiff Records, Belgium)
During the color vinyl craze this 'un used to pop up in the singles section of many a local record chain shop next to similar items whether they be on Stiff Records or not. Ahhh, if you have certain nostalgic feelings for some of the better aspects of 1978 boy do you need this record! Actually both sides are whatcha'd call standard tough bounce English punk rock (note-I had just been reminded that the Subs were from Glasgow...that's in Scotland!) but everything is kept on track thanks to Larry Wallis' production and abilities to take something in a raw and unpolished state...and make sure it stays that way! I'm sure someone out there knows what happened to these guys...for years I actually thought they were the UK Subs which just goes to show you how those brain stems fail to connect when your head is only working at 35% capacity!
Steel Tips-"96 Tears"/"Krazy Baby"
Not as outrageously finger-biting as I thought it would be, but still a fantabulous effort as these New York punks take on ? and the Mysterians on the A-side and do a fairlly good job capturing at least something good about it. The original on the flip ain't some sorta punk pretension either. Yet another one of those under-the-underground records that really didn't get out enough for the reasons you might expect, but at least some of these have survived into the new eon even tho you now have to pay about twenny times the original cost to obtain a copy.
Celia and the Mutations-"Mony Mony"/"Mean to Me" (United Artists Records, England)
Personally I think it was a really boff idea to hook this piano/lounge singer up with the gruff likes of the Stranglers, even if the fact that Celia used to play Velvet Underground songs surely did give her enough counter-counterculture cred in mein book. And the results are even better than one woulda expected considering that this was recorded in 1977 long before the new-unto-gnu wave acts (see Davey Payne review above) began rendering sixties covers in a particularly sappy way. Tommy James done right by his "heirs", and the harder flip has that punk pre "punque" style that gave many a music maniac a choice instead of the echo many of us were forced to experience via the radios and tee-vee sets of the day!
The Mighty Mofos-"Mindreader"/"Screw", "Afterglow" EP (Treehouse Records)
The late eighties was filled with more than enough gunk to clog the carburetor of any surviving rock 'n roll maniac. Perhaps that is why some of the groups that did do the rock credo well got lost amid the thousands of totally crap neo-hippie hardcore and amerindie goo that was passing itself off as pure punk hysteria. These Mofos would definitely be included in a humongous list of acts that shoulda but didn't...kinda forgot what a real good group these guys were and this rec reminded me that not all of those promo singles that I was gettin' by the bushel back then were instant freeway filler.
The Mofos rock straight like an eighties version of the Kama Sutra-era Flamin' Groovies or maybe an eighties New Legion Rock Spectacular with an approach that should have earned these guys more than just a few followers along the way. The cover of the Small Faces' "Afterglow" was choice, proving that these Mofos had the same set of rock feelers out there as Flo ' n Eddie not to forget Miriam Linna. Again, one of those groups that really shoulda gone somewhere but were too outta place and time (and stuck in the middle of ROCK AT ITS WORST) to go anywhere which is a dad burned shame.
Side two plays at 33 and the rec comes on purple vinyl for those of you whose anuses aren't just quite tight enough.
The Fifty Foot Hose-"Red The Sign Post (alternate take)"/"If Not This Time (alternate take)" (Get Hip Records)
Budget-conscious me never did get the legitimately released Fifty Foot Hose album when it was reissued back inna nineties, but I did manage to pick this particular single up featuring two different versions of tracks off their long-gone Limelight LP. Great if only for the fact that these hoses took the whole Jefferson Airplane schtick and did it right with interesting electronic color and a female vocalist whose mind wasn't orbiting Neptune. For an act that came outta late-sixties San Francisco, pretty driving hard rock that doesn't spurt a scent of patchouli no matter how hard you sniff!
The Dictators-CBGB 1977 EP (blank label)
Seven-inch bootlegs like these seemed to pop up all over the place back inna late-eighties, this li'l nugget bein' just one a many. The sound ain't that hotcha but the energy really pours through what with the overload sound and the powerful performance of The Handsome One along with the rest of these rock miscreants doing their best to save the seventies from the hideous evils of disco. Do I like it??? Do I like strangling newborn puppies???
Rancid Vat-RULEBREAKERS RULE EP (Brilliancy Prize Records)
Rancid Vat were one of a few good groups to come outta that stew that was known as punk rock back inna eighties, especially because that stew had become mighty bad tastin' what with most of them punkoids bein' nothin' more'n hippies with short hair spouting the same Grace Slick drivel with a buzzsaw velocity. But Rancid Vat, boy were they a top notch effort both musically and lyrically, sportin' a cuttin' satire that still has me laughing a good long while after the band had dissipated. 'n really, who couldn't guffaw, snortle and just plain shake belly over such Rancid Vat faves as "Larger Than Life" or my own personal theme "Lonely at the Bottom" anyway?
Ostensibly a tribute to the bad boys of mid-eighties wrestling, Rancid Vat cover everyone from Elvis and Fred Blassie to NW wresting legend Beauregarde to themselves on four tracks that really capture the beautiful dunce side of suburban slob ranch house Saturday afternoon UHF tee-vee livin'. Vocalist Steve Wilson belts 'em out with his great foghorn voice somewhat reminiscent of Crocus Behemoth during his early atonal howl days while the music recalls more or less mid-seventies punk-a-rama what with the basement quality and the fantasticly raw playing that coulda earned Rancid Vat an opening spot on the Gizmos World Tour. It'll make you feel happy all over and not only that but this comes in a fold-open sleeve with some liner notes that are bound to curl your straighties!
The Misfits-"Cough Cool"/"She" (blank label)
It may sound like heresy to you readers, but I immensely prefer this early 1977 version of the Misfits to the horror show hardcore group that they eventually became and made heavy duty dinero with as the eighties rolled on. Cool "electric sync-piano" and vocals from Glenn Danzig along with bass guitar and drums come off more mid-seventies art rock in a pseudo-Roxy Music fashion that recalls TV Toy more'n anything else on the rock underground, and in an era of refreshing twists and turns on already twisted and turned rock forms I'd say this was almost as inspirational-ly outre as anything Suicide or the no wave groups were comin' up with. Sure would like to hear much more from the original combo---uh, any hints out there?
Eugene Church and the Fellows-"Pretty Girls Everywhere"/"For the Rest of My Life" (Class Records)
Here's a 1959 hit that, like a whole lotta hits from that stellar year, sorta got swept under the throw rug because it somehow doesn't fit in with the corporate/hippie riche concept of what 1959 was s'posed to be all about, Y'know, them years bein' so evil 'n all. Actually "Pretty Girls Everywhere" ain't what I think should be remembered about '59 the way singles by Johnny and the Hurricanes or heck, even the Fleetwoods should be, but it's a fairly good r 'n b number that did take a stand against a lotta the giddier schmooze that was starting to pop up on the radio band when cigar-chompin' businessmen decided to appeal to the geekier side of teendom. Actually not a record to toss off lightly.
Chris Spedding-"Motor Bikin'"/"Working for the Union" (Rak Records, England)
If I remember correctly, the first time I was made aware of the entire genre of punk rock as it stood in the seventies (and believe-you-me, I don't recall people calling Patti Smith or the Dolls punk with the velocity they would as time crept on) was in conjunction with this very record! Well, it does sound about as punk rock in a 1976 assessment of the term as some of those groups that popped up at the Mount de Marsan festival! Neo-kitch rock that doesn't offend and might even be responsible for an ear perk-up during some of those down times in your record listening excursions.
The New York Dolls-"Lookin' For a Kiss"/"Who Are The Mystery Girls?";"Something Else" (Trash Records)
I kinda wonder who these bootleg people are foolin' with these phony baloney names they give these artists. I mean, unless the pressing plant owner was Karen Quinlan anybody would know that these guys were the New York Dolls...I mean, who else! Three live sides of rather good quality featuring David J and company, a tad slowed down but still powerful enough to make you long for the record bins of the mid-seventies. And you know they're good because the mere mention of 'em still manages to make boomer Classic Rock (hah!) fans froth at the mouth with a rage unseen since the big head shop busts of the early-eighties.
Sun Ra-"I Am Strange"/"I Am An Instrument" (Norton Records)
I reviewed this in these very pages back 2009 way, but haven't spun the thing since because well, these items do get buried in the piles sometime (no, I don't mean those piles sweetie!). Two bee-youtiful sides recorded inna fifties with Ra accompanying his own spoken word prose to piano and a stringed instrument which might be a zither of some sort, or perhaps the very innards of the piano he used on the a-side. Either way this is a great creepy single where Ra exposes some more of that intellectual goo-goo-muck that added a whole lot to his overall interstellar mystique. Kinda reminds me of those solo piano Charles Gayle tracks condemning both abortion and homosexuality which had alla his lib whiteboy fans, so glad to discover a remnant of the sixties new thing who never did get his proper due, kinda embarrassed that they bought his discs inna first place!
Just another trip into the forgotten no man's land of singles either bought, stolen, inherited or just magically popped into places you'd least expect!
Yes, from what I can discern these Tune Rockers are the same ones who did the ultra-boff "Green Mosquito" for United Artists Records, that being a record which actually made enough of a noise to the point where the Rockers got to "lip-synch" it on AMERICAN BANDSTAND back 1958 way. This release on the smaller and therefore less prestigious Pet Records "obviously" came out right after the United Artists deal collapsed, and for a follow up it ain't that bad. Both sides feature a bouncy, rollicking "Raunchy"-styled rhythm on what seems to be the exact same song only with a few lead sax/guitar changes and some fine-tuning here and there. I'd rate it up there with all of those other late-fifties/early-sixties instrumental rock groups who seemed to hold down the fort while all the girls began gettin' giggly over those teen idols who were on the ass-scent at the time.
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Awww it ain't that bad! But I'd be lyin' if I didn't say that it sure was stuff like this which made me shun the AM with a pre-teen vengeance! In all "How Do You Do?" sounds just like the kind of record that your just popping into adolescence female cousin would purchase and spin a few times with her galpals while the folks were away and the siblings were handily locked in the basement just so's they would come up and cause any trouble. And considering that this very same platter is the same one my very same cousin purchased with her hard-earned almost five decades back, you know I'm right!
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My cuz (brother to the cuz mentioned in the previous review) once told me that there was this kid goin' to Sharon High School who wore a jacket with the Infidels' name embroidered across the back of it along with the various punk accouterments which were part/parcel to a lotta counter-countercultural kids making their existences known back during the saggy days we called the eighties. Of course nobody liked this guy, but as I coulda told ya even then this Infidels fan was the only RIGHT THINKING BULB IN THE PACKAGE while all of the MTV swillers who made his existence a living Hades are the real turds in the toilet ifyaknowaddamean...
Here the first of what I believe were a few Infidels records, and if this Youngstown band's single is any example then the youth of the past were even more Quindlanesque than I originally gave 'em credit for! This is straight ahead good time power pop with a decidedly Ohio flavor which would figure since Blue Ash's Frank Secich did the production! And although many of you readers might shriek at the "twee-ness" of it all I find the thing rather pleasing along with many of those other faves you might have seen mentioned in an old issue of BOMP! Good for a break from the standard snizzle that I tend to spin during my ever-growing free time.
It will remind you of, in lieu of what a dungheap a good portion of your musical life has been, just what downright entertaining pop spins could be found in between the AM glitz and FM ponderousness that had been pushed at us for almost a good forty years on end!
***
The Shadows of Knight under the spell of the Kasenetz-Katz Bubblegum Army sound just as swell as they did under the spell of Bob Traut and Dunwich. "Shake"'s a brave stab at keeping the Top 40 charts of 1968 rock 'n roll-oriented and it's too bad the thing relatively flopped or maybe we wouldn't have hadda put up with David Crosby's brand of sap in the upcoming years. The instrumental on the flip has a surprisingly strong urge to it that one wouldn't necessarily associate with teenybopper music...pretty underground-y if you ask me! If the original owner "M. L." happens to be reading this (check masking tape on label), ya ain't gettin' yer copy back no matter how much ya beg!
***
Mid-seventies powerpop that kinda sounds like the half-way point between the likes of the Blue Ash/Raspberries style and the eighties breed a la the Infidels mentioned above. Featuring TROUSER PRESS editor Ira Robbins and some future Blondie guy, these Knickers really know how to revive those mid-sixties Beatles ideas merging 'em with the New York sound making for a record that should have been a big under-the-counterculture hit 'stead of a posthumous memorial. Yet another one of those "coulda beens" who ended up more like "never weres", though I get the idea that even if the Knickers had stuck around a little longer they would have been buried under the weight of many a Sire Records cutout cluttering up the bins of 1979.
***
Don't let that "Blue Moon Boys" tag fool ya...this is early Elvis long before his plunge into a diet more attuned to your average BLOG TO COMM writer's. Sound quality's actually pretty good considering the age and the performance is that of the early days of rock 'n roll long before it got gunked up thanks to the interference of people who never shoulda gone near a microphone, or a recording booth, or a talent agency for that matter. Hokay, to be rather au contraire about it like you all think I would be I gotta say that I do prefer Von Lmo's version of "Shake Rattle And Roll" while the Ray Charles live at Newport "I Got a Woman" with that extended riff where Charles keeps goin' "nyahh nyahh nyahh" is tops in my book as well! Hoo boy, am I a controversial figure in this sad and sorry business called rock fandom or what!
***
Fans of the Australian neo-Detroit rock scene take notice! An early nineties reissue of Kannis' RCA single on the a-side with a ne'er before released spin onna back, both sides taking the old standbys and, while not adding anything new to them, still make for a rockin' time. Reminds me of all the hope many people above the equator had for the Antipodean scene, at least until many of the newer acts began to lose their intensity and we discovered that some of the people who did reside down there could be real creeps! As usual, this is gonna have me diggin' more Australian by-now rarities outta the crates for a good posthumous analysis of which recordings like this are most deserving of!
***
Hey, it's a familiar spin around the BTC orifice and since the a-side's now on a number of ONE KISS LEADS TO ANOTHER reishes it ain't like it's a rarity any mo'! But man if it just don't feel GREAT picking up a single and slappin' it on a good ol' fashion-style turntable just like we usedta do back when we were a whole lot younger and the impact coulda knocked ya right off your seat! Like any classic side by the rest of the seventies plowed unders (Flamin' Groovies, Stooges, Sidewinders...) one of those records that sure makes one glad that things like ears were invented.
***
My relatively recent review of THE NEW WIZARD OF OZ got me into thinkin' about this particular record, and as far as a tribute to that loathed by me moom pitcher goes (the original WIZARD OF OZ that is), I gotta say that I like it more than I thought I would goin' into the thing.
Pretty good metallic thud music with a wild coda that'll make any of those eighties hair groups go bald. The flip has about as much to do with Max Roach as Little Archie but it's a wild speedthrough that'll have you catching your breath in no time! Did I tell you that both sides play at 33 rpm giving you way more music for your buck? Gonna hafta search out these Bags' (not to be confused with any other Bags since these guys came from Boston) album with the cheap paste up cover which lies somewhere in my should be massive but ain't (just did some inventory!) collection!
***
Another one from the above group, and while it's not quite as over-the-top manic as "L. Frank Baum" these sides do hold up a whole lot. Well, at least they hold up way more'n any of that fake hard rock that the likes of Andy Secher had been pushing on downer kids who'll believe anything as long as it's presented in a lowest common denominator fashion. I discern a bit of classic-era T. Rex influences on the flip which I gotta say helps things out a bit. In all, a group that I sure wish got more coverage back when they were up 'n about, though with all of those "rock critics" using up their precious time hyping the likes of Sade no wonder these Bags flopped about like they did!
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This got reviewed a loooong time ago but wha' th' hey as R. Meltzer once so succinctly put it. This Comateens spinoff might have had various elements of future new unto gnu wave elements but when this came out most rock pretensions on the underground scene were relatively under control (or least I would like to have thought so). In fact this is quite intense in its own electronic rock way and has nary a trace of that same ginchiness that made the early-eighties such a dreary place. Comes with a neat insert which you can turn into your own Romilar box!
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Early Link Wray on guitar with his brother Ray aka Lucky aka Ray Vernon singing and other brother Doug doin' somethin' but I don't think its drums on this definitely swinging country side. Echoes of future Raymen glory can be heard on the plug side, though the flip's a real slow weeper that hardly does anything for my sense of rockism. If you have the Norton MISSING LINKS albums you'll hear the a-side and MUCH MORE to satisfy your soul. If not you can still get 'em and the sooner the better for all you rock 'n roll losers out there!
***
As far as Beatle ripoffs go these Provincetown straight guys had the usual Bugs/Spiders/Centipede types beat all hollow. However why did Joy Records decided to put the definitely more upbeat "Understand" on the flipside since this is the one that woulda been the best bet for moptop chart-topping success. With business moves like that it's no wonder that they didn't stay in business long! Available on a number of NUGGETS imitations, but having a single, albeit a repress, in my grubby hands sure enhances the whole rock 'n roll spirit of it all a lot quicker if I do say so myself!
***
Ian Dury sideman goes solo and proves that by the time this was recorded no one was safe from the new-unto-gnu wave fashion that was beginning to permeate the under-the-counterculture listening world to the point of madness! Whereas Stiff Records in 1976 was pub, psychedelic and proto-punkish enough to please a lotta fans of the Big Beat, by the time the eighties rolled in it had fallen into the same glitz rut as a whole lotta other bright hopes who shoulda known better given past rock experiences. At least we had over-the-edge hard and offensive rockers like MX-80 Sound, Von Lmo and Black Flag to alleviate the disappointment that many of us were beginning to feel, eh?
***
During the color vinyl craze this 'un used to pop up in the singles section of many a local record chain shop next to similar items whether they be on Stiff Records or not. Ahhh, if you have certain nostalgic feelings for some of the better aspects of 1978 boy do you need this record! Actually both sides are whatcha'd call standard tough bounce English punk rock (note-I had just been reminded that the Subs were from Glasgow...that's in Scotland!) but everything is kept on track thanks to Larry Wallis' production and abilities to take something in a raw and unpolished state...and make sure it stays that way! I'm sure someone out there knows what happened to these guys...for years I actually thought they were the UK Subs which just goes to show you how those brain stems fail to connect when your head is only working at 35% capacity!
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Not as outrageously finger-biting as I thought it would be, but still a fantabulous effort as these New York punks take on ? and the Mysterians on the A-side and do a fairlly good job capturing at least something good about it. The original on the flip ain't some sorta punk pretension either. Yet another one of those under-the-underground records that really didn't get out enough for the reasons you might expect, but at least some of these have survived into the new eon even tho you now have to pay about twenny times the original cost to obtain a copy.
***
Personally I think it was a really boff idea to hook this piano/lounge singer up with the gruff likes of the Stranglers, even if the fact that Celia used to play Velvet Underground songs surely did give her enough counter-counterculture cred in mein book. And the results are even better than one woulda expected considering that this was recorded in 1977 long before the new-unto-gnu wave acts (see Davey Payne review above) began rendering sixties covers in a particularly sappy way. Tommy James done right by his "heirs", and the harder flip has that punk pre "punque" style that gave many a music maniac a choice instead of the echo many of us were forced to experience via the radios and tee-vee sets of the day!
***
The late eighties was filled with more than enough gunk to clog the carburetor of any surviving rock 'n roll maniac. Perhaps that is why some of the groups that did do the rock credo well got lost amid the thousands of totally crap neo-hippie hardcore and amerindie goo that was passing itself off as pure punk hysteria. These Mofos would definitely be included in a humongous list of acts that shoulda but didn't...kinda forgot what a real good group these guys were and this rec reminded me that not all of those promo singles that I was gettin' by the bushel back then were instant freeway filler.
The Mofos rock straight like an eighties version of the Kama Sutra-era Flamin' Groovies or maybe an eighties New Legion Rock Spectacular with an approach that should have earned these guys more than just a few followers along the way. The cover of the Small Faces' "Afterglow" was choice, proving that these Mofos had the same set of rock feelers out there as Flo ' n Eddie not to forget Miriam Linna. Again, one of those groups that really shoulda gone somewhere but were too outta place and time (and stuck in the middle of ROCK AT ITS WORST) to go anywhere which is a dad burned shame.
Side two plays at 33 and the rec comes on purple vinyl for those of you whose anuses aren't just quite tight enough.
***
Budget-conscious me never did get the legitimately released Fifty Foot Hose album when it was reissued back inna nineties, but I did manage to pick this particular single up featuring two different versions of tracks off their long-gone Limelight LP. Great if only for the fact that these hoses took the whole Jefferson Airplane schtick and did it right with interesting electronic color and a female vocalist whose mind wasn't orbiting Neptune. For an act that came outta late-sixties San Francisco, pretty driving hard rock that doesn't spurt a scent of patchouli no matter how hard you sniff!
***
Seven-inch bootlegs like these seemed to pop up all over the place back inna late-eighties, this li'l nugget bein' just one a many. The sound ain't that hotcha but the energy really pours through what with the overload sound and the powerful performance of The Handsome One along with the rest of these rock miscreants doing their best to save the seventies from the hideous evils of disco. Do I like it??? Do I like strangling newborn puppies???
***
Rancid Vat were one of a few good groups to come outta that stew that was known as punk rock back inna eighties, especially because that stew had become mighty bad tastin' what with most of them punkoids bein' nothin' more'n hippies with short hair spouting the same Grace Slick drivel with a buzzsaw velocity. But Rancid Vat, boy were they a top notch effort both musically and lyrically, sportin' a cuttin' satire that still has me laughing a good long while after the band had dissipated. 'n really, who couldn't guffaw, snortle and just plain shake belly over such Rancid Vat faves as "Larger Than Life" or my own personal theme "Lonely at the Bottom" anyway?
Ostensibly a tribute to the bad boys of mid-eighties wrestling, Rancid Vat cover everyone from Elvis and Fred Blassie to NW wresting legend Beauregarde to themselves on four tracks that really capture the beautiful dunce side of suburban slob ranch house Saturday afternoon UHF tee-vee livin'. Vocalist Steve Wilson belts 'em out with his great foghorn voice somewhat reminiscent of Crocus Behemoth during his early atonal howl days while the music recalls more or less mid-seventies punk-a-rama what with the basement quality and the fantasticly raw playing that coulda earned Rancid Vat an opening spot on the Gizmos World Tour. It'll make you feel happy all over and not only that but this comes in a fold-open sleeve with some liner notes that are bound to curl your straighties!
***
It may sound like heresy to you readers, but I immensely prefer this early 1977 version of the Misfits to the horror show hardcore group that they eventually became and made heavy duty dinero with as the eighties rolled on. Cool "electric sync-piano" and vocals from Glenn Danzig along with bass guitar and drums come off more mid-seventies art rock in a pseudo-Roxy Music fashion that recalls TV Toy more'n anything else on the rock underground, and in an era of refreshing twists and turns on already twisted and turned rock forms I'd say this was almost as inspirational-ly outre as anything Suicide or the no wave groups were comin' up with. Sure would like to hear much more from the original combo---uh, any hints out there?
***
Here's a 1959 hit that, like a whole lotta hits from that stellar year, sorta got swept under the throw rug because it somehow doesn't fit in with the corporate/hippie riche concept of what 1959 was s'posed to be all about, Y'know, them years bein' so evil 'n all. Actually "Pretty Girls Everywhere" ain't what I think should be remembered about '59 the way singles by Johnny and the Hurricanes or heck, even the Fleetwoods should be, but it's a fairly good r 'n b number that did take a stand against a lotta the giddier schmooze that was starting to pop up on the radio band when cigar-chompin' businessmen decided to appeal to the geekier side of teendom. Actually not a record to toss off lightly.
***
If I remember correctly, the first time I was made aware of the entire genre of punk rock as it stood in the seventies (and believe-you-me, I don't recall people calling Patti Smith or the Dolls punk with the velocity they would as time crept on) was in conjunction with this very record! Well, it does sound about as punk rock in a 1976 assessment of the term as some of those groups that popped up at the Mount de Marsan festival! Neo-kitch rock that doesn't offend and might even be responsible for an ear perk-up during some of those down times in your record listening excursions.
***
I kinda wonder who these bootleg people are foolin' with these phony baloney names they give these artists. I mean, unless the pressing plant owner was Karen Quinlan anybody would know that these guys were the New York Dolls...I mean, who else! Three live sides of rather good quality featuring David J and company, a tad slowed down but still powerful enough to make you long for the record bins of the mid-seventies. And you know they're good because the mere mention of 'em still manages to make boomer Classic Rock (hah!) fans froth at the mouth with a rage unseen since the big head shop busts of the early-eighties.
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I reviewed this in these very pages back 2009 way, but haven't spun the thing since because well, these items do get buried in the piles sometime (no, I don't mean those piles sweetie!). Two bee-youtiful sides recorded inna fifties with Ra accompanying his own spoken word prose to piano and a stringed instrument which might be a zither of some sort, or perhaps the very innards of the piano he used on the a-side. Either way this is a great creepy single where Ra exposes some more of that intellectual goo-goo-muck that added a whole lot to his overall interstellar mystique. Kinda reminds me of those solo piano Charles Gayle tracks condemning both abortion and homosexuality which had alla his lib whiteboy fans, so glad to discover a remnant of the sixties new thing who never did get his proper due, kinda embarrassed that they bought his discs inna first place!
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Ya can't fool me! Only a Quinlanite (see Dolls review above) wouldn't know that Ron Records is actually Moxie, the infamous reissue label known for their peculiar flat sound and rubber mat pressings! But hey, this collection of the Daily Flash's two Parrot Records singles sounds pretty good to me, more like local AM radio 'stead of kinda far off AM during a rainy day like the others tended to be. The folk rock shines through on these tunes as well, bringing back a whole lotta weepy-eyed 1965 memories even if you were born a good thirty years later, and who reading this wouldn't have wanted to be born thirty years earlier just so's they coulda experienced the rock 'n roll onslaught first hand 'stead of via rheumy reminiscences from old fanablas like myself! This has probably been reissued on clearer pressings taken from original masters since the days this EP came out, but because of its quaint quality boy do I luv it so!
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For a buncha latterday French rockabilly types I gotta say...not bad a' tall! Of course rockabilly revivalists can get about as off the beating off track as blues 'un's, and as we've learned re. the Stray Cats the populace is more likely to gobble the faded version up while ignoring the honest read deal. That's why them Cats and as far as da blooze goes George Thorogood were rakin' in the bucks while the Zantees and Numbers Band were lucky if the money they got that night paid for the gas. I dunno how much petroleum the Rebels were able to pump into their Renaults after a show, but judging from this they shoulda made well enough francs to take them to the outskirts of the French Riviera and back its that good!
***
Naw this ain't anything like "The Joker" or "Jet Airliner"...in fact it's better than I would have expected late-sixties neo-folk blues-tinged rock that still retains somewhat of an appeal even if you're familiar with the stuff these guys eventually became famous for. Sorta reminds me of what some of those more folk-oriented sorta-rock type things like Skymonters woulda sounded like had only they had more'n just a little testosterone pumped into their glands. Nothing that would drive me to buy any of those early Miller platters, but ya just gotta give the guy some sorta due for making a halfway decent record!
***I'll try to get more seven inchers from the bowels of my collection up and about, as soon as I give them bowels a good flushing out! So stand by for some more rarities poppin' out from the rectum, er, record collection and be sure to wear your masks, not due to the Covid but because them cleaning outs can get quite aromatic ifyaknowaddamean...
steve miller is cool
ReplyDeleteI prefer the later stuff Steve Miller recorded with The Fix.
ReplyDeleteThe Dolls were a glitter band.
ReplyDeletePatti Smith was a smelly old hippie.
The Rubinoos, formed in 1970, were the first punk rock band.
(((The Rubinoos)))
ReplyDeleteFlash Cadillac & The Continental Kids were better.
PS: (((Bob Dylan))) is a "gay."
Still no Wreckless Eric? Or how about Steve Treatment?!
ReplyDeleteNice to see Chris Spedding in there though. Reminds me of that David Dundas 'Jeans On' single. Maybe they were both in UK TV Ads around the same time? I'll stop before TRB '2-4-6-8 Motorway' comes up...
This thread of thought leads me to Go-Kart Mozart - my favourite album of last year (I think, hard to keep track of time now!). You might like it.