In Dan’s garage…#70

Hello friends!!! As you can see, I got busy this weekend and got to that extra post I promised. Besides, I had quite a bit of down time so spinning 45s takes up slack and believe me….it’s very therapeutic. I also said that I would get to the story of “Fat Chuck”, a guy I mentioned in my last post. Some of you may have noticed that a good bit of my collection have dates stamped on the labels and the radio call letters WSAY (I’ll get to THAT story in the next post). Well, as fate would have it WSAY went out of business sometime in late 1979 I believe, and this guy (Fat Chuck) buys the ENTIRE radio station library. I never knew Chuck’s last name, we just called him “Fat Chuck”. He was a big, fat, rather unkempt guy, and was what I refer to as a “pack rat”. You know, he’d buy anything and sell it. He also had a really nasty personality and was rather grumpy most of the time, especially if you were trying to haggle with him. He was actually kind of like “The Soup Nazi” on Seinfeld. If you got on his bad side, he wouldn’t sell you anything.    In the early 80s he was just a rumor until I finally found out where he had his “business” which was in a warehouse on E. Main and Goodman Streets here just outside of downtown Rochester. I first went to visit him because I was told he had a Farfisa Compact organ for sale and The Projectiles desperately needed a replacement at the time. So I pull up to his “store” (actually just the front door to his space) and there he was, standing there eating a candy bar. I inquired about the organ and he took me to a room in the back where it was and he plugged it in, and it worked . I asked him “how much” and he said “fifty bucks”. I asked if he would go any cheaper and he almost blew his stack, but fortunately I managed calm him down. I needed to get on his good side. So I hand him the cash and I say…”I hear you sell records here too”. He says…”oh yeah, I got a bunch in the back and more “upstairs”. So I asked him if I could have a look and he obliged.    Holy shit. There it was. Most collectors today would consider this “THE MOTHERLODE”. Boxes, and boxes, and boxes, of 45s from the 50’s through the 70’s, most sorted by label. Some boxes had two copies of each 45. This was going to be fun to say the least. A box on the Date label yielded a couple of copies of “’Twas Brillig’s” “Dirty Old Man/This Weeks Children”. The Liberty box had both Unrelated Segments 45s. One day I came across a box of stuff on Hickory and got The Sparkles’ “Hipsville 29 B.C., No Friend Of Mine”, and Roy. Jr.’s “Victim Of Circumstances” That was a banner day for me. He would also troll around garage sales and find stuff too. One day I went in there, spent an hour or two and plucked a good dozen 45s, but before I paid him he says to me..”I just got a bunch of new stuff here, you wanna check it out?” I was in a real hurry but I said OK and he shows me a copy of The Heard’s “Stop It Baby”, and The Jury’s “Who Dat” which I promptly bought. I say to him “I gotta get out of here”, and he says to me…”but I got more”. As fate would have it, “more” turned out to be a copy of Byron & The Mortals’” “Do You Believe"Me”. What a moron! I was in a rush because I had to get my freakin’ HAIR CUT!!!! So what happens? My pal Chuck C.(no relation) shows up about a half hour later (we would do many record shows together and were collecting buddies) and scores the Byron 45. Oh well, at least I scored The Heard 45. I passed up TONS of cool 45s over that time, simply because I had a limited amount of cash and I had to take home the best ones I could find. I’d stash records in places so I would remember where they were the next time I’d go back, and sifting through boxes was a real chore because there was no real organization. It was never an easy task, but I can say one thing…all this stuff was very affordable and would be considered steals by today’s standards so the time spent was worth it.     Fat Chuck had to give up the warehouse as rent was too high. Eventually he moved and rented out one of these storage spaces in nearby suburbia, and we had to call him on the phone and set up an appointment to go visit and pluck through records that were stacked sky high in this place. That was real difficult in the winter so we could only buy from April till maybe October. He would also show up at record shows and I heard he visited flea markets as well. Well, all good things eventually have to end, and of course the well ran dry and now Fat Chuck has a space at a local flea market here downtown, not to far away from the old warehouse but it’s slim pickin’s these days. I will, in a future post, relate as much as I can about radio station WSAY, which was Rochester’s own WKRP.     Record collecting is still fun, but those days of coming across huge amounts of cool 45s for cheap are long gone. I still go to record shows and sift through boxes of records but great 45s at reasonable prices are few and far between. In this day and age of Ebay and the internet, it’s very easy for sellers to see what some guy on the other side of this earth will pay for something, and I must say, some of it is quite out of hand, but that’s a discussion for another day. For now, let’s just enjoy this latest offering and be glad that were all around to savor it. Bon appetit!

Time Stoppers – I Need Love (1967) Originally done by The Mad Hatters from the D.C. area, this rather unknown group from Pittsburgh released this remake in 1967. Apparently this was the last 45 on the HBR label.

Juveniles – I’ve Searched (1966) Tough sounding garage number from a band that originally came from Oklahoma, but relocated to the Pacific NW. Sorry about the skip midway through the song……

Juveniles – I Know / I Don’t Wanna Know (196?) Another bunch of Juveniles, but these guys are from the Mobile, AL area. Aside from that tidbit of info, I know absolutely nothing about this blue eyed soul 45.

Pageboys – When I Meet A Girl Like You / I Have Love (1965) Not sure of this band’s origin either, but they’re rumored to be from “the NYC area”. Great British sounding stuff.

Craig & Michael – That Kind Of Girl / Drifty (1966) A duo from California doing some great folk rock. Sorry, I have no leads on this one either…..

Robin Hoods – Wait For The Dawn / Love You So (1965) Excellent invasion sounds from a Chicago area group.

Twilights – Take What I Got / She’s There (1965) More British sounding stuff, this time from Miami, FL. Brothers Bill & Fred Moss would later go on to join the Clefs Of Lavender Hill.

Peter’s Pipers – Airplane / I Didn’t Believe Her (1968) These guys from Pittsburgh won a national battle of the bands to get this rather interesting 45 released. I say “interesting” because I have a hard time figuring this one out. Airplane starts out with a cool intro that has some great fuzz, but the chorus gets into pure sunshiny pop territory with flourishes of harp, and I don’t mean a harmonica. Overall, it’s a great 45 if not a tad bit schizophrenic. Guitarist Pete Hewlett would have a long successful career backing up the likes of Carly Simon, Billy Joel, and a few other “stars”.

Law Firm – I Love You More / Time (1965) I don’t know anything about this group, maybe they’re a studio project? I do love this song though because it has some of the most clever lyrics in it like…I love you “more than a singer loves adulation”, “more than a Swiss clock loves the hours”, but the best line is “I love you more than Liz loves Dick”!!!!!!!!!! Wow, where are these geniuses today?????

Liverpool Five – If You Gotta Go, Go Now / Too Far Out (1966) One of my all time favorite 60’s groups. It’s tough to pigeonhole these guys as a garage band because they were so proficient in every style that they played, as well as having stellar production on almost all their records. Here they take on a Bob Dylan favorite and do a stellar job IMHO.

Mouse – A Public Execution / All For You (1966) As long as we’re on the subject of Dylan, here’s Mouse & The Traps’ classic attempt at mimicking ol’ Bobby himself.

Rain – Love Me And Be Glad / Little Boy Blue (1967) A group out of Osage City, KS that released this one 45 around 1967. Great light psyche with nice organ throughout.

Mind’s Eye – Tell Me Your Sign / Mystic Woman (1969) I’m not sure if this bubblegummy single is by the same Mind’s Eye from Texas that recorded the great “Help I’m Lost”.

Vandells – Hunters Fox / American Eagle (1969) The Vandells were from the Bay Area and released this 45 in 1969 during the height of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane’s popularity around the area. Obviously these guys didn’t quite fit in with that crowd and were subsequently made fun of because they weren’t “cool”. I think these guys are great and I’m glad they stuck to their guns. “Hunter’s Fox” is pure garage with Farfisa Organ and fuzz guitar throughout while the other side is a “protest” song of sorts and features some horns by what was to become the “Tower Of Power”. As you can see this 45 was graciously autographed by the entire band! Gary Raffanelli tells the Vandells story in brief HERE.

Kynd – Mr. America / Clouds (1969) Great psyche two sider from an obscure New Jersey band.

Collectors – Early Morning (1969) Vancouver group who were originally known as The Canadian Classics. They released the fantastic “Make It Easy” in 1968 and released the LP “Wild Grass And Strawberries” the same year.

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