In Dan’s Garage…#105

Welcome one and all! I hope everyone out there has had a great holiday this year, I myself took some extended time off through all of it and it’s given me a chance to catch up on this blog, something I haven't been able to do lately. Did you get a lot of cool presents???? I did OK this year. My lovely wife gave me a new chair to park my ass in while I hack away at this here keyboard. Very comfy, and it should be a good motivator to get more of these things out in the upcoming year. Record buying has slowed down somewhat, mainly because my resources have been diverted to Christmas gifts and the like, and a lot of food and booze as well, not that that’s a bad thing because I love to eat and drink and tis the season to be jolly indeed!      On to a different subject… I have in the past tried diligently to keep up with bad or expired links. You out there have helped immensely by writing comments about the dead ones, and although I don’t post them on the timeline, it doesn’t mean I don’t read them, and it certainly doesn’t mean I’ll ignore them either. I just have to work at my own pace so be patient. I think I have them all taken care of (except for #21, you all have to figure that one out for yourselves. It IS available, just not here) but there may be one or two that have slipped through the cracks, after all, I have 105 of these to deal with now, but you all have been great letting me know if there’s any bad links out there. For this I give much gratitude. There are those out there that for whatever reason, need to bitch about really stupid things.    A good pal at work and I were having a conversation about lunches that are provided to us by customers as a sort of a “Thank You” for the work we've done for them, or maybe the Holiday luncheon courtesy of the management, you get the picture? We couldn’t believe how many people actually complained about what they were given to them FOR FREE. If they’re grilling free hot dogs for you at lunch, don’t complain about what brand their using. Take what you can get and enjoy it for what it’s worth, PLEASE????? “Oh there’s anchovies in the stuffed mushrooms, ewwwww”. Just pass on the ‘shrooms and go on to the next entrée please???? You’re wondering where this is going right??? I received a comment recently that really kind of pissed me off. As you all know I’ve had trouble in the past with file hosts that have yanked my files and literally put this blog on the brink of extinction. That’s bad FOR YOU. It’s bad for you because you’ll never be able to enjoy this stuff if I can’t find some way of getting it out there, so when times were tough I tried to fly under the radar by attaching passwords to the files until the heat got turned down. The vast majority of you got it except for one person named “Anonymous” (naturally) who wrote this in reference to IDG #79…”Would someone please explain the password again? I've wasted over an hour so far, just looking for it. Lame lame lame.”  You sir are a tool. The password is “The Bears” Without the quotation marks if you could figure that out as well. The Bears. Just type it in the way it’s written and you should not have an issue. No, copy and PASTE it into the dialogue box. That’ll work too. Hell, when I got this message, I actually went to the trouble of downloading it myself to see if there was an issue and guess what???? It worked fine. Mr. Anonymous Tool cant figure it out. I don’t mean to berate the computer illiterate, that’s not what I want to do here, but, my beef is that if you do have an issue, give the hostility and invective a rest. You are the one that’s truly lame, not because you couldn't figure it out, but because you had to act like a total ingrate, because after all, you are getting a free lunch here. GET IT??? Sorry for being curmudgeonly, I just needed to get that off my chest. Whew!    For those out there that have been faithful followers, commenters, and contributors, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You keep this blog alive and give me a reason to do it over and over. Again, I hope that all of you have had a wonderful Holiday season this year. Share the good times with your family, your friends, your co-workers, and even the anonymous out there. Savor it. Bless you all and have a happy and very prosperous new year.

Rockin’ ‘R’s – Heat / Nameless (1959) Here’s a really beat up disc to start things off this time around by The Rockin “"’R’s who also had the great “Crazy Baby” on the same label. Somehow, all the pops and scratches make this 45 sound better.

Citations – Everybody Philly (1965) Well, I’m not exactly sure who this group is, probably a studio bunch but there's  one source on line that claims their British. I’m not sure. What I do know is that the name “Nilsson” appears on the writing credits and if I had to make an educated guess it would be that Harry Nilsson co-wrote this side and the other guys obviously took some credit for it. If you ask me it sure sounds like him right down to the layered background vocals that are obviously the same as the lead vocals. Somehow there are no references to Nilsson being involved with this. Perhaps I’m wrong????????

Uniques – Run And Hide / Goodbye, So Long (1966) One of the most prolific groups to come out of Texas in the 60s, the Uniques had 17 releases on Paula records that stretched into the early 70s (although some were re-releases). This is tied for my favorite with “You A’int Tuff”. Joe Stampley went on to become a star in country music.

Sip & Smoke – My Friend / Look What Your Love Did To Me (1966) A completely unknown duo from what I would presume to be the NYC tri-state area. That would be NYC, New Jersey, Long Island, perhaps Connecticut? It was real tough finding any info on these guys who give us a sort of Everly Bros. type thing only more garage-like with some ambient organ fills.Nice.

Beagles – I Wanna Capture You / Looking For The Beagles (1966) Interesting. The Beagles were actually a cartoon developed by Total Television, the same bunch that gave us “Underdog”, “Tennessee Tuxedo”, “Klondike Cat”, and a host of other characters that many of us grew up with during the 1960s. This was clearly an attempt to cash in on the Beatle craze going on at the time and the music is surprisingly good, eschewing typical bubblegum sounds for some very decent mid 60s Rock & Roll. Both sides of this 45 are pretty good and the song featured in the video is even better in my opinion. They did release an LP on Harmony Records (a subsidiary of Columbia) but I’ve never heard the whole thing. I’d love to though.

Rebounds – (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone / Since I Fell For You (1966) The Rebounds from Columbus, OH won a battle of the bands and got to record this 45 on Tower along with a version of “Little Black Egg” that never got released. This was doing fine on the local charts until a band called The Monkees released it shortly after and ran away with all the accolades. More info HERE

New Colony Six – I Confess / Dawn Is Breaking (1966) One of the all time great two-siders, this was their first and arguably their best, although my personal favorite is “At The River’s Edge”.

Ian & The Zodiacs – This Empty Place / So Much In Love With You (1965) Ian & The Zodiacs were a popular Liverpool act that were mainstays at The Star Club in Hamburg but unlike The Beatles never had any real prolonged success. They were very good though and had a great guitar sound but compared to their contemporaries and were somewhat more “lightweight” than the others.

Sopwith Camel – Treadin’ (1967) Here’s a group that’s tough to put a finger on. On the one hand they were one of the mainstays in San Francisco’s mid sixties scene hanging with such acts as Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Great Society, The Charlatans, and The Grateful Dead. This 45 though is a sort of schizophrenic affair with the A side “Hello Hello” being one of those goodtimey Lovin’ Spoonful styled things that to my ears just falls flat. I have to be honest that type of thing never caught on with me. The flip on the other hand is a great folk rocker worthy of any of their rival Bay Area groups.

David Bowie – The London Boys / Love You Till Tuesday (1966) When I bought this 45 back in the mid 80s (1986 to be exact), I bought it solely with the intention of keeping it for a collectors item. At the time I was suffering from a severe case of  “garage band myopia” and would not even consider plopping this down on my turntable for a listen. Until about 25 years later. Is it great. Nah. But it sure as hell is compelling. I never knew that this was some sort of homage to “Mods” with all the pill popping and the peer pressure to just want to be liked and to belong to something. Yeah..I’ve been there.

Roosters – The Rooster Song / Lost And Found (1968) A group from Utica, NY (my stomping grounds) that released this 45 on Krishna Records which was also affiliated with Kama and Buddah which they released a version of “I Wanna Do It” (no relation to the nationally distributed label). These guys made the rounds at all the local high schools and colleges including Hamilton, Cornell, Ithaca, Etc. Not recorded at The “Appollo” but actually was recorded in the studio with fake crowd noises provided by the band themselves! Get more info HERE.

Guilloteens – Dear Mrs. Applebee / I Love That Girl (1967) The second last 45 released by this Memphis, TN group and certainly a clear departure from the 45s they released on HBR. They take a somewhat bubblegum-like turn here but I think both sides are excellent nonetheless.

Moby Grape – Omaha / Someday (1967) Wow what a great song this is. It’s a mover from beginning to end with some real nifty guitar work as well. These guys should have been legends and were far better than most west coast groups at the time. It’s a shame.

Xtreems – Substitute / Facts Of Life (1967) Both sides of this 45 exhibit some of the most over the top fuzz guitar I’ve ever heard on any record, as well as some crazed wah-wah pedal work at the end of the flip side. The lead guitarist made sure he could show off all those newfangled electronic guitar gizmos on this one!!!!!

Simon Stokes & The Night Hawks – Jambalaya / Big City Blues (1970) Simon Stokes had a long career starting in the early sixties and which I believe continues to this day. This 45 released in 1970 is a re-make of a 45 released on HBR in ‘66 and they couldn’t be any more different. Jambalaya sounds like it gets the “Honky Tonk Woman” treatment, but “Big City Blues” is a standout with superb guitar work and awesome vocals courtesy of Simon including some blood curdling screams at the end. DIG IT!

HERE