Greetings music lovers!!!! Happy New Year to all out there and best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2025! I'm glad I was able to get something going here this early. It was nice to have some time off the job and not have to play a gig every other week. It gave me some down time to just spin records and put a new PC through the paces. I had to replace my old workhorse as it would not support Windows 11 after this October (or whenever) so I bought one of these "mini computers" that I've seen on Amazon lately. To be perfectly honest, I'm quite impressed and for the price you cant beat them, and trying to build something these days costs a fortune. So I threw caution to the wind and bought one of these little buggers. I've never spent LESS time setting a PC up than I have with this one. I just plugged everything in and that little son of a bitch practically went right to work. Oh yeah, I had some headaches, like downloading apps and transferring files from my old hard drive, but getting it up and running was a cinch, so I figured, why not start ripping some 45's and get a fresh post going???? Well... here we are, a dozen 45's for your pleasure. Please enjoy and have a pleasant New Year moving forward!
Danny & The Sessions - Mojo / Grand Times And Gay Nights (1965)
I'm going to assume that Danny & The Sessions were from San Antonio as the label states, or at least from somewhere in Texas. "Mojo" is actually the B side to this one and is significantly better than "Grand Times And Gay Nights" which is the A side. Great version of "Mojo" by the way...
Decades Combo - Stubborn Kind Of Fellow / Funny How Time Slips Away (1966)
An unknown "combo" from around Nashville runs through a couple of covers, and give both of them the "Southern Treatment" as I like to call it. They tackle Marvin Gaye's hit "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow", and Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away".
Flock - Can't You See That I Really Love Her / Hold On To My Mind (1966)
The first 45 from this Chicago garage band that later moved toward horn oriented pop songs ala The Buckinghams (and other Chicago groups), and then evolved into a progressive rock band in the late 60's. This is probably their best 45 in my opinion.
Lost - Violet Gown / No Reason Why (1966)
The Lost were right up there with The Remains as perhaps the best bands to come out of Boston in the mid-sixties. It's a shame that Capitol couldn't promote them better, I guess they were too busy with The Beatles at the time.
Rationals - Little Girls Cry / Feelin' Lost (1966)
I love The Rationals.
These guys were heavily involved in the mid-sixties Detroit scene (although they were actually from Ann Arbor) and released a slew of 45's on various labels that mess with my brain because there's various repeats of songs as well as two songs titled "I Need You", one, a frantic raving cover of the Kinks favorite, and the other a soulful ballad. They released 45's on A-Square, Cameo, Capitol, and Crewe records including a promo 45 from Danby's which I guess was a hip men's clothing store at the time. They would also release a full length LP on Crewe which is very good. "Little Girls Cry" is actually the B side here but since I posted "Feelin' Lost" quite a while back, I decided to bring this one to the fore. It is the better side IMHO.
Epics - White Collar House / She Believed In Me (1966)
Cool rarity from Columbus, Ohio that released this lone two sider. They were all pals from Brookhaven High School which I would assume was in Columbus and it came with a cool pic sleeve pf the band looking all surly like. Unfortunately I do not have one of those. You can find a lot more detailed info on these guys at the superb Garage Hangover website.
Grace Slick & The Great Society - Didn't Think So / Sally Go 'Round The Roses (1968)
A 45 that was released about two years after Grace Slick left The Great Society to join The Jefferson Airplane. Columbia decided to capitalize on the success of The Airplane by releasing a bunch of stuff recorded at the Matrix in 1966. This 45 is basically outtakes of that show. I'm not going to complain that both these sides are heavily edited, because what's in the grooves is exceptionally cool.
Dangerfield - Rockpile (1969)
Dangerfield was a band that evolved from The Elastik Band who's "Spazz", is one of the kookiest, if not most offensive, songs ever released. This 45 shows the band heading in a "hard rock" direction but is very cool. I like it.
Duke's New Sound Band - Where Did I Go Bad (1967)
I know absolutely nothing about Duke and his "New Sound Band" other than it was produced by John Simon, a guy that produced a plethora of records for Columbia, and that it was co-written by Carol Bayer, a prolific songwriter who would later team up with Burt Bacharach in his post Hal David days. This song is actually a pretty good dance number and moves along quite nicely. The flip??? I could do without it.
Mouse - Requiem For Sarah / Look At The Sun (1968)
Mouse A/K/A Ronnie Weiss is a Texas Garage/Psyche legend. "A Public Execution is perhaps his most famous song, and he and "The Traps" released a slew of 45's from '66 to '69 on Fraternity Records and had several more on Bell and a few other indie labels. This is the last one released on Fraternity and is a terrific psychedelic two sider.
Wellington Arrangement - Lorraine / Melissa Jones (1969)
Here's a change of pace for y'all. A very nice piece of Sunshine Pop by a group out of Philadelphia. They released five 45's on Decca, and at least one was a promo with the same song on both sides. Their output was mainly lightweight pop as we hear on this 45, but they let loose on their last one with the excellent "Love", a standout heavy psych track. They were produced by Paul Leka who also produced The Lemon Pipers amongst many others.
World Of Oz - Muffin Man / Peter's Birthday (Black And White Rainbows) (1968)
Textbook British Psych from a band that had four 45's released in the U.S. and the UK, all on Deram (one of my favorite labels by the way...). "Muffin Man" is typical British pop/psyche, but is so catchy! I love this 45 and the flip is superb as well.
Triangle - Magic Touch / Music, Music, Music (1969)
A band that was reportedly from El Paso, TX, covers Bobby Fuller's "Magic Touch" with a bit of heaviness, trying to mix in some hard psyche with, well.. the "Bobby Fuller Four" sound. That's the best description I can give to this 45. I bought this one on a whim and and it certainly wasn't the cheapest record I've ever purchased, but it was worth it!
Brian's Idols - Tin Soldier / Sharing My Troubles (1969)
Here's a great one from a band not to far away from my stomping grounds. Brian's Idols were from Cortland, NY about 2 & 1/2 hours away from good old Rochester down in what we call "The Southern Tier" which includes cites like Elmira, Binghamton, Corning, etc. I guess they were a pretty popular band around that area and Syracuse as well. I wish I knew more about them because this is a great 45. I wonder how they ended up getting their songs released on RCA. In any case, they turn in a respectable cover of one of my all time fave Small Faces Songs, "Tin Soldier" and the flip is really good as well.
