In Dan's Garage...#157

 

Well hello again! 

Ya know...I'm getting real close to retirement age and this extended time off is making me chomp at the bit to throw it all in and live the rest of my "golden years" without gainful employment. Unfortunately, I still need a steady income so I can buy lots more records in the future. Ha Ha Ha!!!! Seriously though, I'm liking this time off and since I've been more independent, so to speak, I've been able to get some "light" projects done here at home. Some tasks are a bit difficult like trying to hang a picture on the wall. I can hold a hammer with my right hand ok, but damn if I can reach up for the hook with my left, and no, I can't hammer with my left or I'll just end up crushing my fingers and that would not be a good thing. But I'm on the mend and healing nicely.

I've been meaning to take a trip out west to Buffalo where I hear the record stores are pretty good. I really need a good three or four hours of serious crate digging for cool 45's. Speaking of 45's, this post continues with more "back of the box" stuff. This is a real scattershot post in that you'll get a bunch of different styles of 60's/70's 45's that range from crude instrumentals to glossy pop and some "Neo Garage" as well. I hope you like it.

Wailers - Tall Cool One / Road Runner (1959)

The Wailers from Tacoma, WA were one of the best band to come out of the Pacific Northwest and were an early example of a "garage band", although I usually classify "garage" as anything that came out after the British Invasion in 1964. Early on they were primarily an instrumental band but evolved into a hard nosed R&B based garage band like they're crosstown pals, The Sonics.

This was their 1st 45 and went to #36 on the Billboard charts with a bullet. They would also back  Rockin' Robin Roberts on his 1961 recording of "Louie Louie" whose version and arrangement pretty much set the template for all other versions to follow.

They carried on all the way into 1967 and recently have had many of their early 45s and L.P.'s re-issued on Norton and Sundazed records.

Baskerville Hounds - Space Rock Part One / Space Rock Part Two (1967)

A really popular Cleveland, Ohio group rips off  the Stones' "2120 South Michigan Ave."

Astronauts - Around And Around / Main Title From "Ride The Wild Surf" (1964)

The Astronauts do an admirable job covering Chuck Berry's classic, in fact they released this in August of 1964, beat the Rolling Stones by a couple of months, but unfortunately never gained enough traction on the charts as The Stones would kick off their debut appearance on Ed Sullivan's show in October the same year with this song and...well...that's a hard act to follow, or catch up with. It also appeared on "12X5" their second album and in fact, the Stones' version could be considered the "definitive" version. So this 45 sort of languished in obscurity, "just another Astronauts 45" so to speak. 

The flip side of this is more in their vein. A great moody surf instrumental that was augmented by a bunch of horns and strings.

Fraternity Bros. - Laugh It Off / I Think It's Me (196?)

Not sure about the origins of this one. It was probably released in late '66 or early '67 but I cannot confirm that.  It was produced by Joe South and was most likely a studio project. Lots of "Four Seasons" influence here...

Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring - Please Don't Forget Tonight / For A Moment (1966)

Not too sure about this one either, but it has the same "Four Seasons" vibe as the previous 45.

Equipe '84 - Io Ho In Mente Te / Resta (Stay) (1966)

Equipe '84 were one of the biggest groups in Italy during the 60's and well into the '70's and beyond. Here they tackle the "We Five's" "You Were On My Mind" sung in Italian, and do a decent version of "Stay" on the 'B' side.

Outside of the garage, psyche, bubblegum, sunshine pop etc. that I usually collect, I have a strange fascination with Italian 45's. I have a bunch here, and someday I may do posts on them, although none of what I have falls into "garage" or "psychedelic'. It's mostly what I call "San Remo Pop" from the 60's and 70's. perhaps in the future I may entertain you with that....

Candymen - Georgia Pines (1967)

Ask, and you shall receive.

Main Attraction - Everyday / One Must Cry (1968)

A pop group from Pittsburgh that managed to get an entire LP released on Tower. Interesting arrangements with lots of slick background vocals, some strings, and a Farfisa organ that gives this somewhat well produced 45 a cheezy garage vibe. Not too bad.

Marbles - Only One Woman / By The Light Of A Burning Candle (1968)

The back story on The Marbles is a bit more interesting than the music on this 45, in my opinion. Obviously this British duo which comprised of Graham Bonnet and Trevor Gordon worked very closely with The Bee Gees who wrote the songs and produced this 45. Gordon played lead guitar on some of The Bee Gees early cuts and The Bee Gees backed him in 1965 on "Little Miss Rhythm And Blues", a terrific slice of Australian R&B Garage Beat. Fast forward to 1967, Gordon leaves for Britain hooks up with his cousin Graham Bonnet and joins the Graham Bonnet Set who later evolved inti The Marbles. Being friends with the Gibb Bros certainly helped as they wrote about a half dozen songs for the duo. They eventually broke up around 1970, Gordon leaving the music business not before releasing a couple of solo LP's and Bonnet would take a turn as a hard rock/heavy metal singer replacing Ronnie James Dio in Rainbow (?) and also doing some time in Alcatraz, The Michael Schenker Group, and released a solo LP featuring the likes of Cozy Powell, Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt of Stays Quo, Mick Moody from Whitesnake, and Deep Purple legend Jon Lord.

As for this 45...it sounds like the Bee Gees had their fingerprints all over it. Not exactly a bad thing.

Marmalade - Hey Joe! / Lovin' Things (1968)

I got this 45 real cheap with a bunch of other stuff and I said to myself, Dan???, how bad could this be? Well, it's pretty damn good. The Marmalade from Glasgow, had a slew 45's before they hit it real big in 1970 with "Reflections Of My Life", a song that was played to death on AM radio here in the states. I always considered them a one hit wonder, but after a lot of digging I found out that this group were very talented and accomplished. A pleasant surprise I might say.

Think - Stop Runnin' Away / Faster Faster (1968)

A west coast group that had two 45's on Columbia. A decent 45 albeit with a lot of brass involved.

Wishbone Ash - Blind Eye / Queen Of  Torture (1971)

The first 45 released by this fantastic band in 1971. I was very fortunate to see Wishbone Ash last November here in Upstate New York at club called "Fanatics" in what one would call a "very intimate" setting. The current lineup which still features Andy Powell on lead guitar is still touring and if they come around to where you live, I would definitely check them out.

Last Nikle - She's The One (1969)

I should have put this one before the Wishbone Ash 45. Heavy brass on this one. Not too bad, but some out there may wretch...

Detroit - Rock And Roll / Box Of Old Roses (1971)

I remember my brother Vinny telling me about this band once when we were having a conversation about Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, and what a great band they were. He mentioned them and said they had this one-off LP released after The Detroit Wheels sort of broke up and told me how they were a great hard rock band. So I'm in The Bop Shop around 1988 and I see this 45 and say what the hell. I played it once, filed it and really never listened to it much. This one here kind of aged like fine wine because when I put on the turntable some 20 years later, I was blessed with some of the finest early 70's hard rock sounds ever. Now, mind you, this was a song I heard Lou Reed sing a gazillion times on "Rock 'N Roll Animal', perhaps one of the finest live LP's ever (in my humble opinion), and wouldn't ya know? Guitar whiz Steve Hunter, the man who laid down some of the finest riffs in hard rock lore with Reed and Aerosmith is playing lead guitar on the A side of this gem. This, again in my humble opinion, is the definitive version of this song. Mitch just blows this out vocally and his backing band is top notch, thanks to Hunter's guitar work and Ryder's trusty drummer and Detroit Wheels band-mate Johnny "Bee" Badanjeck. A+

Free-Men - Elanor Rigby (1969)

I put more instrumentals in this post than I usually do. It really wasn't planned that way, but it's what I came up with. I sometimes have fun getting weird covers of Beatle songs, and this is one of them. I'm guessing "The Free-Men" were a studio group of some kind and I don't exactly know where they were from, but New York City may be a good guess...or not. This sounds like it may have been recorded as a background for a TV commercial or perhaps the intro to some cheezy local late night talk show.

HERE

 

In Dan's Garage...#156

 

Hey everybody. Back again with some more 45's for all to sample. Right now I'm just grabbing things randomly and ripping them, in fact I got some pretty good mojo workin' here as all the keystrokes it takes to rip and edit this blog are coming to me effortlessly. Practice makes perfect I guess. The only thing I'm avoiding is posting 45s with the same label in the same post, aside from that anything goes except for obvious stinkers (in my opinion) that I'm just not going to bother with. 

This last Monday was be six weeks since having surgery and I'm starting to feel like I'm on the mend. I disposed the sling and I'm feeling somewhat normal again, although I have a few more months of rehab, but in the meantime I can keep plugging away here. Enjoy.

U.S. Six - I Do Love You / The Push (1964)

HEY! Let's start with a total dead end!!!! Outside of the fact that this 45 came out on Ascot records, I know nothing about this group. One lead suggested they were from San Jose, CA, but that's iffy. 'A; side is a really cool mid-tempo minor chord ballad, and the flip is pretty good garage/soul.

Balloon Corps - Muddy Water / Make It Right (1969)

The Balloon Corps were from somewhere in Pennsylvania and were previously known as The Snaps and The Underground Balloon Corps. Nice rockin' two sider from the late 60's.

Candymen - Movies In My Mind (1967)

I probably should've ripped both sides of this 45 but "Georgia Pines" was somewhat of a hit in '67 so I left it out. The flip is a really interesting number though with a really nice hook. The Candymen were Roy Orbison's backing band in the mid 60's and several of the band members were involved in The Classics IV who's "Spooky" was a huge hit, and then they evolved into "The Atlanta Rhythm Section" in the 70's. Let me know in the comments if you want the 'A' side posted.

Russ Alquist - Ordinary Morning / Fly Free As A Bird (1966)

Russ Alquist's story is rather interesting. He was married to British actress Juliet Mills and wrote or co-wrote songs for The Fourmost, Herman's Hermits, Chad & Jeremy, and collaborated with the British songwriting team of  Carter and Lewis who were responsible for several hits in the mid-sixties as well as a slew of lesser known songs for a bunch of other acts. This was Russ' only recording and in my opinion is perfect mid-sixties pop. I can't say for sure, but the Wrecking Crew probably backed him on this gem.

The Red Baron - Gonna Get You In The End / Cowboy (1967)

Not much is known about "The Red Baron" A/K/A David "Von" Garber. He did have this one 45 in '67 and fortunately it has nothing to do with the "Snoopy" craze that The Royal Guardsmen were responsible for, in fact, the 'A' side sounds kind of demented. Hell, the 'B' side is a wee bit out there as well. Perhaps it's because genius producer Tom Wilson was involved in this affair.

Thanes - So Alone / If She Were Here (1968)

The Thanes were from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada and had this one very moody 45 that only came out in Canada. Sorry for the poor shape of this record. I tried doing some "fixing" on the desktop, but I couldn't manage to get all of the crackles out. Not to be confused with the with the 80's band from Scotland.

Traffic featuring Steve Winwood - Paper Sun / Giving To You (1967)

I know this is a well known song by a well known band, but this particular version of "Paper Sun" is mixed somewhat differently than the LP version and is a bit shorter, perhaps for radio play. The 45 is also credited to "Traffic featuring Steve Winwood" as this 45 came out a couple of months after he left The Spencer Davis Group, probably because Spencer Davis' "Somebody Help Me" was still on the charts. 

The Alan Bown! - Gypsy Girl / All I Can (1969)

Alan Bown started his career playing with the John Barry Seven and eventually left that group and took a couple of other members with him and formed The Alan Bown Set. They were an R&B group not unlike Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames and started releasing records in 1965. They would evolve into more of a pop/psyche group in the later 60'sreleasing an LP here in the states on Music Factory records. They dropped the "Set" and added the ! to their name in 1967 although in the U.S. they would simply be known as "The Alan Bown" until this 45 from 1969 which would be their last release here. 

Right about the time this record was put out and getting some steam on the charts, lead vocalist Jess Roden left and was replaced by none other than Robert Palmer. "Gypsy Girl" was re-recorded with Palmer on vocals but in the U.S. we got the original song with Roden. Sax player John Helliwell and bassist Dougie Thompson eventually hooked up with Supertramp and enjoyed huge success with them.

Group Therapy - Bad News (1967)

One of several bands that called themselves "Group Therapy" during the 60's, this band was bassist Leland Sklar's first band. I skipped the 'A' side of this because I couldn't get past the first 30 seconds of schmaltz, but on second listen, it get's better, although it kinda sounds a bit like a Partridge Family song, That's not necessarily a bad thing. I'll throw it on the next effort.

Affection Collection - Feelin' Fine / Can't Put Her Down (1971)

From Idaho Falls, ID, The Affection Collection trucked down to Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, NM to record this and in fact, all their records. That's a 16 hour drive! Their perseverance earned them seven 45's on Maudz, Evolution, and United Artists records all decent songs that range from folk rock to pop.  

Beast - Move Mountain (You Got it) / Communication (1970)

A Denver, CO group that also recorded at Norman Petty's studio although their trip only took about 7 to 8 hours. Nice heavy stuff here. They had two LP's, one on Cotillion and one on Evolution.

Boffolongo - Please Stay / Mr. Go Away (1969)

I'm breaking my rule of putting more than one 45 of the same label in a post. So much for quality control. Boffolongo, from what I can gather, was a band from Ithaca, NY, a mere 2 hours away from Dan's Garage central. They were Cornell University students at the time and managed to record two LP's before they broke up. Some of them migrated to Paris and worked as session musicians and eventually headed back to the states, regrouped, and formed King Harvest who had a memorable AM radio hit with "Dancing In The Moonlight" This 45 is pretty good up-tempo pop/rock and "Mr. Go Away", to my ears, sound kinda like Procol Harum. By the way, Boffolongo released the first version of "Dancing In The Moonlight" in 1970 but apparently had no success with it.

Majic Ship - Hummin / It's Over (1969)

I have two copies of this 45. The one you see here on Crazy Horse, which incidentally was pressed by Capitol records, and the original which appeared on the local Magic-L label. This copy popped up in my pile of stuff  and unfortunately it's pretty trashed. I tried to let Audacity do some "pop and crackle" voodoo on it, but it's still pretty crispy.

The Majic Ship were from Long Island, and were a typical band from that location and era, ya know, Heavy Hammond B-3 organ not unlike their fellow Long Islanders The Vanilla Fudge and The Hassles. who also covered Hummin'. Unlike The Hassles version which has some horns in it trying to get that Stax Records vibe, the horns on this record sounds like they were recorded in a different building, or just an afterthought.

Thomas And Richard Frost - Got To Find The Light / St. Petersburgh (1972)

Tom and Rich Martin A/K/A Thomas And Richard Frost were a duo from San Mateo, CA that had a very interesting history. They played in a surf band called the Impressions and then went on to form The Art Collection and backed New Zealander Ray Columbus after he left the Invaders and moved to the U.S. They then went on to form a power pop group called "Powder", that did the freakbeat/mod thing ala The Who and did it quite well I might add. I've only heard one song by them, "Gladly" that sounds like it was recorded in the U.K. sometime in 1966 or '67. Real good stuff. The two garnered attention from Imperial Records and recorded a handful of 45's before recording an entire LP for Uni in 1972. This was the only 45 from that album and it definitely shows a shift in styles from their earlier work.

HERE

 

 

In Dan's Garage...#155

Hey everybody! I got to work "fast-fast" on this latest offering knowing that I didn't want to lollygag with all this spare time on my hands. I have a bunch of 45's in my collection that fall somewhat outside of what I usually offer up, ya know, garage, psychedelic, etc. These were to have been set aside for "Dan's Leftovers", a blog that never really got off the ground which is unfortunate because this stuff is actually quite good given it's context. I could post a bunch of Perry Como records and still call them leftovers, but that stuff is actually what I consider the "flotsam and jetsam" of my collection. These 45's are all worthy of a spin even if it makes a lot of hardcore garage/psyche collectors cringe, but hey, who knows??? You may find something you like here. I did one of these way back which was a two part post (IDG #66) and I dispensed with descriptions. This time I'll add my impeccable commentary, but I'll try to keep it brief. These pretty much fall into the "Sunshine Pop, Pop Vocal" category with some bubblegum and teener stuff thrown in. I hope you like it.

April Fools - Things Go Better With You / You Won't Be There (1968)

If you're older, like myself, you may recall Coca Cola's pitch back in the 60's was "things go better with Coke", a line that's stuck in my head since then. It looks like this song was a play on that phrase. I'm not sure who the April Fools were. They seem to be a studio concoction of Wayne Carson Thompson, a prolific songwriter out of Nashville who's biggest achievement was writing "The Letter" for The Box Tops, a mega international hit that was covered by Joe Cocker, The Arbors, Leon Russell , and several others including my present band who mixes into our set lists on occasion. This is definitely a pop tune with some twinges of bubblegum, perhaps it should just be classified as a "bubblegum" song. Nice tune, but the flip, which I sorely neglected until I played it, is actually better and sounds like a different group. Apparently, this was a big hit in Anchorage, Alaska in '68. Go figure.

Centuries - Don't Let It Fade Away / Just Today (1966)

I remember picking this 45 up in a huge $1 bin of 45's back in 1986 at a record show in Albany and having high hopes. Cool label, cool band name, but alas, it turned out to be somewhat disappointing. The Centuries were a big deal in Oklahoma City back in the mid-sixties. They played all over the place, appeared on TV, and released two 45's. If you want some real detail on their story check it out HERE at Garage Hangover, perhaps the best website dedicated to lost bands from the 60's.

Rick and Al - All I Do Is Dream Of You / The Story (1963)

Here's a nice "teener" 45 from 1963 by Rick, who is Rickie Page, wife of producer George Matola and Al who is Al DeLory. Both were session musicians and this looks to be a one-off effort.

Arbors - I Can't Quit Her / Lovin' Tonight (Maybe Tonight) (1969)

The Arbors were a very nice soft pop vocal group from Ann Arbor, MI. They remind me of The Critters of "Mr. Dieingly Sad" fame. The had some fame covering "The Letter" (as I mentioned previously) and released a whopping 13 45's, not including double sided promos. This one here is pretty much more of the same.

Tom & Ellen - Too Many Things / My Up Is My Down (1966)

Another one-off effort this time from a duo consisting of Tom Everett, a musician and actor who I must admit have never seen or heard of, and Ellen who was his collaborator at the time. Aside from having top tier producers like Joe Wissert and the famous Koppelman & Rubin team behind it, this is a pretty good folk/pop two sider with some great 12 string guitar work and great production, naturally.

Free Design - You Be You And I'll Be Me / Never Tell The World (1968)

The Free Design are considered to be something of an influential pop group in that they incorporated some jazz and progressive touches to their music. They originated in Delevan, NY, a small town just southwest of Rochester but ended up in Greenwich Village like so many other vocal artists did at the time. They released all their music on Project 3 records which used cutting edge recording technology at the time.

Society's Children - Live For Today (1968)

I had to do a little bit of digging around for info on this 45 and what I came up with is that Society's Children's songs were mostly written by Wayne Wadhams and Don Askew and produced by Steve & Bill Jerome who were all involved with The Fifth Estate of "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" fame, which leads me to believe that this was a side project of that group. If I'm totally wrong about this, please correct me in the comments section.

Life Cycle - My Karma / I Wanna Live (1970)

Almost certainly a studio project by Hickory records out of Nashville. Nice background music for that groovy summer cocktail party you're having in your backyard this summer.

Peppermint Rainbow - Don't Wake Me Up In The Morning Michael / Rosemary (1969)

The Peppermint Rainbow were a pop vocal group not unlike The Mama's And The Papas and The 5th Dimension, Spanky And Our Gang, etc. They were good but perhaps missed out on real fame and fortune due to the glut of groups like this that were floating around in the mid sixties.

San Francisco Earthquake - Hold The Night / Sophia (1969)

More from Bill & Steve Jerome here, this time with The San Francisco Earthquake most likely another studio project. The songs were written by Kenny Young most famous for writing the hit "Under The Boardwalk". I barely played this 45 but time has a habit of erasing bad memories so when i plopped this on the turntable, I was pleasantly surprised. This 45 is actually a very good sunshine pop record. They had four other 45's all on Smash.

Bazooka - Boo On You (1968)

A bubblegum 45 written, and presumably sung, by a guy named Austin Roberts who I know nothing about. Apparently he had a sizable hit in 1975 with a song called "Rocky", one of those sad life tales that bands and artists were constantly singing about on AM radio back in the early 70's.

Utopia Parkway - Come With Me / I Don't Understand You (1970)

From what I could gather, The Utopia Parkway evolved from "The Sintrifical Fours" who had two 45's on Mr. G Records in 1968. 

Jamestown Massacre - Summer Sun (1972)

The Jamestown Massacre were from Chicago and had this particular 45 released twice, The other issue got national distribution and is on Warner Brothers Records. Unfortunately, hits eluded this group, but their lead singer Dave Bickler ended up in "Survivor" and had a huge hit in 1983 with "Eye Of The Tiger".

Harmony Dawg - Schoolboy Promises / Full Moon Child (1976)

This 45 here is perhaps the most obscure and certainly the rockin'-est 45 in this posting. I pulled this one out on the outside chance I could get my turntable to play this thing as it had some warp damage on the edge that kept it from playing properly on my other machines. Luckily with a few adjustments, I got it to play rather well considering its condition. I can't say for sure where these guys are from, the person I bought it from is in the Dayton, OH area so it's possible they're from that area. It's a Rite Records pressing, so Cincinnati or the northern Kentucky area may be another possibility. Anyway, it's not a bad 45 and the six plus minute 'B' side is pretty epic.

Before I send you to the link, I'd like to show my gratitude to Garage Hangover, a truly great website dedicated to lost bands from the 60's, for providing me (and you) with much needed info on many of these records. My intention is not to poach or claim that I did any original research here. I just want to acknowledge and thank them for their hard work and keeping this stuff alive.

HERE

In Dan's Garage...154

   

Greetings music lovers!!! 

So there I was, this icy cold winter, hoping to get some more blogging in than usual, but I just don't have a lot of "disposable" time on my hands so it's a bit here and a bit there until it all kinda gels. Well...fate has stepped in and has given me a torn rotator cuff (as well as a bicep) that we had to get all fixed up with surgery, and that's gonna keep me at home and out of work for at least three months. My misfortune is a blessing in disguise because now I can devote more time to doing this, seeing that I really can't do much of anything else for the time being. 

So I'm really glad that I could at least navigate a keyboard, a mouse, and a turntable. This will keep me from going completely insane over the next few weeks. 

As usual, we've got a "veritable cornucopia of fine 45's" on tap for this post and I hope you enjoy it all.

Bougalieu - Let's Do Wrong (1967)

I first posted The Bougalieu waaaaaaay back in IDG #4, and that was September 30, 2009! I was a fledgling blogger at the time and ripping my 45's with an Ion portable turntable. I've significantly upgraded over the past few years, and have also accumulated a whole lot more 45's in the meantime.

 This is one of them.

You say, hey Dan, why are you posting this again????  Because this song was recorded twice. The "clean" version (Roulette 4767) that was featured in IDG#4, and this "dirty" version (Roulette 4776).

It's really weird, stock copies are all the clean version, and these promos are the raunchy one. The clean version is pretty cool but this rips it to shreds. Super snotty vocals with unintelligible lyrics, fuzzy guitars, and this bizarre break and ending with all sorts of grunts and feedback. 

The Bougalieu were from nearby (2 & ½ hrs.) Albany, NY our state's capital, a city that also gave us The Third Bardo, and The Gray Things.

Hullaballoos - I'm Gonna Love You Too / Party Doll (1964)

 

I have a real soft spot for the The Hullabaloos. I had their album years ago, but never really listened to it much. I guess at the time, I was into real hard-core garage band sounds ala "Back From The Grave" and thought they were quite lightweight, so as I grew a wee bit older and perhaps softened my attitude on such things, I snatched a copy of this 45 for very cheap, and when I put it on the turntable I was pleasantly surprised at the energy these guys put into this Buddy Holly gem. The Hullaballoos were from Hull, England hence their name. I guess their name had nothing to do with the T.V. show which aired at the time on NBC television. In fact, Hullaballoo the TV show didn't premiere until about six months or so after this 45 was released. Eventually they would appear on Hullaballoo sometime in 1965 performing this A side and another number "Beware", a 45 I will get to sometime in the future. 

P.S. The flip side ain't half bad.

Motions - It's Gone / I've Got Misery (1965)

Here's a really good find. The Motions from The Hague in The Netherlands had around 25 or so 45's released in their home country, but only managed to have two released here in the U.S., this, their first in 1965 and a later one on Philips in 1969. This is a great two sider and arguably their best and is kinda rare (IMHO). Obviously Kapp Records, as well as a slew of other labels in the U.S., were trying to get their hands on any kind of beat group from Britain and Europe to capitalize on Beatlemania and the British Invasion so they'd dig pretty deep to license music to release here in the States. 

The Motions were the first beat group n The Netherlands to hit the charts and were together till around 1972. Guitarist Robbie Van Leeuwen split from the group in 1967 and formed Shocking Blue who would have a huge international hit in 1969 with "Venus"

Mystics - Ride My Pony / This Is What I Was Made For (1967)

The Mystics from the White Plains area of Westchester County in "Upstate NY". They had three 45's on three different local labels. This lo-fi effort isn't too bad on the 'A' side, a bit of goofy circus style organ flourishes in the tune, but the 'B' side is an excellent version of "This Is What I Was Made For" which was originally recorded by The Grass Roots (when they were somewhat of a folk/rock band), the Wild Life, and a group from Mexico called The Iguanas, which I featured on IDG#73 but was unable at the time to add any anecdotes as we were transitioning from the "old" Dan's Garage Central to the new one where we are presently located. But I digress....

Ren-Vell also released a local "Battle Of The Bands"  L.P. that featured The Mystics although I've never heard it. But I'd like to!!!!

If you want more info on these guys, please check out Chris Bishop's awesome Garage Hangover, a website that has been very informative and entertaining as well as being helpful in all my slipshod attempts to get any concrete info on the bands/groups that I've featured on this blog over the past 16 years.

Steve Alaimo - Blowin' In The Wind (1965)

Steve Alaimo was one of these guys who had a gazillion records on the charts through his career. Unfortunately, none of them got close to No. 1. Middling, would be the word best to describe Steve Alaimo, a guy whose career spanned from the late 50's into the early 70's. Steve was born in Omaha, Nebraska and he  would eventually move to Rochester, NY for a brief time and then on to Miami, Fl. Some folks up here consider him a local star, but I don't think he qualifies, mainly because he earned his fame while based in Miami and then went on to gain wider popularity as co-host of "Where The Action Is", a show I fondly remember as a kid after coming home from school. 

Although Steve's first recording was on the local Lifetime Records label here in Rochester, he got a gig with Checker Records in 1961 and had a decent hit with Arthur Alexander's "Everyday I Have To Cry", a tune which surprisingly has numerous cover versions by other artists.

On this particular 45 Steve tries to get some "meaningful folk rock" into his catalogue, but falls a wee bit short. It's not bad mind you, but he's obviously trying to mix what is perhaps Bob Dylan's most "meaningful" song with a mid-sixties beat/pop arrangement. I like it for what it is, but you be the judge.

Torquays - Harmonica Man / Our Teenage Love (1967)

Did you know that there were at least EIGHT different Torquays floating around during the mid-sixties???? Three of them were from California which may have made things a bit confusing especially since this group who were out of San Bernadino, and one of the others who were from Rialto, and if my geography is correct, Rialto pretty much sits in the middle of San Bernadino. Same band or were they competing acts? 

These guys had a short string of killer garage 45's in '65 and '66 with "teener" flips.

Tombstones - Times Will Be Hard / Mary Jane (1967)

A fast paced Monkee-like number from an unknown group. Alex DiAzevedo produced a number of cool garage singles on Capitol including The Human Bienz from Youngstown, OH which leaves one to speculate on whether these guys were from Ohio or somewhere else. 

What Four - Stop! In The Name Of Love / Asparagus (1968)

The What Four were from Queens N.Y. and had one other 45 released on the local "Rollem" label. Both sides of this 45 are great and I especially dig the flip side "Asparagus", a quirky garage rocker with some kooky lyrics. The 'A' side is a splendid cover of The Supremes' hit with a rather interesting arrangement.

Young Men - A Young Man's Problem / Angel Baby (1966)

Way cool snappy 'A' side describing the ills of being a teenager growing up in suburban Detroit. MI. Unlike most records from this period that depict the many pitfalls of adolescent teen relationships, these guys wrote an anti-war song. Not exactly like The Byrds, but great anyway!

Rodd Keith - No Trespassing / White Elephant Stomp (1967)

Here's one of those "Song Poem" records that a select group of collectors fawn over, by who is unarguably THEE king of song poem records, Rodd Keith. Okay, I apologize to all the Gene Marshall fans out there, another song poem great, he was quite prolific as well.

For the uninitiated, "Song Poem" records were a huge scam. Let's say you're reading a copy of "Popular Mechanics" and you see this ad in the way back section that says, "poems wanted, and if your poems show hit potential, we'll put music to to them and send them to all the major radio stations". 

So Joe Schmo the appliance mechanic, or Edna the housewife would get busy writing something meaningful, send it to the given address, and they'd get a form letter back telling them their song could be a hit. Unfortunately they would need some startup $$$ to pay for studio costs etc. They would reel people in with this schtick and when they got the dough, guys like Rodd Keith and a roomful of session musicians would put music to it and they would press up a few hundred copies. These outfits would record dozens of songs a day spending fractions of an hour cobbling an arrangement, and recording it. Eventually, the "song poem artist" would end up with a few boxes of records to pass around to the family, but I'm not sure if many got to any radio stations. 

Rodd Keith was actually a genius musician that sang, played keyboards, wrote music, and appeared on over 300 of these 45's and he wasn't the only one doing this. There are scores of these 45's on a bunch of different labels including Preview, M.S.R., Sterling, Tin Pan Alley, and too many others to mention here.

How's the music??? Well...this certainly isn't the kookiest song poem record I've ever heard, but you can tell the lyrics were written by rank amateurs. If you'd like to seek out some real good stuff I recommend "The Beat Of The Traps Vol.1", compiled by late N.R.B.Q. drummer Tom Ardolino. It is the primer if you want to dip your toes into this, there's also several websites out there devoted to all this as well. Happy hunting!

Travel Agency - What's A Man / She Understands (1969)

A group out of San Francisco with some roots in Houston, TX, they released an L.P. and a couple of 45's, this one being on the Viva label which, I guess, was Leon Russel's label. It makes sense since he was closely associated with guys like Snuff Garrett, and label-mates "The Shindogs" This is a decent late 60's psychedelic two sider, and their album is pretty good too. Their first 45 on Tanqueray Records is superb I might add.

    Hounds - What's He Got, That I Ain't Got / The Office Girl (1967)

The Hounds must've been a pretty popular band in Stockholm because they released twenty 45's between '66 and '68. Sadly they did not achieve much in the way of success on this side of the Atlantic. They managed to get this only one released in Canada, and only one in the U.S., and on a very obscure West Coast label. The band is really into pop/rock with an emphasis on vocal harmony, and some weird yet cool organ sounds. 

Joshua Fox - It's Just Meant To Be / Don't Tell Me No Story (1969)

I don't know much about theses guys. Los Angeles seems to be where they are from and released an L.P. and two singles in 1969. Surprisingly good pop/psych.

P.K. Limited - Shades Of Gray / My Imagination (1971)

P.K. Limited were basically Marty Kaniger and Dan Payton, a songwriting duo that wrote a bunch of stuff for the likes of The Partridge Family, Sajid Kahn, Bobby Sherman, Bryan Hyland, you get the picture. They also appeared on  a few Monkees cuts as background vocalists. They had five 45's on Colgems and one on Bell, simply as "P.K.". This, the last Colgems release, is a nice version of The Monkees hit and was produced by David Gates.

As usual, if any one out there has any pertinent info on any of these bands, or is related to any of the band members, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. This has always just been a labor of love, and the reason I keep doing this is because I love sharing this, and it gives me a great reason to play my records and just mess with them.

I'd also like to re-iterate that I'm no "garage band Svengali, and I certainly don't have all the info on the bands that I post. I like to keep things anecdotal because I don't want to bore you with my hideous writing talents. Thanks everyone and I'll be back sooner than later....

HERE