BACK TO THE GRIND

Last night I was listening to the Sonics, their second LP to be exact. The first song on the LP is "Cinderella" and, like most of the Sonics stuff, it's a racket. Fuck yeah. It's a full-on exhausting two minutes and forty three seconds of skin bashing drums, raunchy fretwork and good ol' Gerry Roslie spilling his larynx all over the place. I tried to imagine what it must have been like to hear that song for the first time while the radio was playing "Michelle" by the Beatles. Man..., I'm certain that if the production on the early Sonics records were a little more "radio friendly" they would have given the Stones a run for their money, if not the Beatles. Of course, that would have only lasted a year or so before all of the hippie flower power crap took over. Regardless, the Sonics weren't truly appreciated by the masses, or anyone outside of the Northwest, until they started to be seen as precursors to punk rock. Here's a handful of Sonics cuts that I haven't posted before, including last nights living room ruckus "Cinderella" and two Motown covers. The cherry on top, "Psycho", has been posted here often. That should tell you how essential it is. You gripe, you get out of my store.

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Listen:
The Sonics - Cinderella mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sonics - Do You Love Me mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sonics - Money mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sonics - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark mp3 at Ink Mathematics
The Sonics - Psycho mp3 at Internet Archive

CHRISTMAS CAROL THIS

Let's just get this out of the way. Ninety percent of Christmas is just total crap. You might argue with that figure, but you know that it's drifted far off course. It's just an excuse to spend a lot of money on unneeded crap, and eat more food than your body is designed to handle. Are we fucking nuts? 

We all have our varying beliefs, and I can totally see why many devout Christians take offense at their day of reflection and worship being appropriated for financial gain. How'd you like it? Let's say you, Joe Blow, it's your birthday. We are going to mark the day, nay, the season, by buying so much worthless crap, and eating so much total junk, that we'll forget who you even are. 

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Listen:
The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas mp3 at Clayton Counts

CASTING SPELLS ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE

Here you go ghouls, once a year whether you need 'em or not. I sure hope I don't have to tell you how essential the Sonics are (that's them with their muse above).. "The Witch" is one of their many great bashers. And Kip Tyler? Everything about "She's My Witch" is spot on. The guitar, the pace, the mood and, holy fuck, the filthy sax solo.

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Listen:
Kip Tyler - She's My Witch mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Internet Archive
The Lollipop Shoppe - You Must Be A Witch mp3 at Internet Archive

ADD FLOWERS OR CANDY AND YOU'RE SET.

Holy shit! Tomorrow's Valentines Day! Not to worry, not for me anyway. Alas, another year without a squeeze. (Not a big deal, I'm used to it.) That said, I'm posting these to make you look like you didn't need reminding. Three mixes by Reverend Tom Frost, musician and former blogger at Spread the Good Word who has kept his Bloody Love Mixes online long after he stopped blogging. There's a handful of other single cuts to for those of you that find a way to get your significant other get frisky to a streaming mix.

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Listen:
Ronnie Self - You're So Right For Me mp3 at Rocky-52.net
The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
Bo Diddley - Who Do You Love? mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Little Willie John - Fever mp3 at Clones Project
The Mixes:
Spread the Good Word's A Bloody Love Mix, Volume 3
John Buck & The Blazers, Bobby Freeman, Dorsey Burnette, Donnie & Ronnie, the Del-Vikings, Don Johnston, Marvin Rainwater, Piano Red, B.B. King, Ann Cole, the Valentinos, Soul Brothers Six, the Duetts, the Highway Q.C.'s, Del Shannon, Tom Reeves, Jimmy Kirkland, Lord Creator, Johnny Burnette, Sanford Clark, Eddie Cochran, the Four Dreamers, and the Animals

Spread the Good Word's A Bloody Love Mix, Volume 2

The Cramps, the World Famous Upsetters, Ronnie Love, Lavern Baker, Mickie Most & His Playboys, the Mustangs, the Righteous Brothers, Johnny Cash, the Wild Ones, Etta James, Benny Joy, Elvis Presley, Roy Hamilton, Bracey Everett, Shouting Thomas Torment, Billy Fury, Little Willie John, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Renato Carosone, Irving Aaronson & His Commanders, Ric Cartey, and the ever amorous Wild Man Fischer.

Spread the Good Word's A Bloody Love Mix, Volume 1

Joe Houston Orchestra, The Phantom, The Victors, Sonny Terry & Buster Brown, Heavy Trash, Kris Jensen, Sammy Myers, The Royal Jokers, Fire Escape, The Del-Rios, The Raelets, Wanda Jackson, Eddie Taylor, Johnny Angel, Ole Miss Down Beats, Ronnie Hawkins And The Hawks, Bernie Hardison, Ric Cartey, Johnny Watson, The Blues Busters, Slim Whitman.

WITCH DEPOT

You knew they were coming. The Sonics and Kip Tyler anyway. Every Halloween, whether you need 'em or not. Essential. This year I ran into another, Lollipop Shoppe's "You Must Be a Witch". And then I ran into the flick  I Married A Witch, which looks like it was made in the fifties. What the hell. Might be a hot witch in it. I skipped around and, yes, the witch is hot. I took one for the team.

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Listen:
Kip Tyler - She's My Witch mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Internet Archive
The Lollipop Shoppe - You Must Be A Witch mp3 at Internet Archive

"SERIOUS? POSE LIKE THIS?" ASKED THE GROUP.

It doesn't happen often, hearing the Contours' "Do You Love Me?" in the wild. Last night I was in the alley having a smoke and I heard it in the distance. I think it was playing at the shit show they call Oktoberfest down by the beach. My town's Oktoberfest has very little to do with Bavaria, brats, kraut, sausages, or lederhosen and everything to do with knucklehead out of towners needing an excuse to get trashed. It's really kind of pathetic, no oompah bands or anything. And they line up like lemmings in a hour long line to pay for the privilege of going into a fenced-in area to get drunk when there's dozens of bars or breweries with cheaper drinks and no admission charge within three blocks. I don't get it, but then no one asked me.

Anyway, about the Contours, most people only know the one song, "Do You Love Me", and that's a pity. Their whole first album is great. It's a Berry Gordy joint, pre-Motown, on the Gordy label. It doesn't really sound like hit machine Motown, it's closer to a cross between the Four Tops and an earlier vocal group like the Olympics. You can find a copy online for less than ten bucks. Make sure you get the '81 reissue that has "You Get Ugly" and "First I Look at the Purse", the latter covered later by the J.Geils Band. "Do You Love Me?" has been covered a bunch: the Dave Clark Five, the Supremes, the Sonics, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Miracles, the Kingsmen, the Heartbreakers and more. (If you're curious go here).

To those of you who have tastes similar to mine, check the video liked below (the LAMF video). Walter Lure (Heartbreakers), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Tommy Stinson (Replacements) and Clem Burke (Blondie) doing a version of "Do You Love Me?" live in 2016. I'm kind of cynical when it comes to punk related "supergroups" doing what is essentially an oldies review but as I looked at each member one by one and then saw Clem Burke and thought "Good for Clem Burke, I like that guy." followed by, "Aw hell, good for all of them. Why be cynical? Save it, pick your battles." Like shitty Oktoberfests.

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Listen:
The Contours - Do You Love Me? mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sonics - Do You Love Me? (streaming) at YouTube
The Heartbreakers - Do You Love Me? (streaming) at YouTube
The Contours - You Get Ugly (streaming) at YouTube
The Contours - First I Look at the Purse (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
The Contours - Do You Love Me? at YouTube
LAMF - Do You Love Me? (live) at YouTube Walter Lure, Wayne Kramer, Tommy Stinson and Clem Burke

CHANTEUSE OF THE QUARRY

So, do you guys know who Joyce Harris is? You should. She comes just about as close as you can get to a female version of the Sonic's Gery Roslie. If you know the Sonics and Roslie, you know that means more than a little gravel in her larynx. Close to Los Saicos level. Not on every song but enough to merit mention. Listen to her version of "I Got My Mojo Working" and "No Way Out" below. If that tickles your fancy, there is a mix at Probe Is Turning-On the People that includes sixteen songs of hers (including two with her singing as Sinner Strong and five with her sister as Judy and Joyce). It also includes ten songs by Kathy Lynn of whom I know nothing about and isn't quite as rough as Harris. But one of hers is singing with Link Wray and the Wraymen. It's rather pedestrian for Wray, not a whole lotta badass going on, but if he worked with dog shit, I'll give dog shit a listen.

The mix is a quick download and they're all individual mp3s. so you can cherry pick which to save. Hell, I think it's worth the hassle just to have her version of "I Got My Mojo Working". Once at Probe, scroll down to session 425, the download link is right below the song list.

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Listen:
Joyce Harris - I Got My Mojo Working (streaming) at YouTube
Joyce Harris - No Way Out at Rocky 52
Joyce Harris (as Sinner Strong) - Don't Knock It mp3 at Rocky 52
The mix:
Joyce Harris Meets Kathy Lynn (Session 425) (zip) at Probe Is Turning-On the People 26 songs as individual mp3s. Once at Probe, scroll down to session 425, the download link is right below the song list.

A FISTFUL OF COVERS

Here's a handful of originals that have been covered a zillion times followed by the best known covers, or at least the first to come to mind. Some of the original artists below had other songs that were covered a bunch. Richard Berry also wrote "Louie Louie", covered by everybody, and Larry Williams (seen above) wrote "Slow Down" covered by the Beatles. Chuck Berry, well, Chuck Berry. Otis Rush did "All My Lovin' (Bluesbreakers) and, I think, "I Can't Quit You" (Led Zep). Ernie K-Doe might be an exception because, as many popular songs as he had, I can't think of any covers other than the Yardbirds'. Regardless, these are nice juxtapositions. Apologies to locals that recognize these as first semester Cover Versions 101. I feel you, but someone has to shake the Auto-Tune out of the kids.

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Listen:
Richard Berry - Have Love Will Travel mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel (streaming) at YouTube
Larry Williams - She Said Yeah mp3 at Internet Archive
Rolling Stones - She Said Yeah (streaming) at YouTube
Chuck Berry - Talkin' About You mp3 at Internet Archive
Rolling Stones - Talkin' About You (streaming) at YouTube
Otis Rush - Homework mp3 at Internet Archive
J.Geils Band - Homework (streaming) at YouTube
Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl mp3 at Internet Archive
The Yardbirds - A Certain Girl (streaming) at YouTube

SOUP-TO-NUTS-ABILLY

I can't tell you how long it's been since I've run into a band up my alley as much as this one, the Blue Devils. A crunchy assault, seriously there's some Heartbreakers and Stooges things going on, and a singer that sounds like Gerry Roslie's (Sonics) younger brother. And fuzz. This is good shit. Unfortunately, two 45s and one LP doesn't give one a hell of a lot to snack on. So be it, beggars can't be choosers.

I've only sampled a few songs so far but it's enough to make me add them to the list. One thing, the sound I describe above is one that I've heard on a few songs, but I checked out their cover of Muddy Waters's "Rollin' and Tumblin'" on their Bandcamp page and it's total Gun Club with a dash of Cramps. Eh, again, good enough influences, I guess. They do it effectively.

There are, though, a couple things that bug. One is that I can't find much of anything on the Blue Devils, no doubt due to their short existence, but still. Hardly any info even on their Bandcamp page. The other thing, and this really bugs, is that when mentioning Gerry Roslie above I couldn't remember whether he was still alive or not. Worse, I couldn't find confirmation one way or another online. Here we go..

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Listen:
The Blue Devils - Fooled By You mp3 at Office Naps
The Blue Devils - Shot Down (streaming) at YouTube
The Blue Devils - Tornado (streaming) at YouTube
The Blue Devils at Bandcamp

CANDY CANE HATERS CLUB

It's that time. As I do just about every year, I have to endorse the Sonics' take on Christmas. They don't believe in it. Cited reasons: "didn't get nothing last year" "fat man didn't show" and the worst, "mistletoe doesn't work". They clocked out on the whole thing decades before covid made a mess of things. That would have merited an extended version.

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Listen:
The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas mp3 at Clayton Counts
The Sonics - Santa Claus (streaming) at YouTube

IT"S LONG BLACKA HAIR LAZY REPOST TIME!

While a Halloween party isn't really legit without a witch, I can't think of the last time I saw an adult dressed as one. Maybe it's because you can do other costumes half-assed, but if you do a witch costume half-assed, it damages the franchise, and being that particular franchise, all sorts of bad things can prevail.

If you're party lacks a true witch, best to honor the hag in song, and I can think of no two better witch related songs than those below, by the Sonics (seen above with a fairly lame one) and Kip Tyler. Represent!

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Listen:
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Tinyvices Essential

Kip Tyler - She's My Witch mp3 at Hey Cool Kids Ditto

DIDDY WAH DIDDY DEPOT

I was just thinking about this song a week or so ago and I remembered that 8 Eyed Spy used to play it live. 8 Eyed Spy was Lydia Lunch's band after Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. I always liked Lydia Lunch, she always seemed to have just the right amount of not giving a shit. Anyway, I made a mental note to look for her version the next time I ran into Bo Diddley's, and guess what? I just ran into Bo Diddley's. So here's that, an 8 Eyed Spy version and Captain Beefheart's because it's got a killer crunch to it. Then I started revisiting other versions. Now I'm diddy wah spent.

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Listen:
Bo Diddley - Diddy Wah Diddy mp3 at Internet Archive
8 Eyed Spy - Diddy Wah Diddy (streaming) at YouTube
Captain Beefheart - Diddy Wah Diddy mp3 at Tumblr
The Astronauts - Diddy Wah Diddy (streaming) at YouTube
The Remains - Diddy Wah Diddy (streaming) at YouTube
The Sonics - Diddy Wah Diddy (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Captain Beefheart - Diddy Wah Diddy at YouTube From Where The Action Is, a TV music variety show
Barry & The Remains - Diddy Wah Diddy at YouTube TV appearance, unidentified show
8 Eyed Spy - Diddy Wah Diddy at YouTube Live, 1979
Visit:
Diddy Wah Diddy (song) entry at Wikipedia

BOWL CUTS, FUZZ AND POINTY BOOTS

Man, I gotta say. Lenny Kaye did us a solid so many years ago. He put together the first Nuggets compilation, at the time a two record set. It was the first compilation of garage bands when compilations were a rarity and "garage band" a term only used by total music fiends. Released way back in '72 before he was playing in Patti Smith's band, when he was a writer that worked in a record store. It was followed by single LPs compilations of more nuggets and by the time the late seventies punk rock thing happened, a lot of the bands had added covers taken from the compilations. The cool thing was that the original 45s, recorded from 1963-68, were still to be found in thrift stores and dusty record racks.

All the Nuggets compilations would soon be followed by Crypt Records' Back From the Grave series. While drawing from the same idea, Back From the Grave compilations leaned towards the more obscure bands, most regional releases, like Nuggets mid-sixties garage bands every bit as wild, in most cases wilder, and as a result none drawn from hits. There was also a series of Pebbles compilations and Sundazed Records' Garage Beat '66 series which narrowed it down to a single year, 1966 being about the peak of garage snottiness.

Here's a handful I was buggin' out too back in the day, from the earliest Nuggets compilations. I think four of these charted, so, yeah, it's really like a beginners course. Most of you know these well but if they're new to you, this is really basic shit you should know. If you dig them, a heads up. It is a very deep rabbit hole. I'd start with the first Nuggets and then the first Back From the Grave and go from there. It's slippery. Beware the jingle jangle.

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Listen:
Music Machine - Talk Talk mp3 at Internet Archive
The Sonics - Strychnine mp3 at Internet Archive
The Barbarians - Are You A Boy or Are You A Girl mp3 at Internet Archive
Love - Seven and Seven Is mp3 at Internet Archive
The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard mp3 at Internet Archive
The Count Five - Psychotic Reaction mp3 at Internet Archive
Chocolate Watch Band - Let's Talk About Girls mp3 at Internet Archive

MIGHT BE BETTER WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED

I had something entirely different in mind, but then I ran into this. Sounds Incorporated, corny moves but hard as hell. I did not want to forget to post it. They share one thing with the Sonics, the Wailers and the Monks, at least in this song. Picking a simple song and just playing the shit out of it. Banging away. Whatever the volume, it sounds loud. Anyway, I hate those fucking suits.

AJAX ROCK

Being away from TV today I'm a little preoccupied with getting caught up on just what the fuck happened  in Washington. I'm cutting it short. I gotta say though, I don't shock easy but every little detail I happened to catch was...man, it was just a completely surreal shit show. I'm gonna leave it at that. For some reason when I was just hearing the magnitude of the chaos, this song started going off in my head. It's got a little bit of pissed off in it. A nice Sonics-type crunch. They're just banging the shit out of their instruments, particularly the drummer. I've posted it in the past, but I forgot that it was the very first song I posted here. Which means absolutely nothing.

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Listen:
The Ardells - Stronger Than Dirt mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People

OKAY BOYS, SHOW ME JOLLY

I can't think of a better year for a little Scrooge to be thrown into the mix. The Sonic's "Don't Believe in Christmas" makes an appearance every year because, hey, it's the Sonics, but this year it's très à propos. Obviously, with the covid thing this holiday season won't be the same. The only thing really exciting is the exit of the Trump administration. So, the Sonics hatin' on Santa? That's about as normal as Christmas gets over here.

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Listen:
The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas mp3 at Clayton Counts
The Sonics - Santa Claus (streaming) at YouTube

COOL UNRELATED PHOTO OF THE DAY

Here's enough. A cool photo by Charles "Teenie" Harris and a cool song by Lloyd Nolen. I couldn't find a photo of Nolen, but Harris's photo popped up in the search and it's a hell of a lot cooler than some old 45 label. The image above has been cropped, but you can see the original at the National Museum of African American History and Culture site, accompanying the article "Traveling Through Jim Crow America", As for Nolen, his "Fun Fun" has been here before, but it hit the spot tonight and that's enough. You will notice a similarity to the Sonics' "The Witch", but you forget about that by the time it gets to the sax solo in the middle of the song. At one point it sounds like it short circuits. Squawk baby, squawk.

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Listen:
Lloyd Nolen - Fun Fun mp3 at Diddy Wah
Visit:
Traveling Through Jim Crow America at National Museum of African American History and Culture

IN HER MEDIUM LENGTH BLACK-A HAIR PHASE

I know, I know, you're up to your eyeballs with Halloween type music. Well pull an eyeball out and make room for more, because this particular holiday is not only an excuse to raid thematic standbys, they're also an excuse to force the Sonics on you. You got it, "The Witch", with absolutely no shame. "Psycho" is down there too. Not quite a Halloween song, but close enough. Dig the screams.

What the hell, I've given up trying to find mp3s of the Creepy Creeps, so a video of them doing a cover of "The Witch" will have to suffice. You will note that the singing Creep pays proper respect by preserving Gerry Roslie's diction, as in "she's got long black-a hair". True to cool.

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Listen:
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Tinyvices
The Sonics - Psycho mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Video:
The Creepy Creeps - The Witch (live) at YouTube

THE MYSTO FAVORITE

The longer it goes the more obsessed I get. The very first song I posted twelve years ago was the Ardells' "Stronger Than Dirt", an instrumental that could easily pass as the Sonics. That kind of crunch. It really smokes. It's been twelve years and I still not able to find anything but a paragraph long bio. To make things worse, the only photo of the label I've been able to find was missing the record labels name. Screwy. Even weirder is that the original mp3 link is still working twelve years later. That never happens. Give it a listen. It smokes, it crunches and it passes for the Sonics..

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Listen:
The Ardells - Stronger Than Dirt mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People

SHOW ME JOLLY

Yeah, another repost, but it's tripled in size. The blabbing below is about a Christmas mix made by Lux Interior and Ivy Rorschach from the Cramps, fourteen songs. Added this year, a Christmas mix given to Kristian Hoffman by Lux a zillion years ago. That one, Jeezus Fuck, It's Christmas!!!, is in two parts, one for each side of the tape. Thirty-seven songs when you add them up. Here's the old shit:

I gotta admit after just a few holiday posts I'm kinda over it. I hardly ever listen to holiday music even during high season (the obvious exception being Halloween themed music which usually yields more crackpots). That said, I'm not the one hosting a gathering, so you party planners rejoice. You'll be getting a few more things to free up time to perfect your eggnog spiking.

Here's a short mix made by Lux (RIP) and Ivy from the Cramps. Not quite as crazy as the series of Lux and Ivy's Favorites (which, by the way, are highly recommended), but there are enough oddballs to keep you guessing. If you're curious, the mix includes songs by the Sonics, John Lee Hooker, the Diablos, Elvis, the Youngsters, Jack Scott, the Vel Mares, the Five Red Caps, the Castelles, King Curtis, Washboard Pete, and the Brown Dots. Fourteen individual mp3s in a zip. Have at it.

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Listen:
Black Christmas - Holiday mix from Lux and Ivy at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 14 cuts in a zip, with high resolution artwork.
Jeezus Fuck, It's Christmas!!! - Lux Interior Christmas Tape at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 37 cuts in two zips