STUDY HALL DADDY-O

I'm in the thick of Coltrane stuff, and it looks as though I'll be at it for a while. There's link to a post down there with ten Coltrane songs and a mess of text. And here's a 43 minute documentary.about him. Dig in.

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Listen:
Ten by John Coltrane at Rubber City Reviews Right click on song titles.

HE'S NOT THROUGH YET

It's only appropriate that we close this barrage of Halloween posts with a new mix by Reverend Tom Frost, the oft mentioned former host of Spread the Good Word. The periodical corresponding with him over the course of the last several years has restored in me the faith that true believers still tangle. The fact that he is a performing and recording musician takes the sting out of the lack of updates at his old site. But he never really shut the door. His mixes are still up, and after I posted links to his first seventeen Bloody Halloween Mixes a few days ago, he reared his bloody head again, hepping me to his new Bloody Halloween mix, this one the nineteenth. I'd been saving his secret eighteenth mix from last year for my last Halloween post, but now some double dipping is in order. So dig these, and by all means, check the good Reverend's own music.

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The mixes:
Bloody Halloween Mix 19 at Spread the Good Word 33 songs
Bloody Halloween Mix 18 at Spread the Good Word 27 songs
From the Reverend:
Rev. Tom Frost - Malaguena mp3 at Spread the Good Word
Misc. what not:
Frankie Stein and His Ghouls - Monster Motion mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Ryan Bosetti Because.
More of Rev. Frost's music:
Reverend Tom Frost - A Bloody Life (streaming) at YouTube
Reverend Tom Frost - Dust to Dust (streaming) at YouTube
Reverend Tom Frost - More samples of his music at Rev. Tom Frost Check out "Burn Down the House"!
Visit:
Reverend Tom Frost - Official site

OF COURSE IT IS

Do you like your surf music with groans, screams, gurgling and ridiculous ghoulish spoken intros? This sucker is just the thing. A 1964 record that is every bit as good as the cover. Twelve, count 'em twelve instrumentals done by a band that may as well not exist. All that I was able to find in the way of true identities of this fine ensemble was two mentions of Joe South. Joe "Games People Play" South? If that happens to be true, it's the best damn costume I've seen in years. The taster below is the title cut. But I'd definitely go to Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban for the whole thing. A perfect balance of on topic hokum and seriously good playing. Listen to that first one, it sounds like the Mummy got all tangled up in the whammy bar. You'll see.

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Listen:
The Deadly Ones - It's Monster Surfing Time mp3 at Graham Trievel
The Deadly Ones - It's Monster Surfing Time LP (via MediaFire) at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 12 songs is a zip, really fast download.

DEATH MARCH

This song is a perfect example of so many things. It is what used to come between hits on LPs. Call it album filler, piss break special, whatever. It's from the days when songs like that weren't throwaways; they were good, and this is Creedence at their non-hit, deep track best. Devoid of flash, it's little more than guitar, bass and drums, with a harp solo. If you're Creedence fiend, you know the song, but listen to it again. I don't think I've ever heard a more basic rhythm section before in my life. And the rhythm guitar? Even Tom Fogerty went off to take a piss. But John Fogerty's fills, his singing, the song itself, lyrics and all; they all create this dark mood, this doom.

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Listen:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Graveyard Train mp3 at Shimmy She Wobble

METAL PERFECT DAY MACHINE

You've undoubtedly heard that Lou Reed passed away today. If you're young, you may not know who he is, or if you do, don't understand what the fuss is all about. If you lean towards hipster, you may think that anything after the Velvet Underground sucked. If you're a little older, you might just know his only hit, "Walk On the Wild Side". If you're a music geek, you may love much of his work, or you may hate it. Or both. When you step back and take your personal listening habits away from the equation, what you come away with is a ground breaker; someone genuine, cool enough to be uncool, a streetwise degenerate, melancholy sap, a survivor, and writer of songs ugly and beautiful, cooler than shit, and total pap.

Tammy Wynette followed by Shane McGowan; all I'm sayin'.

If you are of a certain age, his work probably intersected with events in your own life. You may have hummed along with "Walk On the Wild Side" when it was a hit, not knowing what it was about. You may have been introduced to the Velvet Underground through his solo versions of their songs on his LP "Rock 'n' Roll Animal" LP, featuring the overly long solos of Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter (later, after you'd grown out of you masturbatory guitar solo phase, wondering what he was thinking ), Maybe you remember hearing Metal Machine Music and thinking "the fuck is this?", or hearing "Sally Can't Dance" and going "I give up". You may have bought the Live in Italy on cassette, based solely on the fact that Robert Quine was in his band, and listened to it while you finished your hostel hopping through Europe. You may have played "Perfect Day" at half of the friends' wedding receptions you DJ'd at. You may have the face of your late brother flash before you every time you hear "Pale Blue Eyes". You may have come to admire Reed for what he was.  Motherfucker was and is Lou Reed. There's only one.

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Listen:
Lou Reed - Perfect Day mp3 at The Cargo Culte
Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music, Part 1 mp3 at WWMMD (?)
Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes mp3 at Motel de Moka

Velvet Underground - Guess I'm Falling In Love (Instrumental) mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu

Velvet Underground/Lou Reed - Rock 'n' Roll (four mp3s) at Review Stalker LP, demo, alternate take and solo live.
Lou Reed - Acoustic Demos (1970) (via MediaFire) at A History of The Underground Recording Industry 31:52 minutes

Pre-Velvets:
The Primitives - Do the Ostrich mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Primitives - Sneaky Pete mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Video:
A Night With Lou Reed (hour long 1983 live set) at YouTube with Robert Quine on guitar
Visit: 
Past Velvet Undergound and Lou Reed posts A lot of the links are still good.

GARAGIFORNIA

This one hits close to home, literally. Besides being from San Diego, the Tell-Tale Hearts had among it's members two current neighbors of mine, Dave Klowden and Pete Meisner, an ex-neighbor, Eric Bacher, and another friend, Ray Brandes, often referred to in these parts as "The guy who always finds cool shit on YouTube". But I'm not posting it because I happen to know a handful of the guys. I'm posting it because it's well done early eighties garage, back when there were relatively few bands playing that sort of stuff. As the hosting blog of this fine song (On the Flip-Side) points out, the guitar by Meisner is baddass; particularly the solo. Compact with a crazy end, just the way solos should be. All of their earlier stuff has Bacher on guitar, and he's no slouch either. But if we're going to go down that road you should take note of the organ by non-neighbor Bill Calhoun too. And round that out with Brandes on appropriately snotty vocals, considerable skin bashing by Klowden, and Mike Stax (Crawdaddys, Ugly Things, the Loons) on bass and what you have is some kinda package.

Both of the songs are at DivShare. If you don't want to deal with the few extra clicks it takes there, check this old post for some other Tell-Tell Hears stuff. And, take my word for it, you'll want to bookmark On The Flip-Side. There's tons of good stuff there.

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Listen:
The Tell-Tale Hearts - Too Many Lovers mp3 (via DivWShare*) at On the Flip-Side 
The Tell-Tale Hearts - Crawling Back To Me mp3 (via DivWShare*) at On the Flip-Side
The Scorpions - Too Many Lovers mp3 (via DivWShare*) at On the Flip-Side
NOTE: Once you get to DivShare, click on the green "Download" button, and scratch your head for fifteen seconds. When the button reappears, you're good to go.
More:
Earlier post with more Tell-Tale Hearts Easy one-clickers here

GIVE 'EM CANDY CIGARETTES

Oh hell yeah. King Khan and the BBQ Show's "Zombie" would be good enough for the night, but this post at Indie Rock Cafe [sic] has a few others worth hearing. There had to be something good, because there's fifty songs. You might find some that you like more than others. I picked the ones below because they all have some neat guitar, and at least they have some umph. Halloween music has to have some of that, or at least sound spooky or creepy. Some of the songs in the post are are all lah-de-dah with acoustic guitars, hand claps, and other such off topic nonsense. You know what scared me most about the post? Clicking on the Budos Band song and hearing the first few bars. Immediately thinking, "Oh holy shit, I had no idea they'd gotten so sucky". When I came to, I realized that it was just that their link was dead, so the player automatically advanced to Belle and Sebastian. An't no ghoul got time for that.

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Listen:
King Khan and the BBQ Show - Zombies mp3 at Indie Rock Cafe
Dead Kennedys - Halloween mp3 at Indie Rock Cafe
The Kills - Superstition mp3 at Indie Rock Cafe
40+ more songs at Indie Rock Cafe

LET IT FLY BRO

When it comes right down to it, has there ever been anybody who better personified Halloween creep full time than Screamin' Jay Hawkins? For years, too; to the extent that it may have actually lessened the chance of big time stardom. The man was a nut.. First, listen to "I Put a Spell On You". Yes, marvel again at its unrivaled creepy awesomeness. Then check the clip below, from 1983, of him and Serge Gainsbourg. That's roughly twenty seven years later. Dude was certifiable.

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Listen:
Screamin' Jay Hawkin's - I Put a Spell On You mp3 at Clayton Counts 1956
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - (She Put the) Wamee On Me mp3 at Tremors Rockabilly
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Alligator Wine mp3 at Api.ning.com (?) 1958

Visit:

Screamin' Jay Hawkins at The Hound Blog This profile is exceptional.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins at Wikipedia

SIGN OF THE WHINES

Let me ask you something people. Is the man above not the shit? You do know him, don't you? Maybe that's an assumption that shouldn't be made. I don't really want to be a drag, but I recently had a couple conversations with people younger than myself who prided themselves on knowing music. Without going into details, let's just say that I don't trust anybody of any age that makes that sort of claim, because there is just so much out there. You might know more than your buds, but it might be a good idea to avoid blanket statements. Yes, Muddy Waters is elementary to most of us. Let's just consider this a reminder of what brought us here. But to anyone out there seeing this who doesn't know anything about Muddy Waters, crack your knuckles. Digging a little deeper into existing stuff nearly always beats downloading the latest remix or whatnot. That really goes for all of us. End of hissy fit.

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Listen:
Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy mp3 at Jordan Hatch 1955

Muddy Waters - Rolling Stone mp3 at A.Tumblr (?) 1948

Muddy Waters - Tom Cat mp3 at DJNoDJ 1968, From the WTF classic Electric Mud

Muddy Waters - I Just Can't Be Satisfied mp3 at Tiny Cat Pants 1977, Back in form, with Johnny Winter on guitar and producing.

Bonus:

Clifton’s Corner :: Volume Eight – Blues Heaven (Pt. 1) at Aquarum Drunkard Nine varied blues selections, each from a different artist..

Clifton’s Corner :: Volume Nine – Blues Heaven (Pt. 2) at Aquarum Drunkard Dito, nine more.

Visit:
Muddy Waters at Wikipedia

MORE CREEP MEAT

Here's a couple quickies and a mix, all with your special day in mind. The individual songs below are the same song, "Riboflavin Flavored, Non Carbonated, Poly-Unsaturated Blood", the 1964 original by Don Hinson and the Rigamorticians, and the cover by 45 Grave, from 1980. The unrelated mix is at the ever boss Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban.

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Listen:
45 Grave - Riboflavin Flavored, Non Carbonated, Poly-Unsaturated Blood mp3 at Dress Lab
Don Hinson and the Rigamorticians - Riboflavin Flavored, Non Carbonated, Poly-Unsaturated Blood mp3 at Graham Trievel
The Mix
Monster Shindig - 28 Song mix at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Note: It's mp4a format, playable in most recent players. I'm guessing converters are available for free online.

THAT TIME AGAIN

Good ol' Reverend Tom Frost is a man of his word. He stopped updating his blog a couple years ago to concentrate on his music, but for several years before that, Spread the Good Word was a favorite around here. The selections he posted were always worth listening to, and and they were varied. It was his back to back posting of Mahalia Jackson and Anti-Nowhere League that got my attention. That was three days into this whole quixotic mess, six years ago. When he stopped updating his blog, he said that he'd leave his mixes up for the unforeseen future, and he has. So here's seventeen of his Bloody Halloween Mixes. That's right, seventeen. These suckers should take you all the way through party night. Each is linked separately, because you'll want the song lists. I won't go into what's on each, just look at a couple, they're packed with goodies.

Rev Frost is still doing his own music, which is damn fine in and of itself. There's a link to the his site down there. Check out the "More samples..." link. If "The Naked Witch" and "Whoopee" don't make you want to investigate, just get out of the way.

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The mixes (song lists at each link):

NOTE: The links are at the bottom of each post, under the song listings. Once you get to Rapidshare, look for the bar that says "to download", then on the next page select the box next to the mix and click on "download selection": You do not have to register. I repeat, you do not have to register. Ignore that window when it comes up and a few seconds later, the download will start. Got that? Later.

Bloody Halloween mix 17
Bloody Halloween mix 16
Bloody Halloween mix 15
Bloody Halloween mix 14
Bloody Halloween mix 13
Bloody Halloween mix 12
Bloody Halloween mix 11
Bloody Halloween mix 10
Bloody Halloween mix 9
Bloody Halloween mix 8
Bloody Halloween mix 7
Bloody Halloween mix 6
Bloody Halloween mix 5
Bloody Halloween mix 4
Bloody Halloween mix 3
Bloody Halloween mix 2
Bloody Halloween mix 1
Rev. Frost's music:
Reverend Tom Frost - A Bloody Life (streaming) at YouTube
Reverend Tom Frost - Dust to Dust (streaming) at YouTube
Reverend Tom Frost - More samples of his music at Rev. Tom Frost Check out "The Naked Witch"!
Visit:
Reverend Tom Frost - Official site
 

OK THEN, LET'S.

When Henry Mancini, Apollo 440, the Wrecking Crew, the Ventures, Martin Denny, John Barry, and Phil Spector all come to mind in just a couple songs, from a band the you know nothing about, you know what you get? Intermission. The perfect excuse to duck out early.

Note: The songs below are from Let's Party With Bikini Machine, the first volume, not the one pictured above.

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Listen:
Bikini Machine - Bikini Theme mp3 at Infrasons
Bikini Machine - Ou Vont Les Cons mp3 at DJNoDJ 

FEEDBACK MERIT BADGE

Here's one that's semi-topical, at least in the title. It's from the only LP by the original line up of the Dream Syndicate, which was when they were the shit. They were. Loosely grouped with the so-called Paisley Underground, but that's inaccurate, at least with the original version of the band. In the beginning, they were a little like the Velvets, but with some kind of guitar sound. Lead guitarist Karl Precoda gets a lot of the credit, and it's deserved. He was a man who knew feedback. Steve Wynn was no slouch, in a way his playing was the perfect complement. But that Precoda, in just about every song, he was messing with feedback. It's not the act of  show off, he knew where to place it, and for how long. Even the extended solos were kept interesting.

I couldn't find an mp3, so you'll have to check it at YouTube, but do check it out. Precoda's doing some wicked shit. (Note: Do a web search for "YouTube mp3 converter" and you should be able to find a way to save it. Just a head's up.) The other band down there, the Suspects, was Steve Wynn's earlier band, that featured future Dream Syndicate bassist Kendra Smith as a lead singer. I'm not posting it as a chuckle, but to illustrate what a big change they went through in only about four years. They went from just another new wave band to great band, if only for a couple years in that original incarnation. But, still, the guitar freakout hybrid (at different times the Velvets, Neil Young, Robert Quine and Television) wouldn't be, and wasn't, the same without Precoda. His playing on this must be heard. Listen to the whole thing.

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Listen:
The Dream Syndicate - Halloween (streaming) at YouTube 1982
The Suspects - Talking Loud, It's Up To You (streaming) at YouTube ca 1978
Video:
The Dream Syndicate - Tell Me When It's Over, Still Holding On You at YouTube ca 1982
The Dream Syndicate - When You Smile at YouTube In store appearance, Tower Records, El Toro, CA 1982
Visit:
The Dream Syndicate at Wikipedia

SOUNDS LIKE A PART NUMBER

The MC5 were posted not too long ago, so I'll keep it short and get out of your hair. The video below is a two hour documentary about the band. You ought to check it out, and soon. If this is like other full length films with music geek appeal, it'll be gone before you know it. (If it is gone by the time you read this, there's some other videos linked below.)

Even if you're a long time fiend there's some great footage to be seen here. The long drawn out intro sucks you in. That's all I'm saying. If you don't know the MC5, by all means, watch this sucker. It's a good way to avoid being one of those people.that don't know the MC5.

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Listen:
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams mp3 at Teenage Kicks USA
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose mp3 at Probe is Turning-On the People
MC5 - I Just Don't Know mp3 at Beware of the Blog
MC5 - Looking At You mp3 at The Rising Storm
MC5 - One of the Guys (early cut) mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Video:
MC5 - Ramblin' Rose (live 1970, at Wayne State University's Tartar Field, Detroit)
MC5 - Lookin' At You (live, same show as above)
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (TV appearance) at YouTube

VOTED MOST OUT OF TREE

Here we go, another study in contrast and compare. Exhibit A is a 1978 cover of the Wailers' "Out of Our Tree" by DMZ, a band that featured future Lyre Jeff "Mono Mann" Conolly. Exhibit B is the original, by the Wailers. I'm not entertaining debate here. To me, there is none. While DMZ can be given credit for their choice in covers (particularly for 1978), at the end of the day, there's one thing that matters most. especially for this type of song.  Which of the two bands sound more like they really mean business?

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Listen:
DMZ - Out of Our Tree mp3 at Iron Leg
The Wailers - Out of Our Tree mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Wailers - Hang Up (streaming) at YouTube Epic.
DMZ - When I Get Off mp3 at Beware of the Blog Not a lost Stooges cut.
The Wailers - Mashi mp3 at Beware of the Blog

SUCK ON THIS YOU NOCTURNAL GOON

Do you like a little death scream with your twang? Well, saddle up creep, I've got the mix for you. Actually, the scream 'n' twang bit is only one song, but even if the mix had just that song I'd be wholeheartedly recommending it. The song is "Twistin' Off the Cliff" by Duane Eddy, from his Twistin' and Twangin' LP. The YouTube version below doesn't do it justice, but the trip there was worth it, if for no other reason than a respectable live cover of the song by a band called the Crazy Caps that might lack the unintelligible muttering of the original, but I gotta say, the guy's screams ain't half bad.

The mix itself is well done, great song selection. The Ventures' "Exploration In Terror"? Johnny Otis's "The Midnight Creeper"? Hell, I'll even look the other way when the Challengers' "Igor's Theme" is playing. Thirty two individual mp3s in a single zip. Dig it, creep.

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Listen:
Duane Eddy - Twistin' Off a Cliff (streaming) at YouTube
The Crazy Caps - Twistin' Off a Cliff (streaming) at YouTube
The Mix:
Trick or Treat Vol 9 (via MediaFire) at Grey Haass 32 songs. You'll want to go there to check the song list.

BEEN THERE

This song, besides being one I can totally identify with, is another reason why Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban rules.

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Listen:

Johnny Seay - Three Six Packs, Two Arms and a Juke Box mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban

Visit:
Johnny Seay (Johnny Sea) at Wikipedia

ATTN: PARTY PLANNING COMMITTEE

It's that time again. Time for all of the Halloween crap to come out of mothballs. Let's get this party started with a few covers of the Munsters theme, starting with the most badass Billy Strange, a former member of the Wrecking Crew. Then there's the swingin' take by Jimmy Smith. By the middle of his version, you'll forget what song you're listening too. There;'s so much crazy-man-crazy packed into three and a half minutes, you'll swear it's an LP side. Not to worry, los Straighjackets will return you to your safe harbor of nutty covers.

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Listen:
Billy Strange - The Munsters Theme mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Jimmy Smith - Theme From the Munsters mp3 at De Discos y Monstruos
Los Straightjackets - The Munsters Theme mp3 at WYMX

UH, SORRY.

This is the perfect chaser for the last post. Some of you will get the correlation. Doesn't matter. It's one of those songs that's just about perfect. It's in that elite group, one of those cannot be improved on, so why bother fucking with them type songs. The piano, the horns, the drums and even the hand claps. And there's always that voice. Man, that voice. It's not 100% soul, not really R & B, not really a crooner. It's just one of your run of the mill astonishingly good voices. If you're not familiar with the song, let me just say from personal experience, it will provide decades of intermittent elation.

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Listen:
Sam Cooke - Twistin' the Night Away mp3 at Neals Barkley

BOX GUITAR FOLK SINGER SPECIAL

Oh well, there's probably a few of you that are eat up Dylan stuff. He fills that spot. Some people live and die by every little burp and fart he ever recorded, have all of his original LPs, and anxiously await the next release in his official bootleg series. But there's probably a lot of you who went through that passing early-only Dylan phase where you sat on sidewalks writing in your journal about how nobody understands you. You smoked cigarettes and considered yourself a different breed,. You listened to smart music, burned candles and read Rimbaud and Blake. I knew you. I too wore raggedy ass clothes and mooched pocket change. Where was I? Oh yeah, I ran into this and thought that some of you might dig it. From a historical perspective, it's worth listening to. Dylan, after he was signed, but the first LP had yet to be finished. He was still playing small coffeehouse type venues, without a band, just him and his guitar. It's an excellent quality recording, and there's quite a bit of candid patter. Not all of the songs are from the same show, just the first seven. You can find the details about the recordings here. Gotta go now, Bluto calls.

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Listen:
Bob Dylan - Acoustic Troubador at Captain's Dead Seven songs early, pre-debut LP. There's four others. All eleven are available individually,  or as a single download.

Bob Dylan - Acoustic Troubador at Bob's Boots Recording details

YEAH MAN, BOOTED!!!

Doing some fix it stuff around the squalor here today, I slapped some music on, as a soundtrack to the bodily injury that normally occurs during these rare fits of productivity. As happens to me, and I'm sure you too, I heard a song that I haven't heard it a while and had forgotten how badass it was. The song was Rosco Gordon's "Booted". It was recorded at Sun Studios in 1952, and then licensed to both Chess and RPM, with both labels releasing it. (The two labels would later negotiate a deal where RPM would get exclusive rights to Gordon's stuff and Chess would get another Sun artist, Howlin' Wolf. Yeah, that worked out nicely for Chess.)

"Booted" stood out today, for several reasons. It's early and raw, two of my favorite flavors. I like Rosco Gordon's music, particularly his stuff recorded at Sun. That would be enough, but on this one, Gordon's normally lazy delivery is abnormally lazy. In parts, he sounds like he's half drunk. On the line, "I'm gonna take out my knife and operate," which is one of the catchiest badass lines ever, he sounds absolutely shitfaced. Just listen to it. Imagine a guy, pissed off because he and his wife have split, as he sucks down a bottle of bravery. Not that the music isn't enough. The bang the shit of them sound of the drums, Gordon's piano style (accents on the off beat), the filthy sax solo; it's all there. 

As you might know, Gordon's style, oft referred to as "Rosco's Rhythm", influenced early bluebeat and ska players. Theo Beckford was one of the earliest, so there's a song by him down there. He's today's bonus shake.

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Listen:
Rosco Gordon - Booted mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Rosco Gordon - No More Doggin mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Rosco Gordon - Wise To You Baby mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Theophilus Beckford - Easy Snappin' (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Rosco Rhythm at Boogie Woogie Flu Great piece, more music.
Rosco Gordon - Excellent bio at The Hound Blog (Note: Song links on the post are dead)

LET'S GET TWISTED AGAIN

Here's a oddball that's eluded me. Actually, I posted a snippet a couple years ago, so it might not have been the song that made me keep my eye out for it, just the frustration of not hearing the whole thing. Not that it's worth chasing down. But it is odd hearing Chubby Checker sing about getting stoned...in a bathroom...on a Sunday afternoon. Really, what gives? It's from his 1971 LP Chequered, The first two lines remind me of Wesley Willis's vocal inflections. His little soul shout at 1:55 turns blood curdling a second later. (Wait for it, it's hilarious.) There's another one down there, "Love Tunnel", from the same album. It's got a watered down garage thing going on, with someone trying to sound like Hendrix singing. The cover of "Back In the U.S.S.R." is from '69, and, surprisingly, does not suck. Entirely.

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Listen:
Chubby Checker - Stoned In the Bathroom mp3 at Snuhthing Anything
Chubby Checker - Love Tunnel (streaming) at YouTube
Chubby Checker - Back In the U.S.S.R. (streaming) at YouTube

ADVANCED CLASS

I know you. You're the one who gets in a thrift store and makes a beeline for the records. You've rummaged through the records at a thousand garage sales and lurk at your record stores 99 cent bin. You've got a vague mental shopping list and know the telltale signs of a cool old record before you've heard it. At some point, your searches for hot shit stuff runs cold and you start taking chances on goofy stuff, just because it's so cheap. How can you not? That's where Doug Clark fans are born. Sure, they were a popular frat party band back in the sixties, but most Hot Nut fans I know found their music years later in the vinyl ghetto. I'm not sure "Baby Let Me Bang Your Box" was their biggest song, but it was up there. The Bangers version was earlier, but just by months. I don't know if the Bangers recorded anything else. But Doug Clark and His Hot Nuts recorded so much more, loaded with double entendres. With LP titles like On Campus, Rush Week, and Panty Raid, you know who their target audience was. It's not too late. Blow off some sloppy steam.

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Listen:
Doug Clark and His Hot Nuts - Baby Let Me Bang Your Box mp3 at 4Shared.com
The Bangers - Baby Let Me Bang Your Box, Pt 1 mp3 at Glorify the Turd
The Bangers - Baby Let Me Bang Your Box, Pt 2 mp3 at Glorify the Turd
Visit:
Doug Clark and His Hot Nuts at Wikipeda

FRIDAY FUN TIME

After hearing the Q65 cover of "Get Out of My Life" and Christopher and the Souls' "Diamonds, Rat's and Gum", Beehive and the Barracudas' cover of the Gun Club's "Sex Beat" is a perfect chaser. Don't ask me why. It just sounded good tonight. I'm sure the thud of the drums has more than a little to do with it. If you too like that sort of thing, this will have you banging on anything within arms reach.

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Listen:
Beehive and the Barracudas - Sex Beat mp3 at Dollar Record
If you missed it:
Plastic Soul Rock 'n' Roll - Two more Beehive cuts and a video 

THIS DRUMMER IS AT THE RIGHT GIG

The video linked below is really worth viewing. If you have kids, gather them around your screen. If you know someone who thinks popping a flash drive into a laptop, in a dark club with wild lights and overpriced drinks, is making music, gather them around your screen. If you know a young person who has never played outside without some sort of organized league, or can't take their eyes off their phone, gather them around your screen. If you know someone who thinks that imagination and perseverance are just words, gather them around your screen.

This amazing clip was filmed in New Orleans in 1928.  Three kids, cans, pans, and a crate. And ingenuity.

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Watch:
[This Drummer Is At the Right Gig] at the Moving Image Research Center No embed code available, go there to view it.
NOTE: The post title is a play on the post title below, nothing else is implied.:
Behind "This Drummer Is At The Wrong Gig" 

BOSS VOSS

There are so many cool things about Christopher and the Souls' "Damonds, Rats and Gum", I don't know where to start. First thing you'll notice is the fuzz. It's constant. Get used to it, the same couple riffs, over and over. But a lot of records have that. I suggest you check the drums. Without the cymbals during the verses, it's a pretty mean thud. Like the Monks. It is fucking Monk Time in the den. And about the vocals, the delivery is perfect. A-1 "I don't give a shit", teenage style, without the hoodlum vibe of the older kids. And how about those lyrics, holy jeez. "I'll give you rats and five pieces of gum and then you'll know I'm not a bum." 

The story of this record is pretty remarkable in itself. The band played mostly covers, and had never record anything. Enter the older brother of the former bass player. He fancied himself a songwriter, so he wrote lyrics for two songs, and wrangled the band's guitarist to write tunes around them. The band practiced them for a couple weeks, with designs on recording them. When it did come time to record, Mr; Songwriter himself, not a singer or a band member, sang. I think you'll agree he did a stand up job. He really doesn't give a shit. He's teenage.

The whole story of the band, and their recordings, is at 1960's Garage Bands, and there;'s a longer piece at Garage Hangover, both good reads. One thing to note: the fidelity on the recordings isn't the greatest, but, really, to fuck with them would change the whole wood paneled dynamic, wouldn't it?

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Listen:
Christopher and the Souls - Diamonds, Rats and Gum mp3 at Internet Archive
Christopher and the Souls - Diamonds, Rats and Gum (streaming) at YouTube Slightly better sound
Christopher and the Souls - Broken Hearted Lady at 1960s Garage Bands Go there to get it
Visit:
Christopher and the Souls at 1960s Garage Bands
Christopher and the Souls at Garage Hangover 

BANDS UGLY THINGS TAUGHT US

Q65's cover of Lee Dorsey's "Get Out of My Life" is..., fuck, I don't know what it is. Something like the Yardbirds produced by Allen Toussaint, with Lara Logic playing sax. There might be a handful of you that know what I'm trying to get at, but I know who will, the Mystery Suggester. And that's who I thought of when I listened to it.

In the studio, 1967

Q65 had different lineups, and their music varied in style depending on the era, but there's always something in the mix that's a just little bit out there. There is an undercurrent of wildness, even in their more restrained stuff. Blah, blah, blah. In short, they're Dutch freaks. You dig that sort of stuff, right?

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Listen: 
Q65 - Get Out My Life mp3 at Stop Smiling 1966
Q65 - Cry In the Night mp3 at Tumblr (?) 1966 (Someone's been listening to "Fortune Teller")
Q65 - I Despise You (streaming) at YouTube 1966
Q65 - Injection/Love Is Such a Good Thing mp3 at Tumblr (?) 1971
Visit:
Q65 at Wikipedia
Ugly Things
Q65 - The book at Ugly Things

SHUT UP. THEY'RE COOL.

I know, total squares right? Then tell me why I dig "Wah Watusi" so much? Something about it. The Orlons were kind of unique in that they were kind of a girl group, but they had a guy in the line up. They all met in high school, and named themselves the Orlons as a play on the rival high school vocal group the Cashmeres, and they were encouraged to audition for Cameo Records by another high school classmate, a member of the Dovells ("Bristol Stomp"). 

One thing I've got to say; hearing "Wah-Watusi" makes me really miss bona fide oldies stations. I don't mean the plethora of stations playing "the hits of the 60s, 70s and 80's". I'm talking the good stuff, roughly mid-fifties to mid-sixties. There are an awful lot of groups like the Orlons that I never actually owned a record of. I'd heard them so much on the oldies stations, I didn't need to. But after hearing their great cover of "Heartbreak Hotel", it occurred to me that I hadn't heard "Wah Watusi" in a very long time. And it sounded way better than I remembered it.

That cover of "Heartbreak Hotel" down there is another one you should really hear. They really make it their own, total Northern soul. And don't bother comparing it with the Elvis version; apples and oranges.

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Listen:
The Orlons - Heartbreak Hotel mp3 at De Discos y Monstruos
The Orlons - Wah Watusi mp3 at Joe Troiano's Blog
The Orlons - Don't Hang Up mp3 at Russ Strathdee

MONSTERS OF MELODICA

I've got this weird thing about a hot dry fall day and the melodica. It probably started with the Sandals, particularly their theme from The Endless Summer. It just fits a day like today (82 degrees with a water temp of 68). The inclusion of melodica had to have influenced a similar association with Augustus Pablo's "Cassava Piece", but even that one is long running. Whatever, they work.

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Listen:
The Sandals - The Endless Summer mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 
Augustus Pablo - Cassava Piece mp3 at Pampelmoose
Augustus Pablo - More here
The Sandals - Endless Summer soundtrack at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 12 songs

WITH SAID WITCH

The Sonics should require no introduction, right? Their first two LPs are nothing short of essential. Seriously. There's no other way to put it. A few things to dig about them: one is Gerry Roslie's voice. It's what took them from just another instrumental combo to raw pounding rock 'n' roll riot. It's a medical marvel that he can still speak. It's all there on "Psycho". And that drum sound? The whole kit was recorded with a single microphone. And all of that thrashing and bshing and what not. You don't have to bring all of that proto-punk stuff into the equation. Throw the word out the window. What you still have is really one of the truly great American rock 'n' roll bands. I don't think they ever had a song that made the national charts, regional charts perhaps; they were really hot shit in the Northwest.

I was turned on to them by my friend Frank Gutch, who spent formative years up there in the Northwest. When he told me about them I was nineteen, and he was the twenty-something owner of a record store, A couple years ago, he wrote a thing about a show he went to back in the day, a battle of the bands, the Sonics versus the Wailers. Just reading that pairing gives me goosebumps. Read his account here. Before I get really carried away, the reason for this post is because the Sonics just finished recording thirteen new songs. Naysayers may say that the EP released a few years back wasn't anything special. The Sonics weren't that hot on it either. But, according to Sonics sax man Rob Lind, "on this album we decide to get back to hard fast rock 'n' roll,”  Here's hoping. That would be awesome.

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Eat it up:
The Sonics - Psycho mp3 at Bag of Songs
The Sonics - Strychnine mp3 at Gimmetinnitus
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Tinyvices
The Sonics - Boss Hoss mp3 at Api.ning.com (?)
The Sonics - Money mp3 at Girl Juke Box
The Sonics - Maintaining My Cool mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Fan club record:
The Sonics - Introduction to the Sonics mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Other audio:
Interview with Sonics guitarist Larry Parypa (1998) at Beware of the Blog This is excellent. Click on blue and white arrow button to hear audio.
Visit:
The Sonics Official site
The Sonics vs the Wailers - Battle of the Bands! by Frank Gutch Jr., at Indie Musicology