THIS IS NOT K-POP

Three letters: H-O-Y. They were in a book I was reading. That sent me on a tear. They reminded me of "Hoy Hoy" a song by the Collins Kids, a brother-sister rockabilly duo. It was the first song I heard by them and I was blown away when I heard it. Why? Because the kid doing the outrageously good picking, Larry Collins, was something like thirteen years old at the time. I would later learn that he was a protégé of Joe Maphis. So, when considering doing a Collins Kids post today, I checked to see how long it had been since I featured them. Hell, it's been over ten years. Some of you may not know them. Here's what I said back then about my early exposure to these post-rugrat rockers.:

I remember clearly the first time I heard the Collins Kids. As I made one of my ritual stops at a friend's record store, he was nearly frothing. A rockabilly compilation had just come in, with a mindblowingly good band, who were just kids. I was used to these "you gotta hear this" things from him. The proprietor of said record store, Dan McLain (who was the drummer for the Crawdaddys and later better known as Country Dick Montana, of the Beat Farmers) had already turned me on to several bands and singers (not the least of which was Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps). So I knew the drill. But still, I was amazed.

The first time I actually saw footage of the Collins Kids was at a small barbecue at the home of a couple I knew. After a few beers and burgers, it was time for the main event. The video tape came out. (This was well before DVDs.) It would be another slack jawed moment. Even being familiar with some of the Collins Kids' music, nothing could have prepared me for the sight of a kid in his early teens playing technically incredible stuff, with a big ass smile on his face. As if that weren't enough, the little fugger was moving like he had ants in his pants. It kinda gave me the creeps, because it was so unthinkable. It still does a little. "So good, it's scary."

There's a shitload of Collins Kids videos at YouTube, some from later reunions as well. The ten minute bio below is a good introduction.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Collins Kids - Hoy Hoy mp3 at Rock-52.net
The Collins Kids - Beetle Bug Bop mp3 at Rocky-52.net
The Collins Kids - Hush Money mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Video:
The Collins Kids Story at YouTube