Bernadette and Her Swingin' Bears

December 29, 2008, 1:09 pm

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Here's a great novelty record that was based on the Hanna Barbera hit TV show Yogi Bear. I'm not sure why they chose this as a subject matter, since there seems to be no relation to Hanna Barbera. I guess they were just trying to capitalize on the popularity of the cartoon. Anyway it's a great cheezy, catchy track from the great novelty record era. I also love the label, which I'm sure was made to attract "the kids". Check out the track below.

Bernadette and Her Swingin' Bears - Crazy Yogi

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Blue Chips

January 6, 2009, 5:36 pm

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Good UK Mod Beat 45! I really like both sides of this 45. It's fairly primitive UK Beat with a touch of soul. I don't know anything about these guys except that they had 3 45 releases, this one in 1965 and two in 1966. Here's some additional info from the liner notes from the "Doin' The Mod, Vol. 2" compilation:

The Blue Chips were allegedly discovered on the Northern club circuit by Adam Faith's songwriter Johnny Worth (which suggests some in-joke at work here - after all, the other Worth/Faith proteges were the Roulettes!). The impressive uptempo blue eyed soul of "I'm On The Right Side" was the A-side of the first of their three singles cut for Pye between October 1965 and July 1966.

Listen to both sides of this 45 here:
BLUE CHIPS - I'M ON THE RIGHT SIDE
BLUE CHIPS - YOU'RE GOOD TO ME

Preparations

January 7, 2009, 4:01 pm

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Although a pretty blatant rip off of the "Cool Jerk" riff, this is a fantastic record. It's hard to sit still still while listening to this one. From New York City and released in 1968. Get up and do the GET-E-UP! Yeeehaw!

PREPARATIONS - GET-E-UP (The Horse)

Gremlins

January 8, 2009, 11:38 am

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Here's one from the great New Zealand band the Gremlins. This 45 was the follow-up to their big (#2) hit "Coming Generation". Unfortunately it was a total flop in the charts. To my ears though it's a great song which complains how the older generation just doesn't understand the new generation ("They don't like the clothes we wear and they don't like our longer hair"). You can read a good history of the band HERE.

Listen here:
GREMLINS - UNDERSTAND OUR AGE

Be sure to pick up the CD: The Gremlins - The Coming Generation: The Complete Recordings 1965-68

Union Jack

January 9, 2009, 5:32 pm

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Not much info out there on this band. I know they were Belgian and I'm pretty sure this 45 was released in 1970. They had at least one other release around 1969-70 also on Fontora records. Lady Masham is a great Pop-Psych track with super FUZZ guitar. Any further info on the band is welcomed.

Listen to it here:
UNION JACK - LADY MASHAM

Romancers

January 13, 2009, 9:20 pm

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Here's one of the Romancers, from East LA, singles from 1966. This one, as far as East LA bands goes is a bit different in that it's pure 60's jangly rock. Most of the East LA Chicano bands tended toward Doo-wop, soul and funk, including the Romancers, but in 1966 Max Uballez was writing some amazing garage and 60's pop. Both sides are great, but "She Gives Me Love", I think could and should have been a hit.

The Romancers were one of the earliest of the 60's East LA Chicano bands and again I defer to Mark Guerrero's page for an excellent history of the band HERE.

ROMANCERS - SHE GIVES ME LOVE
ROMANCERS - TAKE MY HEART

Brincos

January 14, 2009, 7:21 pm

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Los Brincos were one of the top bands in Spain in the 1960's. They released several 45's and LP's throughout the 60's and a brilliant Psych-Progressive LP in 1970 (Mvndo Demonio Carne). This 45 is from 1967 and has a very "Who" feel to it. I've included the track "The Train" (sung in English) below.

LOS BRINCOS - THE TRAIN

Big Three

January 18, 2009, 10:46 am

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Legendary early UK Beat group. In my opinion, still very underrated today, their records are great and really reflect the time. Their "Big Three at the Cavern" EP is fantastic and really captures the sound from those Cavern days. Although many say their studio recordings don't really capture their wild sound, I believe the track I've included here is an exception. "Cavern Stomp" sounds pretty wild to my ears and I think all you Mod DJ's out there should give it a spin at your next club night.

Here's a few more tidbits about The Big Three:
1. They were managed by Brian Epstein, but were allegedly dropped from his management because of their wild antics.
2. Their drummer, Johnny Hutchinson, drummed for The Beatles for a brief period between Pete Best and Ringo in 1962.
3. The original lineup lasted only until November 1963 and the band was completely disbanded by early 1964!

Check out "Cavern Stomp" here:
BIG THREE - CAVERN STOMP

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Jets

January 23, 2009, 11:13 am

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Great melodic driving Dutch beat!

Not much info on the internet (at least in English). Here's what Pebbles Vol. 23 had to say about them:

"This 5-piece combo was from Utrecht and had a hit with the Changin' Times/Crispian St. Peter song 'Pied Piper', which stayed in the Dutch Top 40 for 15 weeks. 'I Was So Glad' is the B-side. 'Worker In The Night' is another great one by them. The Jets were one of the best live bands, there were wild happenings at their shows. And they even had records released in Japan!"

There's also some great pics HERE.

Listen here:
JETS - WORKER IN THE NIGHT

Mark Four

January 26, 2009, 9:52 pm

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Here's a surf influenced garage record from a band called the Mark Four. They were probably from Los Angeles and had an earlier release (Pacific Challenger 1002) with a nice surf style vocal tune called Swingin' Hangout. This one is more in the Garage vein and I believe was released in 1966. Pretty inept. Just listen to that bad start by the drummer. I love the guitar sound though.

Listen here:
MARK FOUR - FORGET IT BABY

Terry Dean and the Nitebeats

January 29, 2009, 10:27 pm

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Here's a nice beat record from New Zealand. This was the bands first release from early in 1964. The song featured here was written by the UK songwriting team of John Carter and Ken Lewis (who also had the band Carter-Lewis and the Southerners). The song was also recorded by The Cicadas from Australia and I believe was originally done by the Marauders in the UK.

There's a great history of the band with some fantastic pictures HERE.

Listen here:
TERRY DEAN AND THE NITEBEATS - ALWAYS ON MY MIND

Hedgehoppers Anonymous

January 31, 2009, 10:05 pm

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A beat band from the UK who were originally called The Trendsetters then The Hedgehoppers in 1963/4. They added the Anonymous in 1965 when Jonathan King became their producer. Their first release (Good News Week) became a big hit in the UK. In my opinion that first 45 and their next 2 releases were mediocre beat/folk efforts. Then in August of 1966 they released this monster (which criminally went nowhere in the charts). Great full Mod/Freakbeat sound on this one. Give it a listen below.

HEDGEHOPPERS ANONYMOUS - DAYTIME

Short '66

February 5, 2009, 9:27 pm

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Great Beat-Mod band from Amsterdam. They had at least 8 singles during their career. Heavily influenced by the Mod and Psych bands from the UK. They started in 1966 (hence the name) and I think only lasted until 1960 or 1970. The song featured here is a pure Mod/PopArt/Freakbeat effort.

Here's a great promo card:



Lots of good stuff by these guys! This is one of my favorites.

Listen here:
SHORT '66 - GOOD WEEKEND

Twilights

July 2, 2009, 8:46 pm

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One of my favorite Australian bands, the Twilights were one of the top bands of the sixties in the land down under. You can read all about their history at the great Milesago website HERE.

If you love sitar, you'll love the track "Time and Motion Study Man", which was actually the B-Side. The A-Side "Younger Girl", written by the drummer, Laurie Pryor, was a huge hit for the band. The song was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and the Milesago site explains, "melancholy and evocative, with Terry's innovative use of the variable volume pedal (as employed previously on The Beatles' "Yes It Is"). It's a measure of The Twilights' pre-eminence on the Aussie rock scene by this time that it became the group's biggest hit to date."

Sorry, even though the record looks perfect, it sounds a little scratchy. Listen to both sides below.

TWILIGHTS - TIME AND MOTION STUDY MAN
TWILIGHTS - YOUNG GIRL

Note: Sorry for the huge break in posts. I plan to post regularly from now on.

Chanceliers

July 17, 2009, 10:16 pm

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French Canadian band that released at least 8 singles from 1966 to 1968. They also released an LP in 1967. Michel Pagliaro, the vocalist went on to have a successful pop career in Canada. This is a great tough track sung in French. Fantastic Guitar, bass and drums! I love the slow down and stops then the drums crashing back in. The other side is a pretty boring version of "I'm your puppet" sung in French as well. Listen to the killer side below.

CHANCELIERS - LA GENERATION D'AUJOURD'HUI

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Troggs

July 18, 2009, 10:59 pm

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I assume most of you know the Troggs, so I'm not going to go into their history. Plenty of info on the internet.

This is a pretty obscure Troggs track. Released as the B-side to their Hip Hip Horay 45 and included on the "Mixed Bag" LP from 1968. It's a great song with all of the attitude of some of their earlier tracks that seemed to be lacking during this time. It has a great freakbeat sound and has that brilliant simplicity that made the Troggs great. Listen to it below.

TROGGS - SAY DARLIN'!

Beautiful Daze

July 21, 2009, 8:40 pm

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This is one of my favorite Garage-Psych records ever! I'm not sure which compilation I first heard it on, but it was instantly a mind blower for me.

I'm not sure if there has been much dug up on this band, but if there has been please let me know. The J. Greek listed as one of the songwriters is thought to be the former member of Seattle's Wailers. Also, I believe this 45 is from 1967. Anyway, the important thing is the music, and how amazing it is! Listen to it below.

BEAUTIFUL DAZE - CITY JUNGLE

Phantoms

July 29, 2009, 7:53 pm

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A history of the band (in Dutch), but with great photos and record scans is HERE.

Also, from the liner notes for Beat Express #1 (The great 10 inch series from Op-Art Records):
Band members were lead guitarist Ad v.d. Ven; bass player Wally Soute, founder of the Phantoms Ronald v.d.Horst (guit), drummer Fred Grundlach and Marty van Rooy (voc). The band achieved national fame with “I’ll Go Crazy,” which got to number 11 on the hit parade, followed by “Tormented,” which only got to 25. They even managed to release a true LP that, like the singles, appeared on Omega Records.The Phantoms were regularly seen on TV (Tienerama) and even performed in Belgium for the program “Tienerklanken.”

Listen to the nice melodic dutch beat of Tormented below.

PHANTOMS - TORMENTED

Salas Brothers with the Jaguars

September 29, 2009, 8:53 pm

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Obviously a follow up to the great "Farmer John" by the Premiers. These young kids from Easy LA later played with El Chicano and morphed into Tierra. Listen to it below.

SALAS BROTHERS WITH THE JAGUARS - THE RETURN OF FARMER JOHN

Larry's Rebels

October 26, 2009, 9:53 pm

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Larry's Rebels from Auckland, New Zealand released a bunch of 45's from 1964 through to 1969. They recorded this 45 "Halloween / Everybody's Girl" on a trip to Melbourne, Australia in 1968. Everybody's Girl reached #6 in the New Zealand Charts.

The track included here was the intended A-Side, but didn't reach the charts in Australia or New Zealand. But it's a great song dedicated to the spookiest day of the year coming up soon.

Here comes Halloween...

LARRY'S REBELS - HALLOWEEN

You can read much more about the band HERE.