A Raincoat -It Came In The Night -VIDEO

A great song with OK animation, it works better with Kenneth Anger's film though...

Arizona Swamp Company –Tennessee Woman

Arizona Swamp Company –Tennessee Woman/ Train Keeps Rollin’ –Parlophone 5C006-91 733 (1970 Dutch Issue)

Arizona Swamp Company are in fact The Nashville Teens in semi-disguise. They released this single around the same time as an amazing version of The Move’s Ella James (also on Parlophone under their usual moniker). Tennessee Woman is a quality early 70s straight-ahead rocker and is backed by a good romping version of Stroll On/Train Kept A Rollin’. Although not the wildest version known to man; it still features a nice lead guitar rave up.

Click on title for edits of Tennessee Woman and Train Keeps Rollin’

Miki Anthony –Get Your Dancin’ Shoes On

Miki Anthony –Get Your Dancin’ Shoes On/Schoolgirl –Bradleys Records BRAD 7503 (1975 UK)

Just to ease us seamlessly back into the 70s… Get Your Dancin’ Shoes On is a loving and faithful recreation of that Wall of Sound. Brilliantly arranged by Phil Chapman and produced by Miki it also has a nice pop vocal performance and some fun touches: Cool Jerk, What I Say, La Bamba…The B side Schoolgirl sonically continues the theme with its thumping Spector beat, but it has lyrics that even Harpo wouldn’t have included in Teenage Queen!

Click below for Get Your Dancin’ Shoes On and for a snippet of Schoolgirl

The Group –Baby, Baby It’s You

The Group –Baby, Baby It’s You/Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love –WB 5840 ( 1966 US)

OK, time to go back for a furtive visit to the Mid Sixties in order to dust off this brilliant Gary Zekley 2-sider. Both sides are vibrant examples of West Coast Pop nestled between the Girl Group Sound and Sunshine Pop (but with so much more clout!). In fact the production places this single in a similar soundscape to Brian Wilson’s work on The Beach Boys' Today album. It also sounds very much like Jerry Riopell’s production on Home Of The Brave (Bonnie And The Treasures) and there may well be a connection as Gary wrote Bonnie’s follow up single Close Your Eyes on WB around the same time.

Gary Zekley was behind so many great West Coast releases in the 60s including Alder Ray (Cause I Love Him), the nostalgic The Fun We Had by The Ragamuffins, Jan & Dean, Fun And Games, The Clique (Sugar on Sunday and especially Superman), The Yellow Balloon ( who redid these 2 songs) and so much more –check out his discography at Spectropop http://www.spectropop.com/hzekleydiscog.html


Click on title for edits of both songs

Black Fire –Do It

Black Fire –Do It/Little Bit ‘A Music – Lark 9508 (1975 NL)

Do It ( no relation to The Pink Fairies) is another fine example of crunching Dutch Glam. The song is based on a Rockabilly back beat but is firmly planted in stomping mode with its dead solid drum pattern and handclaps. Built around the chanted hook and with vocals that are just the right side of gruff, Do It is a rip-roaring call to arms: Stand up for your rights -fight fight fight… Little Bit ‘A Music is a good thumper, but doesn’t quite have the edge of the A side
Black Fire were a Frisian band from Sint-Annaparochie!!!! They released a first single My Girl/ Rock N Roll Is Here To Stay (1974) under the name Stand-By prior to signing to Inlelco/Lark. Do It garnered a couple of plays on national radio but not much else.

Thanks to Jos for the background info.

Click on title for soundclip

Mighty ‘Em –Jekyll And Hyde

Mighty ‘Em –Jekyll And Hyde/What A Way To Go –Decca FR 13446 (1973 UK)

We’re delving deep into Freaky-Novelty-Schlock-Horror-Pram territory here. The sound owes a lot to Freakbeat, with added ARP/ Moog and suitably corny howls and screams. The lyrics are a bit crap, but it’s a fun trip. The B side is a pleasant Dylan/Harley type number. Anyone with any background info on this one?

Click on title for soundclip

April –Go-Go Little Dancer

April –I Wanna Fall In Love With You/ Go-Go Little Dancer –Pye 7N 45509 (1975 UK)

This is the follow up to April’s Rollin’ It Over (check out the August 31st entry). The A side is pretty corny and derivative, but Go-Go Little Dancer is a choice cut of Power Poppin’ Boogie Glam. Sounds like The Floyd Dakil Combo’s Dance Franny Dance as sung and updated by The Bay City Rollers with Albatross providing the backing. This is good and wholesome fun, with no relation to that geezer at the beginning of Faster Pussycat…

Click on title for soundclip

Paul & Barry Ryan –Glad To Know You

Paul & Barry Ryan –Won’t You Join Me/ Glad To Know You –Polydor 2001 488 (UK 1973)

Glad To Know You is a totally fab piece of Psych-Bubblegum-Glam. Hidden on the B side of the full blown heart string-puller Won’t You Join Me, it’s another choice example of the brothers aptitude of coming up trumps on the B side. Check out Matayo’s I Like Rock 'N' Roll (November 20th entry) for further proof. The song twists and turns, the orchestration is understated, the guitars have real oomph, and production touches like the vocals through the leslie cabinet make this an imaginative yet totally accessible winner.

Click on the title for a full version

Früt –Snatch N’ Grab It

Früt –Ruby Baby/ Snatch N’ Grab It –Stateside C006-94473 –(1973 French issue)

I picked up this single at a record fair yesterday, so it’s a perfect opportunity to unleash the full version of Snatch N’ Grab It onto the selected masses…I reviewed their Spoiled Rotten album in April ’06 (April 25th post), but I was not aware that this single even existed before. BTW, the A side is a fine rockin’ cover of the Leiber & Stoller number, but Snatch N’ Grab It is the real BOMB and ROCKS like a Mother Fo’…

Click below and Snatch N’ Grab It!

Roky Erickson playing in Europe????

Not sure how official this is, but it seems that Roky Erickson is coming over to Europe this Summer!!!!

06/16 - Hultsfred Festival, Sweden
07/05 - Roskilde Festival, Sweden
07/06 - Ruisrock, Finland
08/11 - Oya Festival, Norway

Anyone with any more news about this???
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2007/02/roky_erickson_p.html

Union Express –Do You Love Me/Alligator Fix

Union Express –Do You Love Me/Alligator Fix –Decca MO 1365 –(1973 Spanish issue)

Ok, the picture sleeve may be one of the most gloriously garish items in my collection, but be sure to check inside, as the contents are PURE KILLER!
Do You Love Me is a great Glammed up version of The Contours’ hit. Dig the 1-2-3-4 count response to a little bit of soul now….The guitar gets pretty wild at the end and the whole performance sounds like a loose end of session work out with a few handclaps added. If the A side is good, the B side positively verges on the great. Alligator Fix is just one of those brilliant obscure gems that pop up once in a while –Enjoy!

Click on title for edits of Do You Love Me and Alligator Fix

Taste –Boys Will Be Boys

Taste –Boys Will Be Boys/Love Ya Babe –Bootleg BL 291 (1976 Australia)

No this isn't Rory’s Power blues trio nor is this a cover of The Fast song. Taste were an Australian outfit who also released an album “Tickle Your Fancy” the same year…Ok, they were probably not the most original band in the World, but Boys Will Be Boys is a fine rock tune with its twin harmony leads, Sparks Keyboard part and vocal reminiscent of Adny Shernoff…in fact the song could nearly pass as an outtake from Manifest Destiny. It seems that their album isn’t much cop, but as singles go, this does the job nicely.

Click below for soundclip