Reviews of tasty and obscure hook-filled rock'n' roll releases (Glam, Heavy Bonehead Crunchers, Powerpop, Pop/psych,Garage, Surf, 60s Girl Group Rock)...Plus any quirky musings that tickle my fancy...
I created this blog in order to stimulate interest, share discoveries and encourage people to go out and search for the original vinyl. Hopefully this blog might also encourage labels to actually compile some of this stuff officialy.
Norah –Nobody Gotta Be Home Tonight/ Let’s Do It Again-Novalo NOX 229 (1974 Spain)
Let’s stay in Spain for this 2nd helping of screeching from crazed Argentine nutter Norah. You may remember the previous episode, if not go herehttp://purepop1uk.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/norah-battle-for-my-love.html and return afterwards. Anyhow Nobody Gotta Be Home Tonight finds our punked out Chipmunk in fine fettle, balancing a tango based backing with awkward male backing vocals and other craziness…Just what were they thinking of? The B side is more straightforward and it’s a rousing piece of Quatro-inspired pounding Glam with scuzzy Moog, male waiter vocals and the usual vocal histrionics…Olé!
Hear a full version of Nobody Gotta Be Home Tonight
Siglo XX –Algo Que Nos Paso/Cerca Del Rio –Ariola 14.904 (1970 Spain)
Although there were several outfits sporting the same name, this single seems to be the only release by these Catalonian groovers. Although A side is pretty lame as it’s a cover of Chris Andrew’s Think It All Over, the B side is where it all happens. It’s a vibrant, heavy and infectious performance, with loud guitars enveloped in a great production wrap by Tony Ronald (Sigfried Andre Den Boer Kramer), just dig the cowbell and harmonies... The song sounds familiar (written by W. Erwin adapted A. Alpin) but I can’t place it. If any Spanish/Catalan brethren can help –please fill in the gaps
Suck –Aimless Lady/The Whip-Parlophone SPD 3027 (1971 South Africa)
With South Africa in the spotlight at the moment, here is another angle of kicking against the pricks with Hairy Freak mob SUCK. It seems that they had originally intended to replace the “S” with “F”, which would have curtailed their activities even further as Suck only recorded 1 LP (Time to Suck) in a 6 hour session and this was their only single. The album was mostly covers and the A side is the cover of a Grand Funk B side. It’s a wild and heavy affair and cranks up the power tenfold. The B side The Whip is the only band original and the heaviness reigns supreme with top lead guitars and tons of reverb. It’s a real shame the band disbanded after this without further any recordings as they would have been real heavy contenders on the international scene.
Jeremiah –Do It To Ya/Starlight Stampede –Artesia ACA 6562 (1975 US)
Do It To Ya was the lone record from this Houston band who pressed up this self-released single to give out at their shows. The A side finds the band honing their bar room skills from Hard Boogie to near Proto Punk. It’s a hooky energetic performance .that doesn’t pretend to be what it’s not, although the no-nonsense straight ahead riffing and 42nd Street mentions makes you think that they might have had The New York Dolls in their sights. The B side owes more to obvious 1975 Southern Rock influences.
Hear a full version of Do It To Ya
Bassist Jack Beasley was kind enough to give some background on the band and recording the single
Jeremiah was formed in 1972. Jack Beasley was the original bass player with Mike Rayburn on drums. There were two other guys on guitars, but as it turned they weren’t that serious about playing rock music. As those guys moved on to do other things, they were replaced by Jimmy Deen in 1973 and Tommy Mansell was added to the line-up in 1974. The early gigs were high school dances and proms. But they eventually started playing night clubs and private parties.
“In 1975, the band paid for some time at ACA recording studios in Houston. We recorded six original songs. I don't know who mastered the two tracks on the 45 or where the 45 was manufactured. The label name, "Artesia", was just something we made up. I think we had 600 45s made, maybe less, but no more than that...”
Although the ambition was there to break beyond the local scene and go professional, it didn’t pan out for the boys
“Our goal was to become rock stars. In the fall of 1975 we quit our day jobs and went on the road. We played mostly in Texas. We became friends with members of the band Point Blank, who were managed by the same guy that managed ZZ Top. This was in 1976 and we thought we were close to a record deal, but it didn’t happen. We played at the bigger clubs in Houston , Dallas and Fort Worth , among others. We played four to five nights a week, every week, just about. We did all we knew to do to get a record label to sign us, except leave Texas. That might have been the problem…”
What was the difference the 60s Texas Garage/Psychedelic bands and what was happening in the mid 70s?
“I believe that 60s bands, even in Texas were heavily into the psychedelic experience. They were trying to find new sounds, and a lot of experimenting was going on then, with their instruments, and also their minds (drugs). 70s bands just wanted to rock. To heck with experimenting. Find that groove. Turn up the volume. And create a sound that compelled your audience to move with the beat and play their air guitars. Although the guys in Jeremiah were somewhat influenced by the 60s music, I believe the stronger influences came from what was going on around us at the time. We covered many of the most popular rock bands of the early and mid 70s. We liked the melodic stuff, but it still needed to have that hard edge. You can hear that fusion in the original Jeremiah songs. Often in those songs, you have some very soft, melodic vocals or guitar segments, slammed up against a dynamic, hard-driving mix of guitar, bass and drums. We just couldn’t stay quiet for very long...”
