GYGAFO - Wino

GYGAFO –Wino/Broken Smiles –Look Records SP. 6061 (1975 UK)

GYGAFO from Yorkshire, were named after an enlightened Northern promoter told the band to Get Your Gear And F*** Off during a sound check. In 1973, they got as far as recording an unreleased LP Legend of The Kingfisher which is full of proggy moves and flute, but this single appeared a couple of years later and is a different kettle of (king)fish. Loutish, bratish and rousing; Wino stomps and pounds and features some fine lead guitar. Although they had already shorn off their earlier Prog leanings, by 1976 they were “knocked for 6” by Punk and the band imploded.

Hear a full version of Wino

Monument –Infarctus

Monument –Infarctus/Computer Love –AFA 639 (1971 France)

This was the only single release by these teenage miscreants from the outskirts of Paris. Already responsible for a Heavy Psych LP in 1970 titled Volume 1, this was their only further output, released under the banner of “Plays Hard Rock”. Both sides do as they say on the tin, and if anything the Cro-Magnon attitude hits deeper lows (or exultant heights?) with plenty of fuzz, guttural vocals and overall heaviness. Both songs are pretty long and although they could have been more succinct, the sheer unrelenting thumping will batter you into submission. Both tracks are totally wild. Monument were Micky Wals (vocals, guitar), Joël Averbouch (guitar), Lou Lou Laguerre (keyboards), Patrick F. (bass) and Tony Laguerre (drums)

Hear a full version of Infarctus



Hear a full version of Computer Love

A little Record Shopping Trip: Brooklyn

 

I had a bit of time off, so I had the opportunity to visits some of the record shops in Brooklyn. Thanks to Doug Pressman of Record Grouch as my guide, here is the lowdown:
Green Point seems to be the new centre of record buyers, with Academy and Record Grouch moving from Williamsburg.

All store owners were all friendly, and although I made no great finds (at first), it was a pleasant day with the odd bar visit to liven up proceedings




Coop 87

coop 87

Co-op 87, at 87 Guernsey Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 had some good stock and is well worth visiting. It looks like there is a good stock turnover. Some good singles.


Academy

Academy have recently moved to 85 Oak Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222, and the focus is currently more on LPs, however once they get organised, 45s should be making more of a comeback. Some very reasonable prices.

Captured Tracks

Captured Tracks at 195 Calyer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222, have a good selection of LPs, perhaps more of a Soul focus

Captured Tracks

Record Grouch

Record Grouch, 986 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222, played the best music. A good wide selection of stuff, from second-hand to choice reissued (picked up the Iron Claw double...). Owners who live their stuff and are the perfect hosts.



Record Grouch

 

The Thing

Apparently a big hit with Japanese tourists is The Thing opposite from Record Grouch at 1001 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222, is quite amazing. When you walk round the mounds of stuff, you walk downstairs to the catacombs just filed wall to wall with vinyl. Wonder where records go when no one wants them? Well it looks like at 250.000 of them end up here. The last stop before landfill. Now if you had 2 days, there may be some finds, but it is a tad overwhelming..



The Thing

The Thing





 

By early evening we headed to The Archive of Contemporary Music at 54 White Street, New York,  NY 10013 as they were holding a cocktail party (well cheese and wine) as a pre-sale event. Picked up nice copies of the A Square SRC/Rationals and MC5. I was holding out getting the pic sleeve, but the copy they archived was not for sale at any price...

 

 

Never seen that red cover for the Thundertrain...

 

Today, Manhattan...

Raw Meat –Stand-By Girl

Raw Meat –Stand-By Girl/Out in The Country –Blue Hour BH9 -1001 (1969 US)

Raw Meat’s Stand-By Girl is a prime example of an overlooked obscurity, which is bound to gather better-late-than-never recognition for those still hunting for Heavy gems of outstanding worth. Stand-By Girl is a wondrous tour-de-force in heavy fuzz-faced shenanigans, with a solid Bonehead foothold, but on the edge of tipping over into an undocumented world of weird. Stand-By Girl has one of the heaviest/scuzziest heavy fuzz sounds anywhere. Then the weirdness sets in from initial medieval vocal interludes into…well the heart of weirdness. More great guitar ensues. What were they thinking?

The B side is a bit more sane; featuring cowbell, layered vocals and more great guitar. It appears the A side was produced by Richard Thomas with some deft edits and crude yet all inclusive recording techniques. Full credit should also go to engineer Ken Smith and the band for some of the arrangement and production ideas. “Ken Smith was most likely the recording engineer on “Stand-By Girl,” because he was a close friend and a studio innovator; it was his idea to release “Stand-By Girl” in stereo, which garnered a lot of attention back then…” (Susan Gallion) “The boys in the band came up with the vocal ideas. I did edit the single in a couple of places including adding the ending to the very start of the song to kick it off. The other edits tightened the arrangement but I don't remember where they were or if they were used in the final release…” (Richard Thomas) The B-side was recorded at Dave Kennedy Studios, one of the first multi-track studios in the U.S., and it was produced by the band members. The A-side became popular on radio in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and a few other places beyond Milwaukee.

(Richard Thomas and Susan Gallion ran The Blue Hour label at the time. They recorded and released the Burst of Life LP as Susan and Richard Thomas in 73. They are both still active in music today: www.richardpaulthomas.com  www.OceanbirdMusic.com

But what of the band?

They all lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The line-up was: Drums: Michael Jablonski, Lead Guitar: Don Gruender and Gene Peranich on bass guitar. It seems that all three of them sang and co-wrote the songs. At the time, the band was going through some personnel problems and didn’t do any traveling to promote the record. A few months after the record was released, Don, the guitar player, left the band. (He passed away in 2012.  A new Raw Meat was formed sometime in 1970, but they had a different musical focus.

There is more news for 2015 as Richard has recently licensed both tracks for a forthcoming vinyl release on Permanent Records http://www.permanentrecordschicago.com  About time!

Hear a full version of Stand-By Girl



Hear a full version of Out in The Country