This is probably one of the most basic, shambolic yet gripping slices of Bonehead you will ever find. The playing is just so…well crap, but somehow riveting, it’s just like watching a car crash, or in this case a band implode, in front of your eyes, well ears. COP KILLER!!!! Are these a bunch of bikers who had free time in a pal’s studio? Did they ever get to even rehearse this opus? With names “Jew” on lead guitar, ”Mad Dog” on bass, “Biggy” and “Sticks” on drums they give Peppermint Ridge a good run for their money and deserve your full attention. This is actually the B side to Driving Pusing (sic) a gooey piece of rambling stoner absurdness by what might be a different bunch of people. Ah those mysteries…
Clapham Junction –Emily on Sunday/Good Time Music –Du Monde SDM-309 (1970 Australia)
Emily on Sunday is a classic piece of Aussie Freakbeat/Powerpop with crashing Who-like powerchords and Anglophile inflexions similar in approach to what the Raspberries would emulate later on. It’s not a full frontal assault, but a great performance making all the right melodic noises. Clapham Junction were from Sydney and this was their sole release with singer James Willebrant then moving on to Toby Jug. Emily on Sunday is backed an OK cover the Katz/Kasenetz workhorse Good Time Music
Hear a full version of Emily on Sunday
Hear a full version of Good Time Music
Here's a nice clipping provided by Robyn Cahill (Tony's (Purple Hears/Easybeats) sister)
Cagney –Gypsy Sunrise/Sun on The Run-Cagney 6093-198 (197? US)
Apologies for all the crackling on this one, but it’s worth it. Gypsy Sunrise is a fabulous Bubblegum tune played with loud conviction with a fuzzed-up yet tasteful guitar player ably supported by a monolithic cowbell Imagine a garage version of Boston attempting the Archies catalogue... It’s tuneful, rockin’ and a real classic in my book. No information on this one (Mark Dutton get in touch!) but it’s near perfect in construction and execution.
Gidians League -Hey! Did you Know You’ve Got Your Face On Upside Down/You’ve Got a Mind of Your Own –Parlophone R 5933 (1972 UK)
Let’s stick then with Robin Goodfellow (see review below) for this bouncy Bubblegum ditty he wrote and produced prior to signing to Pye and being relegated to Dawn. OK, it is a lightweight piece of fluff but a most enjoyable one thanks to its catchy chorus. It harks back to the pure Bubblegum sound of ’68 but adds a quintessential Englishness to the proceedings. What a great title anyhow...
Hear a full version of Hey! Did you Know You’ve Got Your Face On Upside Down
Robin Goodfellow -You Know Me Now/I'm Suddenly Alive -Dawn DNS 1057 (1974 UK)
Here’s a great
classic unheralded UK 70s pop single with a nod to Glam. It reminds as much of
Hetherington as it does Marc Bolan, that guitar is pure T. Rex in any case. You Know Me Now is
damn catchy tune with a nice and bouncy production and the B side is also cool too. Robin had another earlier single
on Pye (Why Am I Waiting) which is nearly as good while leaning more
torwards David Bowie. I haven’t found much relevant information on the Net, so
if anyone want to fill in the bits. You're more than welcome...
Sugar –Hot Damn/Let It Roll –Lady Records UR-898 (1976 US)
Driven by a gleaming cowbell, Hot Damn is a thumping piece of Riff Rock leaning towards Bonehead Boogie with Glam overtones provided by the camp vocals. These guys were not Glitter clad cross-dressers, but the singer comes across like a truck driver in stilettos with his amusing delivery. The lyrics are a real hoot -Good ol’ boy ethics on how Atlanta boys only want to rock while dissing non-Southerners and wussy English accents. Hot Damn is a joyfully dumb yet juicy Georgia peach.
US –He’s Coming Back/You’ll Never Know –Straita Head Records (1975 US)
This looks to be a San Diego band who enlisted Johnny Almond (Ex Zoot Money/John Mayall and half of Mark –Almond) as a guest on the A side of this single. Not sure why 20 seconds of Sax warrants such star billing…Anyhow -He’s Coming Back has a heavy early 70s Who influence, but is even closer to Side Three/Overnight SensationRaspberries or Artful Dodger stuff. Enjoy the stunning lead guitar over the ending…Very tasteful. You’ll Never Know is Almond-free and it’s a blistering high energy rocker again with a bit of Raspberries thrown in with some top lead guitar. Straita Head was a production company and a well-known Hair Metal club in the San Diego are in the 80s, but you can safely date this single to the mid-70s as Johnny Almond signed to ABC in 1975. A killer double-sider.
Ian Stuart Lane and The Davelto Swingers - Don't Rock Me Baby (If You're Fine And Fair)/ See What You Can Do With Your Life -Greenwich Recording Company GSS 103 (1972 UK)
Here is a sublime piece of early 70’s UK lushness recalling Sunflower era Beach Boys with some unexpected chord changes. It also has a certain Spectorian elegance in its production values which predates some of Roy Wood’s Wizzard’s releases. There isn’t much about Ian Stuart Lane or his swingers to be found, although he sang backing vocals on Cherry Vanilla’s Bad Girl LP 6 years further down the line.
Bill Case –I’m Your Hero/ You Gotta Know –Bellaphon BF 18529 (1977 German issue)
Here is a weird one, created by Alan Blakley and “Chip” Hawkes as an extra-curricular Tremoloes excursion. Slip inside the cover and you will find two striking examples of top notch Crunching Glam. I’m Your Hero is a real stunner; a wild intense performance enlivened further by some fine specimens of Moog noodlings. Gary Glitter joining Black Sabbath channeling Chicory Tip. You Gotta Know starts in a quieter yet meaty fashion. It has a certain T. Rex meets Led Zep feel and really rocks out by the end. Both songs seem curiously out of date for 1977 and all the better for it. I believe this only got a German release and I can’t just see some Bellaphon A&R guy complaining with the lack of Punk potential on the label and coming across the sleeve photo in a draw. Ja Ja das ist Punk! So I wouldn’t be surprised if this project had been hanging around for a couple of years. As for Bill Case? Who knows…but what a midriff! It’s nice to know that there are still oddities such as this one still laying around out there
Factory –Time Machine/ Castle on The Hill –OAK RGJ 718 (1971 UK)
Here is a real MONSTER that doesn’t know when to quit. This is essential Heavy Psych cum Bonehead Crunching Proto Punk madness…Think of The Stooges if born in an East Sussex barn fed on exclusively on fermented scrumpy and ‘shrooms. The proceedings start all quiet and subdued then it all literally burst out of the vinyl with blistering lead breaks and a crazed lead vocal falling somewhere between a Jesse Hector and a goat-like Roger Chapman. The whole performance approaches the grandeur of Open Mind’s Magic Potion, only here Time Machine just goes on and on and on; squeezing as much sleazy noise and prolonging the madness until it reaches its delirious fuzzed-out ending. This Factory is not to be mistaken for the Factory who issued the psych gem Path Through The Forest, this lot were formed around the nucleus of Andy and Tony Qunta with Lol Cooksey and Geoff Peckham. Based in Hastings; Factory were in operation between 1970 and 1976. Although encouraged at different times by Robin Gibb and Roger Daltrey, Time Machine was their sole release. The B side is tamer, yet a fine example of early 70s Brit Psych owing a large debt to 1968.. There is plenty more information and photos of the band scattered around this great websitehttp://ninebattles.com
Burning -I'm Burning/ Johnny B. Goode -Utopia 42520 (1975 French Issue)
This is the last Spanish installment on Purepop for a while and this time we feature the English language version of Burning's first single "Estoy Ardiendo". Burning is a long standing Spanish institution, but to these Anglo-Saxon ears this is their finest moment mixing Crunching Glam with straight-ahead Hard Rock moves. The B side is no more than perfunctory.
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...”
Another long day...a smaller but perfectly formed bunch, no great bargains, but some top shelf stuff including a Dutch Jet Boy, German Masters Apprentices, The Norah single I was missing as well the striking German pic sleeve of Tame Me Tiger. I think this is the stereo mix which packs a lesser wallop, but the photo more than makes up for it. The Japanese Mott single couples Saturday Gigs with Foxy Foxy. The most surprising find was the South African Suck single.
All in all another great Utrecht. It has become much harder to find cheap copies of Glam stuff, the dealers have usually wised up, but that just makes it more challenging...
If all goes to plan look out for a mamoth ebay listing on Wednesday
It all started at 7:am...entrance by the side door...
So 7am until 5pm...pretty much non-stop walking up and down, back and forth...In fact Utrecht may be considered a personal marathon. As you can see I took16,344 steps today...
However Utrecht is not just about getting fit. It is also about getting fat...
Ladies and gentlemen...may I present you with the next best thing to congealed donkey semen...FRIKANDELLEN!
OK, OK, onto the records. In fact about half of these are spares which I will be listing next week...
Of the Michel "da capo" Terstegen, the only one I got was the good Dragonfly single. Celestial Empire. An inspired fuzzfest...
The first Rasputin (Jon Symon) single has a mean version of Spoonful and comes autographed with a promo photo included
Here we go again...tomorrow at 7am I'll be on the floor ready to dig. Of added interest this year is the fact that the Michel Terstegen collection has been purchased as a whole by a Swedish collective. http://collection-michel-dacapo.123website.nl/The Nederbeat section will be available at the fair along with a selection of other titles, although the prices are bound to be pretty "Swedish"
Hollywood Stars –Shine Like a Radio -Last
Summer Records LS1974HS (2013)
With the
release of the LP only days away, here is the background on how Shine Like a Radio
finally gained release as well as a track by track descriptor…
For me, It
all started back in 1975. Bomp magazine not only featured The Flamin’ Groovies
on the cover of the spring 1975 issue, but also a long piece written by Kim
Fowley on the next big thing that never was –The Hollywood Stars. It was a
tragic but fascinating story, they seemed just like the band we were crying out
for at the time. This band had it all - the looks, attitude, great song titles
plus the involvement of the king of Sleaze. When would I ever get to hear song like
Russia, Kings of The Night Time World or Shine Like a Radio? The song titles
alone promised so much, but as highlighted in the article the band was no more,
but the story behind the unreleased album got me dreaming.
Last year the
dream started to meld into reality. Terry
Rae (drummer) left a comment on the Flamin’ Groovies post about the Dutch issue
Shake Some Action (which he played on). I guess my second question to him was…do
you have the 1974 recordings? The answer was positive and he sent me a CDR of
the 1974 recordings along with the 1976 Neil
Merryweather demos (10 cracking from the Hollywood Stars MKII), for the
first time I was finally able to hear the tracks. The tape was very hissy and
some intros and endings were clipped, but I was in awe. Later Ruben De Fuentes sent me a remastered
version and although it was great to hear clearer versions, something was
missing, the sound was too brash and trebly. Still the thought of getting the
LP released was now becoming a concrete project. Later on a ¼” tape was
discovered in the hands of singer of Scott
Phares, and although missing a bit of top, this was the real deal and made the hairs on the back of my neck quiver.
You must
remember that the album was never really finished and Scott’s tape was a
collection of rough mixes they presented to the label. But I am glad these are
rough mixes as the rough edges provide an urgency which may have been subdued
by a proper mix. The LP was mastered and cut at Fluid Mastering in London http://www.fluidmastering.com and
it really sound perfect, loud, clear yet meaty and warm. After all these years,
I am very proud to have been instrumental in finally getting these great songs
and performances released.
1.Supermen
are Always Gentlemen
Loud
and brash rocker with cutting guitars to the fore. It’s a great first track as
it combines a rough and ready urgency with a great chorus hook with blistering
lead breaks and a fine tough vocal by Scott.
2.Kings
of The Night time World
Later
re-written and popularised by Kiss. The original is a great Stonesian rocker.
Particularly impressive is Marc Anthony’s tight Richards-like riffing which
chugs along under Ruben’s great lead. This one rocks supreme.
3.Tough
Guys Don’t Cry
A
Mars Bonfire tune. It’s another tough number with crashing powerchords underlined
by a stomping piano. Note the sitar-like guitar. A real cool touch…
4.Shine
Like A Radio
Angie
Bowie said it sounded like a number one hit and in a better world this would
have come to pass. Kim Fowley’s own version on Automatic didn’t bring out the
best in the song, however The Stars turn it into a real tour de Force. The
backing vocals are a real hoot to boot!
5.Russia
Another
classic Mars Bonfire song. The production is lush and more refined. It provides
the perfect backdrop to this tale of Teenage Spies and betrayal ” Bureaucrats and winter palace, army tanks
and ballerinas…” Astriking stand
out track
6.Don’t
Let The Kid Down
Mark
Anthony’s plea to the record business to give the Kids a Chance. It fell on
deaf ears, but this short and snappy statement of intent makes a great closer
to side one.
7.Escape
Some
songs are built around a killer riff, such as The Move’s Do Ya, the Velvet’s
Sweet Jane or Ducks Deluxe’s Fireball. This is one of the better examples of a riff song and a classic piece of brash
70s Rock. Alice Cooper recognised its
value as he later covered the song on the Welcome To My Nightmare LP. This original
version is far superior
8.Roses
and Rainbows
Roses
and Rainbows was a small hit for Danny Hutton and was an inspired choice
fora cover. From the way the song
emerges from Escape to the delightful backing vocals supporting Scott’s pure
and crystalline vocals, this is another performance which could have provided
The Stars withbona fide hit.
9.It’s
Got To Be Today
A
fine original capturing a perfect blend of outright rock with a certain Buffalo
Springfield appeal. Great vocals and guitar throughout.
10.Satisfied
Electric Fingers
What
this album is all about, energy, electricity and a great tune. The lyrics
allude that being a guitarist in a Rock and Roll band doesn’t always guarantee
being able tohold on to a special lady.
You don’t often get references to a Ringo solo effort, but you do here…
11.Last
Days of Rock n Roll
Although
a bit corny at times (Glenn Miller?), the song is a heart-felt ode to loss of
innocence. Nostalgia a vehicle to loss as valid then as it is now. There’s a
nice off hand feel to the overall performance and the backing vocals are
stellar.
12.Modern
Romance
Like
Mott The Hoople giving a nod to A Day in The Life. The song is supremely dramatic
with Scott’s vocal full of pathos. There’s nice line in Mellotron layering and
with Ruben lead sounding just like Mick Ronson; it’s a truly majestic tour de
force and a perfect album closer
Shine Like a
Radio should be reaching stores at the end of this month. 1000 copies (Vinyl
only!) are being split for distribution between Europe and the US.
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.
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