Bedazzled!

TONIGHT: Thursday April 11th - Spike Priggen will be VeeJaying at Sidecar on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn

Spike Priggen (of Bedazzled.tv and Scopitones.com) will be VeeJaying at Sidecar (550 5th Avenue in Brooklyn), tonight Thursday April 11th I'll be doing a live mix of Rare Music Videos on their new projection system - Glam, Bubblegum, Pop-Psych, Sunshine Pop, Garage Rock, Girl Groups, British Invasion, Punk, New Wave, Northern Soul, Funk & other great musics of the 60's, 70's, 80's and beyond.

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Derek's Weekly 45's: The Greatest 45's of the 1990's

The decade of the 1990's out with some real and genuine promise, and my ears were especially glued to the sounds that Creation Records in the UK was releasing; music that had one foot rooted in the '60's but music that also looked forward. The early '90's was also a peak in hip hop, and the best of this music still stands tall today and doesn't feel dated. It was also cool to see bands that I loved (Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Mudhoney to name a few) get signed to big labels and start making a bigger dent in the cultural landscape. However, the ensuing signing frenzy saw to it that every lame wanna be "alternative" act was getting signed to a major label. I won't name names, but I worked in a record store from '91-'96 and looking back I can't BELIEVE the amount of dreck that got released, and the phony marketing that attempted to make boring wanna be rock stars rehashing plodding 70's themes into "alternative" stars. While I graduated high school in '93, I have no nostalgia whatsoever for the decade that gave us rap-rock and half baked, poorly written "indie rock".

Lilys were one of the exceptions- led by the amazing songwriter and frontman Kurt Heasley and a rotating cast of band membership in flux, Kurt's dabblings in shoegaze and psychedelia earned him a contract with Warner Brothers records; the resulting LP, Better Can't Make Your Life Better is one of the greatest distillations of mid '60's beat, with a smattering of songs that derive from the past in a way that one could easily be forgiven in thinking it was a great lost Kinks track, and an equal number of unique, quirky songs that were obviously the work of a very creative songwriter with a knack for unusual hooks and chord changes. Perhaps The Lilys ultimate statement of swinging London transported from '66 into '96 was a single released on Sub Pop Records at the same time as their major label debut. I've spun "Baby's A Dealer" at mod events and always have people ask me "WHAT is that record?" and they typically can't believe it when I tell them when it was recorded. Kurt has continued to release amazing albums; while they may not have as strong of an overt '60's sound, they are great listens nonetheless and full of excellent songwriting.

Baby's A Dealer

 

Since their first "official" release in 1992, The Brian Jonestown Massacre has consitently released creative and mind blowing records driven by the vision and songwriting of Anton Newcombe. 'Hide & Seek" is purely realized action music- the sound is dense but uncluttered, the intro guitar riff is an amazing hook, the verse hypnotic, and the chorus transcendant. The single is a tidy (and perfect) 3:34, and live, this song drives the guitar hook over and over until the wash of sound levitates the room; I've seen it create a real frenzy among the audience, in the way that the greatest music can. Listen to it over and over, and just dig the placement of the acoustic guitar, backing vocals, percussion, feedback and marvel at how everything propels the song forward and upward. Thankfully, I was hipped to the BJM thanks to my own band at the time having an album come out on Bomp! records at the same time that Jonestown released their Methodrone album; being as I didn't live in the bay area at the time and had never seen or heard about their previous records, I listened to the disc and couldn't BELIEVE my ears. Once again, it was as if the rooting of the '60's was being transported into the future, just as My Bloody Valentine's Loveless had done a few years earlier, but with songs that were so full of hooks (yeah, it's SONGWRITING that gets my attention first and foremost)! Luckily I was able to snag a copy of the 'Hide & Seek' 45 shortly afterwords, and every subsequent release has been an inspiration. Anton also posts exclusive tracks and works in progress to his youtube account. 

Hide And Seek

 

I'll end with my unsolicited advice- BUY EVERY RELEASE YOU CAN FROM THE LILYS AND BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE.

Derek's Weekly 45's: Opening The Garage Door

Welcome back cats and kitties; this week's post is the first in yet another series- namely, some lesser known garage-y tracks from my 45 stash.

First up we have Jim Valley, known forever as Harpo, as he was named during his tenure as on of Paul Revere's Raiders (thanks to a striking resemblence to Harpo Marx). In late '65, original Raider lead guitarist Drake Levin decided to join the National Guard, as he was up to be drafted into the army. In early '66, The Raiders snatched up Jim Valley from the Portland-based Don & The Goodtimes to fill the vacant slot. Harpo became very popular with the fans, although he left the group in the spring of '67; harpo was expecting some of his own songs to be recorded in the group, and these promises were never fulfilled. This 45 was his first outside of the group, and is a strong guitar driven beat number, co-written by Don Galluci (the Don of Don & The Goodtimes, a former Kingsman, and future producer of The Stooges FUN HOUSE LP). Jim has released several solo records, but has concentrated on the heroic mission of teaching music to children since the early 1980's.

I'm Real

The Fountain of Youth are quite mysterious; apparently from Texas, they ended up on Colgems Records (a division of RCA that was set up specifically for The Monkees). Perhaps there's a connection with Michael Nesmith? I don't know for sure... "Livin' Too Fast" is a great beat number that is too sophisticated to be called 'garage' as it features strings, but its heart definitely has an oil-soaked floor (to my ears)

Livin Too Fast

I'm pretty sure that these December's Children are the same group that released the freakbeat classic 'Backwards And Forwards", but very little is known about THAT group, either. Pretty slick production overall, but that fuzz guitar and non-PC lyrics about a 16 year old girl prove, once again, has its heart right smack in the area where the lawn mower is stored.

Somethin' Fresh

The Myddle Class are perhaps best known as being the band that The Velvet Underground opened for at Summit High School in December 1965, causing a real furor for kids and teachers when they launched into "Heroin". The group were from the Passaic Valley of suburban New Jersey and, through the power of their live shows and how they affected his babysitter, caught the ear of influential writer Al Aronowitz. "Don't Let Me Sleep Too Long" was lifted from a traditional spiritual called "Wake Me, Shake Me", and in fact the Myddle Class lifted it from (NYC band) The Blues Project, put THEIR names as the writers, and released it BEFORE The Blues Project. The copy seen here is a reissue that came out a few years later, and credits The Blues project for the arrangement. Ouch! The song was a hit in Albany, NY and San Bernardino, CA in 1966 but failed to break nationally (probably due to the fact that its over 3 minutes long).

Don't Let Me Sleep Too Long

The Five Emprees hailed from the southern tip of Michigan, and had a HUGE hit in the Chicago area with "Little Miss Sad", a cover from a VERY obscure single by The Addrisi Brothers (acrobats turned musicians who scored a huge hit when The Association covered their "Never My Love" in 1967). Released in 1965, this record straddles the line between the softer sounds of bands that were swept away by the initial boom of British Beat, and the harder sounds that were just around the corner, thanks to the mass adoption of the fuzz pedal post-"Satisfaction". Even though the harmonies are slick and the song is gentle, the propulsive percussion pushes this record a step ahead of the lighter weight stuff.

Little Miss Sad

Until next time! Derek See

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Beech-Nut Hot Shot Candies TV Commercial #4 (1960s)

 

Beech-Nut Hot Shot Candies TV Commercial #1 (1960s)

 

Increda Bubble TV Commercial #1 (1970s)

 

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With a name that intentionally plays on the word MOD, one could easily lump Chicago's Mauds in with the other Anglo-influenced rock n roll bands operating in mid-to-late '60's Chicago. Wrong! The Mauds took their biggest influence from soul music and, in lead singer Jimy Rogers, had a vocalist that had the blue-eyed soul pipes to back up the claim. The group was TIGHT musically and their concerts are the stuff of legend.

While they were massive in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs (their cover of Sam & Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming" was a HUGE local radio hit) the group never caught on nationally, and eventually disbanded in the early '70's. In a blatant act of censorship, the Mauds were asked to re-record "Hold On" without the 'I'm Coming", due to its sexual connotations, which they did. This is the original, unedited take from 1968. 

Hold On

Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford had a massive hit with "I Need Your Lovin'", a favorite oldie with Don providing the unforgettable 'whoa whoa whoa whoas'. I'm breaking with my tradition here, as this record was actually cut BEFORE (1963) the far more famous Maxine Brown version from 1964. However, in keeping with the tradition of this series and sharing less familiar versions of favorites it seemed RIGHT. And it really swings! Little is known about Dee Dee Ford, but Don Gardner was a drummer by trade who moved over to the mic and cut some excellent sides, including the incredibly intense soul favorite "My Baby Likes To Boogaloo".

You Upset My Soul

Similarly, this version of "Saturday's Child" was probably released right around the same time as the far more familiar version by The Monkees (early fall 1966). While the vocal performance is nowhere near as strong as Micky Dolenz', this version from Southern California teens The Palace Guard (featuring Emitt Rhodes on drums)
has a downright WICKED fuzz guitar and a unique ending bridge that we don't hear on the Monkees version.

Saturday's Child

Glyn Johns (who for some reason is called Glynt on this Spanish picture sleeve) went on to far greater fame as a record producer, working with The Who, The Beatles, The Faces, and The Rolling Stones themselves (among so many others). This version of the Stones "Lady Jane" replaces Brian Jones' lap dulcimer part with a truly trippy sitar, and while the flute is a bit dated (to say the least), I still really dig the psychedelic London of '67 vibe on this record. And it's beautifully recorded (dig those strings), by the artist himself.

Lady Jane

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The Pretty Things - "Pop 2" (January 1971) Live!

 

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