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Garage-Maniawith Robby and the NursePsych-out USA Part II Hi everyone! garage Rock lives at GARAGE-MANIA on www.wpmd.org from Cemtos College, CA. with your hosts Robby Russell and my zany sidekick Nurse Cheril. We would like to thank all of you for the great response from my first four columns in RCN in which we picked out our favorite 25 Garage Bands of all time. In last month’s column, we moved into a slightly different area, psychedelic rock. 1-“Shades of Orange”- The End, We will offer any reader of RECORD CONVENTION NEWS a free copy of one of my Garage- Mania Shows on CD. Just e-mail me directly from my web site www.robbyrussellshow.com All the songs mentioned here and in my previous article can be heard on my show that aired on June 3rd. We will send you that show or one of my shows that features garage rock. Just let us know. If you have a favorite we may have missed please let us know. Remember the focus of this discussion is from 1966-1972. 1- “13 O’clock Flight to Pyschèdephia”- Plato and the PhilosphersMobeely, Missouri-1967 This band dressed in togas and looked like they were a band from Animal House. They recorded this gem in 1967. “Thirteen” is a reverbladen tune featuring interesting doubleguitar breaks and rather haunting harmonies. Only 400 singles of this song were pressed. In 1968 the band evolved to a harder rock sound. Their trademark of their live gigs was to play every note of the 18 minute version of Iron Butterfly’s “In A Gadda Da Vida”. They toured extensively in Florida and the South in 1969-70. You can find this song on Garage Beat ‘66 Vol. 5 on Sundazed Records 2 - “Now” — Paisleys - Minneapolis, Minn. 1969 Years before Led Zeppelin sang about a stairway to heaven, the Paisleys sang about “building a stairway up. to the heavens, we’re climbing that stairway with stairs made from love, now”. “Now” features electronic keyboards, cosmic lyrics and electronic /phasing squiggle effects. The Paisley’s sole album “Cosmic Mind at Play” was released in 1970 and reissued on Sundazed in 2003. The album was produced by Warren Kendrick who was also involved with 2 more famous bands form Minnesota, The Liter and The Electras. Check it out, Now. 3 - “Black Door” - The Loose Enz —PA. 1968 “Buy yourself an underground ticket! take the subway to the end of your mind/ take the elevator to the center of thought! and follow through to the blue comdor/ it’s the last room on the left behind the black door”. This is a very gloomy, gothic song that would give Jim Morrison and his band a run for the money. This is perhaps the most Doors-like song I may have ever heard, with the exception of Hoppi and the Beau Héems “When I Get Home”. The Loose Enz were from York, Pennsylvania and this gem can be found on 30 Seconds Before the Calico Wall CD on Arf! !Arfi! Records. 4 - “Lucifer Sam”- Pink Floyd - U.K. 1967 “Lucifer Sam” is featured on Pink Floyd’s debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. The song is literally about a cat, so Rick Wakeman’s organ resembles meows, and the bass line reminds one of a cat sneaking around, and whip-like sounds and special effects further The original working title was “Percy the Ratcatcher” and Syd Barrett’s then girl friend Jenny Spires is mentioned in the song as “Jennifer Gentle”. Two interesting footnotes: Years later an Italian psychedelic band called themselves Jennifer Gentle in tribute to Barrett, and the intro of this song was used in Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery (1997). Love and Rockets covered this song among others, and it may be the most covered song of Pink Floyd. 5 - “Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow”- Strawberry Alarm Clock —CA 1967 This band, mostly known for its big hit ‘Incense and Peppermints’, recorded this dreamy psychedelic nugget in 1967 and this song was used in the film Psych-Out. A couple of interesting facts: “Incense and Peppermints”, was sung by Greg Munford, a friend of the band who was just hanging out in the studio. He never became a regular member of the group. Bass player Ed King later joined Lynyrd Skynyrd. You can find “Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow”, along with 8 more of their songs plus 5 Seeds tracks on the Psych-Out movie sound track. 6 - “My White Bicycle”- Tomorrow - U.K. 1967 This classic psychedelic song is swarmed with backward effects, snaky guitar works, an appealing pop melody and rebellious lyrics. The song is about the painted white bicycles the Dutch Provos left around Amsterdam for communal use, an idea that didn’t quite work. The group lasted only about a year and is more known for the future successes of its members: Keith West and his hit “Excepts From a Teenage Opera”, Steve Howe ,who later joined Yes and John Twink Adler who became drummer for the Pretty Things. You can find this classic on Rhino’s Nuggets Box Set, Vol. 2. 7 - “Optical Sound”- Human Expression - CA 1967 This band from Tustin, CA used reverb and fuzz-tone effects to create a bizarre and haunting atmosphere. The song was mixed by Wally Heider, who later worked with the Grateful Dead. This is a highly collectable 45 and is almost impossible to find. Lead singer Jim Quarles is still active in the music business, working in a studio as a technical engineer and is still writing and recording. Also recommended is “Love at High Velocity” a crazed punked out song that shifts tempos and sounds like the Vogues “5 O’clock World “as if it had been recorded on acid. 8 - “Children Of the Sun” - The Misunderstood, U.S/U.K l966 The Misunderstood were originally from Riverside, CA and were discovered by legendry British dj John Peel, then working at a radio station in San Bernardino. Peel brought them to London the following year. “Children of the Sun” is a psychedelic gem that was clearly ahead of its time. Using the Yardbirds’ “Shapes of Things to Come” as a launch pad, they explored into uncharted dimensions. Some say they actually out Yardbirded the Yardbirds. We think so. The band was getting rave reviews for their live showcase gigs in London, had gotten signed by Fontana records but was eventually put out of business by the U.S. draft. 9 - “High ip A Room”- The Smoke - U.K. 1967 The Smoke (“My Friend Jack”) return to our CD compilation on side 2 with “High in a Room” and another drug inspired tune. This is one of Nurse Cheril’s favorite tunes with an extremely catchy melody and guitar hook lines. Although the band was from England, they relocated to Germany where they found considerably more success. 10 - “Machines”- Lothar and The Hand People - Denver, CO 1967 “We were ahead of out time” says singer John Emelin about his band, the Denver-based Lothar & the Hand People. “Machines” anticipates the future machine sound of electro bands such as Devo, Kraftwerk, and Depeche Mode, with an irreverent humorous undertone. The lyrics say “Machines - we made them to serve us” but the robotic sounds suggest that the machines turn humans into slaves. British magazine “Mojo” voted “Machines” as one of the of the hundred best psychedelic songs ever in 1997. We wholeheartedly agree. 11 - “There’s No Vibrations But Wait”- Edgar Broughton Band U.K. 1969 This English progressive rock band, The Edgar Broughton Band, was founded in 1968. Songs such as “Out Demons Out” and appearances at free concerts made them a popular band on the radical fringe. The original band consisted of brothers Edgar and Steve Broughton and bassist Arthur Grant. They had a reputation for being a dynamite live act and were thought of by some as “punk before it was punk”. ‘The song we choose for our collection is truly bizarre with a lot of reverb effects. If you like Captain Beetheart or Frank Zappa we think the Edgar Broughton band is up your alley. The band has now reformed with the original lineup and has recently toured England and Germany. 12 - “Austin Osmanspare”- Bulldog Breed -U.K. 1969 Bulldog Breed’s “Austin Osmanspare” is drenched in phasing and filtering, unhinged fuzztone, bizarre instrumentation, and flute-spangled wonderment. Austin Osmanspare, (1 886-1956), was an artist, photosphere and occult magician.His paintings influenced the psychedic posters used to promote Fillmore West concerts in the late 60’s. This Bulldog Breed seems to be influenced by Pink Floyd’s Sid Barrett and can be described in one word, haunting. GAGRAGE-MANIA LIVE SATURDAYS -1 TO 3 PM PACIFIC TIME - REPLAYS 5AM, 9PM, 1AM EVERYDAY. Just go to www.wpmd.org and click on the alternative stream site: www.robbyrussellshow.com |