The earliest use of "The" spelled as "Thee" for a band name still seems to be Thee Midniters from East L.A. , who formed in the early 60's , and are still kicking ass and taking names, today. Thee Midniters ruled the roost in Chicano Rock 'n' Soul in Los Angeles , later influencing early Latino Punk practicioners , people like Alice Bag , Robert Lopez ( El Vez ) , Kid Congo Powers (Who later recorded their warped Punk classic "I Found a Peanut".) , and others.

Where "Thee" comes from , I could'nt tell you. Lux Interior once said bands used names like that to secure gang patronage. But , he admitted , he was'nt really sure.

Maybe it's a common thing that I missed somewhere along the way...

Does anybody know why so many garage bands have named themselves with "Thee" instead of "The"? You know: Thee Milkshakes, Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoatees, Thee Hypnotics, Thee Gravemen, Thee Oh Sees, Thee Shams, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant,..... the list goes on. And it seems to be just garage & lo-fi bands, as I can't recall ever seeing it used in pop, indie, punk, emo or other genres.

I used to think it was just Billy Childish having fun with words, since he used it in just about every side project, but it obviously goes beyond him (although, he seems to be the first to popularize the use of thee word). I also used to think it was something about the 90s, but it continues to this day.

Anyone know the history here? It's music geek stuff, I know, but there's bound to be an interesting story there.

Show #395: "Stormy Songs"

Every 3 weeks I leave an open slot to do random themes and whatnot. This week I'm doing all storm and hurricane related songs. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, our area of Portsmouth, NH made it out with little damage, but other east coast regions weren't as lucky. I hope my listeners from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and other affected areas, are OK and safe... my thoughts are with you. The storm also affected my plans for the TeenBeat Mayhem Top 100 US Garage Single-Sides Of All Time, which will be postponed until December. So, I felt it was fitting to do a theme on storms and hurricanes this week instead. So tune in tonight to hear songs dealing with storms and hurricanes by bands and artists like: Man, Fraction, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Them, Jimi Hendrix, Fat Mattress, Downliners Sect, SRC, The Red Crayola, Henry Cow, Phantom, Classics IV, The Fortunes, Neil Young, Earth And Fire, The Left Banke, The Way We Live, The Standells, Rainbow, Twentieth Century Zoo, The White Noise, and many others!!

***To stream The Metaphysical Circus live via the web click this link: http://portsmouthcommunityradio.org/listen ... to listen to past shows, view playlists and more, fan the show on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Metap ... 50?sk=wall … or check out my website (to be updated someday): http://eggmanrulez.com/
Live every Friday night at 10pm to 1am EST on WSCA-LP 106.1 FM, Portsmouth Community Radio!

Watch my playlist unravel before your eyes LIVE here: http://wscafm.radioactivity.fm/

Egg

THE BANGLES (THE GURLS for us die-hard fans :):))

Not "garage" per se, but they are very talented and she's my niece!!!

:):)..............TO ALL YOU GHOULS AND BOYZ:)!!!

NIKI BLUHM .......

Great bandof ladies Plastiscine:)!!!

The Plastiscines - a French arty-punk band. Not the hardest of rockers maybe but they have an oddly Gallic charm...

New single from Toronto's lofi garage punk masters JANITORS

http://soundcloud.com/janitorscloset/yardsale-janitors

http://store03.prostores.com/servlet/uglythings/the-188/MASTERS-APPRENTICES--dsh--Undecided/Detail

Glad to do it , Dave. I read , later , that Roky made up funny song titles of his own to put off interviewerswho wanted to know if he'd been writing...."WEEEEELL , I've got a new one called "President Ford is a Square Queer" , mm- hmmm.". Some of those titles were rumored to be real songs Roky had written , but never recorded.

 That whole interview is on the "Live at TheRItz '87" CD , and probably on You Tube. It's as funny as "The Troggs Tapes". " I think The Sex Pistols are pretty groovy , mm- hmm. They remind me a lot of Fiorello La Guardia , sure.".
whatwave dave said:

John Battles said:

I missed The Sex Pistols in Dallas in 1978 , because my parents had heard all the negative hype about them , and said , HELL , NO ! I was only 13 , tho' , and only wanted to go out of curiosity. It's not like their record was being played anywhere at the time , unless you owned it.   But , I regret , far more , missing The Ramones on the "Rocket To Russia " tour in Ft. Worth in '77 , with The Runaways (Minus Cherie Curie.) as support. My Brother went , out of curiosity , and did'nt tell me about it for years..... I did see The Pistols in '96 and '03 , though. Both were good Rock'n'Roll shows , all I could ask for , even if they did'nt do "Silver Machine " , "Through My Eyes" , "Don't Gimme No Lip , Child' or Roky's favorite , "Hot Cars".

Hot Cars.....that made me laugh out loud!!!!!!! I still remember hearing Roky say that on the Epitpaph For A Legend double LP years ago and actually trying to figure out what song Roky was talking about!! Thanx for making me laugh John!!!

Mmm, that's all very interesting, John.  And I like those examples of Elvis and Led Zeppelin tickets being worth something years later.

Actually, I really don't see Michael all that often.  He's on the road a lot, and nowadays he's something of a recluse when he's home.  I used to hang out with him more often years ago, but even that was kind of sporadic.

John Battles said:

MikeL  . It's not name - droppin'. If he's your friend , he's your friend. YOU KNOW , I HAVE STRONG SUSPICIONS THAT THOSE GIGS THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED (THEY TELL US.) AFTER THE PISTOLS' JAN. '78 SHOW IN SAN FRANCISCO WERE EVER REALLY BOOKED AND CONFIRMED.  The band was originally denied entrance into the US , THEN , WHEN THAT GOT ALL SORTED OUT , THEY WERE PROBABLY ONLY GRANTED THE STANDARD TWO WEEK TOUR VISA THAT MOST UK BANDS WHO DON'T SUCK GET FROM THE CONSULATE.  IT TOOK , OF COURSE , JUST UNDER TWO WEEKS FOR THE BAND TO BREAK UP.   Tickets were also sold for a Chicago gig at The Ivanhoe Theatre , but , were refunded , like the Pittsburgh gig , but , I have the feeling McLaren told the promoters they could have The Pistols on those other dates , even when , he , himself could'nt have been certain they'd be intact  , or , in Sid's case , alive , to fulfill them.  He told Saturday Night Live they could have The Pistols , that was as high profile as it got in 1978. But , then , when the band did get here ,well , we all know where they played and what happened.....His method was to do provocative , but comparatively low profile , gigs, instead of New York , Chicago , LA .......  markets where they already had more than a couple of hundred fans.

Maybe those bookings were on the level , but , even so , tickets were a modest $3.50 AT MOST OF THE GIGS THAT DID AND DID'NT HAPPEN , and all , or most , excepting The Wintergarden , were at venues that probably held 500 people , tops. The TICKET AGENCIES DID'NT EXACTLY RAPE HOWARD HUGHES' VAULTS TO REIMBURSE THE FEW PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT ADVANCE TICKETS....Which , you're right , and , I 've told friends who would have gone to The Ivanhoe show  , those tix would be worth something , today......This was alsostill backin the time when concert tickets (Not all of 'em ) were often one or two colored, had shiny black perforated letters , and sometimes even glitter and artwork on 'em , too.

But , who could have known there'd be a collector's market for tickets to shows that did'nt happen , like the remaining dates on Elvis or Led Zeppelin's last tours ?
 
MikeL said:

John, I have a couple of local friends who were going to see the Sex Pistols here in Pittsburgh during their first American tour.  Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh gig was scheduled after the San Francisco gig, and everyone here knows what happened that night.  They got refunds for their tickets, but now I realize that those tickets would probably be worth something on ebay.

Now that I mentioned this...I should have made a trip to see the Sex Pistols during their 2003 reunion tour.  Oh well, at least I got to see Iggy and the Stooges and the New York Dolls, two bands that inspired the Sex Pistols.

John Battles said:

I missed The Sex Pistols in Dallas in 1978 , because my parents had heard all the negative hype about them , and said , HELL , NO ! I was only 13 , tho' , and only wanted to go out of curiosity. It's not like their record was being played anywhere at the time , unless you owned it.   But , I regret , far more , missing The Ramones on the "Rocket To Russia " tour in Ft. Worth in '77 , with The Runaways (Minus Cherie Curie.) as support. My Brother went , out of curiosity , and did'nt tell me about it for years..... I did see The Pistols in '96 and '03 , though. Both were good Rock'n'Roll shows , all I could ask for , even if they did'nt do "Silver Machine " , "Through My Eyes" , "Don't Gimme No Lip , Child' or Roky's favorite , "Hot Cars".
 Max Reverb said:

I missed seeing the Sex Pistols reunion in like 97 because my ride (show was several states away) had a dumb kid that day!

MikeL  . It's not name - droppin'. If he's your friend , he's your friend. YOU KNOW , I HAVE STRONG SUSPICIONS THAT THOSE GIGS THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED (THEY TELL US.) AFTER THE PISTOLS' JAN. '78 SHOW IN SAN FRANCISCO WERE EVER REALLY BOOKED AND CONFIRMED.  The band was originally denied entrance into the US , THEN , WHEN THAT GOT ALL SORTED OUT , THEY WERE PROBABLY ONLY GRANTED THE STANDARD TWO WEEK TOUR VISA THAT MOST UK BANDS WHO DON'T SUCK GET FROM THE CONSULATE.  IT TOOK , OF COURSE , JUST UNDER TWO WEEKS FOR THE BAND TO BREAK UP.   Tickets were also sold for a Chicago gig at The Ivanhoe Theatre , but , were refunded , like the Pittsburgh gig , but , I have the feeling McLaren told the promoters they could have The Pistols on those other dates , even when , he , himself could'nt have been certain they'd be intact  , or , in Sid's case , alive , to fulfill them.  He told Saturday Night Live they could have The Pistols , that was as high profile as it got in 1978. But , then , when the band did get here ,well , we all know where they played and what happened.....His method was to do provocative , but comparatively low profile , gigs, instead of New York , Chicago , LA .......  markets where they already had more than a couple of hundred fans.

Maybe those bookings were on the level , but , even so , tickets were a modest $3.50 AT MOST OF THE GIGS THAT DID AND DID'NT HAPPEN , and all , or most , excepting The Wintergarden , were at venues that probably held 500 people , tops. The TICKET AGENCIES DID'NT EXACTLY RAPE HOWARD HUGHES' VAULTS TO REIMBURSE THE FEW PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT ADVANCE TICKETS....Which , you're right , and , I 've told friends who would have gone to The Ivanhoe show  , those tix would be worth something , today......This was alsostill backin the time when concert tickets (Not all of 'em ) were often one or two colored, had shiny black perforated letters , and sometimes even glitter and artwork on 'em , too. They're just more fun to collect , if you collect 'em at all. I saw a James Brown concert in '91 , where a lawsuit was later filed (Because the promoters promised Little Richard , Aretha Franklin , Johnny Taylor , Al Green and more.), AND PEOPLE WHO STILL HAD THEIR TIX COULD RETURN THEM FOR A PARTIAL REFUND. I could'nt do that , I was sassified that I at least saw James Brown , and the two tone , glittered and perforated anachronism of a ticket had "Thin Lizzy with UFO - 1977." WRITTEN ALL OVER IT !

But , who could have known there'd be a collector's market for tickets to shows that did'nt happen , like the remaining dates on Elvis or Led Zeppelin's last tours ?
 
MikeL said:

John, I have a couple of local friends who were going to see the Sex Pistols here in Pittsburgh during their first American tour.  Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh gig was scheduled after the San Francisco gig, and everyone here knows what happened that night.  They got refunds for their tickets, but now I realize that those tickets would probably be worth something on ebay.

Now that I mentioned this...I should have made a trip to see the Sex Pistols during their 2003 reunion tour.  Oh well, at least I got to see Iggy and the Stooges and the New York Dolls, two bands that inspired the Sex Pistols.

John Battles said:

I missed The Sex Pistols in Dallas in 1978 , because my parents had heard all the negative hype about them , and said , HELL , NO ! I was only 13 , tho' , and only wanted to go out of curiosity. It's not like their record was being played anywhere at the time , unless you owned it.   But , I regret , far more , missing The Ramones on the "Rocket To Russia " tour in Ft. Worth in '77 , with The Runaways (Minus Cherie Curie.) as support. My Brother went , out of curiosity , and did'nt tell me about it for years..... I did see The Pistols in '96 and '03 , though. Both were good Rock'n'Roll shows , all I could ask for , even if they did'nt do "Silver Machine " , "Through My Eyes" , "Don't Gimme No Lip , Child' or Roky's favorite , "Hot Cars".
 Max Reverb said:

I missed seeing the Sex Pistols reunion in like 97 because my ride (show was several states away) had a dumb kid that day!

John Battles said:

I missed The Sex Pistols in Dallas in 1978 , because my parents had heard all the negative hype about them , and said , HELL , NO ! I was only 13 , tho' , and only wanted to go out of curiosity. It's not like their record was being played anywhere at the time , unless you owned it.   But , I regret , far more , missing The Ramones on the "Rocket To Russia " tour in Ft. Worth in '77 , with The Runaways (Minus Cherie Curie.) as support. My Brother went , out of curiosity , and did'nt tell me about it for years..... I did see The Pistols in '96 and '03 , though. Both were good Rock'n'Roll shows , all I could ask for , even if they did'nt do "Silver Machine " , "Through My Eyes" , "Don't Gimme No Lip , Child' or Roky's favorite , "Hot Cars".

Hot Cars.....that made me laugh out loud!!!!!!! I still remember hearing Roky say that on the Epitpaph For A Legend double LP years ago and actually trying to figure out what song Roky was talking about!! Thanx for making me laugh John!!!

BTW, one of those friends is Michael Kastelic of the Cynics:)  Yes, I'm being a shameless name dropper.

MikeL said:

John, I have a couple of local friends who were going to see the Sex Pistols here in Pittsburgh during their first American tour.  Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh gig was scheduled after the San Francisco gig, and everyone here knows what happened that night.  They got refunds for their tickets, but now I realize that those tickets would probably be worth something on ebay.

Now that I mentioned this...I should have made a trip to see the Sex Pistols during their 2003 reunion tour.  Oh well, at least I got to see Iggy and the Stooges and the New York Dolls, two bands that inspired the Sex Pistols.

John Battles said:

I missed The Sex Pistols in Dallas in 1978 , because my parents had heard all the negative hype about them , and said , HELL , NO ! I was only 13 , tho' , and only wanted to go out of curiosity. It's not like their record was being played anywhere at the time , unless you owned it.   But , I regret , far more , missing The Ramones on the "Rocket To Russia " tour in Ft. Worth in '77 , with The Runaways (Minus Cherie Curie.) as support. My Brother went , out of curiosity , and did'nt tell me about it for years..... I did see The Pistols in '96 and '03 , though. Both were good Rock'n'Roll shows , all I could ask for , even if they did'nt do "Silver Machine " , "Through My Eyes" , "Don't Gimme No Lip , Child' or Roky's favorite , "Hot Cars".
 Max Reverb said:

I missed seeing the Sex Pistols reunion in like 97 because my ride (show was several states away) had a dumb kid that day!

John, I have a couple of local friends who were going to see the Sex Pistols here in Pittsburgh during their first American tour.  Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh gig was scheduled after the San Francisco gig, and everyone here knows what happened that night.  They got refunds for their tickets, but now I realize that those tickets would probably be worth something on ebay.

Now that I mentioned this...I should have made a trip to see the Sex Pistols during their 2003 reunion tour.  Oh well, at least I got to see Iggy and the Stooges and the New York Dolls, two bands that inspired the Sex Pistols.

John Battles said:

I missed The Sex Pistols in Dallas in 1978 , because my parents had heard all the negative hype about them , and said , HELL , NO ! I was only 13 , tho' , and only wanted to go out of curiosity. It's not like their record was being played anywhere at the time , unless you owned it.   But , I regret , far more , missing The Ramones on the "Rocket To Russia " tour in Ft. Worth in '77 , with The Runaways (Minus Cherie Curie.) as support. My Brother went , out of curiosity , and did'nt tell me about it for years..... I did see The Pistols in '96 and '03 , though. Both were good Rock'n'Roll shows , all I could ask for , even if they did'nt do "Silver Machine " , "Through My Eyes" , "Don't Gimme No Lip , Child' or Roky's favorite , "Hot Cars".
 Max Reverb said:

I missed seeing the Sex Pistols reunion in like 97 because my ride (show was several states away) had a dumb kid that day!

Sorry to hear that. Link and Bo both have EVERYTHING to do with it. IT being Garage Rock .

I was lucky enough to have seen both several times. Tho' Bo strove to get more "Modern" , Hendrixish guitar, no Bo Diddley beats , occasional flirtations with Funk and Reggae , he always put on a very good show. On a bad night , Link killed 99% of 'em on a good night.
 
ChazDaddy said:

Great topic, but it causes me pain. I have missed many for many reasons over the years, but two that regret most were Link Wray and Bo Didley. Both came to Rochester a few yearsback at small venues, i missed both and they both died shortly thereafter...Ugh! Well I still spin their tunes all the time anyway, i see these Kats as two of the Fathers of garage/rock at least huge influences anyway.

Chaz

I missed The Sex Pistols in Dallas in 1978 , because my parents had heard all the negative hype about them , and said , HELL , NO ! I was only 13 , tho' , and only wanted to go out of curiosity. It's not like their record was being played anywhere at the time , unless you owned it.   But , I regret , far more , missing The Ramones on the "Rocket To Russia " tour in Ft. Worth in '77 , with The Runaways (Minus Cherie Curie.) as support. My Brother went , out of curiosity , and did'nt tell me about it for years..... I did see The Pistols in '96 and '03 , though. Both were good Rock'n'Roll shows , all I could ask for , even if they did'nt do "Silver Machine " , "Through My Eyes" , "Don't Gimme No Lip , Child' or Roky's favorite , "Hot Cars".
 Max Reverb said:

I missed seeing the Sex Pistols reunion in like 97 because my ride (show was several states away) had a dumb kid that day!

I don't see why a song shouldn't go in an ad.

But I would add with selling out that quite often it happens to bands who have lost their creative flair anyway. I mean when a guy's in his teens and 20s he's generally got a lot of energy and passion but not so much of the skills to carry off all his ideas.

By the time he gets to his 30s the passion's going a bit, but there's enough there to mix with his superior skills. But generally guys in their 40s? I mean no disrespect to anyone here or anywhere but generally by that point they are experts at their instruments but I can't think of any band where I've really been able to say they produced their best work around 'midlife'.

I think by that point often the bands simply pick a trend and stick with it because they aren't the trend setters any more and what they had originally started as become dated. I don't know if it's really selling out or if they really believe that the music they've made is genuinely worth selling.

Well I think we've officially heard from the "Take the money and run" camp. I was planning on typing out a few sentences on why I think its a dogshit idea for independent musicians to schill for a particular movie/corporation/tv show/book, but I'm tired. So this Steve Albini quote about Sonic Youth being idiots will have to do:

“[A] lot of the things they were involved with as part of the mainstream were distasteful to me. And a lot of the things that happened as a direct result of their association with the mainstream music industry gave credibility to some of the nonsense notions that hover around the star-making machinery. A lot of that stuff was offensive to me and I saw it as a sellout and a corruption of a perfectly valid, well-oiled music scene. Sonic Youth chose to abandon it in order to become a modestly successful mainstream band — as opposed to being a quite successful independent band that could have used their resources and influence to extend that end of the culture. They chose to join the mainstream culture and become a foot soldier for that culture’s encroachment into my neck of the woods by acting as scouts. I thought it was crass and I thought it reflected poorly on them. I still consider them friends and their music has its own integrity, but that kind of behavior — I can’t say that I think it’s not embarrassing for them. I think they should be embarrassed about it.”

Posted on their facebook page. I can't believe I was just in New York 2 weeks ago on vacation.

"NORTON RECORDS NEEDS YOUR HELP! Thanks again to our many friends who have been offering support following the devastating destruction that Hurricane Sandy wreaked upon the Norton Records warehouse in Brooklyn. Our electricity was restored today and we were able to assess the heavy damage. We can use help – not at our warehouse – but at our office in Prospect Heights. If any of you would like to volunteer your time at any point between now and Monday – even for just a few hours, we need as many people as possible to help clean and organize records that we are bringing from our warehouse. Celebrities may be in attendance. At this very moment, noted superstar Andy Shernoff is on hand pitching in. ...

Thanks Kopper for another great compilation.

HA HA , maybe Viv , Ron , and Moon could have done a remake of what I call the "Wacky Axis" Three Stooges WWII propaganda shorts , in which Moe was Hitler and Curly was Mussolini (Tho' neither by name.). Kim Fowley could have been Franco (Someone will probably call me on it and say FDR , instead , but , that would have been in terrible taste. Even from where I stand.) , Alice Cooper could have been Eva Braun , Screaming Lord Sutch could have been Winston Churchill , Freddie Mercury could have been Stalin (If only because he had that unfortunate moustache. Yeah , I know that was later. ) and any remaining authority figures could have been handled in dual roles by Graham Chapman.
 
Mark George Harrison said:

And take that SS uniform wearing lunatic Stanshall with you as well!!!

John Battles said:

"MOON !!   MOONIE !!!!   COME ON , MAN , I'M TRYIN' TO NOD OUT OVER HERE. GO WRECK SOME OTHER ROOM. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ".