Radio What Wave Playlist Oct 16/2014 The Knights Of Fuzz As Heard on 7" Records Part 4
We continue with our tribute to Timothy Gassen's book, The Knights Of Fuzz via the 7" record only. No LP's, CD's digital files, cassettes etc, this is strictly a 7" record show.
1. The Ugly Ducklings....That's Just A Thought That I Had In My Mind....from mid 60's York Town 7" and a good way to start the show as The Ugly Ducklings are among the influences to many of the bands we're about to hear.
2. The Cynics...I'm In Pittsburgh And It's Raining....Get Hip 7". The Cynics from Pittsburgh have been around sinc e 1985 and released many many 7", LP's and CD's. They even formed their own record label, Get Hip, which is no a distributor as well as one of the coolest record labels around.
3. The Lyres....How Do You Know?...New Rose 1987 7". They started as DMZ in the mid 70's, playing garagepunk way before anyone knew what it was. Through constant member changes with only one constant, Jeff Conolly, they became The Lyres and continue to this day doing sporadic gigs.
4. The Hysteric Narcotics...Wild As Soul ...Tremor Records 1985. Detroit combo that released a couple of singles, a flexi and a full length that Timothy Gassen raves about in The Knights Of Fuzz book. They actually played here in sleepy London Ontario at The Key West Cafe 10/12/1986. As i remember it, this was our first time to this venue as it had been open only a couple of months. There was a really good turn out to check out this band from Detroit. I remember yelling out for one of their early songs that i'd heard somewhere and the band looked at me in a way that said, 'how the hell does this guy know our songs?' as they were in London for what became their only time....great live band and live audio of that gig survives.
5. Thee Milkshakes...Don't Destroy Me....Unique Records. Featuring the overly prolific Billy Childish who was in such bands as The Pop Rivetts, Thee Headcoats, Mighty Caesers, many others as well as solo projects. Anything with Billy Childish on it is worth giving a listen!
6. The Prisoners...Hurricane....Big Beat 1983. One of those UK bands that shoulda broke out and become big as they had mod, punk, garage and soul influences. Combine that with the frenetic keyboards and these guys shoulda broke into the mainstream. They released many LP's and members continue to this day in other equally good combos. We've played the latest release from bassist Allen Crockford's Galileo 7 many times.
7. Bananamen....The Crusher...Hava Banana 1983. UK band who were rumoured to be The Cramps when this first came out as they do all tunes The Cramps have covered. More likely The Stingrays in disguise and they feature a young Alec Palao who has gone onto fame as a compiler, archivist, writer, producer, engineer and fill in musician for many a cool vintage combo (Chocolate Watchband, Flamini Groovies and others).
8. The Gruesomes...Things She Does To Me....Primitive Records. Montreal combo who topped the alternative music charts here in Canada back in the late 80's. They released 3 LP's and a 12" in addition to this 7" and were on many compilations. Pretty well everything has been re-ished by Ricochet Sound from Montreal.
9. The Gruesomes....No More Lies....as above.
10. The Cryptics....You're Evil....Primitive 1992. Montreal combo obviously influenced by The Gruesomes. They only released this one 7", but what a Killer!
11. The Dogs....Shakin' With Linda....Epic 1982. Formed in France in 1973 but didn't release any vinyl until the punk era hit and they were absorbed by that faction. They moved more into a 60's garage/pop sound releasing many great LP's and singles. They finally made it to North America in the fall of 2002, on support with Rick Blaze and The Ball Busters. The only original member, Dominique Laboubee who played guitar and sang was not well coming over for the tour. He thought he had pneumonia and would be able to do the tour. At their first show in Worcester (just outside Boston) on 9/25/2002, Dominique was only able to play the opening song and then left the stage ill. He went to the hospital and found out he had lung cancer. The Dogs continued on with their short tour, obviously hoping that Domique would be able to join them later but that was not the case and he passed away 10/10/2002, only days after being admitted. One of the saddest tales in rock'n'roll as The Dogs were often referred to as the best rock'n'roll bands in France during their tenure and coming to America was in their dreams.
12. The Bogeymen....Candy....Fascination. France had and still has an amazing appreciation for real rock'n'roll and The Bogeymen prove it. 60's R&B influences abound on this and their other releases.
13. The Dukes....She'll Be Mine...Kavern 7. German combo endorsed by Terry Gibson (former Downliners Sect member) and they released a couple of singles and an LP, like The Bogeymen they were into early 60's R&B sounds. Kavern 7 Records was an Australian record label run by Dean Mittelhauser who also published the Livin' End zine. Another archivist, historian, record label guy who unfortunatly passed away way too early.
14. The Chud....Don't Call Me Batman....Twang Records. Another German combo as the appreciation for garage music has always been high in Germany. Many artists of the genre end up living in Berlin and making a living at it. The Chud released at least one LP which features a multicoloured splash on the record.
15. The Raymen....Chosen One....Giant Claw. Yet another German combo on an Australian record label. The Raymen have been around since the early 80's and continue to this day, and are now in a slower spooky country mood. Singer Hank Ray has one of the most distinct singing voices with his ultra low baritone.
16. Lost Patrol....No Escape...Ali Records 1986. Windsor Ontario combo who played sleepy London Ontario many times over the years. They changed personel, and later recordings feature the Janis Joplin like vocals of Karen Marrero. This lineup released a couple more singles, cassettes and even an LP on a record label from France.
17. Lost Patrol....South Africa....as above.
18. Mr Haney's Revenge....Justine Ali Records 1991. A one off project of some of the members and former members of Lost Patrol along with other Windsor musicians. Mr Haney of course references the 60's TV drama Green Acres.
19. Drums Along The Gardiner....75 Miracle 1988. Toronto combo who played an odd for the time mixture of punk, garage, metal and novelty songs all wrapped up in a jaw dropping live show. They released a cassette or 2, a CD and appeared on several compilations, but this is their only record.
20. The Cheepskates...Run Better Run...5 & 10 Records 1983. One of the earliers of the 60's influenced combos to emerge from NYC. They were more pop influenced than most of the other bands on this scene (Outta Place, Fuzztones, Tryfles, Maneaters, Vipers) and released several LP's, all the while moving in a more pop oriented direction. They did manage to play sleepy London Ontario twice, and at the Key West show set the place ablaze with their frenetic pop oriented rock'n'roll. Audio and pictures survive of this show.
21. The Leopards....Psychedelic Boy....VOXX 1986. Kinks inspired put down of the 60's scene and the crowd that lives it. Politics rears it's head in the tiny garagepunk scene. The Leopards released a couple of LP's, all top notch material and were on Greg Shaw's VOXX label. Greg passed away 10 years ago this week.
22. Royal Nonesuch....You Need Love...self released 1987. Springfield Missouri's only garagepunk combo and they created their own scene and brought touring bands to play it. Guitarist Mad Jon later moved out west to join the Tell Tale Hearts.
23. Royal Nonesuch....Two Can Play That Game.....Get Hip 1990. They were darlings of the scene during their tenure, but unfortunatly few recordings exist and Get Hip attempted to remedy the situation.
24.The Lust O Rama....Do Bee Doo....That's Entertainment 1990. From Norway and part of a 4 song EP. This just proves the 80's garage scene not only covered the world, but some of these bands from far away places could really rock out and were top notch as The Lust O Rama prove.
25. The Lust O Rama.....Don't Love Her....as above and faded out on this song.
Huge Thanx for all the phone calls, emails, facebook messages and likes and everyone that tuned in to dig the sounds!
Next week it's an all Canadian garagepunk show and we'll not only be playing 7" records, but some live, demo, LP's and maybe even some digital tunes!
Here's a link to the archived show:
http://chrwradio.ca/programs/radio-what-wave