Little Steven has this quote on his Facebook page: "February 8, 1964, there was not one single rock 'n' roll band in the country. February 9, the Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show. February 10, everyone had one....My life began on February 9, 1964." - Little Steven (quoted in Esquire, Dec 2008) What do you think? I think in general he might be right, but I can think of lots of bands that existed prior to '64... the Wailers, the Sonics, the Pyramids, Paul Revere & the Raiders, etc. While the Beatles appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show no doubt gave a huge shot in the arm to rock 'n' roll in the U.S. (and elsewhere) and helped spur on the garage-band BOOM of '65-'67, I just don't think it's fair to give them all the credit. It's stuff like that that kinda annoys me about Little Steven.

I think Greg Shaw commisioned a lot of his contributers to his magazine to do some of the gonzo styled ramblings that appeared on the back of the early pebbles. or he just used a lot of psuedonyms.

Who ever wrote those notes... I'm guessing it was Greg Shaw who wrote the liner notes in the Pebbles series, wasn't it? Tim Warren's liner notes in the Back From the Grave series are great, too. Joe's Garage said:

One of the old "Pebbles" vinyl LPs had a great set of liner notes that kinda summed up a good reaction to the notion that the "Beatles saved rock and roll". Who ever wrote those notes did a great job to note how before the Beatles, Britain had Lonnie Donegal singing "My Father is a Dustman" type of crap. I watched that show on Feb 9th 1964 and I can remember there was a lot of U.S. rock music back then too. And anyway, Beatles, Stones, Who etc. did not bring us recycled Lonnie Donegan...now did they???

Kevin Schneider said:

I found this tidbit of trivia: the 1963 Grammy for best rock and roll recording went to Bent Fabric for "Alley Cat".

Which gave rise to the explosion of polyester powder blue pant-suited 55+ women grinding wedding receptions to a halt to do the Hully Gully. When they all died off, it was replaced by bolt-on boobed spray tanned 40-somethings doing the Electric Slide

"February 8, 1964, there was not one single rock 'n' roll band in the country. February 9, the Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show. February 10, everyone had one....My life began on February 9, 1964." - Little Steven (quoted in Esquire, Dec 2008) What do you think? I think in general he might be right, but I can think of lots of bands that existed prior to '64... the Wailers, the Sonics, the Pyramids, Paul Revere & the Raiders, etc." Not only that but the Kingsmen and the Trahsmen were in the U.S. top 10 on February 8, 1964. The Rivieras would follow just a week or so later.

One of the old "Pebbles" vinyl LPs had a great set of liner notes that kinda summed up a good reaction to the notion that the "Beatles saved rock and roll". Who ever wrote those notes did a great job to note how before the Beatles, Britain had Lonnie Donegal singing "My Father is a Dustman" type of crap. I watched that show on Feb 9th 1964 and I can remember there was a lot of U.S. rock music back then too. And anyway, Beatles, Stones, Who etc. did not bring us recycled Lonnie Donegan...now did they???

Tsk! Effin' Blowheads! swt said:

I'm still pissed off because a local station carries Underground Garage at the exact same time I do Terrell's Sound World on our local public radio station here in Santa Fe.

I'm still pissed off because a local station carries Underground Garage at the exact same time I do Terrell's Sound World on our local public radio station here in Santa Fe.

That last statement isn't true at all. Jon Weiss of Cavestomp had been coaxing The Sonics since 2000 to come out of retirement and they even tried a practice in 2002 but decided against it. They only now just gave in. And of course, Jon Weiss had a falling out with Steven to the point where Steven didn't even mention Cavestomp on his show for 2007. The return of the Sonics should hve been priority one that year for Little Steven, but he knows how to hold a grudge. It was the idea of our local station in Seattle, that carries Underground Garage, to promote the Sonics Seattle concert in 2008 during his show hours, not Steven's. It was a local ad during the break. He was simply an invited guest by Bucks Ormsby of the Wailers, who helped put that show together. But Little Steven had NOTHING to do with the return of the Sonics. Gas-House Gorilla said:

I understand how looking at Little Steven’s comment on the Beatles in isolation can be taken as flippant, or even insulting, in regards to the great pre-’64 bands. Maybe many people here don’t listen to Little Steven’s show or station often. But if you take a look at his other words and actions, it might put things in a different light. The guy regularly plays the Wailers, Sonics, Beach Boys, Trashmen, Ventures and many other pre-’64 bands on his station (as well as the rock ‘n roll pioneers). He calls the ’63 recording of “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen the “Gospel of Garage”. He has done syndicated shows specifically dedicated to Surf. He has spoken glowingly about the early-‘60s Pacific Northwest scene, including calling it the beginning of the garage rock movement. There was a comment earlier in this discussion about Little Steven practically ruining the Sonics show in Seattle last year with his on-stage antics. I can’t speak to that specifically, and perhaps that’s the case. But give him some credit. He’s the guy who coaxed the Sonics out of retirement in the first place, and helped promote their return.

I have a total love/hate relationship with Little Steven and his show. I love the fact that I've gotten to hear songs like Psychotic Reaction and Talk Talk on the radio again but then he goes and ruins things by palying not only his own band but a lot of other boring late 70s shit that was "supposed" to be cutting edge at the time. I like the fact that he has made Iggy Pop, The Ramones, and the New York Dolls legitamate performers in the eyes of mainstream America but then he doesn't do the same thing for more current bands like Girl Trouble and Black Lips (who became popular on their own, I feel). As for his statement, he is trying to be sensational-istic. Of course for his neck of the woods, kids in 1963 were probabaly trying to make it out of the projects by becoming the next Frankie Avalon or Bobby Rydell and that's all he knew. You see someone like Gene Simmons saying that he and a lot of other kids he knew were inspired by the Beatles being on the Ed Sullivan show, I begin to believe that it was a total East Coast thing, that there were NO rock and roll bands. Little Steven could have exagerated a bit better by saying that in 1964, America was a vast wasteland and there was probably a couple of rock and roll bands every hundred of miles or so until you got to the east coast, then nothing. A lot of folk singers or twist groups like Joey Dee and the Starliters. But like I said, I think Little Steven likes to go for sensationalism. Little Ricky said:

February 8, 1964, I didn't know anyone in a rock 'n' roll band. February 9, the Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show. February 10, everyone I knew was in one....My life began on February 9, 1964."

That would have got his point across and not made his statement so ridiculous. The Beatles coming to America and getting the attention and media coverage they did played a huge part in the proliferation of garage bands that came in the coming years, I don't believe anyone can honestly deny that. They were a catalyst and figurehead, much like Elvis was when he broke. Neither of them created anything new but they both defined Rock and Roll for most people when they first became popular.

I'm new here so this might not be the best thread to jump in on since I'm a big Beatles fan (but I am wearing my "Stamp out the Beatles" tee). I enjoyed the Underground Garage a few years ago and was a regular listener but haven't really paid much attention for the past 2 years. The format has slowly changed and there is more "classic rock" incorporated and less info on the artists discussed. Steve's quote is of course silly (and dangerous, as some people may take it as fact) and this thread probably wouldn't exist if he had said something like "February 8, 1964, I didn't know anyone in a rock 'n' roll band. February 9, the Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show. February 10, everyone I knew was in one....My life began on February 9, 1964." That would have got his point across and not made his statement so ridiculous. The Beatles coming to America and getting the attention and media coverage they did played a huge part in the proliferation of garage bands that came in the coming years, I don't believe anyone can honestly deny that. They were a catalyst and figurehead, much like Elvis was when he broke. Neither of them created anything new but they both defined Rock and Roll for most people when they first became popular.

Yeah, Drew Carey subs for Kid Leo – something like the last Friday of each month. I believe they’re friends from their Cleveland days. His sets are basically pulled from the station playlist. Not surprisingly he doesn’t really know his stuff, but he throws in some good stories. Dan Electreau said:

On a barely related note...

Someone recently told me that they were listening to satellite radio and they heard Drew Carey hosting a show on the "garagerock channel". He said that it started out with some watered down, oldies type stuff but then he kicked it in to low gear for a couple of sets of really cool and fairly obscure stuff.

Anyone heard this?

*btw, the guy who told me this is not so much a garagerock fanatic as he is an all-around music weirdo.

On a barely related note...

Someone recently told me that they were listening to satellite radio and they heard Drew Carey hosting a show on the "garagerock channel". He said that it started out with some watered down, oldies type stuff but then he kicked it in to low gear for a couple of sets of really cool and fairly obscure stuff.

Anyone heard this?

*btw, the guy who told me this is not so much a garagerock fanatic as he is an all-around music weirdo.

I really don't like The Beatles. I've tried. After telling a Bavarian friend that (another worn out saying that I've used the heck out of for a good 25 years) "I step on beatles", he encouraged me to listen to the Star Club recordings; he even provided the album for me. I still don't like 'em! So, obviously my whole opinion on the subject at hand is biased as all get-out. I'm just anti-Beatles and pro Rock 'N' Roll. The two are mutually exclusive! Dan Electreau said:

Michael Kaiser said:

Just admit it! We could all think of a nice, compact quip that could have shaken up the interviewer real good, couldn't we?

Yeah, something like...
HI, I'm Michael Kaiser and my life ENDED on February 9, 1964.

maannn...only if i can find it online...it is from before computers! well for me anyway...i will look...this is sooo funny...after reading your thing & replying, i was listening to a classic rock station here in LA (the one that plays underground garage no less!) & this weird DJ Jim Ladd went into a whole thing that Walter Cronkite did a story on the beatles first & Ed Sullivan called him up & asked how to get ahold of them for his show...funny, he never gets credit & people that don't do their homework never know... kopper said:

Is there any way you can post that essay here? Maybe in the blog on your page? I don't have that comp...
Howie Pyro said:

he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about & neither does the person that writes what he says, at least the above comment! check the entire Norton Records catalog for thousands of perfect slabs of proof...i wrote a huge essay on this exact subject for the liner noted of the compilation record A Fistful of Rock & Roll (Volume 3 i believe)

Is there any way you can post that essay here? Maybe in the blog on your page? I don't have that comp... Howie Pyro said:

he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about & neither does the person that writes what he says, at least the above comment! check the entire Norton Records catalog for thousands of perfect slabs of proof...i wrote a huge essay on this exact subject for the liner noted of the compilation record A Fistful of Rock & Roll (Volume 3 i believe)

he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about & neither does the person that writes what he says, at least the above comment! check the entire Norton Records catalog for thousands of perfect slabs of proof...i wrote a huge essay on this exact subject for the liner noted of the compilation record A Fistful of Rock & Roll (Volume 3 i believe)

Michael Kaiser said:

Just admit it! We could all think of a nice, compact quip that could have shaken up the interviewer real good, couldn't we?

Yeah, something like... HI, I'm Michael Kaiser and my life ENDED on February 9, 1964.

Possibly a touch off topic here (hell, this thread has already gone off on a few tangents) but this whole business has brought up an issue that's always been a bit of a bone of contention for me, that of claiming that certain people (or bands) are responsible for 'inventing' a scene...

Nothing is actually ever 'new', no band exists in a vacuum, scenes and styles evolve naturally with bands drawing on a shared set of influences, inspiring each other and shaping their sound via a kind of peer review.

Obviously certain acts can be credited with pushing a scene out into the mainstream and gaining mass popularity (and obviously The Beatles acted in this capacity on both sides of the Atlantic) but there still needs to be an audience which is receptive to that sound, conditioned by what has gone before.

I'm not suggesting anyone here would be guilty of this but you do get this crap all the time. Just the other day someone said to me:

"So, who would you say invented punk?"

"No one did you fucking retard! It was all derived from what had gone before!"

(argument ensues...)

Little Steven's comment seems to more or less support this naive idea of 'invention', when as we know full well bands in both the UK and US (and all over the bloody world) were drawing on the same set of references and forming a similar sound.

Being on the wrong side of the pond to be hearing Little Steven's radio show I'm not really aware of his work in this area but from what I can gather from this thread he seems to be setting himself up as some sort of authority on Garage and Rock n' Roll (let me know if I'm wrong there).

Whilst the comment may work as hyperbole to highlight the impact The Beatles had on popular music, it seems to me that if you're going to be try and be some sort of musical oracle spreading spurious bullshit ideas like that only serves to undermine your authority...

Constant nods to the Beatles is boring as hell.
There's two left who don't really need anymore smoke blown up their asses.
It's not like Paul and Ringo are constantly plugging Chuck Berry.
Little Steven could have wasted the time on a band equally deserving & lesser known.
Maybe he should have gotten out a little more or listened to the Kingsmen to tide him over cuz, yeah, everyone else in America at that time was listening to Pat Boone.

I believe what Lennon actually said was, "Nothing affected me until Elvis," which goes along with your point. He was making a personal statement, not a categorical one. IDON MINE said:

I don't know, that's basically my problem with all that quote-ing from experts, it just cuts out a lot of superb people and many more people forge their opinion after that.
Just like Lennon saying: "Before Elvis there was nothing." Which also maybe right for the mainstream explosion of making R'N'R a Pop phenomenon, but also a very subjective view coming from their own learning and experience with getting into R'N'R thru a certain happening in their life. I love the King, but he was not the sum of all raw music back then.<</body>

And as for local radio stations, I can never never never never get enough of R. Fink's "Rock 'n' Roll Dance Party" on WUSB in Stony Brook, NY. I live all the way down in middle-Georgia, but I make it a point to download his show every week. Hours and hours of the secret history of rock 'n' roll. I don't know what I would do without that show and the GP podcasts. Bob Blackstone said:

What about Mike & The Ravens....Del Shannon....John Kid & the Pirates.....I think Little Steven's show is so/so....I live outside nyc and a local station (vassar college) plays much better stuff. Little Steven plays the usuals...the Music Machine, Kinks, Ramones, the Cramps and so forth. His radio show is a disapointment, I never hear any cool shit like the Risingstorm, Contents Are, Mike & The Ravens, Bent Wind, Les Sinners or Back From The Grave shit....I guess this isn't mainstream enough...The Cramps are mainstream dude.

I do appreciate Manfred's show on the Undergarage channel. He's a fellow with his heart and ear in the right place. But as for much of the newer material forced into the station's playlists, and often celebrated as "the Coolest Song in the World" I find it weak, middle-of-the-road neo-psyche, whose biggest crime is how unassuming, unassertive it is. For its preaching about how garage, its influences, and offshoots are fueled by lust, kicks, and primitive beat that disregard the mainstream and raise skirts and eyebrows and blood pressure, the station champions some of the most timid and frigid tunes. Nothing by the Grip Weeds or the Charms would cause a blip in Alan Freed's pulse. The best thing I can say is I like seeing The Woggles and Maggots getting distro and airplay.

What about Mike & The Ravens....Del Shannon....John Kid & the Pirates.....I think Little Steven's show is so/so....I live outside nyc and a local station (vassar college) plays much better stuff. Little Steven plays the usuals...the Music Machine, Kinks, Ramones, the Cramps and so forth. His radio show is a disapointment, I never hear any cool shit like the Risingstorm, Contents Are, Mike & The Ravens, Bent Wind, Les Sinners or Back From The Grave shit....I guess this isn't mainstream enough...The Cramps are mainstream dude.

"Predictable, safe, and tame". That's pretty much how I'd describe Little Steven's radio program. Michael Kaiser said:

Well bless Little Steven for doing so much toward educating the goofy kids about Rock 'N' Roll! I know that a lot o' folks that sign-up for The Hideout list his show as their "Favorite GaragePunk Podcast(s)" (does he podcast, or is it a radio show?), so folks like what he does... But, seriously folks, that sound-bite/magazine quote ain't cutting edge or sensational in any way, shape, or form. Plain and simple: it's predictable, safe, and tame. Just admit it! We could all think of a nice, compact quip that could have shaken up the interviewer real good, couldn't we?
Saying that the quote leaves a lot to be desired is no knock on the man or what he has accomplished.