Classic rock... tsk tsk tsk... I remember seeing 60's punk filed under "oldies but goodies" in a record store in New-York. What a shocker, I'd never seen that in Europe!
I'd define garage as Rock'n'roll for purist with limited abilities filled with teenage lust and electricity. When I say limited abilities it's not derogative, it's my way of saying it's the only genre where the music is all that matters.
And I'd describe the sound as raw, electric, frantic, full of snarls and cumming guitars.

Or I'd just say: "Go and get a copy of nuggets, wanker!"

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture. Just give her this link and tell her to listen: http://www.garagepunk.com/podcastjukebox.html Oh, and tell her to TURN IT UP!!

I was having a conversation this morning with someone in my office who had never heard of garage music before, and she asked what it was.  Because this person was of the age that she might have remembered some of the better known bands, I started by asking if she knew of The Kingsmen.  She said yes, so I said "Songs that sound like Louie Louie."  She said "Oh, like classic rock!"  "Not quite," I told her.  Then she wanted more examples so I threw out The Electric Prunes and The Sonics, but she didn't know them.  I tried to describe frat rock bands of the 50's and 60's with no luck.

Then she asked what punk was, and I told her about bands like The Ramones and The Sex Pistols.  She kind've knew what they were, but only because I mentioned the poppiest of Ramones tunes, "I Wanna Be Sedated."  She had never heard of the Stiff Little Fingers.

This wasn't the first time I've been asked these questions, but I still don't have a good answer.  How do you describe our favorite kind of music to people who aren't in the know?  There's garage, punk, frat rock, rockabilly, psychobilly, surf, primitive rock, budget rock, trash rock, horror surf, hardcore, gunk punk (nod to Eric Davidson for that one)... but how do you describe the sound to people who have never heard of the Stooges, Radio Birdman, Minor Threat, The Mummies, Billy Childish, The Oblivians, and the like?

Yeah, GarageBand is great. Been producing my podcasts on it for five years now!

I haven't owned Mac, so I know nothing about a Garageband, but if you buy an audio interface, some of them bundle each complimentary trial version of a DAW software. For instance, TC Electronic (Ableton Live), Presonus (Studio One) etc, so you may be able to choose a DAW software which you prefer. Anyway, before it, you can download a free versions at each maker's sites.

I love garageband!

As a very rudimentary/basic introduction to using a DAW it's fine. For real recording/mixing it's like trying to tie shoes while wearing boxing gloves. Love my Mac, though. 

Garageband is a great program, I paid a friend who knew the program well to show me how it works. In 2 hours I knew enough to record my songs. If you have an Apple Store close to you, you can sign up for free training. You just have to register online when they offer the class. Just go to the site and you will find it. All you need is a USB audio interface to get started,(it is a unit to plug mics and guitar cords in), they are not too expensive, I'm sure you can find a used one on Craigslist. So the answer is yes, it's worth messing around with.

Just got a mac.. still wearing my sister's hand-me-downs.

I did see both of those movies, but thanks for mentioning them. I would like to see something that focuses on the English Disco scene, rather than Rodney's whole life, sort of like "Studio 54."

John Carlucci said:

There already is a film about Arthur Kane of The New York Dolls, titled "A New York Doll" if you've not seen it. Plus there's a movie about Rodney Bingenheimer called "Mayor Of The Sunset Strip" . Both are quite sobering.
A new photo book came out about Max's Kansas City recently. I was pleasantly surprised to find a photo of my old Band, The Speedies included, though I'm not visible in the shot! lol!



MikeL said:

Since everyone else here has made suggestions for band movies, here are a few of my own.

I would like to see a movie about the New York Dolls, or perhaps one about Johnny Thunders in particular. I would also like to see movies made about the Stooges and the Clash.

I would also like to see movies made about particular scenes, such as the early days of CBGBs, or perhaps the story of Max's Kansas City. Another good one would be Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco.

There already is a film about Arthur Kane of The New York Dolls, titled "A New York Doll" if you've not seen it. Plus there's a movie about Rodney Bingenheimer called "Mayor Of The Sunset Strip" . Both are quite sobering. A new photo book came out about Max's Kansas City recently. I was pleasantly surprised to find a photo of my old Band, The Speedies included, though I'm not visible in the shot! lol!

MikeL said:

Since everyone else here has made suggestions for band movies, here are a few of my own.

I would like to see a movie about the New York Dolls, or perhaps one about Johnny Thunders in particular. I would also like to see movies made about the Stooges and the Clash.

I would also like to see movies made about particular scenes, such as the early days of CBGBs, or perhaps the story of Max's Kansas City. Another good one would be Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco.

MikeL said:

Since everyone else here has made suggestions for band movies, here are a few of my own.

I would like to see a movie about the New York Dolls, or perhaps one about Johnny Thunders in particular. I would also like to see movies made about the Stooges and the Clash.

I would also like to see movies made about particular scenes, such as the early days of CBGBs, or perhaps the story of Max's Kansas City. Another good one would be Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco.

Hmmm, movies about futuristic rock bands...that sounds like a new genre. You might want to talk to a Hollywood producer before someone else steals it.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I don't know about Richard Hell's background that well but Jim Morrison and Patti Smith were poets and scholars (well Jim was a drop out but smart) before they were musicians and it'd be more believable coming from a band like the Doors to say "hey, let's base this album on this idea" plus it would be probably 1968 when they thought of it. OK, the only way for me to believe that a truly weird album would be made in 1963 (and there are but they aren't by rock bands) would be for 3 jazz musicians to get together with a string quartet and some opera singers plus a beatnik poet who has indeed read everything, not a bunch of bar band greasers, but who'd go see that movie?

And even the stuff on the "first album", On the Darkside, that song I don't think would exist before Motown started getting a little more sophisticated or before Neil Diamond came on the scene. It's a cross between "Ain't That Peculiar" by Marvin Gaye and "Cherry Cherry". Even if Phil Spector stuck to a more conventional type of song, you have to admit it was pretty sophisticated for its time. The stuff Leiber and Stoller did with the Drifters and Ben E King was pretty sophisticated. Even Jackie DeShannon's When You Walk in the Room was sophisticated. and I don't know if anyone read about the review that WITH THE BEATLES got in 1963 but one of the songs, "Not a Second Time", got compared to Mahler or someone like that.

But to say that a bar band like Eddie and the Cruisers could write more sophisticated tunes than the above mentioned is kind of ridiculous. THAT THING YOU DO is a very believable movie when I stop and think about it.

LOL. I'm taking this way to seriously but I like my rock pics to be believable (unless they take place in the future. That's different).

MikeL said:

LOL, Rod:) Well, I think basing an album on Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell" was ahead of it's time, before Jim Morrison and punk icons like Richard Hell and Patti Smith started citing Rimbaud as an influence. Lets keep in mind that lyrically, Wilson and Spector still stuck to conventional love songs at that time.

However, now that you mentioned this, it does remind me of "Listen to the Flower Children" by Spinal Tap, which was supposedly released before "Sgt. Pepper." Yeah, that whole "album before its time" has become a very silly cliche.



Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I didn't buy that whole "album SOoooooo ahead of its time" thing, especially if it's still only 1962 or '63. Phil Spector and Brian Wilson were ahead of the times during those same years and yet they still fit into THOSE years. Maybe if Eddie and the Cruisers was set in 1966 or '67. But then nobody would have got to look like the Outsiders (movie). I think Little Steven will get a better hold of what sounds authentic (or close).

MikeL said:

Sorry to hear you feel that way, Rod, because I liked "Eddie and the Cruisers," and I liked the influence of those Springsteen albums on the soundtrack. I will admit that "The Runaways" didn't do a very good job of telling the story, but I liked it visually, and Michael Shannon's portrayal of Kim Fowley made it all worthwhile for me.

However, I thought that was interesting what you said about documentaries as opposed dramatizations. That's why I don't want to see a movie made about the Ramones, because I felt the documentary, "End of the Century," did a good enough job of telling the story.



Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I personally like documentaries better than docu-dramas about bands I like. If they serialized their stories on HBO or something, that'd be something. But to put someone's career in a two hour bubble never seems to work. I love the exposure that the Runaways got but I had a tough time with the movie.

But if they were going to make a picture of a sixties band, The Misunderstood would work (thanks to the band and Ugly Things) as would the Thirteenth Floor Elevators. And so would the Monks. Not so much the Sonics. They really don't have a story.

One thing I can say about Steven's picture is I don't think it will be cruddy as Eddie and the Cruisers. The music might sound slick but I'm sure it'll be closer to That Thing You Do rather than Darkness on the Edge of Town or the River.

The Cynics and the Fleshtones put on a great show on Friday night. I'll have some pictures to share later on.

Lucky you...

I am so envious! I did see the Fleshtones in Detroit a few months ago but I haven't seen the Cynics in years. I can't remember the last time they played the Motor City.

Lucky You. Wish I was there!

Sorry if I've made you a little jealous.

JY CHIE SUR TA TERRASSE said:

fuck you !

Admit it you bastards, you love tacky songs about monsters, witches, voodoo and ghosts with bad Bela and Boris imitations. You can't get enough!

So check out the latest Big Enchilada podcast.

Don't be a chump, SUBSCRIBE!

Sounds cool. I would be interested in a fuzz like that. Was it a newer fender or something vintage?

DammitDave said:

Very nice, thank you. In Memphis she was using a Fender amp with some kind of fuzz pedal that was really wicked. She was playing barre chords and the fuzz was very full but didn't get all crowded like alot of pedals can.

Here's 40 Pounder Blues by The Purple Toads....plus a bunch of other songs that were on a cassette comp called Wave From The Grave that we gave away with What Wave zine back in 1986... http://chrwradio.com/lma/1986/What%20Wave%20-%20Wave%20From%20The%20Grave/ww3.htm There's other cool stuff on that site as well. It's run by local university radio station CHRW and the site is called The London Music Archives (referring to London Ontario Canada)...and i have a radio show on CHRW called Radio What Wave (every thursday 7 to 8:30PM plug plug...). And Rob Toad (guitarist vocalist of Purple Toads) has a new band called Crummy Stuff which will be playing in London Ontario on 11/5/10 with Gord Lewis of Teenage Head for an evening of Teenage Head tunes.

I'm looking to download songs that can't be found in the itunes store. Songs like "40 Pounder Blues" by the Purple Toads or "Refrigerator Door" by the Human Switchboard. What sites would have obscure tracks like those?

we had a great metal scene for a while...I have to mention Shadows Fall cause I grew up with those guys..I would never even know metal exisisted if I didn't see it with my own eyes...those shows were awesome!!

Hey John.

I have the Bassman TV Duo 10, I like it, but I wish I would have waited for the Rumble 350, it's half the price. I feel like I paid an extra $500.00 for the "retro" look. Your the second person that recommends the Sans Amp, I'm going to look into one of those.

Hey John W. I do as well. I usually go that route with a Sans Amp Bass driver. I have a stock 72 P Bass with flatwound strings that I only use to record with. It gets the fattest sound you can imagine. Even when recording live basic tracks, I prefer to sit in the booth with the engineer & hear the bass through the big overhead speakers rather than use headphones, unless I have my own separate mix for the bass. If I don't hear myself loud enough, I tend to hit the strings too hard, then I need to compress the shit out of it to get it from peaking in the hot zone. On occassion I will do both, direct & through an Amp, however it has to be the right amp. I recorded tracks with my new band through a Tube Compressor on one track and through a mint condition Beautiful Vintage 1960's Ampeg B-15 that my buddy has at his studio. I have a pretty cool Fender Bassman TV15 that I might try on anothe occassion, It's got a tube pre-amp that sounds pretty awesome. When I played with Sylvain I used a 1970's Fender Bassman 135 which was an awesome amp, but I eventually had to sell it because it it became unreliable & it hummed too much record with.

John White said:

I like plugging my bass strait into the board, always seems to get the best sound. That way you have all those EQ's at your disposal or just use your tone control on the bass. If you want to dirty it up you can also use a foot pedal. Check out Soundblox for bass, they have a great video ad on Youtube.