KRLA was the best "oldies" station in LA hands down. They played real 50s and 60s rock n roll/R&B/instros/etc. as their regular playlist. KRTH was OK, more generic (from what I remember). I hardly listened to it. Today KRTH is just laughable. It's such a pile of shit that it should not even exist anymore. Who listens to that shit? As Mike said, KROQ in the 70s and early 80s was really good. I agree with that. It WAS really good. My older brother was a mod/rude boy back in the late 70s/early 80s and he would listen to KROQ and they played lots of different stuff. Hell I even remember the "Freeze Disease" play Johnnny Chingas "Se Me Paro" for chrissakes!! KCBS (93.1FM) was an oldies station for about 1 year and they played pretty good stuff too... THE SURF (1260AM) was an oldies station that started in the early 2000s for about 2 years and THAT was an AMAZING station. They played oldies ala KRLA and didn't venture past 1966 or so. They had specialized shows on the weekends such as "Finger Poppin and Snappin" which was pure R&B and "dance" records. It was soooo great. Then one day it was gone. It's back again as RETRO, but they play more "swing" and "lounge" stuff now. However at nights and on weekends they play just 50s/60s oldies so that's a good time to tune in. Art Laboe is still on the air on 92.3 every night, but his show is so different than how it used to be. Every so often he plays a gem, but it's getting rare. Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Well, I've been in the Seattle area for close to 25 years. Moved here in 1984 (which was a great year to do so). But every so often, I'd look at the websites of some of the stations from Los Angeles and they don't seem to different from anywhere else in the States. Yeah, KRTH (K-Earth 101) did generify. I remember when I lived there that they had a Number 1 records weekend (KRTH had the best weekends) and heard Jose Jimenez' Astronaut skit. Never heard that anywhere else.

As for Real Don Steele, I never heard of him until I heard that Don and the Goodtimes song "I'm Real". But I don't think he was on any oldies station until after I moved away.

Mike said:

I forgot about KRTH, they were good too, the Real Don Steel was on there for a long time wasn't he? Or was that KRLA? But at some later point in time I think they dumbed down their playlist to just the standard generic national charting oldies. Are they still around? Even KLOS and KMET were miles above what is out there now. You had real DJ's still. Jim Ladd is still on KLOS late at night. I'll hear him once in a while at work, and he'll actually suprise me with something good once in a while in between his griping about the state of radio today.

This guy has a lot of KROQ recordings, and even some KMET stuff from the 70's and mostly 80's for download.

http://fromthegarage.blogspot.com/

Well, I've been in the Seattle area for close to 25 years. Moved here in 1984 (which was a great year to do so). But every so often, I'd look at the websites of some of the stations from Los Angeles and they don't seem to different from anywhere else in the States. Yeah, KRTH (K-Earth 101) did generify. I remember when I lived there that they had a Number 1 records weekend (KRTH had the best weekends) and heard Jose Jimenez' Astronaut skit. Never heard that anywhere else. As for Real Don Steele, I never heard of him until I heard that Don and the Goodtimes song "I'm Real". But I don't think he was on any oldies station until after I moved away. Mike said:

I forgot about KRTH, they were good too, the Real Don Steel was on there for a long time wasn't he? Or was that KRLA? But at some later point in time I think they dumbed down their playlist to just the standard generic national charting oldies. Are they still around? Even KLOS and KMET were miles above what is out there now. You had real DJ's still. Jim Ladd is still on KLOS late at night. I'll hear him once in a while at work, and he'll actually suprise me with something good once in a while in between his griping about the state of radio today.

This guy has a lot of KROQ recordings, and even some KMET stuff from the 70's and mostly 80's for download.

http://fromthegarage.blogspot.com/

I forgot about KRTH, they were good too, the Real Don Steel was on there for a long time wasn't he? Or was that KRLA? But at some later point in time I think they dumbed down their playlist to just the standard generic national charting oldies. Are they still around? Even KLOS and KMET were miles above what is out there now. You had real DJ's still. Jim Ladd is still on KLOS late at night. I'll hear him once in a while at work, and he'll actually suprise me with something good once in a while in between his griping about the state of radio today. This guy has a lot of KROQ recordings, and even some KMET stuff from the 70's and mostly 80's for download. http://fromthegarage.blogspot.com/

I really feel sick that I didn't appreciate KROQ like I should have. I did listen to KRLA (my favorite was Humble Harve. He'd finish his night with Blues Theme and that was back in 1980) but I also listened to KRTH. Between 1979 and 1984, I thought they were pretty great. In fact they used local LA charts from the sixties rather than Billboard charts in determining what they'd play. So you got the Standells, Seeds, Love, and THEM. In LA, the Shadows of Knight did NOT exist. I remember KPFK for blues stuff. But fool that I am, I also listened to KLOS and KMET. The only upside to that was getting to hear all the early Stones and Who albums in their entirety. And KMET had the Dr. Demento show. Mike said:

In Los Angeles we had KRLA as Sectmaniac pointed out. It was an oldies station but nothing like what you'd consider oldies radio now days, at least in the 70's & 80's. All of the DJs had knowledge of the music and were there when these bands were playing and putting out records and they seemed to have a say in what they played, especially in the evenings when they'd take requests and dedications. Art Laboe used to do a lunch time thing in the early 80's where he'd take one act and go through the history of the artist and play tracks etc. Does the mainstream "oldies stations' even play songs like '60 Minute Man' 'Pledging My love' 'Hully Gully' 'Big Boy Pete' 'Corrido Rock' or 'Slow Down' anymore.
But growing up I think Rodney Bingenheimer on KROQ had the biggest influence on my musical tastes. When I was 14 his show was on for 4 hours each Saturday and Sunday night 8-12. Cutting his teeth in the 60's, Rodney would play stuff like Love, the Leaves, Standells, Seeds, Chocolate Watch Band, etc etc, but he'd also play the latest Black Flag demo, then the Crawdaddys, followed by the Exploited and then maybe a Crowd song right after. He'd have the Ventures or Surfaries in studio and then Frankie & Anette, then the next week X, or Blondie, or Stiv Bators. His show is just a shadow of its former self hidden away on Monday morning from 12-1am or something. Back then, even outside of Rodney's show, you'd never know what they would play next during the day. You may hear some Missing Persons song follwed by a Fear track.
Another good station here in the late 70's early 80's was KNAC before they went metal (although they did set the standard for 80's metal radio), lot's of Punk and "new music" as they called it. They'd interview bands from the Cheifs, to Rhino 39, to the Adolescents etc etc.
Then there was listener supported KPFK that had Bo Clifford on late Saturday nights playing lots of underground stuff followed by 12 O'Clock Rock with Andrea Enthal. She even had Chris D. of the Flesheaters sit in for her sometimes. He would play an amazing selection of music too.

Now today's LA Radio is pretty much irrelevant in my opinion. The only salvation is college radio . KXLU has various decent programs, but I mainly listen to Stella's show "Stray Pop" which she has been doing for damn near 30 years I think and the Reverend Dan's "Music For Nimrods" show. that follows Stray Pop, but they are on Midnight to 6 am Sunday morning, so who really get's to listen? KCSN also has a decent oldies show where you'll hear some obscure early R&B. the only thing I listen to on KPFK anymore is Rhapsody In Black where you'll here some good blues and pre-RnR Rhythm & Blues.

With all that said, it's internet radio and the podcasts here that is where it's all at for me now, though I do find myself listening to WFMU a lot now via their iPhone application.

I have some at evilempirerecords.com and a standing 10% off deal for any hideout members (enter coupon code garagepunkdotcom)

Online:
Get HIp records
Dirty Water records
Soundflat
Screaming Apple
Munster Records
Slovenly Records
Vodoo Rythm
Fuzzoverdose Records
Hey Girl Records

Where? internet?

Any suggestions for online stores? Mole said:

Intoxica, Stand Out and Minus Zero [if they're still open] in Portobello, London are great for rare 45s, expensive but always good stuff. Sounds That Swing [Camden] good for new stuff. Most new stuff you can probably get cheaper online - not as much fun, I know, but save a few ££$$.

Intoxica, Stand Out and Minus Zero [if they're still open] in Portobello, London are great for rare 45s, expensive but always good stuff. Sounds That Swing [Camden] good for new stuff. Most new stuff you can probably get cheaper online - not as much fun, I know, but save a few ££$$.

In Seattle, you can go to Singles Going Steady.

There's a big difference between being primitive sounding and the lo-fi approach. I call the Sonics primitive in that they recorded with the best equipment of the day but rather crudely and letting all needles go into the red. Tape back then couldn't handle the decibles so it came out sounding like it had some static. But there's better ways to get the primitive approach. You can do vocals through amplifiers without it sounding like a telephone call. Better way to do it is to run through a tube pre-amp while recording and setting it so the needle will run into the red. Yeah, the Wicked Cool releases sound too clean for my tastes but Statics, Flying Dutchmen, Brentwoods, and the last of the Supercharger recordings just sound like no one is trying. Dare I say, my favorite Mummies record is the bootleg. Of their official releases, it's the Shitsville EP. I'm sorry but in many ways, Party at Steve's really sucks and it doesn't compare to any Sonics record. If you don't like the last Woggles record, you should listen to the Zontar Sessions on Estrus for a really good sounding but still dirty record. Maxxed out vocals but not so hideous that you can't understand anything, and the guitars rip. By the way, Woggles still record on tape and on tube equipment.

By the way, when I wrote "The kind of corporate approach I meant was that everything has to be run by him first", I meant "has to meet his approval first", not that he has to run everything OR ELSE.

Fuck lo-fi. It's over rated. What the hell is so great about sounding like you recorded over the phone into an answering machine? I love the Mummies and Supercharger just as much as anybody but each new release sounded worse than the one before it. While I don't like BIG drums, I can't stand drums that sound like they're being recorded through the floorboards either. People think that the Kingsmen are lo-fi but it's the same damn equipment that the Raiders recorded on. It's a matter of mic placement and how loud the intake is. A little bit of over modulation wouldn't hurt the Wicked Cool records but sounding like the Brentwoods (the playing is fine...I'm talking about fidelity) would just suck. OCEAN PALACE said:

he deffo got some mint bands on his label, the woggles are pretty dam quaility and like you say the chesterfield kings.
and i might be wrong but i think the len price 3 also on his label? i like them also. but there is still something a bit odd, like they not exactly lo-fi,
all sound pretty clean. not a bad thing perhaps for some but i dunno id like it abit dirtier...



MikeL said:

Doing it the corporate way can also mean things are done more efficiently, and the product reaches a wider audience. Just as long as Renegade Nation doesn't turn into the Goldman Sachs of garage rock, I'm happy.

The kind of corporate approach I meant was that everything has to be run by him first including whatever you record in a studio. As if he doesn't trust a band's judgement on what is a good song and what is bad. Lots of bands do record awful things, but you'd think that what got you on Steven's label in the first place was that you had a sense of quality. Boss Martians just landed on the label and this is the first time that Evan Foster hasn't had 100 % control over what songs get on the album. Granted, it is Wicked Cool's money but still, we hated it when Don Kirshner did it but it's OK for Steven? Most of the labels turn down a whole entire album (Estrus for instance) before they'd make you lose a song. Not that they wouldn't turn down an entire album because they hated one song, I'm just saying that most indie labels let bands have quality control. The only record labels that are like Goldman Sachs are labels like Jive, Number one records that are going to implode and lose in the long run. I wish independents could do things a bit more efficently but I do prefer bands having 100% over context. MikeL said:

Doing it the corporate way can also mean things are done more efficiently, and the product reaches a wider audience. Just as long as Renegade Nation doesn't turn into the Goldman Sachs of garage rock, I'm happy:)


Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

My belief (by the way, belief is a possession, believe is a verb) is that Little Steven gets a lot of people who would never had been a fan of garage rock into becoming a believer.

While a found out this month that he does take a bit of a corporate (nazi?) approach to his label and song lists (all songs recorded by bands on Wicked Cool have to be approved before being released and hosts of the sattalite shows like Manfred from the Woggles HAVE to play songs that are approved by Steven), the people who work for him and the bands are still happy, unlike people who work for Universal or Clear(?).

While I don't care for the corporate approach, if the bands don't mind, it's all good.

An AC30 Combo would be easily enough for a small venue or practice room if you have it up off the ground. Vox actually designed some funky amp stands back in the day for this very reason. Pete said:

Wow, thanks! Super helpful replies everybody! I actually have a 150Watt Marshall Valvestate already (http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSHAVT150H) because I wanted something versatile at the time, but I quickly learned its limitations (there's no denying that it isn't a true valve amp and the effects are entirely useless).

I really like the AC30 because of the tone of the top boost, as well as the blend of the top boost and normal channel. Real spring reverb is nice to have too! The clean channel is nice too and sounds like it would react well with a some fuzzzzz!

From the sound of it, an AC30 combo on top of say, a flight case would be fine for a band in a small venue / practice room?

Wow, thanks! Super helpful replies everybody! I actually have a 150Watt Marshall Valvestate already (http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSHAVT150H) because I wanted something versatile at the time, but I quickly learned its limitations (there's no denying that it isn't a true valve amp and the effects are entirely useless). I really like the AC30 because of the tone of the top boost, as well as the blend of the top boost and normal channel. Real spring reverb is nice to have too! The clean channel is nice too and sounds like it would react well with a some fuzzzzz! From the sound of it, an AC30 combo on top of say, a flight case would be fine for a band in a small venue / practice room?

The AC-30 is a super loud amp. Most people don't think the combo versions have enough power cause they have them on the floor pointing at their ankles, if you elevate them you'll notice that your ears start to hurt. They also pump out the high frequencies so they tend to cut through really well in a band situation. A bit about wattage: Don't let the wattage on the back panel of an amp fool you either. On some amps there are two wattage's shown, one is how powerful the output of the amp is and the other is the power consumption. Don't let the power consumption fool you into thinking how loud your amp will be. I've seen guitar shop retail retards get this one wrong. If the wattage rating is printed near a voltage/hertz rating say: 110V-120V 30Hz-40Hz 180 watts, then it relates to how much power your amp consumes or for a real world example; how hot your amp gets. if you compare an AC-30 to say a solid state 30 watt you will notice a huge difference. This comes down to how the output wattage rating is worked out. Solid state amp wattage is usually worked out via RMS (root mean square), remember that one from school? boring shit really. It's not really the true output wattage at all. If you see a wattage with RMS after it you can do some very rough math to work out loud it will be in real world terms. So say you are looking at buying a 100 watt Marshall Valvestate amp (please don't, they're a bit shit eh) you can work roughly what a quarter of that will be, so 25 and that about how many watts it is. Suddenly the AC-30 looking more powerful and it is. You can use this simple non-scientific method for most solid state amps to find out how loud it will really be. If your looking at getting an AC30 and putting it through a quad then your gonna have a very loud setup. Don't look for the amp to provide any output valve distortion/overdrive cause you won't be able to stand anywhere near it and it will drive any people watching you play out the door! Freddi was right when he mentioned the type of speaker you use, this has a very big impact on the tone your going to get. Another thing to watch is matching the ohm's for the amp and speaker cab. You can do all sorts of expensive damage to you valve amp by miss-matching these. I've seen burnt out output transformers, brunt out tubes and melted circuit boards. As far as I'm aware Mesa-Boogies are the only amps designed for deliberate miss-matching of the ohms.

You musta missed this on page 1: Reply by Monty Boyce on April 23, 2010 at 4:43pm This might be the wrong forum to post this on, but it sounds to me like you need some Hawkwind in your life. 'Warrior on the Edge of Time' is a fabulous LP, as are 'In Search of Space', 'Doremi Fasol Latido' and 'Space Ritual'. Fuck it, John Rotten was/is a huge Hawkwind fan so they appealed to at least one 'punk'... Richard Chamberland said:

why the hell nobody sadid Hawkwind yet?
It's the best space rock groupe ever. It's like... trippier than lots of psychedelic rock bands and still rocks really hard. The best is the albums with Lemmy on them and Levitation. This is the kind of music that gets you high with nothing and getsyou higher when you're already.

2000 Light Years From Home and Citidal by the Rolling Stones

..Or contemporary stuff like Black Angels,Dead Meadow,Warlocks?
Or the Primal Scream album 'Evil Heat'.
They seem to owe much to My bloody valentine's amniotic sound.

What about some Kraut Rock stuff like Can?

Sun Ra? Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd?

Laika and the Cosmonauts. Space-surf!

Norton and Sundazed put out the most readily available stuff but you should probably look at websites like Bomp and Ugly Things to see what else is out there.

Sad to say but I know people who'd be estatic that Scrawl are playing again.

and the Cheater Slicks (esp. since they're from Columbus)! FREDDI said:

Both them! Don Howland and Jeffrey Evans?!
..It's reunions time!
Imagine could see '68 Comeback,and Bassholes too in the same show!!