I REMEMBER , I FIRST HEARD "Pushin' Too Hard " on a Columbia records TV commercial , but it was only snippets of each song     " WESTERN  UNION , THERE GOES MY BABY, CHARLIE BROWN , SHIMMY SHIMMY KO KO BOP , WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN , I GOT A FEELIN' , YOU'RE PUSHIN' TOO HARD !".   THE SONG HAD TO BE 6 YEARS OLD , TOPS. BUT NOSTALGIA WAS SLOWLY MOVING FASTER (BAD PLAY ON WORDS).....WHICH IS WHY "NUGGETS'' WAS A NECESSITY. ALL THESE PEOPLE HAD THOSE AM GARAGE  HITS ON 45s THAT THEY DID'NT PUT IN SLEEVES , GOT ALL SCRATCHED AND HAMMERED , AND WROTE "THIS RECORD BELONGS TO GAYLE SILVERSTIEN" IN BLACK MARKER ON THE LABEL.

I saw The Lime Spiders twice in 1987. Both really good shows. The second of which had them opening for PIL , who were still very good live , just not AS good. I met all the guys in the Lime Spiders. Mick Blood was outgoing , but pretty arrogant. I remember him telling me I should "Give that Motorhead badge a rest" . GOD ! WHO CARES?!!!
 
manthon said:

"slave girl" 

shmo said:

Heavens to murgatroid , even!! Thee Headcoats. i didn't know what i liked about it, and nobody that i showed it to liked it so i thought it was a fluke.

iT'S FUNNY HOW THAT WORKED , FOR YEARS , ABOUT TEN OF 'EM ,WHEN CHILDISH HAD THE MILSHAKES GOING , THEN THEE MIGHTY CAESARS AND THEE (EARLY ) HEADCOATS , HE COULD'NT GET ARRESTED IN THE STATES , UNTIL HE'D BEEN ON SUB POP FOR A WHILE. THEN , SUDDENLY , HE WAS GOD. I WAS WELL OVER HIM , ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO , BUT , I KEPT MY COPY OF "HEAVENS TO MURGATROID" BECAUSE IT WAS SIGNED BY DAN CLOWES.....AND IT'S ON BLUE VINYL , AND IT WAS ONE OF HIS BETTER ALBUMS.

"Pushin' Too Hard" was the first song that not only got me hot but changed my life. "Try to Understand" was so weird as a flip side, I played it over and over, inventing a scenario where the band was recorded in an undercover cave. Then the album arrived and then a live performance in all their "Spoony" gear. I was electrified. Not before (not even the Stones or Beatles) nor since have I experienced an electrifying month where I discovered the Seeds on single, album and live. I still listen to that first album and have shivers. 

Heavens to murgatroid , even!! Thee Headcoats. i didn't know what i liked about it, and nobody that i showed it to liked it so i thought it was a fluke.

"slave girl" 

I first heard about Pebbles in , like , 81 -2....BUT , I HAD NEXT TO NO DISPOSABLE INCOME , THEN , TO SPEND ON RECORDS I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT , BEYOND A FEW BAND NAMES , AND WHAT KIND OF MUSIC IT WAS.....I REMEMBER SEEING Floyd Dakil's name , and knowing he'd had a lounge in Dallas a few years earlier. It may have still been open.
I spoke to him a few times , and , like a lot of people , he did'nt know he had a song on "Pebbles" , but he did'nt seemthat bothered by it. 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Actually, I never heard of Pebbles until 1988 and I didn't realize they had a connection to the Highs in the Mid 60s until after the 90s.  Nuggets I became aware of sometime in 1986.  I only knew all the hits throughout the 80s and read about some of the other groups from a book called Wax Trash (or something like that).

Actually, I never heard of Pebbles until 1988 and I didn't realize they had a connection to the Highs in the Mid 60s until after the 90s.  Nuggets I became aware of sometime in 1986.  I only knew all the hits throughout the 80s and read about some of the other groups from a book called Wax Trash (or something like that).

Maybe it's time for ye olde Gringo Starr to weigh in here. The first time I heard the phrase "Sixties Punk" was around 1982-83 uttered by David Klowden (drummer of The Tell Tale Hearts). I was into The Byrds and folk rock/psyche before I heard those words which led me to records like Turn On The Music Machine and Web Of Sound by The Seeds. Of course the Pebbles records were incredibly important to all of us in the '80s.

Yeah , The Cramps broke my brain , but that was when i was starting to listen to Rockabilly and Garage , too. I used to be really into some of the UK Psychobilly bands , but , I never thought they had much to do with The Cramps. Neither did The Cramps. Neither did Paul Fenech. Alot of those bands just sounded like Traditional Rockabilly , played faster , before the jacked up Metal rhythms so many of those bands have  , now....I went to a "Psycho" show , once , because a good friend of mine was doing merch for Mad Sin , who , as bad as they were , were still the best of 5 bands that played. The audience thought that stuff was new....It was already like nostalgia when I saw The Meteors in '96 , tho' it was a very good show , and Fenech actually turned out to be a nice guy. But , the Psychobilly thing bridged the gap between Punk and Rockabilly in Europe. People started going , wow , we like the same things . We don't have to beat the crap out of each other , anymore. Not that everybody did. But , that Mad Sin show , Jesus Cristo , people were beating the ever luvin' fuck out of each other, I'm not talking moshing or wreckin' , just picking fights , left and right. OK , IT'S VERY "HIPPIE' TO ABHOR VIOLENCE , but I live in a city with 5 major sports teams , that's enough testosterone , right there.
 
Pete English said:

It has to be finding the Cramps and realising there was a huge history behind it all. To a lesser degree the British pyschobilly scene also revealed a large covers catalogue. Seeing these bands live really brought it all into focus and the vibe was really exciting. It was great to feel like you had found something totally different and there were other like minded misfits out there. It's great to find new sounds but its even better to show them to someone else.

It has to be finding the Cramps and realising there was a huge history behind it all. To a lesser degree the British pyschobilly scene also revealed a large covers catalogue. Seeing these bands live really brought it all into focus and the vibe was really exciting. It was great to feel like you had found something totally different and there were other like minded misfits out there. It's great to find new sounds but its even better to show them to someone else.

That's basically what happened in Dallas....A very good Oldies station actually turned up a few years , later. They played ALL the "Nuggets" hits , as well as "Over , Under , Sideways , Down" , "Call Me Lightning" and even , sometimes "See Emily Play " !!

However, the one  DJ allowed to play Punk , New Wave , etc. , George Gimarc , told me he tried to get a Garage - heavy show on the Oldies station. He told them wanted to play regional hits , like "You're Gonna Miss Me" , "Evol , Not Love" by The Five Americans and "Bad Girl' by Zakary Thaks. Then , he said he wanted to play "Let's Talk About Girls" by The Chocolate Watchband , to which they replied "WHO are The Chocolate Watchband" . He told 'em , this conversation is OVER.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

We had a similar show in Seattle that was called, for some reason, "Electric Lunch" which from 1982-1986 featured a lot of the harder 60s stuff like you mentioned but also the hard 1965-1967 British songs.  Everything was basic stuff though, but you didn't hear a lot of these songs during the rest of the day.  This was on the rock station.  By 1987, they started to drop all that and play album tracks from late 60s and early 70s albums (rock oriented) and I quit listening to that station.  That host moved to a classic rock station and hosts a Saturday morning show which combines Nuggets, psychedelic rock and British Rock 1964-1968.  It's alright, but it isn't the same magic that it was in the early 80s.

must have been Oblivians - soul food or the Mummies- never been caught.

then the Mighty Caesars came along with 'english punkrock' lp.

well i think fuzztones lysergic emanations got me breathless and my brain rebooted

We had a similar show in Seattle that was called, for some reason, "Electric Lunch" which from 1982-1986 featured a lot of the harder 60s stuff like you mentioned but also the hard 1965-1967 British songs.  Everything was basic stuff though, but you didn't hear a lot of these songs during the rest of the day.  This was on the rock station.  By 1987, they started to drop all that and play album tracks from late 60s and early 70s albums (rock oriented) and I quit listening to that station.  That host moved to a classic rock station and hosts a Saturday morning show which combines Nuggets, psychedelic rock and British Rock 1964-1968.  It's alright, but it isn't the same magic that it was in the early 80s.

For me  , it was hearing "I Had Too Much To Dream" , "Psychotic Reaction" , "Pushin' Too Hard" and, especially , "Talk Talk". The Rock station in Dallas had a lunchtime show called "Psychedelic Brunch" in or around 1980. They'd play those "Nuggets " Punk  hits on that show , when no one else would. I was a Sophmore or a Junior in High School. They would'nt let you leave campus for lunch hour until you were a Senior. But , my Art Teacher was pretty cool , she'd let us have our lunch in art class , and leave us the Hell alone. I knew about those songs , but , that's where I heard them , originally.  This was also around the time I started hearing latter - day Punk for the first time. "Dirty Water" , I did'nt hear til later , and "96 Tears" , believe it or not , took me a while to warm up to , but , when I did , I love(d) it. The fact that Kenny and The Kasuals were playing locally kind of bridges the gap, tho' I never saw them until about 2005. I was surprised to find out how Punk Rock "My Little Red Book" sounded, as I'd read how Love was this band The Doors looked up to (As well they should have.). Somehow , I expected them to sound more sophisticated (Which they did , later.).

yeah , "Surfin' Bird" broke my brain as a wee small lad. But , that was in '75 or '76. Too soon for me to see the relation to Punk.

Edroth said:

When I think about it, the first 'garage' tune that got me onto rock'n'roll in general is Surfin' bird by the thrashmen. I heard it when I was 6 or 7, it was on a k-tel 'silly' songs comp. It was craazzzzy! Still my fav tune of all time! Then, I was a metal head for a looong time. The record that made me sell ALL my metal cd's (200 +) is 'Never been caught' by the Mummies. That record changed my life. period.

Definitely the Nuggets box set and Here Are the Sonics!

Wow maybe I am old, but for me when around 6 or 7, my father gave me a pile of 78 to play on my little toy record player, saying those one were mine (because he didn't about old RnR). I played them a lot, but he one that hook me on music, garage or not, was Little Richard "Keep A-knockin' ". Everything in that song was, for a young who couldn't understand english, totally insane. The beat, the voice, the energy, it puts a mark on my soul. Music can be totally out of control. Next time, the other song to have such an impact one me was the Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop" at 11.  That was it, at this age I have decided I will never follow mainstream boring music. Still on the same path since then.

Oh yeah, and Deja Voodoo!!!

Pretty sure the gateway drug for me was 'Heavens to Murgatroyd...' by Thee Headcoats!

What really sucked for me, was there was an amazing amount of good music in the '80's and '90's (garage and punk), but it was next to impossible to find it in the city I lived. The bigger chain stores would never give indie labels the time of day, so special ordering something that wasn't on a major label was impossible. Even the one independent record store we had here (Roanoke, VA) was limited on what they could get. There has been so many bands that I've discovered through the internet, 'zines, Wayback Machine, etc. and it makes me sick to think that I missed out on so much. I mean, like hardly no one listened to the Smiths because they weren't played on the radio, and the only way I knew of them was an album review in Rolling Stone. Most of the bands I did "discover" were from write-ups in Thrasher and Maximum Rock 'N' Roll. Luckily I knew some guys that would send off for tapes and LP's and make me mix tapes. Ugh, and those are gone...if only I still had them...One of the other sources where I would discover cutting edge stuff was through the mail order company ROIR, where I ordered/bought tapes of the Fleshtones, Germs, ? and the Mysterians, Scientific Americans, and others. Guess I'm rambling at this point so I'll stop now...

Dan Electreau said:

Gruesomania by the Gruesomes. 

At the time I was listening to lots of American blues as well, bluesy British bands like the Yardbirds as well as punk/alternative music. I'd always wished for something that combined the toughness and speed of punk with the style and instrumentation of bands like the Animals (harmonica, fuzz, organ) and The Gruesomes delivered!

 

The only problem was that while I was hot for garage rock 'n' roll thanks to the Gruesomes, all the girls I knew were hot for the Smiths (at best) or Platinum Blonde (at worst). 

 

Gruesomania by the Gruesomes. 

At the time I was listening to lots of American blues as well, bluesy British bands like the Yardbirds as well as punk/alternative music. I'd always wished for something that combined the toughness and speed of punk with the style and instrumentation of bands like the Animals (harmonica, fuzz, organ) and The Gruesomes delivered!

 

The only problem was that while I was hot for garage rock 'n' roll thanks to the Gruesomes, all the girls I knew were hot for the Smiths (at best) or Platinum Blonde (at worst). 

 

Do now!