I was digging through some old vinyl and reminiscing on the 80's garage revival.  Voxx records put out some great stuff during that time.  Some of my favorites are:

Gravedigger V - All Black and Hairy

Pandoras - It's About Time

Dwarves - Horror Stories

Miracle Workers - Inside Out

Stomachmouths - Wild Trip

Anyway, any old timers up here?  What were you digging on?

 I met Dave Vanian once , in the early 90's. He told me his Birthday was coming up in a week. I commented that Bela Lugosi's Birthday had just passed . He said , "Yes , I'm the same year , actually." . I said "???????".  He said , "I mean , I was BORN in the year that he DIED.".

Ah, Naz Nomad. Had a few drinks with their number one fan Dave Vanian at an AFI gig in London one night. He was with Pinch and Patricia Morrison and was in a 'full Vanian outfit', never took his white gloves off all night, even when buying drink! 

John Battles said:

     That's too funny. I still think the funniest instance of hot (NOT!!!!!) tidy whitey action on stage was when I saw The Damned , I think , in 1997. Of course , The Cap'n was known for lettin' the ol' boy out  , from as far back as the first U.S tour in '77 (With The Dead Boys) . But , at this gig , he was down to his not - so - tidy whities, toward the end of the show ("Make 'em beg"). They were hangin' so low on him , he could have had a hammock - stuffing contest against Felix and his Amazing Underpants , AND WON !  But , WHEN THE SHOW WAS OVER , INSTEAD OF GOING BACKSTAGE (There was'nt really a backstage entrance from the stage , itself.), He just lept off the stage , still in his underwear , until , predictably , a female fan yanked them off. He carried on , smiling , shaking hands , giving people the "Thumbs up" sign , going , "RIGHT , CHEERS! BRILLIANT ! NICE ONE !".

......OH , AND THEY TELL ME OF THIS BAND CALLED NAZ NOMAD AND tHE NIGHTMARES.  THEIR REISSUE IN THE 80's OUTSOLD HALF THE EVA CATALOGUE AND "PEBBLES VOL. MCXVIII . Vatican City Lashes Back.". DAMNED if it did'nt.

     That's too funny. I still think the funniest instance of hot (NOT!!!!!) tidy whitey action on stage was when I saw The Damned , I think , in 1997. Of course , The Cap'n was known for lettin' the ol' boy out  , from as far back as the first U.S tour in '77 (With The Dead Boys) . But , at this gig , he was down to his not - so - tidy whities, toward the end of the show ("Make 'em beg"). They were hangin' so low on him , he could have had a hammock - stuffing contest against Felix and his Amazing Underpants , AND WON !  But , WHEN THE SHOW WAS OVER , INSTEAD OF GOING BACKSTAGE (There was'nt really a backstage entrance from the stage , itself.), He just lept off the stage , still in his underwear , until , predictably , a female fan yanked them off. He carried on , smiling , shaking hands , giving people the "Thumbs up" sign , going , "RIGHT , CHEERS! BRILLIANT ! NICE ONE !".

......OH , AND THEY TELL ME OF THIS BAND CALLED NAZ NOMAD AND tHE NIGHTMARES.  THEIR REISSUE IN THE 80's OUTSOLD HALF THE EVA CATALOGUE AND "PEBBLES VOL. MCXVIII . Vatican City Lashes Back.". DAMNED if it did'nt.

Yeah, I went to Keene State College in Keene, NH and was heavy into the garage scene of the early 80's.  There was a great record store in Lowell, Mass that I bought a ton of great stuff from in those days, can't remember the name. Maybe it was RRR Records and Nashua had a great little store for my garage jones, you dig.  Lyres, Prime Movers, Plan 9.Saw about every great show in Boston duing 83-88.  Awesome times!!!!!

Boston Paul said:

"old timers"?  Well, aren't you just the cutest little thing!?  Growing up in Boston, Lyres were my favourite band by a wide margin at least 10 years before I heard the phrase "Garage" or "Garage revival".  They were just the best rock'n'roll band in town or any town.  Also loved the Malarians.

Was a huge Kurt fan and saw them many many times. Saw Smeggys cock more times than I'd like to admit! Gigs were always messy, it started as a spoof of Alien where one of the band 'exploded' and sent entrails everywhere. Sheeps lungs were a favourite apparently as they were very messy! This all progressed to flower and water in various colours and eggs and bags of flour. Then there were the snakebite drinking competitions, firstly a bucketful through a funnel, this progressed to being pumped through, then the 'wheel of misfortune', basically strapped to a wheel and spun, snakebite, spun, cocks out, spun drink, vomit etc. Saw them once where they had the 'flying wires' used in theatres attached to people, snakebite, up, down spin round, repeat until vomit! Then there was the 'slammers' night(to promote the single of the same name) where all but two contestants ended up in hospital, cant remember if there were eight or ten involved but my mate Stef(RIP) was one who didn't end up in hospital! Carrying a 14 stone drunk across London underground was not fun.

Id seen the advert for the Wigs JB but couldn't get it anywhere, we had quite a good record shop in the town at the time but Media Burn was quite hit and miss as to what you could get.

I never got the Cramps and psychobilly connection which is what I was trying to say earlier, garage was a word that seemed to get added later on here, people didnt think of it as a garage scene as such, apart from Mike Spenser, who is American anyway. Garage always seemed a more American term to me at the time.

melissa scott said:

Well, they got down to their tidy whiteys (not all of 'em) once when I saw them. And after being covered in sweat and flour, it didn't leave a lot to the imagination.

Hmmm. No whipped cream when I went, but beer, sweat, and flour isn't a really good combination. Glue is the right way to put it. The crowd was mostly male and prone to jumping around and into each other. Good time had by all!

I give that band an awful lot of credit for putting the FUN into a music scene that took itself way too seriously. Extra points to KK for their insanely good times.

John Battles said:

 GETTIN' THEIR WEDDING TACKLE OUT  , huh? It's more than most bands will do. A friend of mine , who'll remain nameless , we'll call him "Bill" . He used to go see them and said he came home , once , covered in flour and other crap like whipped cream that was being projected from the floor and the stage, he said it basically turned to glue , and He had to sneak back in the house without Mum and Da seeing the state of his clothes.
 
melissa scott said:

*larf* Yeah, as long as you didn't mind sometimes gettin' covered in flour when you got too close to the stage. They were loud! And known to get their kit off. Not that I complained...

John Battles said:

Yes , it was around that time , I was beginning to wish I lived in England , so I could see my countrymen , The Cramps.   By the time I COULD see them , I'd been a fan for almost 10 years.   IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS THIS WHOLE NEW SCENE GOING ON , BUT , I KNEW THAT , BY THE TIME I'D FOUND OUT ABOUT IT , IT WAS COMING TO AN END......

I did'nt hear The Cramps' influence in the Psychobilly bands , which is fine , I just kept reading and hearing about "Cramps copyists" . I think The Cramps' frequent sojourns to Blighty motivated some of the changes taking place in The UK music scene , even if  Paul Fenech and others still deny it..      BUT ,  WHAT ABOUT KING KURT?  I HEARD THEY WERE HILARIOUS , LIVE.
 
Johnny Bean said:

I was around the London scene at that time, Hoodoo Gurus were the kings for me !!! Always loved the Cramps, Stems and The Prisoners, Long Ryders also played some great shows in that period. Always felt Milkshakes, Cannibals, Turkey Bones, Guana Batz et al were not very good, no memorable songs but the gigs were always a drunken laugh :)

Well, they got down to their tidy whiteys (not all of 'em) once when I saw them. And after being covered in sweat and flour, it didn't leave a lot to the imagination.

Hmmm. No whipped cream when I went, but beer, sweat, and flour isn't a really good combination. Glue is the right way to put it. The crowd was mostly male and prone to jumping around and into each other. Good time had by all!

I give that band an awful lot of credit for putting the FUN into a music scene that took itself way too seriously. Extra points to KK for their insanely good times.

John Battles said:

 GETTIN' THEIR WEDDING TACKLE OUT  , huh? It's more than most bands will do. A friend of mine , who'll remain nameless , we'll call him "Bill" . He used to go see them and said he came home , once , covered in flour and other crap like whipped cream that was being projected from the floor and the stage, he said it basically turned to glue , and He had to sneak back in the house without Mum and Da seeing the state of his clothes.
 
melissa scott said:

*larf* Yeah, as long as you didn't mind sometimes gettin' covered in flour when you got too close to the stage. They were loud! And known to get their kit off. Not that I complained...

John Battles said:

Yes , it was around that time , I was beginning to wish I lived in England , so I could see my countrymen , The Cramps.   By the time I COULD see them , I'd been a fan for almost 10 years.   IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS THIS WHOLE NEW SCENE GOING ON , BUT , I KNEW THAT , BY THE TIME I'D FOUND OUT ABOUT IT , IT WAS COMING TO AN END......

I did'nt hear The Cramps' influence in the Psychobilly bands , which is fine , I just kept reading and hearing about "Cramps copyists" . I think The Cramps' frequent sojourns to Blighty motivated some of the changes taking place in The UK music scene , even if  Paul Fenech and others still deny it..      BUT ,  WHAT ABOUT KING KURT?  I HEARD THEY WERE HILARIOUS , LIVE.
 
Johnny Bean said:

I was around the London scene at that time, Hoodoo Gurus were the kings for me !!! Always loved the Cramps, Stems and The Prisoners, Long Ryders also played some great shows in that period. Always felt Milkshakes, Cannibals, Turkey Bones, Guana Batz et al were not very good, no memorable songs but the gigs were always a drunken laugh :)

 GETTIN' THEIR WEDDING TACKLE OUT  , huh? It's more than most bands will do. A friend of mine , who'll remain nameless , we'll call him "Bill" . He used to go see them and said he came home , once , covered in flour and other crap like whipped cream that was being projected from the floor and the stage, he said it basically turned to glue , and He had to sneak back in the house without Mum and Da seeing the state of his clothes.
 
melissa scott said:

*larf* Yeah, as long as you didn't mind sometimes gettin' covered in flour when you got too close to the stage. They were loud! And known to get their kit off. Not that I complained...

John Battles said:

Yes , it was around that time , I was beginning to wish I lived in England , so I could see my countrymen , The Cramps.   By the time I COULD see them , I'd been a fan for almost 10 years.   IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS THIS WHOLE NEW SCENE GOING ON , BUT , I KNEW THAT , BY THE TIME I'D FOUND OUT ABOUT IT , IT WAS COMING TO AN END......

I did'nt hear The Cramps' influence in the Psychobilly bands , which is fine , I just kept reading and hearing about "Cramps copyists" . I think The Cramps' frequent sojourns to Blighty motivated some of the changes taking place in The UK music scene , even if  Paul Fenech and others still deny it..      BUT ,  WHAT ABOUT KING KURT?  I HEARD THEY WERE HILARIOUS , LIVE.
 
Johnny Bean said:

I was around the London scene at that time, Hoodoo Gurus were the kings for me !!! Always loved the Cramps, Stems and The Prisoners, Long Ryders also played some great shows in that period. Always felt Milkshakes, Cannibals, Turkey Bones, Guana Batz et al were not very good, no memorable songs but the gigs were always a drunken laugh :)

*larf* Yeah, as long as you didn't mind sometimes gettin' covered in flour when you got too close to the stage. They were loud! And known to get their kit off. Not that I complained...

John Battles said:

Yes , it was around that time , I was beginning to wish I lived in England , so I could see my countrymen , The Cramps.   By the time I COULD see them , I'd been a fan for almost 10 years.   IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS THIS WHOLE NEW SCENE GOING ON , BUT , I KNEW THAT , BY THE TIME I'D FOUND OUT ABOUT IT , IT WAS COMING TO AN END......

I did'nt hear The Cramps' influence in the Psychobilly bands , which is fine , I just kept reading and hearing about "Cramps copyists" . I think The Cramps' frequent sojourns to Blighty motivated some of the changes taking place in The UK music scene , even if  Paul Fenech and others still deny it..      BUT ,  WHAT ABOUT KING KURT?  I HEARD THEY WERE HILARIOUS , LIVE.
 
Johnny Bean said:

I was around the London scene at that time, Hoodoo Gurus were the kings for me !!! Always loved the Cramps, Stems and The Prisoners, Long Ryders also played some great shows in that period. Always felt Milkshakes, Cannibals, Turkey Bones, Guana Batz et al were not very good, no memorable songs but the gigs were always a drunken laugh :)

Yes , it was around that time , I was beginning to wish I lived in England , so I could see my countrymen , The Cramps.   By the time I COULD see them , I'd been a fan for almost 10 years.   IT SEEMED LIKE THERE WAS THIS WHOLE NEW SCENE GOING ON , BUT , I KNEW THAT , BY THE TIME I'D FOUND OUT ABOUT IT , IT WAS COMING TO AN END......

I did'nt hear The Cramps' influence in the Psychobilly bands , which is fine , I just kept reading and hearing about "Cramps copyists" . I think The Cramps' frequent sojourns to Blighty motivated some of the changes taking place in The UK music scene , even if  Paul Fenech and others still deny it..      BUT ,  WHAT ABOUT KING KURT?  I HEARD THEY WERE HILARIOUS , LIVE.
 
Johnny Bean said:

I was around the London scene at that time, Hoodoo Gurus were the kings for me !!! Always loved the Cramps, Stems and The Prisoners, Long Ryders also played some great shows in that period. Always felt Milkshakes, Cannibals, Turkey Bones, Guana Batz et al were not very good, no memorable songs but the gigs were always a drunken laugh :)

I think it just depends....Most domestic LPs are still about 8 to 11 dollars , which , of course , is NOTHING in English Pounds. 45s CAN RUN YOU ANYWHERE FROM 4 TO 8 dollars , which is LESS than nothing in English Pounds.  A lot of independent labels and stores did try hard to keep the prices down , but , now , it's a crapshoot.  Also , regionally , a lot of new releases may be more expensive , still.

Yeah , I also have the original Blood on The Cats comp - Everything from Screaming Lord Sutch to America's own Shockabilly (Who had no discernible Rockabilly influence , but , then again , neither does most latter - day "Psychobilly" .). I have The Wigs EP , too. I knew it existed , because it was listed in a Media Burn (?) ad , and I'm a Yank , fer chrissake.
 
Mark George Harrison said:

Forgot the Escalators JB, another Meteors offshoot although I remember reading that Nigel Lewis was on a lot of high dosage meds for a back complaint and when he was more compus mentus disowned their entire output!

The blood on the cats, all four of them, were a weird combination of rockabilly, psychobilly, garage and goth! With a bit of punk on there for good measure with the Belfasts finest the Outcasts wrongly credited as the Outcats! Worth buying for the Wigs 'thirteen lines' took me until about ten years ago to find a copy of the Wigs ep, was told it didnt exist by a respected collector!

Albums today are probably cheaper than they were then, its singles that are bloody dear! is that the case in the States? An average 45 here is about £4.50 but an album is usually between £10 and £13.50 or there abouts. sorry to get off track but as an 'old timer' its my perogative!;)
John Battles said:

 Mark George ,        Well , The British stuff did'nt come cheap , here , either. There was this whole new "Scene" that did'nt get much coverage in the states. I did play a lot of it on my old radio show in Dallas in '86. I may have been one of the first DJs to play that stuff in The U.S.

I played The Meteors , Guana Batz , etc. , too , alonside The Stingrays, who were mistaken for a Psychobilly band , because of the quiffs and  the standup bass. Bal said "Garage , Trash , Psychobilly , it's all the same thing. It's American music , and Americans don't understand it".   I COULD'NT find a lot of that stuff , yet , I loved the "Rockabilly Psychosis and The Garage Disease" and "Revenge of The Killer Pussies " albums . The Psychobilly thing seemed fresh at the time. I found The Washington Dead Cats' EARLY CASSETTE . They're still going , still terribly silly. But , this tape combined Psychedelia , Psychobilly , and a bit of Pere Ubu ,and , it worked .I still like it , and still have the psychedelic pattern shirt it came with !     Some of those other  bands , Prisoners, Vibes , Escalators , X-Men....Took a few years to find them , but , their records were much cheaper , by then.
 
Mark George Harrison said:

As a 16 year old rockabilly/psychobilly in 1980 on £28 a week after giving my mum £10 a week board, there wasn't much money left for records, especially as beer was 50p a pint! I wasn't aware of a garage revival as such until much later, bands like the Stingrays and the X-men all had quiffs and crossed in to the rocking scene without ever using the 'g' word. The Vibes, later the Purple Things, also were be-quiffed! Im not sure when garage came to be used to differentiate between the scenes, it's a question Ive had with several people of similar ages who were there as well.  

You young whippersnappers don't know how lucky you are with the internet, everything now is accesible. Press coverage was sparse to say the least and apart from a few 'bigger' bands American garage was pretty hard to get hold of and bloody expensive if you could find it, a collecion took years to build up and not a couple of hours downloading from the web.

Anyway, for me, the best garage bands available to me at the time were the Vibes/Purple things, Stingrays, Tall Boys, Prisoners, Turkey Bones and the wild dogs(check out goldfish and helicopter man). Always found the Milkshakes a bit too 'beat' for me but like later Childish bands. The garage goodies vol 1 album was probably the best British comp at the time as well. Hope this answers the question?

I was around the London scene at that time, Hoodoo Gurus were the kings for me !!! Always loved the Cramps, Stems and The Prisoners, Long Ryders also played some great shows in that period. Always felt Milkshakes, Cannibals, Turkey Bones, Guana Batz et al were not very good, no memorable songs but the gigs were always a drunken laugh :)

Forgot the Escalators JB, another Meteors offshoot although I remember reading that Nigel Lewis was on a lot of high dosage meds for a back complaint and when he was more compus mentus disowned their entire output!

The blood on the cats, all four of them, were a weird combination of rockabilly, psychobilly, garage and goth! With a bit of punk on there for good measure with the Belfasts finest the Outcasts wrongly credited as the Outcats! Worth buying for the Wigs 'thirteen lines' took me until about ten years ago to find a copy of the Wigs ep, was told it didnt exist by a respected collector!

Albums today are probably cheaper than they were then, its singles that are bloody dear! is that the case in the States? An average 45 here is about £4.50 but an album is usually between £10 and £13.50 or there abouts. sorry to get off track but as an 'old timer' its my perogative!;)
John Battles said:

 Mark George ,        Well , The British stuff did'nt come cheap , here , either. There was this whole new "Scene" that did'nt get much coverage in the states. I did play a lot of it on my old radio show in Dallas in '86. I may have been one of the first DJs to play that stuff in The U.S.

I played The Meteors , Guana Batz , etc. , too , alonside The Stingrays, who were mistaken for a Psychobilly band , because of the quiffs and  the standup bass. Bal said "Garage , Trash , Psychobilly , it's all the same thing. It's American music , and Americans don't understand it".   I COULD'NT find a lot of that stuff , yet , I loved the "Rockabilly Psychosis and The Garage Disease" and "Revenge of The Killer Pussies " albums . The Psychobilly thing seemed fresh at the time. I found The Washington Dead Cats' EARLY CASSETTE . They're still going , still terribly silly. But , this tape combined Psychedelia , Psychobilly , and a bit of Pere Ubu ,and , it worked .I still like it , and still have the psychedelic pattern shirt it came with !     Some of those other  bands , Prisoners, Vibes , Escalators , X-Men....Took a few years to find them , but , their records were much cheaper , by then.
 
Mark George Harrison said:

As a 16 year old rockabilly/psychobilly in 1980 on £28 a week after giving my mum £10 a week board, there wasn't much money left for records, especially as beer was 50p a pint! I wasn't aware of a garage revival as such until much later, bands like the Stingrays and the X-men all had quiffs and crossed in to the rocking scene without ever using the 'g' word. The Vibes, later the Purple Things, also were be-quiffed! Im not sure when garage came to be used to differentiate between the scenes, it's a question Ive had with several people of similar ages who were there as well.  

You young whippersnappers don't know how lucky you are with the internet, everything now is accesible. Press coverage was sparse to say the least and apart from a few 'bigger' bands American garage was pretty hard to get hold of and bloody expensive if you could find it, a collecion took years to build up and not a couple of hours downloading from the web.

Anyway, for me, the best garage bands available to me at the time were the Vibes/Purple things, Stingrays, Tall Boys, Prisoners, Turkey Bones and the wild dogs(check out goldfish and helicopter man). Always found the Milkshakes a bit too 'beat' for me but like later Childish bands. The garage goodies vol 1 album was probably the best British comp at the time as well. Hope this answers the question?

 Mark George ,        Well , The British stuff did'nt come cheap , here , either. There was this whole new "Scene" that did'nt get much coverage in the states. I did play a lot of it on my old radio show in Dallas in '86. I may have been one of the first DJs to play that stuff in The U.S.

I played The Meteors , Guana Batz , etc. , too , alonside The Stingrays, who were mistaken for a Psychobilly band , because of the quiffs and  the standup bass. Bal said "Garage , Trash , Psychobilly , it's all the same thing. It's American music , and Americans don't understand it".   I COULD'NT find a lot of that stuff , yet , I loved the "Rockabilly Psychosis and The Garage Disease" and "Revenge of The Killer Pussies " albums . The Psychobilly thing seemed fresh at the time. I found The Washington Dead Cats' EARLY CASSETTE . They're still going , still terribly silly. But , this tape combined Psychedelia , Psychobilly , and a bit of Pere Ubu ,and , it worked .I still like it , and still have the psychedelic pattern shirt it came with !     Some of those other  bands , Prisoners, Vibes , Escalators , X-Men....Took a few years to find them , but , their records were much cheaper , by then.
 
Mark George Harrison said:

As a 16 year old rockabilly/psychobilly in 1980 on £28 a week after giving my mum £10 a week board, there wasn't much money left for records, especially as beer was 50p a pint! I wasn't aware of a garage revival as such until much later, bands like the Stingrays and the X-men all had quiffs and crossed in to the rocking scene without ever using the 'g' word. The Vibes, later the Purple Things, also were be-quiffed! Im not sure when garage came to be used to differentiate between the scenes, it's a question Ive had with several people of similar ages who were there as well.  

You young whippersnappers don't know how lucky you are with the internet, everything now is accesible. Press coverage was sparse to say the least and apart from a few 'bigger' bands American garage was pretty hard to get hold of and bloody expensive if you could find it, a collecion took years to build up and not a couple of hours downloading from the web.

Anyway, for me, the best garage bands available to me at the time were the Vibes/Purple things, Stingrays, Tall Boys, Prisoners, Turkey Bones and the wild dogs(check out goldfish and helicopter man). Always found the Milkshakes a bit too 'beat' for me but like later Childish bands. The garage goodies vol 1 album was probably the best British comp at the time as well. Hope this answers the question?

As a 16 year old rockabilly/psychobilly in 1980 on £28 a week after giving my mum £10 a week board, there wasn't much money left for records, especially as beer was 50p a pint! I wasn't aware of a garage revival as such until much later, bands like the Stingrays and the X-men all had quiffs and crossed in to the rocking scene without ever using the 'g' word. The Vibes, later the Purple Things, also were be-quiffed! Im not sure when garage came to be used to differentiate between the scenes, it's a question Ive had with several people of similar ages who were there as well.  

You young whippersnappers don't know how lucky you are with the internet, everything now is accesible. Press coverage was sparse to say the least and apart from a few 'bigger' bands American garage was pretty hard to get hold of and bloody expensive if you could find it, a collecion took years to build up and not a couple of hours downloading from the web.

Anyway, for me, the best garage bands available to me at the time were the Vibes/Purple things, Stingrays, Tall Boys, Prisoners, Turkey Bones and the wild dogs(check out goldfish and helicopter man). Always found the Milkshakes a bit too 'beat' for me but like later Childish bands. The garage goodies vol 1 album was probably the best British comp at the time as well. Hope this answers the question?

Once again, this proves how gawddamn great this here network is. Good stories all around.

I was too young to rock in the 80's but not too young to stink.

"old timers"?  Well, aren't you just the cutest little thing!?  Growing up in Boston, Lyres were my favourite band by a wide margin at least 10 years before I heard the phrase "Garage" or "Garage revival".  They were just the best rock'n'roll band in town or any town.  Also loved the Malarians.

oldtimer here:

Rain Parade. Plan 9, Plasticland, The Inmates, Chesterfield Kings, just about anything on Midnight Records too, The Lyres, Soft Boys, Dream Syndicate, Creatures of the Golden Dawn, Dead Moon, The Prisoners, The Fleshtones, The Embrooks, Flamin' Groovies, Hoodoo Gurus, Long Ryders.  Just to name a few:

Thanks John! I thought I made that Screamin' Lord Such cassette for Shari! But I do remember that story and I still have that very record to this day.

Records were incredibly hard to find in those days! Especially old ones. Reissues were just starting but they were mostly European so it was hard to find in California. I remember how legendary 'Easter Everywhere' was back then. There were sightings from time to time. I remember that there was a record shop in Orange County in 1983 that had a copy of 'Easter Everywhere' behind the cash register on display with a price tag proudly of 100 dollars. Now, that was a fortune for a record back then! Today I can probably go down to the local shitty record store (CD store??!!) in the train station in my town and find a CD copy for ten bucks!!

John Carlucci said:

I Love that photo! lol!!! BTW, I dig the Jackets lp. Hope to see you play one of these days!

Oh... and speaking of the old days... let's not forget how hard it was to find some of

the records that are now readily available on CD or the internet these days. I recall hanging out with you & you gave me a cassette of some Screaming Lord Sutch material I had been looking for for ages. I brought down the cassette to Fuzztones rehearsal and suggested we cover Jack The Ripper & All Black & Hairy,

 and we did & they became some of my favorite covers we did with the band. both eventually making it on to record. I have since found a vinyl copy of that Lord Sutch record. 
 
Gringo Starr said:

Just gonna chime in quick here. I grew up in Greg Shaw's 'Cavern Club' in L.A. in the '80s. I saw all the bands playing in those days like the Unclaimed, Pandoras (Paula taught me how to drive!), Gravedigger V, Untold Fables, Thee Fourgiven, The Miracle Workers (who I lived with), Primates, Tell Tale Hearts, etc. Here's a pic of John Carlucci and I (plus some others) at the Cavern in 1986:

I Love that photo! lol!!! BTW, I dig the Jackets lp. Hope to see you play one of these days!

Oh... and speaking of the old days... let's not forget how hard it was to find some of

the records that are now readily available on CD or the internet these days. I recall hanging out with you & you gave me a cassette of some Screaming Lord Sutch material I had been looking for for ages. I brought down the cassette to Fuzztones rehearsal and suggested we cover Jack The Ripper & All Black & Hairy,

 and we did & they became some of my favorite covers we did with the band. both eventually making it on to record. I have since found a vinyl copy of that Lord Sutch record. 
 
Gringo Starr said:

Just gonna chime in quick here. I grew up in Greg Shaw's 'Cavern Club' in L.A. in the '80s. I saw all the bands playing in those days like the Unclaimed, Pandoras (Paula taught me how to drive!), Gravedigger V, Untold Fables, Thee Fourgiven, The Miracle Workers (who I lived with), Primates, Tell Tale Hearts, etc. Here's a pic of John Carlucci and I (plus some others) at the Cavern in 1986:

Just gonna chime in quick here. I grew up in Greg Shaw's 'Cavern Club' in L.A. in the '80s. I saw all the bands playing in those days like the Unclaimed, Pandoras (Paula taught me how to drive!), Gravedigger V, Untold Fables, Thee Fourgiven, The Miracle Workers (who I lived with), Primates, Tell Tale Hearts, etc. Here's a pic of John Carlucci and I (plus some others) at the Cavern in 1986:

Agree wholeheartedly with John C. bout The Miracle Workers and The Pandoras.They were my faves too.

One question that always came up in our little clique was "The Chesterfield Kings or The Tell Tale Hearts?"

Yup. I was around then. Played bass in The Fuzztones from 86-90. Did gigs with a lot of the bands that were mentioned above. My faves from back then? Miracle Workers & Pandoras

 Thanx for the kind words John! Much appreciated...

We actually had Gerard (singer/guitarist) in town last summer at a University convention (he's a linguistics Prof now) and we were able to do a mini-Deja Voodoo reunion (only half the band, as drummer Tony is on the opposite coast of Canada)...but man was that ever fun seeing Gerard up on stage with a guitar belting out Deja Voodoo songs!!! We had a Mist R. Eeee drummer who did an excellent job...there's pictures posted somewhere on this site. And that's about as close as we'll get to a Deja Voodoo reunion...

My wife caught the Toronto Deja Voodoo reunion with Bloodshot Bill on the tubs and said it was a TON of fun!!

Keep pumping out your work on those Roctobers John! We're diggin' it!!

John Battles said:

The Gruesomes , how could I forget.....I saw the reformed band a few years back , sounded great. Deja Voodoo were hilarious. Their first LP was like a Cramps bootleg (The Cramps are plenty hot'n'horny with me, bt , it's cool.). Bloodshot Bill played drums at a "Reunion" show a while back.

THIS was rebellion?!!! Oh , well. Sorry to get so longwinded. yeah , I have one of your magazines , Dave. Very cool.

Hey w. dave: Yup, that's a gem. Anyone remember Rods and Cones (they were labelled New Wave! :( ) Yeah, well, in Boston, you had the added advantage of some of the best uni radio stations in the country. One station (I'm told is now RIP) played top 20 of local indies every week, including local garage trash :). But, we have right here Ms. Joanie Lindstrom, still going strong on the Late Risers Club, as well as others keeping the garage and punk fires burning in Boston.

We also had several colleges, like Emerson, and others whose students made it their business to video stuff, myself included. Alas, I no longer am in possession of the video I did of Reign of Death (complete with trippy video feedback). Don't worry, I've castigated myself enough for the loss).

Feeling sad about the PM's as Boston just lost Jeff Sugarman - http://themusicsover.com/2012/06/21/jeff-sugarman/.

Of course, my eccentric scrapbook includes local nites of Chesterfield Kings, Scruffy the Cat, Dogmatics, Prime Movers, and of course, the H/O's (didn't play I'm Love with Mo Tucker for nuthin' ya know). But it's hard to explain to people how strange the PM's looked when the local scene was moving into the Boston Hardcore days and they we're still bashing tambourines and growing their hair over their foreheads...

And yeah, a lot of those bands were known as 'punk' but of course we know their roots were still firmly planted in the garage.

Keep the garage door open and turn up your amps; the neighbours will thank you for it, Mel

whatwave dave said:

Cool vid Mel, haven't seen that one before!

And i still haven't left the garage since entering in the early 80's....saw as many of those bands as was possible back then, and bought as many records as i could afford. Still digging most of that stuff to this day as well as most of the new garagepunk stuff. We did a zine in the 80's/90's that covered the garage zine from a Canadian perspective...ie Gruesomes, 10 Commandments, UIC, Deja Voodoo etc. Even releasing some records and many compilation cassettes that came with the zine.

Like John says about Plan 9, they were just amazing live, and each time you'd see them they would be different. First time we saw them they were straight 60's punk, next time some psych influences, then some jazz influences and last time more rock'n'roll. One of the best live bands from that era, but overlooked by many as they weren't straight 60's clones.

Some of my fave bands from that era include; Miracle Workers, Crawdaddys, Gruesomes, Tell-Tale Hearts, Fuzztones, Fleshtones, Morlocks, Hypstrz, Barracudas, Plasticland, Brood and so many more....gotta go spin some vinyl now that i've whet may appetite!

melissa scott said:

Some of us were hanging out in the garage in the early '80's. And some of us never left ;) Check out this interview from Boston with the Prime Movers.