In case you haven't noticed, Who Put The Bomp has been a jointly-administered affair since the British Invasion issue. This first installment of what threatens to become a regular column is designed to emphasize that circumstance, as well as to comrent on oddball records and facts/rumors/legencfc which don't fit in anywhere else, to tie up other assorted loose ends, and to allow re to shoot off my typewriter in general. Reverberation actually should have appeared last issue, but we were a bit ruhed, having only 18 months to slap it together.
Since the British Invasion issue ves assemb led with such blinding speed, naturally numerous errors (some of which were cringingly cretinous) and oversights slipped past cur crack proofreading team (who can normally spot the alcoholic percentage on a bottle of rum two rriles away). We got a lot of helpful corrective correspondence,for which we're extremely grateful. Most of the information can be found In the Feedback section, and the rest will be recorded In the hopelessly bulgtrg Mersey-beat Discography Project files (nearing completion but still fu II of holes, and tentatively scheduled for early 1982 publication-just kidding, I hope). Anyway, we're still in avaricious need of further info, so any tidings you have can be sent either to Greg at h is well-know box number or alternatively to meat P.O. Box 7)95, Burbank, CA91510(fanzine publishers, also take note). All mirvtiae are welcomed.
Speaking of fanzines, which we sometimes do, I haven't se en too many la tely and Gr eg has a pretty comprehensive rundown (in a non-pejorotive sense) elsewhere in these pages; but I would like to register my own adulatory plug for Alan's TRM, which has become frighteningly authoritative and alwo ys entertaining as well. And I'll add an advance plug for a one- shot called Brain Damage, which was; supposed to be ready last December and, if the publishers get their way, may never come out. Seriously, It is almost finished, and should emerge around the same time as th is Bomp does (end there's о helpful prediction). Said publishers/editors are three of rock fandorrfs most luminous lights--Gene Sculattl, Mke Saunders, and Mark Shipper. I wouldn't wont to give the contents away (I sure wouldn't want to sell them, either), but parodies run rampant, and It should be hilarious. It better be, after all this gratuitous hype.
Hype should also be forthcoming for the Rollin' Rock Rebels. I don't plan to use this column to plug band ingeneral, and I'm not widely known as a bopping rockabilly fanatic either, but this aggregation (assembled by, as you might've guessed, Ron "Satyr Bud" Wiser) deserves all the raves they con get. Comprised of young local rockers, plus that Eager Boy himself, Texas rockabilly legend Ray Campi, and the pride of Boston, Tony Conn, the Rebels mix obscure and well- known classics and rock the hell at of them. Superb playing and singing and infinite enthusiasm make the Rebels an unforgettable attraction in my book — not to mention the mind-boggling spectacle of Conn rollirg on the floor savagely attacking his Fender bass.(just like he did it in'56 for Life Magazine's photogs). Not to be missed!
CULT 45's: Wherein we examine recorded curiosities which deserve a solo spotlight tn the mcg. This dll hopefully be a continuing feature of this column, and ideas, suggestions, and worthy recads are welcomed....
MOMENTS — You Really Got Me/Money Money (World Artists 1032)
I was ploying о few new records I'd recently unearthed, and happened to spin this one just os I was reading a letter to the Bomp from Don Hughes. He mentioned an interim association of Steve Marriott's between the Frontics (and his bouncy solo outing "Give Her My Regards") and the Small Faces, called the Moments, wondered if they hod a record out; and sudcfenly (not a moment too soon) it clicked. The B-side is rrore identi- fiably Mirriott, a rollicking lazily-paced song more like some of the mere lethargic Humble Pie tracks or something like "The Universal" rather than the hard-rocking eorly Small Faces sound It was written, incidentally, ty Alan Cafdyof the Tornados and Don Charles, a stackbolladeer who did have one interesting Merseyish rocler, "She's Mne", on the World Artists issue just before this one. "You Really Gat Me" is in oddly jerky cover, quite interesting. Coming out after the Kinks had already bottled up the hit. It was doomed to instant obscurity, and I don't know if it ever came out in England at all.
JEFFERSON HANDKERCHIEF — I'm AHergic To Flowers (Challenge 59371)
A priceless artifact of 67‘s floral era by title alone, but a neat record in Itself. A sinuous, pseudo-oriental arrangement sets the scene as the protagonist delineates hfs girl's charms ("she wean a button on her shoulder saying "I'm a Flower Child"). But when she hands him a rose, he's racked with sneezes andwals the title phrase — rest hearlrendng. It was conceived by Dove Burgess (of "Tequilo"/Cheimps fame) end Challenge staffer Keith Colley (who wrote some Knickerbockers singles and had Spanish language hits on his cwn, plus one quasi-apocryptol disc called "Chocolate Record", featuring the punch line: "If you dorft like it, you can eat it!" Any info on that one will be vastly depreciated).
STATE OF MICKY & TOMMY — With Love From 1:00 to 5:00 (Mercury 72712)
This came out in summer '67, wl th a delightful light melody combined with crashing (Нюиф unde-mixed) Who/Creation instrumental work (drumming especially), plus orchestration again not far removed from the Creation style. It's a mesmerizing record, but seem hopelessly anaiyrous. Micky and Tommy are surnomed Jones and Brown,presumably. Another record, Frisco Bay" (72758, somewhat inferior) is produced by LouRelzner
and arranged by Jim Sullivan (perhaps the Big Jim Sullivan of Tom Jones fame?), so maybe they're English (maybe it's even Micky Jones of Min, for all I know). Anyway, a terrific record.
THE CRAIG — I Must Be Mad (Fontana 157$)
Some theorists hold that the best rock & roll is made by artists constantly working on "the edge" (of psychotic crack-up, total breakdown, etc.). I'm sure this demented record isn't what such theorists had in mind (they're talking about lyrical speed demons like mid-sixties Dylan and Lou Reed, more likely), but it's right there overhanging that mystical chain. It opens with breakneck guitar leading Into a pul-ring riff punctuated by savage slashing chords a nd machine-gun drumming faster than anything since Love's "Seven & Seven Is" (an edge classic in its own right), and even wilder. There's a piercing, frantic lead break, and the record is contantly teetering on the brink of uncontrollable frenzy. The mat nanic record I'veever heard. Produced by Larry Page in early 1967.
GRAPES OF WRATH — Cause It Wan Неr/For Every Year (Vita 006)
A wild number set to a pulsing two-chord riff, the record sounds like a cross between "Gloria" and "Pushing Too Hard" (musically more like the former, vocally like the latter) with more Seeds influence In the "Girl I Wmt You" organ. The flip's kind of interesting, too — the instrumentation and the “Turn Turn Turn" type lyrics are obviously Byrds-inspired, but the vocals sound like the Brothers Four or one of those MOR/ folk smoothie quartets. Label's from San Pedro, If that helps.
MASS CONFUSION ROCK BAND — The War Rages On/Moss Confusion (Malibu 101)
The А-side Is a rather dirge-llke protest song, musically/ vocally not unlike some of the slow numbers on Love's first album. The lyrics are great, though — "orders come from high above/Are you a hawk or a dove?" — and near the end of the song switches targets bewildering)/:
"People who soy they care
Walk with flowers in their hair
They say love is all we need
Yet there's no substitute for speed.
But the flip Is even stronger, an ominous tune punctuated by occasional rock flurries which manages to drag virtually the complete scope of modern sociocultural phenomena into its remarkably murky world-view. Lyric samples follow:
"I walk through bowers of flowers and bomb shelters
Looking for symbols and puppy dog tails"
"Should I smoke menthol or charcoal or mary
Ask Maharishi if God Isn't dead?"
"I walk through bowers of flowers and bomb shelters (4th repetition, of an apparently cherished bit of deft phrasing
Wondering If someone is waiting for me
Take out the trash, that's the fifth time I've told you
I’ll take my surfboard and head for the sea"
The chorus sums It up, I guess:
"Listen to the sound of our mass confusion
Maya Moya Moya it's all Illusion"
D-MEN — Don't You Know/No Hope For Me (Veep 120ф Don't You Care/Movsin' Around (Veep 1209) An East Coast band of general obscurity, the D-Men's output on Veep (a UA subsidiary not known for anything but R&B in general) is quite impressive. "Don't You Know" has a calliope-style organ and is otherwise an excellent ersatz Merseybeat tune, while "No Hope For Me" has a modified "Be My Baby" beat (substituting a guitar chord for the emphasized drum shot), organ similar to the A-s:ide (sounding almost like Del Shannon's stuff here) and a fine folk-rock sound. "Mousin' Around" is a forgettable instrumental, but "Don't You Care" is о raucous pop-rocker, not as good as the first single, but notable for an energetic guitar break extremely similar to the Stones' In "It's All Over Now." The group may well be faceless pawns of the Wodhorta/Askew team, later responsible for the Fifth Estate and the Blades of Grass—they get the writing credits. Anybody have more Information?
This could go on for days (end probaldy will below), but I'd better hold up for a minute. I'll tack a batch of addenda and other semi-factual oddities to the end,, and wind up by once again inviting correspondence, advice, and slander. Also, for informational purposes (not to mention the aggrandizement of my personal record collection), I'm looking for interested readers who'd like to sell/swop records—particularly from Britain and Europe and Australia, but also here in the States. Also surveys (and by the way, did any of the pirates in Britain ever Issue printed surveys?). Old copies, xerox/facsimiles, anything along those lines fran '56 through '68 (after that they become pretty well horagmized). I can trade xeroxes of '65-67 L.A. surveys and suchlike minor inducements if anybody's interested, but in any cose all tunafexes are eagerly solicited.
A few stray corrections/addltions regarding last issue.... Gerry & the Pacemakers' "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" was on original song, not to be confused (except by me) with the Ray Charles single of the same title... Dck Taylor remained with the Pretty Things through S.F. Sorrow, as was not reported in the original article...The John Stewart teamed with Scott Engel on the exploitative Tower “Walker Bros." recordings turns out not to be John Maus as I erroneously assured. This duo also recorded os the Madmen on Cloister 6308, о spectral monster instrumental called "Haunted". Live that down, Scott ...Ch the Planet label, the Corduroys' "Tick Tock" (122) did come out In the US., which probably means 121 (Gnomes of Zurich) did too....
When “To Sir With Love" hit, both Pickwick and Parrot rushed out slapdash LPs cortaining a good portion of Lulu's Decca material, with and without the Luvers. The Pickwick budget Item (Lulu!) has a lot of orche$tral/f>op tracks from her second British I/, but also includes "He's Sure The Boy I Love" and a couple of raspy rockers (check out Darin's "Dream Lover"). From Lulu With Love Is also plagued with slush like Chris Montez's "Call Me" (a British single for her), but has the essential rockers—"Shout", the Stones' "Surprise Surprise", and the sublime "I'll Come Running"; plus "Here Comes The Night" and (surprise, surprise) "Lies" by the Knickerbockers. Everything but "Just One Look", in fact....And yes, Jtrrmy Page was definitely one of Neil Christian's Crusaders....
Both the Orerlanders and Unit 4+2 were rather cavalierly dismissed as "folk groups" lost issue. They were that, basically, but both made a few really excellent records. The Unit 4+2's later, less successful releases were often fascinating (particularly "I Was Only Playing Games" (London 1009), displaying Beach Boys-like corplexity). The Overlanders cut uninteresting folky treatment of Johnny Preston's "Cradl e Of Love" (Hickory 1362), but their crowning achievement was "Don't It Make You Feel Good" (Hickory 1275), a stirring beat number with chord changes straight out of Bruce & Terry or the Fantastic Baggies. The song was written by the Shadow (their slightly less sparkling version Is on The Shadows Know LP, Atlantic 8097); and it's interesting in light of Hank and the boys' Influence on all the American instrumental surf bands that they could also write one of the few British songs that qualify for the vocal surf genre. In passing, all the Shadows' vocal numbers I've heard found quite strong (including the two Mrvin Welch & Farrar albums, good Marmalade-like harmony material)....
Another hig hly recommended single of the era is Ian & the Zodiacs' "No Money No Fbnry "/Where Vfcre Ya»" (Philips 40369), one side a raving rocker,the other a lovely, ethereal, hcrpslchord/tympanl-domirated tune. Recorded in Germany, it- was arranged by Klaus Doldinger, a big nan» in Teutonic cosmic- rock circles these days....
Touring the Mdwest of late: the Chio Express and 1910 FruitgumCompany. Bring back bubblegum.. .and on that note, it toms out the original version of "Little Bit Of Soul" (a Carter-Lewis tune) was cut in 1965 by a British group called the Little Dorlings (UK Fontana 539)...And finally, do your best to get hold of the Creation reissue (UK Charismo CS 8); a truly fabulous album.
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