...Taken from a special concert for fan club members it draws heavily on the Machine Gun Etiquette album. Love song kicks things off with Second time around following closely at it's heels; it was this pairing that first alerted my attention to The Damned, summing up the tone,attitude and style which so captivated me in my teenage years and beyond.As well as the best cuts from M.G.E the album includes their wonderfully irreverent version of The Beatles' Help, a febrile rendition of early classic Neat Neat Neat and of course New Rose which is possibly the only track here that is not as good as the pre-recorded version-but that's only because the original version is punk perfection and cannot be improved upon; argue the toss over this point if you like-I won't be listening! An essential addition to any Damned fan's collection-superb! - By Mr. M. J. C. Jones
trax:01 Love Song 02 Second Time Around 03 Just Can’t Be Happy Today 04 Melody Lee 05 Help 06 Neat Neat Neat 07 Looking At You 08 Smash it Up parts 1 & 2 09 New Rose 10 Plan 9 Channel 7
Big Ray & The Futuras are a great surf/instro band gaining popularity in the NE corner of the US. They often play to capacity crowds in New England and Europe, wowing crowds with their ferocious brand of high octane rock n' roll. Comparable to Los Straitjackets, this combo has the skills and attitude to win fans over worldwide. We are proud to have released their second CD, a 10-track CD-EP called Airwaves (now sold out of it's first pressing) featuring live tracks recorded at WMBR and WMFO radio last year. We have just released their 3rd CD, "Desolation Planet", which is without a doubt their best work yet!
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After the breakup of Beatles-obsessed power poppers the Poppees, guitarist Arthur Alexander and drummer Jett Harris formed a new band, Sorrows, and while their earlier group struggled to get noticed after releasing a pair of singles for Bomp Records, Sorrows quickly caught the ear of an A&R man at Pavilion Records, an affiliate of CBS Records. Sorrows' debut album, Teenage Heartbreak, arrived in 1980. Unfortunately, the record and its follow-up, 1981's Love Too Late, sank without a trace, thanks to poor promotion by CBS, and while they earned a small cult following among obsessive fans of skinny-tie pop, Sorrows' music has been out of print for decades, making it all but impossible for pop mavens to rediscover them. Bad Times Good Times finally gives Sorrows the second chance they've long deserved; while the liner notes are coy about the source of this material, this appears to be a remixed and reworked version of Teenage Heartbreak, featuring the same 12 songs (with the album's original producer, Mark Milchman, credited with recording) as well as two unreleased demos and a pair of live recordings. While Alexander's fascination with the Beatles had hardly worn off when he formed Sorrows, the new band boasted the sort of energy and attitude that gave their Merseybeat-influenced melodies a lot more life, and Harris, guitarist/singer Joey Cola, and bassist Ricky Street made for a much tighter and more imaginative band than the Poppees. Alexander and Harris wrote the bulk of the material on Bad Times Good Times, and they'd grown by leaps and bounds as tunesmiths since the Poppees breakup, and while that band's best songs recalled the Fab Four's middling efforts, Sorrows crafted tunes that tipped their hats to rock & roll's past while sounding fresh, lively, and original, and why "Lonely Girl," "Teenage Heartbreak," "I Want You Tonight," or "Bad Times, Good Times" didn't become hit singles can only be attributed to someone at CBS being very much asleep at the switch. The two demos confirm Sorrows had more good tunes left in them -- the rockabilly-flavored "That's Your Problem" and the arty, slightly psychedelic "Silver Cloud" should have made the cut on Love Too Late -- and the live covers of Rolling Stones and Carole King numbers confirm this band burned bright on-stage. For folks who've been wondering when Sorrows' Teenage Heartbreak would ever arrive on CD, Bad Times Good Times isn't the next best thing, it's an actual improvement over the already fine original, and rescues one of the better pop bands of the '80s from oblivion; folks who like their rhythms peppy, their guitars ringing, and their harmonies tight will find lots to love on this collection.(mark Deming, Allmusic)
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The mock tomb paintings on the cover show Ancient Egyptians creating a beer can pyramid. The liners are full of corny puns (“…this rockin’ record is sure to be your Bag, dad!”) The band all have pseudonyms like ‘Lou Dacts – drums/vocals’. Track listings are in hieroglyphics. Yep, these Canadians are a party fun band who don’t take themselves too seriously. The only thing they do take seriously is their frat party music, a potent punch of soul, R&B and twist tunes shaken with a garage mixer. Gruesomes Bobby Beaton (aka Fuad) and John Davis join forces with Liam O’Neil and Dave Hamelin from Montreal band The Stills to produce 20 swingin’, largely self-penned tunes that will have everyone dancing and leaving their inhibitions behind. With memorable sax and organ based instros (‘Valley Of The Kings’) or crazed vocal numbers (‘The Boogaloser’) the message has stayed the same since since 3000BC; Shake It, Baby! - Phil Suggitt
The exciting new release by Big Ray & The Futuras, recorded live on WMBR Radio - Cambridge, MA and WMFO Radio - Medford, MA. This three piece, all-instro rock n roll band from Cambridge, MA is taking the country by storm with their infectious, high energy sound. Their debut self-titled CD has sold by the vanload and has won them legions of fans all over the country.
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...Upon leaving National for the greener pastures of major-label Columbia in 1950, they made dynamite recordings that inexplicably emerged stillborn in the marketplace, yielding no hits of any kind during their two-year tenure with the label. Dreams, Pleas & Blues collects up all the Ravens material -- issued, unissued, and even one alternate take -- and clearly shows that the group was still cutting some mighty fine records, even if their place on the charts was denied largely due to quickly changing trends. Their first session with the Benny Goodman Sextet backing them yielded a cover of Louis Prima's hit "Oh Babe," and already showed the group to be chasing trends rather than creating them, as they had only a couple of years before. The small-jazz-combo-backing idea stays with them through "Time Takes Care of Everything" and "Don't Look Now," while "I'm so Crazy for Love," "Midnight Blues," "Honey I Don't Want You," and "My Baby's Gone" hark back to their earlier National jump blues with a simple, small rhythm section backing. The Ravens tried a little bit of everything to score a hit at Columbia, including hopped-up novelty material like "The Whiffenpoof Song," "That Old Gang of Mine," and "The Calypso Song," and even a precursor to R&B with "I Get All My Lovin' on a Saturday Night," but none of it proved hit-worthy. These aren't the recordings to start your Ravens collection with, but it might not be a bad place to end up. (Cub Koda, Allmusic)
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The arranging is generally solid enough to cover for the lack of a second guitar. This is a decent mix for a first time out. There are some really bright spots, and some pedestrian and less interesting spots. Some tracks suffer from a lack of melody, while others are quite good. The overall feel is surf, with a touch o sci-fi. The thing is, the good tracks are quite good, and the so-so tracks are not bad, just not very interesting. Tracks 10 through 13 were recorded live (soundboard, most likely), and suffer from the house sound guy blues (too much kick drum, too little music), though they are better than many I've heard as of late. Very nice and hard to get. Enjoy. - DaBoss (Fat City Cigar Lounge - link in the sitebar)
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...After nearly two hundred LP releases (!) he switched to compact disc in 1991reissuing some of the previously reissued material as well as a whole heap of newly unearthed material. In addition to reissuing rare 45s he has tracked down artists, record labels and recording studios resulting in releases which include alternate takes, unissued songs, demos and home recordings. Some of the releases have a regional or thematic slant but most are just miscellaneous collections. Sound quality is decent considering the origin of some of the material and the packaging is pleasing in a down home way with slim booklets with photos and label shots and occasional notes. Some of the material is of marginal musical value but almost every release has some really excellent material and the real enthusiast will want 'em all. (Roots & Rhythm)
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...Lots of distortion, power chords, shouted/sung vocals; in other words, undistilled punk power. The group's main influence is the legendary proto-punk rockers the MC5, as evidenced in a barnstorming cover of the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" that launches the album. Whereas it's unclear if fellow drink-rock labelmates Prisonshake actually do consume, the Mono Men confirm their vice on the back cover of Ten Cool Ones (all members are seen happily clutching their bottles of brew). "Hey Little Bird" would have sounded right at home on the Dead Boys' classic debut Young, Loud, and Snotty, as singer/guitarist John Mortensen sounds almost exactly like Dead Boys singer Stiv Bators. The group also pulls out a fun cover of Link Wray's squawking instrumental "Run Chicken Run," and hits you down low with the repetitive, bass-heavy riffing of "As for Tomorrow." In many ways, the Mono Men's Ten Cool Ones is the ultimate punk rock party. For fans of the raucous sound and approach of the MC5, Mudhoney, and other punkers, this release is highly recommended. - by Greg Prato
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…When Original Sound released "Tijuana" in the summer of 1963, the record became a big regional success. In fact, the record was released twice: as "Tijuana Surf" by The Persuaders, and as "Tijuana" by The Hollywood Persuaders. "Tijuana" was released in Mexico and Argentina as by Los Persuaders and went on to spend 16 weeks at #1 in Mexico - even preventing The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" from reaching the top spot! The success of "Tijuana" enabled Buff to create more Hollywood Persuaders recordings, and back royalties from the record also helped bail Frank Zappa out of jail after he was arrested in March 1965!
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After a short tour in 2007 The Lords recorded a new album, ...and the tide rushes in... , not 48 hours after the last song was recorded drummer, Jeff Campaigne, passed away, and bass player Mike Warner quit the band. A couple weeks later and Billy re-formed the band once again and MSL is performing shows again. - cdbaby
...Acquiring various labels' catalogs can sometime make for strange compilation bedfellows and never more so than here, a three-way collision between Specialty's West Coast version of the genre, Prestige's New York City school of be-bop approach and a few stray tracks from the Texas-based Freedom label. The real treat for West Coast-style mavens is the inclusion of six tracks from Roy Milton; "Tell It Like It Is," "Gonna Leave You Baby," "Baby You Don't Know" find Milton's sound getting rougher, almost in anticipation of the rock'n'roll that's coming down the pike. Other notable additions to the package include Daddy Cleanhead's potent "Something's Goin' On in My Room," Leo Parker's baritone sax romp "Mad Lad Returns," King Pleasure's be-bop vocal turn on the classic "Moody's Mood for Love," and King Perry's surreal "I Must Have Been an Ugly Baby." And collectors will welcome the CD appearance of Big Joe Turner's "When the Rooster Crows," one of his ultra-rare Freedom singles from just before he signed on with Atlantic in 1951. Yes, the genre flavors shift around quite a bit on this disc, but that's half the fun, and as jump blues compilations go, this makes a pretty great little genre primer for the novice as well. (Cub Koda, Allmusic)
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...The bands debut album, "El Ritmo de Los Shains," was originally recorded in Peru in 1966; this fine 14-track collection includes the whole debut album, which sports Spanish versions of Novas The Crusher and the Animals We Got to Get Out of This Place, plus a couple of original tunes, and some great instrumental tracks too. Their music is chock full of wild sounds, good screams, fast guitar-in other words, great garage rock tunes, with Farfisa keyboards and loud drums. This disc features sound taken from the original master tape reels, remastered using an analogue tube amplification system; this has made it possible to obtain superior sound quality without losing any of the texture of the original recordings. Amazing deluxe digipack has insert with twenty-five unseen pictures, and a great biography told by their guitar player and founder, Enrique Ego Aguirre. Includes as bonus a never-before seen homemade footage of the band from early 1966. Band members were key components of later Peruvian bands like The (St. Thomas) Pepper Smelter, Gerardo Manuel & El Humo, PAX, Los Drags, Los Nuevos Shains, Kabul and others. - fro: https://www.shinybeast.nl/
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Riding whammy & twang the Surf Lords cut o’er the waves of FENDER with gusto and the melodic ease of sunset. In these sunny waters there’s nods to spy and pasta westerns and they’ve sure got their Link Wray down, but surf with a capitol S is the wave of the day on this 15 track disc. Burt’s Tiki Tear Drop, Cleopatra, Shark Attack, and Bombay Highway are superb originals that make the Surf Lords a band to watch. From the easy Third Stone From The Sun to gorgeous moonlight and martinis Goldfinger the Surf Lords pick their covers well. There’s a fun Don’t Fear the Reaper and ropin’ the big sky Ring of Fire and then we find our happily shakin’ butts in a conga line for Conga meets The Little Drummer Boy meets Riders in the Sky – saddle up pars the trail’s about as much fun as you can have standin’ on two feet. The real stand outs here include Bombay Highway Part 1 and Part 2 [a pair of infectious 5 stars tracks if ever I heard one], Burt’s Tiki Tear Drop, Cleopatra and Goldfinger. 4 stars for this fine little gem. Filled with CRUNCH, whamm~y, tw!ang, diStoRtiOn, r-i-f-f, humor and a knack fer melody, the Lords got it all! So what are you waiting for, check out the fine samples and get surfin' with the Lords! - Joe Pulver
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trax Early Recordings & First R&B Hits 1951-1954 disc 1:
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...There’s a lot of fun stuff here, including Gladys Knight & the Pips' second version of the Johnny Otis-penned “Every Beat of My Heart” (the first version was originally released by Huntom Records and then picked up by Chicago’s Vee-Jay Records, that’s the version most people know, but Robinson’s do-over was almost note for note the same, and features slightly better sonic quality), a pair of sprightly Pips recordings without Gladys, “Linda” and “Darling,” the Channels' “Bye Bye Baby,” the Kodaks' jaunty and bouncy “My Baby and Me,” and Jackie and the Starlights' gritty (at least for doo wop) “I’m Coming Home,” which features searing and raw-voiced lead vocals by Jackie Rue. The whole set bounces along with a kind of energetic innocence; it's the perfect soundtrack for that first warm spring night of the year. (Steve Leggett, Allmusic)
The Surf Lords, since 1994, have been riding the waves of instrumental surf rock. Covering many of the surf classics from Dick Dale, The Ventures, Chantays, etc. to a wide array of original tunes and cd's.
…Originaiting in the Harlem district of New York City, the group initially comprised lead Earl "Speedo" Carroll, Gus Willingham, LaVern Drake and John Clark, and they began their recording career with the Josie label in 1954 singing the slow doo-wop ballads that find so much favour among many collectors today. But they themselves preferred the faster, hard-rocking style epitomized in their first hit which came early in 1956 using Carroll's nickname, by which time Willingham and Clark had been replaced by Earl Wade, Robert Phillips and Charles Brooks.
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Finding their feet again after yet another career misstep, the Damned emerged with STRAWBERRIES, their fifth studio album in as many years. With their line-up more or less stable at this point, it features Dave Vanian's more assured vocals and the more-pop-by-the-minute keyboards and guitars of Captain Sensible. STRAWBERRIES evokes the best of the Stranglers with a touch of XTC thrown in. Well produced by the band themselves, aurally it's a great improvement over previous efforts, and even includes a lyric sheet. From the catch-a-fire punk of "Ignite," the album moves on to new-wave pop with "Generals" and "Stranger on the Town." "Dozen Girls" foreshadows the gothic Damned of the near future, while "The Dog," STRAWBERRIES' most interesting track, fortifies their creepy vampiric image. For un-cynical punks in love, there's also the surprisingly bouncy un-cynical love song "The Pleasure and the Pain," and its companion "Life Goes On." An enjoyable album and highly recommended. - from cd universe
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It was recorded at something of a transitional stage for the group, being the last studio recording completed with Captain Sensible until 2001's Grave Disorder album. It was also the first recording to feature bass player Bryn Merrick, and also the first to see Strawberries keyboardist Roman Jugg as a full member of the band. The song also bore a strong resemblance to the Strawberries album track "Ignite". The B-side, "Nasty", was recorded for the BBC comedy series The Young Ones, which was performed during the episode of the same name in 1984.
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...Buffalo Bop CDs usually have 30 tracks of rockabilly and rock 'n' roll from the 50s and early 60s - often very rare sides. Many of the issues have a subject or stylistic theme (juvenile delinquents, hot rods, trains, women singers, instrumentals, etc.). The tracks are mostly mastered from 45s and the sound quality is generally excellent - particularly on the later issues. Each CD comes with a booklet with a cover painting evocative of the music within and artist photos and label shots inside. With so many reissues available there are inevitably some duplications with other reissues but nevertheless there is a ton of great music available on these CDs not available elsewhere. (Roots & Rhythm)
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...But there are plenty of appealing bundles of emotion to be gleaned far away from the main thoroughfares. And this is good, because: HEARTS MUST BURN! Again and again, it turns out that the most beautiful love songs can be found in just those undergrounds, in hidden clubs and rustic honky-tonks, in whichemotional anarchists, tragic broken hearts, gallant seducers or constant losers populate the scene in order to indulge in cultivate a perpetual myth and, while doing so, leave no room for average, lovesick trash: they rather deal with love, which bursts into flame and quickly fades away, which causes confusion, pain, destruction, death and is only rarely just simple and pleasant.
Brilliant set of 'Surf' instrumentals. Very classy stuff - well recorded and played. Lots of twangy, 'bendy' guitar sounds. Wonderful! When Jimi Hendrix spoke the words "You will never hear surf music again", little did he know that a few decades later he would be proven wrong. Today, surf music and instrumental music are back in a big way. It is heard in movie soundtracks and in radio and television ads. The spaghetti western and spy soundtrack is back, as is the hot rod and motorcycle style.
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...Despite an abundance of skills, however, nothing clicked for the Queens, NY, natives. They never sold many records and only enjoyed a small following. Kiddie tenor Larry Pendergrass was a virtual clone of Frankie Lymon; a more mature tenor did the honors on "Angel Darling," a quality slow doo wop, but Pendergrass handled most leads. Crack arrangements by Bud Johnson elevated their recordings (style-wise) above those of their contemporaries, and you'll love all of these charming, contagious romps and ballads (except possibly "On the Alamo," an odd, campy tune with dumb lyrics). Prime movers include "No, No, No," "Five Little Kisses," "Row Your Boat," "At My Door," "My, My Darling," and the strong MOR updates "Over the Rainbow" and "For Sentimental Reasons." (Andrew Hamilton, Allmusic)
This second collection of Spaniels cuts not only offers more wonderful leads from Pookie Hudson, but tunes that spotlight other worthy singers, particularly the great bass vocalist Gerald Gregory, who steps forward on "You Don't Move Me," "Jesse Mae," and the splendid title cut. Ernest Warren handles the lead on "Hey Sister Lizzie" and James Cochran moves out from the background on "I Like It Like That" and "Baby Sweets." Still, it's Hudson's transcendent voice and tones that ultimately stamp The Spaniels as a group to be remembered.(Ron Wynn, Allmusic)
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