A GREAT Turn-Out At The Polls Yesterday!!!

re:  GARAGE BANDS VOTING:

Yowzah, yowzah, yowzah!!!  What a turn out!!!

You guys literally jammed my mailbox full of ballots yesterday.  (In fact, if anybody received a "mailbox full" message bounce-back, try again today, as we processed literally HUNDREDS of these last night!)

How extensive was the voting???  Well, we better than DOUBLED our vote tally in less than 24 hours ... so thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support.  (Seems like most of you guys are really enjoying this latest Forgotten Hits Poll.)  It was great to hear from some of you who we haven't heard from in awhile ... as well as many first-time respondents.

What's the latest?  

Well, the current leaders (? and the Mysterians, The Shadows Of Knight, The Standells and The Kingsmen) certainly held there own ... but there were also HUGE leaps-and-bounds advancements for some of the other artists on the list, a couple of whom doubled and/or TRIPLED their previous vote count.  (Particular props go out to Paul Revere and the Raiders, Tommy James and the Shondells, The New Colony Six and The Beau Brummels, who saw their vote totals skyrocket yesterday!  Also making large gains were The Bobby Fuller Four, The Sir Douglas Quintet, The Electric Prunes, The Buckinghams and Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs.)

Right now, it's ANYBODY's game ... and we'll continue to tally your votes through June 1st ... so if you haven't voted yet, get those ballots in now!!!

We can't possibly run all of the hundreds of responses we received yesterday ... but here are a few that stood out (or tickled my fancy for one reason or another) ...

10 – Nazz

9 – Chartbusters

8 – ? & Mysterians

7 – Sonics

6 – Seeds

5 – Shadows of Knight

4 – Them

3 – NC6

2 – NC6

1 – NC6

Admittedly somewhat biased opinion, Kent, but as you suggested, it’s the Chicago way!

Ray Graffia, Jr. / The New Colony Six

1. Sonics

2. Standells

3. Robbs

4. New Colony Six

5. ? and the Mysterians

6. Count Five

7. Music Machine

8. Seeds

9. Troggs

10. Cryan Shames

When will the group and song lists be available?  I would like to count them down during the month of June.

Phil Nee - WRCO

We can make that happen.  I'm most likely going to forego the individual songs ... all of the focus is back on the artists now, which was always the original intention.  Certainly when counting down The Top 20, you can feature a song ... or two ... or three ... by each artist to make the list.  (Assuming, of course, that they HAD at least three hits!!!  Some of these groups are barely One Hit Wonders!!!) 

Stay tuned to Forgotten Hits for more information regarding Phil's special Top 20 Countdown.  Who knows ... WE might even stop by to say "hello", too!   (kk)

 

Just saw you are wrapping up the "Garage Band" voting -- did not see the Beach Boys making the 'final cut.' Did you ever get my e-mail re: the BB's and my 'garage band' nominations?

After reviewing your finalists, it dawned on me that I'd also booked The 13th Floor Elevators. Good 'garage band,' for sure.

Fred Vail

Yep, sure did ... and we ran it awhile back ... but the truth is not too many people out there are going to consider The Beach Boys a "garage band", regardless of where and/or how they started.  Now if we were running a favorite surf band or hot rod band, that'd be a different story ... but the reality is that the ONLY vote they got was YOURS!!!  (kk)

 

NOTE:  As mentioned previously, a "garage band" is more of a "genre" of music than anything else.  Let's face it ... other than maybe The Monkees (who learned their craft on a television sound stage and/or recording studio) virtually EVERY group started out in the basement or the garage.  But it's a certain "sound" we're talking about here ... a primitive beat ... a "less than perfect" result that made up for in spirit and enthusiasm a hundred fold whatever it may have been lacking in musical execution.  And let me tell you, from what I've seen, the readers have gotten it right this time ... I believe everybody will be quite pleased with the final Top 20 results!  (kk)

 

Kent,

I think CROW should have made the list as well. 

Here's my vote for the Top Ten Garage Bands.

... bdpoe (Orlando)

1. Tommy James and The Shondells

2. Troggs

3. Human Beinz

4. Kingsmen

5. Sir Douglas Quintet

6. Swinging Medallions

7. Count Five.

8. Ides of March

9. Buckinghams

10. Five Americans

Believe it or not, Crow was never even nominated!  (See, you needed to respond sooner!!!  Perhaps if others had seen their name on the list, they would have voted for them, too!)  Actually, they'd be a GREAT selection!  (kk)

 

Beautiful, Kent.  I just updated my site.
It's a really impressive list ... so I'm going to choose my Top 10 from it as well! 

It's very difficult to narrow down (it was brutal), but here's my final:
13th Floor Elevators

Bobby Fuller Four

Chocolate Watch Band

Gants

Leaves

Love

Paul Revere and the Raiders

Seeds

Shadows Of Knight

Sonics

Paul Revere always claimed the band was a "garage band" and some of their songs rock as hard as any "true garage band" so I had to include them.  The Kingsmen most likely need to be included, but since it was so hard to limit it to 10 I instead voted for groups whose music I like better.This is going to be interesting!

Mike Dugo

And this coming from a guy who knows a thing or two about '60's Garage Bands.  In fact, he runs the site 60sgaragebands.com ... and is not only providing us with the bios of The Top 20 Favorites, but has also donated a few garage band cd's as give-aways, too.  Stay tuned for more details.  (kk)

 

Man, narrowing this down to 10 was tough! I especially hated deleting Terry Knight, The Outsiders, and The Gentrys. And it's surprising Brownsville Station didn't make the list of choices. Can't wait to see the final tabulations.
(My choices are in alphabetical order with equal weighting to each band)
Beau Brummels
Castaways
Cyrkle
Ides of March
McCoys
NC6
Shadows of Knight
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Swinging Medallions
Troggs

David Lewis

Sounds like narrowing it down to only ten was troublesome for quite a few of you out there!  SO many great choices to choose from.  And, believe it or not, Brownsville Station was never even nominated either!  (kk)

My top in this order:

Ides Of March

Buckinghams

Beau Brummels - plus they had a song on the Flintstones

Cyrkle

Tommy James and the ShondellsBob Seger and the Heard

Paul Revere and the Raiders

Kingsmen

Strawberry Alarm Clock 

Troggs

Debe Welch

>>>The Beau Brummels had a song on the Flintstones

Yes, but did they play it in Barney's garage?!?!?  (kk)

 

Hey Kent,
I'm in a dilemma. Do I vote for garage bands that had one-hit wonders and were never heard of again? Do I vote for bands that started out in the garage, but made it big later? Do I vote for a "garage" band that had it made-in-the-shade from the start? Do I vote for bands whose songs I really didn't care for? I would like to vote for some of the multi-hit makers, but I think I'll list the unsung heroes instead. I can only come up with five of them, from your list. In order, here they are : Bobby Fuller Four, Five By Five, Davie Allan and the Arrows, Ides of March, Knickerbockers. Thanks Kent!
- John LaPuzza

 

Kent ...

My thinking was that I wanted to vote for groups that I liked, who had more than one Hit. Starting with best at #1: 

1  =  Tommy James & Shondells
2  =  Buckinghams
3  =  Paul Revere & Raiders
4  =  Sam The Sham & Pharaohs
5  =  Sir Douglas Quintet
6  =  Bobby Fuller Four
7  =  Beau Brummels
8  =  McCoys
Frank B.

 

1. Paul Revere and the Raiders

2. Sir Douglas Quintet 

3. Knickerbockers

4. Buckinghams

5. Cyrkle

6. Beau Brummels

7. Them

8. Five Americans

9. Music Machine

10. Trashmen

Most of these weren't garage bands in the classic sense ... but from your list these are my favorites.

Al Kooper

 

My top 10 in no specific order (really hard to pick just 10, tho)          

Steve

Bobby Fuller Four

Kingsmen 

Nashville Teens

Outsiders

Paul Revere and the Raiders

Seeds 

Sir Douglas Quintet 

Syndicate of Sound 

Them

Tommy James and the Shondells 

and lets not forget The Royal Knights, coming in strong at #11

Can a band wearing shark-skin suits REALLY be considered a "garage band"?!?!?  j/k ... Thanks, Steve ... great to hear from you ... long time!  (kk)

 

 1. Tommy James and the Shondells

 2.  Paul Revere and the Raiders

 3.  Buckinghams

 4 . New Colony Six

 5.  ? and the Mysterians

 6.  Cryan Shames

 7.  Ides of March

 8. The Troggs

 9. Strawberry Alarm Clock

10. Fifth Estate

I would say in that order ... but the truth is, the first three for me ... are a tie.

Thanks ...

Stacee

 

Here's my list of garage band favorites, random order ...

1. New Colony Six

2. Seeds

3. Standells

4. Strawberry Alarm Clock

5. ? & the Mysterians

6. Blues Magoos

7. Electric Prunes

8. Peanut Butter Conspiracy

9. Buckinghams

10. Bobby Fuller Four

Thanks for putting this together!

Dann Isbell

 

Best First:
Bobby Fuller Four
Davie Allan / Arrows
Sir Douglas Quintet
Tommy James Shondels
Troggs
Paul Revere
Five Americans
Robbs
Love
Sam The Sham
Great contest!

Vic Gerard

 

Hi Kent,  

My favorite garage bands – from your list – ranked in order of favorability:

1. Love

2. Sir Douglas Quintet

3. Paul Revere and the Raiders

4. Buckinghams

5. Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs 

6. Tommy James and the Shondells 

7. Knickerbockers

8. Bobby Fuller Four

9.  Outsiders

10. Strawberry Alarm Clock  

Best wishes and thanks for the hard work on our behalf,   

Mike Edwards

 

Kent,

I really never considered picking my top fave garage bands, as I had just listed songs that were garage type before.  I doubt my list would look like this, but from the entries you gave me, here's what I choose.  It was hard to cut these down to 10, but I threw out most of the artists that would have been in if not for their recording more pop-like records later on.  Only the NC6 sneak in here as not being basically ALL garage music for the most part.  It really made it hard to keep PR&R's out, but their later stuff eventually took them out.  Wondering what YOUR and Mike's ten from your group look like?
1.  Kingsmen
2.  Trashmen
3.  Bob Seger and the Heard
4.  Shadows Of Knight
5.  Seeds
6.  Standells
7.  Sir Douglas Quintet
8.  McCoys
9.  Richard and the Young Lions
10. New Colony Six
BTW, the often heard Farmer John remake sucks.  Riviera's "Somebody New" was a groovy song, I agree.  They were in my final cuts above, too.  Heck, just having "Hanky Panky" on their LP before TJ made it a hit was good point to make on their garage idea! 

 

Kent, Thanks for including me on your list! Davie Allanhttp://www.cdbaby.com/cd/davieallan4

Hey, you're there because the fans WANT you there!!!  (And you've been racking up the points, too, I might add!)  kk

 

Great idea!

1 - Cyrkle

2 - Cryan' Shames

3 - Bobby Fuller Four

4 - Dino, Desi and Billy

5 - Buckinghams

6 - New Colony Six

7 - Beau Brummels

8 - Rivieras 

9 - Tommy James and the Shondells

10 - Shadows Of Knight 

Phil

 

TOP TEN GARAGE BANDS

This is a tough list to compile because so many of these groups had it together ONCE and created a single first rate track (The Swingin' Medallions, The Rivieras, The Seeds, The Human Beinz, ? & the Mysterians, etc.)   With that in mind, the ability to hit the mark more than once had to affect my choices:

1)  Paul Revere & the Raiders

2)  Tommy James & the Shondells

3)  The New Colony Six

4)  The Buckinghams

5)  The Cryan Shames

6)  Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs

7)  The Outsiders

8)  The Bobby Fuller Four

9)  The Five Americans

10)  The Kingsmen

Plus another great band which should have been on the list: Bill Deal & the Rhondells

Gary Theroux 

Believe it or not, Bill Deal and the Rhondells were never even nominated either!  For a list of a few others that came up short, check out our "Too Little, Too Late" segment!  (kk)

 

re:  TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE:

Hi, Kent,

I could have easily missed a mention of the song that I most think of when garage bands are discussed.

It's the Distant Cousins' "She Ain't Lovin' You No More," which bubbled under the Hot 100 in 1966 but was a good-sized hit in the Twin Cities.

Give a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMo2P6odJI8

Don Effenberger

Not a bad song ... but you're too late ... the final ballot has already gone out ... and any band that had earned less than 20 votes was dropped from the list.  We're not taking any new nominees ... but processing your votes now to determine your Top 20 Favorites ... so stay tuned!!! (kk)

 

Hi Kent,
I try to get over to Forgotten Hits every day, but you know what it's like. Has anyone voted for the Ugly Ducklings yet?  I think 'She Ain't No Use To Me' (attached) would be a great contender.
Marie

I don't think they were ever nominated either ... or if they were, they only had a vote or two ... not enough to make the qualifying list.  Sorry!  (kk)

 

Any truth to the rumor that Somebody New was actually sung by Bobby Whiteside and not the Rivieras?  Sure SOUNDS like Bobby Whiteside.  Play it back to back with Say it Softly.

Allan

Seems to me we looked into this several years ago and couldn't make any such connection ... but the list is MUCH larger now ... so let's put it out there again to see if anybody here locally can shed some light on this.  (kk)