Just playin' ...
'Cause now the REAL Countdown begins!!!
Know a Garage Band Fan who hasn't tuned in yet??? Now is the time to let them know ...
THE COUNTDOWN HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!!!!
#20 - THE TRASHMEN
With 175 of your votes, The Trashmen kick off The Top 20. They were late-bloomers in this poll ... but once somebody said, "Hey, what about 'Surfin' Bird' and 'Bird Dance Beat' by The Trashmen?", our readers immediately responded in kind.
"Surfin' Bird" was the #4 Record in the country when Beatlemania hit by way of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" ... and (despite all things British going on at the time), it has remained a timeless classic ever since.
(Ironically, The Trashmen's two biggest hits were inspired by the Surf Group The Rivingtons, who didn't earn a single vote!!! Even more incredibly, The Rivingtons started out as an R&B Group called The Sharps!)
The Trashmen fall into the Garage Band / Grunge-Rock / Punk Rock / Surf Rock / Novelty Rock category, all of which helped to propel them to the #20 Spot on our countdown. (And Peter Griffin from "Family Guy" probably helped a little, too! lol) kk
"Everybody’s heard about the bird”, right? If you haven’t, you’re missing out on a truly great garage rock anthem by this Minneapolis group. Recorded in 1963, ‘Surfin’ Bird’ is a somewhat rare example of a garage rock song pre-Beatles. Yes … it’s a conscious rip on two Rivingtons’ songs, but the Trashmen still manage to stamp it as their own. Peter Griffin and Family Guy have recently introduced the song to a whole new generation, assuring that the Trashmen will most likely land on similar lists to this one 20 years down the line.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
#19 - THE BLUES MAGOOS
The Blues Magoos had a Top Five Smash with "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" in 1967. Another group who kind of crosses over to the psychedelic rock category, you liked these guys enough to bestow 187 of your votes declaring them amongst your favorites in the "garage band" category, too. (kk)
Although they had recorded and released a folk-rock single as the Bloos Magoos, it wasn’t until the psychedelic sounding and looking Bronx-based Blues Magoos released ‘We Ain’t Got Nothing Yet’ that they dented the charts (Top 5 in U.S.). Their follow-up songs ‘There’s A Chance We Can Make It’ and ‘Pipe Dream” were much less successful, but how many other groups could get away with wearing electric suits on stage and promoting the “Psyche-de-Lite”, an early version of the lava lamp? For anybody wanting a definition of “psychedelic”, check out the band’s jaw-dropping performance of ‘Tobacco Road’ on The Kraft Music Hall!
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
The Blues Magoos' rendition of "Tobacco Road" was a killer classic ... I remember my brother playing this one all the time around the house when we were growing up.
This song ALWAYS sounds good, no matter who does it. (Check out Chicago's Ides Of March in concert sometime ... it's an absolute show-stopper. By the way, The Ides Of March, best known for their #1 Hit "Vehicle", just missed our countdown with 96 votes, most likely a result of their first single release, the garage band classic "You Wouldn't Listen".)
And this television clip of The Blues Magoos featuring Jack Benny is to die for!!! (kk)
This song ALWAYS sounds good, no matter who does it. (Check out Chicago's Ides Of March in concert sometime ... it's an absolute show-stopper. By the way, The Ides Of March, best known for their #1 Hit "Vehicle", just missed our countdown with 96 votes, most likely a result of their first single release, the garage band classic "You Wouldn't Listen".)
And this television clip of The Blues Magoos featuring Jack Benny is to die for!!! (kk)
#18 - THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET
Ironically, The Sir Douglas Quintet have made our pages quite a few times recently. In fact, we featured their two best known hits, "She's About A Mover" and "Mendocino" (#13 and #14 respectively) within the past month. Meanwhile, we also had a request for "The Rains Came", their other Top 40 Hit, so that's the one we're spotlighting today ... along with a great clip of the band performing "She's About A Mover" on "Hullabaloo", apparently hosted by Trini Lopez that week! (Watch the clip to the end and you'll see that Herman's Hermits were ALSO guests on that same episode!) kk
While I guess I've always considered the band to be one of the earliest examples of Tex-Mex Rock, you guys awarded 188 votes as your garage band favorites ... and that was good enough to place them at #18 in this very special countdown. (kk)
Doug Sahm’s ‘60’s group, the Sir Douglas Quintet hailed from San Antonio. The first 1965 single, ‘She’s About A Mover’ is today classified as Tex-Mex but still falls nicely into the “garage rock” label. The Quintet’s first album also contained other garage rock-worthy songs, buy they’re probably best known for ‘Mendocino’, a pop song that graced the charts in 1968.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
We also found The Sir Douglas Quintet included on a couple of different "Nuggets" compilations ... so we're giving them a stranglehold on position #18 in our very special Top 20 All-Time Favorite Garage Bands Countdown. (kk)
We also found The Sir Douglas Quintet included on a couple of different "Nuggets" compilations ... so we're giving them a stranglehold on position #18 in our very special Top 20 All-Time Favorite Garage Bands Countdown. (kk)
