Even MORE Of Your Garage Band Comments!!!

It's ALWAYS cool to hear from some of the artists who were such an important part of our musical education ... ESPECIALLY when they discover what we're doing, trying to help keep this great music alive.  

This time around, we heard from a few we haven't heard from before ... so we wanted to share!  

Kent:  
Thanks for thinking of me. It was a great time in my life.
I had no responsibilities, I was making decent money and I was touring with John Fred and the Playboys "Judy in Disguise", Alex Chilton and the Box Tops "The Letter" and "Cry Like a Baby". However, Sly and the Family Stone also was touring with us and they had that big hit "Dance to the Music". Our song was all over the radio.
You're only that young once in a lifetime and I made it count.
Thanks for reminding me of some great personal memories.
Mike Appel: Lead singer, writer, lead guitar and leader of The Balloon Farm.
All the best,
Mike Appel   
We're all about the memories here in Forgotten Hits ... and these had to be some very special ones. Congratulations on making our countdown.    

Mike's done a WHOLE lot since The Balloon Farm ... his website points out some of the highlights:  

I started out writing, singing and performing in various bands. The guys that gave me my first big break were Hugo & Luigi. They were the producers of all Sam Cooke's hits, The Lion Sleeps Tonight and they wrote Elvis' "Can't Help Falling In Love With You". Bruce Springsteen even sings that song. In fact, I went to lunch with Luigi only a few months ago.

The first project I did for Hugo & Luigi was The Balloon Farm who had a Billboard Top 40 hit called "Question Of Temperature". I sang, played lead guitar, wrote and arranged it. I had also written several hits for David Cassidy and The Partridge Family. Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted went to number one and sold well over a million copies.

I then went on to produce and write all the lyrics for Sir Lord Baltimore a power trio on Mercury Records. They toured with Humble Pie (Peter Frampton & Stever Marriott) and Black Sabbath (with Ozzy Osbourne). I then discovered Bruce Springsteen and produced his first three records and managed his career as well. I was largely responsible for getting him on the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week. No one ever duplicated that publicity coup to this day.

I have completed a musical entitled “In The Shadows Of The King”. The musical is broadly about how all of us young rockers, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Rod Stewart, myself to name a few, were all trying to emulate Elvis after his first string of successes. However, all of us realized that if we were to make a name for ourselves, we’d have to find our own original unique voice if we were ever to come out from the shadows of The King. It is also about everyone finding out what is unique about themselves and following that unique road wherever it takes them.

-- Mike Appel  

Despite all these career achievements, Mike is still VERY proud of his garage band roots with The Balloon Farm. Thanks again for taking the time to drop us a line here at Forgotten Hits! (kk)    

Mike Rabon of The Five Americans, who also made our Top 20 All-Time Favorite Garage Bands Countdown, has a new book out, available through Amazon.com ...

Michael L. Rabon was the lead singer and writer for the hit 60's group, The Five Americans. He is the co-writer of the million selling hit record Western Union, as well as the Top 40 charted Sound Of Love, Zip Code, Evol Not Love and I See the Light. He has been inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame History Exhibit located in the Oklahoma City next to the capitol building. He was recognized in 2008 by the Oklahoma State Senate, for contributions to music history internationally and to the State of Oklahoma. He is married with two sons and is currently a technology teacher in the Hugo City Schools system in Hugo, Oklahoma. He holds a Masters Degree in Administration. His website is thefiveamericans.com

Click here: Amazon.com: High Strung (9781608300471): Mike Rabon: Books  

We've already heard from a few of you who ordered Mike's book after our piece on The Five Americans ran.  You'll find some excellent reviews for this book on Amazon.com ... now I wanna read it!!! (kk)   

Kent,
Good to hear other songs by ? other than 96 TEARS which the group did. I had to get out their version of DO SOMETHING TO ME and play it. Always did like that version better than Tommy James' version.
Larry Neal  
Dave The Rave turned me on to this one a few years ago ... I missed it the first time around. Yes, it's a great version ... and I always liked this song ... and I always felt that it should have done better on the charts. (Tommy's version peaked at #24 ... and the ? and the Mysterians version didn't make Billboard's chart at all. [It DID reach #97 in Record World however.] This should have been a big hit for them ... and it kind of took them away from their "formula sound", too.) kk 

By the way, after our piece ran on ? and the Mysterians, naming them as your FOURTH All-Time Favorite Garage Band, we DID hear from ? by way of the maker of his documentary, Terry Murphy.  I'm hoping we can run a future conversation with ? on the site!  (kk)

OMG, the Standells! They deserve a spot but this high? 
Dann
Again, YOUR guys' call, not mine!  (kk)  

Here's a little know fact for you and your readers ...

This is from a 1975 interview with Lowell George, founder of the world's greatest rock and roll band, Little Feat, and also the best slide guitar player of all time - regarding The Standells:

"I was in The Standells for about two months. I replaced Dicky Dodd, the lead singer, and then I found out that I feared for my life. All these young girls that he had gathered as an audience came looking for me after a gig one night to do me in. They thought that I was responsible for his demise, when in fact he quit because he couldn't stand it. And I finally quit because I couldn't stand it either. It was a very unusual organization. Actually I'm not very proud of that period, but it kept me out of school y'know. One would say that it kept me off the streets, but I have to say that it kept me out of school.

"In a way it was enlightening because it was a band that was on a real decline, and I was watching all the guys that had made all the money. Ed Cobb, their producer, was more responsible than anybody else for their success, by gathering all the material, putting the band into shape, and creating the sort of circumstances whereby the band could make the sort of money they did. And then as it began to decline I was watching the other guys in the band bring their hairdryers and their magnifying mirrors along to gigs – they used to fluff up before the gig. I was stunned. I couldn't imagine it and I still can't imagine it to this day. I mean many's the time I've caught a cold stepping out of the shower and walking to the gig or getting in a cab. I mean I know where a hairdryer fits in at this point, but for some reason I still haven't been able to take one with me on the road. I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but it was very interesting to see that band on its last legs, and the things that they went through. They also had a little money disappear from them for unknown reasons. People were wondering why the contract read $2500 and the band got paid $1800, A little shady. I didn't like that, and I think I precipitated the events that got the band to say 'oh forget it'. See I'd known the bass player from Hollywood High School and he knew that I wrote and sang and all, so he called me up and I auditioned and they liked the way I sang so I got the job. And then after I got it I didn't really want it".

Despite Lowell's comments, which I don't for one minute doubt to be perfectly valid, The Standells, in their heyday, were one of the great 'punk-rock' bands. Singles like 'Dirty Water', 'Animal Girl', and 'Riot On Sunset Strip' are classic punk records, and if you wish to learn more of The Standells and other groups musically related, you can do no worse than pick up the summer 1974 edition of Greg Shaw's Who Put The Bomp magazine, which is choc-a-bloc full of such fascinating grist. The aforementioned 'Dirty Water' is, you'll be delighted to know, available on the famous Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 album (Elektra) which is again strongly recommended, firstly because of the music, and secondly because of the intelligent and careful way in which it has been put together. And if you see any Standells singles knocking about, grab 'em'. Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be, Lowell George never recorded with The Standells, so we'll never know what we missed.

Thank you

Steve Sarley   

Judging by some of the feedback you received on The New Colony Six, it's apparent that many people just don't understand the "garage band" tag. All the arguments made also apply to, for example, The Seeds and ? & The Mysterians, yet nobody disputes they are "garage bands".

Bottom line: There was no such "garage" tag in the '60s. Today songs can be classified as "garage rock", whether or not they were recorded by groups currently designated as "garage bands". The "garage" label no doubt confuses or offends certain people.

Thanks, Kent.

Mike Dugo

We kicked off the series by stating that the line has become "blurred" because of this whole "nuggets" tag not attributed to much of this music. Nuggets USED to be "artifacts from the psychedelic era" ... but now the term seems to encompass the whole garage band sound as well. As we saw, a number of bands that made our All-Time Favorite Psychedelic Songs List ALSO made this All-Time Favorite Garage Bands List. Personally, I've always seen (and heard) a distinction between the two ... and there are quite a few bands on our final list (that did VERY well) that I might not necessarily have considered "garage bands" in my own mind. That being said, the results you saw are the way the fans voted ... and with just over 9000 votes, I've got to hand this one over to the majority.

I think I ran a couple of good examples in defense of the early edition of The New Colony Six. When Ronnie Rice first joined the group, they took on more of a contemporary "pop" sound with hits like "You're Gonna Be Mine". Then once they hit The National Top 20 with a couple of ballads they, like many others, got "typecast" in that role ... and, since it's the "best known" genre for the band, they haven't been able to shake it. But I can assure you that founding member Ray Graffia, Jr., is VERY proud of the band's garage band roots ... and their recent invitation to perform at Cave Stomp in New York, the ultimate garage band concert, only helps to make my point. (kk)    

Hi Kent,

Many thanks for compiling and listing the readers’ favorite garage bands.

With the exception of the Kingsmen and Paul Revere & The Raiders, most of the bands had their hit making runs after the British Invasion. The conclusion being that they were likely inspired by British bands. However not one of the 20 garage bands listed in your survey comes from the UK. Back in the 60s, they had bands in the UK, for sure; they also had garages. So why no UK garage bands? I’d be interested in readers’ thoughts.

Thanks for all your continued hard and dedicated work,

Mike Edwards

The results published were a reflection "of the people, by the people and for the people" ... ALL of the nominations and ALL of the votes came from you guys out there. Artists like The Troggs and Them snagged "runners up" positions ... but that's about it. Maybe it's the fact that the garage band sound was more of a "home grown" thing ... our response TO The British Invasion. Yes, artists from across the pond may have inspired us to pick up our guitars here in The States, but keep in mind that a lot of that early British sound was just a reworking of good old-fashioned American Rock And Roll ... they were simply feeding it back to us with their own spin. (Look at how many of these early hits were simply remakes of US hit records.) That may be the key to your answer right there. The kids who started up bands in the mid-'60's were still trying to find their own voice ... and some of that teenage angst came out in the music. (kk)

Number 1 garage band song?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUMGPREQFiY
Sam

Yeah ... I can live with that! (kk)

More Garage Band Comments

That Blues Magoos clip was a classic for sure! The Trashmen at 20??? I don’t think so! Higher, Daddy, Higher!  
Ken

Hey, all we're doing is reporting the way YOU guys voted!!! Top 20 is still pretty damn impressive 'tho! (kk)

Not sure if you’re on Facebook (I’m not) but on the Raiders page Paul calls out Jack Black (for laughs) over a statement he made on the CBS morning show. He said that he’s seen guys in their 40s rock out, even guys in their 50s and 60s, but NEVER someone in their 70s! It got a huge response from people on Facebook. It’ll be interesting to see if Jack shows up on stage to duke it out in a Rock-Off with Paul. I love Jack Black and Tenacious D so I’d love to see that!

Keep up the great work, buddy, and have a great holiday season.

Tommy

Paul Revere and the Raiders

Actually, I DID see that ... I think it was in the Pollstar Interview that we ran the other day ... funny stuff (and Paul can absolutely back up his claims on this one ... 'cause we've seen him do it ... and this guy rocks out with the best of them!!!)

I’d like to give a challenge to Jack Black. I saw him on “Sunday Morning” on CBS and he said, “Man, I’ve seen bands rock in their 30s, I’ve seen bands rock in their 40s, 50s and even 60s, but I’ve never seen a band rock in their 70s.”

And I’m going, “Whoa. Dude! You haven’t met Paul Revere & The Raiders! I’m going to be 75 in January and I’m on fire, baby!” I want to do a rock-off with Jack Black! We’ve gotta take him on, man. He obviously hasn’t seen us because then he’ll know people can really rock in their 70s.
A really close friend of mine is Dick Richards, the drummer for The Comets, and he’s going to be 90 this year and he still does a drum solo that would set your hair on fire. What Comets are left still tour over in Europe, and he’s an animal.
So, Jack Black: There are still old people out there who are rockin’ big time!

-- Paul Revere

Regarding the Favorite Garage Bands Countdown and Paul Revere and the Raiders' finish at #6 (for "Just Like Me") ... >ahem< WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!! 
And, speaking of other artists influenced by PR&R, have you ever heard Van Halen's pre-fame rendition of "Kicks" that's been floating around in the youtubes? Diamond Dave and the boys showed that one some r-e-s-p-e-c-t ... although there is no film for us to see if Eddie and Michael went in for any high-steppin' synchronized choreography. 
With garagiest regards,  
e  
Click here: Van Halen - Kicks (1973) - YouTube

Hi Kent. 
"I Had Too Much To Dream" was co-written by Annette Tucker, from whom I took a songwriting workshop circa 1979. It was one-night a week for something like 6-8 weeks at her home in the Hollywood Hills, assisted by her man Arthur Hamilton ("Cry Me A River", later president of ASCAP and a very cool guy). Annette said that she had the Rolling Stones in mind for IHTMTD. 
BTW, there are at least a few bands on your list that I do not consider as garage in any way. 
And while I'm here, let me also put in a plug for my new CD, "Change Comin' On" by Gary E. Dave the Rave played my song "Can You Feel Me" on his syndicated show last week. gem  
It sounds like The Electric Prunes did a number of Stones songs in their act prior to hitting the big time ... actually it sounds like MOST of the bands in our countdown idolized The Stones. I don't necessarily agree with all of the nominees either ... but this is the way the readers have voted so we're going with it. With just over 9000 votes cast, I'd consider this to be a pretty fair and accurate representation of the favorites. (Did you vote?) kk  

I had forgotten all about The Leaves' version of 'Hey Joe' -- you're right, today we only seem to remember the Jimi Hendrix version -- but it was The Leaves who cut it first and had the hit.   
Ed  
Everybody from The Leaves ... to Hendrix ... to Love ... to Wilson Pickett ... to CHER(!!!) ... cut this tune back in the '60's ... it truly IS a Garage Band Classic! (kk)

Sorry, Kent ... I can't agree with you on Hey Joe. Hendrix rules.

On the Knickerbockers, they were hugely popular in the AlbaNY area. Besides being great Beatles imitators they had some early hits in AlbaNY. All I Need Is You sounded like the Skyliners. Jerk Town sounded like Major Lance.

Mark the Shark

To each his own ... I think if The Knickerbockers could have gotten their hands on more commercial music they could have been more than just a one-hit wonder. Let's face it ... they WERE the "sound of the day" back then. (kk)

 

We're really enjoying the countdown this week, Kent. I've mentioned this to some friends who don't normally read FH, so hopefully some newbies will be clicking and reading.
Great info and a good selection of tracks.
This Love track is a serious departure from the two you featured, and it's the one that has staying power, in my opinion. 
David Lewis

David sent us a copy of "Along Again Or", a minor chart hit for Love in the late '60's. (It "bubbled under" in 1968 at #123 ... then climbed to #96 a couple of years later when it was re-released.) This one has a more acoustic sound to it ... and reminds me a little bit of The Moody Blues in the vocal department, too. (kk)

Hey Guys:
Great web site and even more great memories. Is it possible to place the link of our mid 1960's garage rock group's site on your site. We were called The Brymers and mainly known for "Sacrifice" and "I Want To tell You." On The Brymers web site I have also compiled over 300 photos and 150 tracks of great rock-n-roll bands from the California San Joaquin Valley (1960 - 1970). Many of the tracks were never released but reflect the explosion of of the 60's sound. Some of the groups include Jim Doval and the Gauchos, The Roadrunners, and The Brymers. The Brymers web site link is: http://www.thebrymers.com/.
Keep Rockin,
Dick Lee, drummer
The Brymers
Fapardokly

Hi Kent, 
I have to admit I did not know "The Seeds" were as popular as they apparently were. Back in the late 60's down here in Springfield, Mo., my siblings and I used to listen to the top 40 countdown on Saturday mornings and write all the songs and artists down because the radio station, KWTO, would run contests throughout the day and week. You had to be the correct number caller and then tell them where the song they played ranked on the top 40. If you won, you went by the station and they gave six 45's to you. One of the many times I won, among the six was "I Can't Seem To Make You Mine" by the Seeds. I had never heard it before but I instantly liked it. The flip side is "I Tell Myself". I still have it. And with that six-pack I also got "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" but not by the "Hollies". Mine is by "Kelly Gordon". I really like it better. 
Loving the Garage Band Countdown! 
Stacee  

Kent, My Old Friend, 
Give a hug to {{{{Frannie}}}, as well. 
I was playing name that tune in an internet room the other day and a guy says ... hey, if you guys like the oldies, a guy named Kent Kotal does a great job on his website. I had to tell him that I knew you when and that we even sat next to each other at a wedding done by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas! LOL. 
I'm really enjoying the garage band series and had to have a look at the videos to each. 
Keep up the good work, my friend.   
hugs,
Mike Schooler(MSchoBlue)

Wow! Been a long time, Mike ... great to hear from you ... and great to hear that the chat rooms are buzzing about our series. Good word of mouth to be sure ... and EVERYBODY seems to have loved the videos. (First time we've really gone that route ... but these vintage clips are priceless!!! And, as mentioned before, quite addictive ... NOBODY can watch just one!) kk   

Loving the garage band series and especially the videos. I've watched every one -- and then probably at least half a dozen more after that, thanks to all the "similar" links offered at the end. Seen some great clips I've never seen before. Great job on the series -- keep up the good work.

Mike   

Totally Cool Kent - this is simply great. Been really enjoying the series, especially since we knew and played with most of these great groups. Been I touch with some of them again in the past few years, particularly due to your FH Newsletter putting us in touch again. Can't thank you enough for that.

Ken Evans

The Fifth Estate

And thank YOU, Ken, for sending us a few copies of the brand new Fifth Estate "Anthology Volume 1" CD to give away to some of our readers. This is a recently released 2-CD Set featuring over tracks of The Fifth Estate from the various stages of their career. (You even get the rare Italian Version of their biggest hit "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead"!!! lol)

Interested in winning a copy? Just drop us a note and we'll throw your name in the hat. And ONE lucky winner will not only win the 2-CD Anthology set but will ALSO win a copy of The Fifth Estate's latest album, "Time Tunnel", a great CD tha they released earlier this year. (kk)   

I have been loving this garage band series and have sent the links to several friends who were not Forgotten Hits readers before. I especially like the video clips ... but I've found it impossible to watch just one. Every time I click on one and the song ends, it offers up several other suggestions of songs from this era ... and I've seen some great clips. This is one of your better series ... are you going to run some kind of a recap listing all the artists in order when you're done?

Bill

Actually, Bill, that's EXACTLY what we're going to do. Once this series runs its course, we're going to permanently post The Top 50 All-Time Favorite Garage Bands on The Forgotten Hits Website where folks can continue to discover it for years to come. (It won't have any music ... and will be a somewhat "stripped down" version of the two week series ... but the basic bios will be there ... and fans will get the chance to see which acts finished between numbers 34 and 50!)

Yeah, those YouTube clips are addictive ... you can spend a couple hours here before you even know it ... but it is SO good to see some of this stuff again ... or for the very first time. I especially love those clips where our previous generation's heroes ... Jack Benny ... Steve Allen ... Dean Martin and so many others ... try to stay "hip" with their audience by featuring the latest "fad" sounds in music. (That Blues Magoos clip of "Tobacco Road" may be the ULTIMATE example!) Glad you're enjoying the series. (kk)

More Of Your Garage Band Comments

Kent,
What a great way to get up in the morning and to really waken up. I play snippets of your songs which really get me going before I go off to work. I play them in their entirety later on in the day. SURFING BIRD did make it to number one here in OKC.
Larry Neal

Kent,

Have you considered the early Beach Boys catalog? While they came out of the gate with an harmonic California sound, their early instrumentation was the sound of a garage band. Listen to Carl Wilson's lead and David Marks' rhythm guitars, especially on the instrumental cuts on the Beach Boys first three albums (instrumentals were a high percentage of their early albums).

Phil

wwwPrayForSurfBlog.blogspot.com

Actually, no less an authority than Fred Vail nominated The Beach Boys early on ... but unfortunately they barely earned enough votes to register. (Obviously they started there in the garage ... or The Wilson's music room ... but who didn't??? And some of their earlier album tracks may have had that garage band sound ... but that would never outweigh the path they blazed with their distinctive surf rock and their exquisite harmonies.)  kk

Speaking of The Beach Boys, Carl Wilson's former brother-in-law Billy Hinsche was also nominated for his work with Dino, Desi and Billy ... (they, too, missed the final countdown.)   

Here's a recap of a previous discussion we had on their garage band roots ...  

'60's FLASHBACK: I asked Billy Hinsche (who was nominated for his work as part of Dino, Desi and Billy) if they considered themselves to be essentially a garage band when they were first starting out. (Of course, I had to kid with him a little bit first ... as I imagine theirs must have been was one HELL of a garage ... probably not too made bands had to have their parents pull the Ferrari and the Rolls Royce out of the way in order to set up their drum kits way back when!!!) Anyway, good sport that he is, he sent me a GREAT response ... so please read on! (kk)

My best friend Dino Martin and I began singing songs as a duo at the age of 13 in 1964, playing non-amplified nylon-stringed acoustic guitars and covering the songs of Chad & Jeremy, Peter & Gordon, The Everly Brothers and some of the simpler Beatles' tunes. At some point we decided it would sound even better and look even cooler if we played electric guitars and had a drummer. We knew that our younger school mate, Desi Arnaz, Jr., was already an accomplished drummer and he seemed like the perfect choice. He accepted our invitation without hesitation one day on our lunch break on the playground of our grammar school, Good Shepherd aka Beverly Hills Catholic School.

The next step was for us to find a place to rehearse. Up until that point, Dino and I had just practiced at the Martin's home and it was fairly easy for us to pack up our guitars and carry them wherever we needed to go; but Desi's drums weren't quite as mobile so we decided the best place for us to get together was where his drums were already set up and ready to play - at his mother's house. His mother being Lucille Ball. We weren't old enough to drive, so my dad (Otto Hinsche) would usually be the one to drive Dino and I over to Desi's and then either pick us up later or have Frank Gorey (Lucy's driver and all-around right hand man) drive us both home at the end of our rehearsal. 

Lucy lived at the corner of Roxbury and Lexington with her second husband, comedian Gary Morton, in a home purchased for her by former husband, Desi Arnaz. The two-story home (which no longer exists in its original form) had a lovely front lawn, parallel hedges leading to the front door, and a driveway along the North side of the property next to Jack Benny's home. Beyond the black, cast iron gates of the driveway was a three-car garage on the right where you might see the family station wagon or Lucy's powder blue Rolls Royce.

At the very end of the driveway and attached to a guest house was another garage that had been converted into a room for Desi Jr. and his older sister, Lucie, to stage plays and performances; at the back of the room was a short riser with a curtain, and tiny dressing rooms on either side. This room would later transform again and would include a small billiard table in the middle of the room. On center stage were Desi's Pearl Gray Gretsch drums and Ziljan cymbals (Desi told me he still has them and thinks they're the best cymbals made) and that's where Dino and I set up our small amps - Dino hadn't even started to play bass yet and we were both playing our new electric guitars and strumming in unison, so you can imagine how it sounded! 

One day, we were surprised and delighted to see Chad & Jeremy standing in front of us at the entrance of the "garage" watching our rehearsal - they were going to appear on both Lucy's and Dean Martin's television shows and had dropped by to check us out. What a thrill meeting a couple of our heroes from The British Invasion - I'll never forget it and we remain friends to this day. 

It wasn't long before we outgrew Lucy's place, eventually setting up shop at Dean's home though not in a garage; it was a room that was a combination of a large den, pocket pool table room and projection room all rolled into one. Dino and I now had new Super Beatle Vox amps and were playing Hofner bass and 12-string electric Rickenbacker guitars respectively, and Desi would simply leave his drum kit on the small riser on the "stage" underneath where the movie screen would lower and raise from the ceiling. It is here that we honed our skills every day after school and where Jeanne Martin (Dean's wife) would hear us practicing and thought enough of us to call family friend Frank Sinatra to give us an audition for his label, Reprise. 

Well, we passed the audition, were signed to Reprise, officially became known as Dino, Desi & Billy, recorded four albums with the label and, as they say, 'the rest is history' - and it all started out in a converted garage."

-- Billy Hinsche

(Left to right): Billy Hinsche, Desi Arnaz, Jr., Dino Martin

Caption: Dino, Desi & Billy use Vox Amplifiers

Photo: Billy Hinsche Archives / used with permission

Billy also sent me a couple of links regarding a brand new video release he has coming out just in time for Christmas ... assembled from the home movie archives of both the Billy Hinsche and Carl Wilson families, here is a ton of never-before-seen footage of live in the '60's ... check out the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iIQ2doMpF4&feature=em-share_video_user

and full information here: http://www.billyhinsche.com/home-movies.html

Here's their most-famous hit ... "I'm A Fool" ... which DEFINITELY has that "garage band feel", courtesy of the familiar "Louie Louie" / "Hang On Sloopy" opening guitar riff!  (kk)
 

When Davie Allan saw that he and The Arrows made the list, he was direct and to the point ... 
 
Kent,
Cool!
Thanks!
Davie Allan
(No wasted words there!  lol)  Thanks, Davie!   (kk)  

Kent ...

I've been following the Garage Band series, and it's great! I love all of the bands listed. I wanted to share a Garage Band with everyone here that no one here has heard of, except for Mike Dugo maybe. My 1965 band,"The Legions", who were truly a Garage Band ... because we never made it out of the garage! Well, we did play some WIBG and WFIL dances and a few School hops, but success never found us. We covered almost every band listed in the Garage Band series,and we did record one record called "She's Gone" (not the Hall & Oates hit) with our parents' money. It was written by me and our Guitarist Jeff Chadrow. "The Legions" were in hot competition with another local Garage Band called "Thuh Squamps" ... featuring Dr. Bob Rush! (Yep, "Thuh", not "The" ... it was always good to be different in those days!) Anyway, I've attached an MP3 of our single along with a photo. I'm the one sitting on the bottom step. The photo was taken in 1966 and I'm wearing my Nesmith Woolhat!

It's all good, because it gave me an education I could never have gotten in school, and it prepared me for what was to come for me later in The Rip Chords.

Mitch Schecter / The Rip Chords  

VERY Cool, Mitch! Mike Dugo knows garage bands better than anybody including a whole bunch that pooled their own money to lay down tracks and press their own records. Readers who enjoyed our series should check out Mike's website as well ... www.60sgaragebands.com (kk)

  

Even Mike Dugo (of 60sGarageBands.com) dug our series ... and he helped write all of the bios!!!  (kk)   

I am definitely enjoying the series, Kent. I hope you're getting some good feedback as well. I know, of course, the groups that are in the countdown, but you never did give me the final tally so I'm also looking forward to seeing the final placements right along with everybody else. I am really enjoying your comments on each group as well. The radio program sounds cool. It will be a great tie-in.

I had no idea Mike Rabon wrote a book about The Five Americans. I just ordered it!

Best,

Mike Dugo

60sGarageBands.com

Mike and I have decided to expand the list to include The Top 50 Vote Getters ... with new bios on some of these additions.  Look for it to show up soon on the other Forgotten Hits website ... www.forgottenhits.com!

As for my comments, just to keep things interesting, I wrote all of MY comments before reading any of yours ... I was curious to see where we'd cross paths and on a number of occasions we both chose to highlight certain career milestones for the artists ... which I thought was kinda cool (in a "great minds think alike" kind of way.)

kk

More Garage Band Comments tomorrow ... stay tuned!

Here's A Guy Who Knows A Thing Or Two About Playing In A Couple Of Garage Bands!!!

Rick Barr is in the enviable position of playing drums for the current editions of both The New Colony Six AND The Shadows Of Knight. As you know, BOTH of these bands wound up in The Top Five of our recent "All-Time Top 20 Favorite Garage Bands Poll".   

I couldn't help but wonder what it feels like to provide the backbeat for two of Chicagoland's most legendary bands ... and work with the original founders of these groups, Ray Graffia, Jr. (NC6) and Jimy Sohns (SoK).   

Hey, Kent!  

Your recent survey results on top garage bands gave me cause to stop and reminisce about playing in the New Colony Six and the Shadows of Knight. Your readers have placed both bands in the list of their all-time favorites. 

My experience with New Colony goes back to 1969. Pat McBride's production company, Sanctuary, was managing my band Trilogy, and so there was a lot of cross-traffic going on -- we played opening dates for Colony, and the Trilogy songwriters contributed to Colony releases. People And Me, Never Be Lonely, Someone, Sometime and I Don't Really Want to Go were penned by Bob Wilson and Skip Griparis of Trilogy. I got to know Pat and Ronnie Rice pretty well, playing demos for Skip and Ronnie at the time, which led, in January, 1971, to Trilogy being asked to record the band track to Colony's last really successful release," Roll On", in June of '71. We rehearsed it in Skip's home studio and laid it down at RCA Chicago, with Brian Christian engineering. It was a really fun session, and ended up with just about everyone in the studio -- including Brian -- singing on the chorus out.   

I joined the Colony in 1973, replacing Billy Herman, and traveled with them through '73 and '74, when we closed up shop. On the road, I often roomed with Gerry Van Kollenberg, the original guitarist for the band. A fine gentleman, and an intensely dedicated guitarist.  

Cut to 1988, and for me, many bands later, the Colony regrouped to play a sold-out show at Park West. The lineup included most of the original members including founder Ray Graffia, Ronnie Rice, Bruce Gordon and Bruce Mattey, with Billy Herman on drums. I was at the show and was just knocked out at how strong the band sounded, and the crowd was as well. Although it was cast as a one-time-only date, promoters asked for more, and they asked me to join once again -- I believe Billy Herman had other obligations.   

For a decade, we had plenty of work at all the local area festivals, often appearing with our contemporaries, the Cryan' Shames, the Shadows of Knight, the Ides of March and the Buckinghams. Huge fun because by then we were all survivors, and were all happy to see each other and catch up -- lots of camaraderie there.  

During that period, the summer, about '94 or '95, the Shadows' drummer (Bean Wang) broke his hand in an auto accident and Jimy Sohns called me to sub for the season. More great fun, getting to play Jimy's hits on the same stages the Colony was playing. The Shadows took a much harder-edged approach -- they were the loudest band I ever worked with. Jimy sings so loudly we always had to turn off the center-stage wedges to keep his voice from deafening us. I actually split the top rim of my snare drum during that season, something the folks at the Drum Pad in Palatine had never seen done before. The drum company asked to keep it as a curiosity when I replaced it. A few times both bands appeared together, allowing me the very rare opportunity to play both shows.    

From then ' til now the Colony lineup has been pretty stable, though, as everyone knows, we lost long-time member and pal Mark Eskine a couple of years back.  

With the recent re-discovery of Garage Rock, the Colony was asked two years ago to headline CaveStomp, known as the premier venue for the genre, an annual event staged at Warsaw in the Bronx. We were paired with the Strawberry Alarm Clock and a half-dozen other garage-type bands from regional markets in the U.S.and the U.K. We had to go back into rehearsal to reclaim a dozen songs from the first albums that Ray had written but we'd never played. It was very rewarding to see a packed house singing along with those older rarities -- they were true fans of the era, some as young as 18 - 19, some our age.  

In a recent development, for the last year and a half, I've been working again with Jimy Sohns in the Shadows of Knight, with virtually the same lineup as in the 90's, and in his other effort, Jimy Sohns's Rock N Roll Sideshow, which features a rotating lineup of guitarists from bands like the Rasberries, Gary Lewis and Peter Noone -- some very serious talent there! Jimy's still got it -- we still have to turn off the center wedges when he sings, and he's still a terrific frontman and showman. The stories he has to tell!! 

In all, over a career that's lasted longer than I'd like to say, I can honestly say that there is nothing better than being in groups like the Colony and the Shadows. Every person on stage is there because they just absolutely want to be there, playing those songs. And what songs! Since I was a little younger, every one of the songs we play, I listened to as a teenager, and these players were among the people I idolized. How often does it occur that you get to work with the people you looked up to, and play the songs that defined your formative years? For me, I work hard at being mindful of every note we play, and trying to really be in the moment every minute we're together. We all know it's a rare privilege.  

Garage Rock? Yes, indeed, more please ... and can never get enough. 

Thanks for all you do for music, Kent.
Rick Barr   
New Colony Six / Shadows Of Knight  

SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS: 

You got me early in the morning listening to New Colony Six now and no, never are they 'Garage' ... nothing like the Kingsmen or mid period of the Raiders. I mean Paul Revere & the Raiders were like a revolving door just like the Grassroots ... they even had a young Ry Cooder helping them out in the 'Kicks' period, a Garage styled track and yes 'Just Like Me' also. Mark Lindsay was a fucking incredible vocalist and still is ... his entry brought those incredible albums Collage and Indian Reservation and Freddy Weller on guitar kicks like a mule on heat. Cryan Shames were neither 'Garage' but more psychedelic barring their 'sugar' interlude, best left unsaid. Garage is blistering driving beat, almost punk vibe and pretty rough all round such as Sons Of Adam, The Seeds or Sonics, but no way New Colony Six, who were more gifted with exquisite, even paisley creations, even better their refined reformation as The Raymond John Michael Band. ? Mark & the Mysterians were 'Chicano Farfisa' rhythms, like Buddy Holly, who never played a day's rock n' roll in his life, upstaged all the time by The Bobby Fuller Four ... so how 'American Pie' can be attributed to him beats me. Cochran yes yes. I don't believe its just shades of grey but definitive genre. Anyhow, I love them all, each with its own dimension and the latter of that was immortalized by the glorious Flock. That's my blurb from the tip of Africa Cape Town.

Author / Radio Presenter Shiloh Noone   

Kent ...  
I can't buy Ray Graffia and the New Colony Six as a garage band. As you know, I was a road manager for the "6" 40 years ago and when you think of them recording at Chess and turning out such wonderful melodies they just don't fit the garage band mold. Ronnie Rice and Ray Graffia both had tremendous vocal capability. They actually could have flown with out the late Les Stewart and Pat McBride. I often thought Ray and Ronnie would eventually tag team and form their own group. No dice.
Really, is "I Will Always Think About You" so-called "garage band" material? Or "I Confess", a remarkable "first time effort", by the kids from St. Patrick High School.
Lets face it ... The Shames wanted to be the Colony ... and I always felt the The Buckinghams were a little jealous of the Colony's ability to harmonize.
By the way, if you're scoring at home I think my "princely" wage with the 6 topped off at about 70 bucks a week. But the memories carry no price. They were beyond memorable for 19 years old kid who wound up becoming a sportscaster.
Chet Coppock
Notre Dame Football - WLS   

Sorry, guys, but we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Listen to The New Colony Six's earliest tracks like "Dawn Is Breaking" or "At The River's Edge" (perhaps the first rock suicide song ever recorded ... this one's even got a touch of the blues!) Check out their version of the Bo Diddley tune "Cadillac" ... or a couple of the ones we featured the other day on the website (like "I Confess" or "I Lie Awake"). These are precursors to punk if there ever were some. Yes, they toned down their act (and achieved their greatest pop success) when they played it straight with great ballad hits like "I Will Always Think About You", "Things I'd Like To Say" and "Can't You See Me Cry" ... but before all of that, these guys tore things up. (kk)

Great edition this week. Anything to do with Cameo Parkway always makes it for me. Question Mark and New Colony Six (distributed by C/P).
Dave    
www.vinylphilly.squarepins.org  

Hey, thanks for The Shadows Of Knight!!!  
John 

Hi Kent ...

I haven't been in touch for a while but am still an avid reader of your pages. It's interesting to see your local take on tracks compared to what was happening in Australia at the same time. For instance, Them's Gloria was a huge hit here and Van Morrison's star still shines bright over us. I guess that's because our culture at the time was still so strongly linked to the U.K.

Can I just put my hand up and suggest that the Easybeats deserve to hold down a spot in your list. Their Friday on my Mind might be reasonably well known over there but it was only one of a large catalogue of garage styled hits here in Australia, that are pretty well unknown in the UK or the US, and in my opinion are the equal of anything else in that genre ... look up Sorry, or Wedding Ring on YouTube ... play it loud - and you'll see what I mean.

Regards and best wishes,

Murray Walding,

Lorne,

Victoria.

Australia

Unfortunately, by the time we started publishing the results of our poll, all of the votes had already been tabulated ... so we can't really go back now and cast votes for any other artists ... but, as I recall, The Easybeats weren't even nominated ... and that's a shame. You're right ... they were MUCH bigger in Australia than they were here in The States, where "Friday On My Mind" was their only Top 20 Hit. (Has anybody ever done a Whitburn-type book on the Australian charts? I figured this would have been right up Glenn Baker's alley! We've got them for the United States, Great Britain and Canada ... and I'd LOVE to add Australia to the mix.) Check out the YouTube clips and see what you think ... there was more to this group than just the one hit we heard here. (kk)   

My cousin recently met Van Morrison aboard a cruise ship. She told him that one of her all-time favorite songs was "Brown-Eyed Girl." Van told her that as a young boy he had a female dog that had one blue eye and one brown eye, and that he wrote Brown-Eyed Girl for that dog. I had heard that story behind the song before, but this is the first time I had heard of Van telling the story himself.
Thanks,
Roger Kirkpatrick
Abilene, Texas

I tried to contact Van for our Favorite Garage Bands Series ... I figured it had been awhile since anybody asked him to say a few words about Them and thought he might actually get a kick out of talking about it again ... but unfortunately never heard back. He's still recording new music ... in fact, he just recently the very cleverly titled CD "Born To Sing: No Plan B" was released. Morrison's music has stood the test of time ... I've become a big fan over the years ... but repeated radio airplay has ruined some of these songs for me. Funny, but I can listen to "Brown-Eyed Girl", a song I used to LOVE, within the context of say Van's Greatest Hits Album ... or in a film like "Sleeping With The Enemy" ... but turn it off EVERY TIME it comes on the radio because they have just played it to death. What a shame ... 'cause it's a really great song! (kk)   

Speaking of Them, Iggy Pop wrote this brief review of their first album for that book we keep talking about, "101 Essential Rock Albums" ...   

I bought my first record in 1960; I was 13. I had $1 of my own money and I bought “Red River Rock,” an album by Johnny and The Hurricanes, at the Woolworth's in the first mall opened in southern Michigan.

I found out about music and groups from my friend in junior high school, Jim McLaughlin. He had a guitar and amp, because his dad was a ham radio nut. He played me his Ray Charles records, and Elvis, too. We formed a duo for the school talent show; I called it the Megaton 2. We played “What I’d Say,” and “Let There Be Drums,” which was a record I owned by Sandy Nelson. Later Jim and I started The Iguanas.

The radio in Detroit wasn't that great, but nowhere near as bad as it is now. You could hear the Beatles, Stones, Ronettes, Wailers, Booker T, early Motown, Jackie Wilson, the Kinks, and other good stuff on CKLW, the Detroit AM station, but you had to be patient and listen to lots of shit like Peter and Gordon, Freddie and the Dreamers, Lesley Gore, Frankie Avalon, etc., to hear what you liked. When I later got a job at a record store, it really opened up my knowledge of music. The other people who worked there were experts in classical music, avant-garde, R&B and blues as well as rock, and I took it all in. The store was loosely organized, so when I wanted to hear a record, I just opened it up and played it right there.

I probably first heard “Gloria” by Them. When I bought the album it was the American version of “The Angry Young Them,” the same album, but with a hideous ugly orange cover, and it just said “Them.” Now I have a vinyl copy of the original. It still blows my mind. I would listen over and over and over to “Mystic Eyes,” and “One Two Brown Eyes.” Those two cuts really influenced my ideas of what The Stooges could be.

At about that time I was listening to all the good English groups plus Bob Dylan plus anything that came from San Francisco plus Love, plus tons of garage rock. Them was by far the most experimental, but also had a kind of doomed quality that I liked, because I could see that these guys weren't cute, didn't know how to dress and did not have a commercial touch except for the one hit, “Gloria.” “Gloria” at the time was completely inescapable all over the U of M (University of Michigan) campus and at any club, anywhere with live music. Every band covered it, including my own. I think the liner notes were really pathetic. What a great example of a repressed, apologetic, neurotic show-biz bullshitter. I never saw Them, but I saw Van play once at the Troubadour in LA. It was around the time of “Moondance.” He was very stern, and the group members all looked ill. He was so cool, the best thing he did was pick up a chair with one hand and wave it over his head while he screamed. I saw him do the same thing on TV on “American Bandstand.” I guess it was his one stage move. I've always wondered where he got it. The way Van's voice ripped through the mic. and the simple arrangements and spirit of experiment was a huge deal for me. I still listen to the record in the early mornings and when I want to get worked up.

Iggy Pop     

 

 

While the band would probably consider Them-selves as more of a British Blues Band than a Garage Band (which is interesting enough as it is, since they were actually Irish!!!), YOU guys felt they deserved a spot on our list of Top 20 Favorites.  As such, you voted them into the  Runners Up #31 spot.  This classic track may lean more toward the band's self-image than our own.  (kk)