Actually, it was the discussion of ? and the Mysterians that got this whole Garage Band Poll going in the first place. (I tried to reach Rudy Martinez ... who apparently ONLY goes by the name "Question Mark" these days ... for a few words and comments regarding their Top Five showing ... but never heard back. If any of our readers can let him know about our series ... and how well they fared in the countdown ... I'd appreciate it.)
Remember all the publicity Prince got when he changed his name to a symbol? (And can you believe that was TWENTY YEARS AGO already?!?!?) And everybody thought it was such an original and unique concept??? Au contraire, mespetitschouchous ... Rudy Martinez was using the "?" question mark symbol nearly thirty years earlier ... and went so far as to legally changing his name to "?" years later.
"96 Tears" is, without question... pun intended ...one of the stand-out tracks of the '60's ... it has SUCH a distinctive sound that, once you hear it, it never leaves you. It topped the charts in late 1966 and (despite the fact that, until recently, Cameo / Parkway material hasn't been commercially available for ages), has never really been off the radio.
The band had other chart hits, too ... "I Need Somebody" followed it into The Top 40, peaking at #15 later that same year ... and "Can't Get Enough Of You, Baby", while only reaching #47, became one of those huge, signature tunes when it was recorded by Smash Mouth thirty years later. (kk)
Perhaps the only group universally classified as a “garage band” to top the charts, Flint, Michigan’s ? & The Mysterians’ were led by Rudy Martinez, who also wrote their classic ‘96 Tears’. The organ-driven song has often times been credited with having the term “punk rock” — for the first time in print — applied to it (by critic Dave Marsh). ? & The Mysterians are often regarded as a “one-hit wonder”, but their follow-up song ‘I Need Somebody’ just missed making the Top 20.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
That "cheesy" Farfisa Organ became an integral part of the '60's sound ... and the intro to all of their hits immediately let the listener know that ? and the Mysterians were on the air!!! Great times ... great memories. (kk)
A recent film documentary by Terry Murphy declares ? and the Mysterians to be "The World's Greatest Garage Band" ... and they are, without QUESTION, right up there at the top ... but according to YOUR votes ... they OFFICIALLY come in at #4.
My all-time favorite of the '60's Chicagoland Groups is The New Colony Six. They were the ones that broke the ground for all of the other bands to follow ... The Buckinghams, The Shadows Of Knight, The Cryan' Shames, The Ides Of March, The American Breed ... ALL of these other local groups followed in their footsteps ... and made HUGE impressions on our Chicagoland Charts once The New Colony Six paved the way with their "breakthrough" single "I Confess" in late 1965.
How weird is it that The New Colony Six and Paul Revere and the Raiders follow each other in this countdown??? Both dressed in revolutionary garb as a gimmick, trying to get noticed amongst all of the'60's rock bands springing up hot on the heels of The British Invasion. In fact, both groups even ended up staying at the same hotel in California for a short while after they made their way west seeking fame and fortune.
The difference, of course, is that Paul Revere and the Raiders got signed by Dick Clark and ended up hosting a daily afternoon music fest called "Where The Action Is" ... and The New Colony Six came home depressed and dejected ... only to find their own success some months later when some of the band members' parents pooled their money to start a small, independent record label in order to press up copies of their latest efforts.
Soon they were all over the radio ... and Chicagoland charts. Some of these records even crossed over to become national hits. And while they may always be best remembered for their late '60's ballads "I Will Always Think About You" and "Things I'd Like To Say", the band began as a TRUE garage band in every sense of the genre. (In fact, a few years ago, The New Colony Six ... still performing gigs around the area in the summer months ... were invited out to New York City to perform at Cavestomp, an annual salute to Garage Band and Punk Music!)
How popular were they here in Chicago? Well, to give you an idea, BOTH of today's featured tracks peaked at #2 on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey ... and these came a couple of years before Ronnie Rice joined the band and took them down the ballads road to success.
Here's their well-known (in Chicagoland anyway) appearance from that television classic "Kiddie A-Go-Go", performing "I Lie Awake". (This one sounds like they took George Gershwin out to the garage and gave him a little bit of an attitude adjustment ... listen closely and you'll hear the melody of Gershwin's infamous "Rhapsody In Blue" intertwined with The New Colony Six's very own on the verses of this song!)
We've also got a couple of their early local hits to share ... First up ... "I Confess", their chart debut, followed by "Love You So Much", both of which reached #2 locally!
Another great Chicago group, the New Colony Six, are best known for their two excellent light rock hits of the late ‘60s: ‘I Will Always Think About You’ and ‘Things I’d Like To Say’ (two personal favorites). Their earlier albums, Breakthrough and Colonization — and their singles recorded for the Centaur (Sentar) label, particularly ‘At The River’s Edge’ and ‘I Confess’ — are much more indicative of the garage rock sound. Bonus points awarded for the garage pop sound of ‘I Love You So Much’, another personal favorite.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
We did a month-long feature on The New Colony Six a few years ago in Forgotten Hits ... so I was especially pleased to hear from some of the original guys about their high-ranking "All-Time Favorite Garage Band" placement!
Kent,
It was great to hear that so many people continue to remember the New Colony 6 and are willing to vote for us. If a basement band qualifies as a garage band we are still in the race. My basement was where we did our rehearsing until the “big time” and we got rehearsal space on S. Michigan Ave. I don’t think that I ever really thanked my parents for their patience and understanding and willingness to give up hearing the sound of their favorite TV shows while we were downstairs learning our craft. Here’s to you Mom and Dad.
Best Regards,
Chic James
What was the inspiration for your name?
An empty bottle of Old Colony soda, a little imagination and the fact that there were six of us.
What was your greatest motivation to be successful?
We wanted to be successful enough that we wouldn't have to play for adults (who had all the money) and could play exclusively for kids (who were all the fun).
How did you select your songs? Did you use any studio musicians?
We wanted to be 100% us. We wrote, arranged, recorded and performed everything ourselves. We didn't want to be anyone else or let anyone else tell us what to do or how to do it.
What was the strangest experience you ever had?
In 1965 we packed our bags, got on a bus and headed for fame and fortune in LA. We picked out a motel, and within 30 minutes of checking in, Paul Revere and the Raiders checked into the same motel wearing the same outfits. Only difference - they had an audition to do Where the Action Is - we had zot. So we spent the summer doing battles of the bands, free parking lot concerts, and store openings.
Interesting side note - we did some of the store openings with a young and unknown Glen Campbell. And all that free time solidified our writing and arranging skills.
"And it's all true. Give or take a lie or two."
Walt Kemp
We can only vote for ONE Garage Band?
That would be the NEW COLONY SIX.
In as much as I have some history with this band, it would be only fitting for MY VOTE to go to them. You could ask why?
WHY NOT?
They have proven to be the absolute rock bottom beginning of the Garage Band Era. The Genesis of the term.
They started out in a Garage. But as they got better and they upgraded to a basement.
Many of those early song where created in that environment of Concrete and Wooden Studs.
I CONFESS, was forged from that environment. Then song after song seemed to be produced from just Concrete and Studs.
Actually Kent, just foolin' around. I have been watching this Garage Band Vote and am very proud to be part of it.
It is a very cool idea and gives everyone a chance to give thought of the beginning of what we now call the Garage Band Era.
Keep up the Great work! Subjects like this will always spark interest.
Craig Kemp
NC6
To those who voted for us and any of you who still occasionally spin our vinyl or turn on one of the many compilation New Colony Six CDs, I offer you this hastily crafted lyrical reworking of Elf Song (Ballad of the Wingbat Marmaduke). I will grant you that this choice is odd, especially considering the genre where you gave us kudos, but it’s what came to me this morning --- new words, for your amusement, to a very peculiar song that Pat, Gerry and I wrote in late 1965, which eventually wound up on our Colonization album. It was both a massive failure as a single release and would surely require a mighty stretch to be considered representative of garage rock. Nevertheless, perhaps it offers a peek inside one of the six minds who didn’t know enough about music at the time to preclude accidentally bringing something new to the marketplace; but I digress.
Without further ado, with inspirational credit for the original song to J.R. R. Tolkien, whose literary classics all NC6ers enjoyed reading (in the decades prior to his works becoming cinematic treasures), I offer you Ray’s Song (Ballad of the New Colony Six):
Many years ago in Chic’s basement in Big C(hicago)
A strange sextet, young men, became celebrities.
We laughed and we played,
Rock & roll, unafraid –
Garage rock’s what they called the tunes we made.
Paid! Laid … Grayed?
Everybody said,
“What’s that fur on your head?
You a girl, boy? Comb that mop, hippie!”
Freak, Geek, ‘Nique …
Gigs got bigger sized;
Semi-stars in our eyes.
Six’s Breakthrough; Beatles’ Rubber Soul.
Feat, Beat, Neat!
Adventures to us had much appeal (Ooh, Ahh, Ooh, Ahh)
The more excitement the better we’d feel! (Woo, Hah, Woo, Hah)
But once upon a time,
Amidst this stardom climb,
Some dingbat arguments spread terror far.
Oh, No! Woe..
Senseless quibbles here,
Changing folks and gears,
New direction; become balladeers!
Strangers; (Ar)rangers = Danger!
Armed with pop rock hits
Then the DJs quit
Playing NC6 – the end was near…
But what then?
Time-off; Re-unite. We still play some nights.
OR
Google; YouTube; MySpace; FaceBook; SEARCH!
For New Colony Six compilations that are still out there – [although we have no incentive to tell you about them other than the ego boost in knowing y’all still care enough to buy a disc or download a tune … ] – see Sundazed (USA), Rhino (USA), Rev-Ola (UK), Cherry Red (UK), Mercury of Japan …
Peace …
Ray Graffia, Jr.
Thank you, Ray ... and GREAT way to scam another New Colony Six track into the mix ... because my guess is VERY few readers will be able to sing along to this one in their heads without at least first hearing the original track! (lol)
As always, thank you for your continued support of Forgotten Hits ... and congratulations to ALL the guys for their EXCELLENT showing in our countdown. See that ... the REAL fans remember ... and still care. (The New Colony Six are the first of five bands to break the 300-vote barrier in our recent All-Time Favorite Garage Bands Poll ... wtg, guys!) kk
Here's yet another one that kind of surprised me ... but the truth is, Paul Revere and the Raiders scored votes consistently throughout our polling process. (Maybe it's because they recorded THEIR version of "Louie Louie" at the very same studio that The Kingsmen recorded their chart-topping version ... and only a week apart!!!)
(Whew! Talk about your vintage clips ... and there's Mark Lindsay at his "saxy" best!)
Their music grew more and more sophisticated over time, especially once lead singer Mark Lindsay started writing songs with Producer Terry Melcher ... but some of their earliest hits ... like "Steppin' Out", "Just Like Me" and "Good Thing" probably all qualify as Garage Band Classics. (Maybe that's why the earned 292 of your votes, enough to land in Sixth Place on your All-Time Favorites list. (kk)
‘Hungy’. ‘Good Things’. ‘Steppin’ Out’. ‘Ups And Downs’. ‘Kicks’. ‘Him Or Me’ — great song after great song. Fate has played a cruel trick on Idaho’s Paul Revere & The Raiders, however. They’re perhaps considered too corny-mainstream (with their Revolutionary War outfits and teen magazine appeal) for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, and for too many years were considered too square / bubblegummy for garage rock fans (due to image — not sound). Those in the know today, however, realize what a fantastic band — pop, rock, garage or bubblegum — they truly were. Their string of hits (and non-hits) lands them squarely at the very top of any list of great ‘60s rock and roll groups. In 2012, there’s no denying Paul Revere & The Raiders all the accolades they’re due.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
I second THAT emotion! Having seen the guys a couple of times recently, I can personally vouch for just how much fun they are to watch, performing live in concert. (In my book, the best two live bands today performingon the "oldies circuit" are Paul Revere and the Raiders and Herman's Hermits featuring Peter Noone ... I've never seen anything less than a stellar show from either one of these artists!)
I asked Paul Revere if HE considered the band to be of the "Garage Band Persuasion" ... and he immediately said "Yes ... absolutely ... although they didn't call them garage bands back then".
Paul Revere and The Raiders were a total garage band in the beginning, although I don't remember using that term ourselves back then. We were influenced by the great R&B bands of the time and we ended up sounding a lot like a funky Rolling Stones, although we had never even heard of them back then. It's funny that they were influenced by American R&B bands, and straight ahead blues, too, and they wound up sounding pretty similar to us. The Raiders were basically just a bunch of crazy, fun loving wild men who loved R&B and loved to play party rock!
Once we hooked up with Columbia, Terry Melcher and Dick Clark, we kind of got molded and squeezed into a certain direction with a much slicker sound. We still had a hard edge but it was more polished. All of the TV we did really changed everything too, we had to be much more commercial. We went kicking and screaming at first but eventually we developed a sound that was our own out of all of those influences, and had great success.
I can't tell you how many big rock stars I’ve met from the 70s, 80s and 90s who tell me how much Paul Revere and The Raiders influenced their own sound and helped give them their edge while they were cutting their teeth in music, That’s something I'm really proud of.
Paul Revere
Listen to the records and watch the old clips ... sometimes and it's hard to tell Mark Lindsay and Mick Jagger apart!
These guys ABSOLUTELY belong in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... it's criminal that they've never even been nominated. And I don't care if you catch the current version of Paul Revere and the Raiders, featuring the craziest guy in rock and roll, Paul Revere, newcomers lead vocalist Darren Dowler and our buddy Tommy Scheckel on drums and long-timers Ron Foos, Danny Krause and Doug Heath ... or former lead vocalist Mark Lindsay, now performing as a solo artist (and stealing the show on The Happy Together Again Tour a couple of years ago, which he joins again in 2013), you really can't go wrong. (kk)
Yesterday we told Forgotten Hits email subscribers about the brand new "Where The Action Is" Tour featuring Paul Revere and the Raiders, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and The Association.
Mark Lindsay does not have any of his tour dates posted at this time ... and The Happy Together Again schedule for 2013 hasn't officially been released yet ... but you can rest assured that we will share this information with you as soon as it becomes available.
Tomorrow in Forgotten Hits ... those OTHER guys in their revolutionary outfits!!!
Here are YOUR OFFICIAL TOP 10 ALL-TIME FAVORITE GARAGE BANDS, as voted on by the readers of Forgotten Hits and Mike Dugo's 60sGarageBands.com website.
Thanks again to everybody who participated ... the folks who voted, the deejays who helped promote it and the artists who responded ... we couldn't have done it without you and it is through your acts of kindness that we can publish these results today.
When all was said and done, we received just over 9000 votes ... that's good enough for us to declare this as the definitive list.
And so ... without any further adieu (Lord knows we've waited long enough for this list to be published as it is!!!), here come Your Top 10 Favorites!!!
#10 - THE KNICKERBOCKERS
Their Beatles-sound-alike hit "Lies" is what put these guys on the map. It was a #4 Smash here in Chicago ... and also earned a #17 national showing. (Honestly, I preferred "Lies" to every single that the REAL Fab Four released in 1966! It was certainly a harkening back to their earlier sound and style.) Unfortunately, The Knickerbockers were never able to capture that sound again. A follow-up single "One Track Mind" stalled at #46 ... and then "High On Love" became their final chart single when it peaked at #94 later that same year.
It’s well documented that the Knickerbockers’ greatest success, ‘Lies’, was often times mistaken as the next Beatles song during its release in 1965. And while there are obviously many lesser groups a band can be compared to, the Knickerbockers recorded legacy still hold up fantastically well on its own. The New Jersey group really took off after migrating to Hollywood and, along the way, recorded such excellent songs as ‘High On Love’, ‘One Track Mind’, ‘I Can Do It Better’, ‘Rumors Gossip Lies Untrue’, ‘Please Don’t Love Him’ and ‘They Ran For Their Lives’.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
#9 - THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR
The Bobby Fuller Story is the greatest rock and roll movie never made ... nearly fifty years later there are still countless unanswered questions surrounding the mysterious death of Bobby Fuller, who scored a Top Ten rock and roll classic in 1966 with his version of "I Fought The Law". As quickly as his star rose, he was gone.
We've documented the story as we know it on our other Forgotten Hits Website:
The Bobby Fuller Four earned 226 of your votes to land at #9 in our special countdown of your All-Time Top 20 Favorite Garage Bands. (kk)
Although hailing from El Paso, Texas, it wasn’t until the group moved to Hollywood that the Bobby Fuller Four truly experienced national success. Best known for their cover of Sonny Curtis’ ‘I Fought The Law’, the Bobby Fuller Four left behind an amazing legacy of classic songs. ‘Let Her Dance’ should have been a massive hit, and ‘Another Sad & Lonely Night’, ‘Love’s Made A Fool Of You’, ‘Don’t Ever Let Me Know’ and countless other songs place the group among the finest of all ‘60s rock bands. It’s unfortunate that today the mysterious circumstance surrounding Bobby Fuller’s death often times overshadows the group’s music.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
#8 - THE LEAVES
"Hey Joe" is a garage band classic ... there wasn't a band around that didn't play this one at the time. A relatively simple song to play, you didn't have to be a top-notch musician in order to sound like one when you played this song!
Although it has since gone on to be more closely associated with Jimi Hendrix (who slowed the tempo down dramatically), it was The Leaves who took this record all the way to #31 (and #9 here in Chicago!) in 1966. It would be their only chart hit ... but man, what a classic!
Apparently you guys agree ... that one hit propelled The Leaves to #8 on your Top 20 All-Time Favorite Garage Bands Countdown! (kk)
Since we’re being completely honest here, let’sunequivocally state that the Leaves version of ‘Hey Joe’ — their greatest chart success — blows Jimi Hendrix’ slowed down version out of the water … on this or any other planet. Although it was written by Billy Roberts and taught to the band by the Byrds, the Leaves took the song and made it uniquely their own. In doing so, they recorded a song that every garage band of the era also had to perform and / or record. The Los Angeles’ group follow-up, ‘Too Many People’, is another great example of garage rock.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
#7 - THE SEEDS
The Seeds topped the Chicago Charts with their first chart single, "Pushin' Too Hard". (Nationally it stopped at #36) Actually, their first single release, "Can't Seem To Make You Mine", failed to chart the first time around ... but when it was re-released as their third single, it just missed The Top 40, peaking at #41. Leader Sky Saxon died a few years back ... but the music of The Seeds plays on in Garage Band Heaven. You guys awarded them with 239 of your votes as your All-Time Favorite Garage Band ... and that's good enough for the #7 Spot on our special countdown. (kk)
Despite being the originators of “Flower Power”, most of the Seeds’ recordings are classic examples of garage rock. ‘Pushin’ To Hard’ was their biggest hit but they also had some chart success with ‘Can’t Seem To Make You Mine’ and ‘A Thousand Shadows’. Lead singer Sky Saxon personified the garage band front man with his exaggerated Jagger-like moves and atonal snarl. Mainly a Los Angles group, the Seeds managed to appear in the film Psych Out and made a classic appearance on the short-lived sitcom The Mothers-In- Law.
-- Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
And you have to admit that's it kinda cool that The Seeds follow The Leaves in this countdown ... a special kind of symmetry there, I think! (More symmetry to follow as we count down positions #6 and #5 ... y'all come back now, y'hear?!?!?) kk
Here's another group I wouldn't necessarily have classified as a "garage band" ... although I guess that technically they started that way. It's just that Tommy grew into SO many different musical directions that it's hard to "typecast" or classify him in any one specific genre.
"Hanky Panky" dates back to their early bar band days ... and was recorded over two years earlier than the time most of us heard it for the first time in 1966. (In fact by then, the original Shondells had already broken up!) "Say I Am" (which Tommy found on the B-Side of a Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs single, then titled "What I Am") kept that groove going ... but by the following year (when Tommy was writing his own stuff), his music took on a much more sophisticated sound. "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mirage" were both Top Ten Hits ... and in 1968 he recorded what can only be described as a "party anthem" called "Mony Mony".
He kicked off 1969 with the psychedelic "Crimson And Clover" (another tune that made our All-Time Top 20 Favorite Psychedelic Songs list a few years ago) ... and then followed that with the almost gospel-tinged "Sweet Cherry Wine" and the beautiful "Crystal Blue Persuasion", two more Top Ten smashes.
We've plugged Tommy's book "Me, The Mob And The Music" many times in Forgotten Hits ... and in it, he describes some of those earliest "garage band" days.
Here, with Tommy's kind permission, are a couple of short excerpts:
In September of 1959 I started seventh grade at Niles Junior High School. A few weeks into the semester I met a kid named Mike Booth, who played drums in the band. He said, "I hear you play guitar and sing. I have a full set of drums at home. What do you say we put together our own band for the variety show?"
"Hell, yes," I said ... "What variety show?"
"The big one they have every year in the auditorium." Mike knew these things because he was a year ahead of me in school. I did not realize it at the time, but this chance conversation would prove to be a major turning point in my life.
I went to Mike's house after school and was thrilled to find he had everything we needed: a full set of Ludwig drums, a heated garage, and parents who pretended to be deaf. Over the next few days, we managed to enlist two more kids from our school band who played trumpet and sax, plus one of Mike's neighbors, who passed for a piano player. Even though the sound was raw and crude, playing with other musicians for the first time was a thrill. It felt powerful; it was like "being a record," especially when we were all playing in the same key.
We practiced every day after school for a solid week and learned two songs: "Lonesome Town" by Ricky Nelson and "A Thousand Stars" by Kathy Young and the Innocents. We made a try at "Agnel Baby" as well, but two songs were about all this outfit could handle. We called ourselves the Echoes.
After a disc jockey in Pittsburgh broke the "Hanky Panky" single, James relocated and started a brand new version of The Shondells, picking up an existing group he heard in a bar to become his new back-up band. Once Roulette Records got behind the record, it became a national #1 Hit. Soon Tommy James and the Shondells were doing one-night stands all over the country. James remembers ...
Our first date was a local gig in Yonkers. We were slated to follow a little house band. They were just kids and I remember braggin, "We're going to blow these guys right off the stage." Red (Red Schwartz, one of the best record promo men in the business) looked at me and said, "Calm down, kid. Five minutes ago you WERE those guys."
(Talk about a hard-knocks reality check! lol)
After "Hanky Panky" and "Say I Am", James continued to hit the charts. In 1967 alone, Tommy had SIX SINGLES make the pop charts ... "It's Only Love" (#26), "I Think We're Alone Now" (#3), "Mirage" (#7), "I Like The Way" (#20), "Gettin' Together" (#14) and "Out Of The Blue" (#31) insured that Tommy James and the Shondells were never off the radio ... and this pattern would continue for the next three years.
In his book, Tommy credits their smash "I Think We're Alone Now" as starting the "bubblegum" craze, although he doesn't necessarily consider The Shondells to have ever been a bubblegum group ... but rather that they took that "sound" or the throbbing opening bassline and reused it and embellished it in any number of bubblegum hit smashes that followed over the next year or two.
The success of the "I Think We're Alone Now" album and the hit singles that came from it really changed us. Tommy James and the Shondells were no longer the garage band with the fluky hit. We now had a new sound that was uniquely ours. The tight rhythms and the staccato eighth notes that we pioneered and used throughout the album became our signature sound.
Tommy James and the Shondells earned 209 of your votes ... and are the first group to break the 200 Vote Barrier in this very special countdown. (kk)
In the truest sense of the term, Tommy James & The Shondells would probably only qualify as a garage band before and during the time they recorded ‘Hanky Panky’. Formed long before the British Invasion hit, the Michigan group wouldn’t find large scale success until recording the Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich song. Their later hits — including ‘Mirage’, ‘Crimson And Clover’, ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’, ‘Mony Mony,’ ‘Sweet Cherry Wine’ and ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ — were all excellent representations of good ol’ ‘60s rock and roll.
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
#11 - THE BEAU BRUMMELS
Yet ANOTHER group I never expected to see on the final list ... and there were several mentions of this during the voting process. The Beau Brummels were (to me, anyway!) more of a folk-rock San Francisco quartet ... and I think a listen to their hits "Laugh Laugh", "Just A Little", "You Tell Me Why" and "Don't Talk To Strangers" bears this assessment out.
However, 211 of you felt that The Beau Brummels belong on this list ... and here they sit, just outside The Top Ten. (kk)
History has documented the Beau Brummels as among the first wave of San Francisco groups to make some chart noise and as among the first U.S. groups to counter the British Invasion. Although they recorded several albums and issued many singles, it’d be difficult to find any songs that can truly be classified as “garage rock”. ‘Laugh Laugh’, ‘Just A Little” and ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’ all reached the Top 40, however, and without question their recorded legacy is as strong as many groups that achieved much longer lasting fame. But how many of those groups can also claim to having appeared on The Flintstones?!
Mike Dugo / 60sGarageBands.com
That Flintstones mention is good enough for me!!! (And the nods to Shindig and Jimmy O'Neill are priceless! So enjoy The Beau Brummelstones!) kk
Tomorrow we enter The Top Ten ... don't miss it! (kk)
