Garage / Freakbeat

I’ll have to get back to you on this one…

  • The Elois - By My Side The Elois - By My Side

    This is a monster of a slice of mid-60s Australian garage rock. I haven’t researched that much about this 45, but I do know that it will melt your speakers! (check out when the pummelling guitar riff comes in about 3/4 of the way through) The flip is their version of “I’m […]

  • Ray Columbus & The Invaders - C'mon & Swim Ray Columbus & The Invaders - C’mon & Swim

    Ray Columbus & The Invaders were the most commercially successful of New Zealand’s R&B based beat bands. Formed around 1960 in Christchurch, they went through a number of lineup changes before disbanding in 1965. 1962-63 saw them move north to be based in Auckland before leaving for Sydney, Australia for 1964 onwards. […]

  • The Bugs - Twist & Shout The Bugs - Twist & Shout

    There has to be heaps of them, the budget “cash-in” labels, every country has them, every record collector knows them. There are labels dedicated to “cash-in” LPs only, 45s only also. The “Hit” label is one of the 45 ones, a reasonably prolific one at that. According to the label discography […]

  • Bari & The Breakaways - I Can't Explain Bari & The Breakaways - I Can’t Explain

    Quite possibly the finest & most fully realised R&B band to emerge from a sixties New Zealand scene that had a number of fine bands. The Breakaways were the first to get a taste of national success, inspired by bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Kinks & the Pretty Things. “I […]

  • Ray Brown & The Whispers - Respect Ray Brown & The Whispers - Respect

    Australian band The Whispers were probably the best & most successful blue eyed soul group in Australia during their original run of success from 1964-66. The band really loved the burgeoning soul scene coming out of the US at the time & laced their live sets with choice covers. They also had the […]

  • Jay Walker Effort - 'Paper Dolls' - Scott Jay Walker Effort - ‘Paper Dolls’ - Scott

    Obscure acid rock stomper from Grand Rapids Michigan: fuzzy dual guitar shredding and psychedelic Leslie speaker vocals are backed by clattering drums & shaker action. An imaginative friend of mine once wrote that this group was likely “aiming for Cream, but ended up with something hipper, a band likely to appear on a 1968 bill […]

  • The Atlantics - Bombora The Atlantics - Bombora

    Without a doubt the greatest & most successful surf band to come out of Australia ever.  Formed in 1961 “Bombora” was the group’s second 45 & was released in 1963.  Produced by Sven Libaek, it was the band’s biggest hit & was one of only two 45s by the band to get released in the […]

  • Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs - Poison Ivy Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs - Poison Ivy

    Great mid-60s garage rock 45 from an icon of the Australian music scene.  This was their second 45 & was released in 1964 on the Australian “Linder Lee” label.  It was licensed to probably New Zealand’s biggest independent label of the time “Viking” for a New Zealand release after it hit in Australia & that […]

  • Ross D. Wyllie - Do The Uptight Ross D. Wyllie - Do The Uptight

    This 45 isn’t exactly unknown & actually got a fairly wide international release on a bunch of different labels, but it just so great that I believe it needs to be heard by more people.  This a great example of how a song can stand out as a jewel or anomaly from the output of […]

  • Lulu - From Lulu With Love Lulu - From Lulu With Love

    I picked this up on the cheap for “I’ll Come Running”, which was recently comped on the Rhino “Girl Groups” boxset. Why it was included I have no idea, as it’s not a “girl group” at all, but I digress. It turns out the real keeper here is Lulu’s completely unhinged, Wanda-Jackson-on-speed-and-3-lines-of-coke / Johnny Rotten-10-years-earlier […]

  • Los Strwck: La Doctoriza Los Strwck: La Doctoriza

    For the last 15 years I have been trying to find out what Los Strwck translates to in English to no avail. I suspect it loosely means “Mariachi Fuzz Box”. I found this LP in East L.A. in the early 90’s and it’s dropped many a jaw over the last 15 years. The tunes start […]

  • The Teemates - Jet Set Dance Vol.4: Discotheque The Teemates - Jet Set Dance Vol.4: Discotheque

    There is something that keeps me needle dropping sixties “youth-dancesploitation” LPs. Many of them look pretty tame but often end up hiding some really knock out tracks (many of them also do not, but let’s focus on the positives).
    Take this example from 1964, intended as a stereo demonstration LP of sorts it has a […]

  • Eskimo's Eskimo’s

    Frozen tundra garage 45 that is totally inept and wonderful. I should really post all the songs, but I only have “Mr. Twist” digitized. Anybody know of any other releases from the “Kajak” label? The vocals are out of control, and I think in English ? maybe ? “Ah Meester Tweeest Ya […]

  • Los Grillos - Mi Destino Es Como El Viento Los Grillos - Mi Destino Es Como El Viento

    The sheer amount of non-(North) American records located in the greater Los Angeles area is mind boggling to say the least. One week I’ll come across a grip of Eastern European prog/folk records, the next week some Calypso 78s…just this past week I found a handful of Aboriginal field recordings and a stack of 20 […]

  • Graduates: S/T Graduates: S/T

    Teen/Frat-Rock lp from the south that is at least semi-known. Lots of pretty unmemorable stuff on here, like the usual ill-chosen Beatles covers, etc… but a couple tracks are full-on rad. There’s a great cover of Sly’s “Thank You” with wah-guitar, cheesy organ, and squeaky-clean harmonies. Also a killer fuzzed-out version of “Comin’ Home Baby” […]

  • The Bag - Red Purple & Blue The Bag - Red Purple & Blue

    The Bag were a late sixties blue-eyed soul band from the New York area that made one full length LP for Decca that incorporates enough touches of psych to get mildly sweated by people who collect that stuff. Needless to say the LP sank without a trace upon release. This song is the […]

  • Baquen! - Sensational Sound of Screen Music Baquen! - Sensational Sound of Screen Music

    It took me a while before I noticed the pink female torso holding a gun underneith Sean Connery’s posterized face. The lack of priorities and absence of focus on this cover is somehow exemplary for the record itself. Some cool and some uncool tunes have been treated by the strange combo of drums, flute, oboe, […]

  • The Avengers - Electric Recording The Avengers - Electric Recording

    The Avengers were a local New Zealand pop band of the late 60s. This was their first LP & was released in 1967. They came from Wellington & had the good fortune to hook up with US hippie hitch-hiker Chris Malcolm who went on to write over half of the songs on this record, playing […]

  • The Merry Meds Of '69 The Merry Meds Of ‘69

    The University of Alberta is known for it’s rambunctious Medical students. Up until it was banned recently, the Med students put on an annual show of absurdy and offense known as “The Med Show”. This usually consisted of offensive drama acts, hilarious live music, and pranks. It is rumoured that one year they stole a […]

  • Los "TEEN-AGERS" Los “TEEN-AGERS”

    The title of this record immediately reveals a certain insecurity on the part of the producers as to what exactly they were marketing here. You wonder why Los is cursive, why “TEEN-AGERS” is between quotation marks, and why there’s a dash between TEEN and AGERS. These kids sure look like teenagers. They even live up to the […]

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