Bottom of the Barrel Teens

Max Mooney

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Greetings from the Moonbase. I'm gonna get cozy with ya by the Lava Lamp and tell you the story of loser-underdog-teens that made incredible music. Take a seat and wait for the damn lava to melt and get goin'. It takes a while, y'know?


Weird by the Wee Four
This group comes from upstate New York. Rockin' Rochester, New York to be precise. 1966 release. In my opinion, both sides of this are great. Obviously this side is the one most people flock to because of it's pure emotional and moody FURY. The other side (Give Me A Try) is a heartfelt ballad but it's worth your time unlike a lot of ballads in the Garage Rock world. It has enough conviction to warrant it's place on the B side. It's nice. This was the only record these kids had and it's a damn shame. I often wonder what these guys being on stage at a teen night club would have been like being accompanied by one of their swingest lady friend classmates Go-Go-ing on the side. The song was probably about her though, unfortunately. We can't all be hip unfortunately but some us have the gift of swingin' 'em well.


Tiger-A-Go-Go by Don Snyder
From 1964 but you can be sure that this is before Beatlemania was in full effect. This is one of the kitschiest and most tasteless records you can even imagine. Low budget as all get out. The picture sleeve claiming his band is an orchestra is the icing on the cake. This guy must have been in a lot of Beach party type movies cause he looks the part for sure. The recording is steeped in 50's and early 60's Alpha Male and Go-Go Bar culture. You can feel the grease that can't be washed off your hands from the big bad hairdoo he pulls off daily. Saying all that, it sounds like I hate it. But hate it I do not. I live for this stuff! Don Snyder is the kind of guy that Bruno Mars is trying to...but could never be. Don Snyder is the old guy that is to this day hitting on the young cashier making everybody feel uncomfortable. Duck and cover if you see him. But we love Uncle Don for that reason. He's cooler than all the little L7 hipster punks runnin' around and trying to be him. He's got "teeth as white as snow." Come on, now. You know that nobody in the USA can afford dental care anymore. Ah. To be young in the Mid-Century. Hats off to you, Don. You really did it way past cool.


Feel So Good by Johnny Coglan & The Beau Havens
One part Byrds jangle. One part innocent romance. A hint of sexual intercourse. And a bit of an amatuerish band and you get this feel good number. These guys are comped on one of Tim Warren's legendary compilation series. With a different song, however! And for some reason, a different singer on that side of this same record! That compilation being Back From The Grave but not the song being covered here though. That song is Elizabeth. And while Elizabeth is a raucous and wild number, it's also even more disjointed than this one. Great. But perhaps the youthful cheer and jangle is what draws me to this one. These kids were obviously young. Some of them were likely just getting out of puberty or still going through it. But the passion is what counts and it's there. Fun stuff!


I'm Gonna Love You Too by the Jammers
Ugh. A Buddy Holly cover, you thought. But you were wrong!
"Baby, keep up with me
My love grows faster than you'll see
You're gonna love me too"
Let us take a gander at these Michigander teens who recorded this straight forward and mighty quick Garage Rocker clocking in at less that 2 minutes. You could say that this is basic and nothing incredible. You could say that they sing some parts out of tune...but then I'd say that YOUR EARS WERE OUT OF TUNE! Nah. Just kidding haha. I'm not that combative. Just a nice little ripper that gets ya movin' in your chair or on the floor a little bit with that great transistor organ sound that makes Maxi feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more dementia and hearing loss. Look forward to more 60's and 50's later on. I should probably mention that I'm not this much of a jerk and that I love you. I truly do love this stuff but I like keeping it interesting and off-kilter like the music itself.
-Max​
 
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Magic

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Hot damn! Lava lamps and 60's groovies. Next time be sure to light the incense and salt lamp.
:heheh:

@rtbuck will like this thread. So will @LOU/REALM

I like the great oldies, but all 4 you've mentioned are totally new to me.
 

Max Mooney

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Hot damn! Lava lamps and 60's groovies. Next time be sure to light the incense and salt lamp.
:heheh:

@rtbuck will like this thread. So will @LOU/REALM

I like the great oldies, but all 4 you've mentioned are totally new to me.

Hahaha. Thank you, Magic. I like the classics too...I wouldn't know these without knowing those first...but I feel like I can offer something a little different so that's what I intend to do. I get obsessed with things I love to a crazy degree and Rock & Roll is one of those things. It's what takes you from Roy Orbison to Don Snyder. Hahaha. None of these charted unless it was a local sensation for a hot minute.
 

Max Mooney

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Well it seems I obtained just enough fuel to stop back on Earth. And in the last few days I've been beamed up some wild records just for you, you and you. If everybody would kindly peak under their chairs...yup! That's right! You're getting a sample of YOUR carpet! And these fine selections of Rock & Roll from the depths of the garage courtesy of your friend Max Mooney and good ol' Mid-Century Americana.


Calm Me Down by the Human Expression (1967)
Unlike a lot of groups I'm likely to share in this thread, the Human Expression had quite an extensive output for being so obscure. The boys were from Los Angeles, California. This song right here is the ballad of the mentally ill loner and I don't say that lightly or with any bit of humor. That's exactly what it's speaking on. Social Anxiety. Anxiety in general. And just wanting to be left alone by the life vampires while simultaneously wanting attention from somebody perhaps a bit more special than the others. I think you'll find that these guys generally wrote about wilder or more meaningful things than romance gone bad generally. They have quite a few unsung classics...this just being one of them. The Human Expression's biggest claim to fame really is what they turned down. What did they turn down? In the bigger, more life changing sense, a lifetime worth of riches. But more specifically? They turned down recording Born To Be Wild before it was handed to Steppenwolf for the soon-to-be SMASH movie hit...Easy Rider. They thought it sounded way too commericial and felt like it didn't fit their image. How crazy is that?


Heart Filled With Love by Long John & The Silvermen (1966)
A really, really undeniably cool, bluesy and tough Garage Rocker from these young men. More variety and musicianship than a lot of Garage Rock you'll hear. That intro is infinitely memorable in a genre marred by it's simplicity as tirelessly mentioned by the Rock critics of the world. I'll give them this...it can get tiresome to keep hearing Louie Louie or All Day and All of the Night based riffs sometimes. But this song has neat structure and pretty cool lyrics. It was comped on a volume of the previously mentioned Back From The Grave series and deservedly so. The band was from Chicago or in the surrounding suburbs.


Please Don't Go by The Fifth Row Bac (1967)
If you ever felt like you needed a buffet full of the sounds of the 1960's, this might be your meal ticket! You get moodiness, upbeat jangle and all kinds of crazy things. The song is well pieced together and is full of surprises. But it definitely does it's duty to Rock your socks off 'cause it's quite energetic. I think the singer does a great job emoting each of the different moods in the song. I like his gruff tone and the backing vocals deserve a mention too. It's quite long for a Garage Rocker clocking in at over 4 minutes and 20 seconds. This isn't too common in the genre. The Fifth Row Bac were from Oregon.


Hurtin' by Felicity (1967)
The only single this band ever had. The other side isn't as good as this from what I remember but the reason I mention that at all is coming soon. While a pretty somber and moody track, it has a nice driving beat with the guitar and organ parts. The band is most infamous for containing future Eagles member...a young Don Henley.


Polka Dotted Eyes by the Snaps (1967)
Woah, mannn. Far out. Your girl has polka dotted eyes? Woahhh. Garage Rock with Psych-ish feel from the most Southern state in the North you'll ever find....Pennsylvania. All that needs to be said about this incredible recording is that you'd never hear a song like this lyrically outside of this wonderful decade. It's kinda kitschy but that's okay. It's fun. It's groovy. It's not harmin' anybody, mannnn.

That's all for now, my friends. Have yourself a great day. Turn these up loud and remind your neighbors what livin' sounds like! Some of them are probably trapped in Trap Rap. Don't let this stand! Make America Groovy Again!​
 
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Soot and Stars

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Dude, I'm glad you get to do this here! It's so much better than social media and I love the bio after every song. It sells me as I listen to each track and sometimes that's what you need if a genre isn't exactly your bag! :tongue: My favorite one was "The Fifth Row Bac" but I was also surprised by the Don Henley track. Good stuff that forces you to hear the different tweaks and stylings on a genre that unfairly gets thrown together as a simple copycat genre/era. :grinthumb
 

Max Mooney

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I hope you're all enjoying this thread. I'm really happy be sharing it with you. There's more obscure history to be covered...so let us not waste any more time! The 60's are older every second moving forward! GREAT SCOTT!


She by the Primates (1965)

Knock On My Door by the Primates (1965)
Both sides of their 45rpm on Marko Records...THE LONG ISLAND SOUND, DADEHHHHH! Because it's more than worthy. These kids were from Astoria, Queens, New Yawk. Both of their 45s are rare but their second disc (Don't Press Your Luck b/w Cathy) is even MORE rare and really never turns up anywhere in auctions or on the Web. It eludes basically everyone who cares to collect these type of platters. Both of these songs are British influenced Garage Punk slice 'n' dicers so look out! There's a more featured bio on the Garage Hangover blog if you'd like to read a bit more...like them doing gigs with the WABC Good Guys and whatnot.


The Rats Revenge Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 by The Rats (1965)
Yeah I may have said something about Louie Louie riffs earlier but I don't care. This disc will forever be a legendary piece of 60's dementia. This record is the brain child of producer named Terry Rose that told the kids (a band known as the Decades elsewhere) to lighten up a little bit in the studio. Weird thing is that it's kinda viral at this point albeit with a slow climb. I suppose Garage Rock has a bit more appeal than I realize sometimes. Lyrically this thing is great. Doesn't take itself seriously at all. And is raw as ****. So what more do ya need to know? The band was from Ohio.


I'm Really Sorry by the JuJus (1966)
The JuJus had other worthy sides besides this one as well but this is a really fantastic example of Moody and depressing Jangle Punk. And so, for that reason it's here! If you enjoy this cut, also seek out You Treated Me Bad and Do You Understand Me? Both are fantastic.


Don't Blow Your Mind by The Spiders (1966)
It seems that @Soot and Stars found the recording Don Henley was in as a young teen to be interesting. Well this band also had a younger and later more famous musican in it as well. A teenage Vincent Furnier of Alice Cooper fame. They eventually became the Nazz but changed their name again because of Todd Rundgrens band at the time. It was then that they became the original lineup for Alice Cooper. I'll let this one speak for itself. It's a killer.​
 
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LOU/REALM

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Wow ! Great thread ! Iam loving these tracks ! ....Groovy :grinthumb
Some good strong songs/tunes here . Iam never put off by some of the 60s garage production...if the drums sound like card board boxes that's fine by me. My personal favourite so far is....I'm a tiger a go go [ crazy...I love it, so trashy ] not heard this one before.
Keep them Groovy tunes coming....
 

Max Mooney

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Wow ! Great thread ! Iam loving these tracks ! ....Groovy :grinthumb
Some good strong songs/tunes here . Iam never put off by some of the 60s garage production...if the drums sound like card board boxes that's fine by me. My personal favourite so far is....I'm a tiger a go go [ crazy...I love it, so trashy ] not heard this one before.
Keep them Groovy tunes coming....

Thank you so much, brother. It means a lot. Yeah, that Tiger-A-Go-Go record truly is something else haha. It's the kind of thing that's hard to make people understand what the appeal is...because of changing times...but yeah. It's HARDCORE stuff hahahaha. I'll likely do another round today. Thanks for the support, man. :)
 

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Love the music, it's just a shame the globe on my Lava lamp blew and couldn't find a replacement. :(
 

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