Bumble Bees - Maybe Someday b/w Girl Of My Kind (Phillips - 1966)

Continuing with the Dutch theme, one of my favourite releases by a Dutch group is this by The Bumble Bees, a really cool moody and mildly psychedelic double-sider 'Maybe Someday b/w Girl Of My Kind.

The Bumble Bees were a great group from The Haag, they released three 45rpm singles between 1966 -67 and then faded into obscurity like all great bands do.

The Bumble Bees were -

Jim Ten Boske - Vocals, Organ, Rhythm Guitar

Joop Leileveld - Lead Guitar, Vocals

Rene Bakker - Bass

Nico Overgaauw - Drums

The Bumble Bees were a pretty cool band by my reckoning, their releases on the 'Op-Art/ Muziek Expres labels are cool however by far,I feel this 45 on Phillips is their best work and is currently being spun a fair amount of times at the moment at my home.

Maybe Someday

This is a kinda weird piece of moody psychedelia that would only had been found in the coffee shops of Amsterdam and Den Haag, it is slightly folk influenced, slightly jazz influenced, slightly psychedelic and it is fully in keeping with the Dutch Beatnik vibes of the time. This track comes on like some tripped out, folk styled nursery rhyme however the scene is slowly ruined (or enhanced) with themes of forlorn despair and love lost, a killer track, with added weirdness via use of the flute which gives the song an odd whimsy  and also you can hear use of a Mellotron which gives a strange Gregorian undertone to the song.

Girl Of My Kind

Another moody gem, I really really love this song, you can't beat those echoed out harmonies, the song sounds lyrically as if it was inspired by The Outsider's 'I Love Her Still (I Always Will)'... With The Bumble Bee's though you can hear a genuine truth and sincerity in their song. I love the innocence and pure awkward desperation which this song portrays lyrically and musically. I think anyone who is a bit of a true romantic, a slight social dud or a bit of an odd ball could relate to this song.... I certainly do, the theme is the story of my life!

 Paul 

The Outsiders - Keep On Trying b/w That's Your Problem (Relax - 1966)

The Outsiders are one of my top five bands ever, I love almost everything the band ever released, I am a huge fan of the group, particularly the lyrics and genuine 'outcast' vibes emanating from the soul and mind of  lead vocalist Wally Tax, who seems to communicate many of the things which I personally can't communicate in my own world, yet he does with great ease in music.

Wally Tax and his song-writing, is a huge influence on me, as the songs are clearly personal and you never get the feeling they are put on or phoney for the sakes of it, the words Wally Tax sang were real to his life and you got that vibe from his music, this is what I've tried to do in my own music, by incorporating my thoughts and feelings into sounds.

The Outsiders released an  abundance of fabulous 45rpm singles and a couple of ultra-cool albums during the 60s and the legacy they created is fabulous. I haven't met too many genuine 'Outsiders' fans on my travels which is remarkable as I personally feel they are one of the greatest bands from the 60s and I even feel they had better songs than The Rolling Stones, however unlike The Stones, The Outcasts never really ever released  a 'Smash Hit' record, yet their song writing craft exceeds Jagger and Richards tenfold.

The Outsiders were actual Outcasts in their native Netherlands, they came to the fold looking like a bunch of misfit long hairs, in 1965 when the world was still donning mop-top's, these cats came outta nowhere, with very long hair, scruffy yet hip clothing, stoned-out beatnik mindsets, punk attitude to boot, outsider mentality, and a bunch of killer songs to spread to a world which for the most part was never really listening in the first place (and still doesn't sadly).

Almost all the Outsiders releases to me are worthy of investigation, I would even say that all twelve 45rpm singles the band put out between 1965 - 68 are great, I would rank each one as a piece of unique musical genius.

I don't have a particular favourite release by The Outsiders as all the songs pretty much mean a great deal to my life and my viewpoint on things in their own individual ways, the 45 which seems to related mostly to my life and train of thought at the moment however is 1966's Keep On Trying b/w That's Your Problem.

I am currently in a Dutch-Beat mood and seem to be listening to a great deal of the stuff, The Outsiders are frequently on my turntable or car cd-player, the lyrics of Wally Tax act as a kindred spirit and a soulful remedy for me, Tax seems to 'get it', what 'it' is  can only really be known by the people who have 'it'.... for me lately 'it' seems to be an illness of sorts.

I relate to the Outsiders, cos I am an Outsider too (I don't mean that to give creedance or appear cool - cos being an Outsider sucks for the most part), misunderstood by the world around me, misunderstood by my family and misunderstood by even my closest friends.... I am most likely misunderstood to myself too!

But I thankfully have a bunch of records which help me deal with these moments and Holland's The Outsiders have always been the best of friends to me, they really seem to hit the spot some times.

Keep On Trying

This song is on repeat at the moment, lyrical aptitude and empathetic cadences to my current feelings on things, I like when the song goes into the weird refrain after the chorus section and adds a whole new dimension to the song, "Just You Keep On Running Around With Every Man, Every Man You Know Now, You've Got  Me Down And Out, I'll Be Crying Before You Know Now", giving way to a tremendous harmonica solo that you just don't get enough in songs anymore.... how can anyone not like a song with the opening lyric "Just Keep On Trying And You'll Succeed In Breaking My Heart, Just Keep On Lying And You'll Succeed In Tearing It Apart".... TOTAL GENIUS!!!

That's Your Problem 

This one ups the anti a little, ferocious guitar attack, lyrical angst, wailing harmonica, bass lines that can kill someone flat out, drums keeping everything held down together... this one kinda taps into the more dodgy head space my head goes at times..."I Like To Be On My Own, Girl From Now On You're  Alone".... "I Try To Be A Good Guy To Lend You A Helping Hand, I Told You, Every Reason Why, But You Never Understand?".... Confused yet Punk as hell Greatness there, Wally Tax was a conflicted guy, just like myself.

Dig It!!!

Paul

Q65 - Cry In The Night b/w The Life I Live (Decca - 1966)

The Netherlands during the 60s was a hot-bed of amazing musical talent, just like in other parts of the world, beat music influenced teenagers to buy guitars, form bands and go nuts.

The Netherlands is a small country yet it produced a vast amount of 60s 'Nederbiet' groups, who all released an amazing wealth of killer 45s and EP's.

Unlike their American counterparts, the Dutch bands took more influence from the likes of The Pretty Things and The Kinks rather than The Beatles and The Zombies, making the sounds coming out of Holland some of the meanest and most sinister Rhythm n Blues sounds in the most teenage and primitive of fashions.

One of the top bands (amongst many) in The Netherlands at this time were The Q65.

The Q65 formed in 1965 and what came forth was a handful of killer singles of cult status.

The Q65 were

Joop Roelofs - Guitar

Frank Nuyens - Guitar

Willem Bieler - Vocals

Peter Vink - Bass

Jay Baar - Drums

From 65-67 Q65 released an amazing wealth of singles and a totally amazing album called 'Revolution' in 1966. My favourite of their singles is Cry In The Night b/w The Life I Live, which for me is a consistent two sided monster of a 45.

I would at times class The Dutch Beat scene as superior to the British, cos although there was a large influence from the likes of The Rolling Stones and Pretty Things etc, the Dutch groups investigated old R&B records and took it too even more powerful and honest realms.

The Q65 took these influences and made some extra-ordinary  45s.

Dig the two sides of the 45 below.... originals of this 45 are frequently available and don't sell for a mad amount of money and won't break the bank, however there are a bunch of very faithful pic sleeve reissues which are available for under £10 and these are pretty faithful to the originals.

Cry In The Night

The Life I Live

Don't Blow Your Lid!

Paul