The Rogues - Train Kept A-Rolling b/w You Better Look Now (Audition - 1966)

In my world, music is what keeps me spiritual aligned to the material world, through my record collection I vicariously live out my own life turmoils, pleasures and experiences.

One such record which arrived on my door-step this week was an original and mint copy of garage folk-rock opus The Rogues and their 45rpm single Train Kept A-Rolling b/w with the hypnotic and amazing 'You Better Look Now'.

The latter track has been a song in which upon my first listen to it on The Teenage Shutdown compilation series a few years ago, captivated me beyond comprehension.

I thought to myself I must search out this 45, it means so much to me, thankfully the time came and I managed to purchase the 45 at a very good price.

The Rogues hailed from Buffalo, New York and as stated above, created for me one of the finest moments in teenage 60s garage music.

I am unable to find any information in my record collection which gives me details on who The Rogues' as people were, all I know is they were a Buffalo NY group.

The track 'You Better Look Now' has been special to me for nigh on near to 5 years now, I was so exceptionally happy to finally pick up an original 45 of this.

Have a listen to the track below.

What I love about this song, aside from the folk punk genius which is hitting my aural nerve centres, is the lyrical aptness that coincidentally speaks to me on a whole different and relative level, the song is much more substantial moreso now than ever.

What I really dig about this song, is it is an extension to my own vocabulary, in essence it does my talking for me, it conveys the message I need to get out of my soul, it tells the story of me and let's you know how and what I am thinking and feeling at this moment in time.

A 12 string guitar solo, which sends the heart into a frenzy, a bass line which holds the tears back and vocal harmonies which each sound enriched with turmoil and teen-tragedy.

Lyric lines which instantly jump out at me and of which I consider truly genius are -

"Well be that way then!, be stubborn and cruel, admit that you're lost and there'll be no chance for you"

"Be true to your friends, that's what you told me you'd be like, but as it turned out, it was true, you told me a lie, now all that is left, is memory past"

"you say you'll be mine, but there is no telling whose on your mind"

Pure GENIUS... a class song, for broken hearted young men, lost in an abundance of foggy notion and confusion.

The Flip-side of the 45 is a work of art too, possibly the most savage cover version of Train Kept A-Rolling to ever grace tape.

Both sides are easily found on the Teenage Shutdown compilation series.

Enjoy

Paul Messis

The Girls - My Baby b/w My Love (Capitol 1965)

Recently I purchased a killer girl-garage 45 by Los Angeles' group The Girls, The 45 is a double sided killer 45, featuring teen-drama, garage band frustration and 60s innocence,the slab of wax sounds like a meaner version of The Shangri-las, what was cool with The Girls is that they played their own instruments and in the case of the bands song 'My Baby' with it's menacing 12 string riff, haunting backing vocals and lyrical content in ode of the hip guy in town, the Girls actually wrote their own songs too, the aforementioned song was written by The Band's drummer and lead singer Margaret Sandoval.

The Girls were sisters and formed in 1965, the chicks were in The Sandoval Sisters and The Moonmaids before forming The Girls.

The Girls were -

Rosemary Sandoval - Lead Guitar

Diane Sandoval - Rhythm Guitar

Sylvia Sandoval - Bass Guitar

Margaret Sandoval - Drums & Vocals

The Girl's had two killer singles, the one of which I will share below via Youtube and also the biker anthem Chico's Girl b/w Nightmares, both releases cementing The Girls in garage band history, The Girls played shows in the Southern California regions, but also toured the Far-East and played shows for troops in Vietnam. The Girls looked great too and it's fantastic that their label Capitol invested money in them by making cool promo pics and posters for the group.

I have no idea how popular the Girls' 45's were when they were released but I sure as hell dig them and suggest you dig them too.

Original 45s of these singles are quite common and not too expensive, the reason for this is they were released on a major label and had good distribution and production, however if vinyl isn't your thing, you can find both tracks on recent Girl's From The Garage compilations on cd.

If any of the band members read this blog, please get in touch with me, I'd love to conduct an interview to ask about your time in the 60s and what happened after 1967 for The Girls.

Enjoy the Youtube videos below of both sides of The Girl's debut single My Baby b/w My Love (the videos have additional photographs of the band and this is why I have shared via video rather than mp3 player)

DIG IT.... Paul Messis

The Bachs - Out Of The Bachs (1968)

The original post of this article was featured in Optical Sounds Fanzine and written by me originally sometime earlier this year, please support the fanzine by visiting their website here... http://opticalsoundsfanzine.bigcartel.com

In the year 1968, five teenagers got together and created what to me is the finest moment in psychedelic garage band history, the band; The Bachs. the album; the groups only recorded output. the aptly titled 'Out Of The Bachs'.

During the year 1968, the hippy era was thankfully dead, the teen-beat era was just a distant memory. 1968 was a musical wasteland and in this mystical of years five teenagers based in Illinois got together and crafted one of the finest albums of their generation.

The band formed in 1966 in the Chicago suburbs of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, the group were together for 3 years, mostly playing school dances and various other shows in their local area. In 1968 they self financed and put-out their LP privately, they managed to put their 'Out Of The Bachs' album out and pressed around 100-150 copies (exact amount is unknown to me and is debatable amongst collectors), this means original copies of this album are exceptionally rare and extremely expensive too.

The album was released as a means for the band to say 'goodbye' to their fans and also to document their time together as a band.

'Out of The Bachs' features twelve stunning, original penned tracks (which during the time was rare, as most albums usually featured a bunch of covers) written by band members Blake Allison and John Peterman.

The Bachs were -

Blake Allison - Bass Guitar and Lead Vocals.

John Peterman - Guitar and Lead Vocals

John Babicz - Drums and Percussion

Mike De Have - Rhythm Guitar

Ben Harrison - Lead Guitar

'Out of The Bachs' is one of if not, my all time favourite album within the garage genre, the songs fit the zeitgeist of the times and for me are a perfect insight into the mindset of a group of young men in 60s America.

The album opens with the triumphant and angst-ridden 'You're Mine', this is a song I totally relate to, the song opens with the desperate plea "You Better Listen To My Advice, He Don't Treat You Very Nice"... the song continues in a frantic manner akin to Arthur Lee and Love's debut; killer jangle and punk attitude.

Following on from this initial teen-punk explosion, the mood takes a turn and what proceeds is the wonderful moody monster which is the track 'Pleasure Of Your Company' which features haunting harmonies, mood altering melodies and heartfelt desperation in the lyrics, Innocent love torn confusion commited to tape.

The album then tail spins into a psychedelic summer vibe with the stoned hay-fever like evocations of 'Free-Fall; which sends the mind into a dizzy ecstasy that makes the listener comfortably happy and numb at the same time.

'I See Her' turns the speed up a notch of which The Bachs turn the jangle button up and sing a track about one of those 'girls' that tend to ignore guy's like us (me and the Bachs), amazing guitar riffs and yet again harmonies which take the breath away.

Side 1 of the LP finishes on what can only be described as the best ending to a vinyl side ever!!!, side one ends with two amazing moody garage classics. 'My Independence Day' which is my favourite song on the album, features an amazing chord progression, fantastic instrumentation and an amazing dual vocal shared between Peterman and Allison, to top it off there is interweaving harmonies about finding and losing love. the song is so full of teen confusion and subsequently is one of my personal favourite songs recorded.

The final track on Side 2 is 'Minister To A Mind Disease', which breaks into the paranoia of psychedelia, here we have a track so rooted in being 'freaked out' that just by listening to it you'll suffer some anxiety induced panic attack, You only need to hear the ear-piercing fuzztone guitar solo to know that, that will clear any cobwebs that your mind holds within..."It's 6 o'Clock now and it's time to eat and rest your feet, of course you're hungry cos you eat to live or is it live to eat??"... mind boggling yet strangely wise??

Just before I begin to talk about Side 2, I want to remind the reader that this album was recorded by teenagers, yep!!! that's correct - young kids.

Their album during it's release was criminally unknown and I guess even to this day it is still considered an 'unknown' release even amongst garage and psych heads and collectors - which in my opinion is a real crying shame.

Side 2 kicks off with the total folk-psych dreaminess of 'Tables of Grass Fields' which sends the listener into more happy stoned vibes, imagine scenes of cornfields and walking hand in hand with that special girl (or guy) that you love in the summer sunshine is shining down and the world is perfect, well then this is the song for you, if you have that mindset currently going around your brain.

The next track 'Show Me That You Want To Go Home' is strangely contemporary sounding, again the lyrics point at love lost and the confusion of young love. Proceeding is the morbid 'Sitting' which instantly kicks in with minor chord 12 string jangle, this song is the tale of isolation, yearning and teenaged confusion and questioning.

This type of songwriting and subject matter and the total conviction with which The Bachs relay the message is a huge influence to me and my own music and well my life too. With regards to The Bachs you can't help but believe they lived the life they sung about - they were truly Outcasts amongst their peers and society, this is something I relate to, cos it's how I feel too.

After the misery-fest of the song above we drift back into hazy psychedelia with the track 'Nevermore' which is one of the stand-out tracks on the album for me, What I love is the call and response  in the vocals and I totally dig the desperation in the lyrics... The song moves along like a snake, amazing 12 string guitar jangle and extravagant songwriting craft and to top it off a ferocious fuzztone guitar solo that would have blown any of the guitar gods away!

The theme of teenage innocence continues on the next track 'Answer to Yesterday' which is a mournful heartbreak of a song and acts almost like an apology in record format, song such as this act as an anecdote to anyone who has lost someone in their lives.... these Guys REALLY understood the deal with things.

The album ends on a momentous high with the proto-grunge track 'I'm A Little Boy', the song is fantastically psychedelic and also highly mesmerising, I would classify this one of the finest endings to an album ever (just like side 1 ended hip too) and is a great swan-song for the band to end their short-lived career's on.

The Bach's were a tremendous group, their stand alone album is one of the hallmarks of 60s music for me and is also in my opinion one of the BEST albums out there.

Blake Allison and John Peterman were genius songwriters who wrote fantastic music and lyrics, the created the sound track soundtrack to my early to mid twenties and I still completely adore this album.

There have been many reissues of this album which sadly since the 80s have all been mastered wrongly at the wrong speed, Time-Lag records have recently reissued the album properly and it is almost as good as  original copies (apparently???, however it sounds great on my Hi-Fi).

Please find below 5 tracks from the album posted below - Enjoy!!!

You're Mine

My Independence Day

Minister To A Mind Disease

Nevermore

I'm A Little Boy

Cheers

Paul Messis

The Exchequers - Is There Some Girl b/w Green Sleeves (Boom - 1965)

The Exchequers were a hip group operating out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, they cut one fabulous 45 rpm single in 1965.

After recent discussion's with a friend about the greatness of the band's A-side 'Is There Some Girl?' I was compelled to purchase the 45 myself, it arrived in the post this week and has flipped my lid. I guess tracks like 'Is There Some Girl' are the epitome of teen garage of the mid 60s for me, I dunno why, but tracks like this are divine and perfect.

For me, this cut is the most compelling example of teenage and adolescent frustration, I pretty much am feeling this record for real in my life - it's desperate. As human beings, all we ever want to be, is loved and the constant questioning of  whether the right person is out there for me is currently constantly on my mind due to circumstances which feature both good and bad aspects of things in my personal realm - the most obvious search has led me to this song by The Exchequers, tracks like this ease the somewhat tragic notions that there may not actually be the right girl for me out there, however I do live in hope... as did The Exchequers when they recorded this their lone single, released on the Boom label in 1965.

The B-side is a pretty nifty cover version of 'Greensleeves' done in the typical countrified surf vibe that the mid-west produced in the early to mid 60s, making the product a pretty cool piece of plastic, what's cooler is it was pressed on a really hip GREEN vinyl.

I apologise for my lack of blogging, this is due to  being extremely busy in all manner of things in my life of late.... today has been the only time I have been able to sit down and write a blog for a while, it's not the greatest of posts and for that I am sorry but I hope at least you can dig the song.

I have no information in regards to The Exchequers other than they came from La Crosse, Wisconsin and made one of my favourite garage sides... If any of the members see this post, it would be great to get band members names to at least honour you as people and a group.

Enjoy the song below.

Thanks

Paul

The Weads - Today b/w Don't Call My Name (Duane - 1966)

One of my favourite double-decker 'garage' 45s is The Weads' moody folk-rock jangle triumph; Today b/w the sombre and down cast 'Don't Call My Name'.

Both sides of this record are hugely important in influencing my own music, if you are familiar with my own sounds you will hear similar song themes, similar jangley sound and the general  vibe are all pretty similar to this 45rpm, the first track on my LP 'I Go Walking' in fact was a slight nod of the hat to the track 'Today'.

The Weads recorded this killer 45 in of all places Bermuda, where the Duane label was based. Duane was owned by record shop owner and producer Eddy Demell who seemed to add a spark of genius onto the recordings released on his Duane label, this 45 alongside a whole album and 45 by The Savages are proof of his golden touch as it were.

Although The Weads had a record out in Bermuda, they were in fact from a small town in New York State called Stony Brook, the reason the band had a release in Bermuda was that one of their school friends was originally from the island and took a demo back on his return home (Thank God he did, else we may never have had these songs). Weirder stuff has been lost in the Bermuda Triangle, thankfully it wasn't The Weads' demos.

Here are both sides of the 45 for your listening enjoyment.

Today

A brilliant piece of garage folk-jangle, this song to me is the epitome of the jangly Byrds-inspired sound that many groups recorded in the mid-60s, I really love this song, the sound of summer is evoked, yet their is a dark yearning in the lyrics, the song is reflective of a break-up and is total genius recording. I love songs which sound happy on the surface but have a strange sadness about them, this song is one-of-those types of song. As mentioned above this song has played a huge influence on my own music, in songs such as 'I Go Walking' and 'Time Will Tell', it will continue to influence me as I just adore the sound.

Don't Call My Name

YES!!!! this is a piece of confused and pissed-off genius, just listen to the lyrics "Now Don't You Think Of Me Anymore, Cos Now You're Just The Girl Next Door, Don't Call My Name!", sung in the most downtrodden yet beautiful harmony going, what a work of  pure greatness, I dream of writing songs like this. I love how the Farfisa Organ snakes in the background unnoticed but perfectly there, a great piece of song-writing, I love how the song seems to go up and down in a movement. This track totally compliments the A-side, they are kind of like Heaven and Hell, this being Hell off course, I take influence myself on my 45s by having an UP side as it were and DOWN side, it just is what most of the bands did back in the 60s garage genre.

So there you have it folks, a double sided work of the highest order.

Enjoy 

Paul

The Shaynes - From My Window b/w I'll Always Be (Pee-Vee - 1966)

The attractive group of fella's above are responsible for creating one of the greatest existential masterpiece's of the mid 60s. The Shaynes were a group native to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for me they created a piece of 'outsider' music history when they wrote their genius ode to teen confusion and frustration; 'From My Window'.

Pennsylvania was a state which put out a great number of great and genius 'garage' band recordings, my own theory being that location wise it is trapped between The Mid-West and New England, so subtle influences from both these regional scene's combine together to create a really powerful and hip style of 'garage' music.

I am a big fan of records coming out of PA and New Jersey, for me it was a region that excelled in creating the perfect sound.

When I first heard this song years ago, it floored me, these kids seemed to have tapped into my mindset not only via lyrics but in the urgency of the music, the frantic  reverb guitar, the drums, the nervously played bass guitar, the minor-chord patterns, the haunting organ throughout.... a work of utter genius.

It is a moody garage tour-de-force of the highest magnitude and I would say it is personally one of my top 10 favourite records of all time.

The Shaynes were a popular group in their hometown and had three 45s (which all sold pretty well) released on the Pee Vee Label. Pee Vee was a record label which put out mainly doo-wop, teen-beat and progressive rock (in later years), the label operated between 1964-1974.

Take a listen below to the genius which is... The Shaynes 'From My Window'.

Thanks

Paul

Try-Angle - Writing On The Wall b/w Coming Home (Orlyn Records - 1967)

As a keen record collector in particular that which falls under the genre 60s garage, I am always on the quest to find the perfect 60s 'garage' 45rpm single, that one piece of wax which defines the genius noise made by middle class mostly white teenagers during the mid 60s, there are a great many of these amazing slabs of vinyl to be found and that for me is the magic about this type of music.

The Mid-West regions of The United States are in my opinion the geographic locale which produced some of the finest 60s American teen beat groups it also produced some of the greatest records ever committed to tape. The record labels started in  this part of the US after the assailment of 'The British Invasion' are also highly regarded to legendary status and the label in which this 45 was released; 'Orlyn' is considered (amongst fans of the genre) to be a label which released a high calibre of quality 'garage' 45s between 1965 and 1968.

One such band on this label who also released one of its most scarce records were Try-Angle, Try-Angle were located in a town called Franklin in Indiana.

According to the band's Facebook page (where the above pic was taken from)  The band members of Try-Angle included the following people.

Les Tabeling 

Bill McCarty

Harold Mckee

Cal Werner

Tony Rinehart

I am unsure if the above names are the exact guys who recorded on the bands only release - 'Writing On The Wall b/w Coming Home' put out on the exceptionally rare and synonymous Chicago based garage label 'Orlyn' in 1967.

My chances of owning this piece of wax is pretty slim as the asking price for this record exceeds the $1,000 mark and known copies are limited in number, I have no idea how many copies exist but I can imagine not many are in rotation outside the realms of known collectors and band members.

Musically this 45 is the pinnacle of what 60s garage punk is for me, tracks such as the ones on both sides of this 45 have influenced my own music tremendously... I will leave the music to speak for itself underneath the pictured labels below.

Thanks goes to Mark Taylor for sound clip files and label scans from his personal collection.

Enjoy Folks

Paul Messis

The Summer Sounds - Up Down (1969)

People come and some of them go, this is what the album pictured above is all about, the coming to a harsh understanding that a person you've loved has gone, a person who you loved deeply has lost the very same love you had towards them and all is now over, this album is an album about the inner warfare of love, be it with a lover, friend or even a foe.

It's a confusing mass of feelings, the only real way to deal with a broken heart is to sacrifice something. Music is at times a means of dealing and in turn justifying this initial sacrifice.... for myself music is a medium in which I can relay to a listener the inner world of me and hope that someone else out there gets where I am coming from and hopefully they too can take something from my music. The Summer Sounds album is precisely this and for me is a piece of emotional therapy. 

In my own personal life's case my sacrifice has come at a cost, I have had to cease ties with someone I will always hold in the highest esteem, however the sacrifice is required in order for the both of us to progress in life without the turmoil of a broken heart or the slandering which has manifested since the decline.

Music is for me, the very soul and life force which is in essence the internal emotions of a human being, music can at times portray a very brief but powerful moment in time which is like a snapshot, a moment in time, a feeling or even a person.

The 'Summer Sounds' album is an album I have been listening non-stop since making a sacrifice to leave a person I held dear in order to fix myself... The Summer Sounds' lone recording 'Up Down' is for the band all of  what I have written about above, to them this LP must be a moment in time, youth and possibly for the songwriters concerned the very same memories and trauma that I've recently felt and undergone in my own life, has appeared to them and they wrote songs about it, which thankfully stand the test of time.

The Summer Sounds were a New England group whose origin is a mystery, the one interesting fact is this album was released in 1969 and yet still has a 1965-66 garage sounds, the album is moody to its core and possibly is one of the finest moody garage albums to ever exist, It is fascinating to me that these kids were still playing a very melancholy and beautiful type of music in 69' when by this time bands were either going down the heavy psychedelic rock route or going the polar opposite and being utterly wussed out folk styled singer-songwriters with no real backbone of emotions.

The Summer Sounds kept it real and in doing so kept their music was raw and alive, their sole album aptly named 'Up Down' is a complete unknown garage classic and anyone who loves this type of music (in particular the moody and subdued side of the genre) MUST own this album (Thankfully Radioactive Records have reissued the album on CD - originals will cost an arm and a leg these days)

'Up Down' has ten amazingly wonderful Vox Continental organ led pop songs, eight of the tracks are delightful originals penned by band members themselves and also featured are two exquisite cover versions of The Spencer Davis Groups' - Gimme Some Lovin' and The Zombies' classic 'I Love You'.

The Summer Sounds sleeve is as illusive as the band themselves and so I will honour the group by naming the band members according to the album sleeve (If you know the band members' sirnames please contact me so I can edit below and at least give proper credit to the band)

Paul - Bass and Vocals

Joe - Organ, Songwriter, Backing Vocals

Dave - Guitar

Ralph - Sax (no Sax on LP - meaning Ralph was likely involved in the live line-up of the group)

Roy - Drums 

I wish to include four tracks from the album for your listening pleasure (please support the band by purchasing the album yourself - Do Not Download - You may as well own this cool album)... These Four are my favourites.

Small World - A wonderful opening track to any album, 'Small World' just tells it like it is.... the teen trauma in the chorus is something to behold "Why Did We Break-Up? I really Don't Know...I sit here thinking of things long ago"..... This kid is hurting and the listener knows it, Anyone can relate to these types of emotions.... surely??

Lonely Beach - This track is my favourite on the album, I don't know why really? However I feel it is because it kind of relates to my own strange situation, I live fairly close to the beach and I guess I wander around a certain place at times and that very beach is my own 'Lonely Beach'.... I love the haunting organ chords, the deep bass line and  the mournful lyrics full of abandon and despair.... I TOTALLY 'get' this song, as it is a mirror reflection of my current circumstance.... an amazing track!!!

The Leaves Are Turning Brown - Another moody classic, this one has been comped on a couple of 'garage comps' over the years.... The vibe of the song again is full of reflection, rejection and yearning and again the lyrics hit you in the guts with powerful lyricism such as that which is in the chorus "I was a fool to waste my time with you".... total awe inspiring realism.... the song's writing craft is something to uphold, the chord changes are simply beautiful and it is just a great magical track, The Summer Sounds were amazing song writers.

Summer Girl - Just a beautiful song, I can't write anything except a small personal message .... If you are (you know who you are) reading this, this one is for you... take it easy and I hope you're keeping well, maybe time will make us see each other again one day?"

SO folks that is the Summer Sounds, they released possibly the greatest break-up LP ever released and faded into obscurity, thankfully they released this amazing album for people like me to enjoy and listen to.... I suggest if you dig the songs above, to buy the album.... it's all very great throughout!

Thanks

Paul Messis

The Squires - Going All The Way b/w Go Ahead (Atco Records - 1966)

In the 60s garage genre, there are certain records which define reason and simply become the best in the genre, the 45 which I am going to write about in this blog post is one of those monsterous 60s American garage 45rpm records which simply blow away a great many in the similar vein.

The Squires formed in 1965 Bristol, Connecticut and the rest is history. New England is home to my favourite of the regional garage styles, many factors are the reason for this, the weather, the closeness to the UK and the barren landscape, also the fact that New England was a pretty middle class place to grow up during the 60s. The British Invasion's presence is found in abundance in the New England region and Bristol, Connecticut is no exception, especially in the case of The Squires.

Originally formed as The Rogues, the band later changed their name to The Squires (pretty much because almost every Garage band was The Rogues) .

The Band were -

Michael Bouyea - Guitar, Drums, Vocals

Thomas Flanigan - Lead Guitar, Vocals

Kurt Robinson - Organ

John Folcik  - Bass 

As everyone who know's me knows.... the day I received Pebbles Volume 2 in the post was a very important day for me, as it pretty much exposed me to a music of which I am still totally obsessed with almost 12 years after originally playing that compilation on my then highly battered record deck.

Both sides of The Squires 45 was featured on the aforementioned compilation and thus became ingrained in my subconscious as being the pinnacle of 60s American Garage Punk.... I to this day am in awe of both sides of this 45rpm and base my own music around it, I have yet to create something which I feel is of equality to these two sides (any time now I will create such trauma on record myself)

So rather than bore you to tears with my own reflections of this 45...I'll cut to the chase and post both sides - The two tracks below are two of my own personal faves in the garage idiom... I still long for this 45, having narrowingly missed it on Ebay a number of times already, however it will be in my possession one day though, it'll be a sin not to own it.... Both tracks relate heavily to my life and seem to be more apt now than ever.... so please ENJOY these cuts.

Paul Messis

The Five Bucks - No Use In Trying b/w Now You're Mine (Afton Records - 1966)

Every so often in a record collectors life (and dreams) does the time come when they pick up a 45rpm single which they have been searching high and low for what seems a very long period of time, when that day comes however and the music fan places that lone-piece of vinyl onto their record player deck, all of lifes worries, concerns and stresses cease and for around three perfect minutes you're in bliss (unless you're a collector of rare German Krautrock LP's in which case you're looking to at the very least experience thirty-three minutes of bliss)

In my case one such record did come my way and it was The Five Bucks - No Use in Trying b/w Now You're Gone (misspelled as 'Now You're Mine' on the label) released on the Afton label in 1966.

The Five Bucks formed out of the meeting of a group of young guys who had each met one another around the Michigan & Ann Arbour University campus' in 1965. The line-up which recorded this classic Garage 45 included the members Bruce Kerr, Chris Rose, Jerry Daller, Bauchman Tom & Steve Hearn.

I personally would like to thank the band for creating one of the long lost gems of the 60s garage music boom and for making one of my all-time favourite records.... The B-side actually brought tears to my eyes.

I record music myself and will be attempting to record  (fingers crossed; faithfully) a cover version of 'No Use In Trying' next month in July, I have thus far practised my parts and feel that I can do this song justice and look very much forward to recording it and finally hearing the end result.

My Own Copy of The Five Bucks 45rpm single.

What is magic for me in regards to this record is it came to me at just the right time and moment in my life, both sides speak to me and I relate with both sides of the grooves as they relate to my, at the time, current life circumstances and I guess that is why the 45 means so much to me and means a great deal to me emotionally.

'No Use in Trying', is full on angst-ridden despair and a reflection on the sad realisation that a relationship has ended and there is no coming back.The b-side is even more apt and heartbreaking, 'Now You're Gone' is a sullen moody ballad about the realisation that the girl has gone and he the protagonist can't do anything about it and has to just accept it, but is still sorry - its total teen trauma, which makes this record alongside other records of the time, pure genius.

I guess the same scenarios/head-space of the records was happening to me in my own life and I guess in the best traditions of things, music is the best healer, especially for crazy half-mad, slightly switched-on people like myself, music, I guess has always been a healer and I suppose has always been the best of friends to me, this blog will include a great deal of music over time and I suppose each thing I will write about will be apt.

So I will leave you with the A-side of the 45 (Although I would have loved for you to all hear the B-side, however I haven't the technology to transfer 45rpm to computer nor is it on Youtube unfortunately)

So anyway here we go... a real piece of extra-ordinary 60s garage punk from a group of teenagers from Michigan.

Enjoy,

Paul

Picture and initial band info taken from www.garagehangover.com