All the non-hits and non memories. Cardross Maniac bringing you all the the great misses of the 70, 80s & 90s.
Today it's the sound of supreme melodicists, the power pop duo Dwight Twilley Band. That's Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour.
Talk about out of time and in between scenes.
This was kinda late glam, pre new wave power pop, sorta pub rock but also classic rock'n'roll in the original rockabilly sense. I mean it sounds like it coulda been recorded anytime between 1969 and 1982.
Looking For The Magic has been described as a song to rob banks to, whatever that means. Insane fluttering vocals giving Alan Vega a run for his money. like a lo-fi drug fucked ELO without the disco but going ecstatic and throwing in more pop hooks than a tackle box, vocals, hand claps, Jangly guitars, drums and slippery bass all put through an echo chamber and then some.
As heard on 3MA on Sunday nights in the late 80s. The show which was maybe called Underground or The Underground or something like that. They played independent Aussie hits of the day. Stuff straight off Juke' Magazine's Independent chart which of course was where all the best music was to be found at the time. I think the radio announcer/DJ was Pat Gary.
Anyway I never understood why Mad Turks weren't as big as say Died Pretty or Ups & Downs. They had the pop smarts and the catchy tunes with great guitar interplay in a brisk jangly power pop style but I don't think they ever got anywhere near the top 40 which is a shame. They missed. While they were out of time and in between scenes their debut LP Cafe Istanbul is an unheralded 80s guitar pop triumph. We get twelve tunes with plenty of hard strumming and pop hooks galore all done with an irresistible youthful urgency.
On Holding My Breath you gotta love the take it down now moment at 2:23 where the instruments drop out and its just the "chicka chicka" of the muted strummed guitar and vocals. This trick is always excellent because you're waiting for the rest of the band to come back and when they do it's satisfaction guaranteed.
One of those tunes you've heard your entire life and finally you go "hang on! wait a a fucking minute, this is fantastic!"
The state of the art sound of the 70s with all of the gorgeous hooks effortlessly in the right place.
Like a really excellent multilayered cake. Each element is a delicious harmonious hook: the piano, those tom toms, the slide-y Harrison-esque guitar, the immaculate multi-tracked backing vocals, the bass, the myriad of minuscule percussion flourishes, the entire delectable melody ripped straight from Carol King etc.
Evocative of first love, carefree summers and lost innocence I Saw The Light kinda now makes you wonder "Where did my life go?"
I can't remember when the last essential American 60s garage rock compilation was issued... sometime in the early 00s with the ace Teenage Shutdown cd series and those seven volumes of Fuzz, Flaykes & Shakes. This month however an excellent cd has been released Teen Beat Mayhem: Slipped Thru The Cracks.
So these never previously compiled tunes come from the secret stash of Mike Markesich's record collection. Markesich is of course known to garage fans as the author of 2012's TeenBeat Mayhem, the most exhaustive and authoritative reference guide to 60s garage rock, teenbeat & garage psych 45s.
Below are the only four tunes from this cd I can find on youtube at the moment and they were only just recently uploaded by the legendary channel Bolt24 Hot Sounds. Discogs info on almost all of these groups has only been added in the last couple of days. So this is rare stuff indeed but I wouldn't be talking about if it wasn't such good stuff so as Molly used to say "do yourself a favour"
Rogues 5 - Oh So Right [1965]
Outa Lorain Ohio comes the restrained menacing fuzzed twangery of Oh So Right from one and done group Rogues 5. All shadowy and threatening but uptight and controlled creating a simmering sinister tone.
Incredible stuff.
Egyptians - Walkin' Shoes [196?]
Mesmerising moody and brooding teen garage. A dreamy lo-fi sound not dissimilar to the Velvets in mellow mode. A pulsating, haunting and ultimately addictive tune.
Downbeat baby!
Soul Survivors - Need You Love [1967]
Scuzzy party time. Get the dance floor sizzling at your next shindig with this groovin' organ driven garage banger.
Resurrection - Like The Way [1967/1968?]
Catchy girl/boy lusty obsessions lyrically captured in a tune with great organ riff, jangly guitar, hypnotic organ and a groovy beat.
All done in a nonchalant rudimentary manner.
The coolest.
Outa sight!
*That's just the tip of the iceberg there's another twenty four crude unknown regional gems waiting for you to discover. I gotta say I'm pretty fucking surprised at the strike rate of the tunes on this cd. Who would have thought that we'd still be finding toppermost primitive 60s garage, homespun jangle-y pop and lo-fi moody teenbeat tunes in 2026.
Roll up roll up for some teenbeat moody and broody garage from Holland Michigan group The New Era.
This killer sunshine pop smash has got all the irresistible rolling jangly guitars and hook laden sweetness you could want from an ace 60s pop song yet it's still barely even a cult record.
Classic supremely melodic moody and broody garage from one and done group The Wonders outa Omaha Nebraska. Soaring haunting harmonies in cool disorientating guitar pop gem.
Funky psychedelic bubblegum glam in an atmospheric horror pop style.
The sort of novelty hallucinogenic glam you'd imagine was a seminal influence on the hypnagogic pop underground... er... maybe I'm just imagining Ariel Pink doing a cover of this brilliant tune for a limited edition Halloween release.
