Groundhogs - Cherry Red

We interrupt this virtual 1966 with something from 1971 because, bless his soul, Tony McPhee singer and guitarist of the perpetually underrated Groundhogs has passed away. 

Speaking of The Quest's high pitched vocals in a psych setting (see previous post) here's a similar aesthetic five years later. It's heavy psych avant-blues guitar pyrotechnics with an array of classic vocal tones including that infectiously insane high wailing falsetto. A metallic pop epic that never gets old. Somehow it always remains fresh, exciting and a blast every time. My favourite tune of my year of birth. 

Peak 1971. It doesn't get better than this!

The Quest's - Shadows In The Night

The Quest's - Shadows In The Night (1966)

Another storming slice of unorthodox Michigan garage. The Quest's hailed from Grand Rapids MI. They released three singles on the legendary Fenton label. While we get some supreme fuzz and manic surf drummage, it's the high pitched hook laden vocals that set this tune apart. Good fun spooky stuff. Is it spooky? Maybe it's an ode to paranoia? I dunno, I've never been able to comprehend exactly what he's on about.....

The Undecided ? - Make Her Cry

The Undecided - Make Her Cry (1966)

I'd never heard this until today. Make Her Cry is the a-side of which the previous post's I Never Forgot Her was the b-side. This tune wasn't on any of the Pebbles or Teenage Shutdown compilations. It did however appear on a volume of the Garage Punk Unknowns compilation series but I missed those so...

To say the sonic contours and musical aesthetics of this song were unexpected is probably an understatement. Initial impression is: This sounds like The Beach Boys doing a glam rock stomper five years early. It's the kinda music indie/psych/hypnagogic artists were aiming for twenty years ago. You could imagine a cover of this turning up on a James Ferraro recording circa On Air.  

Anyhow Make Her Cry woulda been a barnstormer at the local Michigan teen beat sock hop back in the day!

This is glam rock in 1966.

The Undecided ? - I Never Forgot Her

The Undecided ? - I Never Forgot Her (1966)

Ok now lets get to the weirder side of the unknown teen beat garage scene from Michigan. The Undecided ? were from Dearborn MI and released just the one single. This is the flipside. I Never Forget Her was firstly compiled in 1983 on Pebbles: Highs In The Mid Sixties Volume 5: Michigan.

Sometimes the acolytes of The Yardbirds, The Beach Boys et al. match or even outdo their heroes. If you've never heard this before give it a chance, the uncommon charms of The Undecided ? might just cast a spell on you. I Never Forgot Her is unexpected and curious. Apart from the monstrous reverb there's something going on here that's sonically quite disconcerting which makes it totally irresistible. These guitar sequences are left intentionally unresolved leaving a slightly disorientating undercurrent: A ghost in the air of what you thought should have been. 

20th century pop of the highest calibre. Rewind. 

Fly-Bi-Nites - Found Love

Fly-Bi-Nites - Found Love (1967)

If Blue Oyster Cult's 1976 hit Don't Fear The Reaper has always been a favourite of yours and you've not heard this you might be in for a surprise. Found Love was on a Pebbles: Highs In The Mid Sixties comp. This is another 7" single flipside that has outlasted its totally forgotten and forgettable A-side.

This toe-tapper flows along in an incredibly pleasing manner. It's an anthem. The organ sets the driving tone and the guitar gets on board along with that killer bass doing its own thing. There's even a break! What's not to like. 

The Mystery Trend - Johnny Was A Good Boy

The Mystery Trend - Johnny Was A Good Boy (1967)

Another hook laden slice of perfect driving psych-rock that didn't become a top ten smash. How can this be? It's undoubtably one of the great singles of the 60s.

Was the subject matter too disturbing. I mean:

"So now they put him away, they say he's not a normal man
You never can tell, but well they say he may do it again"

Whatever he did it can't have been good. But Johnny was a good boy wasn't he?

"Animals all loved him
And he had a way with kids"

It's all terribly upsetting and mysterious. I'm gonna go with, not a crime against a person, but maybe he set the local sports stadium on fire because he didn't like footy. I can't help but think it was something much much worse though, like the most most transgressive abhorrent crime possible. Oh dear Johnny what did you do?

*Imagine if all the San Fran psych/Matrix groups were this good? 

Anyway they became just another one and done group which has probably made them way more legendary than if they had released a full LP or three or perhaps they missed out on being more influential than The Velvets.

The Squires - Going All the Way

The Squires - Going All The Way (1966)

My other favourite 60s tune of right now (and many previous nows). I know I've probably posted it before but it deserves it. This did appear on the first Pebbles comp so it's been a cult favourite for a long time,

Going All The Way is a supreme paean to fearless youthful exuberance delivered with er... youthful exuberance. 

For their one and only 7" single The Squires were signed to ATCO Records so how this didn't become a global number one smash is a fucking mystery. Number one in our hearts though. 

It doesn't get better than this. Crank this up to eleven!

The Plagues - I've Been Through It Before

The Plagues - I've Been Through It Before (1966)

My current favourite 60s tune of the last 25 years. Teen fuzz and scuzz. The best.

The Plagues had it going on here alright. All the elements perfectly coalesce. Those drums are just electric and the array of fuzz oh my. The astounding synergetic tight-loose-ness of it all. The doom-y teen aguish and petulance of the lyrics delivered in such a sullen tone. The insidious melody, the bass, the push and pull of the pace, the synchronous backing vocals...it's all in the right place, flawlessly. 

Captivating. 

I wanna fall out of love just to feel this song even more.

This was The Plagues second single and was released in 1966 on the Fenton label out of Sparta, Michigan. I've Been Through It Before later turned up on that early 80s bootleg series The Chosen Few and then in 1998 on a volume of Teenage Shutdown. 

You gotta love that a high school group from Lansing mid-Michigan made this immortal tune of adolescent love gone sour. 

"You expected me to 

believe, every word you said 

but now those words are dead"

How fucking cool were these kids?

As far as 60s guitar driven doomed pop goes it doesn't get better than this. If you don't believe me, play this three times in a row and tell me I'm wrong.

Savages - The World Ain't Round It's Square

Savages - The World Ain't Round It's Square (1966)

Troglodytes with electricity. 

Frightening, raw, exhilarating. 

Peak get your kicks 1966!

Savages were the choice 60s Bermuda band. Who lives in Bermuda? Is that a thing? I thought Bermuda was an uninhabited archipelago of ocean volcanos where hurricanes took planes out of the sky. But Bermuda shorts though...(?) 

The weird thing is that this tune, which is considered by some as one of the greatest 60s garage rock songs, was only the b-side to their second single You're On My Mind which was a Bee Gees style ballad. Huh.

Starfires - I Never Loved Her

Starfires - I Never Loved Her (1965)

That throbbing sinister bass is very the best. This one's all about the atmosphere: A restrained yet menacing vibe. You gotta love the contrast of the snarly lead vocals of the verses compared with the ominous sweetness of the backing vocals of the melodious chorus. A dark minimalist tune that's all about those tambourine hits for me. I mean you just never know when that tambourine is gonna be hit again.