Monday, November 14, 2022

A Mike Mariconda interview, a legendary route in rock'n'roll.

It is quite hard to listen to this kind of music, reading this blog space and still not recognize his name, isnt' it? The original A-Bones guitarist, then in The Raunch Hands and The Devil Dogs. He has produced hundreds of records since 1984 and has recorded countless garage-punk and rhythm & blues outfits around the world (USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia and Europe). He was a student of electronic music pioneer Reynold Weidenaar and one of the first producers to graduate with a  Bachelor of Science in Music Technology from New York University. He currently lives in Spain. Mike Mariconda is a living legend of the underground rock'n'roll scene globally as you might already know or guess. 



Many thanks Mike for taking a few moments to answer my questions. I usually start with this: What actually got you involved with rock'n'roll? I'd like to know if there was anything before The Raunch Hands.

Well, thanks for asking as I have been a fan of your writing and the White Trash Soul website for many years. I had been playing in bands since 1977, I started when I was 15 years old with friends from High School..We started out doing covers of The Who then we heard the first The Damned record and The Victims (NOT the Australian band,) the one from NJ near where I grew up who did one LP called "Real Wild Child", for or Golden Disc )-a label from a Doo Wop record store in Greenwich Village where Lenny Kaye worked) and we got into a more punk style. I joined the Raunch Hands in winter of 1984 after seeing them play their first gig at some funky illegal after hours club called No Se No. Shortly before that they were just a duo called Tchang and Chandler so we put a full band behind them. They played as a duo at Tim Warren's wedding in late 1983 and Club 57 on St, Marks place a few times.

Is it true that you stole Mike Chandler from Outta Place in order to create a band similar to Peter Greenberg's original Barrence Whitfield and the Savages?

No, not true, Chandler was in both bands but playing more with The Outta Place and the other 3 members of The Raunch Hands were frustrated and jealous and  approached me to do an instrumental band without a singer called The Slaymen as Chandler got busy when The Outta Place LP came out on Midnight Records in 1984... After a few weeks we integrated The Raunch Hands and The Slaymen into one group and we had 10 songs total, 5 originals and 5 instrumental covers, enough to play a full show. We learned "What I Say" and " I Got a Woman" (The Maddox Brothers and Rose's version) to make it 12 although the group was better writing originals as they weren't at the musical level to do cover versions very well. We only saw The Savages about a year later when we played with them at Irving Plaza and they made us look like fools. We had to have a special band meeting the next day and we decided to play faster with more R and B screaming and sax and promised we would never let a band step all over us like they did that night.

What's the story behind Raunch Hands appearance on Back From the Grave Vol. 3? Was it a Tim Warren's joke or an attempt for making the Hands more known?

Well Tim loved us and knew Tchang and Chandler for years and I guess he was hungry for new bands and we fit the bill. We had just recorded our first 3 songs and he flipped out. I owe a lot to him, he really changed my life.

Did the Raunch Hands borrowed their name from Link Wray?

No. Vince came up with that as PJ Proby did a single under the pseudonym Jett Powers with Vince Parle and The Raunch Hands called " Go, Girl, Go" so he named us after that one-off single.

I'd like to know any worth mentioning untold stories from the Hands and Devil Dogs life. By the way, on the Dogs fist LP you've been credited as additional musician, when you officially joined the band? 

There are too many stories to tell and with time it gets difficult to remember..What happened was when Tim did The Bad Music Seminar "Music Festival" in NYC he was the first to bring Billy Childish to the USA... Billy  agreed to record the Double Naught Spies, The Gravediggers and The Rat Bastards at Coyote Studios out in Brooklyn, Those 2 records came out but The Rat Bastards (who later transformed into The Devil Dogs),thought the recording was too trashy and lo-fi sounding, Tim got me to try to remix it, but they still hated it. So I went into the studio with them to re-record the LP and after a few days the group split into 2 as Pete didn't think Andy saying "Fuck" on the songs would get played on the radio. This was my first real production job after a few songs by the Raunch Hands and we were all in a panic. As guitarist Pete Ciccone left the group but the drummer, Paul Corrio, (the group always had Italian/Americans or Jewish guys in it. Sometimes we disagree, haha) stayed on just to finish the recording and me and Andy overdubbed the 2nd guitar parts as Pete didn't want to be on the record. They had a gig booked the following week at The Pyramid Club as The Rat Bastards and they were going to cancel as they didn't have a drummer or second guitarist- but as the engineer Albert Caiati from Coyote Studios was a great drummer and I was a guitarist we said "Hey- keep the show, me and Albert can play with you (Steve and Andy)" as we had been listening to the songs all week. So that was the first Devil Dogs gig after they changed the name from The Rat Bastards. As I was a member of The Raunch Hands I didn't want to be in the photos or credited as guitarist to avoid confusion, but I did do all the gigs with them and several European and a Japanese tour with them and played on most of the Crypt records up until they did "Saturday Night Fever" as a trio. I stayed in the band but Albert didn't so after trying out a few drummers we took on David Turetsky who was previously in The Headless Horsemen and Justin Trouble.



Are they any unreleased recordings from both bands with you playing in (or not)?

Yes, but as we can't get authorization from the other  group members to release them they remain on cassettes I have at home and there are some great moments that unfortunately the public will probably never hear it. Tim paid for the sessions, maybe someday he will release them, if he gets permission from the "artists" haha...

So you're telling me that there are somewhere Rat Bastards recordings still sitting unreleased in some drawer or something that been produced by Billy Childish and remixed by you? Wow! I thought that session never took place.

Yes-Billy wrote Suck The Dog, Hosebag and Pussywhipped on the spot. The titles came from American slang he heard as it was his first time in the USA. The group played them a few times and record them a few hours later.

I guess I’ll have to ask someone from The Mummies about it, but you know why you’ve been immortalized on these loonies song? Has anything to do with the rejected recording by Tim Warren?

Tim flew me out to San Francisco to record them. I guess they were a little disappointed as they wanted Billy Childish but Tim wasn't paying to fly him from the UK. I had never met them and they weren't particularly friendly when I did. They wasted a lot of time and said their guitarist Larry was in Utah on vacation, so we didn't get much done except recording on 8 track in a cold warehouse a couple of days. We really didn't get beyond recording about 10-12 songs which I didn't have time to mix. Tim paid for a finished LP, which he didn't get and wanted a more guitar oriented punk record with less organ and less 60s retro garage sound which they didn't seem to agree on. As much as their fans really love them I thought they were extremely unwelcoming, gimmicky and didn't really have any anything but stupid costumes and a lot of show. I don't think Tim rejected them so much because he didn't like the songs, which were OK. He felt they were problematic to work with which was my impression. I'm not sure if I was "immortalized" but happy someone disliked me enough to write about me. Good or bad response to something is always better than being ignored.

Speaking of your work as a producer, you’ve been behind the desk for countless garage punk and R&B/Soul outfits; tell me the main reason that got you choosing this as a post-musician job. Tell me also the recordings you enjoyed the most working as an engineer or a producer.

Well, after The Raunch Hands split up I had already started moving more towards producing... I was tired of the touring and being in 2 groups that were always on the road. Plus I started to develop a problem with the nerves in my hand and had difficulty playing.


The most memorable sessions and groups were The Phantom Keys (done in a house in Galicia), all of The Limboos stuff I did. Recording Sonny Burgess in Spain, live in the studio in one day. New Bomb Turks was a great 2 day session. Los Assdraggers another fast, fun and really drunk session and The Devil Dogs sessions were always a blast, I like when we are all having fun and laughing in the studio and working without any doubts... Recently Nervous Shakes from Brussels was a great session.. Fun and laughs all day and an excellent record. The best sessions always are the groups that do their job well as musicians and let me do my job as a producer and we can all relax, drink and have a good time without it feeling like work... stuff that just comes together fast and naturally. I don't show up with an attitude, so I don't expect to get that in return from anyone I work with-don't care if you are a "star" or a 15 year old kid making his first record. I treat anyone who is not full of shit with respect and would like the same. I currently moved to Valencia and am starting to play live again with a group called O.J.O. after swearing I never would get on stage again. But like smoking or eating, playing music is a tough habit to quit. And why should you quit something  if it gives you pleasure no matter how bad it is for you? Haha.

I know you’re hipped as me to the idea of different pressings with different mixes by bands. Which are the most interesting you ever crashed on? Are you a Mono or Stereo pressings fan btw and what's the reason behind this?

When I was working at Venus Records in NYC in 1984, I remember record collectors discussing mid 60s mono pressings had different mixes than the stereo pressings. For a few years records were mixed completely differently for the 2 formats and in some cases sounded quite different.Later we started realizing that European pressings of USA bands USA pressings of UK bands were also very different as the EQ curve standard (RIAA/Teldec/IEC) was different. You must remember that the master tape had to be sent by mail across the Atlantic, then they would be mastered and pressed in their respective country. These masters were often 2nd or 3rd generation analog "safety masters" 1/4" tapes (it was too risky to send the first generation mix tapes by mail-they could get lost or damaged) that could also sound different depending on what machine they were recorded and what machine they were played back on. With all of these variables pressings in various countries sound different. "I Can See For Miles" by The Who is a good example. It was pressed as a 45 (which also sounds different from the 33 RPM LP version) in about 8 different countries and they all sound a bit different and also sometimes the speed is slightly different. And the quality of the vinyl also accounts for a different sound. Chess LP vinyl was not that great so sometimes Chuck Berry records sound better on the French pressings.Also of course the artwork and photos differ from county to country, along with the track sequence. The Rolling Stones "Between The Buttons" US has different songs than the original UK version, and there are stereo and mono copies from both countries that sound very different. The vinyl made today, 60% of like sounds like shit and better in digital if you listen with the right equipment.



I need to know your thoughts on Tim Warren and Billy Miller. I believe they are as important to rock'n'roll as many artists and bands.

That's true. Their impact on bringing unknown artists and obscure styles of rock and roll is overwhelming. Not only as fantastic people and great friends they educated a lot of bands after they started putting out compilation records in the 1980s. They turned the unknown  losers into the heroes. Their endless search for the weird, the different, the craziest records every recorded that no one seemed to have known about certainly changed my life along with many others. Being close to both of them, also in a band with Billy and being Tim's "technical and production support," haha, was a blessing. I am very lucky to have been around them and still talk to Tim all the time.

Tell me a few bands that you wish had you as a producer.

Most of the bands that are currently active that I like I have worked with already but new groups are coming all the time. I am currently talking to Barrence Whitfield and The Savages and The Peewees about doing some records in the future and I like and respect both bands. I would have loved to do The Deadly Snakes or 68 Comeback when they were around but never got the chance. I wanted to do The Rolling Stones but without Charlie, I wouldn't do. I would maybe work with Keith on a solo record but not on Mick's next solo record. Now you tell me a few bands that would wish they had me as a producer! I bet you can't.

Haha, The Sonics are the first that comes in me mind. They're still great fuckin' dirty oldmen, aren't they? I'll definitely handed you the tape of L.A.M.F. also for a possible upgrade sounding reissue if I was sitting on the band's rights. The Coyote Men or Teengenerate were some bands taylor made for you also. There are many man. So, any recordings with you as a guitarist in The A-Bones?

No, I left before they recorded the first EP. I gave the job to my college friend Bruce Bennett who stayed with the group the whole time. I was getting busy as the Raunch Hands started making records and touring I couldn't be in both bands.

I'm sitting on an unreleased LP by Los Primos, Andy gave it to The Thing fanzine editor back then and Demetrius passed it to me too - he knew I was such a big fan. What happened and this one stayed in the can? I believe it's still one of your best productions. Tell me more about this band, they're definitely underrated. 

During the last Devil Dogs tour of the USA (I had already left the band) Andy met Candy Del Mar in L.A. Steve and Andy were having huge fights and Steve left to play with The Vikings and some other projects. Joe stayed with Andy and Candy came in then they used Pete Linzell as sax player as he was free, The Raunch Hands had already split up. They came down to Austin to record with me at Sweatbox and left me to mix it after they went back to New York. After they heard the dry rough mixes I did for a month they hated the final mix i did, they said it had too much reverb and effects and wanted it to sound dry like The Ramones (?), which was weird because they were moving away from punk into almost Brill Building/Bert Berns /Raspberries/Glam kinds of songs, so they remixed that at Coyote in Brooklyn... A few of the songs came out on 2 singles then Andy and Candy started fighting with Mighty Joe and threw him out of the group. They brought in Ron Salvo on Drums and Steve Greenfield on second sax and called it Andy G and The Roller Kings and a 10" was released. As far as I know, these are Andy's last recordings before he disappeared.

Are you still in touch with the other surviving Raunch Hands guys? 

We wrote to each other after Michael Chandler died, then we kinda lost contact.

Have you ever met Johnny Thunders or any other form the Dolls/Heartbreakers gang? 

Yeah, only Johnny and Walter. Walter was very nice, cultured and funny, he a a Wall Street job during the day and enjoyed going to the opera. A real gentleman. Johnny on the other hand was funny but somewhat dangerous. Me and Stevie Baise saw the last show he ever played shortly before he moved to New Orleans and died. He was hanging out at the Pyramid club after he had gotten back from playing in Europe. Jack Tragic was working there and talked him into playing an unannounced show (surely for drug money)... I think there were less than 30 people there, It was on a Tuesday, unannounced. He played good but physically he looked terrible, really sickly with almost green skin. Johnny loved The Senders (and why not? they were one of NYC's finest) and he would usually turn up at their gigs and play "Daddy Rolling Stone" with them. One night around 1990 it was a freezing winter night with snow and he showed up at the Continental Club near St. Marks and played with them. The "backstage" of The Continental was in the basement, where they kept the stuff for the restaurant which they tried to serve some kind of "food" in order to avoid paying the bar tax or something. Anyway we went backstage after the show to say Hi  and Johnny was doing cocaine of the top of a guitar. He asked us if we had a joint and Stevie did so we smoked a joint with him then it was getting late like 6 AM and we were getting ready to leave. Johnny had on this big vintage overcoat and as he stumbled up the stairs he bumped into the bouncer and 2 frozen chickens fell out which he stole from the freezer. The bouncer grabbed him and threw him out the door into the snow. Pretty typical Johnny. David Jo and Sylvain were always nice guys, David was cleaning up with his Buster Poindexter lounge thing at the time. He was playing a lot at Tramps and being somewhat professional, avoiding the rock and roll scene.

A last one, what's your thoughts on the so-called 80s garage revival? Any bands you dug except of The Outta Place?

There were pretty good groups playing at The Dive near Midnight Records at the time. The Tryfles, Vipers and Optic Nerve were both OK, but a little soft. Fuzztones always bad and silly, Lyres always great. Chesterfield Kings didnt move me too much...

Cheers mate!








Sunday, April 21, 2019

Various Artists - "Copy Cats, The Originals" (WAIL TAPE 03)

Johnny was a very cool person. Even as a kid. He knew his shit about how to get dressed to kill and of course he knew where's a cool song when he heard one. From the New York Dolls days to the Heartbreakers and the later solo period, his mind about music was always on the right track, chemistry couldn't kill this. A steady diet of Rhythm and Blues, Rock & Roll (even Surf) was always there. That's why Johnny was such a cool motherfucker throughout his sort passage on this world. He wasn't a cool cat, he was born a real cool cat.
The "COPY CATS" LP with long time friend, Patti Palladin was perhaps the last cool thing he'd done. A set of "oldies" toons (hahaha, I hate the term, fuck it, this is the devil's music man), when most of them were totally forgotten and "uncool". He was a revivalist in its purest term. Not unlike what the Chesterfield Kings did back then or the Tell Tale Hearts, but instead for the Nuggets comps and the USA garage teens' 45s, Johnny and Patti look on the basis of rock & roll music (OK, they have gone for Sky Saxon and The Seeds but no "Pushing Too Hard" here, sorry folks). They picked on Elvis for instance, but they were so ahead of their time to chose not a Sun Records song or a hit but a forgotten piece of motherfuckerness from a movie, man!!! I mean, who else did that except maybe for the Cramps? They chose the King of the New Yawk streets, Dion. They could have chose a well known Little Richard or a Chuck Berry hit or even a more smart ass one but fuck no, they went for Screaming Jay Hawkins' voodoo shit or The Chamber Brothers!!! Anyway, I guess you get what I'm trying to say, right? So here's the easy way to hear them originals all gathered up for you listening pleasure.

Till next time, faithfully yours

Mihaleez


Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Johnny Thunders’ Guitars:










Johnny achieved his unmistakable tone from playing vintage guitars very loud and clean.

The natural speaker distortion of an overdriven amplifier and his R 'n' R attitude provided more than enough beef. On top of other addictions Mr. Genzale will always be known as a late 50's Gibson Les Paul T.V. junkie, not to be confused with the more common Les Paul junior of the same period. From the middle days of the New York Dolls to the final gigs before his untimely death in 1991, it is believed that he played just two main Les Paul T.V.s.  

His first Les Paul T.V. which he first acquired while playing in the New York Dolls was stolen in late 1979 early 1980 while he was touring with Gang War. Another one was purchased towards the end of 1980 in New York to replace his original. The "T.V." denoted the color of the guitar (a beautiful honey yellow) which was assumed to show up better on black and white television sets. Both guitars were the double cutaway versions which means they were produced between mid 1958 and 1960.

It is my opinion that these guitars were 1958's due to the more squared off horns on each cutaway (the later 59's and 60's horns were a bit smaller and more rounded). The production totals of the Les Paul T.V. were 429 in 1958, 543 in 1959, and 419 in 1960. Gibson electric guitar aficionados will classify these years as the golden years of guitar making. These are now considered rare and collectible guitars. On top of it all, Johnny's guitars had the rarer tortoise shell pick-guard instead of the more common black pick-guard. His only modification he did to the guitar was to put on modern Grover tuners (good idea). It is funny to hear people talking about Johnny always playing slightly out of tune. The "primitive" bridge set up of these guitars made it impossible to intonate perfectly. The imperfect tone was more a function of the guitar and his heavy handed playing. One of Johnny's T.V. guitars hangs proudly in the New York Hard Rock Cafe. It is a miracle that it was recovered after his death.

By HeySuchandSuch


Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Various Artists - "Songs The Senders Taught Us" (WAIL TAPE 02)

It's been a while, huh?

OK, I'm a lazy bastard lately I confess. There are many excuses for it, but I'm as bored to story them as you probably reading them, so... That's from my vault of shit. Things I'm doing constantly for my own pleasure. I'm almost done with Philippe Marcade's excellent rock & roll memoir, Punk Avenue and came to my mind that I had somewhere this self made compilation, so why not sharing it? I'm not going (of course) to remind you who The Senders are/were. That's an insult. If my memory serves me well, I created this right after Wild Bill's passing, so here's a properly sloppy and drunken tribute to the Senders' axeman, full of the greasy originals the mighty pub-rock New Yawkers tried through their lifetime, to cover. Hope not forget something, but if I did, feel free to correct me.

'Till next time, take care people and keep the rocks rollin'!!!

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Various Artists - "Born To Lose - A Tribute To Johnny Thunders" (3xCD, Skykrebs Records - 2009)

Oops, here I am again!
How many tribute albums have you bought people and how many of them are worthy of your hard earned spent money? Not much right? OK, let's make it easier. How many tribute albums have you downloaded so far and you've been bored to death for the time you spent on 'em hearing? Not so much, again, am I right?
Well, for some very strange reason this one even though was probably of the best around and surely the best on our beloved Johnny Thunders, never got the credit. I mean, even fuckin' Discogs doesn't have it on (wtf)! And if the producer had it reduced to a single disc it would have been the ultimate, but what the hell, the more Genzales the better, right? RIGHT!
And thanks to the old pal of the blog, Steve, came to my own hands too a couple of years behind. Here's the story: I was looking for material The Waldos haven't had anywhere else and I came across this. Three tracks man! The Waldos on "Jetboy", Walter on "Short Lives" and Tony Coiro with "Blame it on Mom"! I remember myself searching for it for quite a lot but I wasn't able to track it down in a reasonable price, cause you know they weren't many places have it on their vault. So I asked Steve if he was sitting on and the reply was a link with full scans and 3 CD rips! The tags was a mess but who cares, do something for yourself you lazy prick and so I did! The performances doesn't go below good and the names are at least underground scene thugs. My beloved Devil Dogs with a rip-roaring version of "I Wanna Be Loved", Blanks 77 with "London Boys", The Stiffs take on "Crime of the Century" (with a lil bit of Sex Pistols...) or Nine Pound Hammer ("Let Go") and New Bomb Turks ("Bad Girl"). Impressive, huh? Except for the Waldos familia, there are plenty of other people who knew and played with Johnny over the years (Buddy Bowzer, Jeff Magnum, Andy Shernoff, Alison Gordy etc) or people with more maintream creds (Jesse Malin, New York Loose). And oh, there are also a few surprises (listen for yourselves for 'em) and many a guest star if you read the extensive liner notes carefully. In other words people, this boxset is a must for anyone who is a fan of Thunders or The Dolls or The Heartbreakers.

Cheers!
 

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Various Artists - "Summer Stomps VOL. I" (STOMP TAPE 01)

Heeeeeeeey!!!
Whassup? Hope this letter (erm...post) finds you all you guys and gals pretty well! I know, it seems a little bit like I totally dropped this space but as you can see for yourself I'm not. I'm just having no time at all for posts and wanking, at least as Ι used to fool around the previous years. Anyway, here I am. I told you before that I'm gonna show up from time to time and that it's going to happen anytime my mojo is coming back to me. It's almost end of the summertime and I'm still here in the big city due to many-many obligations. But the time has come, man and next Friday hopefully I'm gonna leave Athens for vacations and that was a reason enough to make a new digital 'mixtape' to celebrate the occasion! It's been done real quickly. The procedure was once again based on the formula of "not so much thinking, man", so I just drove myself through my stuff picking out/bringing out whatever my eye was catching and thought I wanted to be in and ripped the shit outta them. The usual WTS faves, you know - 60s garage punk, frat, rhythm and soul, rhythm and blues, real rock & roll basically. Anyway, hope you like it and whether or not have already set yourself to the summertime mode, these toons I think will fix your mood. Till next time (whenever that is), keep the rocks rollin'!

Cheers,
Mihaleez


Monday, January 16, 2017

Various Artists - "Songs The Missing Souls Taught Us" (WAIL TAPE 01)

Hi there! Hope 2017 will be a far better year for each and every single one of you guys and gals.

I know it's been a while since the last time but you know... Not much spare time, not much appetite, not much in general. It seems that I lost my mojo (or interest) for bloggin' matters, but I'm not shutting down the damn thing, cause I love it so much and it gave me even more the last 7 years. And maybe it's for better to post something when I'm really in the mood for it. So keep checkin' people, I'm sure from time to time will pop up something cool from your old hang out.

Anyway, on our subject: Some of the things that failed to renew my faith on modern bands lately, is the lack of fantasy and passion. Most of 'em seem to stay on the "looking good" concerns and they're recycling the same old cliches. I mean OK, you're not going to re-invent the wheel by playing rock & roll, but if you don't have faith, passion and...sex in your music, fuckin' leave it man, try something else for your own good (and ours)... Maybe I'm an old fart now, but I'd rather listen to Slim Harpo or The Pretty Things than to place an LP by the Tell Tale Hearts, and believe me I dig A LOT Mike Stax's old comrades. So, if I'm bored with a band like the Hearts lately, go figure what happens with a much newer combo who choose to play R&B or garage with a much less passion...

The Missing Souls outta Lyon, France are the real shit though, trust me! After three singles and a full album, these soulful fuzz-nuts made me ask for more every single time I put one of their slices on my turntable, man and believe me that's an often repeated procedure the last few months. They don't write songs of their own, but who fuckin' cares with a taste like this!!? Their ability to choose and rebuild amazing 60s garage-frat-punk and obscure soul classics having me not caring at all for not owning "original" material. In fact, I'm praying to stay that way!

If you haven't bought some (if not all) of their stuff already, stop reading now and go place an order. I mean, NOW brothers and sisters! In any other case, you definitely understand why I'm raving so much about them and decided to make a comp with all the original versions they have picked on so far. Again, this was at first for my own listening pleasure, but it's such a good selection of songs that I had to share it with you people.

Woooo, my (missing) soul!!!!

Cheers!

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Sadville... R.I.P. Billy Miller, Fuck You 2016...

This one has hit me REALLY hard... Billy Miller was along with wife Miriam Linna a tireless pair of rock n'roll champions of the higher quality that exposed me to the WILDEST sounds ever recorded! Without Kicks Magazine and Norton Records I would have been a totally different person, for sure less interesting even to myself... I'm FUCKIN' saddened and devastated by the sad news. Fuck off 2016. R.I.P. BillyMiller and hang on Miriam. My sincere condolences... Sadville...

Billy, Link Wray & Crypt Records' Tim Warren
NYC, 1985, pic taken from Turn It Down blog

Monday, October 31, 2016

The Real Kids - "The Real Kids" (LP, Red Star Records / Bronze Records - 1977)

Hmmmm... It's quite difficult to write something 'new' for a band like The Real Kids, especially if you have done it already in the past... I mean, really now, is there anyone in here not knowing who the Real Kids are/were and what they've done? Come on! And I'm sure many of you lads and ladies, have this and the other Real Kids stuff already by the Norton reissue program just like me, am I right? So why this?! Because The Real Kids' 1977 debut is the perfect rock 'n' roll record, that's why! Recorded in three nights at the Ultima studios in New York City and it's the perfect blend of captivating power pop melodies and fiery teen punk energy. And this is the UK pressing of their debut monument, ripped by the man with the best ears and equipment around, the mighty Jean-Phillipe! A reason enough to grab this one more time and crank it up to your fuckin' boring neighbors!

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Various Artists ‎– "Pow City! FABulous Shakers Soul Party" (CD, No Label / Crypt? - 2000)

Another digital disc full o' buttshakin', wailin' soul and funky 45s, quite probably by the hands of Tim Warren! The whole (party) spirit throughout this CD it's from the period of time when the soul music was morphing and transforming into something funkier. The beats are heavier, more African oriented but not at all "ethnic". A plain rawness that had only in mind to shake some ass and nothing else. I got this at first just for King Little Richard's "Soul Train" but maaaaaan, imagine my surprise when I've found out that it was just another killer shot of hot-shit rhythm shaker among others!!! Dig also Dottie Campbell's groovy reworking of the Sir Douglas Quintet "He's About A Mover" (with THAT crazy and naughty organ, man!) or Andre Williams and Andre Williams disguise as Jomo or The Ditalians opener "I Gotta Go" which is an absolute cracker. 22 ultra rare stompers and groovers for your parties. Don't worry, dance now, you can thank me later!


Saturday, September 24, 2016

Various Artists - "Full Time Lovers, Songs The Fabulous Thunderbirds Taught Us" (WAILCD 02 and a Half)

I've made this comp about a year or so back if my memory serves me well but I didn't posted it at the time because of the following two reasons: I didn't have all songs in FLAC (still don't - so not all songs ripped by me) and I've ran out of ideas for the back cover (all you get is this so-so front sleeve). The whole thing/project was to gather up all Rhythm and Blues, Soul and Funky sides the original Fabulous Thunderbirds line-up have covered (plus some more, I mostly focused on things Wilson/Vaughn touched later), and in this at least I succeed. I really love the T-Birds man! Their manic fusion of sweaty rock & roll, electric Texas barbecue of Chicago blues, nasty Memphis Soul and Louisiana Zydeco was (still is actually) a very good reason (if not, the only) for having any respect on white skin rhythm & blues gangs. Boy, even Muddy Waters was impressed back then when he caught one of the band's first shows in 1975 and hyped them Thunderbirds boys to club owners and interviewers across the country, loudly! Anyway, you got it I guess already. So, this is exactly what its title says. A 26 song gathering of all original sides the archetypal T-Birds chose and recorded (from Lazy Lester to Slim Harpo and from Sam & Dave to Bobby Patterson) for their first six albums, hope you dig it!

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Various Artists - "Garage Punk Unknowns Parts 1 & 2, Mid-Sixties America's Teen Garage Rock Action Blast! 1965-1967" (CD, No Label / Crypt? - 199?)

Hey there!
Bought the other day the "remastered" CD from Crypt of what was once upon a time, "Back From The Grave" Volumes 1 & 2 LPs and I'm telling you people, I was very GLAD that the master of primitivism the great in many levels Tim Warren have finally decided to update sound and packaging on the ol' classic bibles of RAW sixties punk that many of us here grew up with! And that led me to post these...
For some strange reason, probably due to (then) problems with rights, there's no Crypt logo on 'em. The whole design and attitude though betrays that Tim had a hand (or two...) in putting together these, he-he. Anyway and just for geeking reasons I'm telling this, I think the only time "Garage Punk Unknowns" had a Crypt mark on was on this 4 vinyl box. But then again, the box got out in 1998 and these CDs in 1999 (I think)... Who knows? Tim works in mysterious ways.
So for the newbies, "Garage Punk Unknowns" were the spinoffs of "Back from The Grave" volumes (along with the "Teenage Shutdown" series that I totally worship). Crude, unpsychedelic 60s punk raunch from the teens that tried to imitate the Stones and the Kinks (and thank God) they utterly failed! If you're looking for the original proto-punks in rock & roll history, these pricks in here are the ones man. Cheap guitars, pounding drums, screams and adolescent snark all the way!
Fuck Hippies. Amen.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

The New Race - "The First And The Last" (LP, Line Records - 1983)

OK, let me clear this: This blog isn’t dead... I’m just going through a phase of terminal boredom! It happens sometimes, you know…
Anyway, for this post you’ll have to thank entirely Jean Philippe! And I’m sure no introduction is needed by my side cause really does exist anyone (regular visitor of this space or not) not knowing the names of Radio Birdman, MC5 and/or the Stooges? I don’t fuckin’ think so. So, this is an amazing high energy one off document – gathering of teachers and students! Detroit Punk Rock & Roll anyone?!