A Few Quickies

The Chancellors: Dear John/5 Minus 3 (Fenton 2072)

2-SIDER! 2-SIDER! 2-SIDER! There! I said it! I meant it! Both sides on this thing smoke! It's on Fenton! Fenton's a highly collectible label! Some of their records go for $300 or more! I don't remember what I paid for this! But I don't care! It was worth going into debt over! Side one's got two smokin' fuzz breaks! It's got lots of broken hearted teen angst! It's got a lot of wild Farfisa organ! Side two's even better! It's instrumental! Just organ, bass and drums! But they all kill! It's real loud! The way it should be! Two killer sides for your mega-bucks! What can you lose, but your mortgage payments! You know you want it! So, go for it! You only live once!

(If you must be frugal, you can at least hear "5 Minus 3 on "Buzz Buzz Buzzzz Vol. 2" and I definitely recommend you do.)

The Exterminators: The Beetle-Bomb(Chancellor CHC 1148)

Here we have a surf instro that hates The Beatles as much as you do. Yeah, I know how it's spelled on the label, but the record opens with "She Loves You," accompanied with a faux British voice saying, "Oh, no!," so you know what you're in for. "Say there chaps, I'm not putting you on/Here come the Beatles, get the Beetle-Bomb." And then they start in rockin', blowin' sax, wailin' organ, twangin' guitar and DDT hissing. At the end, the Drab Four drops dead, and our British friend snarls triumphantly, "By Jove, I think we got 'em!" So, there you have it: proof that not everyone in '64 was enamored with those Liverpool brats as baby boomers would have you believe.

Vance Charles and the Sonics: My Soul/We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Golden Eagle GE 214)

Houston, Texas was home to this bunch and this was (I think) their sole outing. Of course, you got your typical garage cover, the Animals in this case, and they compensate by putting in fuzz, but other than that, it's by-the-book. "My Soul," on the other hand," is an all-out fuzz-punk stomper with wailing vocals, swirling organ and plenty of fuzz and stomp power! "My Soul" is very much what you need here. It's probably comped somewhere, but since I don't keep track of what's comped, I couldn't tell you. Trust me, it rocks! Just get the 45, okay? That is, if you haven't blown all your rent money.

The Shademen: That's Tuff (Verann JMJ 501)

Can we say great organ punker here? I believe so. This one starts out with pounding organ and stays that way for the 1:50 minute length of the tune. But believe me, you who crave killer garage punkers just might like this one. It's fast, stompin' and right to the point. Too bad I can't say that about the B-side, but (sigh) that's why compilations were born. Again, I don't know where it's comped, but if you get the chance to check this out, do!

Tom Dae Turned On: I Shall Walk/It Could Be So Nice (Hitt 7002)

Tom Dae had been recording with various combos since the mid 60s in the Boston area. This 1970 piece was one of his last recordings and should definitely be of interest to you hard psych freaks out there. In fact, "I Shall Walk" was comped on Arf Arf's "A Lethal Dose of Hard Psych" a few years back. It's a strange, but powerful piece dominated by keyboards and electronic effects, lightly sprinkled with fuzz! Surprisingly enough, "It Could Be So Nice" is good enough to be a Kasenetz-Katz hit. And the early use of a drum machine is unmistakable. Whether that's good or bad is up to you.

Joe Tex: Looking For My Pig (Parrot 45 PAR 45012)

We all know that the bulk of Joe Tex's work is on the Dial label (Note that I said "the bulk;" I'm well aware he recorded for King and, later, Epic.), so how did this get on Parrot? Could it be that Dial used to be distributed by London (of which Parrot was a subsidiary) before Atlantic-Atco took them over? Whatever the reason, "Looking For My Pig" is quite a soul shaker, one of Tex's more uptempo numbers. Nursery rhyme motifs are used throughout the song in which Tex says he's wanting to tell the pigs that the big bad wolf is dead, since a brick killed him, or something like that. Anyway, you won't care. Just let this move your tight behind out onto the floor and let Joe do the rest, which he will do when you give him room. Workout, baby!