The Rare Breed - "Beg, Borrow and Steal" (Attack)

This one is easily one of my all-time favorites. It's a solid sonic popper with a heavy garage edge and plenty of attitude. "I'd rather beg, borrow and steal than go back to you" sums it all up quite nicely. But there is a bit of confusion related to this. You see, it's the same recording as by another more famous name. Allow me to explain.

The record was produced by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz, the production team behind many a bubblegum classic. It was first released on the Attack label in 1966 and was recorded by a group of 16 and 17 year olds. When this didn't originally hit, Kasenetz and Katz took it to Cameo-Parkway and re-released it under a new name: The Ohio Express. The record then blasted off to #29 in October of 1967. They followed it up with their version of The Standells' "Try It" and only made it to #83. But the next time the name "Ohio Express" appeared, it was on the newly-formed Buddah label and the song would become a smash: "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy." And the rest, as it's often said, is history.

In addition to the Ohio Express, Kasenetz and Katz would also score big with the 1910 Fruitgum Company and The Music Explosion and would leave behind a legacy of highly dancable rock 'n' roll records in the face of the hippie steamroller. As for The Rare Breed, their name would appear one more time on a second single for Attack, "Come and Take a Ride In My Boat." After that, nada.

So if you were confused by this record either being by The Rare Breed or The Ohio Express, now you know the story. Now, let's crank this one up.