ZOLAR - X
this page upated dec 7th, 2022
welcome, this page of the 70s invasion takes a look at some of the UNDERGROUND u.s. glam/ hard rock / pre-punk bands of the 70s, you won't find most of these lost bands reviewed anywhere else, yes we even reviewed many of the bands yrs before they got rereleased.........well over the years other music fans caught on and eventually reviewed some of these artists, but we were the first to have posted online reviews of several of the following bands . . .
recent reviews ~
CRAYOLA......n.y. girl punk quartet
the SILLIES......Detroit glam/punk band...
CLINTON....Pittsburgh obscurity....
JACK RUBY.......Rock / Pre-punk category, see N.y. section
Interview with SETH GREENKY who produced music by The Harlots of 42nd st. below in our N.y. section....in our most distant Gateway you'll find a few pages of promos and more on this band....
TEENAGE LUST....2013 video review
THE IMPERIAL DOGS......Previously unreleased live footage of this punk band from '74, you have to hear and see this :)....see bottom of L.a. section
PLANETS section added near the bottom of the N.y. section after the Dynomiters....
VALERIE and JOHN CHRISTIAN ( SHADY LADY ).....demo 'DOWN ON 42nd st'......see SHADY LADY section below
DEATH - info on this mid 70s black trio in our midwest section....
MAGIC TRAMPS interview with SESU, see below in the N.y. section below....
TIMOTHY JACKSON of DORIAN interview , see N.y. section, finally reviewed the lp there as well :)
reviews eventually maybe coming on ;
ELECTRIC EELS / MIRRORS - mid-70s pre-punk
both these bands made cool music, apolgies for not having gotten real reviews of either band up in the past few yrs but as time goes on it's gets harder to make updates....
THE L.A. UNDERGROUND
ZOLAR - X, SHADY LADY, BERLIN BRATS, BRETT SMILEY, THE QUICK, etc.
well LOVE led by ARTHUR LEE, and the DOORS were the Greatest of the L.a. bands were they not ? Arthur left the planet on Aug 3rd '06, but this section is about obscure 70s bands so see page 2 for LOVE and other L.a. bands of the 60s like umm CLEAR LIGHT.....
ZOLAR - X
ZOLAR - X band member YGARR Interviewed at this link -
http://suicidegirls.com/words/Zolar-X/
in the spring of '04 we recieved an extremely rare ZOLAR X practice session, plus a letter from one member of SHADY LADY about this show on March 1st '74, to see this info and review see our gallery of ZOLAR X atop our 'Gateway 2', which is accessible from the bottom of our homepage and page 21 as well....also RIPPER featuring Gerhard Helmut of SHADY LADY has been reviewed on page 7, and a gallery can now be accessed from our gateway 2....
info below for SHADY LADY, an obscure 70s L.a. glam band who featured Zory Glory of Zolar X, has been added below,they had a pre-DOLLS/STONES sound, 2 members sent us letters which u can read after the Zolar X section......the reviews have moved to our gateway, # 24...
here is thee track listing of the unreleased ZOLAR -X lp
1. Recitation (0:45) 2. Timeless (2:00)
3. Science (1:25) 4. Test Tube Babies (1:45)
5. Mirrors (3:50) 6. Zillionaire (Overtures on Air) (2:40) 7. Space Age Love (3:20)
Side Two
1. Tomorrow's Sunrise (3:30) 2. Rocket Roll (2:33)
3. Energize Me (4:32) 4. Jet Star (2:38)
5. Inside The Outside (2:47) 6. Sound Barrier (1:30)
OFFICIAL RECORDING SEESIONS OF ZOLAR - X
The band did 3 recording sessions; 1 '74 2 song demo
2 '76 ep - THE PLUTONIAN ELF SAGA, ( usually eps can have anywhere from 3 to 5 songs)
3 '80 reunion - they broke up sometime when punk came along however they did reunite in '80 and recorded a 'best of' compilation....
4 Ygarr put out a rough looking LP named 'TIMELESS' in 1982 without the consent of the other band members and is basically a bootleg. It uses old Zolar X recordings as well as Ygarr's then current solo material.
this quote was found on the liner notes;
May the lyrics on this album contribute to the cognizance of man's inner self-realization.
-Dharma Hridaya
Music written and performed by Zolar X. * Recorded on Earth '74 * Audio reprocessing and F.D.B. mastering by Hank Waring - Quad Tech Studios, L.A. * Artwork by Armando Norte * Creative Advisor Dharma Hridaya * Produced by Steven "Ygarr" Della Bosca * Executive Producer Peter Millar * Special Thanks: Jim Alcivar, Charles Patton, Ed Dorn, Jim Keylor, Uncle Don, Mike Zellner, The Helds - Zany, Etron, Zory, Ve, UFO, Eon, and Ygarr * 1982 S.D.B. Music *
WELL as of june 28th '03 we received a bootleg cassette of ZOLAR X, with a different running order and quite a few different songs, take a look -
neither the above, nor the tracks below were ever released, only in '82 did Ygarr release a bootleg with old ZOLAR X songs, and some solo stuff, that particular lp is now considered very rare.....
here is our track listing of the bootleg we recieved, contains some of the songs above , perhaps there is some solo Ygarr music too :), it's a mix of glam rock, punk; DEVO, STOOGES, RAMONES, a bit of SWEET, and some songs are prog rock along the lines of HAWKWIND and PINK FLOYD.......really SUPER 70s music here....
1 'RECITATION' 2 ' TIMELESS' 3 ' SCIENCE' 4 ?
5 ' TEST TUBE BABIES' 6 'ROCKET ROLL' 7 ?
8 'RECITATION' 2 9 'SPACE AGE LOVE' 10 'ENERGIZE ME'
11 ? 12 ? 13 ?
- ZOLAR X -
1 'RECITATIONS
this is a spoken word ?? intro to the band, the words are from a language used by aliens mixed with synths popping..........., we wrote down a few of what was said; 'BANG UTAURUS.......CANIMA UBRAITRAUMA,............METROPOLIS,...............YU CAMA UTAH, YARB......CAMATA HEBUT.............'............u get the idea, 'RECITATIONS 2', is more of the same...........at times it sounds like the tape was played backwards to get the effect, but we've been told the members were really from a distant galaxy so this really is an alien language they are speaking :)
2 ' TIMELESS '
.........begins with electric guitar notes, synths roll, has a slight SWEET glam sound with 'sci fi' atmosphere........some lyrics; ' I WAS CAUGHT FOR TIME SO I DID PRISON', and 'WHAT GOES ON ON Y'ALL'..........and ' TIME WOULD NEVER WAIT FOR', and 'LIFE IS SHORT AND TIME TAKES IT AWAY', ...the chorus is sung throughout the song ' OH, I WANNA BE TIMELESS'.....later......'7 SHIPS THRU TIMELESS SEA, NEVER GROW OLD LIVE FOR ETERNITY.....
3 'SCIENCE'
DEVO-like punk sound only NASTIER......... great musicianship..............' SCIENCE, (?), SCIENCE, WELL WE'VE BEEN DOIN' VERY WELL,WERE METRO GIANTS, WE'VE GOT MURDER IN OUR HEARTS, WE'VE GOT MURDER IN OUR HEADS', 'AND LEAVE OUR SHADOW EVERYWHERE'.........
4 ' ? '
well this one has a ? mark instead of a song title because we nor our friend who sent in the bootleg knew what the title is, as goes for a few others here, but this is a GOOD one that sounds a whole lot like the LAST ( see page 7 ), they were a power-pop l.a. punk band who combined 60s pysch with 70s power-pop, melodic to say the least, and thats how this # from ZOLAR X sounds.........drums roll, elec. guitar plays anthemic rock thru a thick hazy sound.....some lyrics here are hard to decipher ; ANYWHERE' IT'S SO HARD TO PLAY'.......and 'BUT TELL ME WHY THE WORLD'....., and 'IT MAKES ME WONDER WHY SOME PEOPLE DOUBT AND SOME PEOPLE RULE'.....,....in comes a cool organ solo, then....... 'ANYWHERE AND WE WANT YOUR PRAYERS, TELL ME WHAT'.........( maybe one of u knows the title ? )
5 ' TEST TUBE BABIES'
KINKS like punk than anything else, ......with some screeching STOOGES-like guitar and GOOD vocals.....overall sound has a 3-D effect,.......'IT WAS A TEST TUBE BABY GIRL, MADE FROM THE MODERN WORLD', and 'ELECTROMAGNETIC CLOUDS'......later in the song the phrase 'SHE WAS A VERY DIRTY GIRL', is repeated over and over....
6 'ROCKET ROLL'
.....sci-fi punk at it's finest, similiar to DEVO,with SPARKS/JET like vocals, but ZOLAR X had an original sound one can discern after repeated listens......here the guitar Charges forth into a 3-D burst......'LOOK ME UP, ROCKET ROLL, FILL ME UP ROCKET ROLL, RIDE ME SO ROCKET ROLL,....GO-GO-GO-GO ROCKET-ROLL-ROLL-ROLL-ROLL.......SHOW, SHOW, SHOW IT TO, SHOW ME ROCKET ROLL'.....later ' THE LUCKY STARS, YOUR STILL SEARCHING MARS, THERE IS MUCH BEYOND,..... EARTH MUST GO ON !.....the guitar then races against the other instruments.........
well another ? mark is here because we are not sure of the title however we muct say this one is very different from the rest, it's has a more spacy HAWKWIND/PINK FLOYD-type sound leaning towards prog rock......and its a long song.....static electricty begins, guitars make niose.....(some of the lyrics are hard to decipher here, so here's some of what we heard).....'THOUGHT I'D RIDE OVER JORDAN', and 'STARTED OUT IN THE REAL KEY, WHEN I REALIZED IT WAS FOR FREE, LIKE ANY TEST'........later in a more spacey and slower section; 'DEAD CHILDREN PLAY', and WHEN U WANNA SEE TOMMORROW.......................LIGHTS SHINE FROM YOUR ETERNITY'.......after several minutes the drums and synths play smoothly.......then the singer speaks ' AND YOUR PASSIN' THRU THE DOORWAY TO THE INSIDE, EARTH IS ON THE OUTSIDE..................UNIVERSAL NAMES MIND GAMES.....( fades)
8 ' RECITATIONS 2'
as in 'REC. 1' again the language of Zolar x is spoken here with synth nioses ; 'UDAURUS,........CAMMA BATRANNA........DOWNTROPOLIS.........'
9 'SPACE AGE'
this one has a nasty punk sound very similiar to SLAUGHTER and the DOGS masterpiece 'CRANKED REALLY HIGH' some GREAT guitar work here, nod to the STOOGES too.......'OH WELL WE DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT THE TV SAYS CAUSE WERE OUTER SPACE THE USUAL WAY', and 'OUR SPACE AGE LOVE, AHH RETRO HEARTS'......and 'WERE KINETIC...................SUPERSONIC WOW' !........later synths pop ( video game sound) then glam guitar notes 'GO, GO, GO, GO.....WE CAN TAKE U ON AN ORBIT'..................(spoken) 'HUMANS ARE FUN....A, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA , HA.........U KNOW SOME PEOPLE THINK WE LOOK CRAZY, ......THATS RIDICULOUS.........(fades)
10 'ENERGIZE ME'
(the sound of a u.f.o. takes off)......gREAT song here....this one alternates between a rough hard sound and 'HAWKWIND/PINK FLOYD type music with good organ playing....'SENSATIONS.....( some words are hard to make out here)..........'FAR AWAY I HEARD A VIOCE'......and 'SHE ALWAYS NEEDED (?)', .....and.....'SHE RE-ENERGIZED MY MIND, ENERGIZED ME'.....
11 'I PULLED MY HELMET OFF'
another unknown title and this one could remain that way since it sounds like trailer trash, it has a hard rock sound, but a bad one, too macho, where did this one come from ?....equally bad lyrics 'I PUT MY HELMET ON TO SEE THE LUSCIOUSNESS U OFFERED ME', .......and 'ALL THAT SHE IS, U COULD NEVER BE, BUT U COULD TRY FOR THE DELIAR SPACER CORPORATION'........'SHE's GONNA LOVE ME AND THIS IS WHAT WE'LL SAY'
12 ?
another unknown title, this one a lot better than the preceding one.......HAWKWIND style, strong bass , heavy rock....'IF I LIES IN A (?)....WOULD U TELL ME WOULD U BELIEVE ME, COULD U DECEIVE ME , IS THIS YOUR ODDYSEY A QUESTION WITH A DOOR WITHOUT A KEY'...., and.....'U KNOCK IT OUT SO CHANGE'.........later.......'U CAN HIDE ALL ALONE',....and....'YOUR BODY IS NOT YOUR HOME......towards the end the guitar playing improves and gets stronger.....
13 ?
another unknown title, but a SUPER ending, this song goes on for a few minutes and changes direction after 3 minuts or so........melodic guitars blend together for some seconds........this one has hard rock guitar , .....hard rock BOWIE influenced sound,guitars, bass, drums,......,....'DEPARTING FROM A COSMIC WORLD', ....and.....RAISED THE GROUND'......and 'MEMORY BANKS CALCULATING GRAVITIES FULL'........then.....'INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IS A POWER BAND'.......later.....'PRETTY SOON WE'LL DIE......COLORS TRAPPED WE DIE.................CAROUSEL'....
over and over these words are repeated in a 3-D vocal style - 'COME THIS WAY, FOLLOW US, COME THIS WAY, COME WITH US', after the first chorus they scream 'WE'RE DUST' !....( but it sounds like they're saying 'were drunk :) ).......and again.....'COME THIS WAY, FOLLOW US, COME THIS WAY, COME WITH US......( fades )........TRULY AMAZING 70s ROCK !! ........leaves the listener feeling as if they just expierenced interplanetary traveling.......:)
we were lucky to catch about 3 songs of the 13 minutes that the KXLU fm station 88.9 ( l.a.) played of ZOLAR - X, on april 15th '03, aside from 'ROCKET ROLL', and 'SPACE AGE LOVE' we heard 'JET STAR'
3 'JET *'
'JET * 19', and 'SPACEBALL MACHINE' were some of the lyrics uttered in this glam rocker with NIOSY guitars....sounds a lot like the FAST ( see page 6 and 7) again with SPARKS-like vocals....
for more info see the one and only ZOLAR-X site, accessible thru our links page....
recently at ebay in the 1st week of july '05 the rare ZOLAR X lp was at sale on ebay goin' for about 227.
the following 2 excerts were taken from that listing -
Most of the guys were from the Bay area, but they moved down to L.A. and picked up a singer from there. They used to dress in full alien garb every day - even when they went to the grocery. They talked in weird alien-type voices (speaking mostly English, of course). In fact, they wouldn't even break their voice and movement put-ons when they were around us in their apartment. They just lived the whole fantasy 24/7. Now that was dedication to the gimmick. It worked well and they actually got a bit of press and had a few good tunes. I often thought that they should have been picked up by a major label. They would have probably been huge. It worked for Kiss and others. Nobody else was doing an alien rock band.??Y&T
the lp comes with an 8 page promo packet that i will gladly xerox for the winning bidder. this includes guffaw inducing photos of the band, a "personal data sheet of zolar x", a band bio, "a brief introduction to the play ALIEN VISIONZ", guffaw inducing lyrics for the songs "i pulled my helmet off" and "space age love"
to see our gallery on ZOLAR X see this link, our - gateway 2 -
https://www.angelfire.com/rebellion/70sinvasion/gateway2.html
Note ; somewhere in apr '77 the GREAT punk band of L.a. the WIERDOS played their first gig, with ZOLAR X as a supporting act,....allthough were not exactly sure of the exact date, and there was another young L.a. punk band playing that night as well, see page 6 for reviews of the WIERDOS.....
also BRETT SMILEY L.a. 70s glam rocker was close friends with guitarist Ygarr, and Stefen Shady when he lived in L.a. in the 70s, see our page on him on page 28, accessible thru page 21 :)
'TIMELESS' is the title of the ZOLAR X which was unleased on the universe in aug 'o4 !! it has been put out by ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES record label, some of u remember they released lps by the GREAT DEAD KENNEDIES in yrs past, here is the lp and the cd track listing ;
LP Side One:
1. Recitation 2. Timeless 3. Science
4. Test Tube Babies 5. Rocket Roll 6. Mirrors
7. Jet Star 19 8. Space Age Love 9. Energize Me
LP Side Two:
1. The Horizon Suite Overture on Air/Tommorrow's Sunrise/Inside The Outside/Sound Barrier
2. Blues On Blue
3. The Nativity Trilogy
What Is Music ? /Moonbeams
1. Recitation 2. Timeless 3. Science
4. Test Tube Babies 5. Rocket Roll 6. Mirrors
7. Jet Star 19 8. Space Age Love 9. Energize Me
10. The Horizon Suite Overture on Air/Tommorrow's Sunrise/Inside The Outside/Sound Barrier
11. I Pulled My Helmet Off 12. The Nativity Trilogy 13. What Is Music ?
14. Moonbeams 15. Blues On Blue 16. FE1142
17. GT3 18. Silver Shapes 19. Parallel Galaxies 20. The Plutonian Elf Story
no 'BLUE COMMODORE' eh ? maybe that one never was recorded by the band after the demo they did, maybe it's one of these tunes under another title, we'll have to see till the cd comes out, as u can see it has extra tracks, so go tell your neighbors about this great music now out, and be sure to see our ZOLAR X pt 2. atop our gateway 2, located at the bottom of our homepage, and page 21,
don't forget the best - ZOLAR - X - site ran by New Wave Chuck -
http://www.geocities.com/zolarx1/zolarxabout.html
if u don't allready know ZORY aka BILLY has been in jail for sometime, at the Zolar X site they are trying to raise funds to help get him released see this link if you'd like to send in some dough or if u wanna write him personally -
http://www.geocities.com/zolarx1/zoryzenithdefensefund.html
seems the members Sunday Ygar, Ufoion, and Eon minus lead singer Zory regrouped and played a reuinion show in sacramento california on aug 29th '04, one viewer says it was a great one........more info to come soon....
Update April '06
ZOLAR X were guests of JONESY's JUKEBOX towards the end of april, they played some great acoustic versions of their classics, and had a great sense of humor, good talk with Jonesy.......
ROCK BOTTOM and the SPYS
if you have not heard this 3 track singles from this excellent sci-fi punk band circa ' 81, proceed to our downloads section 2 and listen while you read, YGARR from ZOLAR - X played in this band in the early 80s, they released a very rare single; 'RICH GIRL', 'DEATHTRAP', 'NO GOOD', all complete with sci-fi keyboards and a strong punk attack....reviews went onto page 7 in sept. '07....
excert from the HARE KRSNA NEWS NETWORK ; (SWEETWATERS 82 Rock Festival )
After the meditation, Dhrstadyumna Maharaja would thoughtfully and patiently answer questions from the audience: sometimes deeply personal, sometimes challenging, sometimes humorous. "If you don't believe in material things, then why do you have so much equipment-tents, trucks, amplifiers?"
"We have to understand the difference between material and spiritual. Originally everything is spiritual, because everything emanates from the Supreme Spirit, God. But when we selfishly use something--whatever it may be--for our own sense gratification, that thing becomes material, because we've forgotten its relationship to God; And when we take that same thing and use it for the pleasure and service of God, then it regains its spiritual nature.
So Krishna consciousness doesn't involve giving up material things. It means giving up the perverted mentality of trying to enjoy these things apart from our relationship to God. If we came here today to sing and play about sex, violence, and drugs--well, that would be material. But instead we've come to glorify God and remind everyone of our eternal loving relationship with Him. So even our tents, trucks, and amplifiers are spiritual."
SHADY LADY
did u know JOHNNY THUNDERS was once asked to jion this band in the early days of the DOLLS ? well he didn't, but he and girfriend Sable almost got an apt with STEFEN SHADY of Shady Lady,....read on....
OUR REVIEWS OF SHADY LADY HAVE NOW MOVED TO OUR GATEWAY, WHICH IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HOMEPAGE AND PAGE 21, see # 24 in our gateway....also see our gateway 2 for more info, interviews....HOWEVER wwe did leave the original writeup and some various other recent info here and we'll say this, this band were the biggest band in L.a. in the early 70s, they played glam rock like no one else, DOLLS, STOOGES, and ALICE COOPER fans should read the following as this band made original glam ~
(original track listing ? )
1 'CIRCLE OF FOOLS' 2 'SPIN THE DISK' 3 'STRANGER' 4 'THE MOVE' 5 'DOWN TO DIRTY'
6 'RAVING MAD' 7 'NIGHTWITCH' 8 'ALL NIGHT LONG' 9 IT's NO CRIME' 10 'SAVE ME'
well now we've been listening to this GREAT tape of demos since jan 5th '04 when we receieved it, it appears this may have been the track order submitted to the record company, however it's a different running order from our tape which has 6 songs,
the follwing letter from a member of SHADY LADY was received by us on Halloween '03, one member of this band ZORY GLORY would go onto play in Zolar X a few yrs later,
Long ago, before the NY Dolls, before Rodney Bingenheimers club on Sunset it was called Uh-bu-ba-doos in those days before Zolar X, when Zory Glory was still Billy McCartney. There was a band in Hollywood, known as SHADY LADY. Zory was our drummer, I was the bassplayer. We had a record deal with Scepter records, NYC.
The album was recorded but never released.An unfinished rough mix existed,but in the mayhem that followed our breakup, copies of it where lost or badly damaged.About 30 years later I visited my hometown, Vienna , Austria, when much to my surprise my sister pulled out a tape of this music I had send her. Fortunately and surprisingly it was still in good condition and I re-mastered it in a studio in Vienna. I have some songs of it parked on mp3.com.
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/243/shady_lady.html
This haircut ( Zory's ) was a parallel development btw. He had his hair like that while he was with us, unbeknown to Zolar X and vice-versa. Shady Lady was the original Glam Rock Band in Hollywood btw. 5 tough dudes looking like girls with multi colored hair and wearing make up. Ask, Bowie,who came to see us regularly, Rodney Bingenheimer, Kim Fowley,Iggy,and everybody that was part of the scene back then will attest to that.
Group Members Stefen Shady-Lead Vocal,Jon Christian - Lead guitar, BU vocals,Gerhard Helmut - Drums - Billy McCartney - - rhythm, and slide guitar Leonard Denault -
another member said -
I know Bowie was a friend of Iggy's and Iggy used to drop by our house once in a while to hangout and I used to go over to his place once in a while as well.
Note; BILLY McCARTNEY left Shady Lady sometime in '73 and by '74 he helped to form ZOLAR - X, he took the position as the drummer as he did for S.L., then eventually switched from drums to singing lead for Zolar x....then became ZORY ZENITH :)
(the mp3 download for SHADY LADY is now accessible from our 'downloads 2 page'....)
well seems we got some responses from STEFEN SHADY the one and only singer of the band in response to our review, he was surprised to know we have the music since only less than 5 people in the world have these recordings,he sent us several writeups which can be seen in our gateway's 1, and 2, and GOOD NEWS maybe soon a cd will come out along with a book about SHADY LADY !
wanna know more ? see this site THE GREAT HOLLYWOOD HANGOVER for a writeup by STEFEN SHADY himself -
http://www.hollywoodhangover.com/shady_lady_bio.htm
also the HOLLYWOOD DIARIES.COM
In the spring of '06 he sent us his MySpace page, see it at this link ~
http://www.myspace.com/shadyladyrocks
....'DOWN ON 42nd st'.....from an acetate as recorded by VALERIE and her husband JOHN CHRISTIAN of SHADY LADY, this tune from '74 is a cool glam number about the streets of N.y around 42nd st..... Valerie sings lead and she sounds as campy as other glam girls of the day with sweet vocals and some cool guitar licks behind her, she also sang lead on a version of Shady's 'All Night Long'.......to hear these RARE demos see the Pure Pop Blog at this link here
http://purepop1uk.blogspot.com/
you can get to these sites thru our links 1 and 3 pages....
from the works of SRI RAMAKRISHNA
'MANY PATHS TO ONE GOD'
'As one can ascend to the top of a house by means of a ladder or a bamboo or a staircase or a rope, so diverse are the ways and emans to approach God, and every religion in the world shows one of these ways.
Different creeds are but different paths to reach the Almightly.' :)
this underground L.a. band existed in the mid 70s, the demos we received are from a bootleg collection of studio and live outakes from dec 1st ' 76 !, their sound ranged from the N.Y. DOLLS, STONES, to WAYNE COUNTY.......most of the songs are fast, they even do an ANIMALS cover........GREAT songs here -
below is the track listing of demos and live songs, check back soon for reviews
1- Tropically Hot, 2- Psychotic (b-side promo 7 inch), 3- Tropically Hot***
4- Do I Love You Today*** 5- Psychotic*** 6- The Street Is My Home***
7- No Time For Romance*** 8- Go To The End of The World^^^ 9- Psychotic^^^
10- I Can Do What I Want^^^ 11- Surpise Surprise^^^
12- Do I Love You Today^^^ 13- Encore^^^
***1976 Demos ^^^Live In Hollywood 12/01/1976
1 ' TROPICALLY HOT'
DOLLS-type raunch played fast, reminds us of WAYNE COUNTY's trash rock as well......' WELL IT's SO TROPICALLY HOT, I SAID ALL THE BOYS ARE BREAKING THE POT, WHEN THE DOGS ARE DOIN' IT IN THE STREET'........and ' WELL THE VELVET HAMMERS ON THE RISE '........this RARE single was their only official release which ended up on a L.a. punk comp in '78 called 'SATURDAY NIGHT POGO', the b side was 'PSYCHOTIC'....
2 'PSYCHOTIC'
this one sounds more like MICK JAGGER fronting the DOLLS......'I SAID NOW OOOOO YEA, YEA, BA, BA, BA , BA, SAID WAY SO FAST, DIED VERY SLOW, I SAID PYSCHOTIC I GOT NO PLACE TO GO', ......and .....'WELL DRIVE UP THE MASSES'.....a chorus is sung as the letters are spelled out 'P-S-Y-C-H-O-T-I-C'....towards the end the singer yells 'MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD, etc........did u know that ROBBY KRIEGER from the DOORS ended up playing on one version of 'PSYCHOTIC' ?
3 'DO I LOVE U TODAY' ?
melodic STONES sound, KEITH chords.........'U , U ALWAYS BRIGHTEN UP MY DAY, U ALL KNOW', and 'I SAID HOW DO I LUV U, DO I LUV U TODAY'....
4 'TROPICALLY HOT'
this version does not differ so much from the 1st, maybe slightly tamer.....
5 'PSYCHOTIC'
sounds very much like the one above, is this the one with ROBBY KRIEGER from the DOORS guesting on guitar ?
6 'THE STREETS MY HOME'
slower song than the above, STONES melodic riffs....'I LIVE IN THE HOUSE OF PLEASURE WHERE EVERY GIRL IS A BURIED TREASURE'..........and.......'THE STREETS MY HOME'......and ....'I KNOW A GIRL SHE'S ON THE OUTSIDE, SAYS SHE AN'T STAND THE CITY LIFE'......
7 'NO TIME FOR ROMANCE'
bluesy riffs, swamp sound , good lyrics; 'SHE'S SO COLD I DON'T UNDERSTAND TALK LIKE A PREACHER, AND TALK LIKE A MAN',....and.....'YEA I GOT NO TIME FOR HER TODAY, FA, FA, FA,FA, FA',......and......'I JUST GOTTA KNOCK DOWN BABY'.......
- LIVE CONCERT RECORDED 12/1/'76
8 'GO TO THE END'
( announcer; 'ALLRIGHT, DECADENT ENTERPRISES IN ASSOCIATION WITH KROQ AND THE CABARET IS PLEASED TO PRESENT - THE BERLIN BRATS )......crowd cheers.....this song sounds very much like 'TROPICALY HOT', the same DOLLS sound.......'BABY I JUST GOTTA FEEL, FEEL THE AIR TO MY HEAD',.......'I'M GONNA GO NOW BABY TO THE END OF THE WORLD'.....
9 'PSYCHOTIC'
in a similiar style to the 2 versions above played fast, this band were naturally not as talented as the STONES, not as tough as the DOLLS, but still a GREAT band nonetheless....'I'M FEELING SO PYSCHO, SO PYSCHO, BABY PYSCHO' !
10 'I CAN DO WHAT I WANT'
surprisingly the band covers the ANIMALS classic, sounds like JAGGER doin' a BURDON imitiation, and GOOD at that, cool bass playing....'IT 's MY LIFE AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT, SHOW ME I'M WRONG HURT ME SOMETIMES, BUT SOMEDAY I'LL MAKE U MINE'
11 'SURPRISE,SURPISE'
STONES type rocker, KEITH chords........BO DIDLEY drums......'FRIENDS OF MINE, THATS ALL THE FRIENDS OF MINE',.... and....'I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EYES'.........
12 'DO I LOVE U TODAY'
STONES melodies, DOLLS raunch......'U , U ALWAYS BRIGHTEN UP MY DAY, U ALL KNOW', and 'I SAID HOW DO I LUV U, DO I LUV U TODAY'....'U I JUST WONDER WHERE U ARE BABY' ?
13 'ENCORE'
the band plays a quick fast # for the encore,......STONES rock, sounds like JOHANSEN singing.......'SHE SAID, BYE, BYE, BYE'.......
see this interview for more details -
http://www.censorthis.com/maumaus.html
interested in more of these L.a. underground bands of the 70s ? see our review for the QUICK's lp 'MONDO DECO' which was produced by KIM FOWLEY and released in '76, a true pop-rock effort, see page 21 links at the bottom.......
so these L.a. underground bands such as ZOLAR X, SHADY LADY, the BERLIN BRATS as well as the QUICK established the scene and paved the way for the young punks in the late 70s such as; the SCREAMERS, the GERMS, X, the WIERDOS, the DOGS, and many others, all these punk bands are reviewed throught the 70s invasion.........especially Tomato and friends :)
SATURDAY NITE POGO
this was the tracklisting for a hard to find lp released by RHINO RECORDS, showcasing L.a. punk and some leftover glam bands, this came out around '78, it features the BERLIN BRATS, a few of the bands below are reviewed elsewhere on the 70s invasion, the DOGS,MOTELS, and the DILS, are all reviewed on page 6 ( L.a. Punk section ), and the YOUNG REPUBLICANS were the QUICK before they changed their name, see the bottom of page 21 for reviews of their lp of '76
1 The Winos - 'beauty queen'
good pop number, but we have this old photo of the 45 and maybe a review done yrs ago, could it have been from 1974 ?
2 The Berlin Brats - 'tropically hot' ( cool post glam 45 reviewed above )
3 The Droogs - 'set my love on you'
4 Needles & Pins - 'i wanna play with guns'
The Motels - 'counting'
Excellent ballad from this new wave band, this one was sang by the girl Martha about how she cant hear any worthwhile music on the radio, everyone can relate to this type of song, a strong reminder of one's teenage years when your brain and musical perception is still forming....we have this on an old Rhino compilation of Los Angeles punk and new wave bands, which begins with the Pop 'down on the blvd' !
Vom - 'i'm in love with your mom'
7 The Low Numbers - 'belsen was a gas'
8 The Dils 'mr big'
9 Daddy Maxfield - 'wheel of fortune'
....( same guy who released 'rave and rock' ? ) .......'It was ever so right, he can throw with the stone, it was ever so strong, we can get there alone'.....umm whatever the case this is nothing at all like the glam raver 'Rave and Rock', this is rather bland mundane classic rock from a few yrs later ( late 70s ) disguised as a new wave number, maybe the piano and the drum beats are the best thing here..
10 The Young Republicans - 'guardian angel'
11 Backstage Pass - 'legend'
12The Dogs - 'younger point of view' !
13 Chainsaw - 'polaride pictures'
14 The Hebe Geebees - 'night fever'
BRETT SMILEY
had an excellent single in '74 and went into acting afterwards, however he recorded a great collection of glam and pop tracks that were not released till 2004, along the lines of BOWIE and JOBRIATH, see our in-depth reviews on page 28 or wherever, umm page 15 too.
CHAINSAW
cool glam-punk band who played in the late 70s and broke up sometimes afterwards leaving behind some great tracks like 'POLARIOD PICTURES', 'POSSIBILITIES', and a cover of the STOOGES 'NO FUN'......see Rave up Records for their release.......
( info on CHAINSAW is now in our gateway 4 )
THE TUBES
from SAN FRANSISCO, had to add them here, even though they were more of a hard to categorize band, they get some credit, we have a review on page 4 somewhere, however 'WHITE PUNKS ON DOPE' from '75 helped pave the way for things to come and they had some campy ROCKY HORROR styled music like 'DON'T TOUCH ME THERE'......:)...
COLD TOUCH
'Ride to Live,Live to Ride/Grease Paint Widow'
hard rock, biker rock of the early 70s, this one is a very rare release, you can download it at the Pure Pop Blog, but the review there is overblown, it's ok, , the b side is better than the a side......and it sounds quite a bit like 'Spray Paint Bandit' a b side of the Harlots of 42nd St.......'She's a grease paint widow, gonna take you for a ride, anytime you see her, she's on the prowl, she might even be after you right now'....bass and drums hot the right notes :)
THE IMPERIAL DOGS
well now we placed this band here at the bottom of the L.a. section because this is where you find buried treasure right ? at the bottom, allright now kids settle down, yea most 70s punk enthusiasts know this band from their ace single 'THIS AIN'T THE SUMMER OF LOVE/I'M WAITIN FOR THE MAN' from '77 which is an experimental, scathing, grinding punk attack and the flip is a super charged version of the VELVETS classic, but go back 3 yrs and you find this band who were previously banned after they debuted in march '74 really playing out every band in the city from this previously unreleased documented footage from oct. 30th '74
this is really strong pre-punk in a STOOGES mold, far far superior to a minor band from detroit called THE PUNKS ( see below ) this band here - THE IMPERIAL DOGS outdo a lot of glam bands of the time right here, you have to see this, watch closely, watch the singer and the bandmates dance and slam the guitar noted to the ground while the audience just stares and a few dance, but most are not sure what to make of this futuristic sound, this was recorded way way back before punk, everyone here has flares and long hair, when they play 'THIS AIN'T THE SUMMER OF LOVE' people watching looked shocked, and they really rip up a song called 'MIDNITE DOG' see our downloads 7 page for these 2 numbers plus an interview with DON WELLER and more footage from this show, and yes you can order a dvd of this long forgotten classic which is now seeing the light of day :).........one viewer comments that they sounded a bit like the GERMS, judge for yourself here -
http://www.theimperialdogs.com/
http://www.blurt-online.com/features/view/575/
http://www.theimperialdogs.com/2010/01/imperial-dogs-make-noise-for-heroes.html
THE LEFT END 'SPOILED ROTTEN' lp ' 74
-
BRAN VATTEN
CLINTON - From Pa
the SILLIES, and TNS - both from Detroit area
DEATH - mid 70s black trio ( Detroit ), +
BRIAN and the FEAR reviewed below, also The STENCH BAND
here you'll find also...
THE LEFT END, MIKE REP and the QUOTAS , and the STENCH BAND, ELECTRIC EELS,and GRANICUS( all 5 from OHIO ) , and DEATH ( different band ? )from Wisconsin.......
for info on THE DOGS ( Iowa ), and ANOTHER PRETTY FACE from Pennysylvania, you'll have to look elsewhere like our gateway section,
THE LEFT END
the LEFT END were a 'band of thugs' as ex DEAD BOY CHEETAH CHROME stated, who played in the 70s glam era, toured with bands like the N.Y. DOLLS, and had a bad reputuation around town in cleveland ohio,....... actually the band were from the slums of youngstown ohio, and went to high school with STIV BATORS, Stiv was one such fan as was CHRISSIE HYNDE before she was a musician, she got to know some of these guys thru her brother.......the band's sole lp of the 70s was called 'SPOILED ROTTEN' , released in '73..... it had the uk glam sound down pact, , it combined the sounds of GEORDIE, SWEET, and SILVERHEAD, and a little SLADE around the edges, then again the band had their own sound......they were led by a vocalist called DENNIS THE MENNAS......the lp was produced by one SHELLEY SNOW.....
they actually had a rare single released in '71 2 yrs prior to the lp called 'Sunshine Girl/Someday I will See'.......
from an old Bomp magazine article it said that the band threw the roadie from the DOLLS down the stairs, it was all in good fun, they also claim that KISS painted their faces after seeing a picture of the band with makeup.....
1 'LOSER'
from the leadoff track one can tell that this lp is ugly glam rock, rough and just the way glam fans like it.......has a melodic beginning then hits into SLADE/GEORDIE rock....'IF U DON'T SLEEP I CAN SEE ALL THE PRETTY LADIES, I CAN SEE THE PRETTY WHITE SKIN, AND THE SHAPES THAT WOULD ALWAYS END'......and.....'CAUSE LOSERS DON'T SLEEP, I'M A LOSER'......
2 'BAD TALKIN' LADY'
GEORDIE/SWEET sound.......heavy glam rock,......'BAD TALKIN LADY SAYIN' WHAT THE MEN DON'T WANNA HEAR, WY DON'T U COOL IT BABE AND SEND ME'........and 'BAD TALKIN' LADY SHE'LL DRIVE U CRAZY'....good vocals here....
3 'SPOILED ROTTEN'
on the title track the band wins the award for the ugliest glam song, they beat GEORDIE in that area.......'I GOT A HOOK, I GOT A LINE, I'M GONNA GET U AND I AIN'T GOT TIME, AIN'T GOT TIME BABY'.....( then the other band members sing ).....'SPOILED ROTTEN BABY, SPOLIED ROTTEN KID'.......( Dennis - 'I'm gonna get u girly )......'MOM AND DAD ARE NEVER HOME, I'LL COME AND GET U'........at this point Dennis does an ALICE COOPER imitation 'SPOLIED ROTTEN TO THE CORE' !.........NA, NA, NA , NA, NA , NA , NA , NA,.......HEY CAN I SING ALONG WITH THE CHORDS ?......'NA, NA , NA , NA, NA'........
4 ' TAKE IT IN STRIDE'
.....this one's a bit slower than the 3 before it, more in a SILVERHEAD mold.....'EVERBODY's PUSHIN', COME ROUND, AND ROUND TILL THEY TOUCH THE GROUND, EVERYBODY'S SCREAMING STATING PLAY SOME SONGS WE CAN DANCE ALL NIGHT LONG....the beat and rythm is this song is unique with melodic guitar playing....
5 'SWEET LOVIN'
hard glam, GOOD drumming, butnot as good as any of the others on the 1st side, Dennis gives BRIAN JOHNSON good competition on vocals......'YEA, YEA, YEA, YEA, .....JUICY LUCY I MAY STOP CHOOSING, BUT I LOVE U WHEN I CAN, I THINK YOUR HEAD STARTS SPINNING AND YOUR EYES WILL FALL OUT, I THINK U KNOW WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT'....and 'LUCY GONNA GET U NOW, SWEET, SWEET LOVIN'......
- lp side 2 -
6 ' EVERY LITTLE THING '
!!!!.......EXCELLENT song, the best on the lp, this sounds like the song SWEET should have writen but didn't.....everything about the song sounds like SWEET, from execution to the SUPER guitar playing to the vocals....( they are sung more melodic here ).......begins with an EXPLOSION.........!......' WHEN I'M WALKIN BESIDE HER PEOPLE TELL ME I'M LUCKY, YES I KNOW I'M A LUCKY GUY'.....I REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I WAS LONELY WITHOUT HER, WHEN I'M WITH HER I'M HAPPY'......and....'EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES, SHE DOES FOR ME, YEA'....later......'I WILL LOVE HER FOREVER.......'....now this shoulda been a single ! this song is worth the cost of the whole lp alone....
7 'MARY JO'
SWEET/GEORIDE sound.......cowbell starts off the song......'ALL YEAH, COME ONE, COME ON....WHEN WE WERE TEENAGERS MARY JO AND I WER LOVERS'........and.....'AGAIN MARY JO PLAYS THE SAME'.......
8 ' TAKIN' TIME'
alternates between a slow song and hard rock with pounding drums...SILVERHEAD/GEORDIE sound......begins with rapid fire drumming and the elc guitar wailing, then the song slows down and u can hear wind chimes.....'TAKIN' TIME TO SEE U, I SEE I'VE GOT TO CLEAR MY HEAD, I KNOW THAT U COULD SEE ME BEFORE THEY FIND ME DEAD.......I DON'T NEED TO BE NO HERO'......and.......'PLEASE GIVE ME BACK....MY SOUL, SAVE ME OOO YYEEAA' !!.....after 2 minutes the slow part with the 1st verse is repeated....
9 ' WHISKEY AND RYE '
SWEET/GEORDIE sound down pact.......slower but heavy with glitter drums playing a perfect beat , timing just right.....'SHE WAS CRYIN WHEN I SAW ALL THE ( ? )LONELY DAY.......ON A BRIDGE OUT IN FRISCO SHE'LL TAKE HER LIFE AWAY'...and.....'YER FRIEND THE ALCOHOLIC DEMON IS GONNA HELP U GET STRONG' !.....the band jams towards the ending
10 'IT's OVER'
GREAT ending.......heavy guitar rock, melodic vocals from the band, Dennis vocals sound like a cross betwwen BRIAN JOHNSON of GEORDIE, and ALICE COOPER here.....the music is more SLADE meets SLIVERHEAD...electric boogie rock...drums pound a tribal beat and effect a 3-D sound, cymbals, bass, all charging forward.....'I NEVER KNOWN NO HARMONY, WE LIVE A LIFE SHOULD ALWAYS BE, WITH OPEN MINDS THAT ARE ALWAYS FREE SO THEY CAN'T BOTHER U OR ME.....IT'S OVER'......and.....'U AND I CAN BE FREE'.....and....'SOMEDAY I'LL HAVE U BACK WITH ME, YOU'LL NEVER KNOW A STICKLER LIKE ME'.......'CAN'T U SEE....IT'S OVER....
1. Loser 2. Bad Talkin' Lady
3. Spoiled Rotten 4. Take It in Stride
5. Sweet Lovin' 6. Every Little Thing
7. Mary-Jo 8. Takin' Time
9. Whiskey and Rye 10. It's Over
when punk came along, most of these bands broke up then a few years down the line either in '79, or '85 THE LEFT END released an ep called 'RIDIN HIGH', we've seen it on ebay before, with both these dates at different times, in recent years they reformed and released 'THE MONSTER THAT ATE CLEVELAND' a live set, that included a version of 'trapeze' by MEDUSA.....also uo on youtube are some pretty good latter day clips including some live scenes from '73 under the tag Whot Not or something like that....
for some great info on the LEFT END, see this link -
http://www.esquirerecords.com/mag/5/content/BD_LeftEnd.htm
CAPITAL CITY ROCKERS
saw this lp back in the late 80s when we really first began to get into 70s glam, the lp has cool graphics in yellow, red, and green, with stars and a rocket ship... and thought hhhmmmm, but no as much as one would like to hope this was not the next ny dolls, rather it's just a solid rock lp from 1973 with good rock numbers more in line with the FACES style of rock....'Little Bit of Fun', is maybe one of the lps best.....'Breakfast in Bed' was supposedly a minor hit in parts of Ohio, 'still kicking' was yet another rocker with good drumming......one member has a daughter Amanda Rose Sutton.....'searchlight', and 'people are losing', 'come back baby', 'my orange tie', '10 hole dollars', ' grab your honey' and 'newcomer blues' are other choices from the lp available at youtube....
BUNGI
from '72 Bungi released '6 Days on the Road/Numbers'....... this band were from Wisconsin and featured Stories guitarist Richie Ranno, he later jioned Starz, we draw attention to this song because it sounds a lot like the b side well the b side 'Numbers' does, the a side is a cover of 'Six Days on the Road' a song covered by lotsa bands, best done by the Flying Burrito Bros. ( see page 2 ), anyways this is kinda junkshop glam material here as they sing 'we came here to turn you on, gonna sing our song, we got the numbers'......hear it at the Pure Pop Blog...
As artists, we must learn to be self-nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them. --Julia Cameron
The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. --Emile Zola
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. --Albert Einstein
Artistic creativity is a whirlpool of imagination that swirls in the depths of the mind. --Robert Toth
MIKE REP and the QUOTAS
from Ohio, this band recorded a super pre-punk single in ' 75 called 'ROCKET TO NOWHERE/QUASAR', we got 3 songs on a very rare tape from a live concert from '75 they are ;
'ROCKET TO NOWHERE' ' 75!!
EXCELLENT mid 70s pre-punk , sounds a bit like ZOLAR-X , more so like the BERLIN BRATS live recording of 'GO TO THE END OF THE WORLD' , but it's better than that song, this is some cool punk here, raw sound and strong vocals...
'MAMA WAS A SCHITZO', and 'ROCKET MUSICION' were the other 2 songs on this live tape, they are decent havy rock tunes with the sci-fi outlook, good beat and strong musicianship....see this link for an interview with MIKE REP..... ~
http://www.venangoil.com/musichummelinterview.html
CLINTON
'Falling Behind/Midnight in New York' '76, very obscure single by this band, according to the Pure Pop Blog where you can find the download, some of the members came from Uniontown and Masontown Pennyslvania and this was recorded in pittsburgh where were sure it sank without a trace, woulda had a better chance in N.y. then again......the a-side is said to be a good hard rock number and the b-side sounds like cool Ny glam rock circa mid 70s with JOHNNY THUNDERS guitar licks and ALICE COOPER charm,....' Midnight in Ny, street corners the meeting place, we spot my lady walkin the night.......' it came out on the Shotfire label....WE LIKE THIS, this is one of those cool definitely underground pre-punk numbers, Pure Pop Blog compares it somewhat to STREAK and we agree,
BRAN VATTEN
I just wannna rock-n-roll you' '72...........'Trying to get on the radio before the show.......but i wanna rock-n roll you'........kinda hard to understand the lyrics, this is high energy rock......produced by local DJ/Producer/Manager Terry Lee who was also behind The Swamp Rats and The Fantastic Dee-Jays,....Bran Vatten had one more single released in '72...
ELECTRIC EELS
info on this pre-punk outfit along with their early incarnation the MIRRORS coming here, we have almost a complete set but you know when will we have the time to review it all.......? sounds range from definite pre-punk, some VELVET UNDERGROUND influence, experimental droning, and overall a very original sound.....in his book cleveland local CHEETAH CHROME said he was not crazy about these guys though....
GRANICUS
JOE the guy who produced the Amazing mystery glam band from the gutter PANDORA ( below ) but cannot remember their names was in this cool hard rock band from ohio,their song 'your in america' from about '73 has a good 70s hard rock sound, maybe a bit like RUSH, the lp holds up as a strong one and if you listen to some of the cuts deep into the lp and some of their live numbers available at youtube they and the singer sound more and more like Pandora, and these live cuts are amazing ! sounds range from heavy rock to glam to pre-punk...... hear it at this link
from a source at youtube -
sdruhot - in 1973, I was in a band on the West Side of Cleveland called Max and these guys were in the same appt. building as we were (W150 and Detroit). They rehearsed for about a year in a warehouse, as I recall, made the record (which I was given one)....
listen to GRANICUS here, with better promotion they could have been a lot bigger -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYwQq6qJj-o&feature=related
formerly known as the TNS BLUES BAND, later the name was shortened, they released a rare single 'Time’s Up/Telling Your Fortune' which was probably a d.i.y. release and all for the better cause the sound is good and cheap like the STOOGES and that the way you want it, yes they were from Grand Rapids which is close to detroit, the a side is far better than the b side with all members playing top notch pre-punk, the b side is allright, listen now at the pure pop blog, the members were Allen Martinez (vocals), Steve Barkwell (bass), Dave Dehoog (drums) and Randy Nichols on guitar.
so maybe perhaps you have read The Impersonal Life by Joseph Benner, we highly recommend it as it is a really good book from an early christian writer, later he did a book called The Way Out....
The SILLIES
this band were a small glam band in '75 when they released a glam single ' Love you to Death / Sex for the handicapped'......this is allright, nothing great here, city inspired glam rock singing about love, sex, etc. sounding somewhat like the SLUGS of n.y. city featuring Rick Rivets, but not as good as that band.....' touch your face and touch your lips, touch your breats and touch your hips, my figers run thru your hair, pluck each one till.....'....after 3 minutes a pop-type synth comes out of nowhere and leads the song into an instrumental jam up to the 4:55 point.....the b-side is more or less a similar type number, with the rinky dink piano, it too is about sex and lust.....'always thought my love life was like a pretty spoon, lots of lovely ladies to keep me in the gloom'......in '77 they sped the tempo up a bit and came up with 'break loose', followed in '78 with 'no big deal', and in '79 with 'if your girlfriend still loves your car'......Note : back in college one of us had a lp called the Funnies with a large smiley face on it which came out in '75, but is a completely different act...
THE STENCH BAND
from Ohio or somewhere in the midwest, these songs were never released, we have a RARE 2 cd set of art-rock, think ZAPPA, meets, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART , meets STOOGES jazz attack a little bit, meets umm not sure ??? there are also a few songs that sound like a country rock band like New Riders of the Purple Sage or someone, on the 1st lp tracks 10, 11, and 12 are like satire-country rock, ......elsewhere some vocals sound like IGGY POP like on the opening 'LIGHT UNIFORM for example, not sure how to classify a song like 'MR. PLASTER', that one sounds like CLEAR LIGHT of the 60s a bit, we'll just say, it's way, WAY OUT there, dark psychedelia...........there are a couple of instrumentals as well, if you like DEBRIS, then you'll like this band....allthough DEBRIS were a better band we think,
the 2nd cd has fewer songs as good as on the first.....'THE DEAD' is way out there, 'THE DEAD, THE DEAD, OFF WITH HIS HEAD' screams the singer while the band plays a type of abrasive outsider music....'BE SO CRUEL' is also a decent song, a lot of this cd though just has lots of filler, instrumental tracks, etc. however 'STREET WALKING LADY' is the SOLE STANDOUT, this is maybe the closest the band came to 'Glam'.....hazy scratchy guitar and vocals sung without much effort into an ode to a street whore, ( see below )with lyrics ' STENCH IN MY ROOM MADE ME BARF ALL OVER THE FLOOR !........YOUR A SWEET TALKIN' LADY, YOUR A STREET WALKIN' LADY', what a masterpiece of meaningless this track 'Street Walkin' Lady' is, if you love 70s trash then this track would be considered that rare gem as a lot of songs here you just wanna skip cause they go nowhere, but this song is so nowhere, it's exactly what you want......maybe the band at their most campiest can be heard on.... 'SLEEPYTIME' this is the last song on the 2nd cd where the narrator sings 'IT's SLEEPYTIME IN DILDOLAND, TIME FOR ALL THE DILDOS TO GO DOWN', The female singer then says 'IT's TIME FOR THE MARK, ALL THE LARGE ROUND, AND SMALL', later she and her friends say 'OH MR. DILDO' ! while making orgasmic campy nioses in the background.....silly fun :).........track listing for the 2 unreleased lps are as follows.......
THE STENCH BAND
1 LIGHT UNIFORM, 2 SPLIT ENDS, 3 CONCERTO FOR HARMONICA, 4 OTTO's BOOGIE, 5 BEE LINE, 6 MR. PLASTER
7 DISASTER AT 'C', 8 DR. JANGUINARY's BOOGIE, 9 NEVER LOOKED BETTER, 10 WAITING FOR JESUS, 11 TRUCK STOP SAM, 12 WANDERIN' JEW
13 PIANO POLKA, 14 OTTO's BOOGIE ( Live )
THE STENCH BAND lp 2
STENCH BAND
1 THE DEAD, 2 BE SO CRUEL, 3 HAPPY ASS 2, 4 THE BASTARD SONG, 5 THE BALLAD OF SUPER-PENIS, 6 JADED TIOLET PLUNGER, 7 ORANGE JUICE FIXTURE,
8 HAPPY POLKA, 9 EXURBIAN OBSEQUIES, 10 STREET WALKING LADY, 11 KING NEPTUNE's TAPEWORM, 12 STOMACH WALLS OF BERLIN, 13 MR. PLASTER 2, 14 SLEEPYTIME.
BITTER BLOOD STREET THEATRE
this band were from Cincinnati Ohio, but were more a performance street rock band, than a regular 5 piece rock band who mixed some theatre into their act, a few songs are somewhat in the vein of say the Stench Band with a complete amateur approach, elsewhere they play jam rock song like say the Magic Tramps, although not nearly as good, they opened shows for a lot of people like the MC5 Alice Cooper and others but never really found much success outside of their area, although they did manage to get one rare single released in '75, around this time they got signed by Columbia records but he got fired that same day and so the band were dropped from the label, some of the songs had titles like 'running deep' which is straight forward rock, whereas 'ice age man' sounds like the Stench Band, kinda humorless, the songs are ok, nothing great as the reviewer at this site Savage Saints says -
http://savagesaints.blogspot.com/2013/12/bitter-blood-street-theatre-vol-1-1978.html
DEATH
'DEPRESSION' ' 73
hhhmmmm......................................... listening to this mess of a song you think at first, but listen to the beauty behind their STOOGES-like attack and you'll realize it's so bad it's GOOD , it is a very murky, HEAVY number from a band who sound like they wanna sound like the STOOGES so they come up with the most horrible sound they can conjure, well the lyrics for the most part are not understood, but as at the beginning where someone says ' DEPRESSION' , this is the chorus and maybe the only word recognizable in this song.........the band were from WISCONSIN, this came out in the glam era, did they do anything else ? maybe , maybe not ? ....
DEATH
from Detroit, ok so at first we were wondering if maybe these 2 bands are the same band, detroit is far from wisconsin , these 3 black guys were a trio who recorded a single in '74 which did not get released till '76 on a small label, their own called Tryangle Records, Columbia records were trying to sign them at one point, fast forward to 2009 seems they got an lp of unreleased gems out and a download at youtube see this link for reviews and info + photos on our page on Black Punk along with Pure Hell and others -
https://www.angelfire.com/zine2/70s/PureHell.html
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
some of you may have heard of this band, over the yrs we have heard them being played on a few handful of indie stations, you know the radio stations to the left of the dial, this band began playing in the underground scene in Michigan in the early 70s, they played what they referred to as anti-pop, their sound was a mix of hard rock, pre-punk, art rock, psychedlia, etc. Founding members were Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, Niagara (Lynn Rovner) and filmmaker Cary Loren. They performed in the Ann Arbor area from 1973–1976, and their only release was a one-hour cassette of their recordings available only through Lightworks magazine..... later by '77 the lineup changed somewhat and Ron Asheton of the STOOGES joined for a bit as did a member of the MC5 which brought them more fame, by '78 they released a decent punk single, then later they went thru a period of releasing more singles and eps, and although never releasing an actual lp in '94 Thurston Moore of SONIC YOUTH released a 3 set compact disc of the band's music up till that point.......we really don't know their music that well, but of what we have heard over the yrs on the radio, yes we LIKE THEIR SOUND :)
'For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends, but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy' Bhagavad Gita Chap 6.6
'For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquility. To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same' Bhagavad Gita Chap 6.7
The SOUTHLAND
here you'll find 4 bands from down south - DEBRIS, VICTORIA VEIN and the THUNDERPUNKS, ( Oklahoma ) BRIAN and the FEAR, also The SHIT DOGS ( Louisanna )
VICTORIA VEIN and the THUNDERPUNKS
'REAR GUARD ACTION/OTHER THINGS' ' 74
Yes, yes ! GREAT music here from this OKLAHOMA band Chickasha, Oklahoma to be more exact, the a side sounds a bit like the N.y. DOLLS, this was recorded in may ' 74 afterall, but UNRELEASED till 1999, this band was the pre-DEBRIS band who had a great pre-punk/synth art lp that did get released in ' 76, .........the rough glam song 'rear guard action' comes complete with horns for added ambiance, but naturally it is not as good as the Dolls, but great nonetheless, the intro sounds like the ANIMALS ' we gotta get outta this place ', in fact the singer does a good vocal cross between BURDON and JOHANSEN.........' OUT ON THE STREET DOWN BY 12 ( ? ) WOULD NOBODY GIVE 5 TO STRUT, HUSTLE FOR A BUSTLE, OOOHHH I NEED YA, ..........FILL ME THRILL THE AIR..........' .........
the b side ' OTHER THINGS ' is a good rocker too, musically.......... dirty rock sounding like SKYHOOKS who were an australian glam band of the same time, prominent bass, drums stomp, singer sings/growls..........' WELL ALLRIGHT.......WELL I THINK I GOT THAT FEVER AND I'M GOING INSANE, WALKIN' IN THE SUMMER, JUST A WALKIN' IN THE RAIN, I'D LIKE TO TAKE OFF AND A TALK WITH YOU, I CAN' T STOP NOW I GOT A LOTTA THINGS TO DO '..........
later in '75 or '76 DEBRIS covered this song but it was never released till they released all their demos yrs later, man it sounds a whole lot like the DAMNED, so the version they did sometime later is much better, and check out their the double cd of Debris and you'll find lotsa pre-punk.......ok there is no girl name VICTORIA singing here, it's a guy, judging from the animated cover -
http://stu.wccnet.org/~kikolam/fp/vvein.html
he was probably just a guy who wore makeup at the time like a lot of glam bands, speaking of which if you know any real GIRL BANDS of the 70s who sounded anything at all like the DOLLS or even did a DOLLS covers please contact us, our email addresses are on the homepage....
DEBRIS
get the double cd set, it has far more experimental songs than their '76 lp release like ZEBRA RANCH, and HOSPITAL BOYS !, strong CAPTAIN BEEFHEART influence on some tracks, elsewhere STOOGES influence......experimental jazz-rock like you never heard, fans of TELEVISION and RICHARD HELL would appreciate this rare artifact too, as would fans of the PATTI SMITH BAND's 2nd lp........ the music has an overall sci-fi approach, the kinda music one listens to late at nite while brainstorming....... they were originally from a tiny town in Oklahoma , they took part in a battle of the bands for the mid west area and they came in dead last, Note: as it states elsewhere on this site K.K. BARRETT future drummer for L.a. punk underground sensation was in some way involved in this recording as we have read, not exactly how though......the studio lp released in '76 begins with 'One Way Spit' which paves the way for the rest of the lp, sharp guitar riffs, manic singing, 'Female Tracks' is cool synth electronica yrs before this type of music became fashionable, but the next 2 songs are BAD, basically there are some cool tracks followed by throwaway disposabale numbers, ( you know how RICHARD HELL had a great debut lp but he had a couple of tracks on it that sucked like 'liars beware' .....well you get the idea ) 'boyfriend' could be viewed as humorous and the band were really trying to sound different than anyone else out there.....'new smooth lunch; is straight ahead rock with en experimental edge, but 'manhattan' really blows, it's the pits, 'FLIGHT TAKEN', and 'tell me' are amongst the best of the lp, and the closing 'BLUE GIRLS' with dark synths taking hold it sounds like a long lost sci-fi dream, definite pre-punk mAdness......
'STATIC DISPOSAL' tracklisting -
1 One Way Spit, 2 Female Tracks, 3 Witness, 4 Tricia, 5 Boyfriend, 6 Leisurely Waiting
7 New Smooth Lunch, 8 Manhattan, 9 Flight Taken, 10 Tell Me, 11 Blue Girls,
demos and outtakes
12 Zebra Ranch, 13 Other Things, 14 New Smooth Lunch, 15 Boyfriend, 16 Real Cool Time, 17 One Way Spit, 18 Gun, 19 Hospital Boys, 20 Flight Taken, 21 Tell Me.
'ZEBRA RANCH' is for the more adventurous, it begins with bizarre sounding synths and sound effects , girls talking, etc. and what follows 'OTHER THINGS' sounds like the DAMNED with basic punk guitar and drum attack, the STOOGES cover of 'real cool time is alright', but their cover of JOHN CALE's 'GUN' is really good with superb guitar playing.....'me and my partner we live on the run, the days get quicker'.......'hospital boys'....sounds like it was sung by someone who witnessed first hand the horrors of a mental institution, and the last 2 numbers 'flight taken' and 'tell me' as on the studio lp are top rate pre-punk songs that go into a place where no band has gone before.....for those of you who listen to a lot of this forgotten 70s pre punk trash, this is the kinda music to listen to once in a while and it'll add zest to your life, but the sounds are really for the nighttime if you know what we mean....
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. - Matthew 7
SUGAR 'HOT DAMN/LET IT ROLL'
came out on Lady records in '76 , like some of the bands featured here on this page this one is not in the pre-punk category, rather it's pure glam camp from some guys from atlanta.....cowbell, cool glam guitar, big beat...'WELL THE BRITISH ARE SO STUFFY, PRIM AND PROPER WITH GLOVES IN HAND, AND CLARK GABLE SAID.....later some lyrics are about frenchmen, good 'ol southern boys, etc. these guys must have been listening to some of the glam bands of the time that were common in europe, cool song ! check it out at the Pure Pop Blog
THE SHIT DOGS
from Louisianna, WORLD WAR THREE was the name of their real hard to find lp, they crossed different styles, part HEAVY misfit rock, part pre-punk, bit of space rock, you get the idea, with a great name like that they were probably so bad that their music we bet is superb ! they began in '78,
see this link for a personal view of this band
http://orbis-quintus.net/blog/?p=932
and see an image here -
http://www.thisispunkrock.btinternet.co.uk/ps/us/1/shitdogs.htm
BRIAN and the FEAR
not sure where in the u.s. this band were based maybe south due to this songs title, but they might have been from anywhere in this country......'GOING TO A BULLFIGHT' circa '75 is said to be pre-punk, to us it sounded kinda like chaotic niose, allright but don't get too excited, but maybe they had better songs, anyone ? .......one things for sure, they weren' t KIPPER, then again no one was KIPPER except for Kipper....
WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?
PAT BUCHANAN - To steal a job from a decent, hardworking American.
JERRY FALWELL Because the chicken was gay! Isn't it obvious? Can't you people see the plain truth in front of your face? The chicken was going to the "other side." That's what "they" call it-the "other side." Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And, if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like "the other side." That chicken should not be free to cross the road. It's as plain and simple as that.
DR. SEUSS Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes! The chicken crossed the road, But why it crossed, I've not been told!
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.
GRANDPA In my day, we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.
ARISTOTLE It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
KARL MARX It was a historical inevitability.
RONALD REAGAN What chicken?
CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK To boldly go where no chicken has gone before.
FOX MULDER You saw it cross the road with your own eyes. How many more chickens have to cross before you believe it?
BILL GATES I have just released eChicken 2000, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook and Internet Explorer is an inextricable part of eChicken.
EINSTEIN Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath the chicken?
BILL CLINTON I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What do you mean by "chicken"? Could you define "chicken" please?
THE BIBLE And God came down from the heavens, and He said unto the chicken, "Thou shalt cross the road." And the chicken crossed the road, and there was much rejoicing.
COLONEL SANDERS I missed one?
PANDORA 45 flexi released in '74
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thee N.Y. uNdErGrOuNd.......
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PANDORA
...a mystery.......once upon a time from cleveland there was a hard rock band called GRANICUS ( see above ) who had one lp in '73, their drummer Joe Battaglia was assigned to record some demos for a N.Y. CITY band called PANDORA, they had a RARE 3 song single which came out on flexi disc in a magazine, and record companies in '74, the previously UNRELEASED lp of demos was recorded in the summer of '74 in ohio.........and was finally released in he late 90s....
and were kept on tape for many years until '97 when he decided to release them on cd cause they are really great STOOGES,N.Y. DOLLS, H.M. KIDS, SILVERHEAD-type 70's glam trash..... allthough Battaglia could not even remember the members names of PANDORA, neither could anyone else....here is more info on this band...
THIS IS THE SITE WHERE U CAN ORDER A CD, PLEASE SEND YOUR MONEY TO ARF ARF RECORDS
http://www.arfarfrecords.com/
also a few of us are really interested in knowing who the members are, a few people in the world know, perhaps with this detailed review full of lyrics somone may know....
Erik Lindgren's Arf! Arf! Records is known for gathering the most obscure unreleased vintage tapes for historical purposes. (They're also known to have a giggle now and again; a couple of the label's supposedly vintage unreleased tapes are at least suspected to be by modern-day groups recording in note-perfect re-creations of period styles.) Though most of the label's vintage tapes are from '60s-era New England bands, given Lindgren's proximity and tastes, the 1997 release Space Amazon is actually a bunch of circa-1974 recordings by Pandora, a Cleveland, OH, band.
The tapes were produced by Joe Battaglia, drummer for Cleveland metallurgists Granicus, and only the first two, the thumping "Space Amazon" and "Daze of Madness," were ever released, and even then only on a flexi-disc given away by a local magazine. The glammy songs have a heavy, proto-punk edge, as if the group were heavily into the Stooges and the first New York Dolls album, and the theatrical vocals and self-consciously "decadent" lyrics suggest a strong Bowie/T. Rex fixation as well. Fun stuff, no matter when it was recorded. ? Stewart Mason
a track listing
1. Space Amazon - 8:47 2. Daze of Madness - 4:00 3. Country Boy (Pandora) - 6:39 4. Only Seventeen - 4:20 5. Crack Your Skull ( - 4:13
6. Hot Rocker - 6:29 7. You're My Woman - 5:38 8. King Queen - 6:16 9. Don't Pity Me - 7:38 10. Leather Boys - 5:24
well here is our promo for ERIK LINDGREN's 'ARF ARF' records, actually they sell mostly 60's garage and pysch, so were doin' the promo right here at the 70's invasion so perhaps we can boost sales for them, please send your money to ARF ARF records and buy the Pandora cd, if u love 70's glam rock and trash, you'll flip for this band as they sound as if they were influenced by many big glam rock band of the 70's, and check out the other selections at ARF,ARF also, they have some killer cds for sale....
'SPACE AMAZON'
WOW ! this is one hell of a song, and allthough unfashionably long for glam fans, it's all the better that it is almost 9 minutes long , combining the hard glam sound of SWEET, STOOGES, and BOWIE imagery circa ZIGGY STARDUST, this song definetely will captivate your imagination, let's take a look at selected lyrics from this monster of a song ; 'YOUR THE SULTAN LADY OF THE NIGHT, LIKE A VENUS FLY TRAP YOU HOLD YOUR BITE, YOUR THE HERO OF FLASH AND CONQUERED TASTE, BUT TO HOLD YOUR BOND IS AN AQUIRED TASTE, THERE's NO DOUBT YOUR A MORTAL MAN, BUT U TOWER ABOVE YOUR ROCKIN' BAND', and 'WHAT CAN U DO, BUT YOUR HUMAN BEST', and THERE WAS NO NEED TO RUN YOUR CIRCUIT COLD'
'HAIL TO THE MASTER MYTH, BUT WILL THERE BE HRS OF CONFESSION TO THESE MORTAL MINDS' and 'YOUR A SPACE AMAZON, WERE A RESTLESS LOT, BUT YOUR ALL WE'VE GOT, U HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH LOVE AND HATRED, AND AS THEY MERGE WE WATCH YOUR DIXIEDANCE' and
( this next part is spoken) 'THESE SOULS STRUNG UP ON YOUR ROYAL THUMBS LIKE SOME PUPPETS IN A FAG SHOW',( back to screaming) 'BAITING THE CROWD WITH COME HITHER, SPACE GOD IN THE SKY, IT'S THEIR WITHIN YOUR MINDS EYE' !, .........after several minutes of heavy bass and guitars really hammering this number down with fanatastic lyrics comes a spoken word part, here is an excert ; 'do u pledge undyling loyalty to the point of fever , ( the singer changes from spoken word to hard screaming here) 'u stand there naked and oblivious in your eden garden' ( screams)'U THERE IN SPACE, U THERE IN SPACE, U THERE IN SPACE, SPACE AMAZON,SPACE AMAZON, SPACE AMAZON, SPACE AMAZON, SPACE AMAZON, SPACE AMAZON', OH, OH, OH, OH, OH, OH, OH, OH NO I NEED U, I NEED U ! OH NO, OH NO, OH NO, OH NO, OH NO, OH NO, OH NO, OH NO,
.........the singer then yells 'OHH' about 20 more times while the band speeds up to 90 miles an hour.........yes all very intense, but we would like to get back to the PATTI SMITH reference we had previously stated, as she sings in 'gloria' 'a place called space' with hard guitars and bass, here the singer for PANDORA sings 'you there in space, you there in space'.........it sounds similiar this part, our point is this, many people are trying to find out the names of these guys but no one knows who they were not even the drummer in GRANICUS ( see midwest section above ) can remember, we will make an assumption here that perhaps they saw the PATTI SMITH band playing sometime in '74 and were influenced, or maybe it was the other way around,......perhaps one of the members of PANDORA will see the lyrics here and say 'HEY I WAS IN THAT BAND' parhaps U yourself were in that band..ok back to the reviews.......
'DAZE of MADNESS'
this one begins with the singer doin' a DAVID JOHANSEN imitation then progresses into SILVERHEAD- ALICE COOPER--type rock......' i've seen every crystalyzed mulitcoloured craze', and 'daze of madness on the road, he's been used and abused, but he's been playing for so long' and 'DAZE OF CONQUEST, U CAN'T DIGEST THE DIRT', good guitars, but this song is a somewhat calmer song than the masterpiece before and the one after it.....
'COUNTRY BOY'
EXCELLENT SONG, one of the best on this disc.......begins playing a melodic LED ZEPPELIN country style rock' OH COUNTRY BOY, WHERE HAVE U BEEN, WHO HAVE U SEEN, WHAT HAVE U DONE'AND 'WHERE BLACKFACE DON'T SEEM TO FIT, WITH THE UNDERDOG SCOIAL BIT'..... and 'SHAKER BAKER MAN KIDNAP JESUS WHILE U CAN, BUT HE's NO MATCH FOR U WITH YOUR SNAKESKIN PURSE AND YOUR HIGH HEELED SHOE'........then the tempo changes halfway from ZEPPELIN style to fast STONES-STOOGES rock, the whole band kicks in hard while the singer sings/screams ' KIDNAP THE CHRISTIANS AND THE MINISTER', he continues to sing about christians and similiar subject matter, this one could have been a single......OUTTASITE !
'ONLY 17
rock bottom bass, SILVERHEAD-ALICE COOPER-type rock, 'she's only 17, only 17', not only does it sound influeced by these 2 bands, but as many people know COOPER had a big hit with '18' in '71, and on SILVERHEAD's 2nd was titled '16 and savaged' ( note the 1st SLIVERHEAD lp is great, the 2nd one blows, with only 2 good songs)
'CRACK YOUR SKULL'
GREAT one ! this one comes on fast like the DOLLS, drums pound away, the drummer thinks he's KEITH MOON, defiant lyrics 'I DON'T CARE WHAT U SAY OR WHAT U DO, IF U DON'T WATCH OUT THE WORSE WILL COME TRUE'and 'CRACK YOUR HEAD AGAINST THE WALL, OH GOD WHO CAN U CALL' ? and 'FANTASTIC LAZER THAT GLOWS IN THE DARK, MAKES U WISH U WERE MORE THAN A SPARK'...........
'HOT ROCKER'
allthough this one reminds us of ALAN MERRILL's music somewhat ( ARROWS, VODKA COLLINS) it's sound is more SLADE ........bottom heavy bass, solid guitar notes nailed to the floor 'I HATE SUNNY DAYS WHEN THE NITES ARE COLD, I HATE MY FRIENDS WHEN THEY DON'T DO AS THEY'RE TOLD', and 'I TOOK A LONG HARD LOOK AT MYSELF . LORD I GUESS I'M JUST TOO TOUGH' !
'YOUR MY WOMAN'
HEAVY METAL KIDS /DOLLS sound........drums hit hard and fast, harmonica wails in and out, melodic guitars in the middle before it speeds up again 'EVEN ON BROADWAY, OR DELANCEY ST., LOVE MAKER MISTRESS IT's ALL THE SAME'........
'KING QUEEN'
GOOD one, this one alternates between heavy glam and ZEPPELIN good time rock, with mesmerizing guitar sounds, harmonica wails into a fast blues number, 'HERE WE ARE LYING ON A R-n-R SCENE, SEXY MEAN, CAN'T U SEE WHAT I MEAN' ? !
'DON'T PITY ME'
guitars attack heavily, defiant sound, with SUPER DRUMS, 'I'M A R-n-R CITY BOY AND THATS NOT JUST IN THE EVENING, WOOOOO BABY, WOOOOOOO'............ later the drums go into a solo where only the singer and the drummer camp it up for a minute or 2......
'LEATHER BOYS'
so how does PANDORA end a masterpiece of a glam rock lp ? they surprise the listener with an homage to the WHO, least it sounds that way with the SPARKLING mod guitar riffs, ......'HEY LEATHER BOYS WHERE ARE U RUNNING TO, YOU'VE GOT A LOT TO LEARN', and 'ON THE RADIO YOU HEARD THE NEWS THAT BROUGHT YOU DOWN, IT MAKES THOSE BLUE EYED BOYS WONDER WHERE YOU ARE, .....COME ON BOYS, OH BOYS, COME ON'............then the band brings the song home while the singer says 'LEATHER BOYS'....about 12 times then the song fades......... *
if any of you out there like 70's glam, specifically the sound of '74, then seek out PANDORA, and please send your money to ARF ARF records, this lp is killer ! then again they weren't KIPPER then again no one was kipper except for Kipper.......
http://www.arfarfrecords.com/
combing thru our archives of our gateway 3 think it was one of us came accross a band called PI-CORP whose singer also ang for Granicus, so there may be a connection there, see this link for more info -
https://www.angelfire.com/al4/jook/Rainbowband.html
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RAGS
SUPER GLAM ! an early 70s N.y. band , this one played rock, pop, glam, etc, we'll say they were N.Y. BEST KEPT SECRET OF THE 70s, not only do some tracks sound just like the N.y. DOLLS, and some just like MILK-n-COOKIES, but their cd of FANTASTIC unreleased songs rocks out like no other,
we conducted an interview with JOE VALENTINE SAUSA of the RAGS in early jan '06 you can see it in our gateway 4 on a gallery with RAGS and TEENAGE LUST, it has lots of info on the N.y. scene, and in-depth reviews too, at the time Valentine told us that we were the only one to contact him, since that time after our promo the cd sold to quite a few 70s rock enthusiasts, see this link for our reviews of Rags -
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/desykes/Rags.html
see this site to order a cd, if you are reading this, do not delay -
http://www.ragsrocknroll.com/
THE HARLOTS of 42nd STREET
'Cool Dude & Foxy Lady/Spray Paint Bandit' was their sole single on Sunburst Records in 1974, allthough they did record a bunch of other songs that never got released,...........recently in an interview ( aug '05 ) DAVID JOHANSEN said these guys were the DOLLS biggest competition in the early 70s N.y. scene, they wore makeup on their face and played more or less in the DOLLS style of glam, they did play on the same bill sometimes as the DOLLS, MAGIC TRAMPS and others, one show in '74 the Tramps, and the Harlots played with 2 other bands called CANON, and STREET PUNKS, we now have a gallery in our gateway 5 with these smaller bands + LUGER....
' COOL DUDE AND FOXY LADY/SPRAY PAINT BANDIT ' ' 74
released on the sunburst label, this is a BRILLIANT single and should have been a HIT, perhaps it was a minor anthem ? but one you' ve never heard except in your dreams.....begins with high hat, and melodic guitar, it's pop-rock with the trashy aspects of glam and the band plays like you figured they'd sound,......... trashy,...........it has charming aspects that would appeal to both fans of glam and pop, catchy chorus.......very good lyrics too,..... acoustic guitar plays alongside electric guitar, can even be classified as folk/glam, well umm almost, only the acostic guitar adds the folk sensibility within the song, but this band were anything but a folk band, really though this tune captures the magical times of '74 very very well with the guys singing along in the background.......
'.........ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE LAND OF R-n-R, THERE LIVED A BOY AND GIRL WHO LOVED TO LOSE CONTROL, THEY USED TO HANG OUT EVERY NIGHT AND DAY, AT PLACES AROUND N.y. WHERE THEY COULD HAVE THEIR WAY.......( chrous ).......HE's A COOL DUDE AND SHE's A FOXY LADY WHOA A WHOA........THEY HITCHHIKED TO A CLUB THAT WAS UNDERGROUND......................SHE's A COOL DUDE AND HE's A FOXY LADY WHOA A WHOA.................................( later )..............COOL DUDE AND FOXY LADY HAD MADE THEIR CLAIM TO FAME..................HE's A COOL DUDE AND SHE's A FOXY LADY'..........
'SPRAY PAINT BANDIT' on the b-side the band goes for a more or less straight ahead rocker with emphasis on bass and guitar, ..........' I'M A SPRAY PAINT BANDIT, AND I' M HEADIN' TOWARDS YOUR SUBWAY, I' M A SPRAY PAINT BANDIT AND NO ONE GETS IN MY WAY, I' M GONNA WRITE MY NAME ALL OVER YOUR WALLS, IN LETTERS BRIGHT AND TALL, AND WHEN YOU SEE YOUR SUBWAY TRAIN IT's NOT GONNA LOOK THE SAME........................................( later ).................IN LETTERS RED, WHITE, AND BLUE'.............
musically we give this band the thumbs up, allthough their music does not seem to be as strong as the DOLLS, but good comparisons can be found nonetheless, bet as a live band though they were something else.............so where are these live recordings of The Harlots of 42nd st. ?
We did read on a thread the CHRIS HARLOT has some studio or live recordings on tape somewhere, and last year we did find this photos that THURSTON MOORE of SONIC YOUTH included in a collage with other glam stars of the day, so another photo of the Harlots can be seen here ~
http://www.audiocircle.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=334&pos=23
then again they weren't KIPPER, then again no one was KIPPER, except for KIPPER.
here is a close up shot of the HARLOTS of 42nd ST. circa ' 72, and take a look at the left for an obscured shot, keep looking in their gallery and you'll find a photo of CHRIS HARLOT -
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/modules.php?set_albumName=albuo65&id=LDR_1401_sized&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php
you can now see these photos on our gateway 4, and finally you can download these 2 tunes from our downloads 7 page, click on the one that says 42nd at this here link -
https://www.angelfire.com/vt2/70sinvasion/ downloads7.html
Interview with SETH GREENKY who produced the Harlots of 42nd st. conducted from the fall of 2011.
1 Are you Seth Greenky who produced the Harlots of 42nd st. rare single 'Cool Dude and Foxy Lady / Spray Paint Bandit' in 1974 and other tunes.
Yes. I produced the Harlots. Doug (Harlot) McLean was the songwriter. I still have a few of the original 45s. We got a great review in Billboard or Cashbox (or both). The group should have been big. FYI, I'm in touch with some of the bandmembers to this day.
2 Was there more material, maybe enough for a whole album ?
-------------We recorded about enough for one side of an LP. They had more than enough material for at least an LP at that time. But, that single was the only material released. It was very frustrating that we had to go with such a small label as these guys were really talented, Gene could really sing. In my opinion, the Dolls and the Ramones had their own things but they didn't really have good musicians, melodies or good lead vocals. The Ramones used to rehearse, before they got well-known, in the rehearsal studios of my then-partner and I saw them and heard them constantly. We didn't like them. We went with The Harlots and, musically and creatively, I stand by that decision. The music of the Harlots had stories and melodies. Ahhhh, the music biz.....go figure.
3 Hard to believe you guys didn't like the Ramones music or maybe it was just a personal thing, anyways please tell the world the names of the other songs and how they sounded in comparison with the 2 great tracks that were released by the Harlots ?
---------------------I was only speaking for myself. I don't know how the guys from The Harlots felt about the music of the Ramones. I just don't think they were particularly musical. Perhaps my point of view comes from the fact that I was classically schooled in music and didn't appreciate what the Ramones were doing. But, I did play in rock and R&B bands and produced rock, pop & R&B. My tastes were always eclectic. You like what you like and don't what you don't. Everyone's entitled to an opinion.
I don't know if I can remember all of the other tracks we recorded. Let's see: "S & M (I Can't Live Without You)," "Dead End," and "Refuse To Be Misued." There were probably more. All of the ones I just remembered could have been singles. Should have been, too. Many others that were going to be recorded but didn't happen.
4 Did the Harlots get along with the Dolls and were they influenced by any of the glam acts from across the ocean ; T.Rex, Bowie, Sweet, Slade, etc. ?
--------------------You would have to ask them. 5 Did the band get along with other bands in the N.y. underground at the time, any of these bands that you may recall ; Ruby and the Rednecks, Milk-n-Cookies, Rags, Magic Tramps, Dorian, Teenage Lust, or maybe Television in their early days with Richard Hell ?
---------------From what I can recall most were all a friendly bunch of guys and got along. I don't recall any feuds but I didn't hang out with all the bands. I did go to some gigs with The Harlots (some very interesting memories from "The Continental Baths," "The Coventry," "Max's," (I think "Club 86") and some others as well as herhearsing them and taking them into the studio. Also, some meeting with some record company execs. Richard Hell needed a place to crash and spent the night on my couch around that time.
6 Seems old Hollywood also had an effect on the music of glam bands of the 70s to an extent, can you recall any films you guys all liked and maybe were influenced by ?
-------------------I thing Gene Harlot was into Gene Harlow (at least he was paying an homage) and I think he wore an actual G-String that once belonged to Gypsy Rose Lee whenever he performed.
7 Also what were the band members names aisde from Doug Mclean ?
-----------------Everyone went by the last name of Harlot. Therefore, Gene Harlot (get the pun?), Tony Harlot, Doug Harlot and Chris Harlot
8 Umm walking around the dirty streets of N.y. late at nightdid any of you ever happen to meet by chance Bozo the Clown ?
---------------------LOL. I would love to make up a deliciously funny and creepy story but it would all be a lie.
Thank you Seth for a fine interview, maybe one day the music world will get to hear some of the unreleased gems recorded in N.y. so long ago.......we'll have some upcoming photos in our gateway 8 of the 70s invasion, and this same interview can also be seen on our gallery of the band in our Gateway 4....
In the fall of 2022, ww found a 10 minute found a 10 minute documentary clip of the Harlots with samples from the album Refuse to be Misused at this link, featuring infi from the Garlotry Times, and mentions an interesting with Joey Ramone when he sang with previous band called Sniper -
https://youtu.be/iYw9ILJSMK0
The MAGIC TRAMPS
we received this great cd at he end of Oct. of '05..........this band were an experimental pre-glam band from n.y. city who actually were from L.a, first they played there from '68 - '71 as MESSIAH, then they moved to N.y. around '71, they were led by ERIC EMERSON ( close friend of JIM MORRISON ) who nowadays is considered to have influenced the whole glam scene surrounding the DOLLS,
.....the first 5 tracks recorded in ' 70 are very different from what surfaced in the glam era ' 73 - ' 75, they are quiet, mellow, and reflect native american indian music and the DOORS too, which sounds right because viocalist ERIC EMERSON was a good friend of JIM MORRISON's, he died in may of '75..........# ' s 6 - 8 were recorded in ' 73 and show the transition to glam while still holding on to an experimental sound with that violin standing out as it does throughout the cd, the last 4 songs # 's 9 - 12 are the heavy glam numbers and our favorites from the cd and were recorded ' 74 - ' 75.........
1 'ODE TO JIMMY DEAN'
The opener is a very quiet and subdued number, an experimental instrumental song similiar to the DOORS approaching a native american indian sound,......... drug induced ( peyote ? ) and very mellow.......
2 'HEY PEOPLE'
slow rock with electronic violin.........'HI HELLO AND HOW DO U DO WERE HERE JUST TO GIVE TO U, WERE GOING TO LAUGH AND HAVE A GOOD TIME......'
3 ' WARRIORS OF THE RAINBOW '
a chant reflecting native american indian sounds, drum and rhythm section build hypnotic pattern.......
4 'MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT '
DOORS influence again , a very slow number, ok and not as good as any of the other tracks on the cd.......'......'LISTEN TO THE NIGHT, MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT, SEEMS TO HYPNOTIZE, HEAVEN's ALL AROUND ME'......
5 'SMOKE AND MIRRORS'
another instrumental track offered, elec. violin is prominent as in the opening song.....the tramps were dedicated to making soothing and quiet music in this era.......
( next 3 songs recorded in ' 73 )
6 ' TRIPPIN'
(...' i would like to take u on a trip with me and my hot little band....' )...' TRIPPIN'---SKIPPIN' AROUND, HITTIN' THE BARS ALL NIGHT LONG, AND A BYE BYE CHARLIE GETTIN' ME HIGH.......'............GOOD number coulda been a single, loud snap-pop drums, band finds a good groove and they all sing-a-long, listen closely to the vocal enthusiasm and you can detect a sound that influenced the DOLLS good-time sound.......
7 ' MY REFLECTION '
choppy guitar notes sound like an elec. piano, and here the band continues their experimental sound sounding unlike anyone else, on repeated listens one can discern a sound reflecting sophisticated english pop, with the violin playing eerily in the background.......( ' it's written by him, someone else sings it, i sing it......' ).........' WHEN I WATCH MY REFLECTION TOGETHER WE STAND ALONE, WHEN I HAVE MY SELECTION I'D RATHER BE ON MY OWN '
8 ' S.M. LEATHER QUEEN '
the band camps up the banter in the beginning of the song for a violent effect, they find a good groove and reveal early rock roots, ( SOUNDS LIKE A TRAIN ) a unique sound is developed here.......' YEA.......I GIVE YOU LOVIN' U CAN' T REFUSE, LATE FOR DINNER WHEREVER YOU ARE, WHIPS AND CHAINS U CAN' T GO BACK, YOU COME A KNOCKIN' ON MY LOFT '.......
the next 4 songs were recorded from ' 74 - ' 75 and we find only drummer SESU COLEMAN and violinist LARRY CHAPLAN remaining, since EMERSON died in '75 he was replaced as was the guitarist and bassist.........songs 11 and 12 were featured a different bass player....
9 ' LONG, LONG TIME '
HEAVY GLAM ROCK, the vocals sound like KISS ( hey this was N.y. ), and the band rocks out like the ALICE COOPER band, steady drums, guitarist wails, sound of ' 74 here :) with some cooool lyrics.......' I WAS LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW DOWNTOWN L.a., LOOKING AT SOME LADIES MAKING SUNSHINE IN THE SHADE, LOOKING LIKE SOME VAMPIRES THAT I SAW ON M - TV, TELLING ME THAT THEY WANT MY LOVE, TO MAKE THEM FEEL SO FREE.......'
10 ' LOOSE CHANGE '
more hard rock than say glam with the band playing tight, later a long guitar solo with some EXCELLENT playing, this one would be the longest song offered clocking in at 5:25.....' MY MY YOU CAN' T TAKE IT LIGHTLY WHEN THE DAYS GO BY AND LEAVE YOU UNLOVED , YOU KNOW YOU TRY TRY TO GET IT TOGETHER '........
11 ' FIGHT '
defiant street-rock, N.y. hard glam with rough guitars, chorus sung by whole band, and as they say in the beginning (.............' here is a little thing uh, this is a song written by drummer man called FIGHT........' )..........' WHEN YOU GET UP IN THE MORNING, HOLD YOUR HEAD AND PRAY FOR RAIN, AND YOU SEE THE WORLD AROUIND YOU, THEN YOU FEEL THAT THERE's NO PAIN, YOU GOTTA FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU WANT, YOU GOTTA FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU ARE, YOU GOTTA FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU FEEL, YOU GOTTA FIGHT FOR WHAT IS RIGHT - CALLED PEACE OF MIND' !
12 'MAX's'
WOW ! ........the best track on the cd and should have been a single, definitive glam rock / pre-punk guitars slam away, the band finds their niche and plays solid while the singer takes a tale, this is one cool song, ' SITTING DOWN IN A CLUB IN N.y. AND I WAS WAITING FOR MY CUE, WHEN SOME WASTED HIP CHICK, WITH HER HAIR WET AND SLICK TRIED TO JAB ME WITH HER COMB, I SAID GET OUTTA HERE CAUSE I'M WASTED' !
( as these songs were recorded live, we've been told there are more songs from these sessions, stay tuned for more and see our gateway 4 soon for a gallery on the MAGIC TRAMPS )
MAGIC TRAMPS member SESU COLEMAN has created a GREAT site about the band, see the following link for more info -
http://www.magictramps.com/
SESU sent in a couple of historical facts;
Ruby always opened for the Dolls-never headlined We asked the Dolls to open for us at the "Mercer Arts Center" in NYC That's when they got their record deal.............the "Dolls" opened for the "Magic Tramps" many times.......We only opened for the "Dolls" once at a New Years Eve gig in NYC in 1973 After they got their record deal....{Ruby was on the bill also}
IN MID AUGUST '06 WE DID AN INTERVIEW WITH SESU OF THE MAGIC TRAMPS, HERE IT IS ( posted aug. 25th )
70's inv. mgmt.
Sesu I think The MAGIC TRAMPS had some great music at the right time with the threads to match and help to start the glam scene in the underground as some say, the 1st part - experimental, mood music although completely different to what followed was the natural predecessor to the hard 70's glam that followed, somewhere along the lines in the early 70's someone somewhere picked up makeup and started adding theatrics to the stage,
SESU ~
As far as the make-up time line all I know is when we returned to NYC {2-71} The bands that were around were the "Fuggs" etc. {no Dolls-Kiss-Blondie-etc.} I remember running into the Dolls individuals in the lower East Side neighborhood daily. Yes we all wore platforms but don't recall seeing make-up.
More fem clothes than anything. We were pretty colorful. I never went out of the house without Glitter on. {Image was important to us } Not a knock but Kiss {Wicked Lester} was wearing flannel shirts with beards when they played with us at the Coventry.
I simply think we had an inside track being in the Warhol scene & theater & when we re-opened Max's-Mercer Arts Center-& CBGB's {that's another - who's first to play CBGB's but as you see our flyer on our web site "Grand Opening at Hilly's On The Bowery" {CBGB} & built the simple first stage. I don't recall all the Glitter - Glam bands being there already.Bands were starting to form in a short period at that time.The Dolls formed a few months after & opened for us at the Mercer Arts Center. Patti Smith opened for us reading poetry. The rest is history.So- It's all good & everyone felt that was the look to follow but the theatrical people were all made up & decked out - but I don't recall any in bands.
Jayne County & The Miamis were into theater rock also. Great shows. Ruby & The Rednecks also combined theater & music - Then we worked with Suicide. So as you see it was a very experimental point in time for NYC music. {We also backed up Warhol superstars like Jackie Curtis-Geri Miller etc.}
Things did happen fast as we played Max's @ first it was a Warhol showcase & it continued into Caberat then rock & then combined the two. {Wonder where Buster Poindexter got the Cabaret concept?}
Then bands started forming Theater Warhol style - Glitter-Glam - Punk. After Max's the Warhol crowd & the look followed the music to other clubs & started finding their own image & sounds.
So everyone was first ? I just know what it was like trying to find White face at Clowns stores . Glitter at art supply stores . I streaked my own hair 6-8 colors with supplies from art stores. Looked for women's shoe stores for platforms - {I don't recall running into other musicians in any of these places.} Wearing nail polish doesn't make you a Glam Rocker.
70's inv mgmt ~
Interesting....... IN L. A. FRIENDS OF DOLLS CALLED
- SHADY LADY - WORE MAKEUP AND HAD A GREAT GLAM/PRE - GLAM SOUND AND THIS WAS IN '71, Their singer's site is at ~
http://www.myspace.com/shadyladyrocks\
SESU ~
In 68-69-70 we had a club on Sunset Blvd. in LA & we were the house band so we were into it then. That's where Eric {Emerson} joined us. We were working with "Alice Cooper' - members of the "Mother's Of Invention" - etc. Doing a lot of Indian {Native American} benefits. I'm not saying we invented make-up only that in the early NYC scene we were a huge influence on image & theater & music bands starting. After Max's & Mercer collapse - CBGB's on the Bowery at that time was a Hell's Angel's' haunt. This started the street punk sound with the Ramones - original Blondie - Suicide - etc. The whole early 70's scene was interesting. It was like standing on the corner alone in NYC all glammed up, Then the subway stops & you're suddenly surrounded with bands with make-up & hi heels & nail polish saying "Hey I've got a band too." I do think that time was a necessary evolution for music & fashion.
70's inv. mgmt
Great that all these small 70's bands that never got releases are finally getting released 30 yrs after the fact, The HARLOTS of 42'nd St single of ' 74 'Cool Dude and Foxy Lady/Spray Paint Bandit' is BRILLIANT ! and the DORIAN LP is a good one, part LOU REED/TELEVISION influence, part N. Y. underground, it was called 'Silver String Marionette' released ' 74, ( see Dorian member interview below ),
Sesu
( In reference to Timothy Jackson's write up on his band Sweet Dirt / Dorian )
I did read the letter from Tim Jackson It was quite accurate. We got into theater immediately with Eric & the Warhol scene. & yes- Bowie was at the Mercer Arts Center checking everyone out also. Paul Morrissey Andy's assistant & film maker said Rock wouldn't fly in NYC , that caberet was the way to go. That's when we created a cabaret & rock show for different audiences & eventually merged into theater rock & I wore white face glitter fearthers etc same with Eric {he liked gold face}. We worked some off- Broadway shows with "Jackie Curtis" Superstar {Vain Victory} Bette Middler shows at the Continental Baths-etc. I played drums with Elvis Presley's piano player at Warhol's Factory in Union Square for a sound bite for a Warhol film-all sorts of theater which became a look & sound "Glitter"-"Glam"- I had to get my white face make up {Pre-Kiss} @ a "clown shop" It wasn't a common thing. I personally think that got the "Glitter Rock" title going in NYC.
Some bands copied the look Some looked good but the music stayed the same, & some looked like they were out of place with the make up & satin garb. I think we looked pretty natural.{We didn't know any better} Enough so that Salvador Dali asked Andy Warhol to meet us @ the Saint Regis hotel after we shot a "dream scene" in a French film. It was great. { Injun' Fender }When we turned down Sire Records to be their first American band - they signed the Ramones - the rest is history. Thanks Alan-keep up the good work.
70s inv mgmt. ~
( Somewhere I can imagine a scene in N.y. where clowns are coming in and out of clown shops buying face paint, did such 'Clown Shops' really exist ? )
Thanks for the interview and all the letters, Tramps keep on riding the rails !
DORIAN lp now reviewed below
Dorian were a 70s glam band who had a PRETTY GOOD glam lp release in ' 74, the lp opens with what sounds like a band going for an all-time low with 1 'MEN's ROOM'...featuring rapid fire guitar work, it fit well with the scene of '74 as many bands were trying for an alltime low,........Dorian screams 'HOLY MARY MOTHER OF GOD, PRAY FOR US SINNERS NOW' !........but no this ain't a spiritual number, this is seedy underground rock.......
2 'DESTINATION NOWHERE' is the 2nd #, it has a LOU REED influence say from his '73 - '74 era, one of the lps best, and this one has somehow found it's way onto bootlegged junkshop glam tapes going 'round the internet....
'FACE'
not sure of the title as our friend lost the track listing of this tape when we loaned it to her, but this one is a slower number with a soothing sounding flute, fans of RICHARD HELL and STEVE HARLEY would like this.....
'INSIDE LOOKING OUT'
glam rock in a low key groove, the singer moves in and out and over the guitar notes which lock into grooves that RICHARD HELL must have heard when we sang with TELEVISION....cool song !
- lp side 2 -
' DREAMS OF MR. PITIFUL' ??? '
again blame us not posting the proper title here because our friend lost the track listing, anyways umm this one moves fast and is shorter than the rest of the songs here
6 'SILVER STRINGED MARIONETTE'
the band chose to end the lp with a carefully orchestrated glam number going over 16 minutes, the narrator sings about the subject which is really about a person and rants and raves all the way through while the band plays a somewhat somber yet entertaining track, again fans of RICHARD HELL and STEVE HARLEY would enjoy this track which makes for a GOOD ending
see the DORIAN ZERO site done by our old friend Chuck at this link ~
http://www.geocities.com/dorianzero/
here is an interview ( part of ) we did from july - aug '06 with member TIMOTHY A. JACKSON
70s inv. mgmt.
Hey, got yer lp in july '06, thumbs up ! interested to know details of the band ?
In 1973-74, Dorian and I were in a band called SWEET DIRT, that played the same places as the Dolls and The Magic Tramps. At the time, glitter, the metallic dust that you can buy in art supply stores, was used in vast quantities in campy stage productions like "The Angels of Light", "The Theatre of the Ridiculous", etc. Eric Emerson, of the Magic Tramps, used it as makeup and decoration, as did the rest of that band. We played many gigs in places with the Dolls and the Tramps, and because we were close with Eric, we all started wearing glitter. Variety dubbed all of us "Glitter Rock" bands. I remember that Rags, and Teenage Lust also played these same gigs. Dorian occasionally got over to the UK during this time, and may have had some contact with UK glam bands, but we saw our "glitter rock" as a New York original. A lot of UK people, like David Bowie, Mick Jagger, etc. were hanging around our scene. Sweet Dirt was negotiating a recording contract with RCA, and one of our barganing chips was the tapes Dorian had in the can that later became that LP. Needless to say, we had a lot of experience and RCA was dismayed to find that we were not people who could be manipulated or exploited, so the contract did not go anywhere, and Dorian and I were soon set free to form another "glitter rock" band called Zero.
70s inv. mgmt
When exactly was the lp recorded ' 74 ?
T. JACKSON -
Dorian album was recorded in 1973-1974 and some tracks earlier. Some tracks were overseen by Salsa Master Ralph Lew. Guitarists included Shelly Lieder (try and find HIM!). I played drums on "Mens Room" and helped write it.
70s Inv Mgmt.
Was there more Than just this lp that was released ? any singles or b sides ? live footage ? demos ?
T. JACKSON -
The only single was called "Destination Nowhere" and there was the 1965 "ConJugate: To Love". Punk magazine had a rightfully distainful interview with Dorian upon the release of the Silver String Marionette album. Probably around 1981 0r 2. No videos or film. Lots of pictures, which may or may not be the property of Dorian's sister, Dana. No info on where she is or if she survived. I have a few pictures from the early 70's. Like I told you, I believed in Dorian's talent and gift for music, as well as his willing efforts to work at it. Most of the work was intense and difficult.
70s inv. mgmt
Did you know some of the other bands of the n.y. underground, such as Teenage Lust ? Rags ?....... the site photo reminded me of them....... check the bottom photo of Teenge Lust and you'll see what I mean about the group pose of the photo on the Dorian site is similiar -
T JACKSON
In 1965 I met this kid at a Blimpie’s on 8th Avenue where kids from my Prep School and kids from a school called Quintano’s and the Professional Children’s School all hung out. It was an interesting scene with a taste of the “forbidden?about it. While my school was more or less of a traditional College Preparatory School which required us to wear uniforms, The Professional Children’s School was for young television actors/actresses, show business offspring, and children in training for movies, TV and the popular and classical music industry. Soupy Sales’s children went there, as did the McCoy’s, a teenage rock band with a number 1 hit at the time: “Hang on Sloopy?
Quintano’s was a different matter. Like the Professional Children’s School, Quintano’s had a flexible curriculum and schedule, but appeared to be oriented toward wealthy trouble prone kids.
While my school also had some offspring of the famous, like the Robards children, at least one son of 50’s-60s D.J. Murray the K, and Henry Winkler, there was not much of a drug scene there, and some of the more troublesome kids stayed for only a short time before quickly heading to Military School or Quintano’s.
The focus of the after-school activities was the 8th Avenue and 58th St. Blimpies, where prescription drugs (downers and uppers) and to a lesser extent, grass and acid, was quietly used by many of these kids. Blimpies was the way to find out where the parties were, and the glamorous girls on pills and the pretty boys would converge on some vast upper-west side cavernous pre war apartment whose adult occupants were away for the weekend to party. Some of the girls were Hullaballoo Dancers. (Hullabaloo was a teen-oriented show that featured the popular rock and roll acts, particularly English on National TV)
At the time I was desperate to become a drummer, after finding one drumstick in the apartment that my mother and stepfather rented in east 16th street. Somehow, I discovered the “secret?to the drum roll with that one stick, and became obsessed with playing the drums, which I did on mailboxes, garbage cans, chairs, walls, desktops and anything else that was handy. I wanted to play, and I also wrote poetry and was an artist. I wanted to do album covers, and be all that the 60’s British Invasion meant to young creative people in those days.
At that Blimpies I met a young music student who played guitar and had a borrowed drum set in his parents apartment. We jammed quite often together and formed a small band that played far over in the East Village by Avenue D and, although we did not take drugs at all, became the house band at a commune frequented by what were then known as “A-Heads? These were Amphetamine users. They absolutely loved the music we did, as primitive as it was, and we had
one rambling poem/instrumental called
- Psychedelic Nightmare -
that they shrieked and screamed for whenever we played. We played places like the Caf?Wha? on MacDougal Street (Jimi Hendrix played there as well as Jimmy James and the Blue Flames) and another called The Caf?Bizarre. Needless to say, our following was not to their liking. I named the band after my favorite book at the time: Hubert Selby’s “Last Exit to Brooklyn? The Last Exit.
One thing I remember from that winter was sitting in a coffee shop called Rienzi several doors from the Wha? at around 3 A.M. and in walked this scruffy blind guy with a dog and another guitar player leading him in. He took out his guitar and started playing song after incredible song and wonderful jokes and patter and kept the whole place sitting there until 7:30 in the morning. When he got up to be lead out, I asked him his name. “Jose?he replied.
The next year I heard that distinctive voice on FM radio late at night on Murray the K. It was Jose Feliciano. Alright, back to the kid at Blimpies, not the one I was playing music with, but the one that started this. Im headed over there after school and run into one of our former students who ended up at Quintano’s. With him was this totally bizarre dude. Red sweater, Navy pants, white boots, and WHITE CLOWN MAKEUP, like a mime. I remember talking to the guy he was with about some drums I had managed to buy, and this bizarre kid giggled in the most obnoxious manner and said “Oh. You got drums, huh? Did it give you a fucking ORGASM??Then he walked away and I asked my acquaintance who that idiot was.
“Oh, that’s Dorian. He’s some kind of singer that goes to my school. I hear he’s making a record..?
“He’s got makeup on. Is he doing a show??
“Nah, he always wears that.?
I was not impressed with him. The image was striking, and almost archetypal in a Rock and Roll sense, but he just seemed like a Spoiled Disaster.
Finishing high school and going in and out of the music scene over the next couple of years saw me trying to hook up with other musicians and get into bands. My family did not like that idea much and I had guilt trips that caused me to avoid some good opportunities. An A+R man from Columbia Records offered to refine my very heavy handed style and put me in touch with Simon and Garfunkle. People who later became Blood, Sweat and Tears also tried me out. I don’t think they were much impressed by my ability either.
Then, in 1967, when everybody else was going to flowers and love-beads, and I was trying to become a good student at Pratt Institute, and still avoiding drugs, Murray the K put on a show in a movie theatre on 59th Street. While everybody else was mellowing out and going soft and blissful and dreamy……..
THE WHO!
I remember cutting school the first day of that show, at 10:00 in the morning I was in that little theatre and Murray comes out and introduces the show, and is suddenly drowned out by a HUGE noise (which I now recognize as the ?inch jack from a guitar cord being plugged into a gigantic live amp pumped up to 10.)
“Good move, Pete?yelled Murray. “Without further introduction: THE WHO!!!!!?
The curtain went up, and that was the END of Pratt Institute, a safe career, the end of sanity, the end of going home before 4 A.M. any day of the week, the end of my vow “never again to be on the sidewalk in lower Manhattan at 5:30 A.M. with a set of drums trying to flag down a taxi??
They played 3 of their songs. “Cant Explain? “Substitute? and “My Generation?and I cannot explain what those songs were like then. So much of the later WHO stuff is so cerebral, smooth and wimpy, that you cannot imagine the Sheer Violent Impact that their incredibly loud and simple stuff had. And the drummer, swimming in a sea of drums, rattling sticks and cymbals blazing in manic splendor, grimacing with gleeful ecstasy, pulling an open roll that ended with one stick after another from a little rack at his side bouncing off this drum and that and flying through the air into the audience at machine-gun speed.
The other acts that day included the Cream, with Eric Clapton, and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, and the Supremes. I left after sitting through the show 2 times and as I came out onto the sunny street, there was that Dorian character standing there with some equally bizarre guys with obviously artificially straightened hair and polka-dot bell bottoms. He sees me and says:
“Hey, man.?
“Hello?? I replied.
“Can you play like that Keith Moon??
“No, but I will soon. Isn’t your name Dorian??
“It’s Kenny.?Said one of the polka dot guys.
Dorian turned to his companion and shouted “Hey Man! It’s Kenneth DORIAN Passante! Get that right, motherfucker, or WALK HOME!?
Anyway, no surprise there, so I figured it was time to get going.
( later he said in reference to this site )
I am pleased to see the spiritual framing and underpinning of your site. I dont know a lot about this type of web site, but I am happy to be associated. The whole journey I had through music was driven by the fact that I have the priviledge to be 7th Generation Bible Christian in my family since the American Revolution. No judgement of others, no preaching, just living it. I saw the New York Rock explosion of the 70's as a spiritual thing, which it surely was, and watched with horror as things got distorted. But who are we to plan what is planned for us and without our consent?
( continuing interview in mid-sept '06 )
70s inv. mgmt.
Tim after listening to the Dorian lp lately along with the RICHARD HELL cd Spurts , i see a similiarity in the music, specifically in the 3rd Dorian track and the title track a bit to Television and Hell, did you guys know each other ?
Tim Jackson _
Actually, I was already gone from the band when Television came on the scene. I remember meeting Richard Hell at a Dorian Zero show at the Diplomat. They were just starting out in NY then and were opening for Zero. I also saw an early Heartbreakers show at CBGB's when Richard was in that band. I told him then that I thought he had a lot more going for him than Heartbreakers type of material. I guess that was true. They all came into their own after I left town in 1977.
Of course you can add. I was friendly with John Genzale, Billy Murcia and Sylvain long before they became Dolls, and we always had a mutual respect. Dorian and I played in Sweet Dirt at the Mercer Arts Center at the same time as the Dolls and Magic Tramps. I meant no disrespect to Johnny Thunders, simply that to me Richard Hell was a more intellectual and traditionally literary type of artist. Different scene. I became ill and homeless in 1977, collapsed, moved in with family to recuperate in Morristown, New Jersey, where I was born and ended up staying. I had a long recovery and watched from a distance as people I knew from the streets made international names for themselves in the music world. I was re-learning how to work, starting with day labor and loading trucks, landscaping, and being the caretaker of a church in Chatham, New Jersey. With all the junk and violent behaviour that grew out of it, I could no longer participate in the NY music scene. Also, I had discovered some things about Ancient Egypt that took a lot of my time, including some attempts at re-constructing the music using instruments that I made, and culling fragments of it throughout African, Medieval, and other folk forms. I dont have time to work on these things now because I have my own computer service business and also am an elected official in Morristown. I play once a year with King Douglas and the Gestures at a coffee shop in Morristown. Douglas is an extraordinary fellow and gifted musician. The sequence with Dorian was 1965-68 Dorian, 1971 Dorian with Sweet Dirt. 1974 Zero, 1976 Dorian and Zero, 1978 Dorian Zero Revue, and Dorian Zero with album on Amerama Records.
Copyright 2006 by Timothy A. Jackson
we do have a gallery with the Dorian lp, it's in our gateway 1 or 2 not sure, our site is so big we get lost in it to ya know....
THE BRATS
Glam rock punk led by RIK RIVETS who was a member of the DOLLS for about a year from ' 71 - ' 72, he had played with the pre-DOLLS act ACTRESS and lived in holland with ARTHUR KANE prior to the ACTRESS period, the BRATS were active from roughly '72 - about '76 or so, later he led the faboulous CORPSE GRINDERS, please see our in-depth reviews of both of these bands ; the Brats and the Corpse Grinders in our gateway 3
JACK RUBY
the single 'HIT and RUN/BAD TEETH' from '74 is an inside look deep into the N.y. underground, part pre-punk guitars, with a strong LOU REED influence overall especially on the vocal approach, this is just what one would expect and more.......not sure if the single was ever actually released or maybe perhaps a few copies were released at the time.....we'll be adding more to this review here soon, here is a tracklisting of a cd of an unreleased lp available from a japanese rock fan site called THE WAREHOUSE
1 Hit And Run 2. Bored Stiff 3. Bad Teeth 4. Sleep Cure
( 4 tracks recorded in '74 )
5. Hit And Run, 6. Bored Stiff, 7. Out Of Touch, 8. Beggers Parade,
( these 4 tracks recorded in '77 )
The Warehouse -
http://warehouse.shop-pro.jp/?pid=38412068
1 Hit And Run 2 Mayonnaise 3 Bored Stiff
4 Bad Teeth 5 Sleep Cure 6 Beggars Parade
7 Neon Rimbaud 8 Out Of Touch 9 Hit And Run ('77)
10 Bad Teeth (Don Fleming 'Instant Mayhem' Remix) 11 Destroy/Lost 12 Beryllium Blues
13 Parietal Cha Cha 14 Lithium Serenade 15 Hydrogen Lullaby
16 Palaatine March 17 Sphenoid Waltz 18 Sodium Nocturne
19 Temporal Tango 20 Mandible Mambo 21 Ghost Note
all tracks recorded between 1972 - 1977.
It is in the unnatural – in the abuse of function and faculty – where division arises, and where main is wrested back, with repeated sufferings, from the perfect circle from which he has tried to depart. Every process in matter is also a process in mind. Every natural law has its spiritual counterpart. See this link Audio Enlightenment ( under James Allen ) for more info ~
http://www.audioenlightenment.com/eight-pillars-of-prosperity-audio-sample
TEENAGE LUST and the LUSTETTES
this one were another band who opened for the TRAMPS,the DOLLS and others and were part of the underground scene, the band featured several people including 4 gals called the Lustettes, and now most of their whereabouts are unknown, however a new site has sprung up in '06 , see this link here
http://teenagelustband.tripod.com/index.html
in the summer of '08 a myspace page with 2 songs from the vaults came online so here's a review....
TEENAGE LUST and the LUSTETTES
' TEENAGE LUST '
on par with the rest of the crowd that opened and played with shows for the N.y. DOLLS like The HARLOTS, RAGS, etc. Teenage Lust offers up their own brand of N.y. street rock, this song is chock full of glitter guitars and solid drumming and this band came on early in the scene around ' 71.......' ( yea allright )........I SAW A TEENAGE LUSTER, YES HE WAS A REAL FREE BUSTER IN THAT REAL FINE WAY, YEA YOU KNOW I MUSTA, I GOTTA SATISFY THAT TEENAGE LUSTER '.........
. . . + . . UpDATE Video 2013...
along came a video which surfaced at youtube which has a great 40 second intro allthough poorly shot in black and white, ( this kinda production we ourselves pride ourselves on with using outdated equipment to this day ) shows the Lustettes doin a song and dance , all 4 of them in stage outfits introduding the band and adding 'HERE THEY ARE BOYS , HERE THEY ARE GIRLS, HELLO EVERYBODY THIS IS TEENAGE LUST, HOW DO YOU ASK AN HALLELUJAH ? LUST IS GONNA SOCK IT TO YA......... ........... HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM EGGROLLS ALICE COOPER' ?.....READY OR NOT HERE COMES LUST ' ! this is a cool campy, we love it ! . . . after the girls do this song and dance intro 40 seconds with the band in the background and then the video goes to photo captions for over 5 minutes while this cool song plays, check it out at youtube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxta84CjSVc
also see Joey ramone interview - 'love, lust', he talks about seeing them, and says the band were friends....
' HITCHHIKE TO YOU '
similiar approach as the above rock #......w/ harmonica and GREAT singing w/ cool backing vocals from the Lustettes, kinda STONES/DOLLS sound......' WELL I'M STANDING ON THE TURNPIKE TRYING TO GET TO GET A HITCHKIKE TO YOU, I'LL BE STANDING ON THE TURNPIKE TRYING TO GET TO GET A HITCHKIKE TO YOU, SOME TRUCK DRIVING MAN YOU KNOW HE's GONNA HELP ME THRU '.........
New update in 2016, at youtube there is a clip from a film called the Central Park Smoke Out where for a minute you can catch a cool clip of the guy and gals in concert, also on the bill were David Peel as well as the band Elephant's Memory, it says that you can get the whole movie from - terzomondomovies.com
5 DOLLAR SHOES
this N.y. rock band who had somewhat of a glam sound actually had an lp released in the early 70s and a couple singles that collectors of this sound enjoy, more info to come, see this link to hear a download -
http://proudfootsound.blogspot.com/ 2009_08_01_archive.html
LUGER
LUGER were a glam band from N.y. who had recorded some music, but man where is it now ? SHAYNE HARRIS was their drummer, and IGGY POP was supposed to produce their music, but what happened ? see our gateway 5 for info and a photo....and see this link a site on Mr. Harris -
http://www.greenpointusa.com/shayneharris/
THE MARTIAN ROCK BAND
this N.y. band dressed like space aliens circa '75 - '76, they played at Max's and CBGB's, maybe they saw ZOLAR - X play in L.a. and got the idea from them, then again maybe it was an all original act, they featured guitarist Rik Fox, see a photo of him in a space suit at this link with a female KISS fan -
http://www.chaoticworks.com/fox/fox45.jpg
another photo of him in black with platforms and green hair is here -
http://www.fullinbloommusic.com/rikfox.html
STREET PUNK
this 4 piece operated in the early to mid 70s, and were featured in the sept. '73 issue of After Dark. Jon Montgomery was one of the songwriters and they were said to play cabaret-rock, we assume this is his website here
https://www.reverbnation.com/jonmontgomery
see also a site called SceneRoller.com for a photo and more info, here is an excert from them -
From "New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB"
"Street Punk exuded a rock star sexiness and cocksure demeanor that kept them in trouble and unrecorded (rejecting Sire and MGM deals). Jon Montgomery, a Robert Plant type from Hell's Kitchen, began Street Punk at Nobody's with guitarist Nicky Martin and pianist Bobby Blaine. Kiss loved them; they gigged together on August 10, 1973, at Hotel Diplomat, and Kiss bought but never recorded Street Punk's 'Master of Flash.' Gene introduced them to his manager Bill Aucoin, but they blew that deal too."
CANON
info coming.......to see more on these bands and other real obscure acts see our gateway 5, or see these links ~
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/desykes/N.y.70sglitter.html
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/desykes/Nyglitter2.html
You can also find a similiar article on these tiny bands in the issue of MELODY MAKER - October 6, 1973, the article title is called - “All That Glitters Is Not Rock” by Dave Marsh. The article also appeared in NEWSDAY on August 19, 1973.......you can see a photo at this link
http://www.greenpointusa.com/shayneharris/
....others who were around the scene but little info online can be found were DIRTY ANGELS ( we may have a 45 picture sleeve of a band with this name circa '72/'73 somewhere in our gateway but we think they were a u.k. band around the same time....... .....another small N.y. band of the time were called JUST WATER, and another were called STARTOON....and more that played a few shows with some of the others above were called Ruckus, Mama Crowder Band, etc.
THE DYNOMITERS
this one were different, they were fresh faced kids who played RASPBERRIES type rock, had a couple of singles at least, they too are pictured on our N.y. Glitter article in our gateway 4....more info to come....
The PLANETS
featuring founding guitarist BINKY PHILLIPS, and bassist ANTHONY JONES ( who passed away in california back around 2003 ) also featured black vocalist TALLY TALIAFERROW who apparently did not jion the band till early '75, the band actually began way back in '71 playing WHO-like power-pop and by the mid 70s they were approaching a faster DAMNED-like sound.....from the bits and pieces we here at this crazy site have read over the yrs on the PLANETS, seems the record companies at the time in the mid 70s when the band should have gotten a record deal were still conservative and were unable to relate to a black vocalist fronting a glam band, ( sounds like a great idea to us ) but so says one source eventually Tally was let go before punk surfaced....yes they did record demos, but where are they ? Tally ended up in a band in the early 80s called the HEAT.......fast forward to 2008 one source claims from an email sent by Tally's aughter that both Binky and Tally are playing a modern version of the Planets down in texasss, see these links for more info ~
http://www.roctober.com/roctober/blackpunk3.html
http://sceneroller.com/bands/planets
CRAYOLA CRAYOLA
aka Creyola, they had a very rare single in '77/'78 called - 'Queen Of The Beach / Girl With The Hair', the a side is a Goffin/King track, the b side is self penned, these 4 girls played pop-punk and opened some shows for the Fast, and dressed in bright colors, however they were not well known at all and the single is very hard to come by, not sure how it sounds, the members were ; Bass – Karen Boltax, Drums – Jackie Machules, Guitar – Joe Burdette, Vocals – Janis Allen
see this link for more info and photos -
https://www.vintag.es/2015/06/unseen-photos-of-new-york-citys-1970s.html?m=1
QUACKY DUCK
pop rock band of the mid 70s led by TONY BENNETT's sons, you may have saw a little info we have on them on page 12, sometime maybe around 2010 up came info on them and we did review a single by METEOR on page 12 which is kinda the power pop band that the band became later in the 70s, you can also download 2 songs by them at the Pure Pop Blog...
JOHNNY's DANCE BAND
also sometimes billed as JONY's DANCE BAND, this band played from the early 70s - late 70s or so, they played rock music and opened for the RAMONES a few times at cbgb's where one member says that the punk fans hated them, they featured one NANETTE MANCINI, TONY JULIANO and a few other guys, you can read about them here
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=joney%27s+dance+band+1975+new+york&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
more info on this link here also -
http://www.amusedcynic.com/?p=26
other acts who operated in the mid 70s in the N.y. underground but we don't have anymore info went under such names as ; STING RAY, SILENT PARTNERS, HAMBONE SWEETS, UNCLE SUN, and CROSS.......also
LEATHER SECRETS, DREW RICHARDSON, and PALACE
http://www.mindspring.com/~serovner/Gigography.htm
close by in Jersey some underground bands who may have had some good music in early '75 were called SAVAGE, 2 other bands who were related to Johnny's Dance Band were called DANCING BEAR, and The LOLLIPOP KIDS, and finally there was a band called PUNCH-N-JUDY who were derived from a band called HENCHMEN who featured one MICHELE FOLEN as singer....( this was not the u.k. glam band PUNCHIN' JUDY )
see this link here for more info on these jersey bands -
http://www.myspace.com/lcentertainment
LEE
thought we would squeeze this band in here and for those of you interested in a band who have a N.y sound like KISS meets the DOLLS kinda, allthough they were from BELGIUM, not the states, allthough they did open some shows for the DOLLS and also SLADE as a supporting act, see this link here -
https://www.angelfire.com/ex/pop0/Lee.html
Our soul is made to be God's dwelling place, and the dwelling place of the soul is God, who is not made.
It is easier to know God than our soul, for God is nearer to us than that, and therefore if we want knowledge of it, we must look in God; and he wants us to long for knowledge of mercy and grace. God is nearer to us than our own soul for he is the ground and he is the means by which essential being and sensory being are kept together, so that they shall never be separated; for our soul sits in God in complete rest and our soul stands in complete strength and our soul is naturally rooted in God in eternal love. The noble city in which our Lord Jesus site in our sensory being, in which is enclosed ; and our essential being is enclosed with Jesus, with the blessed soul of Christ sitting and resting in Godhead.
excert from the book - JULIAN of NORWICH
ELIZABETH SPEARING
Johnny "Mondo Cane" Madera passed away earlier in the year, info on a tribute show coming up in may is below the review....
ahh yes this story on the 70s underground has a happy ending.....and a new beginning :)
this band led by pretty Mrs. RUBY LYNN REYNER were part of the scene that played on bills along with the DOLLS in the early - mid 70s in N.y., soon info to come here on their newly recorded cd in 2005 which were songs they wrote and sang back then, here is an interview we did with Ruby on oct. 9th - 10th '05
(70s inv. mgmt. )
Hi Ruby Lynn,got your cd 2 days ago and love it ! can u give our viewers some background info on this music ?
RUBY -
All the original songs on the Redneck's CD were never recorded before- We (me, Peter Crowley and John Madera) wanted the album to sound as if we made it in 1974 and I think we achieved that sound. You aren't the only one who thought it reminded them of Rocky Horror although our stuff predates Rocky Horror. We performed all the songs on the album in the 1970s at Max's Kansas City and CBGBs.
Back in the early 1970s there was a music scene (referred to as "Glam Rock") originating in the Mercer Arts Center. Performing were the Dolls, the Magic Tramps, the Harlots of 42nd St., Jayne County, the Stilettos, Suicide and the Tuff Darts. The Rednecks opened for the Dolls and opening for us was Patty Smith reading poetry! We used to have weekly events at the Mercer to sold out crowds before CBGBs and Max's. In 1973 the Broadway Central Hotel (a cheesy SRO) collapsed and the Mercer which was attached had to be torn down. With it went the Glam Rock scene which morphed into the N.Y. punk scene.
There are a couple of wackos out there now who SAY they were part of the Glam Rock scene but my involvement can be documented with ads, posters and reviews from the 70s. Lisa Robinson had a column in the Post (I think) and used to write about me a lot back then. I'll try to scan some articles (I have a few) and send them to you.
( 70s inv. mgmt. )
the music as like a breath of fresh air, reminded me a lot of rocky horror, and also RUBY PEARL AND THE DREAMBOATS a u.k. band maybe about 15 people owned their original 45 from ' 74, hey they could be your u.k. soulmates
RUBY -
I'd LOVE to hear the 45 of Ruby Pearl and the Dreamboat !.............There's a movie being made about me (a documentary). Included will be footage of me from 1971! with Andy Warhol superstars.
more to come as we'll be asking a few more questions soon :)
well there u have it, where else can u find such info ? the 70s invasion is thee place to research all the forgotten bands of the past and discover new music too such as these great old songs that were just recorded....here is a tracklisting for now....
2005 recording of songs written ' 73 - ' 74
1 'HEAVEN GRAND'
ROCKY HORROR meets 50s bop into full swing, musicaly like a breath of fresh air with RUBY's Grand vocal style on camp meter rating HIGH......Kaboom !.......pop.....pop.....!........' I MET HIM ON A FURLOUGH BEACH MARINE,MMMMMMM GOOD, TASTES LIKE A WINTER GREEN....( bckground singers - ' bop, bop ' )..........I MET HIM ON A FURLOUGH WITH A LITTLE VASELINE, OH , OHH TO QUANTICO.............OH HEAVEN GRAND, HE NEVER WROTE IT'...........
2 'BEAT ME DADDY'
piano led pop-camp, bacground singers go 'ooohhh'.......we'll say all the other songs are better than this one.......'BEAT ME DADDY BEAT ME, BEAT ME ALL NITE LONG, BEAT ME DADDY BEAT ME, BUT I WILL SING THIS SONG, MY BODY's USED TO BRUISES MY BODY'S USED TO SPLITS'.........(later, spoken - ' what did u do ? wait till your father gets home )........
3 'SEA OF HEARTBREAK' !
WOW ! EXCELLENT song, one of or the biggest highlight of the lp, this is a cover by 2 writers named DAVID, and HAMPTON, maybe this was a song in the 50s ? don't know lots of people have covered it, must been great to have seen this one played on stage in N.y. way back then......complete with guitar raunch...'AHH THE LIGHTS ON THE HARBOR, AAHHH THEY DON' T SHINE FOR ME, OH NOW LIKE A LOTION, OR A DRIFT ON THE SEA, THE SEA OF HEARTBREAK AND LOST LOVE...........COME TO MY RESCUE'................croons Ruby like a starlet, with 70s sparkles, sparkling like glitter.......*
4 'MOST LIKELY TO SUCEED'
drunken slow number, maybe whisky was the beverage.......'DRAGGED MYSELF OUT OF THAT DARK DRINKING PLACE, A COP LED ME HOME WITH DISGUST ON HIS FACE, ON MY FLOOR I SAW SOMETHING THAT FILLED ME WITH SHAME, IT WAS MY HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK THAT SAID....MOST LIKELY TO SUCEED'.............:)
5 'RUBY FROM THE WRONG SIDE OF TOWN'
pre-punk guitars lead the title track of the cd, a campy affair with Ruby shining all the way thru ! kaboom !............the whole band sings along with ENTHUSIASM.......has a horn solo too !....' WELL I'M RUBY FROM THE WRONG SIDE OF TOWN AND I'M A GIRL WITH BOTH FEET ON THE GROUND, WELL I ALWAYS FIND WHAT OTHERS SURVIVE WELL I'M RUBY FROM THE WRONG SIDE OF TOWN......WELL EVERYONE SUFFERED FOR WEEKS AND WEEKS, WHEN THE TELEPHONE BUILDING BURNED DOWN, WELL THERE WERE MANY LONELY DAYS...( later spoken interlude - 'hey man u holding, whatta ya got, whatta ya got, i want some of that instant fucking death i'll take 10 bags'........', ' SAYING I HAD A HECK OF A DREAM LAST NIGHT '..........and on and on.........:)
- lp side 2 -
6 'HEATHER HAS 2 MOMMIES'
bad horns begin this funny campy number.......'HEATHER HAS 2 MOMMIES, DO I WANT 2 MOMMIES TOO, I ASKED HEATHER's MOMMY, WHAT DO 2 MOMMMIES DO, WHAT DO 2 MOMMMIES DO ?.......IS EVERYBODY HAPPY, IS EVERYBODY, GAY, AAY-AYYY ?.......SHOULD ANYONE HAVE 2 MOMMIES, IS THIS A HAPPY DAY, AND WHAT OF HEATHER's DADDY ' ?........funny singing from the background singers too....
7 'ROCK THERAPY'
cOOL glam with razor sharp Rodeo guitar licks, Ruby shout-screams.......' I DON' T NEED A DOCTOR, I DON' T NEED A NURSE, ANY OTHER TREATMENT BABE, WOULD ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE, BABE I NEED ROCK THERAPY, I NEED ROCK THERAPY, I NEED ROCK THERAPY, OH GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT TO ME, OWWW !
8 'KITTY'
GOOD number, slower than the preceeding one, song built around bass and elec. piano.....'OOOHHH, KITTY LOOK BEHIND U, DON' T U LOOK BEHIND U WHEN U WALK, KITTY LOOK BEHIND U THERE's A MAN BEHIND U WHEN U WALK, .....CAME HOME LAST NIGHT'.........
9 'SINGING IN THE ISLANDS'
aahhh yes the icing on the cake, the band saves one of the best numbers for last...toy piano begins a happy-sing-a-long song.......( this song is a bit similiar to the style of a band called ORCHESTRA LUNA who had a Great lp in ' 73.....see the bottom of our page 21 links ).......this number by Ruby and company has very pretty vocals that evoke images of a tropical island naturally :)......'SINGIN' IN THE ISLANDS, WITH MY PRETTY HULA MAE, DRIFTING IN THE ENCLOVE WITH MY PRRETTY HULA MAE, IN MY LITTLE ENCLOVE NESTLED IN THE ISLANDS WE WILL DRIFT THE NIGHT AWAY'.......
later Ruby announces ' POLYNESIAN VERSION',....and the band sings along in a funny child-like language........... 'MUSICIANS KEEP GOING'........drums pound in and they all say 'GO POU POU GO, GO POU POU GO', while the drummer does a solo........'SINGING IN THE ISLANDS.......' ( waves come in, then laughter , says Ruby ).......U KNOW WHAT, I THOUGHT WE WOULD HAVE THE WOOSHING OF THE SEA......30 seconds later while the waves crash an underwater cyclone niose comes in and goes out, waves crash peacefully for 7 minutes.......fades....... :)
6'HEATHER HAS 2 MOMMIES', 7 'ROCK THERAPY', 8 'KITTY', 9 'SINGIN' IN THE ISLAND'
.......zany, over the top, with a touch of old vaudeville and a true camp approach that rivals the music of ROCKY HORROR, and ahh yes.....the swishing of the sea :)..........order your copy today, here is the site ~
http://www.rubyandtherednecks.com/
....Singin' in he island, la, la, la, la, la,la,la,.......
It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the passing of a musical original and guitar genius, Johnny "Mondo Cane' " Madera. Johnny wrote all of the music for Ruby & the Rednecks and a multitude of musical numbers for the Playhouse of the Ridiculous. He along with Ruby Lynn Reyner, Ralph Czitrom, George Basely and Susan Lampert formed the original "Ruby & the Rednecks". The band debuted at the Mercer Arts Center in 1971(opening for The Dolls) and played at "Max's Kansas City", CBGBs, the "Bitter End" and "Harrahs" until 1982.
Johnny, Ruby and Suzie reunited in 1992 and played with the neo-Rednecks in their shows; "Singin in the Island" (in 1996) and "Christmas in the Island" (in 1997)- both at LaMama. The Rednecks' CD, "From the Wrong Side of Town" was produced in 2001.
On Friday, Feb. 17th Johnny died of a massive heart attack in the hospital while the other Rednecks were on stage at T.N.C. performing in the show Voidville and playing the last song he ever wrote; "End of Days".
Celebrate with us as we honor Johnny's music and spirit.
" Johnny Be Good " Tribute to Johnny Madera May 19th at 10 pm at LaMama - 74 A East 4th St.
(212) 475-7710
A $10 donation to the theatre is appreciated
I saw that man's patience extends throughout the time he has to live, because he does not know the time of his passing. This is a great gain, for if man knew his time, he would not have patience over that time. And according to God's will, while the soul is in the body it seems to itself that it is always about to die, for all this life and this distress which we have here is only a moment, and when we are suddenly taken from suffering into bliss, then the suffering will be nothing.
excert from the book - JULIAN of NORWICH
ELIZABETH SPEARING
CBGB's LIVE 1976
chances are if you've read this far then you know about this album, you might own it or have heard it before, overall there are a few great songs here, a few good ones, some just mediocre fare, and a couple are really, really bad,
1 Tuff Darts - All For The Love Off Rock 'N' Roll
this song is a bit wretched we always thought but paved the way for the rest to come, it's on the decadent side of glam,
2 The Shirts - Operetico
this song by the Shirts is good with charming vocals from the singer Annie, sounds a bit like FOX ( Noosha's band ) but their other 2 songs here are nothing great, just ok,
3 Mink DeVille - Cadillac Moon
INCREDIBLE ! this would be the best song here, but that award goes to SUN below, this showcases Mink at his finest delivering his style of street rock in a ballad that rates up their with the STONES and LOU REED ( see page 4 for reviews of MInk, his 1st lp is really good N.y. street rock approaching new wave....
4 Laughing Dogs - The I Need A Million
our copy did not come with this song
5 Shirts - The Poe
allright, this does not offer anything new in terms of style,
6 Mink DeVille - Let Me Dream If I Want To
compared to the rest Mink was a breed apart, this is a cool rock number, hypnotic beat, he and RICHARD HELL must have had a little influence on one another,
7 Tuff Darts - Head Over Heels
'head over heels in love with you' , the DARTS were a short lived band, this song is a decent pop-rock track that can be defined as pre-punk in a sense....catchy
8 Manster - Over, Under, Sideways, Down
man does this song suck, so does this band, this is the worst shit we've ever heard in our life, worse than MOLLY HATCHET,
9 Manster - I'm Really Not This Way
if manster started a world tour no one would show up, this is the pits ! horrible !
10 SUN - Romance !!
WOW ! if you bought this lp hoping for a long lost pre-punk attack, this is it, previously we thought this was a black chick who led this 3 piece band, turns out it's a guy named NIKKI BUZZ, anyways with some real soulful vocals Nikki spearheaded a STOOGES/MC5 style raver, 1,2,3 bass, guitar, drums, head on stomper which clocks in at 5 minutes, now somewhere some folks saw this band live and possibly heard some other great songs they did, this is the lp's track that stands far above the rest....would love to hear anything else from this band !
some discographies indicate Nikki was involved in the funk band Sun from Dayton, this may be a mistake, accoding to one source, though he did hail from nearby Louisville, KY.....in the early 80s Nikki fronted Vendetta who put an album on Epic in 1982, we placed a similiar review for SUN on our Black Punk Section in our Gateway 4, see this link to get their quickly
https://www.angelfire.com/zine2/70s/PureHell.html
11 Stuart's Hammer - Everybody's Depraved
this is pretty good, sounds like they saw RICHARD HELL play a few times and were trying to do an imitation, naturally not as good as Mr. Hell, but this band STUARTS HAMMER sound good here, the singer yells a bit within the number, enthusiastic background singers add to the song's charm, bet they have some more good songs somewhere.......?
well maybe upcoming according to their website they enterted the studio in 2014 for the first time in many yrs to record new material, see the Stuart's Hammer site which has some vintage news ads of other tiny bands which we mention at the bottom of this review.... - http://www.stuartshammer.com/
12 The Miamis - We Deliver
ok song with KINKS-type harmonies, this band were featured on the famous BLANK GENERATION video allthough briefly....
13 Mink DeVille - Change It Comes
Mink plays a reggae styled number, Good song....
14 Shirts, The A.V.M.
ok, nothing more, 'a.v.m.' kinda goes in the direction where Jefferson Airplane were going in the 70s,
15 The Laughing Dogs - It Feels Alright Tonight
kinda lame,
16 Tuff Darts - Slash
'id rather slash my wrists and cut my throat than spend another night with you, the TUFF DARTS find a place between glam and the emerging punk sound and pull it off just right, their lp is said to be recommended for glam fans....check out a video at youtube for this band's reunion show after 30 yrs !
here are some more tiny bands who played with some of the above a few dates here and there in the mid 70s, not sure how any of the following sound but we'll bring updates as we come across them ; Outer Space, Yarbles, Joe Cool, Rice Miller Band, Musica Orbis, Galactus Sundance, Buzzy Weiler Band....
According to the Vedic literature the living entity is not only a material body, but it is built of three different layers. The visible material body is constituted of the elements of the periodic system; this is our body that we see when we look in the mirror. The mind, intelligence and the false ego constitute our subtle material body that we can't experience with our senses. This covers the soul, the real bearer of life - our real self. The soul is the real bearer of our personality, self. The subtle body is like a cloud around the soul and the gross body is only a lot of complicated but lifeless molecules.
It is an interesting question then how many souls are there in a multicellular animal's body, which is built of billions of cells? According to the Vedic point of view there is a soul in each cell of the body, but these are on a quite low level of consciousness. Above these bodily cells ("living bricks") one soul exercises power who is on a higher lever in the process of reincarnation. This only soul, having a higher consciousness, uses the plant, animal or human body which is built of millions of cell-size bodies. This soul exercises power above the other cells, also having individual souls. According to the Vedic literature the body dies when this controlling soul (with his subtle covering) leaves this gross body and moves to another body. After the exit of the controlling soul the co-ordination stops amongst the bodily cells, the body 'dies', or it remains without control.
A clone would be different from his genetical 'parent' emotionally and in his character, just as the psyche of identical twins is different. The conclusion of all this is that we can't laugh at death, creating eternity for ourselves or for anyone else. A clone successor is not the 'continuation' of his predecessor but an independent personality who for some time received a body similar to somebody else's. Science will never be able to conquer death, perishableness because this is one of the created, built-in qualities of our world.
It is important to point out that science didn't create life from matter with cloning since it has been manipulating only with living things. It seems to prove statements of Vedic scriptures that the efforts of science still can't overstep the border line between perishable matter and eternal soul, and they can't change the eternal laws of life and death.
https://www.angelfire.com/rebellion/70sinvasion/theunknown.html
https://www.angelfire.com/vt2/70sinvasion/
