New England Spotlight: The Shaggs - My Pal Foot Foot

The New England Battle of the Bands wraps up today with a real killer number.

The Shaggs were three sisters from Fremont, New Hampshire. They were Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin on first guitar and lead vocals, Betty Wiggin on second guitar and Helen Wiggin on drums. The girls apparently had no interest in music, but their paternal grandmother had a vision of musical stardom for the girls after a particularly revealing palm reading. The girl's Dad, Austin Wiggin, removed the girls from school and forced the girls into music as he believed his mom's visions had all come true in the past. The problem was, the Wiggin girls didn't have much experience with music. But don't mind that!

Collectively the Wiggin girls were called The Shaggs, a play off the shaggy hair style craze going around. They played the local Elks Lodge and a few dances. The girls were apparently not well received by the local teens but dad insisted they keep at it. In 1969 he drove them to Revere, Massachusetts to cut an album. Austin, of course, was tapped as the producer.

The girls cut enough groovy material to release an album of originals on Fleetwood Records and one single, mislabeled as The Shags. The A-Side of that single is the trance inducing My Pal Foot Foot. My Pal Foot Foot was written by Dot and tells the tale of her oft-roaming cat whose name, obviously, was Foot Foot.

The song starts with a pretty killer 15-second drum solo from Helen before Dot and Betty come crashing in with their deft guitar work. Then comes the great vocals. The interplay between Dot and Betty, who harmonize about the missing cat like only sisters can, is sublime.

I don't have time to roam
I have things to do
I have to go home
Oh, Foot Foot, where are you? 

{drum solo} 

If Foot Foot didn't like to roam so well
He would still have a place to dwell
Foot Foot please answer me
I know where you are
You are behind that tree

How will the tale of the roaming tail end, you ask? Well, of course, with a drum solo from Helen! Now I think we know why Foot Foot would often roam far from home.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Elektra Records Spotlight: The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog/1969

It's the last day of wrapping ourselves in the soul of Elektra Records. The last post had us in Detroit, Michigan as Elektra's PR man, Danny Fields, took in a show by the revolutionary MC5. As we noted, Fields called Elektra's President, Jac Holzman, and asked for money to sign MC5 on the spot. At the same time, Fields asked MC5 if they knew of other acts in the area he should take in. The response was a suggestion for Fields to drive down to Ann Arbor, Michigan and check out a brand new band that had grown out of a modestly talented band called The Iguanas. The drummer of that band, James Osterberg, was now the singer of this new band calling themselves The Stooges. The singer was now going by the name Iggy Stooge, a name derived from the trailings of his last band and his new band.  

As a member of The Iguanas, James Osterberg took in two shows in Ann Arbor by The Doors. The drummer with larger aspirations watched as Jim Morrison antagonized the audience with his detached performance. 

So, here’s this guy, out of his head on acid, dressed in leather with his hair all oiled and curled. The stage was tiny and it was really low. It got confrontational. I found it really interesting. I loved the performance [...] Part of me was like, 'Wow, this is great. He’s really pissing people off and he’s lurching around making these guys angry.' People were rushing the stage and Morrison’s going 'Fuck you. You blank, blank, blank.”' You can fill in your sexual comments yourself. The other half of it was that I thought, 'If they’ve got a hit record out and they can get away with this, then I have no fucking excuse not to get out on stage with my band.' It was sort of the case of, 'Hey, I can do that.' There really was some of that in there. (www.classicrockrevisted.com)

Fields was not totally sold but he signed the band for very little money, $5000. It was money from the same wire transfer intended for MC5. The Velvet Underground's John Cale was brought in as producer to work with this band that was hard to put in a category. Sure, you can see how they were influenced by Elektra's biggest band, The Doors, but the delicate musicianship wasn't there. Sure you can see how they were influenced by their friends, The MC5, but the speed wasn't there. Sure you can see how they were influenced by the garage bands of their day, such as The Swamp Rats, but The Stooges were more about the dirge of music. And as such you can see how The Stooges were influenced by John Cale's minimalist band, The Velvet Underground.

With Iggy at the forefront (soon to be rechristened Iggy Pop), Ron Asheton on guitar, his brother Scott Asheton on drums and Dave Alexander on drums, the band banged out a crude, influential album. The first single from the recording sessions was released in June of 1969. The songs were the band composed, I Wanna Be Your Dog on the A-Side and 1969 as the Flip-Side. Not exactly radio friendly material. The single and the album would land with a thud. But over the years the album and the band would grow to the status of legendary as bands like The Ramones, The Damned, Red Kross and The Sex Pistols would all incorporate The Stooges early work into their own recordings. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!