New England battle of the bands continues on this bitchin' Friday!
This is one of those killer songs I almost forgot about. Until today when I pulled out an old vinyl comp that had been sitting in my bins for about 25 years untouched. I Wanna Be Your Love is the first song on New England Teen Scene Vol 2.
This is one of those killer songs I almost forgot about. Until today when I pulled out an old vinyl comp that had been sitting in my bins for about 25 years untouched. I Wanna Be Your Love is the first song on New England Teen Scene Vol 2.
Little is known about this band, but a bit of digging around on the internet has turned up a few hints. One sight claims the boys are from Smyrna Mills, Maine. This is beyond a small town nestled near the Eastern border of Maine with Canada. How these lads found enough people to form a band is beyond me. But, hey, stranger things have happened.
More digging shows that The Cobras were a trio. Gary Leavitt was on vocals and guitar. His brother Jay Leavitt on drums. I don't know who was playing that bitchin' bass. The Cobras lone record was released in 1966 (weren't they all?) on Big Beat Records (the label's only release) and produced by a cat named Bobby Herne. He is the same guy that recorded the legendary Shaggs record, Philosophy of the World, in Revere, Massachusetts. Us Flipsters are betting The Cobras made the same trip from the north woods of New England down to Revere to record their disc. We're also betting that dad drove the station wagon.
I Wanne Be Your Love is a wild stomp of a song with a quasi-Bo Diddley beat on crack and wild screaming and demonic Jagger influenced vocals. The bass work is top notch and pounding. I particularly dig the run after the first verse and at the end of the guitar solo. The guitar solo is quite impressive (again...Smyrna Mills?!?!?!?!). Banging drums and some depraved lyrics like "your eyes are colder than ice cream" make this an A+ gem. A Mount Garagemore, if you will.
I Wanna Be Your Love was written by Levitt-Levitt (note that their names are misspelled). One source shows Gary Leavitt as passing away in 1975. Jay Leavitt is apparently still kickin' around Maine. Contact us Jay, let us know about this recording and clear up some info on this cool record!
