As we drink our Flip-Side coffee and thumb through the massive volumes of records in our highly secure Flip-Side record vault 13 stories below ground, we keep finding more 45s from the HBR label that we want to share with you. But I have to admit, I present today's song to you with a noticeable amount of hesitation. Not because it's not a great song (because it is), but because it is not an obvious attention grabber. We usually try to spin a certain type of song that will grab people's attention from the first beat. Cool groove, nice riff, compelling vocals and high energy. I think this song is great, but I do have concerns that the melancholy presentation of the song doesn't fit the standard. I hope you'll stick around the song long enough to fully appreciate what we have here.
The Tidal Waves were a bunch of Middle Schoolers (seriously!) and High Schoolers who hailed from Roseville, Michigan, a northern suburb of Detroit along Lake St. Clair. The band consisted of Roseville High Schoolers Mark Karpinski and Tom Wearing and Burton Junior High alums, Bob Slap, Bill Long and John Wearing. In the Spring of 1966 the quintet of pubescent punks released a cover of Farmer John on the local SVR label. The upbeat dance number went to number 1 on the local charts and HBR did what they did, they swooped in and bought the record contract of the teens and released Farmer John nationally. Bob Slap left the band and Dennis Mills stepped in as a replacement. He brought with him a moody number he had written called I Don't Need Love. HBR put some money behind the band and the kids recorded the minor key original with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the Summer of '66. Pretty cool. The number did well locally but flopped nationally, which is not surprising since the song is a bit of a downer (in a good way). I Don't Need Love tells the tale of a tearful young man who gets burned by a girl and decides his days of being in love are over...at the tender age of 14. This teen troubadour doesn't need a girl. No way! Too much trouble. All this kid needs to survive in life is a paper route, a tutor in algebra and for his dad to leave him alone on Wednesday and Thursday nights just long enough for him to watch Batman on ABC. Macaroni and Cheese for dinner wouldn't be too bad either, mom.
Tidal Waves recorded one more record for HBR, the upbeat Action (Speaks Louder Than Words), but HBR was shuttering their doors and the record was barely even distributed let alone promoted. All three of the bands' records are worth seeking out. Action gets all the love from collectors, but I Don't Need Love isn't so bad either. Don't yo agree?
Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!
