Great Lakes Spotlight: The Aardvarks - I'm Higher Than I'm Down/That's Your Way

Our final day of the Battle of the Garage Bands for the Great Lakes Region has us at the top of the alphabet with The Aardvarks.

The Aardvarks of Grand Rapids, Michigan recorded 4 records between 1966 and 1968. Today we are going to spin their second release. I'm Higher Than I'm Down and That's Your Way were released on Vark Records in May of 1966. The band at this time was lead singer Darryl Dingler, Garey Walker, Terry Potts, Rick Kuerth, Jim Britton and Don Herald. Darryl Dingler composed both sides of today's submission to the competition. The Aardvarks recorded the numbers in Sparta, Michigan at a movie theater converted into a recording studio. This studio was owned by Dave Kalmbach who also served as the producer and engineer. Dave also was the owner of Fenton Records, which was responsible for releasing many a great local record, including yesterday's entry by The Chentelles. 

The A-Side today is a real amazing number. I'm Higher Than I'm Down is a true stand-out in the garage genre. But of course, that's why it's here today, right? From the wide-open drum-centric opening to the lyrics of overcoming obstacles and rising above the mundane, to the two and three-part harmonies. It all adds up to make this record one cut above your normal garage output. Then there are the bells! Best use of bells in a garage song since Richard and The Young Lions out of New Jersey used them in You Can Make It! 

If the sky should soon adorn my way of black
And it seems I have no way of turning back
The way that I am facing
Is not the way I am bound
Yes it is I am now higher than I am down

Yeah, Baby!

The Flip-Side isn't too shabby either. That's Your Way has a nice warbly guitar and that familiar snare-drum sound. But this one has a great harmonica riff doubled by the organ. Great stuff.

As I have done before, I have been given much of this information from the good work of the hep-cats at 60sgaragebands.com. I also lifted the photo from said site. Check out more about The Aardvarks at that site which can be found here.

That's it for the Great Lakes region. The Brain-Trust at On The Flip-Side will convene at a secret mountain top location to debate and vote on the winner. Stay tuned.

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

Great Lakes Spotlight: The Chentelles - Be My Queen/Time

Day 9 of our Great Lakes Spotlight has us digging on a great record on the famed Fenton Records label. Not too much out there about The Chentelles but it would appear they were a bunch of 13-16 year old kids from the Fennville, Michigan area in the West of the state. The band was Dale Atkins, Bruce Smiertka, Dennis Smiertka, Bill Dalton, Jr., Mark Adams and John Willerton. They released this one and only record in 1967. As usual, we'll flip the record over. Why? Because it's our blog and that is what we like to do. On The Flip-Side? get it?

The Flip-Side of the record, Be My Queen, is one of the all-time garage ravers, in this writer's opinion. Depraved vocals, wild organ, drums that sound as if they are being banged on by a group of wild baboons, tambourine leads, a hint of fuzz, and not one, but two restrained guitar solos. And the solos are done by a 13-year old junior high kid! The song was written by the bassist, Mark Adams, and the organ player, Bill Dalton. According to the cool folk at www60sgaragebands.com, Dalton does the lead vocals and Adams, the backup vocals. Adams also does the killer scream that pairs with the organ.

The A-Side, Time, is a slow, moody number that would make Wally Tax and his Outsiders stand up and take droopy-eyed notice. You may not dig it at first, but I urge you to stick with it. It's moodiness is really something to make this a better than average song. Plus, it's almost four minutes long! That doesn't happen much in the garage punk world. Bruce Smiertka and Bill Dalton Jr. share writing credit here.

Credit where credit is due. I've lifted the photo of Bill Dalton Jr. from the aforementioned 60sgarageband.com. More info on the band from that site, here.

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

Great Lakes Spotlight: The Pleasure Seekers - What A Way To Die/I Never Thought You'd Leave Me Baby

We're rolling through the Great Lakes Battle of the Garage Bands smoother than a 1964 Buick Wildcat on the rough and tumble streets in America's rust belt. And we've only just begun. 

Today's double sided gem is from Detroit Michigan's, The Pleasure Seekers. And it is our first female entry in the Battle of The Garage Bands! The hedonistic little Pleasure Seekers was comprised of sisters Suzi Quatro and Patti Quatro; sisters Nancy Ball and Mary Lou Ball; and, Diane Baker, who, not long after this recording, was replaced by Arlene Quatro. The band was managed by Dave Leone, who gets writing credit for both sides of this super-rare 1965 single released on the local Hideout Records label.

We've flipped the sides over because -- as usual -- we think the Flip-Side is better. What A Way To Die is, simply put, awesome. The song has a nice Jimmy Reed turnaround riff, bitchin' low-fi production, a perfectly placed spoken voice giving a retort to Suzi's banshee lyrics, reverb drenched over-dubs, growly little vocals, and of course some of the best lyrics ever committed to wax. Watch out boys, these girls are gonna walk all over you as they stagger to the fridge to get another beer.

There is no-way these girls' moms thought this was appropriate. These lyrics are so great, we present every word here for your enjoyment.

Well I love you baby
I'm telling you right here
But please don’t make me decide babyBetween you and a bottle of beer 

And...baby come on overwell come on over to my side (come on baby, to my side)well I may not live past twenty-onebut -- WOO!What a way to die! 

Your lovin' fluctuates babyand everybody knowsbut the temperature always stays the sameon an ice cold bottle of Stroh's 

So...baby come on overwell come on over to my side (come on over, honey)well I may not live past twenty-onebut -- WOO!What a way to die! 

When I start my drinkingmy baby throws a fitSo I just blitz her outta my mindwith seventeen bottles of Schlitz 

And...baby come on overwell come on over to my side (come on...over)well I may not live past twenty-onebut -- WOO!What a way to die! 

You’ve got the kind of bodythat makes me come aliveBut I’d rather have my hands aroundA bottle of Colt 45 

And...baby come on over,come on over to my side (are you coming or not baby?)well I may not live past twenty-onebut WOO! What a way to die!

The A-Side of the single, I Never Thought You'd Leave Me Baby is a raver in it's own right. Groovy bass line and tight vocals. Yeah Baby!

Enjoy. 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!

Elektra Records Spotlight: MC5 - Kick Out The Jams

Day five of our Elektra Records love-fest has us traveling to Michigan.

Elektra's PR man, Danny Fields, was visiting the working class city of Detroit in the Summer of 1968 when he took in a show by a Motor City band that had already released two singles on local labels. With The Doors over a year into their legacy, Elektra Records had real skin in the game and could once and for all be considered a real national label. So when Danny Fields came to your show, it was bound to turn some heads. MC5, with their alleged propulsive live shows and radical left political proselytizing had already been lauded by members of Cream and by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Based on one performance, Fields called back to Los Angeles and told Jac Holzman to sign the band on the spot and unheard. Holzman did just that, wiring Fields $15,000 to sign them on the spot. Further, Holzman and producer Paul Rothchild agreed with MC5's and Danny Fields' suggestion to not go into a studio, but rather record their first album entirely live. Over the course of two days -- October 30th and 31st -- MC5 recorded their debut album at the Grand Ballroom in Detroit in front of a live audience.

Individually they were Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith on guitar, Michael Davis on bass, Dennis Thompson on drums and Rob Tyner on vocals. Collectively they were a punch in the face. Elektra picked the second song of their set, Kick Out The Jams, for the band's major label debut released on December 26th, 1968. The release truly marks a seminal moment in rock-n-roll history. MC5 sounded like nobody else. They were creating a brand new sound. A sound that is universally heralded as the father of Punk Rock. The Ramones, The Sex Pistols and, most transparently, The Damned all grew out of the rib that was MC5.

Kick Out The Jams showed just how fast the band evolved from their first recordings dating back to 1966. And it showed how radical Elektra Records was willing to be. The label was already pushing the envelope with the subversive and hard to control, The Doors. Now they were just flat out ripping that envelope up. Despite the label editing the now infamous introduction to Kick Out The Jams for the single release, the record was immediately banned by a major retailer in Detroit who feared MC5's political insurrection would cause a backlash at the department store. MC5 doubled down and took out full page ads denouncing the department store as capitalist pigs. In the end it was too much for Elektra Records and they dropped the band after the first album. But it was too late. The new sound was out - a very Detroit sound, I might add -- and the groundwork for the future of rock-n-roll was set with this simple little release on Elektra Records. So, right now, right now, let's....Kick Out The Jams mother fuckers!

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

Mitch Ryder - Baby Jane (Mo Mo Jane)

Mitch Ryder (born Bill Levise Jr.) was full of potential that never seems to have been fully realized. Amazingly powerful voice and a strong presence on the stage never translated into a must-have catalogue of original material. But there is still great stuff out there to be had squirreled away on his records. 

The young Detroit, Michigan native hooked up with producer Bob Crewe in the Summer of 1965 for his first release under the name, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels. But today we feature the Flip-Side of Mitch Ryder's second release. The song is the Crew/Levise Jr. composed Baby Jane (Mo Mo Jane) and it was released on New Voice Records in November, 1965. Baby Jane is the under side of Jenny Take A Ride, perhaps Ryder's most famous number. The understated song tells the tale of Mitch with his first experience smoking marijuana. It starts with a riff reminiscent of Bo Diddley's I'm A Roadrunner, but with the addition of the bopping bass it takes on originality. Great guitar work in this one with a very brief, but charming solo. And a rhythm section fade-out makes fade-outs almost acceptable. 

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