Round 2 of the Battle of the Garage Bands Bracket: The Chocolate Watchband v The Ugly Ducklings

Round 8 is in the books. The representatives from Texas, The 13th Floor Elevators, bested the kings of the Pacific Northwest, The Sonics. It was hard for all of us to send a band like The Sonics packing, but that is the nature of the competition, isn't it?

Today one more band will be voted off the turntable while another gets a patch on their shoulder and matriculates to the finals, which we call the Thrilling Three. So without further hesitation...

On turntable 1 we have the Northern California champions, The Chocolate Watchband. They put forth with their final single, released in October of 1967 on Tower Records, Are You Gonna Be There (At The Love In) with a flip-side of No Way Out. The single has already bested the likes of The Mourning Reign, The Brogues and The Shadows of Knight just to have the opportunity to spin at 45rpm on this fine morning.

On Turntable 2 we have the champions of Canada. The entire hopes and dreams of the great white north now rest on the dusty grooves of The Ugly Ducklings and their third release, from 1966, on Yorktown Records: Just In Case You Wonder with a flip-side of That's Just A Thought I Had In My Mind. This Canuck of a single has bested the likes of The Painted Ship, The Haunted and America's The Enfields as it now starts spinning with the 7-inch white hot fury that can only come from a homely water fowl.

Here is a link to the original Chocolate Watchband post. 

Here is a link to the original post on The Ugly Ducklings

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

Battle of the Garage Bands: The Enfields v. The Ugly Ducklings

Round 5 is in the books and for the first time we have a unanimous decision. The Chocolate Watchband of the NorCal Region knocked out The Shadows of Knight of The Great Lakes region.

We move today to round 6 of the Battle of The Garage Bands' "super-duper, bestest ever, most epic garage single bracket". It is indeed the final showdown of the first round of said bracket.

On Turntable number one we have The Enfields of Wilmington, Delaware.  The quintet will put forth with their 1966 single for Richie Records, She Already Has Somebody/I'm For Things You Do. Both sides of the single were composed by the band's guitarist, high schooler, Ted Munda. Somewhat like the single put forth by Phil and the Frantics, the Enfields take a moody, minor key, harmony approach to their double sided gem.

And on the other side of the music room, on turntable number 2, we have a band from Toronto, Canada calling themselves The Ugly Ducklings. Just In Case You Wonder/That's Just A Thought I Had In My Mind are two band composed numbers. The single was the band's third record and was released in 1966 on Yorktown Records.

Original post on The Enfields can be found here. 

Here is a link to the original post on The Ugly Ducklings

Both of these singles had very stiff competition on their way to representing their region in The Battle of The Garage Bands. Both bands won only by the most narrow victories. Here is a look at the top 4 singles they bested to take the number 1 spot. 

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

Canada Spotlight: The Ugly Ducklings - Just In Case You Wonder/That's Just A Thought I Had In My Mind

Our regional Battle of the Garage Bands heads to the great White North. The Ugly Ducklings hailed from the suburbs of Toronto Canada in the town of Yorkville Village. 

The Ugly Ducklings were Dave Byngham on vocals and harmonica, Glynn Bell on rhythm guitar, Roger Mayne on lead, John Read on bass and Robin Boers on drums. The group released six singles in their heyday of '66 and '67 on Yorktown Records and Yorkville Records. Today's double sided feature is their third single: Just In Case You Wonder/That's Just A Thought I Has In My Mind.

Just In Case You Wonder (misprinted on the first releases as Just In Case You're Wondering) is a standout of the entire garage genre and makes a strong argument for the best Canadian garage record of all time. Roger Mayne's fuzzed out guitar work gives the song a strong backbone without getting to the point of ridiculous fuzz (as was sometimes too often the case with garage bands). It's nicely complimented by Bell's distinct jangly rhythm work. The song is written by Byngham and Bell and our singer lays it out clear that he's psychologically damaged by a mean, nasty girl. 

Just in case you wonder
Why I'm feeling blue
There's no need to ponder
It's all because of you 

I'm sitting at home
Sitting alone
I'm waiting for you to come back
Knowing that you won't 

Just in case you wonder
Baby where I'm at
I'm in the basement yonder
counting all the rats!

Yeah baby! One rat, two rat. Then we go into a very impressive extended lead from Roger Mayne. 

That's Just a Thought I Had In My Mind is a solid Flip-Side. Much different from the A-side, more straight out pop, but I think you'll agree, it deserves a little love from us today. The flip was written by Byngham and Mayne. 

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