Friday, July 24, 2015

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.

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!

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Battle of the Garage Bands: The Chocolate Watchband v. The Shadows of Knight

Yesterday The Sonics, representing the Pacific Northwest region, steamrolled Phil and The Frantics, the representatives of the Rocky Mountain Region.

Today we witness Northern California do battle with the monsters who emerged from The Great Lakes region.

The Chocolate Watchband of San Jose, California, will put forth with their 4th and final single, Are You Gonna Be There/No Way Out. The record was released in October of 1967 on Tower Records. The Shadows of Knight will put up their 2nd single, Bad Little Woman/Gospel Zone.  It was released on Dunwich Records in August of 1966.


Take a look at the graphics here to see some of the top competition that these two bested on the way to their awesomeness. Both of these bands had to beat some real great talent to get to this point. 
Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!


Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Battle of the Garage Bands: The Sonics v Phil and the Frantics

Another round in the books and The 13th Floor Elevators of Texas cruised past a very strong single from The Bad Roads.

Today we move down to the next bracket. The Sonics representing the Pacific Northwest are going head to head with Phil and The Frantics representing The Rocky Mountains. Two very different approaches on American Garage records. The Sonics on Etiquette Records with their power chord heavy original, Cinderella, and a blitzkrieg reimagining of the PNW standard, Louie Louie. And on the other side of the ring we have Phil and The Frantics on Sounds Ltd. Records with two minor key originals that stutter and stop and takes at a more sensitive approach. Perhaps the only similarity between the two is the use of Saxophone in their records.

And here is a list of top singles The Sonics had to best to be crowned the PNW Region champions.
And here is a list of top singles Phil and The Frantics had to best to be crowned the Rocky Mountain Region champions. 
Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Battle of the Garage Bands: The 13th Floor Elevators v. The Bad Roads

Day two of the bracket system witnessed The Misunderstood of the Southern California region getting past the midwest region winner, The Litter. Our congratulations go out to The Misunderstood who, we have on good authority, are huddled at a restaurant in Las Vegas watching the returns with baited breath. Stand by boys, we are about to move on. 

Today we move to a bracket with two very strong region representatives: The 13th Floor Elevators representing Texas and The Bad Roads from nearby Louisiana representing The South region. Our celebrity judges will now weigh-in with eloquent words located in the comment section below and let you know who comes out ahead today. So, without further ado, let's get ready to rumble!


 And here is a look at how The 13th Floor Elevators and The Bad Roads came to win their respective regions.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Battle of the Garage Bands: The Litter v The Misunderstood

Well, well, well. We have the first showdown in the books and it surprised me. Big time. This is why we have all these celebrity judges helping out. I flat out expected The Squires to make it deep into the brackets. Not even close. The Blues Magoos took their New York power and ran rough-shod over their New England Brethren.

So now we spin the winner of the Midwest region, Minnsesota's The Litter, against Southern California's hotly contested winner, The Misunderstood. The seven judges, who Donald Trump has described "as the most classy, opulent judges in the world", will now settle the score with these two bands and their powerful releases from 1967. Don't forget, both sides count in the consideration of the greatness of the record.

To put this into better context, here is a look at some of the competition that these cats bested as they claimed their regional victory.
Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!