Round 2 of the Battle of the Garage Bands: The Blues Magoos v The Misunderstood

Round 2 is officially underway in our 10-month long Battle of the Garage Bands to determine (very subjectively) the greatest US garage band single ever. This round kicks off with The Blues Magoos of New York going head to head with The Misunderstood of Riverside, California. 

On one side of the ring we have The Blues Magoos who landed a major record deal and put out multiple singles and multiple albums, performed on national TV shows and shared the stage with the likes of The Who. On the other side of the ring we have The Misunderstood who had to leave their Sun drenched Southern California homes to travel to the rainy UK to record a song called Children of The Sun. The single was shelved until well after the band had succumbed to the unbearable heaviness of obscurity and the boys never even saw a release of their material in their homeland. Two very different paths to this moment. Both deserving of it. 

Original Blues Magoos article can be found here.

Original post on The Misunderstood can be found here

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

Battle of the Garage Bands: The Squires v. The Blues Magoos

Day one of the Battle of the Garage Bands epic bracket system showdown. Today we have the winners of the New England Region going head to head with the winners of the New York region. The Squires of Connecticut v. The Blues Magoos of Greenwich Village. Celebrity judges will vote below to determine who moves on to the next round. Enjoy.

Original Squires article can be found here.

Original Blues Magoos article can be found here.

Texas Spotlight: Zakary Thaks - Bad Girl/I Need You

Day four of out Texas Battle of the Garage Bands already? What?

I probably looked like Linda Blair from the Exorcist the first time I heard Bad Girl some 30+ years ago. It is simply an amazing song with a killer Kinks-inspired riff, great guitar lead and perhaps my favorite key change in the history of music. That says a lot. 

The band is Corpus Christi's own Zakary Thaks and the song is their original composition, Bad Girl. Again, even beginner garage record collectors know this song inside and out, but we are here in the region by region Battle of the Garage Bands to spin the best of the genre. The single was originally released on the legendary local label, J-Beck Records, in July of 1966. The song was then picked up for national distribution by Mercury Records and released as a promo only. It never hit the record bins, just the radio stations.  

Zakary Thaks were just pimply faced kids. Singer Chris Gerniottis was only 15 when they recorded this. His voice is powerful and soulful far beyond his years. Rounding out the rest of the band were Pete Stinston on guitar, Rex Gregory on bass, John Lopez kicking out the sharp lead work and Stan Moore pounding out that beat that is so sweet at the key change.

On the flip-side the boys show their roots with a faithful cover of The Kinks' I Need You.  All in all the kids put out eight singles. All worth watching on eBay as they sell for ridiculous dollar amounts. 

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

New York Spotlight: The Blues Magoos - We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet and Gotta Get Away

Our regional Battle of the Bands turns to the state of New York. And we start today with a group that actually was able to make some waves nationally. 

The Blues Magoos hailed from The Bronx in New York City. The band was Ralph Scala, Emil "Peppy" Thielhelm, Ron Gilbert, Mike Esposito and Geoff Daking. The band's first release was on Verve Records (as Bloos Magoos) but did little. Mercury Records swooped in and signed the band and took them into a studio to record an LP in 1966. The second single from the album, released in October of 1966, was their biggest hit, (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet. The song was written by the lead guitarist, the organ player and the bassist and lifted a riff from Ricky Nelson's unique version of Summertime. But they took that riff and made it front and center of a musical explosion that simply soars. Somewhat improbably, the song became a national hit, reaching #5 in the US and getting The Blues Magoos a spot opening for The Who and Herman's Hermits as well as a spot on the very important Smothers Brothers show. 

The Flip-Side of We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet is the strong number, Gotta Get Away. Both sides demonstrate just how talented this band was. In particular, the guitar work of lead guitarist, Mike Esposito (second from left in the photo below), is more than a cut above the competition.

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

Margie Hendrix - Packin' Up/Baby

Last month we wrote about Margie Hendrix and her 1965 release of Now The Hurts On You and the sultry Flip-Side of I Found My Love. You can listen/read about it here.

We just can't get enough of this former Raelette so we are back with the 1965 single on Mercury Records which preceded the above mentioned single. The song is the blistering Packin' Up and it's damn near perfect. Guitar, drums, vocals. And it's written by Margie Hendrix to boot! We're including the fab Flip-Side too, Baby.

We usually hate it when people write on records, but we think whoever wrote on this one nailed it in one succinct word and one very appropriate punctuation mark. No need to say more than that.

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

Margie Hendrix - Now The Hurts On You/I Found My Love

Now The Hurts On You

I Found My Love

It's a shame that such a talented person is largely unknown to the public. But you've heard her voice before. 

Born Marjorie Hendricks outside of Statesboro, Georgia in 1935, our hero today performed under the stage name Margie Hendrix and is best known for being Ray Charles' lead Raelette starting around 1955. (we wrote about a post-Margie Raelettes single a few weeks ago, here). It's Margie who goes toe to toe with Ray on such hits as Hit The Road Jack and Drown In My Own Tears. In 1964 she was released as a Raelette not too long after giving birth to Ray's love child. At this time she embarked on a solo career that garnered little to no attention. Her second single for Mercury Records, released sometime in 1965, shows what a powerful voice she possessed. 

The A-Side of the single, Now The Hurts On You, is a wonderful big production number that demonstrates Margie's smoldering voice as it rises from a cool demeanor to her infamous blues growl. 

The Flip-Side, I Found My Love, was co-written by Margie and comes across like a great lost Ray Charles single, replete with Raelette like backing vocals. Ms. Hendrix holds nothing back. 

Margie died in July of 1973. It is very unclear how she died. Substance abuse, cancer and car accident are all rumored to be the cause of her demise. 

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

The Riddles - It's One Thing To Say

The Riddles are yet another Chicago area band getting a spin here at On The Flip-Side. Elmhurst to be exact. This is their one only output. Originally released on Quill Records in February of 1967, Mercury picked the record up for national distribution, releasing it two months later. The Riddles were Patrick Harper, Lee Adams, Weston Dobson, and Ronald Fricano. As is so often the case, we're spinning the Flip-Side, an original composition by the singer and guitarist, called It's One Thing To Say. The A-Side was an uninspired cover of The Searchers' Sweets For My Sweet.

Promo card of the band was lifted from the good folk at Garage Hangover.

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