Anyone know of any good bands from the sixties and seventies that are active today? Mainly looking for garage, psych or punk. I just know of a couple of bands like The Pretty Things, The Sonics, Radio Birdman.

The Boys ?

Dead Boy said:

The Boys ?

I had totally missed that they were back. Have to check that out, The Boys are great. Thanks!

YEAH , The Boys are BACK (Sounds like a song....), tho' I don't think they ever officially split , just went on hiatus , maybe , because they've been doing club dates and Punk fesivals, off and on , since THE 9O's.

They've got a new release , "Punk Rock Menopause". I don't have it , but , I'm sure it's very good. They played in Chicago about six months ago , and they were ON FIRE.  The band was tight , the harmonies were spot on . and they were very professional.  They said they plan to come back here , within the year , so , if you don't live TOO far away , it would be worth the trip , if that happens.....I'M sure they'll do more US dates , but , this one was the 5th or 6th US show , ever , and you could tell they were blown away by the response.

....It seems , too , that a lot of the original bands who have reformed , AND were still really good , have broken up again.....But , there's still ? and The Mysterians , The Alarm Clocks ,The Rezillos , Eddie and The Hot Rods , The Gizmos , Downliners Sect , Chocolate Watchband * , Dictators NYC ( It's still The Dictators , from where I stand . ) , Buzzcocks , Ty Wagner (Tho' he's not playing out , much.), Bubble Puppy , The Nervebreakers , The Mentally Ill , Strawberry Alarm Clock , Davie Allan and The Arrows , Thee Midniters , Electric Prunes , Blues Magoos , Powder , Syndicate of Sound ....some of these bands may have retired from performing , but , most , if not all , of them are still active.

*The Chocolate Watchband was on hiatus for several years. Then , they were scheduled to play in San Francisco , last April . My Girlfriend and I had tix , but , the show was cancelled with no explanation. Several months later , Mark Loomis , original Guitarist , passed away. He'd only played with the reformed group when he was available.   Whether or not they're planning to play out again , I could'nt say. 

John Battles said:

....It seems , too , that a lot of the original bands who have reformed , AND were still really good , have broken up again.....But , there's still ? and The Mysterians , The Alarm Clocks ,The Rezillos , Eddie and The Hot Rods , The Gizmos , Downliners Sect , Chocolate Watchband * , Dictators NYC ( It's still The Dictators , from where I stand . ) , Buzzcocks , Ty Wagner (Tho' he's not playing out , much.), Bubble Puppy , The Nervebreakers , The Mentally Ill , Strawberry Alarm Clock , Davie Allan and The Arrows , Thee Midniters , Electric Prunes , Blues Magoos , Powder , Syndicate of Sound ....some of these bands may have retired from performing , but , most , if not all , of them are still active.

*The Chocolate Watchband was on hiatus for several years. Then , they were scheduled to play in San Francisco , last April . My Girlfriend and I had tix , but , the show was cancelled with no explanation. Several months later , Mark Loomis , original Guitarist , passed away. He'd only played with the reformed group when he was available.   Whether or not they're planning to play out again , I could'nt say. 

Thanks John! Thats a big bunch of great bands that I didn't know where active.

Apparently The Standells are active now. Looking for gigs it seems.
Also seems that The Stranglers pretty much never gave up. Samething for UK Subs.

If anyone know of any cool artists from the fifties that are active that would also be really cool. Like Wanda Jackson.

FELIX , YOU'RE WELCOME. A lot of the old school UK Punk bands still tour the states , but , often ,there's only one or two original members  . Sometimes , that's OK , as with Eddie and The Hot Rods. Other times, like The Vibrators....They're  cool people , but , without Knox , I don't know. He was the personality of the band , their sole frontman. HE STILL WORKS WITH THEM , THO'.    I saw Slaughter and THE DOGS , TWICE. They bring the Rock , but , I had to miss them recently. There are two competing versions of Sham 69 , one is comprised entirely , or mostly ,of members of the post - Jimmy Pursey lineup. THE OTHER , NEWER , VERSION FEATURES PURSEY , AND i'M DRAWING  A BLANK ON THE GUITARIST'S NAME.....

Vice Squad has played teh US sporadically , as has Chelsea ....other bands like Penetration , Lurkers, etc. seem to be doing The UK and Western Europe , exclusively. Admittedly some of them are 'nt well known in The US.

tHE NEW STANDELLS LINEUP , i'VE SEEN TWICE ,AND i'VE TRIED TO BE OBJECTIVE....

Larry's singing has improved a great deal (I saw Dickie , Tony , and Larry in '99 , THEE Standells.) , he's coming into his own as a frontman (Yes , it was his group from the start  , but , you think of The Standells , you think of the late Dick Dodd.). You've got John Fleckenstein from the original (UNRECORDED) LOVE lineup , AND , IN MY OPINION ,   THE BEST STANDELLS LINEUP , THE "TRY IT" LP , AND HE'S A MONSTER BASS PLAYER AND A SUPER NICE GUY, and the drummer is good , holds things together, but , then you have this somewhat younger guy (Probably in his 40's) on guitar , and he employs all these 80's Metal "shred" techniques .   HE'S REALLY TRYING , HE SEEMS TO WANT TO PLEASE the audience , BUT, IT DOES'NT WORK.  They do the old songs , and even some of the new songs work.

They could be following in on The Sonics' recent success , but ,all due respect , they'd need to pull from their past , more.

As far as 50's acts who are still alive , and still doing good shows , Jerry Lee still kicks ass. He has off nights , still , I would'nt doubt it , but , I saw him about three years ago. It was the sixth time I'd seen him , and the BEST.

Then , you have Sleepy La Beef , Huelyn Duvall , Sonny Burgess , Joe Clay , Hayden Thompson , Art Adams , Gene Summers , Ray Campi , and others who are still around , but , probably retired. You might look up the Rockabilly Hall of Fame website to see who's playing out. A lot of these people , Sleepy EXCLUDED , ONLY PLAY OUT SPORADICALLY , BUT , YOU NEVER KNOW.

If you ever go to Memphis , though , look for Charlie Feathers' son , Bubba Feathers. One of the best Rockabilly sets I've ever seen.

Apparently The Boys are coming to Sweden, so big thanks for letting me know they're still around, might have missed them otherwise. So excited I'll get to see them :)

John Battles: Thanks! Lots of great stuff.

And since I haven't seen The Vibrators at all, I would still go and see them if I could, they were such a great band once.

And since I live in Sweden I actually prefer the ones that tour western/northern Europe, for practical reasons :) Some of the US punk bands seem to come here, but not a lot of the sixties and fifties bands make it over here sadly.

I hope I get the chance to see Jerry Lee Lewis, that would be so cool. The mans a legend for a reason.

I'M GLAD THE BOYS ARE PLAYING SWEDEN. THEY REALLY HAVE THEIR SHIT TOGETHER....

THE VIBRATORS IS ED , AND THE GUITAR PLAYER HAD PLAYED WITH THEM OFF AND ON (WHEN I FIRST SAW THEM , I THINK IN '90 or '92 , he played with them as a fourpiece .). and THE bASS PLAYER HAD BEEN WITH THEM AT LEAST ABOUT 15 YEARS. i WANT  TO SAY HE'S SWEDISH , BUT , THAT'S PROBAB;Y WRONG. I really miss Knox , though , he made the band.  Hopefully , you can still see Jerry Lee. I think he still tours Europe a bit....

...i THINKL , IN FACT i KNOW , THE BASSIST IS FINNISH ,BECAUSE HE TOLD ME ABOUT SEEING HANOI ROCKS , ONCE .

Oh,you're luchky! :)

BTW, Agent Orange, the Avengers...