I'm new here so this might not be the best thread to jump in on since I'm a big Beatles fan (but I am wearing my "Stamp out the Beatles" tee). I enjoyed the Underground Garage a few years ago and was a regular listener but haven't really paid much attention for the past 2 years. The format has slowly changed and there is more "classic rock" incorporated and less info on the artists discussed. Steve's quote is of course silly (and dangerous, as some people may take it as fact) and this thread probably wouldn't exist if he had said something like "February 8, 1964, I didn't know anyone in a rock 'n' roll band. February 9, the Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show. February 10, everyone I knew was in one....My life began on February 9, 1964." That would have got his point across and not made his statement so ridiculous. The Beatles coming to America and getting the attention and media coverage they did played a huge part in the proliferation of garage bands that came in the coming years, I don't believe anyone can honestly deny that. They were a catalyst and figurehead, much like Elvis was when he broke. Neither of them created anything new but they both defined Rock and Roll for most people when they first became popular.

Yeah, Drew Carey subs for Kid Leo – something like the last Friday of each month. I believe they’re friends from their Cleveland days. His sets are basically pulled from the station playlist. Not surprisingly he doesn’t really know his stuff, but he throws in some good stories. Dan Electreau said:

On a barely related note...

Someone recently told me that they were listening to satellite radio and they heard Drew Carey hosting a show on the "garagerock channel". He said that it started out with some watered down, oldies type stuff but then he kicked it in to low gear for a couple of sets of really cool and fairly obscure stuff.

Anyone heard this?

*btw, the guy who told me this is not so much a garagerock fanatic as he is an all-around music weirdo.

On a barely related note...

Someone recently told me that they were listening to satellite radio and they heard Drew Carey hosting a show on the "garagerock channel". He said that it started out with some watered down, oldies type stuff but then he kicked it in to low gear for a couple of sets of really cool and fairly obscure stuff.

Anyone heard this?

*btw, the guy who told me this is not so much a garagerock fanatic as he is an all-around music weirdo.

I really don't like The Beatles. I've tried. After telling a Bavarian friend that (another worn out saying that I've used the heck out of for a good 25 years) "I step on beatles", he encouraged me to listen to the Star Club recordings; he even provided the album for me. I still don't like 'em! So, obviously my whole opinion on the subject at hand is biased as all get-out. I'm just anti-Beatles and pro Rock 'N' Roll. The two are mutually exclusive! Dan Electreau said:

Michael Kaiser said:

Just admit it! We could all think of a nice, compact quip that could have shaken up the interviewer real good, couldn't we?

Yeah, something like...
HI, I'm Michael Kaiser and my life ENDED on February 9, 1964.

maannn...only if i can find it online...it is from before computers! well for me anyway...i will look...this is sooo funny...after reading your thing & replying, i was listening to a classic rock station here in LA (the one that plays underground garage no less!) & this weird DJ Jim Ladd went into a whole thing that Walter Cronkite did a story on the beatles first & Ed Sullivan called him up & asked how to get ahold of them for his show...funny, he never gets credit & people that don't do their homework never know... kopper said:

Is there any way you can post that essay here? Maybe in the blog on your page? I don't have that comp...
Howie Pyro said:

he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about & neither does the person that writes what he says, at least the above comment! check the entire Norton Records catalog for thousands of perfect slabs of proof...i wrote a huge essay on this exact subject for the liner noted of the compilation record A Fistful of Rock & Roll (Volume 3 i believe)

Is there any way you can post that essay here? Maybe in the blog on your page? I don't have that comp... Howie Pyro said:

he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about & neither does the person that writes what he says, at least the above comment! check the entire Norton Records catalog for thousands of perfect slabs of proof...i wrote a huge essay on this exact subject for the liner noted of the compilation record A Fistful of Rock & Roll (Volume 3 i believe)

he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about & neither does the person that writes what he says, at least the above comment! check the entire Norton Records catalog for thousands of perfect slabs of proof...i wrote a huge essay on this exact subject for the liner noted of the compilation record A Fistful of Rock & Roll (Volume 3 i believe)

Michael Kaiser said:

Just admit it! We could all think of a nice, compact quip that could have shaken up the interviewer real good, couldn't we?

Possibly a touch off topic here (hell, this thread has already gone off on a few tangents) but this whole business has brought up an issue that's always been a bit of a bone of contention for me, that of claiming that certain people (or bands) are responsible for 'inventing' a scene...

Nothing is actually ever 'new', no band exists in a vacuum, scenes and styles evolve naturally with bands drawing on a shared set of influences, inspiring each other and shaping their sound via a kind of peer review.

Obviously certain acts can be credited with pushing a scene out into the mainstream and gaining mass popularity (and obviously The Beatles acted in this capacity on both sides of the Atlantic) but there still needs to be an audience which is receptive to that sound, conditioned by what has gone before.

I'm not suggesting anyone here would be guilty of this but you do get this crap all the time. Just the other day someone said to me:

"So, who would you say invented punk?"

"No one did you fucking retard! It was all derived from what had gone before!"

(argument ensues...)

Little Steven's comment seems to more or less support this naive idea of 'invention', when as we know full well bands in both the UK and US (and all over the bloody world) were drawing on the same set of references and forming a similar sound.

Being on the wrong side of the pond to be hearing Little Steven's radio show I'm not really aware of his work in this area but from what I can gather from this thread he seems to be setting himself up as some sort of authority on Garage and Rock n' Roll (let me know if I'm wrong there).

Whilst the comment may work as hyperbole to highlight the impact The Beatles had on popular music, it seems to me that if you're going to be try and be some sort of musical oracle spreading spurious bullshit ideas like that only serves to undermine your authority...

Constant nods to the Beatles is boring as hell.
There's two left who don't really need anymore smoke blown up their asses.
It's not like Paul and Ringo are constantly plugging Chuck Berry.
Little Steven could have wasted the time on a band equally deserving & lesser known.
Maybe he should have gotten out a little more or listened to the Kingsmen to tide him over cuz, yeah, everyone else in America at that time was listening to Pat Boone.

I believe what Lennon actually said was, "Nothing affected me until Elvis," which goes along with your point. He was making a personal statement, not a categorical one. IDON MINE said:

I don't know, that's basically my problem with all that quote-ing from experts, it just cuts out a lot of superb people and many more people forge their opinion after that.
Just like Lennon saying: "Before Elvis there was nothing." Which also maybe right for the mainstream explosion of making R'N'R a Pop phenomenon, but also a very subjective view coming from their own learning and experience with getting into R'N'R thru a certain happening in their life. I love the King, but he was not the sum of all raw music back then.<</body>

And as for local radio stations, I can never never never never get enough of R. Fink's "Rock 'n' Roll Dance Party" on WUSB in Stony Brook, NY. I live all the way down in middle-Georgia, but I make it a point to download his show every week. Hours and hours of the secret history of rock 'n' roll. I don't know what I would do without that show and the GP podcasts. Bob Blackstone said:

What about Mike & The Ravens....Del Shannon....John Kid & the Pirates.....I think Little Steven's show is so/so....I live outside nyc and a local station (vassar college) plays much better stuff. Little Steven plays the usuals...the Music Machine, Kinks, Ramones, the Cramps and so forth. His radio show is a disapointment, I never hear any cool shit like the Risingstorm, Contents Are, Mike & The Ravens, Bent Wind, Les Sinners or Back From The Grave shit....I guess this isn't mainstream enough...The Cramps are mainstream dude.

I do appreciate Manfred's show on the Undergarage channel. He's a fellow with his heart and ear in the right place. But as for much of the newer material forced into the station's playlists, and often celebrated as "the Coolest Song in the World" I find it weak, middle-of-the-road neo-psyche, whose biggest crime is how unassuming, unassertive it is. For its preaching about how garage, its influences, and offshoots are fueled by lust, kicks, and primitive beat that disregard the mainstream and raise skirts and eyebrows and blood pressure, the station champions some of the most timid and frigid tunes. Nothing by the Grip Weeds or the Charms would cause a blip in Alan Freed's pulse. The best thing I can say is I like seeing The Woggles and Maggots getting distro and airplay.

What about Mike & The Ravens....Del Shannon....John Kid & the Pirates.....I think Little Steven's show is so/so....I live outside nyc and a local station (vassar college) plays much better stuff. Little Steven plays the usuals...the Music Machine, Kinks, Ramones, the Cramps and so forth. His radio show is a disapointment, I never hear any cool shit like the Risingstorm, Contents Are, Mike & The Ravens, Bent Wind, Les Sinners or Back From The Grave shit....I guess this isn't mainstream enough...The Cramps are mainstream dude.

"Predictable, safe, and tame". That's pretty much how I'd describe Little Steven's radio program. Michael Kaiser said:

Well bless Little Steven for doing so much toward educating the goofy kids about Rock 'N' Roll! I know that a lot o' folks that sign-up for The Hideout list his show as their "Favorite GaragePunk Podcast(s)" (does he podcast, or is it a radio show?), so folks like what he does... But, seriously folks, that sound-bite/magazine quote ain't cutting edge or sensational in any way, shape, or form. Plain and simple: it's predictable, safe, and tame. Just admit it! We could all think of a nice, compact quip that could have shaken up the interviewer real good, couldn't we?
Saying that the quote leaves a lot to be desired is no knock on the man or what he has accomplished.

Well bless Little Steven for doing so much toward educating the goofy kids about Rock 'N' Roll! I know that a lot o' folks that sign-up for The Hideout list his show as their "Favorite GaragePunk Podcast(s)" (does he podcast, or is it a radio show?), so folks like what he does... But, seriously folks, that sound-bite/magazine quote ain't cutting edge or sensational in any way, shape, or form. Plain and simple: it's predictable, safe, and tame. Just admit it! We could all think of a nice, compact quip that could have shaken up the interviewer real good, couldn't we?

Saying that the quote leaves a lot to be desired is no knock on the man or what he has accomplished.

Good for Little Stevie for bringing the Sonics back, but it would certainly be bitter sweet if I had to to hear LS wank all over it.

I understand how looking at Little Steven’s comment on the Beatles in isolation can be taken as flippant, or even insulting, in regards to the great pre-’64 bands. Maybe many people here don’t listen to Little Steven’s show or station often. But if you take a look at his other words and actions, it might put things in a different light. The guy regularly plays the Wailers, Sonics, Beach Boys, Trashmen, Ventures and many other pre-’64 bands on his station (as well as the rock ‘n roll pioneers). He calls the ’63 recording of “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen the “Gospel of Garage”. He has done syndicated shows specifically dedicated to Surf. He has spoken glowingly about the early-‘60s Pacific Northwest scene, including calling it the beginning of the garage rock movement. There was a comment earlier in this discussion about Little Steven practically ruining the Sonics show in Seattle last year with his on-stage antics. I can’t speak to that specifically, and perhaps that’s the case. But give him some credit. He’s the guy who coaxed the Sonics out of retirement in the first place, and helped promote their return.

Is it hyperbole or is it the ubiquitous revisionism and flattening-out of historical events, complex issues and societal trends that runs rampant through the mediashpere? Either way, I think it's total bullshit and it's exactly why popular culture is a waste of time.

While I wish that Little Stephen might have chosen to expand on the topic to reflect a greater degree of accuracy, it certainly would have lacked the punchiness of what a magazine editor is looking for. While I think it's unfair to criticize L.S. for being media savvy... why am I so completely annoyed by his statement? Maybe it's *not* too harsh to expect that L.S. who has been a (dare I say) champion of the garagerock cause to not willfully gloss over details in pursuit of a tasty quote. I think I'd feel pretty insulted if I'd played in a pre-'64 r&r outfit.

And what inspires the greatest amount of pissyness and resignation in me is that nothing about this (the "story" and the debate that follows) comes as any surprise (Please pass the rageahol).

Finally, here's a book suggestion: True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society by Farhad Manjoo. A good book that'll explain why You, Me and Little Stephen can all have the "right" story and why that should make you even more depressed.

Greetin' Cretins,

We've only got a few spaces left on the comp so don't miss out!

TIME'S RUNNING OUT!! DON'T DELAY!! ACT NOW!! OPERATOR'S ARE STANDING BY!!!!

Email us at bamalama.records@rogers.com or garage.disease@rogers.com for more info
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I know I said I'd never do this but I've gotten a lot of submissions of some LOUD, LOOSE DIRTY AND PRIMITIVE GRADE AAA TRASH and I just can't put singles out of all of these fine bands. You need to hear 'em so here's what we're gonna do:

Bamalama Records, in association with Garage Disease Records, are gonna do us one of them there cheap ass comp CDs, and we're looking for submissions of trashy, gutbucket, sewer dwellin' screamin' rock n roll- y'know...REAL rock 'n roll... the good stuff, natch!

How cheap, you ask?

5 lousy bucks post paid North America, 6 bucks the rest of the world. If ya want, for 3 bucks, we'll send you the same comp on CASSETTE! That's right, jerky - cassette. King Dummy & Boss Brian* at Garage Disease have 500 high quality cassettes and they needs to get rid of 'em to make room for cases of beer and 80s porn videos. Between you and me, they're a couple of Luddites and aren't sold on the whole digital revolution - they don't even own a computer which is why I'm having to do all of this stuff. (Thanks, morons!) If you want both, you can have 'em both for $7 AND we'll throw in a whole bunch of swag. For 12 bucks, you get CD, cassette, swag and a swank Bamalama t-shirt
- POSTPAID!! Can't beat that with a stick!!

All bands on the comp get t-shirts for the band, a grab bag o' swag, and 5 copies of the comp (extras can be had for cost, which as you probably gathered is really damn cheap...)

Contact us at garage.disease@rogers.com for the skinny!

* - (this whole thing was their idea and look who's doing all the work!)

July 19th

Lowcut 19.30-20.30:

Aeroflot - Be My Wife
Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk To Fuck
Chainsaw Eaters - Brain Entrance
Flesheaters - Dominoes
Spider - Tonight At 10:00 PM
ANTiSEEN - NC Loyalty
The Lids - Distracted (RIP Benjamin Jay Womack; Carbonas, The Lids, Gaye Blades etc.)
Kenni Cocksucker - Kenni Cocksucker
Repulsion - Radiation Sickness
Carcass - Exhume to Consume
DAF - Der Mussolini
Locators - End Of The World
John Foxx - Underpass
Vee Dee - Electric Room
FNU Ronnies - Watchful Eye
Sun 0))) - Aghartha

So yeah, that's what. I love these interviews, they are pretty recent. Thought you might give it a go too! MICK COLLINS DEAD MOON MIKE WATT PS: I KNOW you hate IAN SVENONIUS, I don't, so frakkin' what, hahahahahha!

Oh, YEAH!

I love your work on that cover!
I also love reading that little recap on the photo, erm, story.

I'm thrilled to hear this one out!!!

Bitchen! Can't wait to hear album too.

The A-Bones approached me about the cover of their latest LP, and the idea was to emulate the cover of "The Rolling Stones, Now!" cover from 1965. What a fun homage! In the mid-60's, the Stones were really breaking out with their 3rd record stateside, and photography was at a crucial juncture in time. David Bailey was king, and the first Pentax Spotmatic SLR was introduced. In our 2009 version on the left, I tried to keep the intimacy, but break through to a range of focal lenghts, while showing more of the location. It's tricky to modernize something so astutely perfect the way it is. I can't say how proud I am to have been a part of this really special record, The A-Bones' first full-length recording in 15 years! I spent 2 days (Jan. 12th and 13th, 2009) underground at N.Y. Hed studios while these guys made magic with track-master Matt Verta-Ray, and an organ-player like you wouldn't believe! Dave "Baby" Cortez , who had a mind-blowing guest appearance on the track "Catnip". I snapped away silently while they laid down pure gold, and was frankly awe-struck at the level of musicianship, and genuinely entertained by the dynamics of the group. These guys are on my A-LIST of favorite people ever. Below you'll find some more gems from the shoot! (Read more about it on Miriam Linna's blog http://nortonville.blogspot.com/)! Left to Right: Marcus "The Carcass" Natale, Lars Espensen, Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo), Bruce Bennett, Billy Miller, Miriam Linna, Dave "Baby" Cortez. **** CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS!****