Junior And The Classics - Birmingham

Ok peeps, tonight is the night! The latest 45 session is at hand. If you are anywhere near Asbury Park head down the The Asbury Lanes Bowling Alley for some Fun, Funk, Soul, Beers & Bowling! Doors are ar 9PM, admission is $5, and it’s 18 to get in, 21 to party with ID.

Here is a 45 that i love. It's a real uptempo stomper with a killer sax break. I put the flip of this, a cover of The Dog by Rufus Thomas on the very 1st Mix DJ Prestige and i did a way way back but this tune smokes just as hard. So if you dig this and are close c'mon on down to the sessions where this just might get spun live!

Junior And The Classics - Birmingham

Howard Tate - Look AT Granny Run

Happy Monday. going to stay funky leading up to the 45 sessions this Friday and here is a really great and funky tune to get your week started. Man, this thing is just great great great! This a real funky number that is miles ahead of the funk game as this thing came out in 1966 long before most were anywhere near as funky. So dig in and Look at Granny Run Run!

As for Mr. Tate here is the 411:

Howard Tate (born August 14, 1939, near Macon, Georgia) is an American soul music singer and songwriter.
He moved with his family to Philadelphia in the early 1940s. In his teens, he joined a gospel music group that included Garnet Mimms and, as the Gainors, recorded rhythm and blues sides for Mercury Records and Cameo Records in the early 1960s. Tate performed with organist Bill Doggett and returned to Philadelphia.
Mimms, leading a group called the Enchanters, introduced Tate to record-producer Jerry Ragovoy, who began recording Tate for Verve Records. Utilizing top New York City session musicians such as Paul Griffin, Richard Tee, Eric Gale, Chuck Rainey and Herb Lovell, Tate and Ragovoy produced, from 1966 to 1968, a series of bluesy soul-music recordings that are regarded as some of the most sophisticated of the era. "Ain't Nobody Home" (1966), "Look at Granny Run Run" (1966), "Baby I Love You" (1967), and "Stop" (1968) all written or co-written by Ragovoy, were well received by record buyers. "Ain't Nobody Home", "Look At Granny" and "Stop" charted pop and top 20 R&B.
Janis Joplin performed another single, the title track from his first album, "Get It While You Can", during this time. The album was regarded as a classic by aficionados, but it failed to sell in large quantities. However, Tate's reputation among critics was high. As Robert Christgau writes in his review of Tate's Verve material, "Tate is a blues-drenched Macon native who had the desire to head north and sounds it every time he gooses a lament with one of the trademark keens that signify the escape he never achieved. He brought out the best in soul pro Jerry Ragovoy, who made Tate's records jump instead of arranging them into submission, and gave him lyrics with some wit to them besides."
Tate, working apart from Ragovoy, made an album called Howard Tate's Reaction that was released in 1970 on Turntable Records. Produced by Lloyd Price and Johnny Nash, it was distributed in minute quantities, and critics felt it lacked the flair of his Verve material. Still, as Christgau writes, "Tate's voice is potent enough to activate more inert material." The record was reissued, as Reaction, in 2003. Ragovoy and Tate reunited for the 1972 Atlantic Records Howard Tate, which included more songs by Ragovoy along with Tate's versions of Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country" and Robbie Robertson's and Levon Helm's "Jemima Surrender." Again, the album was acclaimed by critics and virtually ignored by listeners.
After recording a single for Epic Records and a few songs for his own label, Tate retired from the record business in the late 1970s. He sold securities in the New Jersey and Philadelphia area, and in the 1980s developed a dependence on drugs, ending up living in a homeless shelter. In the mid-1990s Howard Tate began counselling drug abusers and the mentally ill, and worked as a preacher. A Jersey City disc jockey discovered Tate's whereabouts early in 2001, and in spring 2001 Tate played his first date in many years, in New Orleans. He then began working with Ragovoy on an album that was released, as Rediscovered, in 2003. It was regarded as a return to form and included covers of songs by Elvis Costello and Prince as well as a new version of "Get It While You Can."

Howard Tate - Look AT Granny Run

The Chakachas - Jungle Fever

I'm still feeling a little funky over here so In the great tradition of Chaino i give you The Chakachas & Jungle Fever...

The Chakachas were a Belgian based group of Latin soul studio musicians. Also known as 'Les Chakachas' or 'Los Chakachas', they were formed by band leader Gaston Bogaert, ex-Los Juano Boengs and The Continentals, percussion (conga and tumba); Tito Puente's singer wife Kari Kenton, vocals and maracas; Vic Ingeveldt (a Dutchman from Liege), saxophone; Charlie Lots, trumpet; Christian Marc, piano; Henri Breyre, guitar and backing vocals; and Bill Raymond, bass guitar. All were native to Schaarbeek (a district of Brussels), or nearby Charleroi, Willebroek and Liege.

They started out in the late 1950s, and had a Belgian #1 in 1958 with "Eso es el amor", which was sung in Spanish. In 1959 they recorded "Rebecca" (a.k.a. "Rebekka") which featured in the film The Battle of Algiers. In 1962, they crept into the UK Singles Chart for the first time with "Twist Twist", which reached #48. Although they issued numerous recordings, they are best remembered as a one-hit wonder for their hit disco single "Jungle Fever" from 1972, which sold over one million copies in the United States, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in March 1972. It also reached #8 in the US Billboard Hot 100. In the UK it fared less well: despite some airplay soon after release it was later banned by the BBC, which took exception to the song's moaning and heavy breathing. It peaked at #29.

The Chakachas - Jungle Fever

Chuck Jackson - Candy

Not much to say today, (do i ever?) but i am gearing up for this Friday's 45 session down in good old Asbury Park NJ. If anyone reads the BS i push over here they should be well versed in the sessions put on by my man DJ Prestige over @ Flea Market Funk. So I am going through some 45's trying to get an idea of what i might want to spin and i pulled this little bitch out and put it on the turntable and man is it a good one. Kinda funky, kinda rockin', kinda rolling, with a bit of a strut and stroll w/ some superb vox by Mr. Jackson. But the real reason i pulled this out and posted it was because as Mr. jackson is eluding too i myself had a girl named Candy once. In fact she was teh devil's 1st.... TMI i'm sure, but there you go. And although it was a full on kind of thing, and man was it a LOOONG time ago, i still remember little ol' Candy.... anyway, enjoy the tune, and if you had a girl named Candy chime in.... or maybe one that just tasted like Candy....???

As for Mr. jackson..... You can read about him here: Chuck Jackson Bio

Chuck Jackson - Candy

Hearts and Flowers - Ode To A Tin Angel - Extra Extra/Rock & Roll Gypsies/Extra Extra

Wow, what can i say. Still sorta bumming about Mr. Ronnie James Dio passing away...
But life goes on and so does the music... But a voice like his is just about impossible to replace. anyway, were going to keep things going over here at the devil's music w/ a couple of great late 60's pop psych tunes from Hearts & Flowers and their 1968 album Of Horses ~ Kids ~ And Forgotten Women on Capitol records.

I'm sending these 2 out to my man Larry over at Iron Leg because this shit is right up his alley. 2 really groovy psychedelic tunes from 1968 that kinda alternate between Beatles/early Bee Gees/early Bowie and a slew of others of the era... I really dig the turn around switch up in R & R Gypsies but both songs are gems IMHO...

Hearts & Flowers were a Los Angeles folk-rock club band, perhaps most significant as one of the groups that launched the career of Eagles' founding member and guitarist-songwriter, Bernie Leadon. The lineup included Larry Murray (vocals, guitar), Dave Dawson (vocals, guitar, autoharp) and Rick Cunha (vocals, guitar). Leadon replaced Cunha on their second album in 1968. Among venues they played during the mid-1960s, were Los Angeles clubs Ledbetter's, Doug Weston's Troubadour, and the Ashgrove. After recording two albums without major success, the group disbanded in 1968.

Read a really great write up about the band HERE: for a very full story on and about the band.

Hearts and Flowers - Ode To A Tin Angel
Hearts and Flowers - Extra Extra/Rock & Roll Gypsies/Extra Extra

R.I.P - Ronnie Dio and the Prophets - Love Potion No. 9

Looks like the rumors are true and my man Ronnie Dio didn't beat the big C that i wrote about back in November 2009....

RIP Dio... Bummer.... I'm a lot more shaken up here than i thought....

if you missed it the 1st time here is a re-post from 11/30/09 with a little story of my encounter with Mr. Dio...

I thought i was going to take some time off but in light of some information i was recently told i though this was pretty appropriate. Taken from the official Ronnie James Dio website:

Ronnie has been diagnosed with the early stages of stomach cancer. We are starting treatment immediately at the Mayo Clinic. After he kills this dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage, where he belongs, doing what he loves best, performing for his fans.

Thanks to all the friends and fans around the world that have sent well wishes. This has really helped to keep his spirit up.

Long Live Rock and Roll, Long Live Ronnie James Dio"




Most folks know the metal elf God as singer in the the hard rock and metals bands of Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio, but I'm sure there are a good many that never knew he was cutting records as far back as the 50's & 60's. This here one is from 1964. here is the whole story if you need it: Ronnie Dio Wiki

I was lucky enough to have actually toured w/ Mr. Dio back in the 90's when my little shit band Godspeed opened up for the tiny man with the big vox. And although we didn't "hang out" much when we did have some interactions he was always super cool. He bought us a few drinks from time to time, let us drink his leftover Guinness from his dressing room and even gave us some advice of the music biz... Which obviously we didn't heed. We broke up soon after this tour.

Anyway, i just found this record a few weeks back. I was out and about one Saturday morning with my son digging for stuff at the flea market around town. We were just about to leave when we rolled up on a small stack of 45's. I started thumbing through and got about 1/2 way through of a very uneventful stack, best stuff in it was maybe some Tommy James 45's or Beach Boys; Pretty standard stuff, when the lady goes, Do you want the whole stack? I just want to get rid of them. At which point i say, there is not much i can use in here. Her reply was they are cheap. Oh yeah, how cheap? 2 bucks cheap. So i shell out the 2 beans without even looking at the last 1/2 of the stack. Not thinking much of it i put the records in the "I'll get to these later" section of the room. Well i finally did get around to checking them out this little gem reared its rare little head. So anyway, it's not the greatest 45 on the planet but hearing "little Ronnie" talking about being the loneliest boy in town and knowing what a metal God he turned into is a real hoot. And i guess these thing are kind of rare as well.

So Long Live Rock and Roll and Long Live Ronnie James Dio!!!


Ronnie Dio and the Prophets - Love Potion No. 9

Curtis Mayfield - (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go

The Title and Lyrics to this bad ass song pretty much say all that needs to be said without any more jabberwockey from me....

edit: Sorry Curtis but you got bumped for Ronnie James Dio.... R.I.P RJD!!!

Curtis Mayfield - (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go

David Peel & the Lower East Side - Happy Mother's Day II

Happy Mother's Day all you Mutha's!!!

David Peel & the Lower East Side - Happy Mother's Day

Four Finks - Wiki Wiki Woo - Hello Sucker

Couple of garage novelty garage surf type rockers today by the Four Finks on the Antler label, Antler 4024, out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Kewl stuff Daddy-O!!!

Drinking love juice and getting kinda HIGH!!!

Four Finks - Wiki Wiki Woo
Four Finks - Hello Sucker

Billy Lee Riley - Family Portrait - Going Back To Memphis

A man most famous for his early Sun singles but obviously had a very long career, here are a couple of rockin' soul (yep, i said soul, check it) from the late 60', 1968 to be exact. Pretty cool stuff from a guy that is really known as a rockabilly cat. These tunes could almost pass for straight soul cuts...

Born in Pocahontas, Arkansas, the son of a sharecropper, Riley learned to play guitar from black farm workers. After 4 years in the Army, Riley first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1955 before being lured to Sun Studios by Sam Phillips. He recorded "Trouble Bound" for Jack Clement and Slim Wallace. Sam Phillips obtained the rights and he released "Trouble Bound" b/w "Rock With Me Baby" on September 1, 1956 (Sun 245). His first hit was "Flyin' Saucers Rock and Roll" b/w "I Want You Baby" released February 23, 1957 (Sun 260) with backing piano by Jerry Lee Lewis, after which he recorded "Red Hot" b/w "Pearly Lee" released September 30, 1957 (Sun 277).
"Red Hot" was showing a lot of promise as a big hit record, but Sam Phillips pulled the promotion and switched it to "Great Balls Of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis. The record was pulled without a lot of sales. He had other Sun recordings and they, likewise, did not have a lot of sales as his promotion had stopped.
Considered good looking and with wild stage moves, Riley had a brief solo career with his backing band "The Little Green Men". Riley and his Little Green Men were the main Sun studio band. They were Riley, Roland Janes, J.M. Van Eaton, Marvin Pepper, and Jimmy Wilson, later joined by Martin Willis.
In 1960, he left Sun, and started Rita Record label with Roland Janes. They produced the national hit record "Mountain Of Love" by Harold Dorman. He later started two other labels Nita and Mojo.
In 1962, he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a session musician with Dean Martin, the Beach Boys, Herb Alpert, Sammy Davis Jr. and others, as well as recording under various aliases.
In the early seventies, Riley quit music to return to Arkansas to begin his own construction business. In 1978 "Red Hot" and "Flyin' Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" were covered by Robert Gordon and Link Wray, which led to a one-off performance in Memphis in 1979, the success of which led to further recording at Sun Studio and a full-time return to performing.
Rediscovered by Bob Dylan in 1992, who had been a fan since 1956, Riley played rock and roll, blues and country-blues.
His album Hot Damn! (Capricorn, 1997) was nominated for the Grammy.
He was injured falling on a slippery department store floor in 2005, requiring two surgeries as a result. In 2006, he released a country CD, Hillbilly Rockin' Man.
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame reported in summer 2009 that Riley was in poor health, battling stage 4 colon cancer, which caused his death on August 2, 2009 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Billy Lee Riley - Family Portrait
Billy Lee Riley - Going Back To Memphis

Eyes Of Blue - Yesterday

Today we get a cool and crazy jazzy progy take on the Beatles Yesterday by Eyes of Blue. Here is the straight dope...

The Eyes Of Blue evolved during the mid-sixties from covers and R&B band The Mustangs, based in Neath. The early line-up consisted of Wyndham Rees (Vocals), Ray Williams (Guitar), Ritchie Francis (Bass), Melvyn Davies (Guitar) and David Thomas (Drums). Thomas had replaced Byron Phillips in October 1964 a month before the change of name, and before too long Melvyn Davies also decided to leave, reducing the Eyes to a four-piece. Starting out as a soul-based R&B band the Eyes quickly established a strong reputation in the South Wales music scene. They played the same circuit as many other familar groups, The Bystanders, The Jets, and took in gigs in Llanelli, Swansea, Skewen, Cardiff and Neath, winning a few local talent competitions on the way. Early in 1966 drummer Thomas was off and away, and John Weathers was drafted in as a temporary replacement. From another Neath based band - the Smokestacks - came keyboard player Phil Ryan, and vocalist Gary Pickford-Hopkins.

By May that year the band were ready to turn professional. During the late spring and summer of '66 Eyes Of Blue entered and won the national Melody Maker 'Beat Contest', which offered the chance of a one year Decca recording contract. This turned out to be something of a poisoned chalice as none of the tracks recorded for Decca were representative.

Once the Decca contract had expired the band signed with the Mercury label, and during March to July 1968 recorded their first album across a number of sessions in Chappell Studios, London. Later that year the Eyes backed american singer-songwriter Buzzy Linhart on his album 'Buzzy' released on the Phillips label. When some critics suggested that this could be a more productive route an angry Ritchie Francis responded; "We will not be called a backing group for anyone"

The Eyes debut album 'Crossroads Of Time' was eventually released early in 1969. It included two Graham Bond R&B songs (Bond also wrote the sleevenotes) 'Love Is The Law' and 'Crossroads Of Time' which was especially written for the band. It also included an interesting version of Love's '7 + 7 Is' while The Beatles' 'Yesterday' is given a treatment suggesting something of a jazz hymn.
http://www.manband-archive.com/evolution/history-roots-eyes-of-blue.php

Eyes Of Blue - Yesterday

Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs - That I Love

Another one from 1964 today from Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs.

Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs were an Australian pop and rock group dating from the mid-sixties. The group enjoyed huge success in the mid-1960s, but split in 1967. They re-emerged in the early seventies to become one of the most popular Australian hard-rock bands of the period. Thorpe died from a heart attack in Sydney on 28 February 2007.

Originally a four-piece instrumental group who had put out one surfing instrumental, "Smoke & Stack", they formed in Sydney in 1963. With the advent of the Merseybeat sound, they added a lead singer, Billy Thorpe. His powerful voice and showmanship (which made him one of the most popular and respected rock performers in Australian music), completed the original line-up, which consisted of drummer Col Baigent, bassist John "Bluey" Watson and guitarists Valentine Jones and Vince Maloney (who later played with The Bee Gees).Valentine Jones left the band shortly after Billy Thorpe had joined and was later replaced by Tony Barber.

The flip is a horrible rendition of over the rainbow.... but this is pretty keen with its garage pop shit vibe....

Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs - That I Love

The Cobras - La La (Hey Baby)

Not much to say these days... Enjoy some Philadelphia doo-wop from 1964 from The Cobras on the label that the Beatles made famous, Swan...

And remember, DON'T DROP OUT! (or do, i don't really care)

The Cobras - La La (Hey Baby)

The Feelers - Fuhrers New Miniskirt

The Feelers - Fuhrers New Miniskirt

Marching Plague - Rock 'N' Roll Asshole E.P. - 1983

Going to stick with the hardcore punk and give you the rock and roll asshole EP from Marching Plague. This is also from 1983 and like the Child Abuse 7inch below is a fast blast of goofy sloppy snotty punk/hardcore. These guys were from Texas. And this has one of my fave punk rock album covers. Awesome....

Marching Plague - Rock 'N' Roll Asshole E.P. - 1983

Child Abuse - Bring It - Mutha 014 - 1983

Here is another from the Mutha files. From 1983 and New Jersey's Child Abuse. This one was just recently added to my quest to collect the entire Mutha catalog. I just happened upon an old NJ musician/store owner that has boxes of old unused stock of some Mutha releases and not having this one it was a welcome addition and at nice price. Anyone have the Burnt 7 inch???
The claim to fame with with one is the fact that the drummer was a mere 12 years old at the time of the recording of this 7 inch. It's no Mental Abuse or Chronic Sick but this an enjoyable quick sloppy mess of a punk/hardcore record and very indicative of the times being had in Jersey back then...
Enjoy a nice little slice of NJHC from 83 and a record that i guess is getting more rare all the time...

Child Abuse - Bring It - Mutha 014 - 1983

The Camel Drivers - Sunday Morning 6 O'Clock - Give It A Try

More garagey pop 60's style tunage w/ a slight psych bend: with the camel drivers: you can read an interview with the drummer Here; i found it on another blog. Sunday Morning 6 O'Clock has the kind of Brit Pop sound that sounds as if it could have been on the 1st Bee Gee's record. (Yeah i know they were from Down Under but by way of England) While Give It A Try is a bit Brighter sounding with some uptempo horns that gives is a little more pop sound. Either way 2 pretty good songs... i guess these guys were from Michigan and had done some traveling / touring to the asbury Park, NJ area according to the interview above, which may explain how this platter found its way into may grubby little hands, if that matters to you...???

The Camel Drivers - Sunday Morning 6 O'Clock
The Camel Drivers - Give It A Try

The Springfield Rifle - Left Of Nowhere

Some good Pacific North West pop psych from 1968 on the Jerden label...

Cool tune. Wish i knew more about the group but if you want to know about the actual gun just google...



The Springfield Rifle - Left Of Nowhere

The Night Hawks - Rockin' Hawk

What we have here is a great guitar instrumental from 1962.... Nice stinging guitar work and some almost creepy organ that sounds a bit like maybe Johnny and the Hurricanes type stuff but way more odd and creepy sounding. This almost has a Halloween novelty type vibe. Man I love this shit but sadly i can't out much about this great groovy rocker... Anyone???

The Night Hawks - Rockin' Hawk

Mighty Sphincter - The New Manson Family

MIGHTY SPHINCTER - THE NEW MANSON FAMILY PRODUCED BY ALICE COOPER = THE BEST GOTH PUNK ALBUM YOU NEVER HEARD!!!

I'm not much of a Goth punk guy, but i dig this album. Killer guitar work and a real creepy vibe throughout.

The long awaited second coming. An intense interplay of bass, guitar and drums which comes together with the strength and precision of a Spiders Web. Originally available only by perception but now this record can be had by anyone with the balls and the bucks. A tribute to the spirituality of violence and required listening for anyone who aspires to grandeur. Produced by Alice Cooper.”
- from The Placebo Catalog

Member Doug Clark had this to say:

The idea to form Mighty Sphincter was solely my idea and here's how it happened. Around 1980 I was working at a drag bar and the idea of forming a band that used aspects of drag mixed with my fascination with monster movies and characters seemed like a perfectly acceptable reason to start a band. I brought some of my friends like Joe and Greg into the fold and we started practicing immediately, just in time to open for the Feederz who I had played with before. I brought Ron Reckless into the band because we wanted to make fun of all the incredibly annoying hardcore bands that started touring all over the country. It had become so that the emphasis wasn't on presentation or content of the bands or their songs of the time, but just on how fast you could play. So we started playing with all these crappy hardcore bands in order to make fun of them and to show that we knew how to play. Actually Mighty Sphincter was started to make fun of the entire punk scene in general, I mean if you look at the lyrics of every song on the first two albums, it's just that apparent. "Impetigo" was actually a song that made fun of one of the local girls who had to be "punk rock" and had gotten impetigo from a homemade piercing. Anyways, making fun of the entire punk scene worked. All of the band has always focused on making fun of everything, even ourselves. Christians, gays, punk rockers... Nothing was sacred when it came to being made fun of and we took every opportunity to do so, and still do.”

Familys back together again, spreading blood and sin
We got more drugs, we got more guns and this time we’ve won
Will take your daughters in the night, Will teach em’ to fuck
Will teach em’ to kill, with drugs in their heads and knives in their hands
Will send them out with charlies plan!
Kill kill the pigs kill cut out their eyes
Kill kill the pigs, kill rip off their ears…

(PS - Alice Cooper did NOT actually produce this album as stated on the back but in 1986 when i bought it that was a HUGE selling point with me. Either way this is an odd slice of Horror Goth Punk or Whatever you want to call it.... Placebo records always put out some weird shit and this is no fucking different!

Mighty Sphincter - The New Manson Family

Tuff Darts - All For The Love Of Rock 'N' Roll

Breaking away from the cover scene for a moment today we have some Tuff Darts.
Tuff Darts were an American Punk Rock Band. The band reached their greatest fame in the 1970s with such songs as (Your Love Is Like) Nuclear Waste and their biggest hit single, All For The Love of Rock and Roll. The band appeared at popular New York City clubs like Max's Kansas City and CBGB and had only released one album, 1978's Tuff Darts!, produced by Bob Clearmountain and Tony Bongiovi, released by Sire Records; before breaking up a short time later.

Having played in bands since the early 80's, i know a little about what these guys are talking about. when they sing "i don't care about the money, i aint seen none." Truer words were never spoken. So it IS all for the love of Rock and Roll!!!


This is from the Live at CBGB's album on Atlantic records of all labels and from 1976. And imho this is just a GREAT Rock and Roll song from oft overlooked band. And even thouh this has its punk pub rock leanings, this is a Rock and Roll song. I suspect that a few of these guy had mustaches and were playing cover songs of Freebird a few years earlier but they got it right with this one!

It IS All For The Love Of Rock 'N' Roll i do what i do and have been doing for a very long time!

Enjoy!
Tuff Darts - All For The Love Of Rock 'N' Roll