Rythmn Boy
Ikon Class
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2016
- Location
- Darwin, NT
It's already mid-January, so I am surprised no one hasn't already started a thread like this. I always like to see what records people scored during the year and what they think about them. My year was a bit slow, but I got a few things I had been after for a while as well some things I hardly knew about. Some of the records I acquired are not rare at all, but I thought it were still worth saying something about them, if only to show there are still good records out there that cost a lot less than others
Australia
The Easybeats, ‘Easy’ LP. Parlophone, PMCO 7257
First LP from these Euro-Australian legends. The band had so many really good singles that it is easy to overlook material that only ever surfaced on their LPs, and there are a number of pretty good tunes here that you might miss otherwise. It is also interesting to see how the song-writing and singing duties were more spread around than came to appear normal. Everybody gets a guernsey here except bass player Dick Diamonde
The Kinetics – You’re So Good For Me/ Tomorrow Today. CBS BA 221416
Forget the A-side, ‘Tomorrow Today’ is where you want to be. Superior pop-beat
Robbie Peters – Double Trouble/ She Does Everything For Me. Festival, FK 2156
The much-comped B-side is an absolute winner. A-side is a bit of a worry though
Germany
Manuela und Drafi – Take It Easy/ Die goldene Zeit. Decca, D 19818
‘Die goldene Zeit’ (The Golden Age) is okay as far as 60s schlager goes, but it’s a bit lame (probably why it’s designated on the label for dancing the Slop – what a name for a dance!) ‘Take It Easy’ though is proper deutsche beat. Good stuff
Hong Kong
Cornel Chan, EP. BL, SBL 201
Teddy Robin & The Playboys of HK released two versions of The Knickerbockers ‘Lies’, both very good. I bought this EP for the Mandarin version of the same song. Well, it’s okay, but not very exciting. Cornel Chan was touted as The Elvis of the East. More like Pat Boone methinks
The Mystics – Send Her Back/ What Makes You Run. Diamond, D 247
The Mystic’s version of the Del Shannon song on the B-side is the attraction here for me. There’s some smooth singing by Michael Remedios, but the whole thing is a bit grittier than Del’s original. Nice
The Zoundcrackers - I Gotta Find Cupid/ I Only Came To Say Goodbye. Diamond, D 245
Pop rather than garage, but The Zoundcrackers’ version of the song made famous by Gary Lewis & The Playboys (amongst others) is rather cute
Hong Kong/The Philippines
The Fabulous Echoes – Do The Mashed Potatoes/ A Little Bit Of Soap. Diamond, D 167
Not garage and I only include this here because some later releases by the band are worthy of mention in this forum. That being said, the A-side is a pretty cool and swinging version of the Danny & The Juniors song
Indonesia
Dara Puspita, self-titled LP. Mesra, LP 6
This is the second album for these Surabaya girls. The album’s subtitle ‘Riang Ria Bersama Dara Puspita’ (Have Fun with Dara Puspita) sounds like a pretty good invitation to me. Plenty of cool songs here and great photos on the gatefold sleeve. The instrumental ‘Mabuk Laut’ (Seasick) is credited to The Ventures. Did they have a tune with that name? I can’t find it, anyway
Nada Kentjana, ‘Jaomal Kiamat’ [End of the World], LP. Bali, RBL 109
Dating from about 1962, this 10 inch LP was the third release for this band from Bandung in West Java. Band-leader Moh. Jassin’s aim was to ‘modernise’ traditional songs from the region by mixing Sundanese lyrics and vocal styles with Latin beats and rock ’n’ roll. It’s an exotic mix. Most songs here probably wouldn’t be of much interest to members of this forum, but there is one; the nonsense children’s song ‘Trang Trang Kolentrang’. There have been many pop versions of this song, but Jassin’s idea to filter it through The Champs’ ‘Tequila’ is the mark of genius
The Rollies, ‘Dari Bandong Indonesia’ LP. Olympic, TRC 80
Probably best known from the early 1970s as exponents of James Brown-style funk, The Rollies began in the teen-beat era, which might be expected of a band whose name sounds like a collision between The Rolling Stones and The Hollies. This debut album from the band displays some cool Beatles-influenced tunes and a few tougher tracks deserving of a garage tag. There are also some ballads and a couple of kronchong tunes (kronchong is an evergreen string-band popular style from Indonesia; it’s sort of jazzy). The Olympic label from Singapore released many good EPs in the 1960s, but this is one of the few LPs I know of on the label. I don’t know how The Rollies came to release this LP in Singapore, but I’ll guess they were touring there at the time.
Zaenal Combo, self-titled LP. Lokananta, ARI 129
The sleeve of this 10 inch LP features a cool photograph of band-leader Zaenal Arifin looking like an Indonesian Chuck Berry with his guitar grasped by the neck resting on his shoulder. The eight songs on the album are by a range of female singers, but the only one worth mentioning in this forum is ‘Soino’ by Saimima Bersaudara (Saimima Sisters; Corry and Rica). The song title refers to a beach in Ambon and is a fairly lively sort of dance tune, but not garage in itself. The tune’s main distinction is a middle section with guitar break reminiscent of the one to be found on The Kingsmen’s version of ‘Louie Louie’. Nothing wild, but pretty cool
Malaysia
A. Halim & De’ Fictions, EP. TNA, MEP 433
This was A. Halim and De’ Fictions’ fifth EP with TNA and they were experimenting a bit, because there are a number of styles. The first track, ‘Pemberian Mu’ (My Gift), is good Malay beat and probably the most appealing track for garage fans. ‘Bermusim’ (Seasonal) has a vague sort of Indian feel and starts and finishes with sitar-type guitar playing. ‘Semua Tahu’ (Everybody Knows) is a kronchong song, and ‘Dendang Terakhir’ (Last Song) is a slow-tempo fuzz and distorted guitar sort of thing; more prog than garage. A bit all over the place, but not a bad record
The Saints – Jo’s Monkey/ I Saw Liliane Last Night. Life, 4 017
Not garage, but mid-60s instrumentals. A bit derivative maybe, but the B-side in particular is rather lively and enjoyable. Both tracks written by Dean Heusen. Anybody know anything about him?
The Netherlands
Various Artists, ‘Beat From Europe’ LP. Philips, 88152 DY
Nothing rare, but a contemporary release of good Dutch beat and pop. Q65, The Beat Buddies, The Rob Hoeke Rhythm And Blues Group, The Jets, The Dukes, Chapter II, The Toreros and more. All but two or three tracks work for me
New Zealand
The Avengers – Love-Hate-Revenge/ Only Last Year. His Master’s Voice, HIS 320
The Avengers – Love-Hate-Revenge/ Only Last Year. Columbia, DO 8481
The A-side tune was first released by Dion’s backing group The Del Satins in 1967. A version was released by Episode Six from the UK soon after and I suspect the boys from Wellington copied them, but I reckon The Avengers’ version has the edge and was a big hit in NZ. The B-side, written by fellow Kiwi Alan Galbraith, is a semi-baroque pop-psych ballad; it grows on you. I’ve got two copies of this: His Master’s Voice from NZ and Columbia from Australia
The La De Da’s, self-titled debut LP. Zodiac, BZLP 100
Great LP, nearly every song’s a winner. Does anyone know the story with the two versions of this album? It came out first on Philips, yes? When did the Zodiac version appear?
The Philippines/Hong Kong
The Reynettes – Knock On Wood/ My Life Is a Lonely One. Parlophone, PAL 60674
The Eddie Floyd song on the A-side is what you want here and of course it’s soul rather than garage; a credible version. The recording was made in Hong Kong, but my copy of the record is The Philippines’ release.
Singapore
Naomi and The Boys, ‘The Best Of Naomi’ LP. Decca, SKL 3002
This is a fantastic album from one of Singapore’s most popular female singer-fronted bands that had two tracks on the Girls in The Garage ‘Oriental Special’ LP – ‘As Tears Go By’ and ‘I’d Like To Know’. The album features eight songs written by lead guitarist/band-leader Robert Suriya who specialised in snappy pop tunes, sometimes with a bit of a country lilt. There are also six well-chosen covers. Despite the LP’s title only a few of the songs were ever released previously (as far as I know) and those are re-recorded for the album (previously released on Philips). Unlike many of her contemporaries who got to cut records in 1960s Singapore, Naomi really knew how to sing
Sakura & The Quests, EP. Yi Hua, TER 6075
This is a pirate EP with four tracks from the Columbia LP ‘Sakura Goes Boom Boom’. The attraction for me is the title track ‘Boom Boom’, the John Lee Hooker song. Sakura’s take on the song follows The Animals’ version, although Eric Burdon didn’t think to sing it in both English and Mandarin. Sakura belts out the song in a gutsy fashion and The Quests provide a gritty fuzzed-out backing. There is another pirate EP taken from the LP with an identical sleeve (same as the album), but totally different songs
UK
The 4 Instants, ‘Discotheque’ LP. OPP (Allied), OPP 3013
Super-cool 1965 instrumental soul-beat album (there is one vocal track). Apparently a quick knock-off to cash in on the dance scene, some top-notch session musos were called in to record a few cover versions, but came out with three brilliant originals as well. All hail the great ‘Bogattini’! Re-released about ten years ago, my copy is the 1969 Australian version. Play this one at your next party
Petula Clark – Colour My World/ I’m Begging You. Pye, 7N 1718
You may laugh, but I reckon the A-side is great. And $2.00 for an EX copy in a Pye sleeve seemed like a good deal to me
Australia
The Easybeats, ‘Easy’ LP. Parlophone, PMCO 7257
First LP from these Euro-Australian legends. The band had so many really good singles that it is easy to overlook material that only ever surfaced on their LPs, and there are a number of pretty good tunes here that you might miss otherwise. It is also interesting to see how the song-writing and singing duties were more spread around than came to appear normal. Everybody gets a guernsey here except bass player Dick Diamonde
The Kinetics – You’re So Good For Me/ Tomorrow Today. CBS BA 221416
Forget the A-side, ‘Tomorrow Today’ is where you want to be. Superior pop-beat
Robbie Peters – Double Trouble/ She Does Everything For Me. Festival, FK 2156
The much-comped B-side is an absolute winner. A-side is a bit of a worry though
Germany
Manuela und Drafi – Take It Easy/ Die goldene Zeit. Decca, D 19818
‘Die goldene Zeit’ (The Golden Age) is okay as far as 60s schlager goes, but it’s a bit lame (probably why it’s designated on the label for dancing the Slop – what a name for a dance!) ‘Take It Easy’ though is proper deutsche beat. Good stuff
Hong Kong
Cornel Chan, EP. BL, SBL 201
Teddy Robin & The Playboys of HK released two versions of The Knickerbockers ‘Lies’, both very good. I bought this EP for the Mandarin version of the same song. Well, it’s okay, but not very exciting. Cornel Chan was touted as The Elvis of the East. More like Pat Boone methinks
The Mystics – Send Her Back/ What Makes You Run. Diamond, D 247
The Mystic’s version of the Del Shannon song on the B-side is the attraction here for me. There’s some smooth singing by Michael Remedios, but the whole thing is a bit grittier than Del’s original. Nice
The Zoundcrackers - I Gotta Find Cupid/ I Only Came To Say Goodbye. Diamond, D 245
Pop rather than garage, but The Zoundcrackers’ version of the song made famous by Gary Lewis & The Playboys (amongst others) is rather cute
Hong Kong/The Philippines
The Fabulous Echoes – Do The Mashed Potatoes/ A Little Bit Of Soap. Diamond, D 167
Not garage and I only include this here because some later releases by the band are worthy of mention in this forum. That being said, the A-side is a pretty cool and swinging version of the Danny & The Juniors song
Indonesia
Dara Puspita, self-titled LP. Mesra, LP 6
This is the second album for these Surabaya girls. The album’s subtitle ‘Riang Ria Bersama Dara Puspita’ (Have Fun with Dara Puspita) sounds like a pretty good invitation to me. Plenty of cool songs here and great photos on the gatefold sleeve. The instrumental ‘Mabuk Laut’ (Seasick) is credited to The Ventures. Did they have a tune with that name? I can’t find it, anyway
Nada Kentjana, ‘Jaomal Kiamat’ [End of the World], LP. Bali, RBL 109
Dating from about 1962, this 10 inch LP was the third release for this band from Bandung in West Java. Band-leader Moh. Jassin’s aim was to ‘modernise’ traditional songs from the region by mixing Sundanese lyrics and vocal styles with Latin beats and rock ’n’ roll. It’s an exotic mix. Most songs here probably wouldn’t be of much interest to members of this forum, but there is one; the nonsense children’s song ‘Trang Trang Kolentrang’. There have been many pop versions of this song, but Jassin’s idea to filter it through The Champs’ ‘Tequila’ is the mark of genius
The Rollies, ‘Dari Bandong Indonesia’ LP. Olympic, TRC 80
Probably best known from the early 1970s as exponents of James Brown-style funk, The Rollies began in the teen-beat era, which might be expected of a band whose name sounds like a collision between The Rolling Stones and The Hollies. This debut album from the band displays some cool Beatles-influenced tunes and a few tougher tracks deserving of a garage tag. There are also some ballads and a couple of kronchong tunes (kronchong is an evergreen string-band popular style from Indonesia; it’s sort of jazzy). The Olympic label from Singapore released many good EPs in the 1960s, but this is one of the few LPs I know of on the label. I don’t know how The Rollies came to release this LP in Singapore, but I’ll guess they were touring there at the time.
Zaenal Combo, self-titled LP. Lokananta, ARI 129
The sleeve of this 10 inch LP features a cool photograph of band-leader Zaenal Arifin looking like an Indonesian Chuck Berry with his guitar grasped by the neck resting on his shoulder. The eight songs on the album are by a range of female singers, but the only one worth mentioning in this forum is ‘Soino’ by Saimima Bersaudara (Saimima Sisters; Corry and Rica). The song title refers to a beach in Ambon and is a fairly lively sort of dance tune, but not garage in itself. The tune’s main distinction is a middle section with guitar break reminiscent of the one to be found on The Kingsmen’s version of ‘Louie Louie’. Nothing wild, but pretty cool
Malaysia
A. Halim & De’ Fictions, EP. TNA, MEP 433
This was A. Halim and De’ Fictions’ fifth EP with TNA and they were experimenting a bit, because there are a number of styles. The first track, ‘Pemberian Mu’ (My Gift), is good Malay beat and probably the most appealing track for garage fans. ‘Bermusim’ (Seasonal) has a vague sort of Indian feel and starts and finishes with sitar-type guitar playing. ‘Semua Tahu’ (Everybody Knows) is a kronchong song, and ‘Dendang Terakhir’ (Last Song) is a slow-tempo fuzz and distorted guitar sort of thing; more prog than garage. A bit all over the place, but not a bad record
The Saints – Jo’s Monkey/ I Saw Liliane Last Night. Life, 4 017
Not garage, but mid-60s instrumentals. A bit derivative maybe, but the B-side in particular is rather lively and enjoyable. Both tracks written by Dean Heusen. Anybody know anything about him?
The Netherlands
Various Artists, ‘Beat From Europe’ LP. Philips, 88152 DY
Nothing rare, but a contemporary release of good Dutch beat and pop. Q65, The Beat Buddies, The Rob Hoeke Rhythm And Blues Group, The Jets, The Dukes, Chapter II, The Toreros and more. All but two or three tracks work for me
New Zealand
The Avengers – Love-Hate-Revenge/ Only Last Year. His Master’s Voice, HIS 320
The Avengers – Love-Hate-Revenge/ Only Last Year. Columbia, DO 8481
The A-side tune was first released by Dion’s backing group The Del Satins in 1967. A version was released by Episode Six from the UK soon after and I suspect the boys from Wellington copied them, but I reckon The Avengers’ version has the edge and was a big hit in NZ. The B-side, written by fellow Kiwi Alan Galbraith, is a semi-baroque pop-psych ballad; it grows on you. I’ve got two copies of this: His Master’s Voice from NZ and Columbia from Australia
The La De Da’s, self-titled debut LP. Zodiac, BZLP 100
Great LP, nearly every song’s a winner. Does anyone know the story with the two versions of this album? It came out first on Philips, yes? When did the Zodiac version appear?
The Philippines/Hong Kong
The Reynettes – Knock On Wood/ My Life Is a Lonely One. Parlophone, PAL 60674
The Eddie Floyd song on the A-side is what you want here and of course it’s soul rather than garage; a credible version. The recording was made in Hong Kong, but my copy of the record is The Philippines’ release.
Singapore
Naomi and The Boys, ‘The Best Of Naomi’ LP. Decca, SKL 3002
This is a fantastic album from one of Singapore’s most popular female singer-fronted bands that had two tracks on the Girls in The Garage ‘Oriental Special’ LP – ‘As Tears Go By’ and ‘I’d Like To Know’. The album features eight songs written by lead guitarist/band-leader Robert Suriya who specialised in snappy pop tunes, sometimes with a bit of a country lilt. There are also six well-chosen covers. Despite the LP’s title only a few of the songs were ever released previously (as far as I know) and those are re-recorded for the album (previously released on Philips). Unlike many of her contemporaries who got to cut records in 1960s Singapore, Naomi really knew how to sing
Sakura & The Quests, EP. Yi Hua, TER 6075
This is a pirate EP with four tracks from the Columbia LP ‘Sakura Goes Boom Boom’. The attraction for me is the title track ‘Boom Boom’, the John Lee Hooker song. Sakura’s take on the song follows The Animals’ version, although Eric Burdon didn’t think to sing it in both English and Mandarin. Sakura belts out the song in a gutsy fashion and The Quests provide a gritty fuzzed-out backing. There is another pirate EP taken from the LP with an identical sleeve (same as the album), but totally different songs
UK
The 4 Instants, ‘Discotheque’ LP. OPP (Allied), OPP 3013
Super-cool 1965 instrumental soul-beat album (there is one vocal track). Apparently a quick knock-off to cash in on the dance scene, some top-notch session musos were called in to record a few cover versions, but came out with three brilliant originals as well. All hail the great ‘Bogattini’! Re-released about ten years ago, my copy is the 1969 Australian version. Play this one at your next party
Petula Clark – Colour My World/ I’m Begging You. Pye, 7N 1718
You may laugh, but I reckon the A-side is great. And $2.00 for an EX copy in a Pye sleeve seemed like a good deal to me
