How It Began

[chuckd]

I love to know things like what started the ever deepening obsession that is collecting and listening to sixties garage punk. This is the flashing neon sign that pointed me to the rabbit hole.

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Soon after I went to the Crypt store in Brooklyn right before Tim permanently left the US for Hamburg. He had recently ended his marriage to Micha and he was literally sleeping on a mat in the back of the store with his white German Sheppard Bando. He had all of his remastering gear set up on a card table and he was working on the Twist & Rumble compilations. To the untrained eye he was geeking out on Adderall but in reality he was actually THAT passionate about his bodies of work and the music he dedicated his life to and it was infectious.

Several years later I stumbled on a radio show hosted by Mick Collins on a radio show he hosted on Detroit's NPR affiliate WDET called Night Train and his description of the way the BFTG comps changed his life was nearly identical to mine. Neither one of us ever looked back.

 

[haigo]

mine was the same

 

[idiotpunk123]

It was my introduction into garage. I had heard 96 Tears on an oldies radio station and it was described as "garage punk". I had always liked that song but considered it an "oldies" track because at the time I didnt know any better. Bought BFTG volume 1 at a record show and that was it for me.

 

[Perkeo]

Pebbles was first for me. I remember seeing the first two volumes in a local "Musicland" chain store and being especially freaked out by the cover of volume 1 with the guy on it with all the safety pins and stuff on his head, and I remember thinking really? They knew about punk in the sixties ? It took me awhile to figure out the true tale (I also saw a review of those first two volumes in NY Rocker, it was still the seventies), and I eventually found out my hometown harbored some big time early enthusiasts who were helping out Tim and company, the whole package sold itself pretty much !

 

[Al.Burnett1966]

Being of the next generation, it was my dad that introduced me to Nuggets.
But I was the first to bring Back From The Grave home!

 

[13th Floor Garage]

My discovery is a bit embarrassing. At four (1968) , I enjoyed the song (I'm not your) Stepping Stone. At seven, I discovered (from my Uncle's LP - "Got Live if You want it") "Fortune Teller," but figured that other than the radio airplay groups (Electric Prunes, Seeds, Standells, etc..) that there wasn't much else.

The embarrassing part: Around 1985 or 86, I bought (what I believed to be) a bootleg or early recordings from the Swedish Group the Nomads. Instead, my ears were turned on to the 60's group that lived in my own state (North Carolina). I loved it. Thanks to a local record store clerk, I was turned on to Pebbles and I've been hooked ever since.

 

[Dave Baldwin]

We had a promo of the original Nuggets LP at my campus radio station when I started
working there in Fall 1972. It brought back childhood memories of '66-67 AM radio and
peak U.S. garage...and raised questions why none of our local bands were included
(British Walkers, Hangmen, Fallen Angels). It also introduced me to The Remains,
Mouse & The Traps, The Chocolate Watchband etc.). Thus began the quest. I also
blame Greg Shaw and his pals for introducing me to the whole scene soon thereafter
via Who Put The Bomp magazine.

 

[Rich Strauss]

It was the original Nuggets for me too. Dave Gibson told me that he was trying to collect all the original 45s on Nuggets & suggested that I do the same. That hooked me into collecting garage 45s from outside the PNW. I aleady was collecting Paul Revere & the other NW groups like the Sonics & Wailers. And yes, Who Put The Bomp magazine was a big influence.

 

[Ned]

I grew up in a house where in my infancy (the mid & late 1950s) with heavy doses of Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley & Elmore James. 1963 introduced The Kingsmen "Louie Louie" on the radio - unlike anything I had heard before. The early British Invasion came along and was all over AM radio & I started buying my own records in 1964. Then, something drastic changed - teen clubs in my area started opening in 1966. I had a chance to see great local bands - The Squires, Yesterday's Children, Bram Rigg Set, The Third Bardo, The Insane , The Shags & many, many more.

They were called groups then, not bands - cover groups to be exact, there was no "garage band" or "punk bands" tags yet. By mid to late 1967 popular music had changed, the drinking age got lowered and those clubs faded. The term "punk" was still associated with the feminine like young man generally associated with the sexual partner of the imprisoned.

My first real exposure to just how many bands there were across the USA was the first appearance of Pebbles - that white jacket, white label, color photocopied slip sheet available from Mr. Shaw's mail order company. WOW - all this great stuff long before Goldmine or to our knowledge any other source to find these records. Nuggets was presented as "psychedelic" which was a bit of a put off, and we pretty much knew at least half of the sides from radio airplay.

The next stages of my knowledge gathering is pretty well known to all of us - more Pebbles, Back From the Grave, Garage Punk Unknowns and dozens and dozens of home made hand numbered comps.

I have been lucky over time to have friends in advanced collectors - Mike Markesich, the late Eric Stumpo & the late Steve Cashmore who have been extremely kind in exposing me to their great records. Today we have this fantastic forum with Mr. Taylor sharing & exposing his fabulous collection. I have also been extremely fortunate to be included in the voting panel for Teenbeat Mayhem - a graduate level experience.

 

[chuckd]

I grew up in a house where in my infancy (the mid & late 1950s) with heavy doses of Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley & Elmore James. 1963 introduced The Kingsmen "Louie Louie" on the radio - unlike anything I had heard before. The early British Invasion came along and was all over AM radio & I started buying my own records in 1964. Then, something drastic changed - teen clubs in my area started opening in 1966. I had a chance to see great local bands - The Squires, Yesterday's Children, Bram Rigg Set, The Third Bardo, The Insane , The Shags & many, many more.

They were called groups then, not bands - cover groups to be exact, there was no "garage band" or "punk bands" tags yet. By mid to late 1967 popular music had changed, the drinking age got lowered and those clubs faded. The term "punk" was still associated with the feminine like young man generally associated with the sexual partner of the imprisoned.

My first real exposure to just how many bands there were across the USA was the first appearance of Pebbles - that white jacket, white label, color photocopied slip sheet available from Mr. Shaw's mail order company. WOW - all this great stuff long before Goldmine or to our knowledge any other source to find these records. Nuggets was presented as "psychedelic" which was a bit of a put off, and we pretty much knew at least half of the sides from radio airplay.

The next stages of my knowledge gathering is pretty well known to all of us - more Pebbles, Back From the Grave, Garage Punk Unknowns and dozens and dozens of home made hand numbered comps.

I have been lucky over time to have friends in advanced collectors - Mike Markesich, the late Eric Stumpo & the late Steve Cashmore who have been extremely kind in exposing me to their great records. Today we have this fantastic forum with Mr. Taylor sharing & exposing his fabulous collection. I have also been extremely fortunate to be included in the voting panel for Teenbeat Mayhem - a graduate level experience.

What's funny is that my dad was (for the most part) a complete "square". The bulk of his LP's consisted of Kingston Trio, Cat Stevens John Denver etc. He did, however, have a very small collection of 45's that included The Trashmen, Buddy Holly & Nervous Norvus. Fast forward 30 years after I first dropped a needle on Back From The Grave and I can't believe the magnitude of the polarized counter culture that existed right under everybody's nose. While he was listening to Dory Pevin somebody in Tacoma was rocking out to the Wailers. Just like The Ramones were the answer to all that god awful folk rock like the Eagles and Kansas.

 

[Laurent Bigot]

Pebbles 5 for me, early '81, I already had 6 as I was interested in the UK Mod scene thanks to The Jam (after starting with the 70s punk in '78)

 

[13th Floor Garage]

I would imagine that this is "how it began" for a few unsuspecting consumer 'punks.'
Perhaps like the "Beetle Beat" LP, I wonder if a few clueless parents bought this for their children.

 

[Hicksville Hogwash]

I was a bit too young and sweet to be real punk but I tried (14 in '76) by '79 I'd got my charity shop '60s suits was into some punk but leaning into the mod revival - mostly The Jam and the Specials, (Cov was one stop away on the train or a 15 minute burn up the A45 on my Vespa.)
I picked out Nuggets and Pretty Things from the secondhand bins in the local record store. I and a bunch of my friends were hooked.
Then I got knocked off my vespa and got a bunch of compensation which mostly ended up spent on 60s garage comps. Pebbles, Boulders, but BFTG hit the nail of the head.
Special high praise to Root 66 and Attack of the New Jersey Teens

 

[chuckd]

I would imagine that this is "how it began" for a few unsuspecting consumer 'punks.'
Perhaps like the "Beetle Beat" LP, I wonder if a few clueless parents bought this for their children.



View attachment 6488

Love that comp.

 

[Dave Baldwin]

Love that comp.

What I though was 'inappropriate marketing' at the time might actually have been brilliant.

 

[The Raven]

I love to know things like what started the ever deepening obsession that is collecting and listening to sixties garage punk. This is the flashing neon sign that pointed me to the rabbit hole.

View attachment 6471​

Soon after I went to the Crypt store in Brooklyn right before Tim permanently left the US for Hamburg. He had recently ended his marriage to Micha and he was literally sleeping on a mat in the back of the store with his white German Sheppard Bando. He had all of his remastering gear set up on a card table and he was working on the Twist & Rumble compilations. To the untrained eye he was geeking out on Adderall but in reality he was actually THAT passionate about his bodies of work and the music he dedicated his life to and it was infectious.

Several years later I stumbled on a radio show hosted by Mick Collins on a radio show he hosted on Detroit's NPR affiliate WDET called Night Train and his description of the way the BFTG comps changed his life was nearly identical to mine. Neither one of us ever looked back.

Same here, hearing TThe One Way Streets' "Jack The Ripper" made me instantly decide to dedicate my life to creative work. I still think it's the best punk rock record ever from any era, 60's or otherwise. And BTFG vol. 1 will always be the all time greatest 60's punk comp

 

[The Raven]

Gotta also give a shout out to WCVT 89.7 in Towson, Md. - that college radio station's 60's rock show is where i first heard One Way Streets' "Jack The Ripper" and all of the best stuff from BTFG, Pebbles, Monsters Of The Midwest, Psychedelic Unknowns, Boulders,the 'Power Plant' l.p. by Golden Dawn, The Tempos' l.p. on Justice, etc. WCVT has as much to do with turning my life awesomely upside down as Crypt Records and those drum demolishing maniacs from Zanesville, Oh.

 

[Rythmn Boy]

The Ugly Things comp and The Easybeats Absolute Anthology kicked it off for me (although I remembered a lot of The Easybeats from the radio as a youngster). So the Oz stuff first before I got to know the true glory of US Teen Beat Mayhem from BFTG and other comps. But I did already know a few more obvious tracks like Louie Louie and The Leaves' Hey Joe. And I could've heard the original somewhere before, but Radio Birdman certainly convinced me of the might of You're Gonna Miss Me. Never looked back