Shiver me TBMbers! The Great Comp Showdown Thread!

The first couple of Pebbles comps were reviewed in UK magazine Zigzag.

This was late 70s editions when the mag went punk rock. I'll flick through them and find those reviews, scan and post them here....Around about his time several so called 'pub rock' groups were recording obscure 60s garage songs....

The Banned releasing 'Little Girl' (Syndicate Of Sound) and 'Him Or Me' (Raiders) in 1977.
even The Undertones got in on the act with a steller rendition of 'Let's Talk About Girls' 1979.

Several musicians from English punk groups raved about Nuggets at the time....
 
Patrick the Lama said:
No surprise about the difference between Pebbles 9 and 10, I always felt Vol 10 was where the quality began to dip.
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For me it was Vol. 12. I remember being quite disappointed when it was released, and I made the mistake of assuming that Greg Shaw knew everything about every 60s garage 45 ever released, therefore the "well" must have run dry. I actually stopped buying comps for over a decade, because of Pebbles Vol. 12 (now of course, I think it's quite good!). When I finally heard Back From The Grave Vols 1 thru 6, years later....I just could not believe it. One of the best nights of my life, listening to almost the entire BFTG series for the first time, all at once.
 
Patrick the Lama said:
How about that Off The Wall vol 2?
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Back From The Grave Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 7,667 (3rd position)
Back From The Grave Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 7,5625
Chosen Few Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 8,6667 (1st position)
Chosen Few Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,5294
Flashback Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 7,0625
Off The Wall Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 6,8235
Off The Wall Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,3750
Pebbles Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 8,0625 (2nd Position)
Pebbles Vol. 9 Musical Impact Factor = 7.2019
Pebbles Vol. 10 Musical Impact Factor = 6.6688
Psychedelic Disaster Whirl Musical Impact Factor = 7,0769
 
Regarding the TBM ratings, this is right up the alley for a lot of collector geeks who like to put a number on their intangible addictions -- either a dollar value or a quality grading. Of course this is "uncool" to some people, but I bet the geeks outnumber the cool guys by some margin in the TBM market. Numbers are just numbers, they are fun and not scary.

I think it's a terrific idea (actually, a mandatory element), and I think it was executed the right way via a jukebox jury -- we did a sort of similar thing with the Acid Archives, except less elaborate, in order to create a broader and less subjective, egocentric trip. The fact that the ratings are triggering a lot of debate is a GOOD sign for the book, because it means that they work as intended -- they make people think and respond. The other aspect, where the ratings are guiding people towards the presumably best discs, is really secondary. Especially in this forum where everybody already knows how they feel about the Barking Spyders etc.

The A-Z is the backbone of the book and I think it came out very well. The clever entry design packs an amazing amount of info into a tiny space. All the crap I raise about the statistical methods etc are just some early reflexes that are necessary to go through, because these methodology questions will return again and again, not least if scholarly musicologists sink their teeth into the TBM.
 
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Pennsylvania Unknowns Musical Impact Factor = 5.6667

The low score speaks volumes of how significant the charm of the comp is. Pennsylvania Unknowns will set you back 60 bucks if you're looking for buying.

The Black Door by Loose Enz only got a 4? A tad too low, IMHO. And Easy Rider wasn't rated at all! Upsetting! :mad:;)


 
sylvain said:
hi patrick, actually lurking here from time to time. May gonna post some infos / facts / pics / strange things about the 60s garage comp scene sooner or later, got loads of weird things. Let's see what happens. Will post that all into that thread below, as replies to what's been posted before.
Actually back here because of Crazy Lee's posts praising the old comps esthetic universe and history, I couldn't have said it better. Been myself thinking about a feature in UT a while back on the conditions in which the first wave of those comps emerged in the late 70s, up to the early 80s, with the BFTG 1 saga inbetween. Turns out that I probably will never have the time for this; so Lee if such thing is of interest for your potential comp-related future project, lemme know and i'll send you the whole files.
Rev. Sideburn posted some great comp pornography a while back, I'll pop some more shit (the ones you dig) and dogshit (the ones I love) on-line soon
http://www.g45central.com/forum/index.php?threads/chronology-of-garage-comps.454/
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Wow, that'd be awesome! I gotta get my shit together now!
 
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Everywhere Chainsaw Sound Musical Impact Factor = 5,6250

Popsyke & RYM tells us this was released back in '82, which might be the official fact.

An interesting detail is that when I checked the scores, I could not find the Unchained Mynds versh of Hole In My Shoe or Mary Jane by The Spokesmen. But they are listed in the song index.
What's goin on here? :confused:
 
Lee de Parade said:
o4147916.jpg


Everywhere Chainsaw Sound Musical Impact Factor = 5,6250

Popsyke & RYM tells us this was released back in '82, which might be the official fact.

An interesting detail is that when I checked the scores, I could not find the Unchained Mynds versh of Hole In My Shoe or Mary Jane by The Spokesmen. But they are listed in the song index.
What's goin on here? :confused:
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Yes, the Spokesmen was an oversight that should have been listed in A to Z. I might even have vote tally results for it.
The Unchained Minds 45 would not fit, the title should have been deleted in the index.
 
I think the Musical Impact Factor is only one part of what makes a comp great. The sleeve alone is sooo charming and looks better than all those computerized gimmickry that sores our eyes today.

A mere run-thru of classy top-graders won't guarantee a top-notch comp either, nor does classy liners.

What many of these guys forget is that they compile an album. The flow of the song list, and an overall coherent feel should be priority #1.
Another sad thing is the consistently phobia to repeat songs that appeared on previous discs.

I also think one should really not get too caught up in this game of numbers. They are merely just indicators, or pointers, rather.
 
Here's the review of Pebbles Volume 1 & 2 that was printed in UK punk magazine 'Zigzag'.
This is from the May 1979 issue...

Zigzag must have been one of the first in England to write about 60s garage from USA.

 
Cool piece. Thanks. No use of the word "garage". I have a 4 pages articles on 60s punk in a Parisian rock magazine (Rock News) from May '76. It's all in french though.
 
Pebbles-Volume-02-lpcover.jpg


This is very exciting, Pebbles Vol. 2 received a stiff 7,8 on the M.I.F. (Musical Impact Factor) scale and thus KNOCKS DOWN BACK FROM THE GRAVE from it's 3rd position!

Let's not forget people; BFTG is not for everybody, just like PDW. And just look at that heavyweight roster on that platter - Satans, Zakary Thanks, Dovers, Green Fuz, Squires...
But I must say that 6 points to It's Cold Outside stumped me.

Pebbles Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,8000
 
update:

Acid Dreams Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 7,055
Back From The Grave Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 7,666
Back From The Grave Vol. 3 Musical Impact Factor = 7,800 (3rd position)
Back From The Grave Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 7,562
Boulders Vol 3 Musical Impact Factor = 6.858
Chosen Few Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 8,666 (1st position)
Chosen Few Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,529
Everywhere Chainsaw Sound Musical Impact Factor = 5,625 (last)
Flashback Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 7,062
Off The Wall Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 6,823
Off The Wall Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,375
Open Up Your Door Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 6,933
Pebbles Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,800 (3rd position)
Pebbles Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 8,062 (2nd Position)
Pebbles Vol. 9 Musical Impact Factor = 7.201
Pebbles Vol. 10 Musical Impact Factor = 6.668
Pennsylvania Unknowns Musical Impact Factor = 5.666
Psychedelic Disaster Whirl Musical Impact Factor = 7,076
Psychedelic Unknowns Musical Impact Factor = 6,333
What A Way To Die Musical Impact Factor = 6,923
 
Lee de Parade said:
update:

Back From The Grave Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 7,6667
Back From The Grave Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 7,5625
Chosen Few Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 8,6667 (1st position)
Chosen Few Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,5294
Everywhere Chainsaw Sound Musical Impact Factor = 5,6250 (last)
Flashback Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 7,0625
Off The Wall Vol. 1 Musical Impact Factor = 6,8235
Off The Wall Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,3750
Pebbles Vol. 2 Musical Impact Factor = 7,8000 (3rd position)
Pebbles Vol. 5 Musical Impact Factor = 8,0625 (2nd Position)
Pebbles Vol. 9 Musical Impact Factor = 7.2019
Pebbles Vol. 10 Musical Impact Factor = 6.6688
Pennsylvania Unknowns Musical Impact Factor = 5.6667
Psychedelic Disaster Whirl Musical Impact Factor = 7,0769
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I've always loved Pebbles vol 2, which was the third garage comp I ever bought (Nuggets and Pebbles vol 7 preceded it), so I can dig the high rating. Another Lama fave is vol 8, which hits some of the same wimp-pop bone as vol 2. Greg Shaw had a very good ear for that kind of music... "Make You Mine" by the Mysterians, "I Wonder" by the Gants etc.
 
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