What would you say is THE BEST?

[axel]

Swamp Rats- Ain't No Friend Of Mine
Sonics- Have Love Will Travel
Illusions- City Of People
Keggs- To Find Out
Squires-Going All The Way
Rats- Rats' Revenge

There might be better ones, but I guess never again can a song mean to me what those meant to me when I was 17.
To me any of those songs could be IT.

2nd unit:

Trolls- Walkin Shoes
Burgundy Runn- Stop!
Alarm Clocks- No Reason To Complain
Unrelated Segements- Cry, Cry, Cry
Music Machine- Eagle Never Hunts the Fly
Outcasts- 1523 Blair

And then there is this little tune that probably wouldn't make it to a list like that, but that I would give my personal best notes:

Long John & the Silvermen- Heart Filled With Love

Total innocence meets ultra-django. "My heart's as dark as the sky above! Where can I find a heart filled with love?!"

 

[axel]

Unbeatable:

Randy Alvey & the Green Fuz- Green Fuz

 

[gregk25]

Personally, and how else should this question be answered, I'd go double track:

PLAGUES: Been Through It Before
The chemistry of the moody entry and the fuzz guitar that kicks in before the tunes picks up it's stomping energy is unequalled to my ears. I could listen to this one til the end of my days without getting tired.

CARETAKERS OF DECEPTION: Cuttin' Grass
The tribal start is as primal as the Dirty Filthy Mud, but when it shifts gears and volume increases it is about the wildest thing I can imagine (a notion supported by these cryptic lyrics). I was always waiting for Wayne Rogers to cover this with one of his bands, but he stuck to Index, Bent Wind, Caleb (a.o.)

 

[paul messis]

Greg... go to my website www.paulmessis.moonfruit.com and go to music, I covered The Plagues, please note... it took one attempt to get the scream exact, I forgot to go "yeah" at the end though.

 

[tom kirby]

Lee, it isn't all strictly R&R, it's just that, In My Opinion, not all the songs that get print on these pages are "Garage" songs. I do not want to get into that conversation again on here, either. But, why is it wrong when my opinion differs from others? I respect all you guys opinions, and there is no better board than this one for getting facts as much as opinion.

 

[nachete_888]

All the songs here are wonderful, but this two songs are the bests in my opinion.

- Shades Of Night - Fluctuation
- Gentlemen - It´s A Cry´n Shame

 

[Lee de Parade]

Oh don't mind me Tom, everybody knows I'm just a loud mouthed yob.

 

[tom kirby]

You're cool, Lee. Sorry if I seem sensitive to that issue. I don't want any trouble over anything. With our recent Induction into the Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I've been riding on a high I don't want to do anything to lose. And, it was our second 45, both sides, which were Inducted, as well, being the first in the Hall's history that both sides of a 45 have been inducted, plus having them voted in number one and number two. And, neiter side of that record are considered "Garage". So, they must be something and R&R fits. They surely aren't Country and Western.

 

[massb]

All the songs here are wonderful, but this two songs are the bests in my opinion.

- Shades Of Night - Fluctuation
- Gentlemen - It´s A Cry´n Shame

Great choices!

Besides the Gentlemen I'd add to form the Holy Trinity of the 60s garage PUNK:

- Dirty Wurds - Why
- Fallen Angels - Bad Woman

 

[EXPO67]

In the early 80s (1981-82) I used to listen to late night Radio 1 in particular DJ's David 'Kid' Jensen and John Peel. They played the indie and punk stuff. I was still in my early teens so was open to new sounds especially if it pissed my parents off...lol...

Anyway, one evening Kid Jensen played a record without introducing it.....cue coolsville riff, clattering tambourine and classy organ bursts....then the pissed off vocalist started singing the opening lines

"I'm gonna tell you a story,
I'm gonna tell you about my Town"
I'm gonna tell you a big fat story, baby"

OK, OK....I started thinking to myself....how cool and I mean how COOL is that sound. That's what I want to listen to. Forget that indie shit, this is the SHIT!!!

And that was the start of my 60s garage obsession and 30 years later 'Dirty Water' by The Standells has remained my number 1 song ever since.

 

[Heitkotter77]

A couple of faves already named would be Chobs, Rats.
I'll add Buck Rogers Movement "Baby Come On". Greatest bass line.
Also, Rats labelmates The Mystics "Snoopy"; OneWay Streets "Jack the Ripper" and just about any song off BFTG 1.

 

[axel]

Commonplace, but can't do without:

Them- I Can Only Give You Everything (fuzz monster blueprint)
Kinks- Till The End Of The Day (just one of the best songs ever!)
Kinks- You Really Got Me (anthem)
Who- My Generation (anthem)
Troggs- Wild Thing (anthem)
Them- Gloria (anthem)

I also agree on Dirty Water (besides others):
"Frustrated women! And I MEAN they're frustrated!" :)

 

[axel]

Just one more and then I'm out:

Gestures- Run, Run, Run

 

[Westex]

I first heard "He's Waiting" by the Sonics in the fall of 1994. I was a college junior. It was on the Nuggets Volume 8: The Northwest. It was blind buy from a cool record shop in Abilene, Texas that stocked lots of Highs in the Mid Sixties and Nuggets comps. I had read about the Sonics as I followed grunge bands and later the Estrus catalog, but had never actually heard them. But the first 5 seconds of "He's Waiting" was a game changer. How could some guys from the 1960s sound this menacing? And a song about the Devil? THAT'S rock n' roll. The current stuff I was listening to all of a sudden became irrelevant. And the picture of these guys on the back cover... from this photo session...



... their little sweater vests and moody stares.

One weekend that fall I headed north to Elk City, Oklahoma to check in on my grand parents. I remember hitting town at around 9:00 and driving down old Route 66 in my '66 Mustang. All the locals were cranking country or rap. I distinctly remember the bumpity bump of the brick streets and a cassette tape of "He's Waiting" playing through my car stereo. Elk City- at the time at least- still felt old. It was one of those moments...

"He's Waiting" will always be the song that best represents the 60s sound to me, but I must wonder if it would have hit me the same way today if I had first heard it on YouTube through these little Apple speakers?

A few other faves...

"Let's Move" by the Night Crawlers for primitive teen swagger. They've got something inside 'em and just gotta getit out.

"Foolish Baby" by the Briks.

"It's A Crying Shame" by the Gentleman. So amazing.

 

[Hicksville Hogwash]

Kid Jenson introduced you to garage it's a funny fact but every song on Nuggets should be here, well, except the majority of side 4. I had the same epiphany when I came home with it (and The Pretty Things 2nd Lp) from the local indie shops second hand bin. I was just too young for the punk gigs 14/15 in 76, caught some later when I was 16-18, did the mod/twotone/scooter thing, Coventry was 12 miles away.....

Anyways I got home with that strange looking LP, me and some of my gang only played those two albums for a year or two it got worn out. I broke my leg on my scooter and was in plaster and off work for a year... Moulty helped me through a year of operations and bone grafts to get my leg fixed. One of those friends gave me a french issued 1st Blues Magoos album from his Dads collection it was truly trashed but played. Once I got fixed and got my compensation a mere 5 grand I hit London every month or so for garage comp records and fancy retro duds. Wish I had the sense to spend it on original vinyl then and not the reissues but quantity was needed to immerse ones self into reverberating fuzzy mid60's teen angst.

Those friends came with their Stooges, Underground, MC5 trying to ween me off but they never got that innocent naivety off that twanged my heart.

So Fuck it yeah gonna man up and say today and for always

MOULTY - The Barbarians

sorry for thee ramble

In the early 80s (1981-82) I used to listen to late night Radio 1 in particular DJ's David 'Kid' Jensen and John Peel. They played the indie and punk stuff. I was still in my early teens so was open to new sounds especially if it pissed my parents off...lol...

Anyway, one evening Kid Jensen played a record without introducing it.....cue coolsville riff, clattering tambourine and classy organ bursts....then the pissed off vocalist started singing the opening lines

"I'm gonna tell you a story,
I'm gonna tell you about my Town"
I'm gonna tell you a big fat story, baby"

OK, OK....I started thinking to myself....how cool and I mean how COOL is that sound. That's what I want to listen to. Forget that indie shit, this is the SHIT!!!

And that was the start of my 60s garage obsession and 30 years later 'Dirty Water' by The Standells has remained my number 1 song ever since.

 

[chas_kit]

If I had to pick one, it would be 13 Stories High by the Botumles Pit.

Crude, repetitive, powerful and good from start to finish. The essence of garage. Anyone have a spare?

 

[HarvestmanMan]

I had to add a couple more.

Shadows of Knight - Gospel Zone
New Lime - Ain't Got No Soul
Outcasts - 1523 Blair
Paragons - Abba
Stingrays of Newburgh - Fool
Lyrics - So What!!

 

[Frantic]

How come when someone starts a thread with the BEST or FAVE in the title, a lot of you guys submit these long lists? I don't get it. If you can't pick a best song, well then narrowing it down to 2 or 3 would probably suffice. Jes' sayin' Usually if it's more than 1 or 2 I don't even look at them.

 

[chas_kit]

How come when someone starts a thread with the BEST or FAVE in the title, a lot of you guys submit these long lists? I don't get it. If you can't pick a best song, well then narrowing it down to 2 or 3 would probably suffice. Jes' sayin' Usually if it's more than 1 or 2 I don't even look at them.

Amen! There can only be one 'best'

 

[axel]

How come when someone starts a thread with the BEST or FAVE in the title, a lot of you guys submit these long lists? I don't get it. If you can't pick a best song, well then narrowing it down to 2 or 3 would probably suffice. Jes' sayin' Usually if it's more than 1 or 2 I don't even look at them.

Very simple: there is no best. It's even hard to narrow it down. This is a game. It's fun just pondering which could be the ones to choose from. Remember: "Rules schmools..."
So what's your fave, judge? Two or three would be fine.