JACOB MILLER - "Tenement Yard" (1976)

 

Jacob Miller was a killer Reggae artist who died in 1980 at the age of 27. While I've never seen his name listed as one of the members of the 27 Club, he sure should be included as he was a very influential musician!

Who do I need to petition? 

Here's one of his better known songs, the title of this 1976 release.

JACOB MILLER - "Tenement Yard" 

THE CHARLATANS - "32-20" (1966)

 

Back in 1966, bay area band The Charlatans released this Leiber & Stoller penned song "The Shadow Knows." 

Just in case you somehow don't know who Leiber & Stoller are, here's just a couple of samples of their compositional skills. I'm talking "Jailhouse Rock" and "Hound Dog" by Elvis, almost every hit by The Coasters, and the über classics, "Kansas City," and "Love Potion Number 9" just to name a few.

Supposedly, just "Love Potion Number 9" has been recorded over 180 times. Pretty incredible!

So I'm sure The Charlatans figured "The Shadow Knows" would be a guaranteed hit, but no such luck, apparently the Shadow didn't know.

This early version of The Charlatans included Dan Hicks, who would go on to lead one of the best bands I've ever seen live, Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks.

So here's a much better song, the flip side of "The Shadow Knows."

THE CHARLATANS - "32-20" 

SUPER DELUXE - "Famous" (1996)

 

Straight out of  Seattle in 1996, this album titled "Famous" by the band Super Deluxe, had a song on it that was named Power Pop Record Of The Year by Melody Maker magazine, and was also used in the film "Kingpin," which you would think would make it memorable, but alas that was 30 years ago, so there's a good chance you've never heard it or maybe forgot you ever heard it even though they were "famous" for a while.

So, here you go....it's back!!

SUPER DELUXE - "She Came On" 

BIG DADDY SUN & THE OUTER PLANETS - "Rockabilly" (1981)

 

Weird Rockabilly Clash cover by Big Daddy Sun and the Outer Planets from 1981.

The Clash's song was one kind of Rockabilly, and this saxophone driven version is something else again, but still Rockabilly. 

Confusing no doubt, but I dig it right down to the "Twilight Zone" ending.

BIG DADDY SUN - "Brand New Cadillac"

KING BISCUIT BOY - "Gooduns" (1971)

 

Probably not the most politically correct song in the world, but it sure does rock, so here's a great cut from this 1971 LP called "Gooduns" by King Biscuit Boy.

I don't suppose it's any worse than these lyrics by John Lennon, 

"You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end, little girl."

KING BISCUIT BOY - "Boom Boom (Out Go The Lights)" 

WHEN WERE THE INSOMNIACS NOT THE INSOMNIACS?

 

Rich here to talk about another DIY band I met back in the somewhat early days of my involvement in Cassette Culture. 

 

Back in the early '90s a friend of mine sent me a mix-tape that included a couple songs that I really liked by a band I'd never heard of -- THE INSOMNIACS from rural Illinois. I was strongly attracted to the unique voice of their lead singer, their rough-hewn sound and melodies that bore mid-Sixties Kinks and other British Invasion influences, and the band's heartland appeal. 

 

A few months later I was fortunate to find myself trading some of my self-recorded music with the bass player and principal songwriter of THE INSOMNIACS, Bill Retoff, and we became quite close, often talking on the phone for several hours about how we wrote songs, how we recorded, and about the difficulties of making a living as a musician in the Heartland of America, a subject I knew well, given that before I moved to Seattle in the mid-'80s, I'd tried to make a living as a "road musician" in Kansas.

 

At some point, the tapes and records Bill was sending me were no longer inscribed with the name "The Insomniacs." Instead, they bore the name RETOFF, McKENZIE, BUTLER & PIERCE.

 

Turns out there was another band known as The Insomniacs who were unhappy that someone else was using their name, which they felt they had prior rights to. Being the nice, polite Midwestern guys they were, RETOFF, McKENZIE, BUTLER & PIERCE relinquished the Insomniacs name and adopted a "law firm" type moniker featuring only their surnames. 

 

 

After that, the band lasted only a few short years more (roughly 'til the mid-to-late '90s, I believe). But in 1997 the French label Pop The Balloon Records released a compilation album called "Where Were You . . . When the Lights Went Out! The Retoff, McKenzie, Butler & Pierce Story," a collection that included all the band's recordings. 

 

After the dissolution of the band, Bill Retoff went on to release several solo recordings on his own label (Maize Records), which were recorded in his home, which he calls "The Psychedelic Farmhouse," and he has a busy schedule playing with the bar band Ray's Rockets. Meanwhile lead singer Dan McKenzie has performed with a couple other bands, including The Porcupines and The Gilligans (the latter whom I have written about before) and is a leading figure in local community theatre.

 

But the music of The (Illinois) Insomniacs lives on.

 THE INSOMNIACS - "If I'm Not Your Man" (1989)

"THE INSOMNIACS - "It's What You Do To Me" (1992)

THE BATMEN - "Get On Your Knees" (1987)

 

The Batmen were from Grenoble, France. 

The band formed in 1984 and disbanded in 1988, and in 1987 they brought out this snappy little single. 

From the sound of it, they truly deserved a larger audience! 

THE BATMEN - "Get On Your Knees"