TWO PSYCHO 60's SONGS

 

In the 1960's there were at least two singles released titled "Psycho," and neither of them had anything to do with Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece of the same name.

 

The same year as Hitchcock's "Psycho," Bobby Hendricks came out with a song named "Psycho."

Listen to it, and then you tell me how this ever got played on AM radio, but it did.

I've heard a lot of weird songs in my life, but this one is up at the top of the list.

 A psychiatrist call and response with a teenager full of angst hopped up on something.

66 years later, and still strange as Hell!

And what about that guy Bob? Whatever happened to him?

The voice of the psychiatrist was New York City DJ Tommy Smalls, aka Dr. Jive.

BOBBY HENDRICKS - "Psycho"

 

In 1965 the kings of Northwest rock, The Sonics, came out with a completely different song with the same name, the incredible "Psycho."

If you don't believe them, just wait for those screams! 

Pretty funny that a song named "Psycho" would come out on the "Etiquette" label. 

Not sure why, but for some reason this song just drives me crazy!!

THE SONICS - "Psycho"

TERJE RYPDAL - "Bleak House " (1968)

 

The brilliant Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal was only 21 years old when he recorded this first album of his called "Bleak House" in 1968.

Terje studied classical piano and trumpet as a child, and taught himself how to play the guitar when he was a teenager. 

The rest is legacy, the rest is history. 

I'm just guessing but I'm pretty sure from the sound of the music, and from the title of this song, that it was written as a tribute to the great Wes Montgomery, one of the finest jazz guitarists on the planet!

TERJE RYPDAL - "Wes" 

THE FALL - "Totally Wired" (1980)

 

The Fall, 50 singles, 34 studio albums, a play, and a ballet to their credits, and yet they are still basically unknown to American audiences.

What does it take?

What kind of job is more difficult to make it to the top, a professional boxer, or a musician? 

It's a tough call!

In either of those jobs you get beat up along the way 

 

 The Fall's most successful recording was a cover of The Kinks' "Victoria," that made it to number 35 on the UK charts in 1988.

In 1980, they came out with this awesome single!

THE FALL - "Totally Wired" 

 

LES McCANN, LTD. - "The Truth" (1960)

 

This single of "The Truth" was taken from Les McCann's 1960 album titled "The Truth," of course, as recorded by Les McCann, LTD.

And just in case for some reason Les's piano theatrics aren't enough for you, you have the phenomenal Leroy Vinegar on bass, and Ron Jefferson on the drums! 

On the album, the song is 5:49, so they cut it up into "Part 1" and "Part 2" for the single, and it works out quite nicely since the song is basically in two sections anyway. It starts off cool, slow, and moody, and then starts swinging for the second part.

Just beautiful!!

LES McCANN, LTD. - "The Truth" 

THE BLUE THINGS - "High Life" (1966)

 

Rich here to sing the praises of The Blue Things, a band from Hays, Kansas, who were wildly popular throughout the Plains States between Canada and Mexico during the Sixties. Unfortunately, their regional success never transcended the Heartland -- not unlike many successful regional bands of the time, whose base of operations was hundreds of miles away from the big media centers, and whose records weren't promoted on the most influential stations whose radio signals reached across thousands of miles.

 

Still, The Blue Things caught the attention of RCA Records in Nashville, and in 1966 the band released an album full of excellent Bob Dylan-and-John Lennon-inspired folk-rock songs. It should have been a big hit, but was not to be. 

THE BLUE THINGS - "High Life"  

THE EXPLORERS - "Lorelei" (1984)

 

Classic sounding 1980's UK Synth Pop Rock by The Explorers, and as stated on Discogs, "Recorded on the lakes of Killarney in Ireland to get that special echo."

Cool! That works for me! 

THE EXPLORERS - "Lorelei" 

CONCRETE BLONDE Y LOS ILLEGALS - "Another 100 Years Of Solitude" (1997)

 

A lot of the music on this 1997 album by Concrete Blonde Y Los Illegals is easy going, but here's a song that really cooks! 

CONCRETE BLONDE Y LOS ILLEGALS - "Another 100 Years Of Solitude"