THE BALANCING ACT - "New Campfire Songs" (1987)

 

Rich here, remembering a time back in the pre-grunge days of 1987 when any music that wasn't mainstream was referred to as "alternative," I was knocked out by "New Campfire Songs," an EP by the LA indie/acoustic band The Balancing Act, a band that fit well within the sub-genre of Quirky Music. And in the case of The Balancing Act, their combination of folk-jazz-pop and erratic rhythms could hardly be labeled as anything but quirky. As I wrote at the time for Seattle's leading rock newspaper, The Rocket: Instead of Peter, Paul & Mary and Pete Seeger, The Balancing Act's campfire songs sound like they were written after a night of slam-dancing to the Violent Femmes. Their songs were full of strange twists, jerky rhythms, odd subject matter, and oft-times jazzy turns of phrase. 

 

And, damn, the songs were catchy as hell. So here's a song about waking up in the morning after an evening camping in a sleeping bag and shaking out the scorpions, claiming that the camper in question is not lost.

THE BALANCING ACT - "We're Not Lost"

LESSER KNOWN BRITISH BIRDS

 

The 1960's produced a lot of hit singles by British female vocalists like Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Marianne Faithfull, Mary Hopkin, and Sandie Shaw. 

 

For every one of those names you've heard of, there are probably ten or more others that basically nobody in the United States knows of like Sharon Tandy, who released this killer single in 1968.

SHARON TANDY - "Hold On" 

 

Here's a cover of a song originally recorded by The Sorrows in 1965. Tracy Rogers did her version in 1966. Both versions totally rock!
 

Tracy Rogers - "Baby"

 

Also from 1966, here's Tiffany with the Thoughts and the flip side of "Find Out What's Happening."

TIFFANY with the THOUGHTS - "Baby Don't Look Down"

 

There were many more like Peanut, Maxine Darren, Twinkle, and Mally Page, but you're not likely to ever hear them on your local FM radio station, or anywhere else except maybe here, and that's really a shame because a lot of these gals really rocked!

PETER B's LOONERS - Jodrell Blues" (1966)

Here's an interesting piece from 1966. The Peter B in question is Peter Bardens who was the keyboard player in the band Camel to begin with.

 

After Camel, Peter played with a bunch of different people over the years

 

 

This lineup included future Fleetwood Mac members David Ambrose on Bass (Before John McVie).

 

 

Mick Fleetwood on the Drums.

 

 

And the phenomenal Peter Green on Guitar.

This 45 featured a fairly goofy organ driven instrumental called "If You Wanna  Be Happy" on the A side, but the bluesier B side is a much better tune, and gives you a chance to hear some of Peter's early lead guitar work.

PETER B's LOONERS - "Jodrell Blues" 

ROMEO VOID - "Benefactor" (1982)

 

Romeo Void was a band from San Francisco who came out with this LP called "Benefactor" in 1982. The band was fronted by a gal named Debora Lyall who has quite a strong presence, and she's joined by Frank Zincavage, Bass, Larry Carter, Percussion, Peter Woods, Guitar, & Benjarmin Bossi, saxophone.         

This killer single made it to #147 on the charts in 1981.

ROMEO VOID - "Never Say Never" 

NADA BAND - "Not Gonna Take It No More" (1983)

 

"Get Crazy" is a film that came out in 1983, and it's got more than it's share of good musical moments in it. If you want to know more about it, then you can read this piece I wrote ten years ago on our now defunct movie blog.

 

I've written about the music in movies over a thousand times, but my favorite is, indubitably, Lori Eastside in the role of Nada.

It's very cool that now there is an edited version so it's a complete song without all the comedic breaks.

This is your lucky day! 

NADA - "Not Gonna Take It No More" 

JOHN KONGOS - "Confusions About A Goldfish" (1969)

 

South African singer/songwriter John Kongos is a pretty big deal in the UK, but by my standards, he's pretty much virtually unknown in the U.S.

In 1969 he released this LP titled "Confusions About A Goldfish," and on this record is a unique and confusing song. 

It's very catchy and I'm sure it would have been very popular if it had just made some kind of sense.

Or......maybe not! 

These days nonsense seems to be the norm!

It's just double talk! 

JOHN KONGOS - "Flim Flam Pharisee" 

THE PLANET ROCKERS - "Coming In Person" (1991)

 

Straight outta Tennessee in 1991, The Planet Rockers released this album called "Coming In Person." The band members were Bill Swartz, Eddie Angel, Mark W. Winchester, and Sonny George, and I don't much about them, except these guys knew how to rock.

Here's a case in point! 

THE PLANET ROCKERS - "Big Wheel" 

LONG SONG TITLES, PT. 3 (Love)

 

Rich here with the last part of my series about songs with long titles. 

 

If Jan & Dean were affecting no countercultural aspirations when they recorded "The Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review, and Timing Association" and Simon & Garfunkel were responding directly to the new-found fame and influence of Bob Dylan when they recorded "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)," by the time Love came along in the mid-Sixties, folk rock with all of its pretensions was in full swing, and they were trying to show that they were as hip as anyone.

 

At the time, Love was one of the biggest bands in L.A., and many thought of them as the inheritors of The Byrds' crown among Folk Rock Royalty. Unfortunately, due to a series of self-inflicted injuries to the band's  career by their mercurial leader Arthur Lee, Love never made a huge national splash, but they did, however, record several albums that are considered Folk Rock Classics, especially "Forever Changes," an adventurous album that expanded the boundaries of folk rock and which is considered by many critics to be the "Sgt. Pepper" of the genre.

 

And in those "take me where my boot heels would be wandering" times, what would a folk-rock masterpiece be without the tangled lyrical logic and meandering melody of a song with a long, unseemly title like................

LOVE - "Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale"?

THE LEWIS AND CLARKE EXPEDITION - "Earth, Air, Fire, And Water" (1967)

 

The Lewis and Clarke Expedition was a short-lived L.A. band from 1966 to 1968. In 1967 they were able to release this one album titled "Earth, Air, Fire, And Water."

Travis Lewis was actually Michael (Martin) Murphey, who later had the hit "Wildfire"as a country musician. 

"Boomer Clarke" is Owen (Boomer) Castleman, who had a hit with the song "Judy Mae." 

Other members were multi-instrumentalist Ken Bloom, guitarist John London and drummer Johnny Raines. 

I guess some member went to Argyle High School because only that would explain this rather odd song!

 Sometimes it feels like there is more than one song playing, or maybe some band like The Byrds performing with a high school marching band.

THE LEWIS AND CLARKE EXPEDITION - "Spirit Of Argyle High" 

FORBIDDEN PIGS - "Una Mas Cerveza" (1991)

 

From their 1991 LP  titled "Una Mas Cerveza" here's Billy Bacon and the Forbidden Pigs with one of their classic tunes.

The Pigs were the real deal so I'm almost positive that they are enshrined in some Carniceria Hall Of Fame somewhere.

If not, then somebody needs to work on getting that going! 

FORBIDDEN PIGS - "Mojo's Intro/Devil In The Night" 

THE NOW TIME DELEGATION - "Watch For Today" (2001)

 

Wow!

"In The Red Recordings" cut loose this album by The Now Time Delegation in 2001 called "Watch For Today."

You've got the soulful but raw vocals of Lisa Kekaula (who sings with The Bellrays these days) backed by some very off kilter guitar work by Tim Kerr and guest guitarist Matt Verta Ray which adds up to one insane but awesome ball of confusion!

The Bass by Alex Cuervo, the Drums by Steve Adkins, and the Organ by Kari Luna keep it all grounded. 

I'm not quite sure why it all works, but it does! 

Turn it up!

 Yeah! This song kills me!

THE NOW TIME DELEGATION - "Layin' On The Ground"

WITCH - "Introduction" (1972)

 

WITCH aka "We Intend To Cause Havoc" was a very cool band from Zambia. This is the cover of the re-release of their first album from 1974 when they got signed to a label.

 

 

This is the cover from their original self-produced release when they were know as The Witch.

The album was called "Introduction," and features a lot of very cool music.

Personally, I dig the Hell out of this song which sounds like it could have been recorded in a garage in the U.S. and be on one of the "Nuggets" LP's. 

WITCH - "You Better Know"  

WEEN - "Pure Guava" (1992)

 

Some songs can put a smile on your face, and this is one of those kinds of songs for me.

This song by Ween in 1992 from their album titled "Pure Guava" cracks me up every time I listen to it!

I hope it does the same for you because we all need something to laugh about in these trying times!

WEEN - "Push Th' Little Daisies"

SMALL COLORFUL OBJECTS

 

In 1966 Love did their version of Burt Bacharach's "My Little Red Book." It only made it to #52 on The Billboard Hot 100 chart which is surprising to me because it got a lot of airplay back in the day.

Burt's own version is absolutely hideous and Manfred Mann's isn't much better.

Love's will always be the classic version!

LOVE - "My Little Red Book" 

 

In 1965 The Nightcrawlers recorded this album, but it wasn't until 1967 after being re-released, that "The Little Black Egg" made it to #85 on the Billboard charts.

Later years have seen it recorded by a score of different bands.

THE NIGHTCRAWLERS - "The Little Black Egg"

LONG SONG TITLES, PT. 2 (Simon & Garfunkel)

Rich here again with a follow-up to my post about "Long Song Titles."

Assuming that Jan & Dean were a pre-Counterculture outlier when they recorded a song whose title took 2-3 mouthfuls to say. But once Bob Dylan showed off his predilections for long and/or bulky song and album titles, there was an explosion of verbosity. 

One of the most obvious responders to Dylan was Paul Simon. Whereas Dylan -- despite his middle class roots -- liked to present himself as a self-educated working class folk poet in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, Paul Simon made no bones about being a college-educated intellectual, and he was more than a bit jealous of Dylan, whom Simon felt was dishonestly portraying himself. 

And so it was obvious that Simon was satirizing Dylan when he penned "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)." And if the point was lost on any listeners, Simon included the lines "He's so unhip that when you say 'Dylan,' he thinks you're talkin' about Dylan Thomas, whoever he was. The man ain't got no culture. But it's all right, ma, everybody must get stoned."
 SIMON & GARFUNKEL - "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)"

GEORGE BRIGMAN - "Rags In Skull" (2007)

 

George Brigman is a guitarist from Baltimore, MD. In 1975 he put together an LP called "Jungle Rot," and I'm guessing it didn't sell that well because his next release wouldn't be until 32 years later.

 

 

In 2007 George came out with a CD called "Rags In Skulls," and there is a song on this CD that's very interesting.This song is an instrumental, and while listening to it you can easily visualize mischievous Leprechauns skittering around, creating mayhem, and doing whatever other things that Leprechauns do.

GEORGE BRIGMAN - "Leprechauns" 

PHLUPH - "Ellyptical Machine" (1968)

 

PHLUPH!

Number one rule in music, if you want to make sure that you have no chance to be successful then chose a name that nobody can pronounce or spell correctly. 

And if that doesn't work, have somebody create you an album cover that looks like you're being digested by Green Slime or Triffids! 

 

 I think it worked great for this band from Boston in 1968. 

And if that doesn't work, then come up with a song title like this.

PHLUPH - "Ellyptical Machine" 

So what does it do exactly?  

THE MAGIC MIXTURE - "This Is Magic Mixture" (1968)

 

The Magic Mixture was a 1960's UK Psych band that never got much further than this release titled "This Is Magic Mixture."

 "Can you imagine a life with no pain,

a boring existence, outside with no rain." 

I guess that was all right with them.  

THE MAGIC MIXTURE - "It's All Right By Me" 

KING USZNIEWICZ AND HIS USZNIEWICZTONES - "Teenage Dance Party" (1989)

 

So here's how the story goes.

 In the 1970s, Cub Koda and Brownsville Station roadies created a deliberately terrible band named King Uszniewicz and His Uszniewicztones. Supposedly they made a 45 and while on tour in the Midwest they put them in thrift stores to make it appear that they were a real band. The face on the record sleeve was Cub Koda's father George Uszniewicz.

So, in other words, the whole thing is a joke, so just remember that when you hear the worst saxophone playing imaginable. 

KING USZNIEWICZ AND HIS USZNIEWICZTONES - "Surfin' School" 

ATERCIOPELADOS – "La Pipa De La Paz" (1996)

 

The Colombian band Aterciopelados came out with this album titled "La Pipa De La Paz" in 1996. I'm not quite sure how I came around to hearing this song, but I liked it from the first time I heard it.

This international music moves, taps into many genres, and is driven by the vocals of Andrea Echeverr, who proves that she is a "serious little thing!"

Andrea's partner in this activist band is bassist Hector Buitrago.

While Aterciopelados might not be a household name in the United States, in 2001, the band was recognized by the writers of Time magazine as one of the top 10 contemporary global bands outside of the U.S.

"¡Disfruta!" 

ATERCIOPELADOS - "Cosita Seria"

MAD DOG - "Dawn Of The Seventh Son" (1969)(2003)

 

Mad Dog - "Dawn Of The Seventh Son" was recorded in 1969 but was not released until 2003 when the Swiss record label RD Records discovered it.

 

Mad Dog was a band from California, and this CD is really quite interesting. Most of the songs are good, but it's the instrumentals that are the standout for me, and the title song is one of them!

This song is almost seven minutes long, but not even close to being boring as it goes through multiple different changes from mellow acoustic to hard rock, to jazz, and back again! 

It's old, it's new, it's bold, it's unique.

 It's Mad Dog! 

MAD DOG - "Dawn Of The Seventh Sun" 

LONG SONG TITLES, PT. 1 (Jan & Dean)

Rich here.

As you know, the Sixties Counterculture was filled with bands and albums with long names and titles -- Big Brother & The Holding Company, Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club, etc. Bob Dylan was arguably the progenitor of the twisted wordiness with songs like "Subterranean Homesick Blues," "Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat," and "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again."

But whoever figured that Jan & Dean -- who were decidedly NOT a counterculture band -- might be among the first to write & record a song with a lengthy title? The duo was in the midst of their fascination with old ladies (as demonstrated by their hit single, "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena") when they put this mind-bogglingly clever and long-titled "Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review, and Timing Association" on its B-side. And in this way, Jan & Dean beat out most of the counterculture bands by a year or two, in terms of wordy song titles. Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny, Go.
 JAN & DEAN - "Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review, and Timing Association"

THE QUARTER AFTER - "So Far To Fall" (2005)

 

For any fans of bands like The Byrds or Moby Grape, The Quarter After, a band from Los Angeles, will be your new favorite I guarantee, but unfortunately seemingly nobody else cares, as this self-titled release from 2005 never really went anywhere.

 

 

 It's a shame because these guys are really good and their music deserves to be heard by a lot more people.

They made a fresh album of original songs that are retro without being pretentious. 

I think you'll agree! 

 THE QUARTER AFTER - "So Far To Fall"

MICKEY STEPHENS & POOR BLUE - "Wasteground" (2018)

 

The first time I heard of Mickey Stephens was in 2018 when Lord Litter played one of his songs on his radio show on KWTF (Are those not the greatest call letters of all time or what?).

I thought "Wasteground" was one of the best songs I had heard lately with it's laid back feel, and ultra cool trumpet solo. 

Lord Litter kept on playing Mickey's music and one day I asked him "What's going on with Mickey Stephens?" and he told me he had completely lost touch with him, but he had heard he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.

A little over a year ago Lord Litter passed away, and I had completely forgotten about our Mickey Stephens conversation.

I started thinking about it again the other day, and there is little to find.

 

All the links I could find to the "Wasteground" site are dead, and I can't even find a reference to this music on Discogs, but I did find this extensive article about Mickey and his early history in an Irish band called The Mighty Shamrocks.

You can read it right HERE!

I can't find just the song, but here's Lord Litter's radio program that I heard it on. It's the opening song, so just give it a minute or two. It will be worth it, and by all means, go ahead and listen to the rest of the show or any of the other Lord Litter shows. If you like a wide variety of music, I guarantee you won't regret it.

The world needs more music like this Mickey, just let us know where to find it!

MICKEY STEPHENS AND POOR BLUE - "Wasteground"

LOOSE FUR - "Born Again In The USA" (2006)

 

Loose Fur was a side project of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. "Born Again In The USA" from 2006 was their second and last album together. Jeff Tweedy was joined on this record by Glenn Kotche on Drums & Percussion, and Jim O'Rourke on Bass, Keys, Guitars and vocals.

After this both Glenn and Jim ended up playing in Wilco. 

Lots of changes! 

The cover art is done by Japaneses artist Tomoo Gokita.

LOOSE FUR - "Hey Chicken" 

WHAT A RAUNCHY SONG!

 

The definition of the word "Raunchy" is earthy, vulgar, slovenly, grubby and often sexually explicit!

The instrumental song "Raunchy" was written by Bill Justis and Sidney Manker, and was released as a single in 1957, making it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and #2 on the R&B singles charts in 1958.

Oddly enough, it also made it to #6 on the list of country singles in that year. 

Bill Justis then recorded the song two more times, and it was the title of this album in 1969. 

BILL JUSTIS - "Raunchy" 

 

This version by Ernie Freeman released also in 1957 was very popular, having also reached #1 on the R&B singles charts in 1958.

ERNIE FREEMAN - "Raunchy"

 

  

It is said that in 1958 when a 15 year old George Harrison auditioned to be in John Lennon's band The Quarrymen, the song he played was "Raunchy."

 

"Raunchy" has been recorded by many artists including Duane Eddy, Santo & Johnny, Billy Strange, and The Incredible Bongo Band just to name a few, but one version I really like is the one by The Ventures" from their first album of 149 they made, released in 1960 titled "Walk Don't Run."

Unlike many versions, they didn't need a sax! 

THE VENTURES - "Raunchy"

If you'd like to hear more versions of "Raunchy" then what you don't want to do is search for "Raunchy" song on YouTube. I'll just say I thought porn wasn't allowed on YouTube, but I guess it's okay if it's in the form of vulgar songs.

NEW PUMF RELEASES JULY 2025

 

pStan Batcow has just announced that there are three new releases out on his Pumf Records label this month.

The first one is 'Cutting Wood When The Wind Is Blowing' by Howl in the Typewriter - an album of repetition, where the usual structure of music underlaid with background sounds is inverted, meaning the music is subsumed by the incidental - this gives an unsettling feel to the whole aural groove, though with enough structure remaining to hypnotise and enthrall the listener.

 

 

The second one is  'A Piece of Steam' by Quougnpt - a barrage of soundbites cluster together and create otherworlds of the imagination, track-hopping from one train of thought to another as if demented gremlins are switching the points at random. 

 

 

And the third one is the 27th volume in the amazing godspunk series.

godspunk volume twenty-seven - a double-CD compilation, featuring fifteen bands / artistes from Planet Earth, performing 41 songs in their own inimitable styles, veering wildly through punky pop to abstract sounds, electronic to ambient, noise to psychedelic and folk / country. 

You can listen to and buy any or all at these two Pumf sites, 

so what are you waiting for? 

 PUMF.NET

or

PUMFBANDCAMP.COM 

HI FI AND THE ROADBURNERS - "Wine, Women And Sin" (1996)

 

HI FI And The Roadburners was a good time band from Chicago, Illinois that was founded in 1984 by brothers Erik and Hans Kish. 

 

 Erik was the main vocalist and played Rhythm Guitar, and Hans sang background vocals and played Bass. 

The other members were Jeff Schuch on Lead Guitar, Dan Curry on Drums, and the mighty Dennis McQuinn on Sax!

The brothers Kish also owned and operated Fear City Choppers, a business that customized Harley and Triumph motorcycles. 

Sadly, the band quit recording in 2011 after Erik Kish died from a motorcycle accident. Hans passed away in 2023.

HI FI AND THE ROADBURNERS - "What The Hell"