BIG BEE KORNEGAY - "At The House Of Frankenstein" (1958)

 

In 1958 Big Bee Kornegay recorded a pretty cool single on the Go Records label called "The Fiesta Rock'N Roll," and as cool as that is, I do prefer the flip side just for the subject matter.

 

The 'B' side was called "At The House Of Frankenstein," and it totally rocks enough that it made me want to create this A-I picture.

 

There's not a lot to find out about Big Bee, except that he also recorded a song called "Hocus Pocus Voo Doo" as Big Bob Kornegay, and recorded other songs as Big Daddy And His Boys, Dave And Bob, and The Du Droppers. 

BIG BEE KORNEGAY - "At THE House Of Frankenstein" 

NRBQ - "Down in My Heart" (1970)

 

Rich here. If you grew up going to Sunday School every week like virtually every Baby Boomer kid did in the '50s and '60s, you almost certainly sang one of the most ubiquitous Sunday School songs of the mid-20th Century -- a catchy song with a chorus that went 

"I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy -- down in my heart." 

 

Well, leave it to the cult band NRBQ -- a band that's been called "The Best Bar Band in the World" and who have been around since the mid-'60s and continue to this day playing an extremely wide variety of rock, R&B, pop, jazz, often with tongues firmly in their cheeks. Their version of this Sunday School classic is . . . uh, classic!

NRBQ - "Down In My Heart" 

SCREAMIN' J HAWKINS - "Little Demon" (1958)

 

There have been lots of wild and krazy musicians over the years, but I don't think anybody has ever topped Screamin' J Hawkins. This man was the original, and he came out with this totally unique self-titled album way back in 1958, and believe it or not, Screamin' J Hawkins is not in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

How is that even possible? 

 

Besides his vocal antics, Screamin" J also had one of the Greatest album covers of all time when he released this album called "Because Is In Your Mind" in 1970.

This cover painting was created by Chicago artist Karl Wirsum who was a member of an Amalgam of artists in Chicago called "The Hairy Who."

You can go to The Art Institute Of Chicago website to see some more of Karl's uncanny imagery.

In the meantime, here's one incredible song by Screamin' J Hawkins.

SCREAMIN' J HAWKINS - "Little Demon"  

THE BLUES VISION - "Counting Sheep" (2013)

 

I'm not a big fan of slow blues songs, especially not overly long ones, that is, unless they are as cool as what The Blues Vision from Belgium did in 2013 on this release titled "Counting Sheep."

This song is not just slow, it barely makes it from one beat to the next, but is still totally fascinating for the full six minutes and twenty-three seconds.

Slow but damn sure!! You can just feel the pain!

THE BLUES VISION - "My Bread Machine Is Broken" 

THE ELECTRIC COMPANY - "Scarey Business" (1966)

 

Formerly known as Lothar and the Hand People, The Electric Company released this manic single in 1966! It was re-released on this UK various artists compilation CD by Big Beat Records in 2001.

This was their only recorded work.

"One more thing before you go, that's right, I'll see you later, much later!" 

 

 

THE ELECTRIC COMPANY - "Scarey Business" (1966) 

INXS - "The Swing" (1984)

 

Probably one of the more underrated bands of the 80's, here's a song off of INXS's 1984 LP titled "The Swing," that I sure as Hell never get tired of listening to because it's just too good!

INXS - "I Send A Message"

ORB, ORBIT, ORBITAL (1997)

 

In 1997 there were at least three groups with similar names orbiting around the contemporary musical universe.

 

 

There was an electronic UK group called Orb or The Orb that came out with a record titled "Orblivion."

 

 

There was also a British hard rock band called Orbit who released an album called "Medicine." 

 

 

The third group, and my favorite of the three, was called Orbital, and was a British pair of brothers who in 1997 contributed to the soundtrack of the movie "The Saint."

ORBITAL - "The Saint" 

PETER THOMAS - "Peter Scores" (2002)

 

The official name of this 2002 release by my favorite soundtrack composer is "Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra - Peter Scores - The Erotic World Of The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra."

Peter wrote the soundtracks for countless Edgar Wallace films, the music in the German "Space Patrol," series "Raumpatrouille," and all the Jerry Cotton films.

Whatever was asked from him, Peter always came up with something unique. 

Something like this....

PETER THOMAS - "Coitus Crush" 

DEEP PURPLE - "Bird Has Flown" (1969)

 

Rich here to ask you to give a listen to a side of Deep Purple you might not be acquainted with. 

 

Average rock fans know the hits of what is called the "Mark II" era of Deep Purple when they were known as the loudest band in the world and churning out proto-heavy metal hits like "Smoke On the Water" and "Woman from Tokyo." But, generally speaking, the only things that many fans know from earlier in their career are their chart-placing single, "Hush," from their debut album, and, perhaps, their cover of "Kentucky Woman." 

 

In their "Mark I" period (i.e, their first four albums), Deep Purple was searching for an identity, styling themselves as a psychedelic acid rock band, experimenting with post-Jimi Hendrix guitar heroics, flirting with symphonic rock, and dabbling in what might later be called Prog. And, sure, they eventually fired a couple guys and got some new ones, the instrumentation got really heavy, they jettisoned all the art-pomp and pop, and became Heavy Metal Pioneers.

 

But, still, those early albums have a treasure trove of cool stuff.

DEEP PURPLE - "Bird Has Flown"

THE AMAZING ROYAL CROWNS - "Do The Devil" (1997)

 

They started off as The Royal Crowns in 1993. In 1997 it was suggested to them to change their name so as to not get mixed up with The Royal Crown Revue, so they changed their name to The Amazing Royal Crowns. In 1998 The Royal Crown Revue brought a lawsuit against them so they had to change their name again, this time to The Amazing Crowns.

I think the funny thing is that none of it had anything to do with Royal Crown Soda, aka RC Cola, who you would think would have the original rights to the name.

All I know is no matter what you call them, these guys know how to make some fun music, and here's a damn fine example! 

THE AMAZING ROYAL CROWNS - "Do The Devil" 

FRANKENSTEIN AND THE ALL-STAR MONSTER BAND - "Creatures" (1984)

 

I'm sure if he were still alive today that Kim Fowley wouldn't mind me calling him a freak, because he was one, both in good and bad ways, but either way, the history of popular music would be quite different without him.

From "Alley-Oop," to "Bunny and Bear," to "The Runaways," Kim was always pushing buttons of change!

Just read this Wikipedia article about him, and when you're done, donate ten or twenty dollars to them for bringing you such a vast array of information on one wild son of a gun!

The only thing you won't find out is any more information about this record!

Here's the line-up of the 'All-Star' band!
Doctor Dog as Frankenstein
Larry Lizard as The Yellow Porcupine
Jumbo Frog as Sea Wolf, Captain Of The Vampire Navy
Video Pig as Ronnie Reptile
Empress Of The Underworld as herself
Dorothy Dinosaur as Little Girl 

FRANKENSTEIN AND THE ALL-STAR MONSTER BAND - "Creatures" 

COUNT BASIE - "The Atomic Mr. Basie" (1958)

 

Talk about a 'Blue Monday," and what in the Hell was Roulette Records thinking about when they released this 1958 LP by the Maestro Count Basie?

The moderate title was "Basie," the second title was "Basie (E=MC²)," and in Europe, some countries had it titled as 

"The Atomic Mr. Basie"

At this place in time, a lot of people were building fallout shelters! 

It was a blast!

COUNT BASIE - "Splanky" 

SIR FROG AND THE TOADS - "The Frog" (1965)

 

They weren't around for long, but Sir Frog and The Toads somehow managed to get this one single made in 1965. The flip side was titled "Mustang."

There are only four copies for sale on Discogs, and the cheapest one is $100.00, so if you stumble across a copy some day at a garage sale, grab it!

SIR FROG AND THE TOADS - "The Frog" 

THE DIRECT HITS - "Blow Up" (1984)

 

The Direct Hits were a short-lived group from South London. They only had this one album release titled "Blow Up" in 1984.

Sometimes just being good isn't good enough! 

THE DIRECT HITS - "Ever Ready Plaything" 

THE SWINGERS - "Counting The Beat" (1982)

 

Some bands just have something, and sometimes it's very obvious, and some times it can be very subliminal.

There's also one other thing, and that is some bands are just infectious, and that's how I feel about The Swingers and this album from 1982 titled "Counting The Beat."

I loved this song from the first time I heard it, and it still sounds just as good today.

That's infectious no doubt! 

THE SWINGERS - "Counting The Beat" 

THE E-TYPES - "Put the Clock Back on the Wall" (1967)

 

Rich here to revisit one of my favorite musical eras, the days of psychedelia. At its peak, major label bands like The Beatles and The Moody Blues and Jimi Hendrix were using the tools of the recording studio to lyrically and/or musically re-create an hallucinogenic acid trip.

 

It was one of Rock's most creative eras.

 

But even garage bands without the money to afford an expensive studio were creating their own acid-tinged records -- as evidenced in the oft-reissued multi-disc compilation album series "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968." 

 

 

One of the best and most accomplished of those garage bands was The E-Types, whose record "Put the Clock Back on the Wall" was a centerpiece of the soundtrack to the poorly distributed sensationalistic B-movie, "Blonde on a Bum Trip (She's Lovely, Sexy, Dangerous)." Notice the initials of the sub-title?

 

Despite how bad the movie was, the soundtrack was pretty great and has been recently been reissued by the fabulous Sundazed record label.

THE E-TYPES - Put The Clock Back On The Wall 

THE INCREDIBLE JIMMY SMITH - "Monster" (1965)

 

Equally not scary, but very cool in concept is this 1965 LP by The Incredible Jimmy Smith titled "Monster."

Jimmy, with the help of arranger Oliver Nelson performs covers of the song everyone knows "The Theme From The Munsters," and a song that should be equally familiar to almost everyone who lived through the 60's.

 

 JIMMY SMITH - "Theme From Bewitched" 

THE GRAVEDIGGER V - "All Black And Hairy" (1984)

 

Well, we are almost halfway through October so I guess it's time to be a little scary so here's a record from 1984 by The Gravedigger V titled "All Black And Hairy" that ought to do the trick.

This song is really not that frightening, but I do like the album's pre-code comic book style cover art! 

The album title comes from the title of a song written by wild man, Screaming Lord Sutch. 

THE GRAVEDIGGER V - "Do Like Me" 

LINK PROTUDI AND THE JAYMEN - "Drive It Home" (1987)

 

If you like your music without insipid vocals and lyrics, but just want to kick back with a cold one, and some greasy and sleazy music, then Link Protrudi And The Jaymen is the band for you.

 

And if you want some music for your naked "Crisco twister party," then look no further, Link and the boys are the guys for the job!

 

 

What else do you need to know? 

LINK PROTUDI AND THE JAYMEN - "The Stroll" 

THE GUN CLUB - "Death Party" (1983)

 

The Gun Club were fronted by Jeffrey Lee Pierce who somehow made it past the 27 club, but still only made it to the age of 37.

What a guy, and the influences of this band are too many to mention. They did it all, but always in their own personal way

This album "Death Party" came out in 1983.

There have been a lot of raw and sloppy bands over time, but none quite as accessible as this one, at least in my opinion.

THE GUN CLUB - "Death Party"

THE CHAMPS - "Jalisco" (1963)

 

Everybody knows the song "Tequila" by The Champs, but you might not be as familiar with the B side of this 1963 single. The A side was titled "San Juan" but it didn't have much success.

The Champs recorded for "Challenge Records" which was owned by cowboy star Gene Autry, and their name was derived from the name of Gene's famous horse Champion. 

This song was written by none other than Mr. Glenn Campbell who was a member of the band in their later years.  

THE CHAMPS - "Jalisco" 

THE HIGH NUMBERS - "Walking The Dog" (1964)

 

For a period of about three months in 1964, The Who called themselves The High Numbers. 

 

They released this single titled "Zoot Suit" that was backed with a song called "I'm The Face"under that name, but it didn't really go anywhere.

 

Actually before they came up with the name The Who, they were called The Detours, so this was kind of a U turn for them.

As The High Numbers they recorded some studio tracks that were never released at the time and here's one of the better ones.

 THE HIGH NUMBERS - "Walking The Dog" 

ALIAS PINK PUZZ - "Let Me!" (1969)

 

Rich here, thinking about the reasons why some artists have occasionally changed their names. For instance:

After writing several hit records for his girlfriend Jane Asher's brother  Peter of the duo Peter & Gordon, Paul McCartney wasn't sure whether the duo's success was due to his name being listed as the songwriter; so when Peter & Gordon released the McCartney-written single "Woman" (1966), he decided to list his name as "Bernard Webb." But talent won out; it was a well-written song, Peter & Gordon performed it wonderfully, and the record was still a big hit. That wouldn't be the last time McCartney would adopt a fake name over his long career.

For a couple years at the height of their success, The Four Seasons released several singles under the name "Wonder Who" to distinguish those records as different than their normal fare as The Four Seasons. One of the records, a cover of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice" (1965), became a hit record. 

 

Then there was the extremely popular Sixties band that had sold millions of records but had become frustrated that many viewed them as nothing more than a teeny bopper group, a label that ignored their R&B and frat-rock origins. And particularly by 1969, when rock music had gotten heavier, they decided to slap a new band name on the promotional singles of their latest record in the hopes that more-progressive deejays would give airplay to ALIAS PINK PUZZ when they might have otherwise rejected a record by the band's real name. It didn't matter; there was no mistaking Mark Lindsay's distinctive voice. Still, it was a great, rocking single, and when the album later came out, the cover included both names, Alias Pink Puzz and the band's real name, Paul Revere & The Raiders.

ALIAS PINK PUZZ - "Let Me!"

THE BART WALKER BAND - "Who I Am" (2011)

 

Bart Walker released this CDr titled "Who I Am" in 2011 and it's got some great music on it.

Musically, there's not much worse for me that a long, plodding slow blues song, so here's great song that is not any of that.

This is my kind of blues cause this sucker rocks!! 

THE BART WALKER BAND - "Left Turn"

THE JELLY BEAN BANDITS - "Poor Precious Dreams" (1967)

 

This self-titled LP by The Jelly Bean Bandits album came out in 1967. I got my copy years later as a cutout at a Zody's Department Store back in about 1985. It cost me 25 cents.

One of the best bargains ever because despite their appearance, The Jelly Bean Bandits were a very good band. This song is just as good as a lot of stuff that came out in 1967, and considering how much awesome music came out that year, that's saying a lot!

THE JELLY BEAN BANDITS - "Poor Precious Dreams"

THE HAUNTED - "1 - 2 - 3" (1966)

 

The Haunted were one of the first rock bands from Canada to have any success. This LP was released in 1967.

 

This single proceeded the LP and came out in 1966. The first pressings all looked like this and had the band's name as being The Hunted.

Before this single was released, the label made the band change some of the lyrics that they thought were dirty.

THE HAUNTED - "1 - 2 - 3" 

MORNING DEW - "Young Man" (1970)

 

Honestly I had never heard of Morning Dew until they had a song that came on right after the Bakerloo song I posted up last night, but damn, straight outta Topeka, Kansas, these guys rocked just as good as a more well known band like Chocolate Watchband, and here's a song off of their self-titled 1970 release that proves it!!

I am now officially a fan! 

MORNING DEW - "Young Man" 

BAKERLOO - "Drivin' Bachwards" (1969)

 

Bakerloo was a hard rock blues band from the UK that was formerly known as The Bakerloo Blues Line.

They came out with this self-titled LP in 1969, and it turned out to be their only release. 

 

The members were David 'Clem' Clempson, Terry Poole, and Keith Baker, who went on to play in other bands like Humble Pie, Vinegar Joe, Judas Priest etc.

Here's a pretty damn cool song you wouldn't expect from a group of guys like his, a tune by Johann Sebastian Bach, re-arranged by Clempson and Poole.

BAKERLOO - "Drivin' Bachwards"

DIABOLUS - "1002 Nights" (1971)

 

If you didn't know better, and you heard this song for the first time by Diabolus, you might think that Jethro Tull and Traffic got together and recorded an album, at least that's what I thought

Diabolus was an English band but most of their time was spent in Germany, where they were signed by the Bellaphon label which produced this one LP of theirs in 1971.

They should have definitely been more popular and this song will show you why!

DIABOLUS - "1002 Nights" 

BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA - "Buzz Buzz" (1996)

 

Rich here, remembering when The Stray Cats introduced the MTV Generation to seedy rockabilly music in the early '80s. Well, turns out that in addition to rockabilly, guitarist Brian Setzer also had a love jones for Big Band music, and in the mid-'90s he created the Brian Setzer Orchestra, complete with a giant horn section, mini-skirted background singers, and Brian standing front and center crooning love songs while slinging mean guitar licks with abandon. 

 

But Brian was no mere Las Vegas Lounge Lizard -- although that was  definitely part of the persona he embraced with his big band. No, underneath the sophisticated blast of the horn section, Brian continued to tell tales from the underbelly of the streets, as evidenced in this love song to a needle. And I'll leave it to you to decide whether the needle in question refers to a heroin addiction, getting tattoos, or sitting in the executioner's chair awaiting for the needle of death -- or all three.
BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA - "Buzz Buzz"

THE MERMEN - "Songs Of The Cows" (1996)

 

The Mermen have got to be one of the most unique surf bands I've ever heard, and they are definitely the most sonic, and yet they somehow still retain a surf sound.

 Their 1996 album titled "Songs Of The Cows" is simply great, and these guys know how to keep it lively. If you've never heard their particular style of surf music, then you're in for a real treat! 

Think.... "a dacha where Yuri Zhivago, seeks refuge with his family during the Russian Revolution."

THE MERMEN - "Varykino Snow"