THE BARBARIANS - "Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl" (1965)

 

The Barbarians were from Massachusetts and released this self-titled record in 1965.

They liked to wear sandals and their drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton had a hook-shaped prosthetic left hand after losing his real hand in an explosion when he was fourteen years old.

This song is kind of a novelty tune, but it also rocks, and it made it to number 55 on the music charts in 1965.

THE BARBARIANS -  "Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl"

 

In 1966 The Barbarians had another minor hit called "Moulty" named after and sung by Moulty himself, that was a humorous autobiographical song about the drummer's life and the loss of his hand.

None of the original band members contributed to the song, and Moulty was backed by New York session musicians, some of who would later be in the group known as The Band. 

 THE BARBARIANS - "Moulty"  

THE FALSETTO - YOU MAY BE A BOY BUT YOU SING LIKE A GIRL

 

The falsetto is an interesting concept in vocal styling that has been around since at least the 16th century. It became very popular in the 1960's and there have been thousands of songs sung using this vocal range.

Supposedly, the first recorded example of falsetto was in 1911 by a yodeler named George P. Watson.

GEORGE P. WATSON - "Emmett's Favorite Yodel"

 

In the 1960's, songs with the lead vocal sung in a falsetto became very popular!

"Stay" by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs in 1961 reached number one on the Billboard charts, and is also one of the shortest hit songs ever recorded. It was only one minute and thirty-six seconds long! 

MAURICE WILLIAMS & THE ZODIACS - "Stay" 

 

Led by the falsetto voice of Frankie Valli, "Walk Like A Man" was a very big hit for The Four Seasons, and it reached number one on the Billboard charts in 1963.

Interesting concept, walk like a man, but sing like a girl!

THE 4 SEASONS - "Walk Like A Man"

 

In 1964, The Newbeats came out with this album called "Bread & Butter," and the title song made it to number two on the charts. Larry Henry is the falsetto voice heard on this tune. Larry went on to write a number of Country hits.

THE NEWBEATS - "Bread & Butter"

So there you have it. Many more groups have gone on to have big hits with falsetto vocals, The Beegees, Tiny Tim, and Prince would be a couple of good examples.

Seems strange but it sure has paid off for a lot of artists! 

FRENCH FRITH KAISER THOMPSON - "Live, Love, Larf & Loaf" (1987)

 

Quirkiness comes in many forms. There's Experimental, Avant-Garde, and Eclectic just to start with, and if you thought that the British had a patent on quirky music, here's a release from 1987 of a quartet that was 50% British and 50% American, but they're not 50% quirky. These guys are 100% quirky, and just a lot of fun to listen to. 

The record is titled "Live, Love, Larf & Loaf" and the all-star quartet responsible are John French on Drums and Vocals, Fred Frith on Bass, Violin and Vocals, Henry Kaiser on Guitar and Shamisen, and Richard Thompson on Guitar and Vocals.

This song is only one minute and forty-two seconds long, but there's not one second wasted. 

FRENCH FRITH KAISER THOMPSON - "Killerman Gold Posse" 

IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE DAMN FROG

 

Rich here.

Yes, yes. I know. I know. You've heard the damn song a million times. "Jeremiah was a bullfrog." And you might be as sick of it as I am, particularly because that piece of fluff makes it easy to ignore what a really good band Three Dog Night was, featuring three soulful lead singers, whose gospel-influenced harmonies sometimes made you think they were "singing in the Heavy Church," as one of their album cuts put it. And, damn, the band itself was a powerhouse whose heavy arrangements always gave substance to the songs the band was covering, which were written by a virtual Who's Who of the emerging rock songwriter class of the late Sixties -- Neil Young, Steve Winwood, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Laura Nyro, Clint Ballard, even Otis Redding.

 

And here's sonic evidence of how tight the band was when allowed to stretch out a bit on their own without the vocals -- a piece of acid-tinged heaviness with a touch of proto-funk and a middle-eight that suggests an early flirtation with prog.  

THREE DOG NIGHT - "Fire Eater" 

FIRE & BRIMSTONE

 "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup." - Psalm 11:6

 

This prophetic song "Fire and Brimstone" is on Link Wray's 1971 album called "Link Wray." 

It's pretty descriptive!

LINK WRAY - "Fire And Brimstone"
 

In 1989, The Neville Brothers did a real classy and upbeat cover of Link's song.

THE NEVILLE BROTHERS - "Fire and Brimstone" 

In 1986 a quasi-supergroup named Hummingbird released an album called "We Can't Go On Meeting Like This" that had a different song with the same title, "Fire And Brimstone"

Hummingbird had members Max Middleton, Bobby Tench and Clive Chaman who had recorded with Jeff Beck together and many others. 

What really ups the power quotient on this group is that they signed on Bernard "Pretty" Purdie to play the drums, and what a difference it makes. Pretty Purdie drives this song, and it's freakin' amazing!

HUMMINGBIRD - "Fire And Brimstone 

 

In Jamaica they do things a little different and if you look around a bit you'll fine lots of versions of songs called "Brimstone and Fire," like this one from 1971.

THE OBSERVERS - "Brimstone And Fire" 

 

And that brings us back to where we started!!

THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN - "Fire" 

SPARKS - "Angst in My Pants" (1982)

 

The Mael Brothers have been making music together since 1967 when they called themselves Urban Renewal Project, and then in 1968 they put together a band called Halfnelson that released one record produced by Todd Rundgren.

Now it's 2025, and they just released an album last month called "Mad!"

58 years and if I counted right, 28 albums later, and they are still going strong!

 

And guess what? 

No, they are not in the Rock and Roll, which once again proves what a farce it is!

Here's a song from their 1982 album called "Angst In My Pants" that I never get tired of listening to just because it's so funny! 

SPARKS - "Eaten By The Monster Of Love" 

XTC - "Quirky Herky Jerky's Finest Hour" (1978 - 1982)

 

The best of the Quiky Herky Jerky Brit bands from the 70's and the 80's was without a doubt XTC in my humble opinion!

Their first studio album called "White Music" was released in 1978 and in 1980, and it made it as far as #41 in the charts in America. 

Shamefully, that was the height of their career success in the United States.

Here's just one example of how manic Andy Partridge on guitar & vocals, Colin Moulding on bass & vocals, Barry Andrews on keyboards and Terry Chambers playing drums, could be!

XTC - "Neon Shuffle"

XTC's second studio album was called "Go 2" and was just as wild as the first one, then their third studio album was released in 1979 and was titled "Drums And Wires." Keyboardist Barry Andrews had left the group and was replaced by guitarist Dave Gregory.

Bassist Colin Moulding wanted them to try and make their music more accessible and he wrote four of the songs on this record, one of which was this one featuring Dick Cuthell on Flugelhorn credited as Herb Helpless And His Mariahuana Brass.

Fueled by the slight success of Colin Moulding's "Life Begins At The Hop," this album made in to number 37 on the UK charts, and a miserable number 176 in the U.S. 

XTC - "That Is The Way" 

 

Their fourth outstanding studio album was called "Black Sea" and was released in 1980, and then in 1982 they came out with the opus double album titled "English Settlement."

 This album is probably the best double album released by anybody, (except maybe The Clash's "London Calling"), and for a double record, it didn't include anything like the self indulgent "Revolution 9" on The Beatles' "White Album." 

What you need to do is buy or listen to this whole record, and here's just one out of fifteen reasons why! 

XTC - "Melt The Guns"