Marie's garage extravaganza
 

So I've developed an interest in 60s garage rock recently, digging through the various compilation series of old 7''s. There's a lot of great stuff in there about which I need to vent my enthusiasm, and I want to put together a selection of my favourites in one place, so I decided I want to dedicate this journal to that.
So here goes, put on your dancing shoes and get ready to jive or pogo or do any other dance of you choice
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Cathy Rich – Wild Thing

An amazing psychedelic cover version of the Troggs song. It has the gnarliest opening I’ve ever heard in a 60s garage rock song, which doesn’t seem to relate to the rest of the music at first, but still works. It’s like a psychedelic alarm going off. Then we get a funky version of Wild Thing, with added swing and background organ. The riff sounds surprisingly rich and warm. After two verses comes the greatest addition to the original song: another gnarly little psych wave (suddenly the opening makes sense), followed by the familiar riff in a different key, and the lyrics:
Wild thing my name is Cathy
And I’m wild
Wild, wild, wild, wild…
All this amidst a growing psychedelic chaos. And yes, in my mind this song is part of the Wuthering Heights universe and no one can convince me otherwise.

that was a groovy tune^

It truly is, thanks dude
More grooviness to follow

I spammed the boards with this track a few days ago but I want to write about it here so:
Thee Midniters - Jump, Jive and Harmonize

This absolute beast of a song feels like someone kicks a door open in your face, but in a way which makes you dance. It gets right to it: a catchy riff to which a delicious second layer is added, the drums just give some massive thuds, and then we get a ****ing organ on top of it all (high pitched like an angry insect) to make things even better. Later on even more fun is added with a percussion + harmonica intermezzo. The lyrics are basic, but who cares. This grooves so hard.

Customs Five – Let’s go in 69

A hilarious, crude little stomper about sex. The riff is so thick and bare it’s a work of art, and it gets even better because it’s juxtaposed with light, cymbal-rich percussion, and because each ‘chorus’ (you can hardly call it that) is a beautiful ascending harmony. This is one song where the instrumental bridge is actually kind of boring and standard, but that only heightens the fun when you get back to another verse.

^ Ha ha I love this one, Marie (although I'd better not play it too loud around here LOL). Your description is spot-on! I was just reading Lenny Kaye's tribute to Sylvain Sylvain, which led me to think of Lenny's curation of the Nuggets collection (which I have), which led me to sighting your journal up here. Very cool. :cool:

Thanks! People in the 60s trying (not so) subtly to sneak lewdness into their lyrics always cracks me up

oh hi Ori
:love:

The Girls – Chico’s Girl
A little gem by four sisters from LA. The lyrics are oddly sweet and moving to me: a girl singing about her tough boyfriend who’s sweet side only she gets to see. It opens with a great piano riff, which leads up to a key moment: a warm, triumphant high-pitched layer is added to the music and one of the girls asserts:
And I should know
‘cause I’m Chico’s girl
It’s so cute and just nails the feeling of loyalty and pride for loved ones. After the second verse we get a chorus which morphs back into the next verse via a delightful, brilliant hook. And as if that’s not enough inventiveness, the next chorus does something different, tying up the song with an unexpected harmony between riff and vocals. Also, the percussion is great, with its subtle little rattle.