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  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #24: Grapes & Wheat Clock

    ? & The Mysterians' 96 Tears 45

    ? & THE MYSTERIANS  “96 Tears” b/w “I Can’t Get Enough Of You, Baby” (Abkco Records #4020, original realease 1966-67, reissue circa early-’80’s)

    This is not the extremely valuable, highly sought-after original Pa-Go-Go pressing from early ’66.  Nor is it the not-quite-as-valuable-but-still-quite-desirable Cameo/Parkway version that soared to #1 that September.  This is an Abkco double-A-side oldies-bin cash-in repress from the very early 1980’s, when AM counterparts across the country still spun 45s of “Louie Louie” and “Wolly Bully” for the over-40 crowd.

    Needless to say, I latched onto oldies stations like black on a widow;  not only did that hard-driving 2-chord garage rock sound great blasting from the dashboard of a ’65 Dart at 2 A.M., it provided a much-needed antidote to the diabetes-inducing Olivia Newton-John and Air Supply in heavy rotation on pop radio, and the dour, suicide-hotline-on-speed-dial ploddings of all the Pink Floyd and Foreigner clogging up FM AOR at the time.  ’80’s be damned, I was gonna head-bang to ’60’s tracks and keep scarfing up these sexy 45 RPM reissues, my favorite by far being this eternal classic, ? & The Mysterians’ “96 Tears.”

    I’m not going to waste your time with band biographies, speculations on ?’s real identity, the possibility of life on Mars, strange voices emanating from Aztec temples, or even those ever-present, cooler-than-cool wrap-around shades.  You can scour the internet for that crap.  We are gathered here today, my friends, to honor THEE greatest garage-rock single of all time;  to relive the thrill of the sexiest, grungiest, most Vox-organ-driven paean to lost love that could only be conjured by these dynamic young Detroit-based Tex-Mex rock ‘n’ rollers.  Behold this sweet clip before Dick Clark unceremoniously yanks it.  Dig, Lazarus, Dig!

    See ? & The Mysterians performing 96 Tears on YouTube

    The B-side of this disc is actually an A-side from ’67;  our boys give the “96 Tears” treatment to the Brill Building pop classic, “I Can’t Get Enough Of You, Baby.”

    Originally a non-hit for both The Toys and The Four Seasons before them, The Mysterians managed to bring it into the Top 100, but not far enough to make a significant splash.  Steve Harwell and Smash Mouth rehydrated The Mysterians’ arrangement with several gallons of fat-guy sweat and pushed it into the Top 30 in the summer of ’98.  But fuck all that.

    Seen by contemporaries as godfathers of punk, garage rock, and Latino rock, ? & The Myterians are held in high esteem by music lovers of all ages, and “96 Tears” continues to be a staple of oldies radio and beyond.  Despite numerous break-ups and set-backs, The Mysterians (with and without ?) remain active.  You can keep abreast of their happenings at the clunky-but-fun 96Tears.net.

    NEXT WEEK: Drink your big black cow & get outta here.

  • First Spin 2/17/09: Morrissey, Annie Lennox and More!!!

    mozThis week is not exactly the most exciting one for new music releases. Actually, this is one of the first weeks that I can recall where I don’t have anything to discuss besides the five spotlight releases. So this column’s gonna be short this week. I apologize. Here’s what you should expect coming from your local physical and online retailers this week.

    Morrissey “Years of Refusal”-He’s been the King of Mope for the past quarter-century now, don’t expect Moz to change anytime soon. His new album is filled with the typical dramatic renderings of songs like “Something is Squeezing My Head”. Stuff that tons of arrested teenagers who’ve loved Morrissey since the Eighties will relate to with no problem at all.

    Charlie Wilson “Uncle Charlie”- The former lead singer of the Gap Band scored pretty big with his 2005 album “Charlie…Last Name Wilson”, which sold almost half a million copies. The long-awaited follow up features Wilson’s buttery (and much imitated) voice over sensuous midtempo and slow jams. Collaborators include R. Kelly, Snoop Dogg and Justin Timberlake.

    Thursday “Common Existence”– Er…don’t have much to say here. Semi-faceless, semi-successful emo/rock band’s latest album. Excited? Hmmm…maybe they’re not emo…wikipedia calls them post-hardcore (exactly what *is* that?). Indie folks will be excited to know that they’ve signed with Epitaph after a brief dalliance with major labels.

    Annie Lennox “The Annie Lennox Collection”- One of the best female voices in music history, I don’t think that Annie Lennox has ever received the props that she deserved. Starting out in the videogenic Eighties, she’s one of the few artists from the MTV-era whose work stands alone without the visuals attached to it (and she’s made some great videos too). This collection features all of her solo hits like “Why”, “Walking on Broken Glass” and “No More I Love You’s”, as well as a handful of new tracks.

    Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit “Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit”-Jason Isbell split from country/rock powerhouses Drive-By Truckers a couple years ago and enjoyed a well-received solo debut last year. Joining forces with a new band, Isbell’s new album mines familiar country/soul/rock territory with the great storytelling that’s become DBT’s trademark.

    Get your full list of releases here.

  • Those Lucky Farts at Billboard: Green Day Album Preview

    Those lucky Billboard people got to hear six tracks from the new Green Day album, “21st Century Breakdown”. Green Day’s been one of my favorite bands since “Dookie”, and unlike a lot of folks, I didn’t abandon them in the decade between that seminal album and “American Idiot”. I’m actually one of the few folks out there who can say they liked “Warning”. Conversely, I’ve gotta say that it took a long time for “Idiot” to finally blow me away.While everyone was busy proclaiming it the best album of 2004, I was fairly unimpressed, but I’ve got to say that the album has held up extremely well over the years and with 4 1/2 years hindsight, I’ll say it’s almost as good as people said it was at the time.

    Anyway, it looks like “Breakdown” will be similar to “Idiot” in that it’s sort of a “rock opera” with a storyline and three “acts”. This album will also be politically charged, although not to the extent that “Idiot” was.

    “21st Century Breakdown” comes out in early May, which means that we should be hearing a single shortly. I can’t wait!! In the meantime, let’s kick it old school with the “When I Come Around” video, which I remember getting played on MTV every 10 minutes-back when they actually played videos.