80s scene

["Blair" <blairb1@xxxxxxx>]

While I agree with Menachem that I'd tell a fan to pick up a Sonics record
over even The Creeps excellent first LP, I don't think this is a realistic
way to break down the discussion.  Given a limited amount of resources, I'd
probably tell someone to first pick up some comps of the more well-known
60s stuff.  After that, I'd send them towards some of the better 80s garage
comps (like Garage Sale, mentioned by Bill Jones, or Battle of the Garages
Volume II, etc.)  

Unfortunately, the 60s stuff has far better comps than the 80s... mainly
because of the passage of time.  In fact, in the past two years, I've
mentioned the idea of a "Highs in the Mid-80s" series.  The first time I
got a private e-mail communique from someone and I volunteered to help out
in any way I could.  Unfortunately, I never heard back.  Then earlier this
year, I think, Tim Gassen said he was at work on just such a project.  This
is really the only way many people are going to know what came out of the
80s.  I'm not talking about those of us who were there, but rather the many
younger people who're just getting into garage now.  There was a TON of
fantastic music in the 80s, but (a) many bands never got enough exposure
and (b) the revivalist tag lumped them into a hole that many had a hard
time digging out of.  (And many who tried buried themselves in the
process.)  Part (a) is a  result of the music business.  But (b) was a
media tag... many of these bands were just trying to go back to the last
time (before punk) that music actually rocked.  Only after that could they
hope to build.  And many created some fantastic original sounds... The
Fleshtones, The Barracudas, and The Hoodoo Gurus come to mind.

I have no problem with people raising 60s material on a pedestal... there
was some INCREDIBLE music being made.  And much of it forms the basis for
what I still love.  Heck, I still love almost every garage comp I ever
bought.

Thing is, many of those bands we idolize only recorded a couple good songs.
 Those that did more were extremely rare.  But we know these groups for
having done those "hits".  Example:  I loved seeing Gonn at Fuzzfest...
very cool.  However, most of us know them for their monster track,
"Blackout of Gretely."  A few more know "Doin' Me In."  After that, most
garage fans can't name too many.  Most of their set was covers... some
Standells, some Love, and even FOUR by The Doors!  And there's nothing
wrong with that... we've gotta remember that, when these guys broke up,
that's what they were into... they didn't write a ton of originals - they
did *covers!*  Heck, we even know some garage groups for their covers...
I'm not a collector, nor am I a garage historian, but I remember reading
some liner notes that suggested that The Ones (New England group, if memory
serves) never recorded any originals.  (But the cover on that volume of
Pebbles was a killer!)  

Thing is, it's rare that a band today can get away with knocking out an LP
with more than half covers.  Heck, more than a few will often doom it, even
on the garage scene.  Sure, as a special thing, this may work, but not as a
regular LP.  The exception to this would be the first Swingin' Neckbreakers
LP, which had roughly half covers on it.  Go back fifteen years to the
first Chesterfield Kings LP, tho', and it's ALL covers!  But that's another
discussion.

Basically, my point is that when we look at the 60s garage acts, we're
often looking at only a couple songs and deifying them for those.  When we
look at the 80s acts, we don't think about that part of it.  Meanwhile, we
had bands like The Vipers, whose entire first LP was a killer; The
Fuzztones, whose first couple were fantastic; The Chesterfield Kings, whose
first three were excellent; The Lyres, who still rock even now; The
Pandoras; The Telltale Hearts, about whom I can only say WOW!; The Miracle
Workers; The Gruesomes; The Creeps; The Milkshakes; The Sick Rose; The
Wylde Mammoths; The Original Sins; The Boys From Nowhere; The Optic Nerve;
The Stems, who're probably my all-time fave Aussie act; and many more...
some of whom didn't translate well to record, others who did (those
Projectiles' 45s are amazing, as is the beautiful pop seven-incher by their
Rochester brethren, The Swing Set)... my list could go on for a long, long
time.

Granted, it was easier to be into the scene in the 80s if you lived in a
major metro area... there certainly were far fewer mail order companies
doing this kinda thing.  But if you were in the right place, you'd easily
know about some killer bands... NYC was great for this, first 'cuz of The
Dive, then due to the combination of Anne & Ivy's Mind's Eye shows at the
old Tramps on 15th Street along with Gary Teenager and Deb Parker's
Endsville Entertainment shows at the Strip on West 14th.

		Blair (who's finally shutting up!)

-------------------------------------------------------------
(The Teen Scene)............. ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/TeenScene
(NY Concert Calendar)... http://shell.idt.net/~blairb1/nygarage.html
(Garage Tours).................. http://shell.idt.net/~blairb1/tours.html
(Garage Fests).................. http://shell.idt.net/~blairb1/fests.html
(60 Second Swinger)..... http://shell.idt.net/~blairb1/60second.html
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