London and the Bridges - Tell It To The Preacher (1966)

I first discovered this song thanks to one of my favorite YouTubers, Paul (PCino45s2) - but in a rather roundabout way.  He put up a video of a tune of the same name by some band called the "Steven Scott Orchestra" - so I posted on the G45Central forums and asked who they were.  Turns out that record on YouTube was a single track from a dance-themed EP from Steven Scott, producer for London and the Bridges.

After hunting down a copy on eBay for relatively cheap coin, I found out it had a nice crack in it when it came in the mail.  Whatever, I am not willing to spend $30+ on an intact copy when the cracked one still lays through. 

About the song itself - you'd be hard pressed to find a better example of the "Bo Diddley beat" in a garage rock song.

Lazarus - Stay With Me (1970)

The very first release on this Amazon label was by the Rugbys of Louisville, KY, who hit the big-time with their heavy-psych-rock tune "You, I".  On the flip side of that single was a tune called "Stay With Me" - and this is a more soul-oriented cover of it from an unknown singer.

The Hello People - Anthem (1968)

Here's a nice, vicious, very controversial protest song from the late '60s.  The Hello People were a band made up of mimes (which sort of defeats the purpose of mimehood, but whatever) assembled by Lew Futterman.  This tune is about lead singer W.S. Tongue's time in the slammer for draft dodging.  Due to the rather polarizing lyrical content, this song was pulled off the airwaves in Cleveland, Memphis and Atlanta, and discontinued by Philips.

Even the Smothers Brothers had to preface this song on their show with a disclaimer that they didn't necessarily support the views expressed in the song.  But with lyrics like "from the Bureau of Justice the directives have come to send out the G-men, round up everyone who's worshipping God instead of the state; who's preaching that love is better than hate," who can blame them...

Syng McGowan - Just In The Nick Of Time/Loneliness Is A Pleasure (1967)

Who can resist a slab of soul when it's as good as this?  Syng is better known for his more highly sought after first single, "That's What I Want".  This record came out of a now-defunct resale shop here in Cincy, for...

(wait for it...)

25 cents!

Ola and the Janglers - I Can Wait/Eeny Meeny Miney Moe (1968)

I have to apologize for the long wait between posts.  I've been very busy studying for exams at NKU - but now they are over, and so is freshman year!

We'll celebrate with this great mod tune from a band that was huge in Sweden.  They only got three releases in the US - this record and two more on GNP Crescendo.

The Gestures - Don't Mess Around (1965)

Most everyone has heard this band's big hit, "Run Run Run".  Reaching #44 on the national charts, it was also included on the original Nuggets album in 1972.  This, their second and final record, is a bit harder to find.  I would post the B-side, but my copy is unfortunately pretty thrashed - sorry about that.

The Roosters - Love Machine/I'm Suspectin' (1968)

Pretty nice horn-pop tune featuring Michael Z. Gordon on vocals.  You'll see him later on this blog with a couple other Snuff Garrett productions (of which this is one).