In The Trashcan
Records GEM104
"The spooky witch is back from the dead wrestling with
Satan and his horrible breath on Psychotic Avenue..."
Glampunk version of Marc Bolan's "Horrible
breath", recorded in 1977 for Chiswick Records. Even
Bolan didn't have a chart topper with this horrible hit
tune.
Walking on the beach side after midnight on a moonless cloudy night is the inspiration of this Swiss duo, Karen Simpson aka Diblitz and Ernest Maeschi, both ex-Midnight To Six. Maeschi and his brother Buzz were also behind the Lou Hoeffner Trio Minus One (see vols 94 and 100). Catchy instrumental non-LP track from 1998 on Sheep Records. They recorded 6 albums; my personal fave (and of the best albums ever!) is their debut "Plays lost tv themes" from 1997.
This B-side is the last Adverts song that still's got that horrible hit potential. It's from 1978 and their first for RCA-Victor, the worst choice they made. One year later it was over.
Dracula in a hot rod race? Instrumental organ fuzz loaded killer tune from Montréal, Canada, released by Helter Skelter Records from Italy in 1997. See also vols 26 and 69.
A song about the 1980 horror flick directed by Vincent Dawn aka Bruno Mattei, settled in Papua New Guinea. These 4 young punks are responsible for the punk anthem "Banned from the pubs" from 1982. This 45 from a year later was released by Trapper Records.
Same kind of eerie organ-drenched Halloween instrumental. From England 1996, issued by Detour Records. See vols 15 and 95 for more Nuthins 45s.
My favourite spider's called Boris. Every version of this song is great, which was written by John Entwistle of The Who. The best version is perhaps the one by The Kords. Still, this one surprised me a lot. The Spitballs were a short-lived project by Greg Kihn and Jonathan Richman. A 1978 Beserkley release.
Purple wax and purple sounds from a psychedelic wah-wah swamp about girls having drug induced nightmares about snakes in bed. A 1995 Thunderbaby release. See also vols 39 and 65.
Originally recorded by the infamous Zero Jones in the early 70s, Beat-Man trashed it up to his own unique Voodoo Rhythm style. Lo-fi voodoo swamp blues garage trash from Switzerland on his own label Voodoo Rhythm in 1996.
Psych-out version the Sonics classic recorded 20 years later in 1984. Formed in 1982 they've been around for about a decade and were an important part of the garage rock explosion of the 80s. Another track from this Moxie EP can be found on vol 111.
Who is singing here? It's Josh Collins, husband of Babz (of Diaboliks fame) and organizer of lots of parties and festivals in London and Spain. He's also a terrific Tiki sculptor and a great entertainer. Undoubtedly the wildest and craziest version of any Sonics song, recorded in 1996 for Alehop Records from Madrid.
One album from 1984 (perhaps the best garage punk album from that year) and one sampler in 1987 was their only output. These San Diego teenagers changed the face and sound of garage rock. Recently singer Leighton Koizumi self-released a limited edition 45 of their best track: "Spooky", a spooky demo track recorded in a real garage which was to become a garage punk classic. Leighton moved on and formed The Morlocks in 1985. Years later my band played support act on a Belgian garage festival and I had a great chat with the singer Leighton. This "Spooky" is a genuine "horrible hit".
From the isle of Sardegna, Italy, came this pre-Rippers outfit, active at the end of the century. One album and three 45s was their output. Wild garage teen punk from the deepest Cagliari cave, released on Psych-Out Records in 1998.
90% of the gothic horror movies feature a wolf howling at the moon. Here are The Celibate Rifles with a live version of this Ramones classic, issued on a flexi-45, a freebie with Strychnine Magazine in 1989. Terrific Sydney garage rock band with a large recording output, including at least a dozen albums and even more 45s.
Stooges influenced Sydney, Australia band from the late 80s releasing only one single and one album, both on Waterfront Records. Before Satan, even before devil, there was another name in old Hebrew scripts: Belial. Later he was described as an angel, created right after Satan. He was the first fallen angel. Satanists believe he's one of the four highest princes of hell. These three Gold Coast boys wrote this ode the Earth Prince of Darkness.
I end this collection of horrible hits on Psychotic Avenue. The Skydogs, fans of Radio Birdman and The Stooges, recorded a mini-album in 1990 for Plastic Surgery Records from Kent, England. It includes this 45, which was issued by Jikkim Records from Finland in 1992.
