Garage/Soul '66

Another of our mystery groups kick off this edition of the show. The Sunn Cycle went into a studio in Asheville, NC in the late 1960's, recorded a track or two, then disappeared. We play their tune "Acid Raga, Part II." And no, as far as I know there is no Part I.

The Steve Peele Five sing what has to be one of the longest radio jingles ever -- a two-minute paen to a local record store/head shop known as Frankie's. And yes, it was really recorded as a radio ad, not a stand-alone song.

The Soul Spotlight shines on Junius "Bugs" Hughes with just what the doctor ordered -- a heaping helping of funk called "Just What the Doctor Ordered."

We finish with a song to bring everyone together (c'mon people now...). The Stonehenge sing the socially conscious "Try To Help Each Other." Peace, my friends.

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Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #042 -Stonehenge and the Sunn Cycle

The Radio Star

Sunn Cycle: Acid Raga, Part II

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. Fore!

The Steve Peele Five: Frankie's Got It!

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 1

Junius "Bugs" Hughes: Just What the Doctor Ordered

Ol' Virginia Soul, Encore!

Stonehenge: Try to Help Each Other

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

We start with a band that reversed a trend. Many garage bands broke up in the 1960's when one or more of their members were drafted and sent to Vietnam. The Beachnuts was a band made up of young musicians returning from Southeast Asia.

The New Directions turn in a heavy dose of psych with their 1969 track, "Springtime Lady"

Mel Gaines and the Regents shine in the Soul Spotlight with "What'cha Gonna Do?" It's not only a good example of mid-60's soul, but perfectly captures the sound of East Coast beach music.

We finish with a track from the Scorpios. Could it be that the title of the track "Ninety-nine and a Half" is actually a reference to "Ninety-six Tears?" There's a distinct similarity in the organ work...

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Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #041 -  99 and a Half and New Directions

The Radio Star

The Beachnuts: What Makes You Think

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 1

The New Directions: Springtime Lady

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 1

Mel Gaines and the Regents: What'cha Gonna Do?

Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 2

The Scorpios - Ninety-nine and a Half

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

This podcast starts with another of our many mystery bands. We don't know who was in the band Don't Tread on Me, but we do know they were deep into the psychedelic scene. Their 1969 recording "The Land of Extremes" makes that very clear, indeed. Far out!

Last episode we featured a song by the Electrical Banana, a group Dean Kohler formed while serving in Vietnam. From that same Southeast Asian recording session, they play a cover of Lou Reed's "There She Goes Again" --  done mere weeks after the Velvet Underground's album release!

Ida Sands steps into the Soul Spotlight with a sizzling track she recorded in New York City. "Prophisize" is a gritty ballad well-suited to Sands' voice.

We finish with a gentle rocker from the Mods, "All the Time in the World."

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Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #040 - The Land of Extremes and All the Time in the World

The Radio Star

Don't Tread on Me - The Land of Extremes

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. Fore!

The Electrical Banana - There She Goes Again

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 1

Sir Guy with the Speller Bros. Band - Let Home Cross Your Mind

Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 1

The Mods - All the Time in the World

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

Dean Kohler didn't give up music when he was drafted in 1967. He formed a band with some fellow GIs and played in Southeast Asia. And they also recorded. We play their version of "I'm A Man" live from Vietnam!

Ever wonder about the theme music for this podcast? it's an instrumental version of "Days of a Quiet Sun" by the Baraccudas. You'll hear the finished version with vocals on this show!

Sir Guy is back in the Soul Spotlight, this time fronting for the Speller Bros. Band. They turn in a great perfomance on this 1969 track, "Let Home Cross Your Mind."

And we conclude with the Coachmen, who we featured last week. This group was active around Memphis and Little Rock, and racked up an impressive amount of regional airplay.

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Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #039 - Lovelight and the Electrical Banana

The Radio Star

The Electrical Banana - I'm a Man

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 3

The Barracudas - Days of the Quiet Sun

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 3

Sir Guy with the Speller Bros. Band - Let Home Cross Your Mind

Ol' Virginia Soul, Encore!

The Coachmen - Lovelight

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

The Nite Beats walked the Southwest Virginia beat -- and did it pretty well, too. In 1966 they were invited to record a session at Sun Studios. Although the master tapes were lost soon after, we have the one surviving song from that session!

From the same part of the Old Dominion we also have the Phantoms. They played primarily the area where Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee border each other. Their one 45 "I Want to See Her Cry" is pretty rare -- but that's the way we like it on this podcast.

Wilson Williams takes the Soul Spotlight for this show. He was a fixture of the East Coast music scene, performing for over a decade at top clubs along the seaboard. And we finish with a track from the Coachmen and their 1966 rocker, "Two New Girls."

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Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #038 Nite Beats and the Phantoms

The Radio Star

The Nite Beats - You're a Better Man Than I

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 2

The Phantoms - I Want to See Her Cry

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 2

Wilson Williams - I Got a Whole Lot to be Thankful For

Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 2

The Coachmen - Two New Girls

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

We start off this podcast episode with a little trip -- a psychedelic trip, that is. Denis and the Times took flight in 1967 with their psych classic "Flight Patterns." Great production values on this one! We stay up in the sky with the Pennsylvania-based Groop Therapy. "Leave This World" has a fuzzed-out guitar solo by 13-year-old Gayle Doughtrey.

Gene and the Team Beats take the Soul Spotlight this time around. They started out in 1959, but didn't cut this track until late 1966! It was worth the wait!

And we end with Saturday's Children, a Missouri-based band that not only went through band members like tissue paper, but also changed it's name in the process.

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Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #037 Flight Pattern and Groop Therapy

The Radio Star

Denis and the Times - Flight Patterns

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 1

Groop Therapy -Leave This World

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. Fore

Gene and the Team Beats - I'll Carry On

Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 1

Saturday's Children - Your Loving Ways

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

One of the recurring themes of this podcast is the mystery of the mystery band. Many times studios were booked by teenagers who came in, recorded one or two songs, paid the engineer, and left. Often these bands broke up shortly thereafter. 45s were thrown away, and master tapes lost, save for the studio copy. But that copy usually just had the name of the group.

And so, forty years after the fact, there are many groups that are just names on a tape box. This time, we have something even more unusual. We know the name of the song, "Conformity to Society," but we don't know the name of the group -- let alone who was in it!

Also in this podcast we feature the return of Clover, and a gritty tune

Bee Gee Stan shines in the Soul Spotlight this time around with her song, "Front Page Love." Stop the presses!Remember -- you don't need an iPod to listen to a podcast. Just download it straight to your computer from this link!

Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #036 Conformity to Society and the Right Track

The Radio Star

???? - Conformity to Society

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 2

Clover - The Way She Smiles

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 1

Bee Gee Stans - Front Page Love

Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 2

The Right Track - You Disturb My Soul

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

This program we have two mystery groups. Don't know who they are, or even quite where they came from. But we do have the recordings they left behind. The Wanted & Co. recorded in a studio in the midwest. There are some indication that they may have been from Ohio -- or perhaps Kentucky. We're not sure...

The Soul Spotlight shines on the second mystery band, the Incorporates. In this case, nothing is known about the group -- even where they came from. But their track's a killer.

We start and end the podcast with some known groups. The Escorts hailed from Richmond, VA, which is where they recorded in 1966 and 1967. The Dust were students from Arkansas State University. Their track "Sky Flight" comes from 1969, the tail-end of the psychedelic era.

Remember -- you don't need an iPod to listen to a podcast. Just download it straight to your computer from this link!

Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #035 The Incorporates, the Wanted & Co.The Radio Star

The Escorts - My Only Love

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 2

The Wanted & Co. - Why

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 3

The Incorporates - Keep Her In the Groove

Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 2

Dust – Sky Flight

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

We start this edition of Garage/Soul '66 with the Flys. We don't know much about this group, save that they hailed from Washington, DC and cut a single track back in 1966. But it's a good one.

East Coast legend Lenis Guess returns, this time fronting a band that perfectly captured the East Coast Beach sound of the mid-60's. If you like Bill Deal and Rondells, you'll dig "Workin' for My Baby."

Miss Ida Sands makes a triumphant return to the Soul Spotlight with "You'll Lose a Good Thing." This 1967 recording had everything going for it -- save chart action. And after hearing it, you'll probably wonder why it didn't have that as well!

Dust was formed in 1969 from the dust of several groups we’ve featured on earlier episodes of GS66 (maybe that's where they got the name). Members came from the Blue and the Grey, the Purple Canteen, and the Tuesday Blues. The combination of all that talent produced some great psychodelic tracks. This show we feature one of them, with the heavy name "Through the Silk Keyhole." Far out!

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Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #034 Ida Sands and DustThe Radio Star

Flys – The Way Things Are

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 2

Lenis Guess – Workin’ for My Baby

Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things, Vol. 1

Ida Sands – You’ll Lose a Good Thig

Ol' Virginia Soul, Part 2

Dust – Through a Silk Keyhole

Lost Souls, Vol. 2 - Garage and Psychedelic Rock from Arkansas and Beyond

We start off with a rare track from Richmond, Virginia-based band the Clover. They recorded just two songs back in 1966, and this episode we play the "B" side of that lone 45 RPM.

Then we jump back to 1963 for a song by the Satellites. According to Arcania International's Brent Hosier (who researched and compiled the "Aliens, Psychos, and Wild Things CD series),  the Satellites were heavily influenced by the Beatles. I don't know, though. In the track we play, "Next Boy" sounds more like a Who song to me.

And in an interesting juxtaposition, we feature the girl group Honey Bees in the Soul Spotlight singing "It Happened on a Tuesday" then follow it with a song from Tuesday's Blues. Guess things didn't work out so well!

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Garage/Soul '66 Podcast #033 Clover and the Honey BeesThe Radio Star

Clover -Remember

Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things, Vol. Fore

The Satellites - The Next Boy

Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things, Vol. 1

The Honey Bees - It Happened on a Tuesday

Ol' Virginia Soul, Vol. 1

The Tuesday Blues - Have You Ever Loved Somebody

Lost Souls, Vol. 2