Is "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?" by The Barbarians the greatest 60s haircut song? Is it a goofy great? a protest song? You better listen and find out ... The Ravens from Columbus, Ohio grew the song out in '66 and add fuzz ... but it's not exactly garage ... or effective. The punk era saw short haircuts but a paradoxically longer version of the song by The Dogs, from Michigan. It rocks and has some cool backing vocals. The 80s garage revival brought back garage cuts, and The Nuthins -from Salisbury, not London! - brought back this one. Some cool 12-string geetar and snotty vocals - slap it on at your next Shindig! More recently, RTX covered the song and it evokes the long-haired 80s. This one's wee-urd! - Jennifer Herrema sounds like Macho Man Randy Savage and the band sounds like several Yngwe Malmsteen's. Yeah, boys wear pants!!!

In June, the great and underrated Lou Christie died, so it was time to save him from Masterlist limbo. In this episode, we've picked our favourite bangers by him - most off of the great 1988 anthology Enlightninment - and prepare for his falsetto to appear in every one! There's doo-wop, girl group sounds, and teenage symphonies galore - let's celebrate the great farmboy from Pennsylvania, Lugee Sacco!!

You didn't have to wait long this week for the new episode - but listen to how weary The Kinks are in 1965's dreamy "Tired of Waiting For You." A languid version of the slashing riffs Dave Davies had heretofore been known for! Later that year, New Zealand's Rayders raided the platter-racks with their version of the tune. Detroit's Apostles came out with a fairly funky version with cool drummin' and some totally psych church organ. Things just got weirder when Nancy & Lee released their rendition: it's pretty Prozac-y! Finally, Bill Frisell, the man Erik & Weldon watched a few weeks back, is heard playing a very space-age instro version. It's your life, you can pick what you want!

You've had to wait, but we know you won't complain ... because this week we're talkin' bout one of the greatest garage tunes ever - "No Reason to Complain" by The Alarm Clocks. A song of no-'count teenage alienation, and man, it swings! Not many noticed, though - until Tim Warren brought it to the people on Back From the Grave, and then The Lyres covered the tune in '86 and it's cool and Cramps-y. 3 out of 5 is The Woggles from 1990, which sounds great but the vocals might register a complaint or two. in '93 Gaul's Thee Gloomies authored a wonderfully snotty version with tons of reverb. And in 2017, Winnipeg's The Exploits made it weird again with neurotic vocals and organ. Moon over Parma tonight!!

This week's tune is a pop-psych confection called "Mr. Personality Man" - and there's only three recorded versions, so you'll hear 'em all if you tune in. The original is from The West Coast Delegation, a band confusingly from England. It's got a pretty heavy backbeat reminiscent of Motown or "Pretty Woman" and it doesn't let up. The lyrics deal with a charming but dangerous rogue, so we think the song might be inspired by "David Watts" by The Kinks (not played). The Foundations are the next personalities to tackle the tune - you might remember them from "Build Me Up Buttercup" fame. They slow the tempo down, add horns, and jauntify the song by about 75%. The third and final candidate is from Sweden's Slamcreepers, one of the best band names of all time - and Weldon has exhaustively researched the name's meaning. Fans of Swedish linguistics rejoice! Their version is fun but singer Bjorn Skif (later to star in Blue Swede's megahit version of "Hooked on a Feeling) had an off day. Get out your Lucky Charms and listen!!

Friday the 13th is your lucky day - a new episode a lil' early. We pay tribute to the recently-departed James Lowe of the eminently psychedelic combo, The Electric Prunes. And "Get Me To The World On Time" has possibly the best opening of any psych tune. The lyrics describe love as a bad trip but the sounds suggest other worlds - are we caught between the real world and the vast cosmos? Who knows? The second song is by budget rockers The Chellows who turn out a pretty spiffy garage version - a cross between The Troggs and a tea-kettle! The punkers pulled out the song in the late 70s so we then discuss a rendition by The Physicals. It's got some wild free jazz sax, with the vocals of a guy who actually hasn't lost his cool. Still in Britain for a rockabilly-esque version by The Clapham South Escalators. If you liked the spaceship in the original, then you'll love this version. Finally - Richard & The Young Lions recorded a version in what seems to be the the early 2000s but the vocals sound strangely like They Might be Giants. Eat your prunes!

This week we cast our net wide for versions of the classic  "Too Many Fish in the Sea." The original by The Marvelettes is still a fresh catch -- it's a classic Motown 'advice' song with punchy instrumentation, top Tambo and a great sound-off from all the members. Marine biologists might prefer our next version by Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, which includes a roll call of different types of actual fish! The next morsel of metaphorical fish food comes from our friends The Gallows, with the powerful lungs and unusual vocal hiccups of Bruce Kettlitz. It'll make you jump!! The market in 1983 offered up a great rendition by Patti Brooks. It's a long journey (almost 5 minutes) but it's full of hooks, which you need on a fishing trip. Plus it has a nice vocal appearance by our new favourite Alfonso (Fonzi) Thornton. Finally, we reel in a 2010 version by Phil Collins, which we hoped would have some of the fairy dust of his Supremes cover. Don't throw it back, though - it's still substantial! Halibut !

As Erik says, "Pushin' Too Hard" by The Seeds is a garage tune that's more buzz than fuzz. 1 bar of music, 2 chords, no bridge, no chorus, and a relentless beat. It's simple, but is it stoopid? Maybe a little ... Two live covers follow by The Sonics (from the 60s) and Pere Ubu (from the 70s), which go a long way to canonize the tune as a punk classic. Plus Pere Ubu includes frog sounds! The next version, by the cringingly-named The Klan, adds buzzsaw guitar and races to the finish line. The final version is a 2021 rendition by Nick Waterhouse which goes in the other direction and is smoothly soulful ... but it's a long way from Sky Saxon stewin' in a car while his girlfriend goes grocery shopping! Is it hard enough for Pastronauts?

We're debuting a new series called "Greatest Greatest Hits," which looks at an artist or group's top songs. But this one could also have fit in "Better Than The Beatles," because Quebec's Michel Pagliaro really does sound like John, Paul, or George in several of these songs! You could also consider him an early power-pop exponent, but he's pretty much unknown outside of Canada, where his songs still get played on classic oldies stations. He's important to us because his songs crossed over on the Anglophone and Francophone charts, but you'll probably appreciate his music because it's so well-crafted. Travailler!