Bill's Beat

"Bill's Beat" is an instrumental from Thee Knights Of Trashe album by Thee Milkshakes.
Thee Milkshakes had the Medway sound which is sort of an updated, more punk rock, version of the Mersey sound.

"Bored of playing locally, they (The Milkshakes) purchased a van, loaded in the equipment they've become famous for: 100w valve PA, classic jazz drum kit, cheap vintage guitars and amplifiers (Burns, Hofner, Vox), and headed for Germany....
I definitely liked them, there were traces of Hamburg-era Beatles, early Kinks - the wonderful sound those bands made in the early 60s when they turned on to black American R&B and started playing it on Burns guitars through valve amps in a typically British manner."
- Nick Garrard, from the liner notes of 19th Nervous Shakedown.

"...1958 was the year when the fundamental changes that would sweep through the music business in the 1960s began to form and gain momentum. The availability of amplifiers which would reliably give enough volume to compete with the drummer, as well as the advent of the convieniently portable bass-guitar, began to force changes not only in the way music was performed live, but also in the way it was written and recorded. The (VOX) AC15 and other similar units made it possible for a three- or four-man group to perform effectively in a club-size venue using only guitars as backing instruments. Although dance bands remained a popular form of live entertainment, more and more records began to feature the electric guitar, and it was inevitable that this would become the key element in popular music."
- David Peterson & Dick Denney, from The VOX Story

"This was really the beginning of what came to be known as the Beat Boom. A thousand guitars a week were being sold in the United Kingdom, and many times more than this in the United States. To support this, amplifiers were needed, and the public perception of The Shadows as the best group in Britain lent itself also to the AC30 as the best amp in Britain."
- David Peterson & Dick Denney, from The VOX Story


Merseybeat, or the Mersey sound, helped spawn a worldwide Beat Boom. This resulted in the sixties' garage bands as well as folk rock and to some degree punk rock.

My favorite "current" groups are The Kaisers and The Bristols who both happen to have that early sixties British beat sound.
The Big Three, Faron's Flamingos, and Earl Preston & The TTs are some of my original faves. I also like Beatle knock offs and novelties.

If I could play in any type of musical group I'd want, I'd choose an early sixties Beat style group. But since this isn't likely to happen I've tried to do some home recording in that style. Here's what I've come up with so far.


Links!

Ace Brown And His Helldivers ~ Seeing this current combo play is sort of like witnessing the beginning of Rockabilly. Check them out if they come to your town.

Alarm Clocks ~ Real mid-sixties garage band reforms and blows everybody away. Their new originals sound like their old originals. New release due out in September, 2006!

Bo Diddley ~ I love the other originators too, but Bo is the real thing. Without Bo there wouldn't be the supreme genius that is the unequaled "Aussie" bubblegum greatness of the Strangeloves.
And there wouldn't have been any killer British groups. The EARLY
Pretty Things and EARLY Rolling Stones are as great as they are largely because of Bo Diddley!
Thanks Bo!!!

ARF! ARF! Records ~ Some neat 60's garage releases. They even have 2 discs of stuff by Boston legends The Lost. Get both CDs. The Lost are GODS!!!!!! Search them out for their unique 60's sound.

Beat City ~ 1963 film for TV about Liverpool & its music. Can't do any better than this, except maybe with The Mersy Sound flick from the same year. Get both films at The Video Beat on their Liverpool Beat Music collection.

Buddah Records ~ This is the label that gave us Bubblegum! They released some cool "best of" collections by the Lemon Pipers, 1910 Fruitgum Company, the Ohio Express, and don't forget the soulful Five Stairsteps! Throw away your Led Zep albums and get these instead!

CRYPT Records ~ This is my favorite record label. They put out the finest '60's teen garage releases, the "Back From The Grave" series, "Garage Punk Unknowns," and the "Teenage Shutdown" comps. If you like outta tune sloppy amped up rawk'n'roll this label is for you. Their mail order catalog carries only prime rockin' stuff! I stick to the 60's and 50's stuff. Get the frantic "Trans-World Punk" albums & hear the way Rhino's Nuggets 2 box should have sounded!!!!!

The Beatles were coolest during their Hamburg (do you know about Germany's beat groups?) period (supposedly their best stuff...they probably sounded like The Kaisers...we'll never know...). Check out this Star Club site and check out Jerry Lee Lewis' GREAT Star Club CD. It's the best live album ever (with lots of help from the Nashville Teens)! I dig the wilder side of the Mersey sound!

Gotta plug my hatred for the two DVD set Miramax did for the movie A Hard Day's Night. They screwed with the sound and now it sucks. Thanks for ruining a great movie. This review gets it pretty right! Hopefully, someday, somebody will release the flick as it looked & sounded in 1964. Maybe they could also throw in the cut footage of "You Can't Do That" as well as a few of those "here they come..." trailers. Do it right.

Dig this cool clip from the
Chesterfield Kings' cool lp Surfin' Rampage! Also check out this neat clip from their not-so-rockin' movie Where Is The Chesterfield King?!

The Double Naught Spys ~ I was a part of this combo.

The Kaisers are my favorite "current" group even though there hasn't been anything new from them for years. Their last album, SHAKE ME!, is a MUST HAVE for all who dig the big-beat sound! In my opinion, it's a modern MASTERPIECE!!!!
You have to order the LP/CD through
Get Hip mail order & sometimes even that is a difficult order (can't get it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble) but it's really worth the effort. Kaiser George is the best, and my favorite, songwriter currently on the scene.

The Video Beat has the Kaisers
live in '95-'96 here!

The Kaisers record all their stuff at swingin' ToeRag Studios in London. ToeRag is run by ace producer Liam Watson. Get the lowdown on Liam & Toe Rag here!

The Bristols are another Toe Rag group worth checking out. Their modern Joe Meek style sound is a pleasure to listen to. Vocalist Fabienne Delsol made a fab solo album (another one is planned for 2007) that has four "Kaiser" George Miller originals. I listen to Fabienne & the Bristols a lot!!! There is a new Damaged Goods release out called The Best Of Fabienne Delsol and The Bristols. It's a great collection for folks who want to hear the gear goods!

Los Straitjackets are a fine rocking combo that will show you the mighty power of guitar instrumentals. They're gonna do another "Twist Party" tour this fall (2006) with host Kaiser George and The World Famous Pontani Sisters. There is even going to be a Twist Party!!! CD/DVD available October, 2006!

Eddie Angel, from Los Straitjackets, honored the Hamburg era Beatles with his chart topping CD Eddie Angel Meets The Beatles. Eddie's latest CD Eddie Angel Plays Link Wray! is a sonic blast of Link Wray coolness!

New for 2006!!! Kaiser George teams up with the folks from Eddie Angel Meets The Beatles to make a CD so explosive it can only be called TRANSATLANTIC DYNAMITE!. It's full of brilliant new George Miller originals (and the Hi-Risers' Greg Townson pens some gems as well) that sound like they could have been written in the early sixties! Today's top tune team delivers the definitive version of "I'm Gonna Haunt You." Fab!

 

The Rapiers ~ This modern group recreates The Shadows & other early sixties sounds.

Los Shakers
and Los Mockers were Uruguay's answer to The Beatles and the Rolling Stones! You can see'em on the International Beat Music DVD.

Some of Sam Leach's Merseybeat photos.

Curtis Mayfield ~ is one of my favorite songwriters. His sweet sixties soul stuff with the Impressions along with his various outside projects (the Fascinations, Walter Jackson, the Opals, and Major Lance to name a few) reveal a huge talent. The webpages linked here aren't all that great but they're okay. Find a copy of The Definitive Impressions CD and see what I'm talking about. Don't believe what rock dorks say, the early stuff rules! In the sixties, lots of folks were Impressed! with Mayfield's stuff.

NORTON RECORDS ~ Killer rock'n'roll catalog, great surf selection, Question Mark and The Mysterians, the Pretty Things!!!!!! They even sell a gear Xmas 45 by The Kaisers! Check out Question Mark & The Mysterians' new version of "Empty Heart" which is part of Norton's Rolling Stones covers series! Norton now has Gene Vincent stuff! Gene Vincent is one of my favorite singers.

The Ronettes ~ Phil Spector's grooviest gals! You can't beat The Ronettes. Here's a great Spector discography. Phil took teen music and made it arty without losing its teen focus.

P.F. Sloan Website ~ This site has a terrific Sloan discography! Forget Lennon/McCartney, Sloan/Barri are the guys songwriters should study. Get some Terry Black stuff to hear Sloan and Barri try to do the British Invasion sound.
Start off by getting the P.F. Sloan
CD Child Of Our Times. It's filled with demos from '65-'67!!!!!! As far as I'm concerned, P.F.Sloan is the greatest songwriter of the '60s! In the mid '60s his songs were all of high quality and spanned across a variety of COOL musical styles, from girl-group to garage, surf to psychedelic pop! He is the best folk rock songwriter ever!!! Sloan also has one of the most intense & desperate vocal styles ever! Here's an interview.
Wikipedia's
Sloan page.
P.F. is playing a few
dates this summer so catch him if you can!
Sailover is the NEW Sloan album and it's great to see P.F. back in action!

RAMONES ~ Their first three albums are the greatest and the Rhino reissues of Ramones, Leave Home, and Rocket To Russia are fucking genius!!! Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, and Tommy saved the seventies from completely sucking! These guys were my "Beatles." Be sure to check out the flick End Of The Century!
The ultra-lame Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame decided to induct them (to stand side by side with slews of bands and "artists" I fucking hate!#@&%*#).
To me, the Ramones stand head and shoulders above all the other seventies, eighties, nineties, and current punk groups.

Joey Ramone will always be one of my heroes! He had one of rock'n'roll's greatest singing voices (along with guys like Gene Vincent & John Lennon). Joey wrote the best songs including my favorite Ramones song, "Oh Oh I Love Her So." Hearing him sing always makes me wish he was still around. Get Joey's fine solo CD!!!!!
Dee Dee Ramone wrote some of my favorites like "Rockaway Beach," and "53rd And 3rd."
Johnny Ramone taught generations of kids how to play guitar. Now, if only those kids could write songs as good as the Ramones...

There's a new Ramones "Greatest Hits" package that has their most accessible stuff. I suggest you compile the following track line-up at home to get the full Ramones "Top 40" effect.

1. Blitzkrieg Bop (Single Version)
2. Beat On The Brat
3. Judy Is A Punk
4. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
5. Swallow My Pride
6. Oh Oh I Love Her So
7. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (ABC Single Version)
8. Pinhead
9. Rockaway Beach
10. We're A Happy Family
11. Cretin Hop
12. Teenage Lobotomy
13. I Wanna Be Sedated
14. I Just Want To Have Something To Do
15. She's The One
16. Rock 'N' Roll High School (Ed Stasium Mix)
17. Baby, I Love You
18. Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?
19. The KKK Took My Baby Away
20. Touring (1981 Version)

Folk Rock ~ Sometimes folk rock really does it. Read some of the titles on this site for the real folk rock scoop but keep in mind that folk rock is more about the sound and the music than "the message" despite what some "in the know" guys will tell you (for example, ALL of The Byrds originals on the definitive folk rock album Mr. Tambourine Man had NO "important" messages.) All those guys really wanted to do was, baby, be friends with you.
Also, real cool folk rock (and cool teen music in general) died out when the drug scene started to take over. Once again, "experts" will tell you differently but don't believe 'em. To hear the real teen folk rock genius pick up CRYPT's
Teen Jangler Blowout! and God-like Nobody To Love album (get 'em directly from CRYPT mail order).

PUNK ~ Great mag that I dug way back when and still dig now (though the Brezhnev jokes now seem strangely outdated.) John Holmstrom is the genius behind this work of genius. Funny as hell!

Mickey Hampshire ~ In the mid '80s I spent one summer listening to only the Milkshakes' LPs and the Beach Boys' TODAY album. Mickey was a key guy in the Milkshakes and he's also the main guy in Mickey & The Salty Seadogs and the Masonics. His stripped down style (sorta like Bo Diddley joins the Seeds & they go Merseybeat with a '70's punk rock influence) is about as basic as garage punk trash rock'n'roll gets. Billy Childish gets more attention but Mickey Hampshire is more my speed.

Richard Hell ~ The first rock'n'roll show I saw in person was Richard Hell and The Voidoids. He invented the punk clothes style that the British copied. The single "The Kid With The Replaceable Head" (the one produced by Nick Lowe) is one of my all-time favorites. Dig it on Hell's new career spanning CD SPURTS. It's a killer diller collection which shows off Richard's unique style. Also check out his "remember when" CD Time.
The late Robert Quine, guitarist for The Voidoids, had the coolest look ever, real beatnik. I thought he was the coolest. One time I spotted him at Venus Records (when it was on 8th St.) checking out the rockabilly titles!

I'm not a big fan of Rhino's Children Of Nuggets box set. To get the real scoop on the true "children of nuggets" check out Tim Gassen's Knights Of Fuzz CD-ROM and DVD. After that, pick up VOXX's Be A Caveman comp! It's a Greg Shaw comp!

Shangri-Las.com ~ Mary Weiss is my favorite female vocalist and Shadow Morton is one of the coolest people ever. The Shangri-Las were tough chicks in real life and so they get extra points by not trying to sing rough & tough on their records.

Sundazed ~ Good label that has some worship worthy stuff. If you haven't heard Boston's legendary Remains you are an eternal resident of squaresville! Blow off Sundazed's psychedelic junk and dig the Shadows Of Knight, the Leaves, the Gestures and the Gants (new album- Introducing...The Gants is out!) instead! There's also the Rip Chords, Ronny And The Daytonas, the Boys Next Door, Bruce & Terry and the Fantastic Baggys (who are actually Sloan/Barri.) This last batch of groups are sure to please early BB5 fans!!!

Varese Sarabande ~ This label gives us P.F.Sloan's Trousdale demos! The Nino & April CD All Strung Out is really great Sectoresque mid 60's pop coolness! Let's hope they release more P.F. Sloan demos in the near future. Come on guys, we want more!

The Burns Bison guitar produces the finest sound ever known to man! The Bison bass is also a must hear! Heck, any Burns guitar is worth checking out. It's a drag that they aren't gonna be making these reproductions anymore (at least for the USA). Get'em if you can find'em. Sound like The Kaisers, The Milkshakes, The Honeycombs, The Searchers and The Shadows with Burns!


Danelectro guitars are neato. They're getting pretty hard to find these days, but if you want to be cool buy one of these cheapie repro guitars and learn some Link Wray songs! A Danelectro 12 string is what turned the Crossfires into the folk-y-fied Turtles!

North Coast Music sells musical equipment that gave us the sound of the British Invasion (the FIRST one). If you've got dough to burn you can outfit your modern Mereybeat punk rock outfit (please, no more Beatles tribute bands!) with gear from these guys. Get your VOX gear here.

The guitar of choice for The Ventures and Johnny Ramone is Mosrite. Check out this cool Japanese Mosrite page (be sure to catch the M-VENTURES performing "Yellow Jacket")!