The Seeds – “Pushin’ Too Hard” (1966)
A tribute to the late, great Sky Saxon, who passed away last week, comes this garage rock classic from 1966. “Pushin’ Too Hard” was The Seeds’ biggest hit, making it all the way to #36 on the charts.
Sky Saxon…R.I.P.
The Burgundy Runn – “Stop!” (1966)
The song that I have known all these years in the version done by 1980s garage rock ’60s revivalists The Chesterfield Kings. I had never heard this original version but I can see The Kings certainly did this song justice. It makes me wonder how this catchy song never made it big. It’s almost a tragedy in fact.
This strangely-named band was very obscure. “Stop!” was released in 1966 on Lindy Blaskey’s Lavette label. I don’t know much else about them.
The Lyres – “Not Like the Other One” (1984)
Jeff “Mono Man” Connolly & co. from The Lyres’ debut long-player On Fyre. This is not their best song but just about everything these guys came out with was great. My favorite album of theirs is still their 2nd one, Lyres Lyres, probably because that was the album that I first bought from them.
The Lyres were one of the leading purveyors of the 1980s garage rock revival.
The Fuzztones – “1-2-5″ (1984)
Cover of this great song by Canadian garage rockers The Haunted. NYC’s The Fuzztones put out a few great albums of 60s-inspired lunacy themselves before breaking up.
The Chocolate Watchband – “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” (1968)
Ray Davies-penned track, covered by The Watchband on their second album The Inner Mystique – which was a hodgepodge of songs recorded by the actual band and some that were ringers – which resulted in a very confused album, but with some quality psychedelic and garage rock tracks.
The Eyes – “I’m Rowed Out” (1966)
Another great song by The Eyes. They were clearly influenced by early Kinks and Who. They never made it big though for some strange reason.
The Sonics – “Strychnine” (1965)
This legendary Northwestern band of lunatics from Tacoma, WA, put out this great bit of mayhem in 1965, which must have made it seem even more insane, considering the time. Lead singer Greg Roslie was like a demented white version of Little Richard and the band matched him in sheer, unbridled power. They were an influence on many bands to come. They are simply one of the great garage rock bands of all time!
The Haunted – “1-2-5″ (1967)
A Canadian band from Montreal, this song was later covered by 80s garage revivalists The Fuzztones to spectacular effect.
Positively 13 O’Clock – “Psychotic Reaction” (1967)
Remake of this classic song by The Count Five – this is actually a Texas band called Mouse & the Traps (who released many singles) under a different name. A bit more frantic than the original.
The Brogues – “I Ain’t No Miracle Worker” (1965)
Garage punk classic from this short-lived group. Later covered by The Chocolate Watchband and in the 80s by The Chesterfield Kings and The Barracudas, as well as being included on the now-famous 1972 compilation Nuggets, this song has become a garage rock classic.
