I break off a curveball, ala Bret Saberhagen ca. 1985!

(The title is a reference to the 1985 Kansas City Royals, one of my favorite baseball teams

ever.... they were about 1/3 as good as the fearsome 1980 team, but THOSE guys lost the series to the Phillies.....these guys road some unbelieveable pitching from Saberhagen, Danny Jackson, and Charlie Liebrandt to best the Cardinals.....yes, used to be a Royals fan, I guess I still follow them even though they have not been competitive since that 1985 series.....was going through a divorce during that series and the Royals performance, in particular the great George Brett and Saberhagen, kept me sane......man THAT is a ways to go to get to a post TITLE)

The "curve ball" is I am not feeling "psych" today, not even a little bit, and not feeling garage rock or ANY from that decade of love. Again, I am going to venture into something which is quite a bit more MY turf, if you don't like these, come back tomorrow, we'll see what I'm feeling then.

Still feeling "comp-y" though.....here is a five disc set entitled "101 Punk and New Wave Anthems". Nothing really RARE here, but if you have pigeonholed yourself into some other genre, these might be an excellent primer for..... if ya DO like this stuff, this is a very fine collection a couple of discs of which I thoroughly enjoyed today during the work thing.

Again, NOTHING here is hard to find, hell of the "101" I probably have 80 or 90 on the original vinyl, but punk/new wave singles of the 1970's-80's transform to compilation SO INCREDIBLY well, burning through these discs is, to me, like partying again with the Springfield South High School Class of 1979, in my shitty 1969 Pontiac that at least could pick up some good radio, which actually existed at the time.

OK, I may go on at too much length about some of
this stuff, if something sparks some special idiotic memory or something, just tell me to shut up. Disc one contains 21 , Lord God, I want to talk about them ALL, but I will refrain from it. We do have a rare alternative take of the Pistols "God Save the Queen" and a live "Burning Down the House" from Talking Heads (arguably that legendary band's best song in the live setting), but other than that, just a bunch of GREAT fucking singles....."Turning Japanese" by the Vapors, "Ever Fallen In Love?" the Buzzcocks, "Dancing with Myself" from Generation X, Stiff Little Fingers "Alternative Ulster", "Jocko Homo" from Devo, "Making Plans for

Nigel" by XTC, and one of very faves, the wonderfully vile, sexist "Peaches" from the Stranglers, GOD I love that track ("Is she trying to get out of that clitoris? Liberation for women, that's what I preach, PREACHER MAN!") Oh fuck yes I am back in college! See the complete track list below, I didn't want to get TOO wordy, but I have not even mentioned GREAT (not good, GREAT) tracks from Blondie, Undertones, The Members, The Only Ones, The Damned, Iggy, The Saints, 999, and Wire. Now, keep in min here, this is JUST THE FIRST DISC!

Disc 2 presents us with another fabulous live Talking Heads track ("Psycho Killer"), and oh God, what else? Nothing you can't find anywhere else,but put these 5 discs in your CD changer and start that party from my glorious school days! Ian Dury & the Blockheads amaze with "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", The Specials contribute the fab "Ghost Town", Devo's legendary cover of "Satisfaction" is here......Patti Smith's chilling "Because the Night", "Senses Working Overtime" by XTC, the great "Echo Beach" by Martha & the Muffins, "My Sharona" by the much maligned Knack (shut up, "My Sharona" was a GREAT song), "68 Guns" by The Alarm, and the wonderful "2-4-6-8 Motorway" from the Tom Robinson Band......what is so cool here is, for example, the Smith and Robinson tracks......FAR from their greatest works (I was a huge fan of both), but EASILY their best singles if you get what I'm saying......brilliant programming all the way through and again, haven't even said a peep about Wreckless Eric, Flying Lizards, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Flamin Groovies, Blondie, Buzzcocks, and the Motors.....my word, what a fabulous set!


So, now, they have all the layups out of the way, the quality is sure to go down, right? Wrong you are
safety pin breath, check out these stone cold CLASSIC tracks on Disc 3: "Blitzkreig Bop" by the Ramones, "Blank Generation" by Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the legendary "Marquee Moon" Television (one of my faves although I may not have included it on this set as a "single", probably opting instead for "Venus" or "Foxhole", even though "Marquee Moon" is one of my favorite of ALL songs. Moving on, "(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)" by the Stranglers, "Public Image" by PIL, "What Do I Get?" from the Buzzcocks, the absolutely brilliant "Statue of Liberty" by XTC, "Damaged Goods" from Gang of Four and the Records fab new wave-pop gem "Starry Eyes".... I am in heaven!

Disc 4 gives us another couple of live goodies ("If the Kids are United" by Sham 69, "I'm an Upstart" from the Angelic Upstarts), but, let me be honest, the set does go into a decline with this disc. Certainly there are winners:The Buzzcocks "Orgasm Addict", "Suspect Device" from Stiff Little Fingers, the great "Holiday In Cambodia" from the Dead Kennedys, the great "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" from X Ray Spex......but some fluff is beginning to creep in by this point (Ten Pole Tudor, UK Subs, The Flys, while all damn GOOD are NOT really "classics" of the magnitude of most of this set, but disc 3 is worth it for Spizzenergi's "Where's Captain Kirk?", and for having the guts to NOT include "I Want Candy" from Bow Wow Wow, favoring the more significant ode to home taping (It was highly controversial at the time) "C30 C60 C90 Go" (Bow Wow Wow released this as part of "Your Cassette Pet", some tunes on one side of the cassette, and BLANK on the other so you could record whatever you wanted to on it. Wonder what those people who freaked out about home taping back then would think of what I and others do today? I suspect they would be, well, maybe less than enthusiastic.

Disc Five is just fine as well, live tracks from Talking Heads ("Once In a Lifetime" and Eddie and the
Hot Rods (the great "Do Anything You Wanna Do"), any "Classic" tracks? well, not really, somewhat the same quality level as Disc 4, I always liked "Der Kommissar" from After the Fire, "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" is a good one from Holly & the Italians (I'd prefer "I Wanna Go Home"), "Presence, Dear" by Blondie, "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" from the Buzzcocks.... couple sort of odd inclusions that I personally would not have gone with REM's "The One I Love", and (get ready) "Blazing Apostles" from Be Bop Deluxe (not germane here really but Be Bop Deluxe were the only band I ever saw physically "boo'd" off the stage.....they were opening for Blue Oyster Cult (!) and were getting chairs thrown at them and had to suspend their set...people can be such boorish pieces of shit at times, indeed but WHO THE HELL THOUGHT OF THAT particular pairing? Hell, I LIKED Be Bop Deluxe and though it was pretty silly.

Anyways.....depending upon what your tastes are and where your collection stands, you could snatch up all five discs and be happy, OR you could program them any way you like, if your collection of this era/genre is on the light side and you want a fine sampler, I'd guess at the minimum it would fill three discs!

I am not changing course, there WILL be more psych comps, garage stuff, whatever else, but I really started to paint myself into a corner with those psych comps and wanted something different for today....maybe some of you old timers that love 60's psych stuff need to call your young cousins/nieces/nephews and make them aware of this set......perhaps they will LOVE you for it!

DISC 01-THE JAM-Going Underground/02 THE VAPORS-Turning Japanese/03 THE
UNDERTONES-Teenage Kicks/04 BLONDIE-One Way Or Another/05 THE BUZZCOCKS-Ever Fallen In Love ?/06 THE MEMBERS-Sound of the Suburbs/07 THE ONLY ONES-Another Girl Another Planet/08 THE STRANGLERS-No More Heroes/09 THE DAMNED-Love Song/10 THE RUTS-Babylon's Burning/11 GENERATION X-Dancing With Myself/12 IGGY POP-Lust For Life/13 THE SEX PISTOLS-God Save the Queen (Alternate Version)/14 (I'm) Stranded-The Saints/15 STIFF LITTLE FINGERS-Alternative Ulster/16 999-Homicide/17 THE STRANGLERS-Peaches/18 TALKING HEADS-Burning Down the House (Live)/19 WIRE-I Am the Fly/20 DEVO-Jocko Homo/21 XTC-Making Plans For Nigel

DISC 02-IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS-Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/02 MINK DEVILLE-Spanish Stroll/03 WRECKLESS ERIC-Whole Wide World/04 TALKING HEADS-Psycho Killer (Live)/05 THE SPECIALS-Ghost Town/06 JOHN COOPER CLARKE-Evidently Chickentown/07 THE FLYING LIZARDS-Money/08 DEVO-(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/09 SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES-Happy House/10 PATTI SMITH GROUP-Because the Night/11 THE FLAMIN GROOVIES-Shake Some Action/12 XTC-Senses Working Overtime/13 MARTHA & THE MUFFINS-Echo Beach/14 BLONDIE-Hanging On the Telephone/15 THE BUZZCOCKS-I Don't Mind/16 THE KNACK-My Sharona/17 THE MOTORS-Dancing the Night Away/18 TOM ROBINSON BAND-2-4-6-8 Motorway/19 DR FEELGOOD-Milk and Alcohol/20 THE ALARM-68 Guns

DISC 03-01 THE RAMONES-Blitzkreig Bop/02 RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS-Blank
Generation/03 BLONDIE-Rip Her To Shreds/04 TELEVISION-Marquee Moon/05 DEVO-Whip It/06 THE SAINTS-This Perfect Day/07 DR FEELGOOD-She Does It Right/08 THE STRANGLERS-(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)/09 GENERATION X-Ready Steady Go/10 THE SKIDS-The Saints are Coming/11 THE BUZZCOCKS-What Do I Get?/12 MAGAZINE-Shot By Both Sides/13 PUBLIC IMAGE-Public Image Ltd/14 GANG OF FOUR-Damaged Goods/15 THE MONOCHROME SET-The Strange Boutique/16 WIRE-Outdoor Miner/17 THE RECORDS-Starry Eyes/18 THE BANNED-Little Girl/19 RICH KIDS-Ghosts of Princes In Towers/20 XTC-Statue of Liberty/21 THE HUMAN LEAGUE-Being Boiled

DISC 04-01 THE BUZZCOCKS-Orgasm Addict/02 THE SKIDS-Into the Valley/03 SHAM 69-If the Kids Are United (Live)/04 SPIZZENERGI-Where's Captain Kirk?/05 STIFF LITTLE FINGERS-Suspect Device/06 THE DEAD KENNEDYS-Holiday In Cambodia/07 UK SUBS-Warhead/08 ANGELIC UPSTARTS-I'm an Upstart (Live)/09 THE RUTS-Staring at the Rude Boys/10 THE BOYS-First Time/11 THE FLYS-Love & a Molotov Cocktail/12 999-Emergency/13 GENERATION X-King Rocker/14 TEN POLE TUDOR-Swords of a Thousand Men/15 COCKNEY REJECTS-I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles/16 X-RAY SPEX-Oh Bondage Up Yours!/17 BOW WOW WOW-C30 C60 C90 Go/18 PENETRATION-Don't Dictate/19 THE STRANGLERS-Five Minutes

DISC 05-01 THE SPECIALS-Friday Night, Saturday Morning/02 TALKING HEADS-Once In a Lifetime (Live)/03 THE STRANGLERS-Golden Brown/04 FUN BOY THREE-The Lunatics/05 ADAM & THE ANTS-Deutscher Girls/06 BLONDIE-(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear/07 EDDIE & THE HOT RODS-Do Anything You Wanna Do (Live)/08 HOLLY & THE ITALIANS-Tell That Girl To Shut Up/09 THE ROMANTICS-What I Like About You/10 THE RADIO-Stars Nervous Wreck/11 AFTER THE FIRE-Der Kommissar/12 XTC-Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)/13 SIMPLE MINDS-Love Song/14 HEAVEN 17-(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing/15 DEPARTMENT 5-Is Vic There/16 TOM ROBINSON BAND-Up Against the Wall/17 RICH KIDS-Rich Kids/18 BE BOP DELUXE-Blazing Apostles/19 REM-The One I Love/20 THE BUZZCOCKS-Everybody's Happy Nowadays

What a magnificent set......VERY little rarity, but programmed so wonderfully that obscurity/rarity is anything BUT The point.....obviously it's not "all inclusive", no Clash, no Elvis Costello, no Police.....there are other comps. I've probably got a few of em, if I stay in this mood maybe I'll put a few more of em up.......this is great music, and as I've said, punk (and new wave) along with power pop and garage rock suit the compilation format perfectly as it simulates a wonderful radio listening experience, when done right. Comments? Especially from anyone pretty much here just for the psych?

Some MORE of em

Guessing you know "more" of "what", which would be psych comps, which I now LITERALLY
think I may never live long enough to post all of..... was gonna put up the somewhat rare "Tektites" series, BUT after looking at it I decided against it, because there was so much overlap with the yesterday's set that I just couldn't do it......maybe some other time because there is some FAIRLY rare stuff on it, but just too much overlap this close to "Acid Drops, Space Dust, and Flying Saucers" to really bother with it right now.....interesting sidebar quickly I hope.....I know that I originally got that set from perhaps the greatest blog of all time
"Chocoreve"......while I was pondering posting it, I tried to look at it as Chocoreve's great site has been up but inactive for four or five years now (and I am GODDAMN HONORED that he (Chocoreve) is a follower of this here blog)...anyway I don't think the guy has posted anything since 2008-09 or so, but I've used the site lots of times since then for reference or for pictures or track lists......anyway, it's now listed as a "Private" blog requiring an invitation, see for your self:
http://chocoreve.blogspot.com/ I wonder what the hell is up with that. I'm not a fan of "private" blogs, myself, seems kind of self defeating to me, but if others want to do it that way, God love em.......just kind of surprised that HE would go that route, especially after so long without activity.....anyway I wish him well, and at the same time give you my word that I will STOP blogging before going "private", just not my style. On to the compilations that I HAVE selected for this date:


OK, "Thirty Seconds Before the Calico Wall", has a FEW obvious and often comped selections, notably Haymarket Riot, Sound Sandwich, and once again The Moving Sidewalks "I Want to Hold Your Hand", but for the most part, this is fresh stuff.....Marshmallow Steamshovel, Pepper & the Shakers, Six Feet Under, Magic Swirling Ship.....pretty generous at 28 tracks, likely you haven't heard at least a few of them.

I don't know if "Beyond the Calico Wall" is a
companion piece to the above, but I will tell you that THIS is some rare stuff ......Six Feet Under return from the other set, murdering (wait for it) "Inna Gadda da Vida",Rasputin & the Mad Monks demolish "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night", and other than that, there is hardly a familiar name in the bunch......Waterproof Tinkertoy, Riders of the Mark, Demons of Negativity, and The Ceylieb People are VERY unlikely to turn up in heavy rotation on your local "rock" station (don't get me started on the topic of "rock" radio). Not the GREATEST stuff, but among the most obscure for certain.

Another good one here is "Psychedelic Minds-Heavy Underground 1967-71"....VERY skimpy at just 12 tracks but I don't think there is ONE here that overlaps any of my other stuff. Stuff both domestic (Bhagavad Gita, Dirty Filthy Mud, the Protein Brothers) and imported (Los Shains (Peru), Blow Mind (France), this shit is practically unheard of other than here. Essential if you're trying to grab "everything"!

"Artifacts From the Psychedelic Dungeon" is MUCH more mainstream, 15
tracks from 8 bands (2 each except for St Giles System who get only one, don't ask me).....the Move give us versions of "Hey Grandma" and "Stephanie Knows Who", hey at least it isn't "Gloria" and "Hey Joe"....couple tracks from Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, including "All Along the Watchtower" which, while not quite achieveing "Gloria/Hey Joe" status, DOES seem to be maybe reaching "7 and 7 Is" levels (the best cover of "All Along the Watchtower" for my money? Nope, not Hendrix.....XTC. They take the song and make it their OWN (not that Hendrix didn't), rather than the annoying habit many have had of trying to create a soundalike copy (a pet peeve of mine)).

One more for today-"Kraut Bloody Rageous-German Psychedelic Underground 1968-74" which I must have missed whilst doing that "spanning the globe" thing, more obscurities here than at which we could shake a stick (proper sentence?).......Staff Carpenborg & the Electric Corona, Haboob, Blackbirds 2000, and lots more, nice to see the legendary Monks turn up here too.....a lot of this is the roots of some of the great Kraut Rock of the early 1970's.......you guys like that stuff? Got quite a fw comps of that stuff, 1970's Kraut rock that is......."Music For Your Mind" and "Pre Kraut Pandemonium" are a couple that come to mind without checking, any interest? because to be honest, I AM getting a little tired of these kind of comps EVERY day and would like to work some other stuff in......just like to know WHAT, I just might be feeling some Kraut Rock, we shall see how I'm feeling tomorrow, late 60's psych is actually a fine segue (some dopes think it is spelled "segway", geez) into some of that great Tangerine Dream/Guru Guru/Krokodil (my fave) stuff. Let me know if there is interest!

30 SECONDS BEFORE THE CALICO WALL-01 HAYMARKET RIOT-Trip On Out/02
INEXPENSIVE HANDMADE LOOK-What Good Is Up/03 LOOKING GLASSES-Visions/04 BRAIN TRAIN-Me/05 SOUND SANDWICH-Apothecary Dream/06 THE MOVING SIDEWALKS-I Want To Hold Your Hand/07 LOOSE ENDZ-The Black Door/08 RON RAY LIGHT SHOW-Speed/09 MORGAN-Of Dreams/10 PEPPER & THE SHAKERS-Semi-Psychedelic (It Is)/11 NOAH'S ARK-Love-In/12 TREES-Don't Miss the Turn/13 THE PLAGUE-The Face of Time/14 THE SHAPRELLS-Desert Maiden/15 THE DOVERS-Third Eye/16 DENNIS & THE TIMES-Flight Patterns/17 OMEN-Once Upon a Taste/18 THE LORDS-Death Bells at Dawn/19 GLASS CANDLE-Light the Glass Candle/20 SIX FEET UNDER-Six Feet Under/21 THE TYDE-Lost/22 TNT-99th Floor/23 CHATEAUX-Reference Man Part 1/24MAGIC SWIRLING SHIP-He's Comin' Part 2/25 LEGENDS-High Towers/26 NEWS-Blue Shoes/27 MARSHMALLOW STEAM SHOVEL-Steamshovel/28 THE LORDS-Young Heartbeat

BEYOND THE CALICO WALL (20 TRACKS OF 1960'S GARAGE PSYCH & PUNK)-01 PARK AVENUE PLAYGROUND-The Trip/02 AFTERGLOW-Suzies Gone/03 THE FLOWER POWER-Mr Olympus/04 THE PULSE-Burit Bradley/05 RASPUTIN & THE MAD MONKS-I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night/06 ALVA SNELLING-Clock on the Wall (*important sidenote: according to the picture (look around the page, you'll find it), Alva had a VERY nice ass) /07 SPONTANEOUS GENERATION-Up In My Mind/08 COSMIC ROCK SHOW-Psiship/09 THE GREEK FOUNTAINS-An Experimented Terror/10 DUFFY-Come Back Come Back/11 THE PEBBLES EPISODE-Tripsy/12 BOHEMIAN VANDETTA-Paradox City/13 DEMONS OF NEGATIVITY-Resurrection/14 THE CEYLEIB PEOPLE-Changes/15 WATERPROOF TINKERTOY-Continuation/16

BAHGAVAD GITA-Long Hair Soulfull/17 THE RAVES-Mother Nature/18 RAIKS PROGRESS-Sewer Rat Love Chant/19 RIDERS OF THE MARK-The Electronic Insides & Metal Complexion That Make Up Herr Dr. Kreig/20 SIX FEET UNDER-Inna Gadda Da Vida

PSYCHEDELIC MINDS-HEAVY UNDERGROUND 1967-71-01 BLACKROCK-Black Cloud Overhead/02 SOUND MACHINE-Woman/03 YESTERDAYS OBSESSION-The Phycle/04 MASTERMIND-Turn of the Head/05 SANGRE MXICANA-Good Cause/06 BAHGAVAD GITA-Hair Soulful (ALSO on "Beyond the Calico Wall", I did NOT do this on purpose, what are the fucking odds that two collections of such obscurities would contain the same bizarro obscure track in back to back posts.besides that they were from Ohio (Cleveland actually)/07 PROTEIN BROTHERS-Drainpipe/08 PURPLE CANTEEN-Brains In My Feet/09 LOS NUEVOS SHAINS-Looking You/10 BLOW MIND-They're Coming/11 DIRTY FILTHY MUD-Morning Sun Flower/12 DIRTY FILTHY MUD-The Forest of Black

ARTIFACTS FROM THE PSYCHEDELIC DUNGEON-01 ST GILES SYSTEM-Swedish Tears/02 PRETTY THINGS- Turn My Head/03 PRETTY THINGS-Defecting Grey/04 THE BUNCH-Spare a Shilling/05 THE BUNCH-Looking Glass Alice/06 THE MOVE-Hey Grandma/07 THE MOVE-Stephanie Knows Who/08 THE IDLE RACE-Imposter's of Life's Magazine/09 THE IDLE RACE-The Lady Who Said She Could Fly/10 ELMER GANTRYS VELVET OPERA-Flames/11 ELMER GANTRYS VELVET OPERA-All ALong the Watchtower/12 THE MIRAGE-Ebneezer Beaver/13 THE MIRAGE-Poor Mrs Busby/14 MIKE STUART SPAN-Through the Looking Glass/15 MIKE STUART SPAN-Children of Tomorrow

KRAUT BLOODY RAGEOUS-GERMAN
PSYCHEDELIC UNKNOWNS 1968-74-01 THE RAVERS-Turn In/02 THE BLACKBIRDS 2000-Let's Do It Together/03 JO HAMAN-Wild Woman/04 HABOOB-Israfil Part 1/05 BIG BERTHA-Munich City/06 BARNEY WILEN & HIS AMAZING FREE ROCK BAND-Dear Professor Leary/07 CANNOCK-Wild Man/08 THE CT FOUR PLUS-Exodus II/09 STAFF CARPENBORG & THE ELECTRIC CORONA-Let the Thing Comin' Up/10 MIKE LEWIS & CONNY PLANK-Voodoo Woman/11 DRUM-War Child/12 THE SPEEDERS-I Can't Get It/13 ANDORA-On My Way/14 ANDORA-Jesus & the Rockers/15 JAM-World Is Satisfied/16 DON PAULIN-Don't Forget to Love/17 TUSK-Child of My Kingdom/18 THE MONKS-Please Please Love Me/19 CAN-The Million Game/20 AL CAPONE-Demon's Dance

While I'm thinking about it, here's a little nugget for the stoner rock crowd.....A band called Lizard Queen sent me a copy of their debut album and asked that I listen to it and spread their name a bit....I listened to most of it today, and it's pretty good, you know I love my stoner rock....loud, sludgy, and nine minute tracks wih titles like "Cassiopea" and "Inside the Eye"......You guys know I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, and anyway, if it sucked I WOULD NOT put it up here (I get LOTS of requests such as this and most of them DO suck)....anyway rather than me go to all the trouble of uploading it, just use the bandcamp link here

http://lizardqueenband.bandcamp.com/ ......you can name "your own price" for it, a minimum of $0.00, so really there is no risk involved for ya......if ya like some good sludgy stoner-doom, check this out and report back, and I thank Lizard Queen for the tunes......any band who wants exposure, as long as they don't suck and roughly fit somewhere into my very loose "format", feel free to send me your stuff (for free of course) and I'll evaluate it and maybe get you a thimble full of exposure!

Acid Drops, Space Dust, & Flying Saucers

This box set of UK psych-pop was released by the folks at Mojo Magazine in 2001.....it has it's
moments, including some VERY mainstream acts (with, in some cases, some of their very lesser available work) and also some inclusions that are HIGHLY questionable.....not the greatest set I've ever heard, but again, trying to keep the overlap to a minimum.....Disc 1 (GOTTA include these goofball subtitles) "Down to Middle Earth (wait they get MUCH sillier) brings us widely known Procol Harum, The Nice, and even The Who (!), but to the credit of the programmers these are some VERY rare tracks by each of them, what possible good, say, would it do any of us to include, say "Whiter Shade of Pale"? The Who track ("Armenia City In the Sky") is, let us say, " not great", but like yesterday's Doors inclusion, at least it is something

of a "rarity".....I'll carpet bomb a few lesser-known names from the disc as typlifies my rather dull writing style: Aquarian Age, World of Oz, The Tickle, and Grapefruit......

Disc Two ("Gandalf's Garden", geez) again, gives
us a few rare tracks by some well knowns, Donovan's "Celeste" is a better choice for a comp than something more obvious like "Atlantis" or "Sunshine Superman", The Incredible String Band (who, in all honesty I am not all THAT familar with) give us "Witches Hat", July's "The Way" is interesting, but the oddball highlight is without a doubt "Magician" by Amazing Friendly Apple, out there to be sure. The track by Caleb ("Baby Your Phrasing is Bad") is almost criminally over-comped, but it's a forgiveable sin to get, also, The Moles "We Are the Moles" and "Screams in My Ears" by Bill Fay, among others.

The third disc ("Mushroom Soup") kicks off with an awful track from Purple Gang called "Granny Takes a Trip", there are also really lame stuff from Peter Cook & Dudley Moore and Denny Laine. It also includes a version of The Smoke's often comped "My Friend Jack" which, in this version, has the beginning hacked off which renders it useless...another bitch I have about this c is petty, as it is the inclusion of the very common "Hurdy Gurdy Man" from Donovan and "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" by the Move, which while common as dirt are both (in my opinion) awesome tracks, and "Sky Pilot" from the Animals, which is one of my very fave

psych tracks from ANYONE (blues belter Eric Burdon's psych was TOTALLY legit for my money, "Sky Pilot" is an absolute mindbender which for whatever reason misses most of the comps, glad it's here).....also present are big timers such as Traffic, the Kinks, The Spencer Davis Group, Pretty Things, The Hollies, The Yardbirds, and Small Faces, each checking in with tracks of varying availablty and quality....the disc is a mess, as much as I love "Sky Pilot", and is only partially rescued by at least ONE fine rarity, David McWilliams' "Days of Pearly Spencer".

Disc 4 ("Roundhouse Ghosts") is MUCH better, again, I love Fire's "Father's Name Was Dad", and I guess this version will come in handy of my 75 OTHER versions of it somehow all get scratched, but it's really the only layup here.....Allen Pound's Get Rich give us a fab "Searchin In the Wilderness", "Colours of My Mind" the attack, a track from the pre-Groundhogs (a favorite of mine) Herbal Mixture, a Status Quo rarity.....MUCH better than Volume 3.

One problem.....when I started loading the CD's, I
foundout that both Discs 3 AND 4 were all dicked up, Disc 3 stopping at Track 15, which omits the tracks from The Animals ("Sky Pilot!"), Traffic, and Simon Dupree & The Big Sound........Disc 4 was WORSE, with only 13 of the 18 tracks available (God knows how this shit happens sometimes).....so THAT left out Herbal Mixture, Tomorrow, The Sorrows, Koobas, and Sam Gopal Dream.......now, to demonstrate that this stuff, for the most part, isn't THAT super-rare (some is, bear with me a minute, I think I'm trying to make a point), I was able to extract each and every one of those tracks from OTHER CD sources, The Animals, Traffic, imon Dupree, Herbal Mixture, and Koobas from their original albums, and The Sorrows and Tomorrow from other comps......BUT I cannot locate "Escalator" by Sam Gopal Dream.....I cannot even find the Sam Gopal disc that I KNOW I have (somewhere), but even if I could find it I don't know if "Escalator" is on it (it does not really ring a bell)......BUT I did go the extra mile and HAND PROGRAM 7 of 8 tracks, I am such the goddamn man it amazed even me, but I have a request, just ONE track, if any friends out their have "Escalator" by Sam Gopal, PLEEEEEEZE upload and share it......again, so that anyone who WANTS this whole set can get it and blah blah blah.......

If I have known these discs were fucked up I wouldn't have even bothered with this one, but I was halfway or more into it when I figured it out, and I thought it was kind of funny that I could actually hand compile 7 of the 8 missing "rare" tracks.....anyways, Sam Gopal......and I recall I really did like the Sam Gopal album that I have/had, so anyone with ANY Sam Gopal, let's drag em out, but at the very least "Escalator" if anyone can dig it up.......

Sometimes this blog is a pain in my ass, but I really DO like doing it (I STRIVE for something each day, at least, with varying rates of success), and the reasons I've bored ya with before.....I want

EVERYONE, everyone on EARTH, to have "their" ideal music collection......I pretty have mine, at least everything that is fairly essential TO ME (not that I'm not always on teh lookout for more cool stuff), and I love that the friends and lurkers out there really do show their appreciation with kind comments and excellent high download/visit numbers......I'll keep it up until they shut me down, which who the hell knows, may be tonight, but I'm in it for the duration!

DISC 1-01MCGOUGH & MCGEAR-So Much In Love/02 AQUARIAN AGE-10000 Words in a Cardboard Box/03 THE NICE-Flower King of Flies/04 RUPERTS PEOPLE-Dream On My Mind/05 SHY LIMBS-Reputation/06 TINTERN ABBEY-Vacuum Cleaner/07 THE DAVID-Light of Your Mind/08 THE MISUNDERSTOOD-I Can Take You To The Sun/09 GRAPEFRUIT-Dear Delilah/10 PROCOL HARUM-Shine on Brightly/11 BAMBOO SHOOT-Fox Has Gone to Ground/12 THE WHO-Armenia City in the Sky/13 FOCUS THREE-1000 Years Behind My Mind/14 TIMEBOX-Gone is the Sad Man/15 WORLD OF OZ-Peter's Birthday (Black and White Rainbows)/16 THE TICKLE-Subway (Smokey Pokey World)/17 FELIUS ANDROMEDA-Meditations/18 WARM SOUNDS-Nite is a Comin'

DISC 02-01 KALEIDOSCOPE-Flight From Ashiya/02 JULY-The Way/03 INCREDIBLE STRING
BAND-Witches Hat/04 DONOVAN-Celeste/05 RAMASES & SELKET-Mind's Eye/06 END-Shades of Orange/07 VIRGIN SLEEP-Love/08 BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST-Pools of Blue/09 TALES OF JUSTINE-Monday Morning/10 BILLY NICHOLLS-Girl From New York/11 THE ACCENT-Red Sky at Night/12 MICK SOFTLEY-Am I the Red One/13 ORANGE BICYCLE-Laura's Garden/14 CALEB-Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad/15 AMAZINGLY FRIENDLY APPLE-Magician/16 MOLES-We Are the Moles/17 MICHAELANGELO-23rd Turnoff/18 BILL DAY-Screams In My Ears

DISC 03-01 PURPLE GANG-Granny Takes a Trip/02 THE SMOKE-My Friend Jack/03 IDLE RACE-Imposter's In Life's Magazine/04 PRETTY THINGS-Talkin About the Good Times/05 DONOVAN-Hurdy Gurdy Man/06 SPENCER DAVIS GROUP-Time Seller/07 DENNY LAINE-Say You Don't Mind/08 THE MOVE-I Can Hear the Grass Grow/09 THE KINKS-See My Friends/10 PETER COOK & DUDLEY MOORE-LS Bumble Bee/11 THE YARDBIRDS-Happenings Ten Years Time Ago/12 SMALL FACES-Green Circles/13 THE HOLLIES-King Midas In Reverse/14 DAVID MCWILLIAMS-Days of Pearly Spencer/15 THE HERD-From the Underworld/16 ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS-Sky Pilot (different source used)/17 TRAFFIC-Paper Sun (different source used)/18 SIMON DUPREE & THE BIG SOUND-Kites (different source used)

DISC 04-01 THE ATTACK-Colours of My Mind/02 ALLEN POUND'S GET RICH-Searchin In the
Wilderness/03 FIRE-Father's Name Was Dad/04 ORANGE MACHINE-Dr Crippin's Waiting Room/05 PENNY PEEPS-Model Villiage/06 FAIRYTALE-Run and Hide/07 MANDRAKE PADDLE STEAMER-Strange Walking Man/08 STATUS QUO-When My Mind Is Not In Love/09 POETS-In Your Tower/10 SANDS-Listen to the Sky/11 SYD BARRETT-Octopus/12 APPLE-The Other Side/13 FLIES-I'm Not Your Steppin Stone/14 HERBAL MIXTURE-Machines (different source used)/15 TOMORROW-Revolution (different source used)/16 THE SORROWS-You've Got What I Want (different source used)/17 KOOBAS-Royston Rose (different source used)/18 SAM GOPAL DREAM-Escalator (so, help a brother out?)

Interesting set, not the greatest, but interesting....probably could pare the highlights down to about a disc and a half easilly and not miss a beat, but that is often the case is it not?

Wellllll, what to do NOW?

I had a plan, this Pebbles thing was gonna take all week, BUT thanks to the efforts of Francois and
Psyclist, two great friends of the blog, it would be a serious redundancy to post the remainder of the set.....if YOU need a disc or two, simply look under the comments section of the first (only) Pebbles post, and you'll be able to find anything you need by following the links, including The Trash Box Sets, and the Essential Pebbles sets......the blog friends have done an excellent job this time (as ALWAYS!)  as I have captured the volumes that I needed as well.......but.....

What am I to do now? I usually (believe it or not) think these things out ahead of time a little bit at least....I have PLENTY more sets of this nature, but it takes me a minute to go sort/organize them, and in all honesty, I had I think two or three of the remaining Pebbles posts already written and some even uploaded.......I don't want to alienate the Pebbles/Nuggets crowd by switching gears TOO much TOO quickly, but I kind of got trapped in.....trust me there will be PLENTY more 1960's garage/psych sets yet to come, I am even amazed myself as to how many I have yet to post.

But, again, what to do TODAY? Be like Andy Kaufman, I guess, and
delight in giving the audience what they DON'T want? Well, hopefully not.....but I am going to COMPLETELY change gears just for today at least,  bringing you the amazing nine-disc unabridged Monterey International Pop Festival Set.....why? Oh, I don't know.....it's damn good, for one thing, a friend and I were just listening to some of it the other day for another, and I think it's (in this format) FAIRLY rare, I've seen a few of them.....I mean there were a few official releases from the festival, the most notable being the great Hendrix/Otis Redding album, couple of others too I think, but I think that THIS set is as close as we can get to the ENTIRE Festival. Hope you guys enjoy this, it's a change of pace, and if you DON'T go for this, please don't abandon me, I got LOTSA

more bullets in the chamber.

Disc 1 is a dandy, actually, the first songs we hear are from, of all people, The Association, with a stellar version of "Along Comes Mary" and a decent "Windy" as well....next up Lou Rawls gives a few numbers, including "Tobacco Road", one that I nearly always enjoy no matter who is doing it. After a Johnny Rivers "Memphis", we get a set from the Animals, wish they'd have worked my fave "Sky Pilot" into the set, but it's not bad.....highlighting disc one (other than, for my money, The Association) is a long set from Simon and
Garfunkel, they were on their game on that day....again, maybe this is not for you guys who've been so into the Nuggets things, but expand your horizons for a minute, OK?

Second Disc brings us a bluesy set from Canned Heat, and then a fabulous set from Big Brother & the Holding Company (including a blistering, maybe best ever version of "Down on Me")....we get hilariously dated nonsense from Country Joe & the Fish "....be the first one on your block to have your boy sent home in a box....", and a closer from Al Kooper....well, they can't ALL be winners....

Disc Three is dominated by the underappreciated
Paul Butterfield Blues Band who turn in a fine set, followed by single tracks from Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Steve Miller Band, closing with a fairly good set from Electric Flag. Could have used a little more Steve Miller in his pre-fame days myself, but that's just me.....

Moving on to Disc 4, Moby Grape turns in a decent set (capped by a smoking "Omaha"), the Byrds give a fine performance as they always seemed to, including a reading of that rarely covered, often overlooked chestnut, "Hey Joe", and in closing we get some Laura Nyro, who I also always kind of liked a little bit at least.

Disc Five gives us a bad-ass set from Jefferson
Airplane, they are in excellent form and tear through a set of some of their greatest tunes, Booker T & the MG's provide an interlude before Otis Redding's famous (from the Hendrix/Redding recording) set.

The sixth disc defines acquired taste, if you want a whole disc of Ravi Shankar, HERE is your chance, the only artist in the set to merit a full disc.......enjoy. Disc 7 more than makes up for the slack time though, although Big Brother & the Holding Company's SECOND version of "Combination of the Two" is more than a little redundant, we get two excellent (and too short) sets from Buffalo Springfield and the Who, who were maybe the best live act on the planet at the time.

Disc eight starts off with a mercifully short Grateful Dead showing, before the Jimi Hendrix set tears
up the speakers, MAJESTIC versions of "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Wild Thing", as well as a bunch of his standards, (are ya REALLY gonna do it BigScott? Ah, why not?) including his version of that rarely covered, obscure chestnut, "Hey Joe" (I'm sorry, kind of), all of it  sounds great as most live Hendrix sets do, I wish I could have seen him, what an incredible stage presence he must have cast....as I said before, most likely you are familiar with this Hendrix set, but it is obviously worth hearing in this context as well.

And the final disc....one track from Scott McKenzie gives way to the Mamas and the Papas, who fill out the rest of the disc....never was a HUGE fan, but they turn in a pretty good set themselves, finishing with a fairly rowdy "Dancing In the Streets"

For a two-day festival, I think the nine discs here capture the essence of the era as well as we could reasonably expect.....I understand that Big Brother played a set each day, but REALLY two versions of the same track? Well, I don't know, wish I'd have been there though, because the sets from Hendrix, The Who, Butterfield, Jefferson Airplane, and the Byrds are all fantastic to these ears at least, most of the filler is at the very least interesting, and hey, at least they didn't give us a whole disc of the Grateful Dead (although I think there may be an official recording of their entire performance from the Festival, unsure and won't be seeking it out)

So, enjoy this set, and don't be a snob.......there was more music out there in the late 1960's than the
obscurities we've been devouring of late. This is really worth owning, unless you have some kinda "mainstream phobia" or something, it's a TRULY good set, and I THINk it's fairly hard to find although I could be wrong about that.....and remember, go to the COMMENTS SECTION of the PEBBLES post, follow the proper links and get ANY of the 28 discs you may be lacking, also the "Trash Box" set, and the "Essential" set......and thanks a million to both Psyclist and Francois for cutting my work down by so much......just had to give some extra thought as to what I was going to do today......hope it's not too much of a switch, it's for all my "hippies" out there!

DISC 01-01 JOHN PHILLIPS-Festival Introduction/02 THE ASSOCIATION-Along Comes Mary/03 Windy/04 LOU RAWLS-Love Is a Hurtin Thing/05 Dead End/06 Tobacco Road/07 JOHNNY RIVERS-Memphis/08 ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS-Paint It, Black/09 San Francisco Nights/10 Gin House Blues/11 Hey Gyp/12 SIMON & GARFUNKEL-Homeward Bound/13 At the Zoo/14 Feelin Groovy/15 For Emily Wherever I May Find Her/16 Sounds of Silence/17 Benedictus/18 Punky's Dilema

DISC 02-01 CANNED HEAT-Rollin and Tumblin/02 Dust My Broom/03 Bullfrog Blues/04 BIG
BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY-Down On Me/05 Combination of the Two/06 Harry/07 Road Block/08 Ball and Chain/09 COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH-Not-So-Sweet Martha Lorraine/10 Feel Like I'm Fixin To Die Rag/11 Please Don't Drop That H Bomb/12 Section 43/13 AL KOOPER-(I Heard Her Say) Wake Me Shake Me

DISC 03-01 BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND-Look Over Yonders Wall/02 Mystery Train/03 Born In Chicago/04 Double Trouble/05 Mary Ann/06 Droppin Out/07 One More Headache/08 QUICKSLIVER MESSENGER SERVICE-All I Ever Wanted To Do/09 STEVE MILLER BLUES BAND-Mercury Blues/10 THE ELECTRIC FLAG-Drinkin Wine/11 Groovin Is Easy/12 Night Time Is the Right Time

DISC 04-01 TOMMY SMOTHERS-Intro/02 MOBY GRAPE-Indifference/03 Mr. Blues/04 Sittin By
The Window/05 Omaha/06 HUGH MASEKELA-Bajabula Bonke/07 THE BYRDS-Renaissance Fair/08 Have You Ever Seen Her Face/09 Hey Joe/10 He Was a Friend of Mine/11 Lady Friend/12 Chimes of Freedom/13 So You Wanna Be a Rock n Roll Star/14 LAURA NYRO-Wedding Song/15 Poverty Train

DISC 05-01 JEFFERSON AIRPLANE-Somebody to Love/02 The Other Side of This Lie/03 White Rabbit/04 High Flying Bird/05 Today/06 She Has Funny Cars/07 Young Girl Sunday Blues/08 Ballad of You, Me, and Pooneil/09 BOOKER T & THE MG'S-Booker-Loo/10 Hip Hug-Her/11 Philly Dog (W/the Mar-Keys)/12 OTIS REDDING-Shake/13 Respect/14 I've Been Loving You Too Long/15 Satisfaction/16 Try a Little Tenderness

DISC 06-01 RAVI SHANKAR-Raga Bhimpalasi/02 Tabla Solo In Ektal/03 Dhun (Dadra And Fast Teental) (this 22 minute track was damaged and somehow would not completely upload for me.....you get "only" about 15 minutes of it, from which I certainly hope you get the general idea.....sorry, but I'm not aborting this project over THAT!)

DISC 07-01 THE BLUES PROJECT-The Flute Thing/02 BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING
COMPANY-Combination of the Two/03 BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD-Intro/04 For What It's Worth/05 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing/06 Rock N Roll Woman/07 Bluebird/08 THE WHO-Substitute/09 Sumemrtime Blues/10 Pictures of Lily/11 A Quick One/12 Happy Jack/13 My Generation

DISC 08-01 THE GRATEFUL DEAD-Viola Lee Blues/02 Cold Rain and Snow/03 JIMI HENDRIX-Killing Floor/04 Foxey Lady/05 Like a Rolling Stone/06 Rock Me Baby/07 Hey Joe/08 Can You See Me/09 The Wind Cries Mary/10 Purple Haze/11 Wild Thing

DISC 09-01 SCOTT MCKENZIE-San Francisco/02
THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS-Straight Shooter/03 Got a Feeling/04 California Dreaming/05 Spanish Harlem/06 Somebody Groovy/07 I Call Your Name/08 Monday Monday/09 Dancing In the Street/10 Outro

Pretty big undertaking for a level of acceptance I am unsure of......please leave comments! Please! Would you like to see more off the wall shit MIXED IN with the Nuggets comps (and beleive me, they are going nowhere for a while), or should I paint myself into a Nuggets/Pebbles/Gravel/etc niche? On the one hand, I'd LIKE to get some more variety on this thing, but the numbers for the comps are SO HIGH that I'd feel like I'm alientating the part of my audience that put this blog on the "map" so to speak.......PLEASE speak up and let me know how you feel, I might even listen to ya!