This week the genre is baroque proto-power pop and the song is "She May Call You Up Tonight" by The Left Banke , Great melodies by Michael Brown , a killer chorus, velvet vocals by Steve Martin Caro ... but what's it all about?! A band called California Spectrum produced a faithful cover in '68 and added some cool fuzz ... but why does the singer sound like they're 12?! Who cares, it's garage! Canadian ICON Anne Murray tried her voice out on the song, which got retitled "He May Call." A sweet bu...
Nov 15, 2024•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 205
The Byrds had a bad time in England, and wrote a curiously grey-mood tune that many consider "the first psychedelic song of all time" - "Eight Miles High." It's known for its sound, but we take a deep dive into the lyrics, too. Succulent, truculent. The next flight was piloted by the semi-legendary obscuros, Index. Some nice warm guitar strummin' & lotsa negative space. Less negative space on Leo Kottke 's version - he's a king of fingerpickin' geetar and he has a nice deep baritone and he f...
Nov 08, 2024•2 hr 17 min•Ep. 204
This week, we manage to talk about 7 songs in just over 2 hours - appropriately, all are versions of "Train Kept a Rollin'"! The original is by Tiny Bradshaw , a 1951 jump blues number that contains a rock n roll instro break that clearly caught the ears of the next crew, namely Johnny Burnette & The Rock n Roll Trio . They take Tiny B's joyous number and inject it with some wild hillfolk hiccupin' and hollerin'.' The train somehow made it to England by 1965, and Screamin' Lord Sutch (with R...
Nov 01, 2024•2 hr 19 min•Ep. 203
Stop! and check out the new episode, featuring The Supremes . who were on a run of consecutive #1 hits in 1965. "Stop! In the Name of Love" is the one with the iconic choreography, but we dig even deeper to explain the charms of this arresting song. The first cover we discuss is a very busy garage version from 1969 by Crosstown Switch. Beverly Kelley, the lead singer on this tune, sounds like she's been beamed in from 1962! Next up is an epic soul version by Margie Joseph which has to be heard t...
Oct 25, 2024•2 hr 26 min•Ep. 202
After our wild celebration of Episode 200, we woke up a little hungover ... so the perfect prescription to get us back in the saddle for this Canadian Holiday Weekend is "Double Shot of My Baby's Love"! by Dick Holler & The Holidays . Despite the band name, you gotta wait for the third version for true frat rock shenanigans. The first cover version is a weird swamp-pop duet by Dale & Grace , we'll leave it up to you to decide if it's BDA-worthy. The third and most famous rendition is by ...
Oct 13, 2024•3 hr 2 min•Ep. 201
We just passed go and collected 200 ... episodes!! We celebrate this achievement with a bunch of "party" songs, including discussions of The Sundowners, The Gallows, The B-52's & Jonathan Richman. Crack open a cold one and celebrate with us!! Yay yay!
Oct 05, 2024•2 hr 50 min•Ep. 200
This episode: all THREE versions of "I Met Him on a Sunday" by The Shirelles : the 1958 snap 'n' clap original (when they were in high school!!), the '64 re-do, and the '66 Wall of Sound version (with FUZZ!) ! But that's not all - 3 boffo renditions by The Orlons (1962), Reparata & the Delrons (1970), and Laura Nyro & Labelle (1971). The only thing we don't talk about is what happened to Lew Conetta !!!!!
Sep 28, 2024•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 199
Hey! The Gruesomes twosome - Bobby Beaton & John Davis - join us once again and they wanna talk about Nederbeat this week! Both songs are by The Outsiders - but we have cover versions, too! First up is "That's Your Problem," the original, then the 1984 renditions by The Tell-Tale Hearts . Second song is "Touch", the weirdly tense folk-garage masterpiece, with versions by The Bristols & The Thanes . If you don't like ... that's YOUR problem!!!!...
Sep 21, 2024•2 hr 30 min•Ep. 198
Sometime in the early 90s, a record store owner asked Weldon the question: "Have you heard Gruntruck?" And until recently, the answer was no. But the memory of this exchange leads us to this bonus episode, where we listen to "Crazy Love" by Seattle's Gruntruck and dismantle the semiotics of grunge. A little pain feels good!
Sep 18, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 197
On Friday the 13th, we satisfy Pastronauts with "Frustration," the uptight 1966 number by Vancouver's Painted Ship . It's a quiet, beatnik-y talk-sing, yet it has the classic garage theme of rejection of society and rejection by girls! In 1982, Plan 9 took the song on an extended, almost 12-minute jam, and we might actually talk about a song for less than its length for once! Some Boston guys called Dark Cellars dragged the tune through the shooting gallery in '84, then French weirdos Temple Gat...
Sep 13, 2024•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 196
In 1959, Charles Brown & Amos Milburn recorded a beautiful duet called "I Want to Go Home." It's like a nice highball, two ingredients that blend well (Milburn is the Rum and Brown is the Coke). Sam Cooke later transformed the song into "Bring it On Home To Me", which he sang with Lou Rawls, an impassioned vocal performance with some Gospel call and response. The Animals then brought the song to England and Eric Burdon hogged the song all to himself, but that's ok because there's Alan Price ...
Sep 06, 2024•2 hr 9 min•Ep. 195
This was supposed to be a bonus episode, but it's really a textbook ITP episode where we talk about a garage classic and two other versions, with lots of crucial digressions - like the early days. The song is "Go Ahead" by garage legends The Squires from Connecticut. A folk-punk jangler with churning organ - if you don't like it, what are you doing here?! The second version is by the Pop Art Toasters , with the recently departed Martin Phillips on vocals. New Zealand sure is the land of avuncula...
Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 194
In this episode, we celebrate the work of Michael Bouyea: singer-songwriter, Vietnam vet, and DJ. We start with two rippin' 1966 garage numbers by The Rogues , "Same All Over the World" and "The Original." In the 70s, he went pop! - and from this era we play "Just an Illusion" (sorta new wavey) and lost Canadian classic (he was livin' in Toronto), "The Fury." The latter is one of the jauntiest tunes ever put to wax. In 1985, it was a very good year for the Toronto Blue Jays, winning 99 games and...
Aug 17, 2024•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 193
In this episode, we tackle seven versions of "The Witch" while also trying to remember the Seven Wonders of the World!: 1. The Sonics 2. Atilla & The Huns 3. The Pointed Sticks 4. The Gruesomes 5. Heart 6. Mojo Beatnik 7. Marcel Bontempi
Aug 04, 2024•2 hr 41 min•Ep. 192
This week we go gaga over The Pretty Things' 1964 number, "Rosalyn." You know it, you love it. Textbook early garage that takes its cues from Saint Bo Diddley. The second version is by Steve and the Board , a group of Australian teen treblemakers who change the lyrics for some reason. The third is by scary Cheshire cats Stack Waddy. Thick, fuzzy, thudding claustrophobic 70s sledgehammer proto-punk! Robin from Ghosts' fave version. The fourth is by a little known singer named David Bowie , who di...
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 191
Beautiful song alert! Canadian legend Joni MItchell 's early classic "Both Sides Now" is the tune of the week, and it touches Erik and Weldon's Prairie souls. A wide-ranging discussion of Canadian accents, British Surrealists, Plato's Cave, and the journey of life ensues. Judy Collins had a hit with the tune in '68, and we dig the Baroque arrangement, and isn't the organ a little ... garagey? That same year, an obscure band called The Collection authored a psych-bubblegum version that has some m...
Jul 20, 2024•2 hr 23 min•Ep. 190
Three versions of 99th Floor , all featuring Billy Gibbons of future ZZ Top fame! Two demos by The Coachmen V , his original band, and the more well-known Moving Sidewalks version. All different, all great - but that's not all! In the mid-70s, some weirdos from Pennsylvania called TNT recorded the tune and made it even more psych! Last but not least, The Chesterfield Kings filed a faithful but extra fuzzy version in 1982. Why didn't we do this song for Episode 99 instead of 189?!?!?!...
Jul 13, 2024•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 189
The sound is timeless, the bass is fretless. This is the bonus episode we recorded immediately after "I'm a King Bee", celebrating the sexy sliding sound of the fretless bass. In the words of Erik Komarnicki, "The fretless bass is like a road with no speedbumps." It was late, we were drunk, and we forgot about Mick Karn. All kinds of weird things happen in this episode, like us creating extemporized lyrics to "Teen Town" by Weather Report. Is this a garage rock podcast? No, it's a fretless bass ...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 188
I guess this could be a Canada Day Long Weekend Special? The song this week is "The Cat Came Back," a song written in the 1890s by a Tin Pan Alley songwriter but made famous by a Canuck. The first version is by Sonny James , a country dude who picks n grins his way through this Goofy Great. The man, the myth Fred Penner didn't pen the song, but people think he did. So let's call it Canadian! His version is wild ... and it's for the kids, so there's extra meows. Does it fade out into "Break on Th...
Jun 29, 2024•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 187
This week we buzz awhile about Slim Harpo 's 1957 concoction, "I'm a King Bee." A slow and syrupy groove, a slightly sinister mood, and drums which sound like someone's hammerin' a nail. Even the harmonica solo sounds like it's emerging out of the swamp! 7 years later, the song travelled from the Bayou to the Thames and The Rolling Stones beeswaxed the song. Apparently, this song is the first appearance of a fretless bass, which will lead to a very strange bonus episode later. In 1965, The Bad S...
Jun 21, 2024•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 186
It's always good to hear The Coasters , and this week we're studying their Goofy Great, "I'm a Hog For You." Written by Leiber/Stoller , loaded with A-pluses, hogsnort sax work, with a one-note guitar solo - this'll make you happier than pig in poopy! The second swine is by The Deejays , a bunch of British piggies who went to Sweden and waxed the track with added Mersey madness in 65. Bug music with great "yeah's" ... and we pick the best one as a side bet! The third porker in the pigpen is by T...
Jun 15, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 185
Three versions of "Hey Joe"! But they're all by The Leaves !! The first one is chaotic, the second one is cleaner, the third one is canonical ( Nuggets )- but which one blows OUR minds the most? Listen in to hear the song's lore, including the suspicious "original" demo, and more. It's a wild tale, and a wild tune.
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 184
Back with another one of those block-rocking themes! All of this episode's songs center on laughter, but very few of our subjects this week seem too mirthful. The first funny guy is "Ho Ho Rock n' Roll" by Peter Roberts & Sid Ramin . This 1956 tune is mostly instrumental, featuring the goofy guffaws of broadcaster PB set to a "Las Vegas Grind" arrangement. The second stand up song is "Laughing at Me" by Barbara J & The Silver Slippers . A sweet, if paranoid doo-wop/girl group number that...
May 25, 2024•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 183
The very first Righteous Brothers release was "Little Latin Lupe Lu" in '62. It has a slight rockabilly/surf feel, with the great vocals we came to expect, plus the immortal love song line, "She's My Mash Potato Baby"! In 1964, our frat friends The Kingsmen trashed the song, a la "Louie Louie." It's clubfooted, stiffarmed, not soulful, and great. We follow that up with two versions by TWO Dimensions ! The first one from Chicago, with some tetanus tambo, and the second a NC band who waxed the tra...
May 17, 2024•2 hr 16 min•Ep. 182
This week, we take on one of the greatest "she done me wrawng " songs of all time - " Bad Little Woman" by The Wheels . We analyze the religious slant of the song written by these Northern Ireland velocity boys - is the singer's woman dating the literal devil?? Wild screams, a sparking organ, a malevolent atmosphere - this must have went over gangbusters at Belfast's Maritime Hotel on a stormy night. The American version of the song was credited to Wheel-a-Ways , and it's a totally different tak...
May 11, 2024•2 hr•Ep. 181
Did The Tymes come up with their 1963 hit "So Much In Love" by repurposing the official song of the United States Army? That's Erik's theory, and we talk about it as well as the tune as doo-wop's "swan song" -its gentle and elegaic quality serves also as a goodbye to a more innocent era. Later in the 60s, Cleveland's The Munx did a bombing raid on the song, which belongs firmly in the "music for squares" camp. Luckily, in 1971, The Persuasions performed a pretty, and very masculine acappella ver...
May 03, 2024•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 180
At In The Past , we always take things to the next level - some people are still satisfied with "Name That Tune," but we've invented "Name That Vid!" In this episode, your hosts read the Wikipedia descriptos of notable music videos, and try to guess which tune it belongs to. If you grew up in the MTV/Much Music Generation, then you better think quick! As always, the boys use the premise to astutely analyze the past as we ponder the future...
Apr 26, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 179
We've weathered several recessions and a pandemic, but there's an ever-present threat of ... Green Fuz. It all started back in 1968, when The Green Fuz had everything go wrong at the Crossroads Cafe in Bridgeport, Texas, and there's been several sightings of the escaped mold spores ever since. The original is primo primitive, a legendary tune amongst the garage gang - just ask your local weirdo with a Prince Valiant haircut. But why is there a Max Roach solo in there? We of course discuss the ve...
Apr 19, 2024•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 178
The latter phrase comes early on in our discussion about band names - the good, the bad, and the shitty shitty! This is Part 2 of "Shitty Shitty Band Names!" - a popular new series that we're assured has created a lot of discussion around the family dinner table, and caused overturned tables at the local boozer. In this edition we talk about short names, long names, but we're going to save fat ones and skinny ones for a later episode!
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 177
If you have a dog, you have to understand your responsibilty - "Walking the Dog" isn't as simple as you might think. Therefore, we start with Rufus Thomas and his instructional record of the same name from 1963. Is it a goofy great? It's definitely great, because a million bands have covered it. The Rolling Stones took the dog out in 1964 and Brian Jones sounds appropriately woofy. The amazing Jackie Shane walked the dog her way when back in Nashville, which also gives us a chance to talk about ...
Apr 06, 2024•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 176
