A Rockin' Good Read...Or Not? - Part 2

Bo Diddley was wrong. Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. This one looks shit and surprise...it is shit. Of course the intentions of the artist were only the best, but the result is not. If you wonder what this book has to do with music, that my friends is a legitimate question judging by the cover. It actually is a photo book about the Psychobilly scene. Or let me say, that is what the book was supposed to be. A partly blurry picture of a human skull can symbolize all kind of things but Psychobilly isn't one of them I'd say. Unless of course that skull has a silly haircut. To call the book 'Das Zeiko Bilderbuch'(The Zeiko Picture Book) doesn't help understanding that it's about Psychobilly and not about swiss watches and the title includes a typo. I mean, it can be funny for a second, or two, because many Germans pronounce Psycho Zeiko, but hey come on. Latest another minute later anyone with a little sense of what ever left would have realized that it's probably the most stupid name for a  Psychobilly picture book. The subtitle says 'Die Bands und ihre Fans. Erinnerungen an eine wilde Zeit'(The bands and their fans. Memories of a wild time). This sounds more dramatic and nostalgic than it is. Not many bands are featured and the Meteors are missing at all. But photographer and publisher Michael Overbeck (he released this book, 32 numbered full color pages, by himself 2003 in an edition of 500 copies) included a few live pictures of budget-rock kings the Mummies taken at a Psychobilly festival they played in Bielefeld, Germany in the early 90s. On the book's first page Overbeck writes 'Ein Ausflug in die Psychobilly Szene'(A visit/trip to the Psychobilly scene), so maybe that explains why the book has so few pages and not many bands are featured. You'd think that someone who has been in the scene for a longer time would come up with more and better pictures. The book features photos of Mad Sin, Nekromantix, Klingonz, DAG, Batmobile, Broncats, a few fans AND the backstage girls. They actually get an own chapter. But hardly any of them looks Psychobilly or underground or counter-cultural at all. So why they are included is a mystery to me, just like the purpose of the book itself. But if you think you'd want a copy for yourself have a look at Ebay Germany. That's where I got my copy just a few weeks ago. As the cover of the book is so unbelievable ugly I need to end this post with something much much better looking, otherwise I'd feel bad. Enjoy the beauty of the King:   

Fin-A-Billy Part 2: Happotedit

When I said that Cast Iron Arms are Finland's best Teddyboy band at the moment I actually wasn't telling the truth. The best finnish Teddyboy band of course is Happotedit. I had simply forgotten about them because they hardly ever play. The whole band is more like a project anyway. All members but the singer play in other bands and the line-up can vary from show to show, depending on who shows up, who's passed out and other reasons. Just like those great Teddyboy bands from Germany, the Badland Slingers and Mess Of Booze, Happotedit sing in their native language. That is definitely part of the charm and it makes you pay less attention to the fact that singer Hogman can't sing. But as they sound like a Rockabilly washing machine from hell anyway, as it states on their MySpace site, that's fair enough. If you wonder what 'Happotedit' means: 'Acid Teds'. The band's songs are classic Rockabilly tunes and Teddyboy anthems done with, as I was told, amusing finnish lyrics. As the selection of songs they play is nothing but hits and everyone in the audience knows these songs inside out a great party is guaranteed when and where ever Happotedit enters the stage. I hope they will do so a lot in 2010. To get a taste of Suomi Teddyboy Madness click here TEDS

2010

I'm wishing you, my 4 registered readers, and everyone who accidentally ends up here a great new year! Gig wise it looks promising so far for us here in the north-east of Europe. Bands that are already confirmed to play Finland are Crazy Cavan, Flying Saucers, Astro Zombies, Mad Sin, Nekromantix, Trashmen, Ricochets, Eddie Angel, Surf Rats, Uk Subs, Vibrators, Sureshots, Ruby Ann, Cherry Casino and the POLECATS! 

A Rockin' Good Read...Or Not? - Part 1

Not many books are available that deal with the post 50s Rockabilly and Psychobilly scenes. There doesn't seem to be much interest from publishing companies and writers/journalists. If you have a look at the music section of probably any book store anywhere in the world you will always find a handful of books on Punk and Punk bands. But Rockabilly? Forget it. The lack of interest from publishing companies and decent writers might be one reason why most of the few -billy books available are rather shit, a waste of money and reading them a waste of time. Often it seems that some fan felt the urge to write about his fave music but lacked everything, especially talent and experience in writing, or someone with a huuuge ego just wanted to see his or her name on a book to have something to jerk off to. This sounds harsh but seriously, has anyone of you ever read a GOOD book about modern Rockabilly or Psychobilly? It seems the people who would have something interesting to say, and those who know how to write and research, just can't be bothered to do so about the billies.

Some posts below I talked about a book on Psychobilly in Russia. I have no idea about its quality but I hope it's better than most of the books I have read about Neo-Rockabilly and Psychobilly so far. The German book 'Rockabillies - Rock'n'Roller - Psychobilles - Portrait einer Subkultur' (Portrait of a subculture) by social psychologist Susanne El-Nawab concentrates on the people that are in the scene and not on the music but any book where Restless is called a 'real' Psychobilly band needs to be returned to the shop where it was purchased right away and the money needs to be refunded. But I really wanted to puke all over it when I read her description on Psychobillies. That must be one of the worst and most stupid things written in the history of mankind. I can't be bothered to translate all that crap but believe me, it IS crap. So maybe somehow it's a blessing that the chapter on Psychobillies is very short anyway. Two East-German Psychos and East band Tazmanian Devils are featured with interviews. Hardly enough to paint a representative picture on what P-billy is and who are the people but never mind. She made more effort to portray the Rockabilly scene and actually found out that there are scenes within the scene. She talks about Rockabillies and 'Leatherjacket-Rockabillies', those that prefer the 'tough leatherjacket style'. Why she doesn't call them Teds I don't know. Or did I miss something the last 30 years and you can only be a Ted these days if you wear a Drape? Ah well... To sum it up, the book is bull most of the time. Sometimes imo information is missing. She mentions something but doesn't explain it, like the reason why Little Richard stopped playing Rock'n'Roll 1957. There are also discrepancies in her writing when she for example talks about Carl Perkins or plain false information is published. She writes the Johnny Burnette Rock'n'Roll Trio was formed after January 1956. It also seems that she can't make up her mind if she wants to write her book in some pseudo-intellectual lingo or use a more simple sounding every day style. The only time the book is entertaining is when some of the smarter interviewed Whateverbillies tell anecdotes from their old days. But that's by far not enough to make this book a must have.

More awesome book reviews will follow soon!

Fin-A-Billy Part 1: Cast Iron Arms

Going through my 2009 gig pictures I noticed that the band I saw live most times was Finnish Teddyboy band Cast Iron Arms. That's not so surprising as I a) live in Finland b) in Finland are many Rockabilly gigs c) I like Teddyboy Rock'n'Roll (or Revival Rock or British Rockabilly or how ever you wanna call it). Still I thought it is worth mentioning here. Especially because I didn't get bored seeing them a couple of times. Each time it felt new and fresh. But then again that could also be because of intoxication at the previous gig. Anyways, I think they are Finland's best Teddyboy band at the moment, followed probably by the Beetle Crushers, and if you haven't heard them yet, give them a listen. Especially their newer recordings are top. I have their first CD and that's a bit lame. I will spare you all the details on band history and line-up changes, in what bands the guys used to play and in what others they play beside CIA. You can figure that out yourself with some web-research. Start here, at their MySpace site CAST IRON ARMS and go and see them live if they play a town near you.

Sophisticated Boppin' in Berlin

The year is almost over and I am still behind with posting the 2009 gig pictures over at my Sophisticated Bop MySpace site. Today I took the time to upload some from our trip to Berlin in September where we saw U.S. Psychobillies the Tabaltix, the Peacocks, Slim Jim Phantom with Frenzy's Steve Whitehouse on bass and Mark Harman from Restless on guitar, Batmobile and a bunch of other bands. There are no pictures of the other bands but have a look anyway if you like: cool blurry pictures, please enjoy

Rock In Peace, Lord Ulli!

The Lords were Germanys most popular band in the 60s. Maybe not the best, but for sure the best known one. The crown for best German 60s song probably goes to the Phantom Brothers 'Chicago', a song penned by Rattles singer Achim Reichel. But neither The Phantom Brothers nor the Rattles, nor any other German band in the 60s was as popular as the Lords were. Some say that the Rattles were Germany's best Beat band. Possible. Maybe they were better at what they were doing, closer to the English Beat and at the same time harder and more original, but I believe that the Lords at the end of the day had more success.

Founded 1959 in Berlin as the 'Skiffle-Lords' they changed their name to 'Lords' at new years eve 1962. In 1964 at the Star Club, Hamburg, they were voted best German 'Beat-Formation' and got the title of 'The German Beatles'. Between 1965 and 1969 twelve singles released by the band made it into the German charts. Between 1971 and '76 the band took a break(they split up), but since '76 they have been constantly touring, recording and appearing on TV. When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s I knew the band. I had seen them on TV and knew that they were a bunch of funny looking older men making boring music and their singer had the silly nickname 'Lord Ulli'. My whole opinion of them changed when I watched a re-run of 'Beat-Club' on German TV. 'Beat Club' was Germany's first TV show for teenagers, broadcasted between 1965 to 1972, and the bands would usually play live in the studio. A concept the station would sometimes use on the follow up show 'Musikladen', which lead to some legendary live TV performances, for example by Johnny Cash or the Ramones. That show I saw had the Lords performing a couple of songs live in the studio and I was blown away. I never liked Blues but the Lords version of John Lee Hooker's 'Boom Boom' was incredible I though.  Poor quality clip here Same goes for 'Greensleeves'. What a killer song! Move over Beatles! As usual the actual recordings of these songs are not as wild and rough, but it can't hurt to have them in your 60s collection.

10 years and 2 months ago Lord Ulli died. During a show in Postdam on the 9th of October, as part of their 40 Years Anniversary Tour, he collapsed on stage due to heart rhythm disturbances. He suffered a skull fracture with cerebral hemorrhage from the fall and died 4 days later in hospital. In an interview he once had said: 'When I die, I'd like to drop dead from stage'. The band is still active today.

Rockin' Dolls

Christmas is coming up and you don't have a present for your 50s loving boy- or girlfriend? How about the 'Rock and Roll Legends of the 1950s Paper Dolls'? Why? "The heart and soul of America's most popular performers live on with this nostalgic collection of paper dolls celebrating the very best of an unforgettable musical genre. Realistic figures of beloved 1950s legends are paired with ready-to-perform wardrobes the artists would have been proud to wear on stage." There. The text on the back cover says it all.
Elvis gets the most attention in the book. You can dress him up with his famous '50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong' gold suit, the 'Jailhouse Rock' outfit or his 68-Comeback leather suit. All other singers (Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Fats Domino, Wanda Jackson etc.) come with one extra outfit only.  There are not many Rockabillies included (Sure, Presley, Holly and Jackson recorded some great Rockabilly songs  when they started but they soon changed to Rock'n'Roll), but at least they gave a page to Carl Perkins and his blue suede shoes. Why artist Tom Tierney made him hold one of them in his hand and show it to the viewer as if he was saying 'Here, take a sniff. I don't have smelly feet. Must be someone else that stinks.' is unknown to me, but it sure is odd. Then again, the whole book is.
Another favorite page of mine in this little oddity is the one for J.P. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson. Why the hell was he drawn with his fist up, ready to throw a jab? Is this how Tierney imagined Richardson would welcome Waylon Jennings in Rock'n'Roll Heaven, after he had died in February 2002, 'thanking' him for giving his seat on the plane  that crashed 43 years earlier to the Big Bopper? Maybe. And then there is the Big Bopper's flying Cowboy hat. What is that about? Is it a ghost hat? 
But beside creating mysteries and making you ask silly questions the book also uncovers unknown secrets of Rock'n'Roll. Look at the faces of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Who would have guessed that they are twins! At least in the world of Tom Tierney.
This book is no must have but it sure is a funny, little addition to everyone's 50's collection. I will probably never look at it again, but before it gets dusty and will fall into oblivion on some shelf I wanted to share it with the world and give it its 5 minutes of fame.

Psychobilly Behind The Iron Curtain

Not that the iron curtain still exists but Russia is still some kind of mystery. You still need a Visa to go there and there is no way in hell or on earth to figure out what their writing means. Of course some things have changed significantly since the USSR collapsed. Nowadays you see quite a lot of Russians on festivals in the West and more West bands play Russia and the other way round. But how big Psychobilly is in the East we can only guess (and my guess is that it's not very big) but in 2007 they published a book about it in Russia. As I mentioned, there is no way to figure out what anything written with Russian letters means, but judging by the photos and flyers published the book definitely covers the Russian bands Meantraitors, Swindlers, Scary B.O.O.M, Bombers and some others I have never heard of before. There are also special chapters on the Quakes, Reverend Horton Heat and the Horror Pops. Okay, I get why the Quakes are in the book, but the other two? The only other pictures by West bands are from Batmobile and Klingonz so I guess that the history of Psychobilly isn't covered. Fair enough. For that we have the incredible bad 'Hell's Bent On Rockin' book from Cherry Red Books, hahaha.

In case you can read Russian and want to know more about Russian Psychobilly or if you are a die hard collector of everything that says Psychobilly, go to www.amphora.ru. They published the book.

No Boss Night - The Sonics in Helsinki

Last Sunday was the big day. The Sonics played Finland. And we had tickets. When we arrived there was a long cue at the door but we got in much faster than I thought. The guys at the doors just checked the ticket and took the 'service' fee. There was no security check for possible weapons or small bottles of booze you tried to hide in the pockets of your jeans. I wish I had known that earlier. The beer from the tab was 'just' 5,- Euros but as usual in Finland it didn't taste very good. I wonder why some countries just can't produce decent tasting beers. The place was if not sold out for sure very packed and like predicted there was a lot of long hair. But also quiffs and baldies. The average age was way over 30, possibly even over 40.  But this time no one was constantly stepping on my shoes or bumping into me. That made the evening much more enjoyable.

When we entered the hall the Flamin' Sideburns were playing already and it was a disappointment. No one of them had sideburns. Sometimes my girlfriend calls music I listen to 'Adult Rock'. Of course I don't agree with her but what the Sideburns delivered I'd like to call just that. Adult Rock. There wasn't the slightest sign of Garage. IMO. I never was a fan of them anyway, I always found them to be pretty boring. After seeing them live for the second time now this  didn't change. I like their cover of 'Out Of Our Tree' but that's pretty much it. Which reminds me of one of the great mysteries in Finnish Rock history. This country never had one decent Garage band. They have and had great Rockabilly, Punk-Rock, Surf and Hardcore bands, but when it comes to Garage there is none. Yet. I play guitar, anyone plays Farfisa?
Then it was time for the Sonics. It was ok. Not as boring as the Roky Erickson and the Explosions show two years ago but also not the exciting, wild, bursting with energy gig I had been hoping for. Maybe they are just too old to tour and kick ass a few days in a row. Credits go out to Rosalie for drinking beer on stage and to their mad drummer. He was the only one that seemed to be really enjoying himself, followed by the always smiling bass-player. Which is sad in a way as they are the two non original members of the band. I mean, yeah it was nice to hear those Garage classics 'The Witch', 'Boss Hoss', 'Cinderella' etc. played live by the original band but let's face it, 2009 is not 1966. They are no longer hormone driven, pimple faced wild young men with an unsatisfiable lust for adventures of any kind and an uncontrollable urge to drink, fight, fuck. They are old dudes with probably more than one prostate problem amongst them. And you could hear that. Not the prostate problem. The age. I for my part am done with paying a lot of money to see grandfathers who made a few good recordings in the 60s and just came back to make some extra cash. It's just not worth it. Legends or not.

Let's All Get Dixie Fried

In case you are not a native speaker, and probably if you are a native speaker but didn't grow up in the south of the U.S.A., you got no clue what the heck Carl Perkins is singing about on his 1956 Sun single. I was just as clueless as you but then something changed my way of listening to old Rock'n'Roll records. I found a book. That book didn't only explain the slang used in old Rock'n'Roll, Country and Blues songs, it also explained expressions used in Pulp novels and Noir and Exploitation films. Author of this essential piece is singer extraordinaire Max Décharné, frontman of the great, and I really mean it, Flaming Stars. The book is called 'Straight From The Fridge, Dad - A Dictionary Of Hipster Slang' and the 3rd edition has just been published http://www.straightfromthefridgedad.com/. I will get me a copy for sure, as I own only the first American paperback edition, and that one came without any pictures. To make you understand how great and essential this book is let me tell you, when I moved to Finland from Germany this was one of the few books I took with me, along with some Chandler, Kerouac, Bukowski novels and books on music.

Not All Was Bad In 1939

In 1939 (some sources say 1938) young Alex Steinweiss(born 1917) invented the record picture sleeve. In his career he designed about 2500 of them untill he retired in 1972 at age 55 (some sources say he retired from designing record sleeves in 1970). Taschen has just published a 416 pages book of his work, limited to 1500 copies, you can get for 300,- Euros: TASCHEN. More info on Steinweiss and examples of his art can be found here STEINWEISS or here(Article in German) STEINWEISS 2. Above btw you see the world's first picture sleeve. Not bad at all for a start I think.

Mutant Leather Ted

It's normal to forget things the older you get. But there are some people, names, things and even little details that will stick with you forever. No matter how old you'll be, you will always remember them. I will always remember the 'mutated leather Ted'. I read that term more than 25 years ago in a review of the first Meteors live album where the author called Rick Ross that. And that's what I think of each time I think of Rick Ross. No, don't get me wrong. I'm not obsessed with him and spend my sleepless nights in bed thinking bout him. But just recently I found the 1983 Meteors line-up promo picture again(see above) and BANG, 'Mutated Leather Ted' popped up in my brain and I started wondering what happened to him after he left the band. Back in 1984 the news was that he was joining The Cult, but I never found out if that's true. At least there is no Rick Ross in the list of ex-members on their Wikipedia site. Information about him is rare on the Internet and in most cases wrong. It often says that he was the Meteors bass player in 1983 only but I saw the band with him on bass on their 2nd German tour in May 1984. It was on this tour that the band was filmed at their 'Rockpalast' gig, to be shown on German TV. Check this link ROCKPALAST . On the pictures there you'll see that it's Ross on bass, but the page states 'The Spectre' as bass player for the show. Also the other info on Rick Ross and the Meteors you come across on the Internet obviously is wrong, the one that says that he had joined the band for just one national(UK) tour. Sometimes it's incredible how much wrong information gets spread here. But the question remains, what did Ross do musically after he left the band? Does anyone know? If so, please share.

Got The Sarno Fever No More

There we were, all the way from Finland, standing in front of the stage of the 'Hyde Park', a rather big club in a rather small town in northern Germany, waiting for Rochee and the Sarnos to enter the stage and to entertain us in the way only Rochee can, playing their and other classics, songs like 'Sarno Fever', 'Rochee is a Monster' and Myron Lee's 'Aw C'mon Baby'.

I saw the band the first and last time 1985 at the Rotterdam Psychobilly Festival, as I managed to miss each and every Reunion show they played over the years. When Rochee announced last year that the band wouldn't perform anymore(due to him having depressions) I was mad at myself for having not put more effort into seeing them again. Than another gig was announced. The band would perform again November 2009 at the Rock'n'Roll Hellfest, Osnabrück. I told my girlfriend that no matter what WE HAD TO GO! Of course she agreed and flights were booked. The rest of the line-up wasn't that bad either from a Psychobilly point of view. Tazmanian Devils, Phantom Rockers, Mad Sin, Batmobile and Hungarian trio Gorilla would play their first show in years there. The night before we had been to the pre-party of the Westside Teds and Rockers Dance in Oberhausen where the Town Rebels from Darmstadt played. Compared to Finland the beer was VERY cheap and VERY VERY good so we had a lot of it and a huge hangover the next day. I don't know if that was the reason why I couldn't enjoy the festival at all, or if the bands were really as bad and boring as I thought they were. Tazmanian Devils have a great guitar sound but need a better singer and better songs, same goes for the Phantom Rockers. There's a reason why after 20 years they are still playing early on the bill. Gorilla had technical difficulties with the guitar amp and sound but at least they have some nice melodic songs. I never was a fan, but so far they were the best band. But not for long. Now the Sarnos would play. No, they wouldn't. Rochee had disappeared. He had come to Germany the day before but now no one knew where he was and he wasn't answering his phone. Great for everyone who went there because of them, maybe even from abroad. Maybe his depression kicked in again, I don't know. And I don't care. If so, take your medicine and play the show for the people who spend a lot of money to see you! The band, well Rob Glazebrook at least, the only original Sarno in the line-up, was def pissed(not drunk) too and I guess that's it for Rochee and the Sarnos. To save the day Rob and the other guys(The Houserockers) played a bunch of Rockabilly/Rock'n'Roll classics that went very well with the Hellfest crowd. They even played 'Aw C'Mon Baby' and 'Mudboat'. The audience's positive reaction showed one more time that Rockabilly bands do great at Psychobilly festivals so I hope promoters will book more of them in the future and not just Caravans, Rockabilly Mafia, Restless and Space Cadets. Next on the bill were Mad Sin and Batmobile. Both bands always deliver a top performance, real value for money, but still we left to spend the night at my family's. We came to see Rochee and we didn't, so no need to stay. We had just seen Batmobile in Berlin in September and I once toured with Mad Sin for 6 weeks. I guess I can sing every song in my sleep.

Mou-Mou-Moustache

It may not be super new news anymore but still: Billy Childish has reformed the Buff Medways. The reason is that Nurse Julie, bass-player of his latest band The Musicians Of The British Empire, is expecting a baby. I never was a big Childish fan so my excitement is limited, but I know there are millions out there that look up to him like a Messiah. All you fans should get your asses to London where they'll play a show at the Dirty Water Club at The Boston Arms, December 4th. Easter 2004 I saw them play at some 2-day Mod/Garage-Festival in the British capitol and was very bored. And I had high hopes before because Graham Day(Prisoners etc. in case you don't know) was on bass. The only thing really entertaining was Childish's moustache and look. But I am listening to their songs on the band's MySpace site now while writing and must say 'not bad, not bad'. Maybe I just had to pass 40 to appreciate trashy recordings and a singer that can't sing.

Cavan & the Meteors

Crazy Cavan and the Meteors together on the soundtrack of an animation movie? A movie about Jesus and Judas? What sounds like Walt Disney having a bad trip actually is true. 'Judas and Jesus' is a German 15 minute animation movie that features beside a Crazy Cavan song two unissued Meteors/P.Paul Fenech songs along with one of my all time faves 'I Don't Worry About It'. I haven't seen it yet but will purchase a copy in the near future, that's for sure. To see the trailer and to get more info go to www.judasandjesus.com

BOOM!!!

Sometimes it's not the greatest thing to live in Finland. The winter starts early and lasts almost half a year(we had the first snow mid October and now we have snow and ice for about a week already, and we live in the south!) and not many foreign bands get booked to play shows here. But now us northern folks are in for a treat. The Sonics are going to play Helsinki at the end of the month. It seems as if this will be my only chance to see them as I've read somewhere that this Euro-Tour would be their last gigs. I'm excited and at the same time worried that I maybe will have a 'Roky Erickson' experience again. About 2 years ago he played Finland and it was a disaster. At least for me. I was a HUGE fan since my friend John Battles from Chicago played me some bad quality b/w video tapes of him. He was sitting on a cemetery playing a couple of songs on his guitar and it was awesome! The voice, sound, atmosphere. But that time in Helsinki he played a huge club with his band the Explosions and they sounded like Rock-Veterans. No great atmosphere, no goosebumps. The fact that the place was sold out and drunk long-haired Finns were constantly bumping into me or stepping on my shoes didn't help me enjoying it either. The Sonics will play at another club but it's not small either and I bet there will be tons of drunk long-haired Finns again. But this time I will be prepared. I will be drunk, too. Even if they take 6,- Euros for a beer. And even if I won't remember much of the gig. Who knows, maybe that will be good. I should have done the same at the Erickson show. Judging from the videos the Sonics have on their MySpace site they are still able to kick some serious ass. Just on one clip they sound like some Oldies-Band, so let's hope for the best. If you want to come by, they play Sunday the 29th at Nosturi and it seems that it isn't sold out yet.

Welcome To Your Nightmare

I don't really plan on posting music here as there are so many blogs out there that do so already but I thought I can make an exception now and then. Like now. I used to run this small label called Jungle Noise in the 90s and released a bunch of 45s, Lps, 2 CDs and one pretty awesome 10". Some of those releases are still available, other are sold out for ages. Some of those that are sold out have become collectors items over the years, esp. in Japan, and I think they pay around 50 Euros for a copy. Maybe more, who knows. For example, I sold a Jailers 12" for 120 Euros to Japan and was told the first Peacocks 7" goes for 300(!). At least before the economic crisis. Anyways, I found just that 'expensive' Jungle Noise release, a comp-LP entitled 'Welcome To Your Nightmare' from 1990, available for download on two different blogs. Only 500 copies were pressed and as most songs are only available on that album(re-releases of some songs have all been without permission, tse - that's not nice boys!) I figured posting a link for download here would be some nice customer service.

Not all songs on the album are great, or even good, but that's what you have to deal with when just starting a label. You ask a band for contribution to a compilation and they send you some crap song. Or maybe the band just was crap and that song was still the best they could come up with. As far as I know you can find the Klingonz(Ireland/Scotland) song 'If U Knew' only on this album. They recorded it when they recorded their 2nd album, if I'm not mistaken, and I licensed the track from Fury Records. That was nice of Del(Richardson, owner of Fury) but some years later unfortunately some things wouldn't work out that well with Fury. The Swampys(Belgium) song 'El Ranchero' was the band's last release before their split and it is, like so many, only available here. Same goes for the Scum Rats(Germany) 'Scum Of The Night'. I took it from their first demo-tape, before they signed with Rumble Records and imo this version is much better than the debut-LP one. I was a big fan of Scottish band Radium Cats and so I was more than happy to include them on the LP with an exclusive song. Actually the boys didn't read the german contract they signed (I wonder why...) and so the song was also released on their 'Pink Hearse' 12" on Raucous Records, without my permission. Well, maybe I just lacked authority. Or a mean lawyer. Still I like the song and the band a lot. Those hairs, man. Those hairs... Another band I really like on the album are the Meatles from Finland. Great Neo-Rockabilly on the edge to PsychoBILLY. Just imagine what they could have sounded like if they'd had the money for a decent production! Than there are Axeman's Jazz from Switzerland. That's one of the crap songs I referred to earlier. Brainblasters were a bunch of young Psychobillies from Hannover, Germany. They had a Punk background and didn't like Rockabilly or even the Meteors (whaaat?) but def wrote, in modern terms, Old-Skool Psycho songs. These tracks and their LP on Tombstone Records don't do them justice imo. I have a bunch of demo-recordings by them that are really good and would make every fat, bold veteran Psychobilly's heart jump. The remaining two bands both are Spanish and you will be happy to know that it was Jungle Noise that introduced Spanish Psychobilly to the world! So there you have it! The Brioles are still going strong, they just played a Psychobilly festival in Hamburg and will be back in Germany in April 2010 to play the world's most famous Psychobilly event, the Satanic Stomp. Los Despiadados released an okay LP but much more interesting is, again, a demo I got where they play a spanish version of the Sting-Rays 'Dinosaur'.

So far about the music. Now the sleeve. One could say, it's as crappy as the music. Or worse. I think it's worse. But those were the days of DIY (which in this case means 'no money for decent artwork'). In the late 80s, early 90s people seemed to be obsessed with Freddy Krueger and I was no exception. So after I had come up with the totally awesome, totally PSYCHO title for the LP I thought a picture of Freddy Krueger on the front sleeve would be cool. That one together with the title would seem as if Freddy himself invites you to your nightmare which he, of course, would host. I had just heard about this photo-developing technique that somehow adds colour to a b/w-picture and as I liked the psychedelic-alike outcome it could have I wanted to go for that. And so I did. I asked my good friend Olli Sydow, who had been making logos and drawings for my zine Satanic Hillbilly for some years already, to come up with a custom made logo for the title and a drawing for the back. That, that n that added n this as well, there it was. Another awful Jungle Noise sleeve. And there was more to come!

Your worst nightmare starts here

Killing Time

To kill some time...more pictures. This time from 2009: Pierced Arrows in Helsinki, the Barnshakers at Ruuhijärvi Rockabilly Festival in Finland, Rebel Ted Rock at the Real Gone Teddyboy Weekender in Finland and finally Lou Cifer and the Hellions headlining the same weekender.

www.myspace.com/sophisticatedbop

I always liked taking pictures at gigs. It started around 1985 and I still do so today Some of those pictures can be seen at

www.myspace.com/sophisticatedbop

Much more pictures will be added there and maybe also here in the weeks and months to come, from 2009 shows and from pre-digital times, from Rockabilly to Garage, from Teddyboy Rock'n'Roll to Punk, from Psychobilly to Wannabilly.

Are We Not Men?

A great movie, a great song. Island Of Lost Souls. Actually it was the song that made me want to see the movie. The original from 1932. Not one of the many remakes. I bought the 7" with the song on back in 1984, in Bexhill-On-Sea, an English small town in the south. I had just turned 16 and was for the first time away from home and fatherland. It were 3 weeks language holidays to improve my english skills. In the morning I would go to school for some hours, in the afternoon and evening I hung out with the local Psychos. Well, one local Psycho to be precise. And a young Skinhead. The Skinhead's name was Boris and he called himself a 'Sillybilly'. The only Psycho in the village was Chris. He played drums in a South-England Psychobilly band called 'Planet 13' and later joined an Exploited style Punk band. At least hair-wise they reminded me of them. I don't recall their name but I saw their picture in an issue of NME, or maybe Sounds, some years later. So they def had more success than Chris's Psychobilly band, which is a shame. I really liked their name. There in Bexhill-On-Sea they had a record shop, not too far away from the seafront, that had a selection of vinyls that would have a huge impact on my musical taste in the years to come. Chris suggested I buy the Tall Boys single 'Another Half Hour Till Sunrise'. It's a must have, he said. A real killer. Tall Boys? Never heard of them. But why worry? I had just listened to my first Psychobilly song half a year ago and was still learning. Of course I'd take a proper english Crazie's advice. I bought said 45, the first pressing with the custom label(as I'd learn years later), with 'Island Of Lost Souls' on the flip, the first Stingrays LP, the Meteors 'Radioactive Kid' 7“ and their debut vinyl 'Meteor Madness'. They actually had 2 versions on sale. One was the 7“ with full color sleeve, the other one was a 10“ with nothing but a b/w photocopy glued to a plain white sleeve. 'What is this?', I thought, 'This looks sad! I take the 7“ with the proper sleeve!' Little did I know... Obvious. Ah well. For sure an early entry in my list of bad decisions.

I had a great time, there in the south of the island. Boris, Chris and me would go to the local roller-disco (yes, those were still the early 80s baby, Roller Disco!) and hang out outside, drinking beer (actually I don't remember if we drank beer, but it sounds better than saying we drank soda) and when they played the only song of the day we liked, 'Destination Zululand' by King Kurt, we ran inside and wrecked to it. I bet we looked like total idiots to the other kids. But we had a ball and did what Psychos were supposed to do. Support the scene! I should add, back in '84 it wasn't called 'Wreckin'. The terms of the day were 'Slammin' and 'Crazen'(How it's spelled correctly? No clue!). Chris also took me to Eastbourne, where I'd meet other Psychos and even Teds they were friends with. Weird... Back home Teds and Psychos weren't really on the best of terms. Thee ole Teddys actually hated us. They probably thought we were all traitors, because we used to be Teddyboys as well. Now we dressed silly, had silly hair and listened to silly music. But back to England. I learned quickly that things were different there. These guys dressing in 50s clothes were no Teds. They were Hep Cats, or 'Rockabillies' if you like. Nowadays sometimes known as 'Authentics'. Again, home on the range everybody who liked Rockabilly and was able to comb his hair into something even close to a quiff was a Teddyboy. You didn't need to wear a drape to call yourself a Ted like these days. And you were allowed to like Neo-Rockabilly as a Ted. And 50s Rockabilly. THE SAME TIME. Crazy! But than again, I grew up in a small town, what do I know. Maybe in the big cities things were different.

When the 3 weeks language holidays were over I had not only bought some mind expanding records and met some nice blokes, I had also seen the Meteors live for the first time. Maybe more about that later. Back home I was immediately hooked by the Tall Boys 45. The fast 'Another Half Hour Till Sunrise' made a quick entry in my Top 10 of Favorite Songs and it may still be there today. I'm not sure. I should check. The flip 'Island Of Lost Souls' I liked too, but it was a slow song. That was a disadvantage. Young and restless as I was I wanted it loud, rough and fast. What caught my attention much more than the music were the lyrics and a picture on the single's sleeve that was taken from an old b/w movie with the same name, 'Island Of Lost Souls'. I had to wait until 1998 to see the movie. That summer I found it at 'House Of Monsters', a shop in Chicago specialized in, you might guessed it, monster stuff. Movies, posters, magazines, masks, that kinda stuff. Only open at weekends and run by a doctor, maybe even surgeon(mad?), it was an interesting place to be. And, to FINALLY cut a long story short, there I found a videotape of 'Island'. I bought it and when I was back in Germany some weeks later I finally got to see the movie that made Nigel Lewis write one of his many classics. It's a must see, and don't judge the original by the many bad remakes. I'm not a movie expert but it seems that 'Island' is among the underrated, to many people unknown, outstanding b/w horror movies, just like 'Freaks'.

And why all this glorifying of the past? Well, I wanted to post a screen-print postcard of 'Island' I had bought in Nashville some years ago to have something posted here, as a start, until I knew what to do with the blog. Then I thought, posting just the postcard is silly, write one or two sentences. This is the result. A lot of rambling, little information. If you liked it, come again, tell your neighbours. There might be more here soon.