Swannanoa

Mount Moriah - Swannanoa

Divine Whore

Long Hair

Dum Dum Girls "Long Hair" from the "Long Hair" 7" EP.
HoZac Hookup Klub Record #1.
HoZac Records #HZR027, 2009.

From The Greek Vaults #5 : Petunia Pig - A Dream So Grey

Countdown To Zero

The Droogs was an American rock group from Los Angeles, active between 1972 and 1992, with the majority of releases from the mid-1980s onwards.

The band was formed by Ric Albin (vocals), Roger Clay (guitar), Paul Motter (bass), and Kyle Raven (drums). Inspired by 1960s garage rock, during the 1970s, they released six singles (later collected on the Anthology album), with several changes of personnel in the rhythm section. The line-up stabilized in the early 1980s with David Provost (formerly of Dream Syndicate) on bass/keyboards and Jon Gerlach on drums. In the mid-1980s, the band was considered part of the Paisley Underground scene, but found greatest success in Europe, and in 1987 signed to the German label Music Maniac.

"Countdown To Zero"  is from the 1987 LP "Kingdom Day" on PVC.

Hidden Treasures #5 : The Eastern Dark - Over Now

The band was formed in 1984 when then Celibate Rifles bassist James Darroch decided to leave and form his own band. Darroch switched from bass to guitar and enlisted drummer Geoff Milne and former Lime Spiders backing vocalist Bill Gibson on bass. After some rehearsals the three became The Eastern Dark, named after a place in The Phantom comics. The three piece began playing live in May 1984, quickly garnering local support and earning notoriety for their habit of opening each set with a different Ramones cover, working their way chronologically through the Ramones' discography. Their first single, "Julie Is A Junkie/Johnny And Dee Dee," was released on Waterfront Records in July 1985.

With Rob Younger as producer the band recorded the EP Long Live The New Flesh! in 1986. On March 4, 1986, days after finishing the EP, and en route to a week-long series of shows in Melbourne, the band's van went off the road; Darroch was killed, and Milne and Gibson were hospitalised. Long Live the New Flesh! was released posthumously later that year, and a collection of live recordings and demos was released as Girls on the Beach (With Cars) in 1989. A CD collection of the previously released material, Where Are All the Single Girls? was released on Half A Cow Records in 2000 (and re-released in 2010).

On A Day Like Today ...

Fred "Sonic" Smith (September 13, 1949 – November 4, 1994) 

Fred "Sonic" Smith was one of the key architects of the Detroit High Energy rock sound as guitarist and co-founder of the legendary MC5. 

He was born in West Virginia on September 13, 1949. During his early childhood, Smith's family moved to Detroit, MI,and at the age of 12 he began learning how to play guitar. By the time Smith was in junior high, he was good enough to be playing in a local band, where he met Wayne Kramer, a classmate who, like Smith, was playing British Invasion-influenced garage rock.

In 1964, Smith and Kramer joined up with another of Detroit's teenage rock enthusiasts, Rob Tyner, and they decided to form a band called MC5 (standing for "Motor City Five") and designed to make the group's name sound like a hot-rod club. With Michael Smith on bass and Dennis Thompson on drums, they soon evolved into one of the most powerful bands of their day.

In 1967, MC5's musical approach attracted the attention of poet and counterculture organizer John Sinclair, who became the group's manager and put a new emphasis on the band's previously subtextural political slant. In 1972, MC5 called it quits.

By 1976, he formed Sonic's Rendezvous Band, a Detroit supergroup that featured former Stooges drummer Scott Asheton and Up bassist Gary Rasmussen alongside Smith and Morgan. Sonic's Rendezvous was one of the finest and most electrifying American rock bands of their day, but given the bad reputation MC5 and the Stooges left upon the music industry, a band featuring members of both groups would prove to be a tough sell, and the group was never able to score the record deal they richly deserved. The only studio recording the band released was a self-distributed single of Smith's masterpiece "City Slang,"with the same song appearing on both sides (a stereo mix on the A-side, mono on the B-side).

In 1980, Fred and Patti Smith were married. Both Patti and Fred continued to write music together, and in 1986, Patti came out of retirement to record the album Dream of Life. Fred wrote much of the material in collaboration with Patti, played guitar on the album, and helped to produce the sessions.

Sadly, it would prove to be one of Fred's last major projects. In the late '80s, his health went into decline, and on November 9, 1994.Fred Sonic Smith died of heart failure in a Detroit hospital  ironically, the same malady that took the life of MC5 vocalist Rob Tyner two years earlier.

PLAY IT LOUD !!! 

(and as "saunterer" has written ...... when you don't have the money to record more than one song, all you have to do is to press it on both sides of your only single, show your middle finger to all the great rock 'n' roll bands and tell them to fuck off...)

Over My Head

Another gem from the past ...

Green On Red - Over My Head

from "Gravity Talks" LP released in 1983

From The Greek Vaults #4 : Cardinals - Why

The Cardinals were formed in December 1994 with the following members: Michalis Nezis - Guitar, Vasilis Nezis - Bass, Dimitris Beleniotis - Vocals/Guitar/Drums and Andreas Paparousos - Organ. They started playing mainly covers of classic as well as obscure garage standards. They also had some original compositions, as a first evidence of their creativity. A few months later they made their first public appearance to the legendary local AN Club.
In the summer of 1996 they released their first 7" EP through Golbin Records (which later became Action Records). The tracks on this EP lean towards the groovy side of the 60's garage rhythms. More live appearances, both inside and outside Athens, followed the release of the EP, making the name of the band known to a wider audience in the Greek scene. Meanwhile the band got more confidence to fill it's set with original compositions, leaving aside the covers. Their sound turned to more moody melodies and shake rhythms, clearly showing the band's great talent.
Around the end of 1996 two new members came: Christos Pierros on bass and Sotiris on drums. This new line-up gave more strength to the band's repertoire and helped them make more dynamic shows. In the spring of 1997 the Cardinals released their debut LP through Action Records, clearly bringing forth the moody melodies of the group.
The Cardinals managed to gain the recognition among the people who love 60s inspired music, both inside and outside Greece, because of their songwriting abilities and authenticity.