Entertainment For Lively Minds
Crap 60s groups - help needed
Posted by Occam on 7 September 2009 - 8:12pm.
Evening all,
I need to coin a phrase and want to find a band to contrast with The Beatles. Are there any particular 60s groups that are widely regarded as largely talentless opportunists, chancers, coattail-riders or generally a bit of a harmless joke. Names like Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich and Freddie and the Dreamers spring to mind, but aside from the name of the former and Harry Enfield's mickey-taking video of the latter, I have no evidence to go on. I was after a sort of 60s equivalent - in terms of shortand reference - to Mud or Showaddywaddy.
I mean no offence to fans of the above if they exist among the Massive!
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Herman and his hermits
were pretty naff and wasn't Jonathon King leaping about in them days?
But the nadir of the pops must be Fred Garrity and his combo.
happy hunting
Freddie sings The Beatles
Totally bemused audience too. One trick pony barely covers it.
You can't help but wonder that if the HJH's had adopted Freddie's little embellishment at 0.52, it might have killed even their career stone dead.
Even as early as 1965...
...you've got a pretty good selection of Beatles songs to cover, if you are so inclined.
So which one do they choose?
Run For Your Life.
Oh dear.
Why is everyone so PC
about Run For Your Life ? It's no bloody different to so many age old thwarted love songs culminating in revenge. It's as old as the hills. It's just a weak tune. Nothing more. If you want a shit song culprit, hello there Michelle.
Errr....
I've looked and looked, but I'm struggling to see any political correctness in my post...
"It's just a weak tune. Nothing more."
So why pick that one when you've the rest of The Beatles' canon 62-65 to choose from?
Because you're an overstretched comedy band who wouldn't know a decent tune if it came along and pulled your trousers down.
May I respectfully suggest:
The Dave Clark Five
Gary Puckett & his Union Gap
and
The Troggs...
I suspect
you might get a bit of flak for those suggestions
I can take it!
Bring it on!
(Actually I have a proper soft spot for old Reg Presley... but I do think The Troggs were a bit crap...)
Catch us if you Can
I remember seeing that film when I was very small and liking it - haven't seen it since mind.
Bits & Pieces quite good too. And a friend drags me to Palace occasionally and they run out to Glad All Over
Frankly, I'd rather DC5 than MC5
Fair do's
I don't hate them, they just seem a bit... overly twee & chirpy.
(Mind you, I quite like twee sometimes...)
DC5 film
Yep, if only for 'Catch Us If You Can' the DC5 are at the top table next to The Spencer Davis Group and Sharon Tandy.
They also did some quite solid rock 'n' roll before their hits and pretty way out garage punk stuff on their LPs.
No.....straight up.
Always
had a soft spot for Freddie and the Dreamers. When is their stuff going to get remastered then??
Brickies in Khaftans.
I coined this phrase a few years ago to describe the whole genre of faux psychedelic bobbins that appeared around the time of the Summer of Love. The bands performing this were just copying the major names and in a few months were either back to playing blues or had started to 'get heavy'.
How about this?
That footage..
That footage comes from the 1965 film 'Pop Gear' (a.k.a. Go Go Mania) produced by Pathé. It was essentially a compilation of performance clips, the majority mimed.
The film opened and closed with colour concert footage of the Beatles doing She Loves You and Twist And Shout, obviously recorded back in 1963. Apart from those two performances, and a couple of mimed efforts from The Animals and The Spencer Davis Group, the rest of the film is rubbish similar to the clip above.
The Remo (not Reno) Four
were one of the best bands on Merseyside in the early 60s - unfortunately for them, *the* best band on Merseyside got all the attention but 'Ver Four' were a staple of the Liverpool club scene.
As with so many good bands of the time, they had to resort to gimmicks to get noticed - hence the film.
Roy Dyke (later of Ashton, Gardner and same) played drums with them and (according to popular rumour at the time) married Stacia from Hawkwind.
Dec & Con! (or is it Con & Dec?)
Thanks
all. There doesn't seem to be one really obvious name - Herman and the Hermits and the Troggs are good suggestions - they at least sound hopeless. I need something that will resonate widely, and maybe that's why Dave Dee et al get used in this context - they just sound naff, whereas it's only when you see Freddie dancing like a frog being electrocuted that you realise who should probably wear the crown.
The Honeycombs were pretty naff...
Sounds of the Sixties
Saturday morning 8 til 10 Radio 2. Loads of trite shite which will satisfy your curiosity in about 15 minutes flat.
So wrong
The spot between 8 and 10 on a Saturday morning is one of the few occasions when Radio 2 (Wogan, Ross, Evans etc.) ISN'T filled with 'trite shite'.
It is also introduced by a guy who has more genuine rock 'n' roll meetings to his name than a thousand punk/post-punk/indie outfits.
If there's rain at the weekend, the Pools Panel will declare Brian Matthew v. Joe Strummer a 'home win'.....by a considerable margin.
On the subject of Radio 2, did you know that all three of Lamarr's brilliant shows ('Rock 'n' Roll', '60's' and 'Reggae') have been scraped in favour of his post-midnight 'God's Jukebox'.
Who's running the BBC, and especially Radio 2, now?
Do any of them have a clue?
Anyone at 'Word' know?
I really enjoy
Brian Matthews's show but then again I'm ever fascinated by the "stories behind the music" a feature in which his show excels. Matthews fills in many gaps in my knowledge and performs a great role in finding hidden gems and to the best of my knowledge has never been guilty of polishing a turd in the selections he uncovers.
Less Lamarr...
Yes this was announced in May. Presumably this is the decision of the new R2 controller, Bob Shennan, who replaced Lesley Douglas, who of course resigned over the Ross/Brand/Sachs phone call thing last year, as largely orchestrated by the Daily Mail et al.
You could try complaining to BBC Trust etc but if that does any good at all I'll eat the proverbial piece of headgear.
Remember though...
at the time, all this stuff was yer run of the mill, day to day, pop music. The SAW or Xenomania of it's day.
THAT'S why the Beatles were so important to us!
Thank God
All of the above are better than f-in SAW or Xenomania.
In answer to the question: Englebert Humperdinck. No contest.