In The Past: Garage Rock Podcast

This week we're celebrating the music of Minneapolis - and we're sending it out to Pastronaut "Dr. Fate," who requested the last song on our list. The first group of Minneapolitans are The Accents with a boss cover of Lonnie Mack's "Why." Who doesn't love the Minnesota accent they give this wailer?! The next busload of teens actually come to the city from Edina - outside of Minny - but everyone calls The Novas a Minneapolis combo and it's time for us to do one of the WILDEST tunes of the 60s - "The Crusher"! Listen to us talk about it or we'll get you in the square circle!! To the psychedelic side of the 60s to hear The Litter sing about an "Action Woman" ... this Nugget is pure horny proto-cock-rock but it's still super cool (like Minny in March). Finally, the song Dr. Fate requested: "Triangles" by Danny's Reasons, one of those few genuine headscratchers in terms of lyrical content, but it's bonkers, sort of like Ted Knight!! We're gonna make it after all! (ps. someone remind Weldon that women can be Doctors, too!)

Some minor audio issues this week - Weldon's mic is too hot! - but it's tempered by a gentle song by The Monkees - "I Wanna Be Free" from 1966. Infact, they did two versions - the first is sweet, simple and stringy with a vocal by Davy Jones, the second is Dylan-bait with Mickey Dolenz singing.  Mod and The Rockers from Virginia did a garage version in '67, and then there's a soulful gender-flipped version by Vivian Reed from '68. Finally, another in our growing list of unlikely artists, we include an elegaic version by Richard Marx! Turn the volume down and enjoy!!

Let's go crazy! This week's pick is "Psychotic Reaction" originally by The Count Five - a song which has to be in the Top 10 of all-time garage toonz ... a Yardbirds-style rave-up with great drums & atmospheric harmonica wails. Two versions, also from 1966, follow hot on the caped ones' heels - Texans Positively Thirteen O'Clock (who are actually Mouse & The Traps under a different name) and budget-rockers The Fire Escape. Labelmate Brenton Wood jumped on the song in '67 and reveals the secret original ending that the Counts ditched for their single. Television played the song live in Cleveland in '75 and they make quite a racket, but then Shockabilly's 1982 version add a ruckus to their racket! Take a ride!

The Syndicate of Sound's 1966 hit "Little Girl" is a well-known garage nugget and we hopscotch through a bunch of other versions by The Five Kinetics, The Dead Boys, The Banned, The Divinyls, and Dwight Yoakam.

It's time to dance again!  and this week our dance card starts with The Capitols' 1966 hit "Cool Jerk." Erik has a hard time getting over the song's origins and we both blow a gasket over D. Storball's high octane vocal performance. The Creation mod-ified the song the next year and then it's fast forward to the 80s to hear The Go-Go's sprightly rendition. We found a pretty wild, high school drama club version by the excellently named Seekers of Justice (shout out to Miss Brown!) ... then more 80s cheeze with The California Raisins (add some celery and you've got ants on a log!) ... the latest version comes from this year by some DJ who we aren't convinced is a real person. Smokin'!!