SHINDIG! QUARTERLY NO.3

140 pages of the best music, culture and clutter.

THE LEFT BANKE
The Left Banke was a unique mutation of drifters, wannabes and scenesters straight from the streets of New York, whose raw talent was harnessed by an old school music biz sideman and his gifted yet dysfunctional son.
It wasn't until their deathless debut 'Walk Away Renée' was riding high in the charts that they even thought about learning to play their instruments. By the time they were on the road promoting its follow-up, 'Pretty Ballerina', they'd already split in two. Within two years they were history and by the '70s their former wunderkind was in an asylum while most of the remaining members dabbled with music and drank themselves silly.
However, the footprint they left on the history of popular music becomes disproportionately larger as new generations of fans discover the achingly beautiful music The Left Banke crafted over a chaotic, often painful two or three year period in the late '60s.

THE PAISLEY UNDERGROUND
The 1960s' influence on the 1980s was hardly new. Bands like The Raspberries and The Flamin' Groovies had been there in the mid-70s. Yet the mid-80s, on both sides of the pond, signalled an explosion of artists that sought to emulate rather than liberally borrow riffs and middle eights.
A garage revival of sorts had been gaining speed in the US since the final months of the '70s and was at its height when synthesizers and day-glo ruled supreme. Non-mainstream acts like The Chesterfield Kings and The Fuzztones enjoyed a loyal cult following. In the UK, the mod scene, if only burning as post-Jam embers, remained a hotbed of '60s revivalism, both as a fashion and a music movement. Hell, Makin' Time and The Prisoners almost "made it"!
The so-called Paisley Underground movement was something entirely different. If garage and mod bands followed the rules, The Rain Parade, The Long Ryders and The Dream Syndicate ploughed different furrows; rooted in the '60s, but not aiming to recreate them in the manner of a historically accurate military re-enactment.

ROY HARPER
Roy Harper has spent 45 years forging his own idiosyncratic path through the worlds of folk, rock and beyond, gathering legions of fans along the way and confounding critics at every turn.
Now, as he turns 70, his entire back catalogue, including some 25 studio albums, is being readied for reissue.

THE BEAU BRUMMELS
The Beau Brummels burst into the US charts with 'Laugh Laugh' in 1964 and went Top 10 with 'Just A Little' the following year. Their sprightly blend of Beatles melodies and country vibes is generally acknowledged as establishing the template for the "San Francisco Sound", but this flash of success was short-lived.
In '67 they fashioned the arty psychedelic folk gem Triangle before shedding all but two original members and heading off to Nashville, where they set about recording Bradley's Barn, an album that placed them at the vanguard of the infant country-rock movement. Unfortunately, few people were still listening.

LOS DUG DUG'S
Exotic, faraway lands carry a promise irresistible to psych heads. The lure of wild, untrammelled music played by mysterious groups screaming in alien languages is bound to appeal to a demanding rock 'n' roll thrill seeker. Often these bands faced far more oppressive regimes than their UK counterparts and flew the freak flag in far more testing places than the Haight.
One such act was Los Dug Dug's from Durango, Mexico. Their leader, Armando Nava, is the unchallenged king of Mexican psychedelia – a trailblazing figure who defined Mexican rock music for a generation.

DON JOHNSON
From cannabis-fuelled westerns and lysergically-enriched copulation to palm trees and white suits, Don Johnson's acting career has taken him from '70s countercultural poster boy to sun-bronzed anodyne TV good guy.
Those following his formative years could scarcely imagine that such cinematic curiosities would eventually lead him to superstardom fighting crime on the streets of Miami and, of course, underwhelming the world with his ill-advised attempts at '80s AOR pop swill. But, hey, Hollywood will do that to a person!
A good looking chap with sufficiently hip counterculture cred, he was against the war, had rock 'n' roll experience, bedded down with Pamela Des Barres and got off to an auspicious start on stage in Sal Mineo's controversial play Fortune And Men's Eyes. His star shone brightly but crashed to earth, Icarus-like, when the lure of the big buck reared its inevitable and ugly head.

Plus: ANNETTE PEA COCK • LANDSLIDE • WILDERNESS ROAD • GEORGIE RIZZO and so much more!

RRP £7.49
ISBN 9780956736949
SHINDIG! QUARTERLY NO.3
PUBLISHED 24 AUGUST 2011