THE JACKIE FOUNTAINS
The Jackie Fountains (Feathered Apple Records; CD/LP)
     This historical release is due in no small part to the valiant efforts of Swiss beat maniac Rolf Rieben and his Feathered Apple imprint, which has established contact with surviving members of The Jackie Fountains, and their manager Peter Wärmling, to get the whole group scoop. Pulling in unreleased material, together with three of the four single sides the group made back in 1966 for the incredibly rare Dollar label (home to The Madmen's 'Alfred E Goes Surfing') and a few tracks (also recorded during 1966) released on a hideously rare 1969 LP -- Spex and Pengar, also on Dollar, which the group shared with an eccentric spoken word artist M. Swingberg - has resulted in one of the most pleasing releases in the sixties beat canon. 
     The unreleased cuts are taken mostly from the days when they were cutting it as an R&B outfit, having shed their Shadows and Spotnicks fixation. A live'n'wild recording of The Snobs' 'Buckle Shoe Stomp' and a powerful harp-wailin' romp through Vince Taylor's oft-covered 'Brand New Cadillac' are included; the former somewhat lacking in hi-fidelity but more than making up for it in attitude and stomp, while the latter is one of the very best versions I've heard of this song. 
     The Jackie Fountains also have more than a touch of Chuck Berry-itis too delivering a rousing 'Bye Bye Johnny' and a splendidly executed 'I'm Talking About You'. A brave shot at The Animals' name-dropping party swinger 'Club-A-Go-Go' and a late-night melancholic offering, 'Sentimental Blues', also makes for a very enjoyable listen. Although these are all pretty damn cool in themselves, The Jackie Fountains really come into their own when they choose to perform their own material. 'You Better Turn Around' from their debut single shows them more than capable of standing up to their beat peers with a low-key but wonderfully effective number complete with yearning lead vocal. This and 'Listen Girl' - a fabulous garage-edged folk-rocker culled from the Spex and Pengar outing - feature some nice 12-string picking and more impassioned vocalising from Bob Yell, one of two non-Swedes in the group; both he and Mimi Matisic (piano) coming originally from Yugoslavia, where they were members of The Lonely Ones. The jazz-tinged 'Love Time' and 'Your Love' (especially) are also deserving of our attention with scuds of rumbling bass, to-the-point drums and plenty of six-string action from group mainstay Hasse Wärmling. 
     Few people out there will know that Hasse was responsible for co-writing The Stranglers' early '80s hit 'Strange Little Girl'. He and Hugh Cornwell (then in Sweden) used to play together in Jonny Sax during the mid 1970s, but when the group moved over to England they changed their name to The Guildford Stranglers, then just dropped the Guildford prefix. Hasse didn't think anything was gonna happen with the group so he moved back to Sweden before the group took off, and the rest as they say is history…
     The LP packaging sports classic garage-beat imagery, utilising a simple black front with an ultra-cool and moody shot of the group taken in late 1965, topped off with Jackie Fountains in gold lettering. It could even be the latest volume in the Diggin For Gold series of top-class beat LPs. There are heaps of great photos, original newspaper clippings and information like the above included in the gatefold insert, not to mention some sterling beat and R&B raunch contained in the grooves. Feathered Apple have produced a great record here, one you really ought to seek out before it slips away and you regret not buying it when it was available. Definitely for fans of The Downliners Sect, Namelosers, Dee-Jays, Shanes etc. More information regarding The Jackie Fountains can be found here: http://homepage.swissonline.ch/featheredapple/
Lenny Helsing

SIMON TURNER
Sex Appeal (Cherry Red; CD)
     An idiot confesses, part 1: Having glanced at this CD and vaguely recognised Simon (Fisher) Turner's name from his soundtrack work with Derek Jarman, and his alleged habit of mooning at record label parties (just a rumour, no doubt, Mr Solicitor!), it was astounding to hear what seemed to be a perfect pastiche of early 1970s British bubblegum pop bopping out of the speakers. Shurely shome mishtake? This man has been on the front cover of Wire magazine! He's arty, dammit, not populist! After 10 tracks (never quick on the uptake…) a decision to finally inspect the sleevenotes made everything clear. This is a (partial) career retrospective, half of which dates from 1972/1973 and was released on UK Records - hence Jonathan King (owner of UK)'s songwriting role on a number of the songs. Hmmm, wonder what could have attracted Jonathan to the attractive blond lad in the choirboy outfit on the back of the sleeve…? His personal predilections aside, King's abilities at that time as a talent scout, songwriter and producer should never be doubted (just ask the Bay City Rollers, Genesis or 10cc). And these early tracks more than uphold that reputation. Fantastic versions of 'The Prettiest Star' (which must have been recorded very shortly after its release on Aladdin Sane),'So You Want To Be A Rock'n'Roll Star' and King's 'Love Around' rank with the best pop of the era. Apparently the idea was to make Turner into a kind of English David Cassidy, but his work is superior to Cassidy's solo material as it's more upbeat and groovy - think Kasenatz-Katz rather than lush ballad. 
     The second half of the CD, although 15 years older and released pseudonymously as The King of Luxembourg under the aegis of Él Records, is strangely similar to the teenybop stuff preceding it. Again largely cover versions, it serves as the missing link between 1970s pop and 1980s indie. Imagine the Television Personalities without Dan Treacy's performing quirks but with much better musicianship and production. Appropriately Turner includes 'A Picture of Dorian Gray' here, and his own 'Trial of Dr Fancy' (co-written with another ex-teen prodigy, Colin Lloyd Tucker) and The Go-Betweens' 'Lee Remick' sound utterly TVP-esque. The only track to slightly disappoint is The Monkees' 'Valleri', but that's because it's one of those songs where the original recording is simply impossible to improve on. Altogether a revelation. Whilst it might still pay to be selective about which parts of Turner's career one should investigate, the King of Luxembourg compilation (also on Cherry Red) would appear on the strength of this album to be another worthwhile investment.
http://www.panam.edu/faculty/hood/sft.html 
www.cherryred.co.uk 
Jane Farrell

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Grains of Time (Makin' Waves; CD)
     Quite simply, a great, must-have comp. The unknown compiler has selected a wide range of mid-60s styles, but what all these ultra-obscure combos have in common are strong, largely upbeat songs. Most new comps don't stand up to the liner hype, but in this case "27 outstanding 60s garage rarities in great sound" is pretty accurate! Long, 79 minute CDs are potentially great value, but often you have to skip over half a dozen tracks. In this case almost everything is very listenable and brings a big happy grin to my grizzled features. 
     There's something fine here for lovers of many types of garage band music; frat, Merseybeat, pop, from minor key ballads to punky British influenced stuff like the opening song, The Fabulous Bachelors' 'Not Like She', who obviously love The Kinks. Not only is The Renegades' 'She's Your Find' an extremely catchy tune with a Seeds influenced backing, but the lyrics are the opposite to the usual misogynist mid-60s garage punkers. The guy is bowled over by the gal's "beautiful face and beautiful personality" and can't work out why the other guys don't seem to notice her charms. Fantastic. 
     A bunch of bands with cool names produce equally cool tunes: the mersey-garage of 'Who Cares' by 8th Wonders of the World, The Pulsating Heartbeats' amazing jangly ballad 'Anne', 'Black Lantern' by Caesar And His Romans - the list is almost endless. Between them 'It's Too Late' by The Pedestrians and 'I Gotta See Her' by The Falcons almost sum up the whole garage band genre in three minutes.
     Despite the crude recording techniques, all these bands sound as if they had someone who could sing and was trying to sing. Some could do good back up vocals and decent harmonies too. They were all trying to write proper songs. If only the same could be said of most of today's garage bands!
mistylane@iol.it
Phil Suggitt

VARIOUS
Hallucinations: Psychedelic Pop Nuggets From The WEA Vaults (Rhino Handmade; CD [numbered edition of 7,500])
     For anyone who has already one or the other of Rhino's Nuggets CD box sets, both Hallucinations and Come Into The Sunshine can be regarded as stand-alone additions to them. The glossy liner booklets are choc full of pics (colour and b/w) of each band along with synoptic band biogs, like mini-versions of the long-box set booklets. The thick card digi-pack presentation also features a nifty revolving plastic purple wheel with a kaleidoscopic effect when you revolve it behind the op-art sleeve pic of the girl's face. The CD label is a repro of the old Warners gold label which is also good on the eye. So very nice to look at and cool to casually leave on the coffee table when friends come round so they can see how hip you are!
     As for the sounds encrypted on the disc, they are a joy. It depends of course on the size and diversity of your CD/record collection as to how many of these little gems you may actually need, but of the 24, I found around two thirds I hadn't come across yet. And of course where there is duplication, the Rhino version nearly always represents an upgrade, all being from master tapes. There are also other minor incentives. The Music Machine's 'Astrologically Incompatible' may be available on the Sundazed anthology of their Warners material, but here it is presented for the first time in mono. Similarly, The Monkees 'Porpoise Song' may be familiar enough to many, but here: "the version featured on this collection is the original, long mono-single mix which has heretofore been unavailable on CD". Upgrades and minor jollies aside, there are some excellent and obscure tunes on this set.
     Former '50s rockabillies Baker Knight & The Knightmares opener and collection title, 'Hallucinations' (Baker-Knight was author of Rickie Nelson's 'Lonesome Town') is a US popsike gem, all wobbly effected chorus vocal and period embellishments. Canadian Tom Northcott (check his version of 'Blackberry Way' on Pop In Vol.3) contributes his original version of 'Who Planted Thorns In Miss Alice's Garden' (a much better version than the more familiar cod reggae cover by The Explosive as featured on The Electric Lemonade Acid Test Vol.1 LP). There's stuff you're gonna have of course like Kim Fowley's 'Strangers From The Sky' and The Electric Prunes 'Antique Doll', but you're not likely to have heard the '66 pop wobbler delight that is Adrian Pride's 'Her Name Is Melody' The folky pop stylings of Ellen Margulies's 'White Pony' or the out of phase (and character apparently) pop pleaser that is Jeff Thomas's 'Straight Aero'. This is sumptuous little package with many new gems and surprises and well worth adding to the CD shelf (or the coffee table!)
www.rhinohandmade.com
Paul Martin

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Just For Kicks (CD; Misty Lane)
     Sometimes compilers are too selective, releasing only the tiny fraction of an artists' output that suits their particular tastes. Other compilers squeeze every last drop from the vaults, padding out collections with dodgy demos, ancient acetates and creaking covers. Misty Lane's Just for Kicks series takes a good middle road. Each of the four obscure mid-60s US garage bands featured here produced more than enough decent material for a single or EP, but not enough for an LP, so they get six to eight songs each here. 
     Mike Dugo provides detailed liner notes. (Detailed interviews with members of the bands can be found on Mike's excellent site, 60sgaragebands.com.)
     With four groups, it's hard not to do a 'battle of the bands' and compare them. The Monuments (the biggest band from Ada, Oklahoma) kick off the comp with a polished sound and strong soulful vocals from Howard Callings. Their only single, 'African Diamonds' is great. It's a mystery why the B-side is not here, yet four other decent unreleased songs are included.
     Wet Paint were too energetic to allow anyone to say that listening to them was exciting as watching wet paint dry! Their best song, 'Shame', is a catchy tune, although on first hearing I thought the chorus was 'She Shaved Me', which is a lot kinkier than 'She Shamed Me.' It's a shame that the recording quality of the unreleased 'Precious Ways' is inferior, because it is one of their best tunes with a fine jangly guitar break.
     Mouse And The Boys was just one of the names of this Jacksonville combo. They were also known as The Deep Six, The Florida Deep Six, The Boys, Mouse and The Boys With Brass, and M.O.U.S.E. Although the musical style changed with each incarnation, each has something to recommend it, from the excellent teen punk of 'Last Time Around' to the later pop of 'Rocks in My Head'.
     The Purple Gang are the least consistent combo here. The vocals are rather mannered and some of the songs, like 'Answer The Phone', try too hard and are a little gimmicky. However, their cover of Love's 'No Matter What You Do' is excellent, because it isn't just a straight cover. The guitar tuning makes it sound like a Greek bozouki, to great effect. 
     All in all, there is far too much good stuff here to leave this in the shop.
mistylane@iol.it
Phil Suggitt

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Teen Blast USA: Volume 1 (Gyro; CD)
     The sleeve notes do not exaggerate when they claim: "After three decades of compilation, it seems reasonable to assume that the end would be in sight for the treasure trove of American 60's garage nuggets to be discovered…but contrary to logic and intuition the good old suburban garage is virtually inexhaustible in the supply of stellar tunes recorded between 1964 - 1968". 
     Several new comps have recently unearthed a whole bunch of songs that definitely do not scrape the bottom of the barrel. Although Grains of Time, Teen Blast and Quagmire are on different labels, I have a hunch that the same guys are behind them all, as there are similarities in the layout and the style of the sleeve notes. All masterminded by Mike Markesich perhaps?
     The subtitle, '29 garage raves from 65-68,' is slightly misleading. Whilst this volume is definitely a "Teen Blast", the emphasis is not on wild raves and raunchy punk. Unlike many older comps you will find very little crude harp wailin' howlin' R&B here. Most of the bands on this album didn't want to emulate The Stones, The Pretties and the Kinks. Instead, they would rather have been The Raiders, The Zombies, The Gants or The Byrds. The emphasis is on garage-pop not garage-punk. Don't get the wrong idea - this isn't a collection of insipid sugary blandness. There is plenty of driving rhythm, cheesy organ and twangy guitar, but the vocalists are trying to sing, not sneer and scream.
     I can't really see the point of giving you hundreds of words of detailed notes on every song. Unless you are one of a tiny handful of (wealthy) collectors, almost all the bands and songs will be unfamiliar. I will briefly mention the excellent opening trio, The Pentagons, The Voxmen and Jack Bedient. The half dozen folk-rock janglers are great, but then I love the whole genre. Everyone will have their own favourites, but the most important thing you need to know is 'buy with confidence!'
Phil Suggitt

VARIOUS ARTISTS 
Teen Blast USA! Volume 2 (Gyro; CD)
     Originally I was going to test the water by only buying the first volume in this series, but Wolfgang Volkel, '60s mail order supremo persuaded me to buy the second volume as well. I'm really glad I took his advice, because Volume 2 may be even better than Volume 1.
     Like the first volume, there are many notable garage-pop tunes, but there is a great variety. This volume includes a fair number of faster, punkier numbers, such as the excellent 'Get Off My Back' and 'Coming Home' by The Henchmen. The sequencing is well done, as the quality is sustained over 29 songs. There is something for everyone. My favourites include both sides of a single by Ohio's Es Shades, in no small part due to the playing of their girl guitarist. The ultra-crude Girls In The Garage style pop of 'Do The Surf' by Trudy & The Realm is also right up my street. 
     It is notable that both volumes contain the flip sides of many singles previously issued on other famous comps. In some cases the early compilers rather scornfully dismissed these tunes, casting out anything that wasn't extremely wyld and primitive. The quality of these songs suggests that they didn't include them because their original vinyl copy was too scratched, not because it wasn't any good!
Phil Suggitt