|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 124EP
|
Two irresistibly fun, knockabout riffs on The Champs' "Tequila" template. The kind of record that manages to be silly, novel, and throwaway, yet easily the coolest thing you'll hear all week -- all at the same time. Whether you prefer the bizarre dragging sound effects and sleazy come-ons of "Caliente" or the more simple interjections of "Oh Leola," either side is sure to put a smile on your dancefloor.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 120EP
|
Wigged-out craziness from drummer Ronny Kae. "Swinging Drums" is the name of the track, but "Demented Drums" might be more apt as Ronny rolls the toms to a twanging one-string guitar riff and a suitably crazed voice interjects with dance instructions for the hepped-up teens at the sock hop -- simple enough commands such as "Go go go -- go everybody!" On the flip-side, a variation on the winning formula with "Swimming Drums." Not sure what swimming drums are, but the effect is just as great!
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 122EP
|
Two Pulp Fiction classics of the wild and sleazy rock and roll instrumental genre. "Intoxica" is well titled -- the guitarist sounds like he's been slipped a couple of wallbangers as he lackadaisically strums a slowed-up surf riff while in the background a honky-tonk piano jostles for air with a groaning, rasping sax, and all the while, strange and no doubt inebriated voices interject with unprompted laughter as a menacing voice exclaims the song's title! On the flip, "Comanche" is a more up-tempo and even wilder romp, well known and loved from its prominent appearance in the cult Tarantino flick.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 117EP
|
A wild, greasy instrumental romp from Johnny Moore and the Blazers centered around an insistent and totally infectious riff. The guitar twangs and scratches, the sax rasps and honks, the piano tinkles and the rhythm bumps and shakes -- what more could you want from an instro? On the flip-side, a knockabout offering entitled "Wild Man Walk" from the Ebonettes, which comes complete with bongo and grunt interjections.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 118EP
|
If Chuck Rio circa 1957 took his Champs to visit the land of the rising sun, they'd probably find their usual tipple in short supply. No tequila in sight, so what's the next best thing? "Hot Saki," of course, and Eddie Atwood's knockabout, Far Eastern exotica romp would be their soundtrack. Paired with Ken Nordine's "Hot Sake" on the flip.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 116EP
|
TT Shaker offers up both super-rare versions of one of the raunchiest instrumental compositions ever conceived. On the flip-side, is the first incarnation of "Crawlin (The Crawl)" as released by Richie Mayo & The Paramours in 1957 in a seemingly misdirected attempt to follow the popularity of the dance craze The Stroll. Unperturbed, guitarist Frank Perry decided to give the song a second opportunity to capture the popular imagination a few years later in his next band, The Untouchables. If anything, the sleaze factor was somehow amplified via the scratchy guitar and rolling drum, and of course, that honking sax riff and solo.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 115EP
|
Two contrasting shakers from the Minneapolis-based Soma label. Nebraska outfit Ron Thompson and the Broughams give us "Switchblade" on the top side -- a wild and savage, high-octane stomper, led by a brutal guitar riff, garnished with blood-curdling screams and snarled vocal interjections. A longstanding in-demander amongst those who like their instros rare and bloody like a steak. On the flip, a rather more languid but no less engaging affair as teen outfit the Del Valaros give us a cool riff on "Tequila."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 114EP
|
A Native American-themed twin-spin, with the top-side featuring The Scouts recounting Custer's infamous last stand in stomping, hollering glory. In today's enlightened world, it's questionable of course, but the phony native chants really add to the greatness of this wonderfully kooky piece of rock and roll exotica. Speaking of kooky, Rusty Isabel gets himself all juiced up on the B-side, with a jaunty, groovy instrumental named "Fire Water." Both sides guaranteed to rock your own little pow-wow.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 113EP
|
The latest in the TT Shaker series comes with an overtly feline theme. "Cat Walk" is the name of the game this time out -- the name of the label and indeed both tracks. Afro-Cuban percussionist Jack Costanzo plays "Cat Walk" as a sparse, prowling number accentuated by some moody guitar work, sleazed-out horns and his own rolling bongos. The Playboys offer up a contrasting take, with a nonchalant, twangy guitar riff leading a purring rock & roll backing.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 112EP
|
Genteels left little room for misunderstanding with their song "Take It Off," a knockabout piece of musical smut which was obviously designed specifically for the purpose of encouraging the art of performance bump and grind. Built around the Peter Gunn theme, it's fitting that TT Shaker also included The Jesters' "Peter Gunn Twist" on the flip, whereby the famously sleazy riff is raunched-up further still.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 111EP
|
Two savage rock-and-roll instrumentals from the Coffeyville, Kansas-based combo Rodney & The Blazers. "Warpaint" hints at a loose Native American theme with its rolling, stomping drum intro before giving away to straight-shooting, sleazy sax-led R&R mayhem. The rather more languid "Oriental Nightmare" is perhaps the titty-shakin' pick of the pair though, with its exotica feel and sloppy riff conjuring all manner of unwholesome imagery.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 110EP
|
"Downstairs" is a super-cool popcorn instrumental from the man who is probably best known for playing the instantly recognizable tenor sax line on the theme tune to the Pink Panther. There is indeed more than a hint of that famous theme to "Downstairs," a jaunty, swinging number with "crime jazz" undertones. On the flip-side, "Blue Jean Shuffle" is a straight-ahead honking rock & roll romper.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 109EP
|
TT Shaker ransacks the coop to pull out these two chicken-based oddities. On the top-side is the Nite Hawks (a very early incarnation of The Crusaders) with their slinky instrumental number "Chicken Grabber," a jazzy bump-and-grinder punctuated by frenzied clucking and deranged muttering, made infamous by its appearance in John Waters' Pink Flamingos -- surely one of the best songs about chicken ever made. On the flip-side is Scott Wood's "Chicken Rock" -- another rock & roll curio with a decidedly unhinged air.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 107EP
|
A bonafide classic and true essential in the sleazy instrumental field -- a rolling, bumping and grinding ride back to the downtown R&B clubs of the late '50s and early '60s, from James Brown's one-time bandleader James C. Davis. "The Splib" was presumably yet another new dance which no doubt summarily failed to sweep the nation. Tantalizingly, the vocals provide only the vaguest physical direction with a couple of racy references to shaking and shimmying and little else.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 108EP
|
Two hot and wild instros pulled together and twinned on this greasy little 45 to set tassels twirling all over the globe. "Scorpion" is a cool and unique take on The Champs' "Tequila," with a twangy guitar lead gliding and surfing along the driving bass and Cali-Mex percussion lines underneath. Flip it over and "Casual" gives you a dose of raunchy, sax-led sleaze, low-slung and heavy like the mammaries in a Russ Meyer flick.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 106EP
|
Two superb, but somewhat questionable instros here with more than a hint of good, old-fashioned S&M, as belied by their titles -- both rather cheekily named "The Whip!" The main man Chuck Rio leads his band The Originals complete with Latin percussive elements, a goofy but catchy riff (let's face it, yet another interpolation of his "Tequila"), and vocal/sound effect break-ins. On the other side, the Frantics' "Whip" is a decidedly raunchier affair, with dirty guitars and filthy sax coupled with frenzied whip-cracking throughout.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 105EP
|
Two Middle Eastern-themed pieces of wild '50s dancefloor exotica here, with Ray Ellis' "The Sheik" a perennial favorite among instro-freaks with its big production and uptempo, insistent rhythm. What's more, pitch it down and you also have a classic Belgian popcorn spin. On the flip, The Sheiks themselves give us their somewhat skewed interpretation of the East with the playful "Baghdad Rock," a silly but charming jaunt perfect to accompany the most exotic of dance shows, and a novelty record for the true connoisseur.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 104EP
|
Goofy and completely adorable knockabout riff on the Champs' "Tequila." "Pimples & Braces" is the work of legendary musical satirist Spike Jones and his City Slickers. However, the track mysteriously resurfaced a decade later on the back of a rare garage 45 by unknown band the Fallen Angels, and dubiously credited to "Ric Gary with Ron Wray Light Show." On the back is famed honking tenorist Joe Houston's own take on "Tequila" -- a greasy, grinding R&B-flavored romp.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 103EP
|
The Jaguars waxed only two 45s, of which this limited reissue pairing of "Jaguar" and "Roundabout" was the pick. Cut back in the Texas oilfields of '59, all their songs came with a car theme. Presumably, these guys were part of a wild gang of hot-rod teen tearaways, blaring music out of their custom cars. Certainly, the wild & rasping sax on "Jaguar" is played to sound reminiscent of a revving engine. "Roundabout" is every bit as good and every bit as sleazy.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
7"
|
|
TTSHAKE 101EP
|
Jazzman presents a brand-new Jazzman oldies subsidiary. This new series of limited run 45s will focus on the wild and insalubrious sounds of the late '50s and early '60s. Each release will feature unique label artwork, and all are limited to 500 pressings. The Champs are the genre's Beatles. "Club House" is one of the best Champs sides, but for some inexplicable reason it never saw an issue on 45rpm, until now. Side B features a track by The Rumblers.
|