Dave the Spazz and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at the Wang Dang Doodle!

Our pal Dave the Spazz is a connoisseur of really fine, really trashy and really rockin’ records. His radio show, Music to Spazz By, airs each Thursday night and it is one of the best in the country. Emanating from radio station WFMU out of Jersey City, New Jersey, it is listened to by scores of people throughout the greater New York City area, and over the interwebs his show is monitored by discriminating human beings nationally and internationally. He was the guest DJ at The WANG DANG DOODLE—as he usually is—held on July 25 at the friendly confines of The Commodore in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

All night long, Dave the Spazz and host Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus took turns playing fantastically boss records—the kind that make the place jump and shout. That is exactly what went on that night, as folks were getting tore up and tore the place up! Yes, bottles were broken! Drinks were spilled! 45s hit the floor! Girls tried to pick up on the DJs! Nobody requested Lady Ga-Ga or “Free Bird!” Dozens of piña coladas were poured! Dancers did the Watusi! The Commodore’s renown fried chicken was devoured in amazing quantities!

In short, the evening was a gas! Toward the end of the night, The Spazz and The Boog traded punches, playing every other record. The Spazz worked a monkey record—his specialty—and The Boog responded with The Persians record. The Spazz played Roy Head’s fabulous hit record “Treat Her Right” and The Boog countered with the Sandy Nelson version! …And so it went all night, rockin’ and frantic, up until the last record of the evening, when the bouncer came over to tell the DJs to stop the music at four o’clock in the morning.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus:

• Jack Nitzsche–Rumble (Reprise)
• Los Hitter’s–El Hanky Panky (Orfeon; Mexico)
• Dino, Desi and Billy–It’s Superman (Reprise)
• Rusty Draper–Hip Monkey (Mercury)
• Louis Prima–Civilization (HBR)
• The Johnson Brothers–Zombie Lou (Valor)
• Dave and the Triumphs; Jerry Anderson, vocal–Soul-Shout (Boswick)
• Clarence Francis–Subway Rock – Version 2 (Free as a Breeze)
• Marathons–Peanut Butter (Argo)
• The Runabouts–Pink Socks (Columbia)
• Donovan–The Trip (Epic)
• The Equals–Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys (Shout)
• Les Hou-Lops–Je Suis Heureux (Canusa; Canada)
• Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra–Gesundheit (A-Choo! Cha-Cha) (RCA Victor)
• Tribe–Funky Kingston (Grenade)
• The Mohawks–Ride Your Pony (Pama; UK)
• Mango Jones & His Orchestra with the Harry Ballu Singers–Ska La Bomba (Vee-Jay)
• Palito Ortega–Poco Puede Darte (A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You) (RCA Victor)
• The Kane Triplets—Theme from ‘Mission: Impossible’ (United Artists)
• Four Seasons–Things Go Better With Coke [from EP Let’s Swing the Jingle for Coca-Cola] (McCann-Erickson/Coca-Cola)
• Los Surfs–Tu Seras Mi Baby (Be My Baby) (Gamma; Mexico)
• Wayne Newton–Comin’ on Too Strong (Capitol)
• Tony Roman–Niki Hoeky (Canusa; Canada)
• Chubby Checker–Birdland (Parkway)
• Scott Fallows and the Ebbtones–Surfing Boop-Boo-A-Do (Dot)
• Sandy Nelson–Work Song (Liberty; Japan)
• The Everly Brothers–Somebody Help Me (Warner Bros.)
• R. Sayre – The Vacant Lot–Don’t You Just Know It (Ltd.)
• Los Johnny Jets–Bajate de Mi Nube (Get Off of My Cloud) [from EP Los Johnny Jets A Go-Go] (CBS; Mexico)
• The Monkees–Valleri (Colgems)
• Demetriss Tapp–Ring Dang Doo (Brunswick)
• Tiny Morrie with Al Hurricane’s Band–Come on Let’s Dance (Hurricane)
• (Little 12-Year-Old) Patrice Holloway–Do the Del Viking (Part 1) (Taste)
• Freddie ‘Slim’ Summerville–Wiggle Tail (GMC)
• Ronnie Hawkins–There’s a Screw Loose (Roulette)
• Jimmy Liggins and his Drops of Joy Orchestra–Knocked Out (Duplex)
• Bo Diddley–Pretty Thing (Checker)
• Downliners Sect–Be a Sect Maniac! (Columbia; UK)
• Freddy Cannon–High Heel Sneakers (Warner Bros.; France)
• George Young–Chicken Scratch (Columbia)
• The Angels–My Boyfriend’s Back (Smash)
• Bobby Comstock–Right Hand Man (Ascot)
• The Echoes–Scratch My Back (Swan)
• Googie Rene–Big Foot (Class)
• Jimmy Norman; vocal background: The O’Jays–What’s the Word? Do the Bird (Little Star)
• Els 4 Gats–Tu Parles Molt (You Talk Too Much) (Ediphone; Spain)
• The Lively Set–The Pomona Drags (Decca)
• Michael Holm–Mendocino (Ariola; Germany)
• Dean and Jean–I Love the Summertime (Rust)
• City Surfers–Beach Ball (Capitol)
• The Jamies–Summertime Summertime (Epic)
• Glenn Reeves–Tarzan (Decca)
• Les and Larry Elgart and the Unforgivens–The Early Bird Catches the Bomb (Columbia)
• The Pleasures–If I Had a Little Money (Catch)
• Jessie Hill–Whip It on Me (Minit)
• Dale Hawkins–I Want to Love You (Checker)
• The Visions–Bulldog Cadillac (Warner Bros.)
• The Uptowns–The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Shangri-La)
• Arthur Alexander–Cry Like a Baby (Sound Stage 7)
• The Zombies–Don’t Cry for Me (Date)
• Nancy Sinatra–Last of the Secret Agents (Reprise)
• The Great Scots–Give Me Lovin’ (Epic)
• The Girls–Chico’s Girl (Capitol)
• The Chellows–Dawn (Go Away) (Hit)
• Takeshi Terauchi & the Bunnys–Summer Boogaloo (Seven Seas; Japan)
• Van Doren–Surfin’ Liza (Hickory)
• The Knightsbridge Brass–Let’s Cha Cha (Shad)
• The Persians–(Let’s Monkey) At the Party (Music World)
• Sandy Nelson–Treat Her Right (Imperial)
• The Kiwis–Oopy-Doopy-Sam (Brunswick)
• The Moniques–Teach Me How to Dance (Benn-X)
• Mike Sanchez; Conjunto de Ricky Rays; Ernesto Marroquin: sax–Papa Molida (Mashed Potato Time) (Falcon)
• Jimmie Haskell and Orchestra–Rockin’ in the Orbit (Space Satellite) (Imperial)

None of these records are for sale.

Our pals Sei, Hiromo and Jun are the always-cool DJs from Japan who have been presenting Rebel Night at Otto’s Shrunken Head since 2005. Billed as a “Wild Dance Party,” it features mostly rockabilly music and people come from all around the area to swing dance and to do the stroll. In recent years they have been producing larger and larger shows, often in conjunction with professional groovy party throwers Dances of Vice. On July 19, they held such an event at SRB, a huge venue located a short jump from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

Billed as Hula Rock, this event had just about everything one could possibly ask for in order to be properly entertained: Burlesque dancers Calamity Chang, Bettina May and Jezebel Express shook their respective booties; a Limbo Dance Contest was held and the winner—who went pretty damn low!—took home $100; vintage films were shown on two screens; traditional Japanese barbeque was cooked on the sidewalk; folks were able to get their photo taken with a fantastic Hawaiian backdrop, and/or with Elvis; all kinds of girls ran around in grass skirts; some guys wore some absolutely splendid Hawaiian shirts; a special Tiki drink was served; super cool old cars were parked out front; young women did the Stroll on the spacious dance floor; DJs Sei and Hiromo were joined by guests DJ Jumpy and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and they played some fabulously rockin’ tracks; The Clams played two sets of surf instrumentals while hula girls go-go danced; The Memphis Morticians arose from the grave to play this special party (having been asked to perform when Rockabilly X cancelled); The A-Bones played a top-notch show that included an appearance by The Great Gaylord; then The A-Bones backed one of our all-time favorite singers Barrence Whitfield in a particularly wild and rockin’ show! Serving as the amiable host and MC for the evening was the fabulous Mr. Dave the Spazz (WFMU).

Click on the photos and they will scientifically Big-O-Fi!

Bettina May

The Clams

DJ Jumpy

Dave the Spazz

Calamity Chang

DJ Sei

Memphis Morticians

Limbo Dance Contest

Gaylord with The A-Bones

The A-Bones

Barrence Whitfield

I think it was Bruce Bennett of The A-Bones who posted on facebook that it seemed like the Rebel Night guys were trying to cram all the fun and excitement of an entire summer into seven hours! Indeed, if this was the only event you attended in the last three months you could easily say you’ve had the most wonderful summer of your life! The handbill that promoted the show (taking both sides to get it all in!) promised “a singing… laughing… dancing… drinking… eating!” All of that was delivered, PLUS, The A-Bones with Gaylord AND Barrence Whitfield singing “Wooly Bully!!” How is that not fun?

The A-Bones with Gaylord and Barrence

Quite simply, folks, those Rebel Night guys—assisted, I’m sure by the Dance of Vice people—know how to throw a party. If you, dear reader, catch wind of their next event it would do you good to ink in that date and attend because you will have fun.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, including those he played during the Limbo Dance Contest (who else is going to have Limbo records?):

• Johnny Poi and the Tradewinds–Hawaiian Beach Party (Design)
• Dale Hawkins–Baby Baby (Checker)
• Dean Beard–Party Party (Atlantic)
• The Exceptions–Down by the Ocean (Cameo)
• Bobby Bryant and the Rhythm Rockers–Piano Nellie (East-West)
• Billy Riley–Teenage Letter (Home of the Blues)
• Jackie Dee–Buddy (Liberty)
• Los Teen Tops–Lucila [from EP Rock] (Fontana; Spain)
• Chico Booth and the Upsetters–Hot Peppers (Palm)
• Terry & the Blue Jeans–Echigo Jishi [from EP Let’s Go – Echigo Jishi] (Seven Seas; Japan)
• The Rockin R’s–Crazy Baby (Tempus)
• The Shakers–Hippy Hippy Shake (Polydor; Germany)
• Jimmy Dee and the Offbeats with the Montclairs–Don’t Cry No More (Dot)
• Fabian–Got the Feeling (Chancellor)
• The Trinidad Serenaders–Limbo Like Me [from LP Limbo – The Latest Party Dance Craze] (Columbia)
• Chubby Checker–Limbo Rock (Parkway)
• The Fabulous McClevertys–Don’t Blame It on Elvis (Verve)
• Twistin’ Kings–Congo Part II (Motown)
• Michael Olatunji–Gin-Go-Lo-Ba (Drums of Passion) (Columbia)
• Hully Gully Boys–Yabba (Amy)
• Young William and the Jamaicans–Limbo Drum Part I (Dimension)
• The Sonics–Money (Norton)
• Floyd Dakil Combo–Dance Franny Dance (Guyden)
• Bull Moose Jackson–Watch My Signals (Encino)
• The Rock-A-Bouts–She’s a Fat Girl (Chancellor)
• Little Junior Parker–Barefoot Rock (Duke)
• Boots Brown and His Blockbusters–Block Buster (RCA Victor)
• Gus Jenkins and His Orchestra–Jealous of You Baby (Pioneer International)
• Tarheel Slim–Number Nine Train (Fury)
• Linc Jeffries with the Missing Links–On the Rampage (Key)
• Cliff Richard and the Shadows–Dynamite (Columbia; UK)
• John Greer–Come Back Maybelline (Groove)
• The Rockers–Mashed Potatoes (Audio Fidelity)
• Los Teen Tops–Buen Rock Esta Noche (Good Rockin’ Tonight) (Columbia; Argentina)
• Billy Riley–Flying Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll (Sun)
• Eddie Cochran–Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie (Liberty)
• Eddy Bell and the Bel-Aires–The Masked Man (Mercury; Canada)
• The Top Notes–Twist and Shout (Atlantic)
• The Grand Prees featuring Douglass Pettijohn–Junge Fever (Golden Groove)
• Hollywood Hurricanes–Have Love Will Travel (Prima)
• Lincoln Chase–Miss Orangatang (Columbia)
• The Spiders–Furi Furi (Crown; Japan)
• Huey ‘Piano’ Smith–We Like Birdland (Ace)
• Elwood James–Arkansas Jane (Bonanza)
• Bobby Charles–Take It Easy Greasy (Chess)
• Mad Man Taylor–Rock ‘n’ Roll Espanole (East-West)
• John D. Loudermilk–Susie’s House (Columbia)
• Buddy Miller–Little Bo Peep (Band Box)
• Little Walter (Washboard Sam)–Diggin’ My Potatoes (Checker)

None of these records are for sale.

Here are some more photos, taken by our pal Nancy “Jeannie” Gardner. Click on them and they will scientifically Big-O-Fi…

Mr. Fine Wine

Our pal Mr. Fine Wine continues to fight the good fight. We all know of his fine radio show on WFMU of course, and of his weekly display of soul records at the club Botanica every Wednesday night, plus other assorted record-playing carryings on. If you are a deep Fine Wine devotee—and you should be—you must know that over the last several years, he has been playing a song called “I’m Gonna Destroy That Boy” by an unknown female singer on his show and at his DJ gigs. The song originally existed only on a 10” acetatedisc that was given to him by his uncle (!) who apparently worked deep behind the scenes in the Detroit music business during the sixties. Fine Wine had it dubbed onto a 7” 45 RPM record so he can play it without causing damage to the fragile acetate. There are no credits on the label, only the song title: “I’m Gonna Destroy That Boy.”

The song is a great one, about a young woman’s desire to conquer her man with love. The rendition of “Destroy That Boy” on Mr. Fine Wine’s acetate is raw with sparse instrumentation—guitar, bass, drums and organ, with back-up singers and a tambourine—it is most likely a music publisher’s demonstration recording and, as often happens with a demo recording, it is arguably better than the versions of it that were actually released—two of which are known to the writers of the Boogaloo Bag: The Happy Cats and The What Four.

According to Fine Wine’s notes, the song came to his uncle, Morris Last, via the Detroit producer and songwriter Ollie McLaughlin (who was responsible for many great non-Motown Detroit soul records, including those by The Capitols, Deon Jackson and Barbara Lewis). The version by The Happy Cats bears this out, sort of. Not released when it was recorded—probably 1966 or so—but licensed by Ollie McLauglin to keen British Northern Soul reissue label called Grapevine and issued in 1978. The label notes McLauglin as being the copyright holder and the writer is listed as “Hampton”—most likely Riley Hampton, a talented and prolific arranger that McLauglin employed often.

However, the one version of “Destroy That Boy” that was actually issued during its time is the one by The What Four. It was issued on Columbia Records and produced by the respected Teo Macero (he produced just about all of Miles Davis’ recordings on Columbia). Also, it notes the writers as being A. Resnick, C. Resnick and R. Dante. For those who need a score card, that’s Artie Resnick (“Under the Boardwalk,” “Good Lovin’”), Kris Resnick (“Chewey Chewey”) and Ron Dante (voice of The Archies) who worked out of New York City.

So this is rather confusing.

However, The Boogaloo Bag is going to go out on a limb and present a theory as to how the recording came to be:

The likelihood is low that Columbia Records got the credits wrong. The song was written by the Resnicks and Ron Dante. Artie Resnick and his wife Kris were two thirds of a recording group called The Third Rail around this time, or soon after (third member was songwriter Joey Levine). The group’s “Run Run Run” is on the legendary Nuggets compilation. “Destroy” may have been written for The Third Rail to sing originally, but apparently was rejected. The group was signed to Epic Reords—a subsidiary of Columbia. It is not unheard of for a song to go from one floor of an office building to another. Or perhaps Macero asked the Resnicks to write a song for The What Four for their second single. At any rate, the song was written, a demo was recorded and a copy of it somehow found its way onto the producer’s desk.

It is also not unusual for a music publishing company to pitch a song to several artists, producers and/or record companies in order to get it recorded and released. Ollie McLaughlin, or one of his agents, may have picked it up in New York on a song-searching and/or record promotion trip. At any rate, McLaughlin cut it with a group called The Happy Cats, though it was not released. Thought to be a studio group, The Happy Cats did make a record: a cool version of “These Boots Are Made for Walking” that came out on the Omack label. (The B-side is “My Tune,” written by R. Hampton and published by McLaughlin.)

Fine Wine’s uncle, Morris Last, was an owner of Tuba Records and a friend of Ollie McLaughlin. Uncle Morris received the demo from his friend, McLaughlin, who probably thought Riley Hampton wrote it (maybe it was Hampton who found the song in New York). Ten or so years later, when the Brits came knocking on McLaughlin’s door, wanting to listen to his unreleased material to issue on Grapevine, he told them it was Hampton’s song because he didn’t know better. Most likely, it is Riley Hampton’s arrangement of the song that was recorded by The Happy Cats.

If you believe all of this—and it is credible—than perhaps it is not too far-fetched to believe that the singer of the Fine Wine demo is actually Kris Resnick! Songwriters often sang their own demos, and she was known to be a singer, as a member of The Third Rail.

The Boogaloo Bag heartily endorses all three versions of this song. The Happy Cats version is probably fleshed out the best, with a fine, soulful horn chart and a good vocal. The What Four adheres closer to the demo, with it’s driving, garage-rock beat; plus the modulation in the middle creates excitement. However, it looses points with the vocal—is that all four (?) members singing together?—which is weak.

The singer of the Fine Wine demo, whoever she is, is strong—the best of the three versions. The stark accompaniment and the pulsing organ riff on the demo lends a bit of danger to it that is not in the other recordings, making this the best of the three.

Fine Wine, in conjunction with the good people at Munster Records, has released the demo recording and it is now available for everyone to buy. In order to celebrate the release of the single—which comes complete with a cardboard picture sleeve with notes about the acetate and a further inserted note that discusses Uncle Morris Last’s legacy in the music business. In order to celebrate this cool record’s release, Mr. Fine Wine gathered the troops at Botanica on Wednesday August 16 and several of the area’s finest DJs, as well as Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, were asked to spin a few records: Mister Robinson, One Mint Julep, Peanut Butter Brown, Sheila B, Greg Tormo, Young Chris…did we miss someone?

Record dealer Tony and Greg Tormo swing at Botanica.

Sheila B swings at Botanica.

One Mint Julep swings at Botanica.

Peanut Butter Brown and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at Botanica.

Fine Wine announced the theme of the evening and he played the newly released “I’m Going to Destroy That Boy” record just prior to the set by The Boog. Ever the wise-ass, The Boog showed Mr. Fine Wine his copy of The Happy Cats record and Fine Wine insisted The Boog start his set with that. And so he did. Here is a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Destroy That Boy Record Release Party:

• The Happy Cats–Destroy That Boy (Grapevine; UK)
• The Banana Splits–Doin’ the Banana Split [from EP Kellogg’s Presents The Banana Splits] (Kellogg’s)
• Lu Parks Singers–Zap Pow Ee Yow (Ambassador)
• Simms Twins–Good Good Lovin’ (SAR)
• Chris Powell and his Five Blue Flames–I Come From Jamaica (Spanish Town; UK)
• Lowell Fulson–Blues Rhumba (Checker)
• Orquesta Joe Cain–Mambo Au Go Go (Mainstream)
• Mighty Sparrow–Calypso Boogooloo (RA; West Indies)

None of these records are for sale, however, Mr. Fine Wine’s acetate version of “I’m Gonna Destroy That Boy” is available for purchase here:

FORCED EXPOSURE

ROUGH TRADE UK

CLEAR SPOT

MUNSTER RECORDS

Caracas is the name of a city in Venezuela. It is also the name of a Venezuelan restaurant and bar located on the beach in the Rockaways, Queens. It is here that our pal DJ Ratta—un auténtico venezolano—holds forth every Sunday in the summer time. He calls his event Shake It Up Sundays at the Beach—and that’s exactly what happens from 2pm to 9pm. June 29 was his birthday, and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus was honored to be among the DJs he invited to help celebrate it. The other guest DJ was Debbie D from Georgia, who is the caretaker and den mother of the fabulous WFMU Rock ‘n’ Soul Ichiban interweb music stream.

Our pal Tony brings DJ Ratta a beer for his birthday at Shake It Up Sunday!

Ratta is one of our favorite DJs on the scene. He likes to mix mambo records in with ska and old R&B jams. How can you not like that? Debbie D also digs the old noise, and her selections were all perfect for the event.

Shake It Up scene: Debbie D at the controls as Selector Bunny and Friar Popwell swing, and Tony.

It was a lovely day at the beach: the sky was blue, there was a cool breeze and the food at Caracas is amazing! The arepas, a Venezuelan delicacy, are deee-lishus! Plus, the coconut smoothie is highly recommended for those who do not partake in margaritas. Not only was June 29 Ratta’s birthday, but also it was the day of World Cup soccer games. At 4pm, the Shake It Up festivities were put on hold as a giant TV screen was dragged out and hooked up to the speaker system and the game, featuring Costa Rica and Greece, was watched. At the end of regular time, the game was tied at one goal apiece. It went into overtime and still no winner emerged. That left it up to a unique—some say bizarre—ritual known as “penalty kicks.” When the smoke had cleared, Costa Rica was the winner, and the country’s team advanced into another stage of competition. However, the game took nearly the whole early evening, leaving only a couple hours of Shake It Up time left, with mostly Debbie D and The Boog working the turntables. The night got crazy, with folks dancing and carrying on; and it included Debbie D ending one of her sets with Link Wray’s “Run Chicken Run,” only for The Boog to answer with his own chicken song, followed by a set of food songs!

The Boog swings at Shake It Up Sundays! All photos by Nancy Gardner.

Just before the clock struck 9, Ratta took to the turntables, where he was wished happy birthday and he played a series of boss rocksteady records.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus:

• Orquesta Tropicana–Tequila (Soundway; UK)
• The Vibrations–Stranded in the Jungle (Checker)
• Tokyo Cuban Boys–Mambo No. 5 [from EP All About the Mambos Vol. 1] (Columbia; Japan)
• Alvin Cash & the Crawlers–Twine Time (Mar-V-Lus)
• Ray Barretto–Watusi ’65 (United Artists)
• René Touzet and His Orchestra–El Loco Cha Cha (Amarren al Loco) (GNP)
• Pedrito Ramirez con Los Yogis–Louie Louie (Angelo; Mexico)
• Los Johnny Jets–Bule Bule (Wooly Bully) (Discos Columbia)
• Hermanas Benitez–El Monkey (Clapping Song) (Discophon; Spain)
• Los Rockin’ Devils–Soy Feliz (I Got You) (Orfeon; Mexico)
• Mongo Santamaria–Sunshine of Your Love (Atlantic)
• Quincy Jones and His Orchestra–Soul Bossa Nova (Mercury)
• The Coral Reef–Cherry Cherry (Epic)
• The Fascinators–Fried Chicken and Macaroni (Capitol)
• Wendy Rene–Bar-B-Q (Stax)
• Bobby Hatfield–Hot Tamales (Moonglow)
• Quitman Dennis and the Escorts–Hot Tomales (Epic)
• Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra–Watermelon Man (Mercury)
• Gunga Din–Crabcakes (Valise)
• Laruel Aitken–Mr. Popcorn (NewBeat; UK)
• The Wailers–Simmer Down (CoxSone; Jamaica)
• Toots & the Maytals–Pressure Drop (Beverley’s; UK)

None of these records are for sale!