Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and Pete Pop swing at Do The 45!
Marty Shane is a Mod scooter enthusiast who is the proprietor of The Mod Tiki Market, a stall in the Bennington Antique Centerin Montgomery, New York. He sells all sorts of cool things, including tiki mugs, Hawaiian shirts and Ben Sherman clothing. For The Do The 45, he played some totally rockin’ stuff. He’s kind of a mild-mannered person in real life, but as a DJ he knows how to rock.
Marty Shane cues up another boss jam at Do The 45!
Nina Day is also known by her Go-Go dancer name, Sheba Shake. At this Do The 45 she filled both rolls fantastically: she jumped around up on the raised dance floor with Bella Bombora and she spent about 30 minutes behind the turntables playing records. She played Pete Pops’ records, so you know the records were terrific, and she really knows how to pick them.
Miss Nina Day swings at Do The 45!
For many years, Vince Vincent was a Hudson Valley celebrity when he was a DJ at WVKR—Vassar College’s listener supported radio station. He was also the lead singer for Poughkeepsie’s last Rock’n’Roll band—The Greyhounds. Mr. Vincent’s 30 minutes spinning records was quite possibly the most raucous half hour of wild beat music ever heard in the town of Beacon.
Vince Vincent digs the scene at Do The 45!
Speaking of Hudson Valley celebrities, Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus were pleased that radio personalities Paula Grace and Amanda Lay dropped by to bless the proceedings. They host a fabulous show on WVKR called The Paula and Amanda Show. If you dig crazy people playing boss records, this show is for you. In fact, we were listening to the show on our way to Quinn’s. Just a few minutes after entering the establishment, Paula and Amanda walked in. How do they do it? These people are amazing!!
Phast Phreddie, Amanda Lay, Paula Grace and Pete Pop swing at Do The 45!
Miss Nancy—AKA Bella Bombora—baked some great vittles for this event: fudge, banana bread and two kinds of chocolate chip cookies—one that had low sugar content for friends who have issues with that sort of thing.
Hello, boys and girls. Welcome to another exciting adventure of The GO Mechanism with your host, Phast Phreddie. The GO Mechanism is an audio Odyssey scientifically engineered and programed in the secret laboratory of Boogaloo Omnibus Productions incorporating ultra-phonic techniques not available to other broadcast entities. The G stands for Groove, and there is always plenty of Groove in each GO Mechanism. The O stands for O’Roony, an intricate and complex attitude that is incomprehensible to those who possess standard-issue precepts. Listen and you will hear.
The GO Mechanism is first aired on the Luxuria Music web streaming hustle as a Saturday Night Special. It will then be available as a podcast on the Luxuria Music web site for a few weeks, then it will sit in that limbo called the Mixclouds. This one will first air on September 21, 2024.
In order to achieve total comprehension of this GO Mechanism, it is strongly suggested that the listener follow along with this blog post as he or she listens to the program. This blog will act as a guiding light, with a track listing and information regarding some of the songs featured in the show.
An hour into the GO there will be a Science Corner—a segment of the trip where we discuss a topic of musical importance. This Science Corner we will listen to three lesser known songs by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for no other reason than, we can!
Smokey Robinson was a dynamic entity during the golden era of Motown Records: He wrote hit songs, he sang on hit songs and he produced hit records. The vocal group in which he commenced his career, The Miracles, was one of the finest during this period. It emerged from the ashes of the fifties R&B vocal group era into full-fledged soul music innovators during the sixties. Smokey was the guiding light; and, with his silky smooth, high tenor voice and his songwriting, The Miracles couldn’t miss. Even many of their records that were not big hits are worth listening to. In the Science Corner, we have spotlighted three songs that were hidden as LP tracks.
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles 1965 album Goin’ to A’ Go-Go (on the Tamla label, a subsidiary of Motown) was the group’s best selling album, reaching Number Eight on the charts. It was full of great songs and we have selected “Head to Toe” for your listening pleasure. Despite the excellence of its hummable melody it was never released as a single. However, a couple of years later, Smokey produced a version of it by a white female singer signed to Motown named Chris Clark. That version—also quite good, though the beat wasn’t as strong—was released as a single but it didn’t do much business.
“Dancing’s Alight” is from the 1967 album Make It Happen, which was full of good songs, including the hits “The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage” and “More Love.” It also had some good LP-only tracks such as “Soulful Shack,” It’s a Good Feeling” and “The Tears of a Clown.” About two years after the album was released, British Tamla/Motown issued “The Tears of a Clown” as a single and it did quite well. U.S. Motown got wise and subsequently issued it here, where it went to Number One in the Pop and R&B charts in 1970.
For a 1969 soul album, Four in Blue may have been unique as no singles were released from it. One of its songs, “Dreams Dreams” could have been a hit, so we’ll listen to it here in The GO Mechanism’s Science Corner in order to expose the outstanding work that Smokey Robinson & the Miracles were creating at the time.
GO Mechanism Number Twenty Four jumps right into the swing of things with two hot recordings that each feature a baritone saxophonist.
Leo Parker
The first is by Sir Charles Thompsonand his All Stars and it features Leo Parker. Parker started on the alto saxophone in the early forties, but took up the baritone when he joined Billy Eckstine’s big band of bebop musicians (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons and many others passed through this orchestra before Eckstine found his calling as a crooner.). When Leo Parker left the band he continued on the baritone, in part because he didn’t want to be playing alto saxophone in the shadow of Charlie Parker. It is on the baritone that he made a name for himself, especially in bebop circles. He played the big horn with groups lead by Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet and Fats Navaro. In 1947 he cut “Mad Lad” with pianist Sir Charles Thompson for Apollo Records and it became his signature tune. He was often called “The Mad Lad” and he composed several songs incorporating it in the titles in order to recapture the magic of the Thompson recording: “Mad Lad Boogie,” “Mad Lad Returns.” Due to health issues, his recording output was limited. He cut two albums for Blue Note in the early sixties, but one wasn’t released until 1980. Parker died in 1962 at the age of 36.
Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams
The next baritone saxophonist was much more prolific than Leo Parker, but sows confusion as he shares the name of several other well known musicians: Paul Williams. Our Paul Williams is often called Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams after his biggest hit; it was Number One R&B for 14 weeks! Williams cut records for the Savoy label for about five years, starting in 1947. Some of them did quite well. Several R&B stars got their start in Williams’ band, including singer Little Willie John and saxophonists Noble “Thin Man” Watts and “Wild” Bill Moore (who would later play on Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On LP). The song heard here in The GO is “Hoppin’ John,” named after a favorite food. Williams died in 2002 at the age of 87.
Earl Hooker
Next up is the legendary blues guitarist Earl Hooker with his take on Paul Williams’ big hit record! Hooker’s track was recorded in Memphis 1953 but not released until the seventies when some genius British people raided the vaults at Sun Records. This Hooker isn’t nearly as well know, nor was he as successful as, the other Hooker, John Lee. Although both were born in Mississippi, they are not related. However, folks who really know their blues records are aware of his awesomeness. This version of “The Huckelbuck” will give you an idea.
Note John Fogerty’s clever songwriting credit!
“Call It Pretending” is the B-side of the first single released by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The group made some records previous to this, but under different names, such as The Golliwogs, a name that was forced upon the group. In fact, this record was first released as by The Golliwogs, then changed to Creedence Clearwater Revival when the band started to assert control over its own direction. The A-side was an early version of “Porterville,” which made it onto the first Creedence LP. “Call It Pretending” never made it onto a proper Creedence album even though it is the group’s best song.
The weird noises you hear on Melvin Jackson’s “Funk Skull” is Jackson playing his stand-up bass hooked up to some electrical effects devices that were meant for guitars. He plucks his bass in some parts and plays it with a bow in others. Perhaps he got this idea from Eddie Harris, who Jackson often worked with. Harris played his saxophone hooked up to a similar device.
It would not be a GO Mechanism if there were not a version of “Caravan” included. For this installment of The GO, we have included a rendition by Jerry Betters; a drummer who was the younger brother of Harold Betters, a trombone player who had a minor hit with “Do Anything You Wanna” in 1964. Jerry played on some of Harold‘s recordings, but was also a singer who appeared in the Pittsburgh area. He died in Connellsville, PA, where he grew up, when a truck hit him as he was crossing the street in 2007.
Los Beats were a band from El Salvador that would often take songs by The Beatles and other English-speaking acts and translate them into Spanish for their market. “Eres Tu” is the group’s version of a song found on the first Grateful Dead album called “Cold Rain and Snow.” Although The Dead took songwriting credit on their album, it was actually an old folk song that they most likely heard from a 1961 album by the banjo player Obray Ramsey.
“Kanfera (Return to Fisher) is by Mor Thiam, a percussionist who was born in Senegal. In 1973 he moved to St. Louis, and soon after, recorded an album consisting of a fusion of modern jazz and African beats—the kind of music the kids today call Spiritual Jazz. The record, called Dini Safarrar, benefited from the talents of several musicians from the area, including the producer Oliver Sain, trumpet player Lester Bowie, saxophonist Oliver Lake and guitarist Phillip Westmoreland (listed here as Wesdmoread!). Also in 1973 in St. Louis, Thiam’s son was born: Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam—better known as the successful contemporary R&B singer/rapper Akon.
Bo Diddley’s version of “Old Man River” is almost unrecognizable from the song sung by Paul Robeson in the film Showboat. Bo’s version is close to surf music—maybe because it was included on the album Surfin’ With Bo Diddley. This is a controversial LP in itself, since only four of the dozen songs on the album were actually by Bo Diddley. For some reason, the album was filled out with eight tracks by The Megatons, a group that featured rockabilly singer Billy Lee Riley. Some of this is addressed in the Science Corner of GO Mechanism Number Eight.
in 1963, Bobby Fuller, his brother Randy and a couple other Texas musicians traveled to Los Angeles to make a name for themselves. They had already released some singles on their own and were a big deal in their home town of El Paso. In California, the boys studied the local surf bands and tried to get signed to a record company. The only one who paid attention to them was Bob Keane at Del-Fi Records—the label that had issued records by Ritchie Valens. Keane thought the group was interesting, but told them to return to El Paso and work on their music for a year then come back. About a year later, the Fuller brothers with new musicians, now called The Fanatics, came back and knocked on Keane’s door again. Keane had them record a cheesy teen ballad, but the flip side was “Our Favorite Martian,” a super boss, reverb-drenched surf instrumental that clearly wipes out just about every other surf instrumental you can name. Soon after, the group would change its name to The Bobby Fuller Four and cut a series of fantastic records for Keane’s other label, Mustang Records; this included “I Fought the Law,” “Let Her Dance” and “The Magic Touch.” Right as Bobby Fuller was poised to become a big Rock’n’Roll star, he died a mysterious death. Suggested reading: I Fought the Law: The Life and Strange Death of Bobby Fuller by Miriam Linna and Randall Fuller.
Phil Alvin is quite simply one of the greatest singers of our time. He came to prominence as the singer of The Blasters—one of the greatest Rock’n’Roll bands this planet has ever produced. Phil has made a couple of solo albums and “Daddy Rolling Stone” comes to us from his first one, Un Sung Stories (which has been recently reissued on CD by Liberation Hall Records with liner notes by our pal Chris Morris.)
Marvin Gaye, Anna Gordy, Gwen Gordy, Harvey Fuqua
This GO Mechanism, like many of the recent ones, closes out with one of the greatest records of all time: “Anyway Ya Wannta” by Harvey. This is Harvey Fuqua, who began his career as the leader of the great R&B vocal group The Moonglows in the fifties; “Sincerely” was a Number One R&B hit in January 1955. That group disintegrated in Washington D.C. around 1959, and Bo Diddley, then a D.C. resident, suggested to Fuqua that he enlist a local group called The Marquees to be the new Moonglows. Once this was done, Fugua eventually took these Moonglows, which included a fellow named Marvin Gaye, to Chicago to cut a few records for their record company, Chess. When The Moonglows broke up, Fuqua took Gaye to Detroit. There they became entangled professionally and personally with Barry Gordy and his family. Fuqua would form record companies (Anna, Tri-Phi, Harvey) with Gordy’s sisters Anna and/or Gwen and married the latter. Gaye worked as a session musician—he played drums, some piano, and of course he could sing—for the labels and he married the former. When Barry Gordy’s label Tamla first released Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)” it couldn’t handle it and the record was shifted to Anna and Gwen’s Anna Records where, with the help of Chess distribution, it became a Number Two R&B hit in 1960. Brother Barry learned his lesson and the next year he had a smash Number One hit with The Miracles’ “Shop Around.” Soon after, he formed Motown and a few subsidiaries and eventually absorbed his sisters’ labels—including the talent which included Junior Walker & the All Stars, The Spinners, David Ruffin and Marvin Gaye—who hadn’t recorded as a solo act yet but was part of the family.
Harvey’s 1962 record on Tri-Phi, “Anyway Ya Wanta,” is one of our most favorite of records, what with it’s wild yelps, calling out of popular dances and its bump-bump-bumpity bump rhythm. The first time we heard it (probably when Mr. Fine Wine played it at an Empire State Soul Club event during the nineties) we thought it was some Billy Stewart record that we somehow missed; it really captured us with “Do the hitchhike!” Man, we went crazy for it—we bought a cheap bootleg and, after several years, tracked down an affordable original in good shape. It is presented in The GO Mechanism as one of the Greatest Records Of All Time.
Once again we thank the groovy people at Luxuria Music for allowing us to present The GO Mechanism over their web-streaming hustle. Luxuria Music is a listener supported entity and can not exist without your help. Please visit the Luxuria Music website and figure out how you can send them some money.
Earl Bostic—Lester Leaps In (King)
Sir Charles Thompson and his All Stars—Mad Lad (Apollo)
Paul Williams—Hoppin’ John (Savoy)
Earl Hooker—The Hucklebuck (from LP Sun: The Roots of Rock: Volume 11: Memphis Blues Sounds; Charly; UK)
James Booker—Cool Turkey (Peacock)
Creedence Clearwater Revival—Call It Pretending (Scorpio)
Los Mirlos—El Sonido de Los MIrlos (Infopesa; Peru)
The Maytals—Do the Boogaloo (Trojan; UK)
Timmie Thomas—Have Some Boogaloo (Goldwax)
Bobby Rush—Sock Boo Ga Loo (Checker)
Melvin Jackson—Funky Skull Part 1 (Limelight)
Cal Tjader—A Night in Tunisia (Fantasy)
Gregory Corso—The Fleeting Hand of Time
Jerry Betters—Caravan (Gateway)
Los Beats—Eres Tu (Orfeon; Costa Rica)
The Green Slime—The Green Slime (M-G-M)
Dick Hyman & His Orchestra—Agent Double-O Soul (Command)
Grupo Miramar—El Cameron (Accion; Mexico)
Marvin Gaye—Walk on the Wild Side (Tamla)
The Quik—Bert’s Apple Crumple (Klook’s Kleek; UK)
Mor Thiam—Kanfera (Return to Fisher) (from LP Dini Safarrar – Drums of Fire; Rite Record Production)
Los Lobos—A Matter of Time (from LP How Will the Wolf Survive?; Slash)
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles—From Head to Toe (from LP Goin’ to A Go-Go; Tamla)
The Funk Brothers—The One Who Really Loves You (bed music—from soundtrack Standing in the Shadows of Motown – Deluxe Edition; Hip-O/Motown)
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles—Dancing’s All Right (from LP Make It Happen; Tamla)
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles—Dreams Dreams (from LP Four in Blue; Tamla)
Grupo Sta. Cecilia—1, 2, 3, Hustle (Orfeon; Mexico)
Gene Redd & the Globe Trotters—Zeen Beat (King)
The T-K-O’s—The Charge (Ten Star)
Bo Diddley—Old Man River (from LP Surfin’ With Bo Diddley; Checker)
Wanderlea—Vou Lhe Contar (Pushin’ Too Hard) (CBS; Brazil)
Roland Kirk—Safari (from LP Slightly Latin; Limelight)
W.H. Auden—As I Walked Out One Evening
Dyke & the Blazers—The Broadway Combination (from LP The Funky Broadway; Original Sound)
The Ventures—Diamond Head (Dolton)
Booker T & the M.G.’s—Chicken Pox (from LP Melting Pot; Stax)
Slim Harpo—I’m a King Bee (Excello)
Aaron Neville—Space Man (Par Lo)
Bobby Fuller and the Fanatics—Our Favorite Martian (Donna)
Phil Alvin—Daddy Rollin’ Stone (from LP Un “Sung” Songs; Slash)
Pete Terrace—The Basic Cha Cha (Tico)
Curtis Mayfield—Freddie’s Dead (Boogaloo edit, closing theme; Curtom)
Harvey—Anyway Ya Wannta (Tri-Phi)
OKeh Laughing Record
This edition of The Go Mechanism will be available as a podcast on the Luxuria Music website after its initial air-date of September 21, 2024 as a Saturday Night Special. After a few weeks it will be posted on the Mixclouds and it will appear below…
Pete Pop & Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at the Funky Kingston!
The Funky Kingston returned to The Salt Box on August 31—the fifth Saturday of the month. Who should we get to guest DJ with us? Why, Pete Pop, of course. Everybody knows he’s got fantastic Garage Rock records…and cumbia records… and Latin records of all sorts… and old R&B records. It seems he has all sorts of excellent records. The other night, also at The Salt Box at one of Pete’s new Shim Sham Shimmy gigs, he played some fantastic funk records so we thought we’d invite him to spin a few at The Funky Kingston.
Well, he sure did that! This cat has just about every recording of reet music you can think of. He expanded his territory—at least in our minds—at The Funky Kingston. He played some reggae, some Latin Boogaloos, a few cumbias; man, that cat knows how to swing.
Host Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus played his usual trash of funk and reggae. A bunch of folks showed up to swing. Miss Nancy made some very yummy vittles—fudge and brownies. People were dancing in the upstairs Rumpus Room deep into the night. As a bonus, Our pal Sean McDJ showed up early and helped The Boog set up the turntable hustle in order to present the dog!
Sean McDJ swings under the Bat Signal!
The next fifth Saturday of the month is in November—Thanksgiving weekend. Plan a trip to Kingston and come and get funky with us!
¡The WIPE OUT! is an exciting new concept of the audio experience featuring exclusive Superlaphonic Hi-Fi science plus Telesonic sound reproduction and utilizing newly discovered interdisciplinary methods in order to achieve a higher standard of standardness. This innovative approach to non-linear sonic transmission is not like any ever heard on this side of the galaxy. This dynamic production was fabricated by Phast Phreddie in the Boogaloo Omnibus Laboratory and may never be repeated again in this millennium. The world premier can only be heard on the WFMU Rock’n’Soul web-o-net streaming hustle on Saturday September 14 as a DROP IN program at 6:00PM Eastern Time. An hour that will fracture your fragile egg-shell mind! After its initial airing it will live forever on the fabulous WFMU archives… Dig it here:
Here’s a list of the tracks incorporated into ¡The WIPE OUT!
Sun Ra—Calling Planet Earth
The Surfaris—Wipe Out
Pere Ubu—30 Seconds Over Tokyo
Cramps—Fiver Years Ahead of My Time
Dale Hawkins—Suzy Q
Muddy Waters—I’m a King Bee
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band—Click Clack
Ronny Kae—Swingin’ Drums
Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez—Hurricane
Judy Carne—Sock It to Me
Rubinoos—Todd-O-Phonic Theme (Instrumental)
Billy Butler—The Right Track (minus Billy Butler)
Dave Clarke Five—Concentration Baby
Howlin’ Wolf—Pop It to Me
Code Blue—Whisper Touch
Imperial Dogs—This Ain’t the Summer of Love
Los Lobos—Tomorrow Never Knows
Los Babys—Jinetes en el Cielo
Blue Oyster Cult—Red and Black
The Last—She Don’t Know Why I’m Here
Oweinema Biu—Boom
Los Babys—Jinetes en el Cielo (slight return)
B-52’s—Planet Claire
Lord Buckley
Trinity Meets the Mighty Diamonds—L.S.D.
Dave Bartholomew—Shrimp and Gumbo
The Rivingtons—Mama Oo Mow Mow
Billy Stewart—Summertime
Charanjit Singh—Hey Mujhe Dil De
The Doors—Light My Fire
T.S. Eliot
Wganda Kenya—Tipit Hayed
Peter Case—Put Down the Gun
Cassidy Hutchinson—Ketchup on the Wall (remix)
Hal Blaine—Inner Space (October)
Iron Butterfly—In the Time of Our Lives
Dave Bartholomew—Shrimp and Gumbo (slight return)
Dizzy Gillespie—Salt Peanuts
Marvin Gaye—Ain’t That Particular (minus Marvin)
Cumbias en Moog—Cumbia de Sal
Don Gardner—My Baby Likes to Boogaloo
unknown artist—I’m Gonna Destroy That Boy
The Teemates—Nightfall
Iron Butterfly—Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida
Jack Costanzo—Chicken and Rice
Mothers of Invention—Hungry Freaks Daddy
Pere Ubu—30 Seconds Over Tokyo (slight return)
The Dap-Kings—Nervous Like Me – Beats
Cassidy Hutchinson—Ketchup on the wall
The Hollywood Persuaders—Drums A’ Go-Go
Rolly Polly—Swingin’ Samba
Chip Kinman—Let’s Go Dark Shark
Dylan Thomas—Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Oliveira Trio—O Justiceiro
Brian Inglan—The World of Gorillas and Monkeys
Billy Stewart—Summertime (slight return)
Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra—Cop-Out (edit)
Captain Beefheart & the Saxons—Golden Birdies Camel Walk mashup
The Alley Cats—Nothing Means Nothing Anymore
The Third Mind—East-West
Eddie Kirk—The Grunt
The 4 Instants—Bogatini
The Loons—Blue Ether
Dream Syndicate—John Coltrane Stereo Blues
John Coltrane—Sunship
Bonzo Dog Band—Look at Me I’m Wonderful
uknown studio band—Mirza
Perez Prado—Mexico 70
The Fleshtones with Lenny Kaye—Lost in Xandu dub
The Stooges—TV Eye
Pere Ubu—30 Seconds Over Tokyo (slight return again)
The Beatles—A Day in the Life
The Surfaris—Wipe Out (slight return)
Special thanks to Matt Clarke of the WFMU Rock ‘n’ Soul Radio hustle for asking me to do this. Also, thanks to all the WFMUs for allowing it to happen!
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and Pete Pop swing at Do The 45!
The August Do The 45 was another fun one. Held, as it always is, at Quinn’s fabulous Rock ’n’ ramen joint in beautiful downtown Beacon, NY, host DJ Pete Pop decided to continue with his Three-to-Three-to-Three concept of record selecting. It had guest DJ Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus trying to make mini three-song sets all night. Sometimes it worked out. Other times, it was just plain fun.
Pete Pop, for his part, played some of his finest records. Readers, attending a DJ Pete Pop night at Quinn’s something that must be experienced in your lifetime. Pete Pop has some fantastic records and he is not shy about playing them at the Do The 45. Each month he surprises us with more great selections.
Although she was advertised, Go-Go dancer Sheba Shake did not make the scene. However, Bella Bombora made up for it by being up on the raised dance floor almost the entire night. When Miss Bombora is hired to dance, you will get your money’s worth, that’s for sure!!
Miss Nancy made some excellent sweet vittles that were devoured in a short time.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the August Do The 45:
DJs Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at The Shim Sham Shimmy!
Our pal Pete Pop has a new DJ night in Kingston: It’s The Shim Sham Shimmy and it will take place on the first Saturday of the month. For his very first one, which took place on August 3, he asked Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus to be his guest DJ.
We dig The Salt Box. It’s a groovy new bar located in a very old building right in the heart of Kingston, NY. The folks who run the joint are friendly and the bartenders sure know how to pour a drink. It is always comfortable and the clientele are always seen boppin’ their respective heads to the boss sounds that Pete Pop and The Boog lay down. From now on, Pete Pop will be swingin’ his exceptionally fantastic records monthly at The Box. Come on down and get gone!
For this event, Pete Pop thought up a new concept in record selecting: Instead of each DJ spinning for 30 minutes in rotation all night, this time each DJ alternated in playing three records. So, Pete Pop played three 45s, Phast Man played three 45s, Pete Pop played three 45s, then El Rapido followed with three more 45s… and that’s how it went all night. Sometimes the records followed the vibe of the previous three records; very often it did not. Either way, it was a gas and it kept the record selectors on their toes all night.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the very first Shim Sham Shimmy:
On Monday July 8th, DJ Pete Pop contacted The Salt Box in Kingston and asked if there was an opening for him to come DJ. He hadn’t been there in over a year and everybody felt it was time he returned. The nice people at The Salt Box told him they actually needed a DJ that very Saturday night—the night after Do The 45!
Mr. Pop is not one to turn down an opportunity to play his fine records to an appreciative crowd. He accepted—then he enlisted Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus to spin with him for this very special Shingaling!
DJing two nights in a row! Man, the Phast One hasn’t done that since moving out of Brooklyn about four years ago! But what the heck, let’s swing while the swingin’ is good, right?
The Phast Man was just at The Salt Box a couple of weeks ago—with his dynamic Funky Kingston hustle. He meant to play records that he wouldn’t play at Funky Kingston, but for some reason, he played a LOT that could easily have been played at the Funky Kingston. Ha! Whatever, it was a gas and it is always special when Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie get together to spin records. For most of the night, these two were at the turntables spinning every other record, and did so until management forced them to stop around 3:00 AM!!
Miss Nancy contributed by supplying everyone with her fudge and vegan brownies.
The evening went so well, that Mr. Pop got asked to come back to The Salt Box. If things go according to plan—and what does, these days?—Pete will be there on the first Saturday of the month hosting a shebang he may call The Shim Sham Shimmy! Watch out for that. Very possible that Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus may be riding shotgun on some of these gigs.
Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at The Salt Box Shingaling:
Chris Bishop of Garage Hangover swings at Do The 45!
The July 12th Do The 45 shindig at Quinn’s was an extra special affair. We celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Garage Hangover, the ultimate on-line Garage Rock source of information by inviting its host Chris Bishop to come and spin a few records.
Garage Hangover is jam packed with information about sixties rock bands—most of which sprung up in the wake of The Beatles climb to fame. The website features photos, bios, discographies, itineraries and other such information. Posts on the website allow for comments, and often the comments are from actual members of the bands or their friends and fans. It’s mind-boggling the amount of detail can go into a post regarding a band that may have made one or two independent singles about 60 years ago!! Dig this post regarding The Galaxies IV as an example.
Pete Pop, Chris Bishop, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus!
Meanwhile, back at Quinn’s—Beacon’s famous rock’n’ramen club—Mr. Bishop played some remarkable records. Of the dozens of boss records he played, The Boogaloo Bag writers could only recognize a handful of them. This guys knows his stuff, that’s for sure.
Do The 45 host DJ Pete Pop was right there with him. Mr. Pop is also a connoisseur of Garage Rock records and he played some fantastic platters. In fact, at one time, Mr. Bishop turned to The Boogaloo Bag writers and said, “Man, Pete Pop just played about $5,000 worth of records in 20 minutes!!!” Mr. Pop played one of The Boogaloo Bag writers’ favorite records: “I’ll Be In” by The Answer. It’s a record we had back in the seventies but lost it due to a… well it’s a long, sad story!
Miss Nancy was on hand with her yummy vittles: pecan tassies and vegan brownies. Plus, Go-Go dancers Sheba Shake and Bella Bombora were in full effect! Plenty of friends were on hand and the event was a total success. With any luck, Chris Bishop will bring his boss records back to Do The 45 again real soon. Let’s not wait for the 30th anniversary of Garage Hangover!!
For his part, Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus played about $60 worth of records in about an hour and a half!! Here’s a list of all of them:
On June 29, The Funky Kingston returned to The Salt Box in Kingston, NY. Funky Kingston is the fabulous DJ night concocted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and it features all sorts of funky music—including mambo and reggae. The event takes place on the fifth Saturday of the month, when there is one.
Miss Nancy observes the Bat Signal!
Miss Nancy’s treats: no-bake chocolate/peanutbutter cookies and vegan brownies.
On this particular night there was a special guest DJ—$mall ¢hange. He is a cat who has been fighting the good fight of the DJ wars in New York City for about three decades. A few years ago, he moved up to Hudson and so he’s now a local DJ we can turn to. This guy has some fantastic records and was not shy about playing them!
$mall ¢hange and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swing at Funky Kingston!
The Salt Box regulars dug the music so much, that management has asked the Funky Kingston to be a little more regular. The people at Boogaloo Omnibus Productions are negotiating to see if this can happen. Meanwhile, the next Funky Kingston will take place on August 31. Don’t you dare Miss It.
Phast Phreddie the Boogloo Omnibus pulled out a few good records, too. Here’s a list of the ones he played:
Welcome to another exciting adventure of The GO Mechanism with your host, Phast Phreddie. The GO Mechanism is an audio odyssey scientifically engineered and programed in the secret laboratory of Boogaloo Omnibus Productions incorporating ultra-phonic techniques not available to other broadcast entities. The G stands for GROOVE, and there is always plenty of GROOVE in each GO Mechanism. The O stands for O’ROONY, an intricate and complex attitude that is incomprehensible to those who possess standard-issue precepts. Listen and you will hear.
The GO Mechanism is first aired on the Luxuria Music web streaming hustle as a Saturday Night Special. It will then be available as a podcast on the Luxuria Music web site for a few weeks, then it will sit in that limbo called the Mixclouds. This one will air on July 6 at 10:00 PM East Coast time and 7:00 PM for our California friends.
In order to achieve total comprehension of this GO Mechanism, it is strongly suggested that the listener follow along with this blog post. Here you will find a complete track list of the songs played on the show, information regarding some of the songs, hyper links to other boss trash and some groovy graphics.
An hour into the GO there will be a Science Corner—a segment of the trip where we discuss a topic of musical importance. This Science Corner we will listen to three songs originally written and recorded by The Beach Boys, but performed by other artists.
In the early sixties, The Beach Boys were one of the biggest musical acts in America. So big, that when the group’s record company Capitol Records was asked by its associated record company, EMI in England, if it wanted to release records by this new group called The Beatles, Capitol felt they didn’t need another rock group. Thus, early U.S. releases by The Beatles were issued on several other labels before Capitol smartened up.
First up is a version of “Here Today” by Bobby Vee. Vee was a teen idol of the sixties. He had a bunch of hits on the radio, including “Devil or Angel,” “Rubber Ball,” “Take Good Care of My Baby” and “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes.” The arrangement of his version of “Here Today” is by Leon Russell and it doesn’t stray far from the original—it’s mostly sped up with a subtle new horn arrangement. It’s very possible that many of the Los Angeles session musicians who played on the original track played on this one as well. Vee’s version was probably recorded soon after the release of Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys album on which the song originally appeared. If any of the musicians on that version worked on the Vee version, they were probably able to ace it in the recording studio pretty quickly. As good as this version is, the single flopped entirely, not making the Top 100 at all. However, Vee’s next single, “Come Back When You Grow Up Girl,” was one of his biggest hits. Go figure!
Debra Swisher was one of The Pixies Three, a teen pop girl group from Hanover, Pennsylvania—a sleepy town more than two hours west of Philadelphia. They had a few minor hits in 1963. When the group graduated from high school, only Debbie Swisher continued with music. Around 1966, she came to the attention of Bob Feldman,Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gotteher, a trio of songwriters/producers who recorded as The Strangeloves, and who liked to make records with a big, booming drum sound. Swisher’s version of “You’re So Good to Me” is no exception. Once again, the tempo is accelerated and the production is just a step or two below a Phil Spector-styled wall of sound. It’s a really boss record. Most likely it is The Strangeloves connection that facilitated Swisher becoming one of The Angels around 1967 when that girl group recorded for RCA.
Our third Science Corner selection is by a group from Spain called Los Javaloyas. The group recorded “Good Vibrations” and sung it in Spanish as “Buenas Vibraciones.” Los Javaloyas was formed in the early fifties in Valencia, but soon moved to the island of Mallorca. The band was very popular and cut a lot of records—especially during the sixties. The repertoire consisted of mostly pop material, but the group would occasionally tackle a rocker—its version of The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’” is also on the EP where we found “Buenas Vibraciones.” We like this Spanish version of The Beach Boys hit because of the sparse production. It is very likely that Los Javaloyas did not spend about six months in the studio recording it, as The Beach Boys did on the original.
GO Mechanism Number 23 starts out with five wailin’ instrumentals: two bebops and three R&Bs, though the last one is a sort of combination of both. In the jazz world, James Moody and Charlie Parker are quiet well known as bebop giants. Red Prysock, Bill Doggett and Joe Houston are all major R&B players. “The Eagle Speaks” appeared on Doggett’s On Tour album, but we pulled it off of a seven-inch stereo single that plays at 33 1/3 RPM. The song is named for Calvin “Eagle Eye” Shields, Doggett’s drummer who openly displays his talent on this track. Shields co-wrote the track with tenor saxophonist Clifford Scott. The fifth track is a clear example of bebop meeting R&B head-on: Joe Houston’s take on “Lester Leaps In.” Houston made his money with a string of honkin’ and jumpin’ R&B stompers, but here he swings with a jam the boppers liked to play. “Lester Leaps In” was originally recorded by Count Basie’s Kansas City Seven in 1939. It was written by and featured saxophonist Lester Young, who was a hero to the bebop crew. Houston’s version was not issued until it was discovered in the nineties and issued on a compilation of mostly unreleased Joe Houstonrecordings compiled byBilly Vera.
During the sixties many pop acts were employed to sing commercials— The Turtles sang for Pepsi, The Who power-chorded for Great Shakes, Jefferson Airplane crooned about White Levis and The Rolling Stones did a bit for Rice Krispies! Coca Cola was especially aggressive about getting the latest teen pop stars to swing for them and often made the recordings available. In The GO MechanismArchives we have Coke jingles by The Supremes, Ray Charles, Petula Clark, The Golden Earrings, The Everly Brothers, Jan & Dean and more. GO #23 presents one of our favorites—Los Bravos. Los Bravos were truly a European band: it was based in Spain, the lead singer was from Germany, many of its recordings were made in England and the bulk of their repertoire is sung in English. In the U.S., Los Bravos is chiefly remembered for “Black Is Black” and maybe “Bring a Little Lovin’”—both had spectacular bass riffs. That bass action is dominant in the Coke commercial.
In 1965, the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, in order to advance culture in its country, initiated a music competition called Altin Mikrofon (Golden Microphone) and offered to record the entries. A 1967 entry was an instrumental by Haramiler called “Adanli.” The group didn’t win that year, but it came in second in 1968 with a different song. As far as we can tell, Haramiler didn’t make very many records, but it must have been influential in some way; during the nineties a group of young Turkish musicians took up the name with the approval of original members of the sixties group.
“Doing the Snatch” is the kind of genius record that could only have been created by Andre Williams. He is credited as co-writer and co-producer and you can hear him in the background, exhorting folks to do the snatch baby! The other producer is Major Lance, he of “Monkey Time” and “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um” fame; plus he lends his name to the musical ensemble—The Lancers. The third songwriter is Carl Davis, a Chicago music producer and songwriter who began his career around 1958 or so and worked with such esteemed artists as Gene Chandler, Ted Taylor, Walter Jackson, Jackie Wilson, The Chi-Lites… the list goes on. For some reason, these well-worn music professionals asked the world to do the Snatch!!
In 1978, Cal Tjader’s Huracán album was recorded direct-to-disc and released as a 12” LP spinning at 45 RPM on white vinyl for the audiophile market. Obviously, such a thing could not have been a big seller, which is a shame—Tjader’s mambo records are among the finest in the world. The album has been basically unavailable until the nice folks at Liberation Hall Records reissued it last year.
The GO Mechanism producers often reach into their personal archives to present music that will never be heard anywhere else—ie., the Jeffrey Lee Pierce track in GO Mechanism Number Eighteen. In this GO we’ve pulled out a song by The Invisible Girl called “Guardian Angel.” It is a beautiful, moody ballad, written and performed by Charlotte Caffey, AKA, The Invisible Girl. This song was written in 1976 and it was inspired by a painting that hung in the home where she grew up. The picture depicted two children walking over a bridge with a big guardian angel guiding them. It was recorded in early 1977—probably before she joined The Eyes, one of L.A.’s first punk rock bands. That is when she handed the cassette of her song to the future GO Mechanism host. We’ve always dug it and always wanted to share it with the world. A few years after this recording, Ms. Caffey found great success as a member of The Go-Go’s. A guardian angel is most definitely watching over her!
Frank Frost was a blues man from Arkansas who often worked across the Mississippi River in Memphis. He was brought to the attention of Sam Phillips and he cut a single and an album for the Sun subsidiary Phillips International in 1962. This was likely the last blues Sam Phillips would record—certainly the last great blues. In the mid-sixties, Frost cut some singles for Jewel Records; one of which is “My Back Scratcher,” heard here in The GO Mechanism. It’s lazy tempo, spoken lyric and subject matter owe a bit to Slim Harpo’s “Scratch My Back,” that’s for sure, but Frost’s song stands up on it’s own anyway. It has such a hip groove that we can’t get enough of.
The GO Mechanism always ends with one of the Greatest Records Of All Time. This one ends with still another Beach Boys song—this one by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra. Oldham was the producer and manager of The Rolling Stones during their early days. He must had some pull at (British) Decca Records, for whom The Rolling Stones recorded, and cashed it in. The records were all made with studio musicians and we believe some of The Rolling Stones play on them. One of Oldham’s albums was called East Meets West in which he recorded six songs by The Four Seasons and six by The Beach Boys. From that album comes this fantastic version of “I Get Around.” We like to think that it is Keith Richards playing that fabulous fuzz guitar bit. The GO Mechanism producers will even posit that it is better than the original!
Paul Body photo by Joel Aparicio
One of the extended spoken word selections in this GO is by our pal Paul Body. In 1993 he released an album called Love Is Like Rasputin in which he reads his memoir from the year 1965. His writing is poignant, witty, clever, moving and often very personal. We first met Mr. Body when he was drumming for the great R&B-injected rock band The Sheiks of Shake in the mid-seventies. During the eighties he joined us in Phast ’n’ Bulbous and The Love Supremes. Presented here is his entry for the date June 16. Playing behind it is an excerpt from Miles Davis’ “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down” from Bitches Brew. [By the way, the hearty laugh heard at the end of most GO Mechanisms belongs to Mr. Body. It was recorded by producer Vitus Mataré during the recording of a Love Supremes album that may never come out!]
The GO Mechanism is produced whenever we feel like it and it initially airs on the Luxuria Music interweb streaming hustle as a Saturday Night Special. The GO Mechanism producers sincerely thank the swingin’ folks at Luxuria Music for presenting The GO Mechanism whenever we get around to putting one together. Luxuria Music is an extremely independent entity that can use some help. Please go to the Luxuria Music website and buy something from its store or sponsor something fun. Also, while you are at Luxuria Music, check out the other fabulous shows there.
If you are interested in previous GO Mechanisms, they can be found on the Mixclouds and here in The Boogaloo Bag. After a while the audio portion of this GO Mechanism will magically appear below…
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