Archives: August 2015

The Ambushers

By Brandon Adamson

ambushers

There’s an unforgettably awesome song at the beginning of the Dean Martin/Matt Helm 60s spy film, “The Ambushers.”

“A blonde and a brunette lie in wait like injuns in the grass. You’re comin’ through the pass.
Then buster! You’re General Custer!”

The beauty of this song can only be truly experienced with the visual intro sequence from the film, but unfortunately it’s not available anywhere online without a video of the movie in it’s entirety. No sense posting that since it will probably be deleted from youtube in a week.

Signs of Age

By Brandon Adamson

jakeholmes

The first I heard of Jake Holmes when I was about 25. It was from an issue of “Ugly Things” where they reviewed his forgotten album, “The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes.” He’s actually most well known for having had his song “Dazed and Confused” stolen by The Yardbirds(and was later recorded by Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin after they disbanded.) They had seen Jake play it at Village Theater in Greenwich Village in 1967.

Personally I’m not really into the song “Dazed and Confused.” The tracks which have always drawn me to Holmes’ music are “You Can’t Get Love” and “Signs of Age,” particularly through his thoughtful lyrics and the way he builds up the song.

The Next Time

By Brandon Adamson

blast off girls - the big blast

“The Big Blast” was a group featured in the film “Blast Off Girls” by Herschell Gordon Lewis in 1967. “Blast Off Girls” was a low budget classic that chronicled the band’s relations with a sleazy manager “Boojie Baker” in a humorously cynical look at the music industry. One of the cast members, actor Ray Sager, later became a well known producer and is also widely recognized for his role in “The Wizard of Gore.” The film famously includes a cameo appearance by none other the Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

One of the recurring songs in the movie is The Big Blast’s signature song(in the movie) “The Next Time.” It’s quite catchy seeing as how as haven’t watched this film in almost 7 years, and it’s frequently in my head.

Magic Wands

By Brandon Adamson

magic wands
I first discovered Magic Wands at SXSW in 2010 when they played at The Ghost Room(at least that’s where the old schedule says they played, I can’t remember to be honest.) I never forgot the band though. When I got home I looked them up on Myspace when that was still kind of a thing at least for music.

When I was younger, it was always my dream to be in a two person “boy/girl” band. I was never able to find the right girl to partner up with though. The ones who seemed like good prospects(Dawn Aquarius, etc) all either lived too far, and/or were already partnered up. The long distance dream became real for Magic Wands though. They represent everything about why I loved these types of groups, right down to the name. “Magic Wands,” indeed.

Go Ask Alice, When She’s Ten Feet Tall

By Brandon Adamson

whiterabbit

Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” is probably one of the best songs of all time and epitomizes everything I love about the mid to late 60’s. What a great time to be alive, assuming you didn’t end up stepping on landmines in Vietnam. The slow buildup up of the song to its glorious revelation…”FEED YOUR HEAD!” Here they are on The Smothers Brothers show in 1967:

Yipe Stripes!

By Brandon Adamson

Teenage Strangler Yipes Stripes

“That’s what cats are wearin’ nowadays.” Perhaps a fad that never quite caught on was Yipe Stripes, which from the song lyrics appears to have referred to vertical stripes on a shirt more so than the horizontal variety. Striped shirts were popular in the 60’s even without the term yipe being attached to them so who knows. The video and the song are from the film “Teenage Strangler,” which is a surprisingly good thriller. Totally watchable.

Stacy Smith with Danny Dean and The Daredevils

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWdPMzcdggU

We All Live For the Sun

By Brandon Adamson

Optimized-thesunrays

I stumbled across this album by a “Beach Boys” styled band called The Sunrays several years ago at an antique store. I purchased it mostly for the mod aesthetic of the cover, not really expecting much. I instantly fell in love with the first song, “I Live For the Sun.” It’s peppy vocals and bright melodies capture the essence of summertime style in the 1960’s. It’s strange that a someone like me, practically a vampire who doesn’t even really even like going outside, could identify with this sort of jam. Yet it’s amazing. The song promotes life, like the rays of the sun itself. The band actually toured with and opened for the Beach Boys, unsurprisingly.

Baby That’s All You Do, and Then You’re a Black Belt Too

By Brandon Adamson

lee dowell black belt

Lee Dowell – Black Belt… a really catchy and forgotten song from the film “Teenage Gang Debs.” Long before “the macarena” took an unsuspecting 90’s philistine culture by storm, there was this “Black Belt” dance sequence.  Learn these moves and try them out at your next cocktail party, pronto.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8a5Xd4KYps