Miscellaneous earbone stimulation for throwing treats at the little ghosts and goblins. [Image found here.]
[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of these recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only.]
Tag: Psychobilly
Saturday Matinee Pre-Halloween Edition – Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Koffin Kats, Zombie Ghost Train, and The Ramones
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis Durham are a quirky group of siblings from London who play a mix of R&B, blues, soul, punk, rock and roll, and West Indian music.
Koffin Kats started as a Detroit bar band in 2003, hit the psychobilly circuit, released several records and changed lineups over the decades.
Zombie Ghost Train (ZGT) were formed in Sydney as a gothabilly/psychobilly/horrorpunk group in 2002. In 2008, one of Sydney’s city guides, TwoThousand, called the band, “Australia’s best kept secret… These mortuary musicians are the best thing psychobilly has seen since The Cramps.” They are now defunct.
The Ramones. In 1989, fiction author Stephen King, a huge Ramones fan, invited the Ramones to his Bangor, Maine home as they played in New England. During the visit, he handed Dee Dee Ramone a copy of his Pet Sematary novel, and the bassist retreated to the basement. One hour later, Dee Dee returned with the lyrics to “Pet Sematary“.
My favorite time of year is upon us, when the sun stays low, shadows grow long and colors become more vibrant. Perfect days to contemplate leaves and dogs while sitting you-know-where… on the porch. See you around whenever.
Saturday Matinee – Vkgoeswild, The Radios & La Mississippi
Award winning Ukranian pianist and instructor Viktoriya Yermolyeva, aka Vkgoeswild covers The Ramones’ classic. She’s written piano arrangements for many other rock/metal hits that she performs in live concerts and on her Youtube channel.
Japanese psychobilly trio The Radios has been playing rock and roll for three decades, and no, I can’t explain the hunchback zombie monkey bass slapper.
The Mississippi Blues Band formed in Buenos Aires in 1989. Renamed La Mississippi, they released their debut recording, Mbugi in 1993.
Happy Mothers Day.
Saturday Matinee Pre-Halloween Edition – The Interrupters, Messer Chups, The Creepshow & Tom Waits
The Interrupters: Aimee Interrupter & the Bivona brothers sing an ode to a poor bony soul.
From St. Petersburg, Russia, Messer Chups is listed under vampire space zombie surf rock. “Messer” is German for “knife” and “Chups” is from Chupa Chups lollipops.
The Creepshow has been blasting psychopunkabilly for a while. Zombies Ate Her Brain was from their debut album, Sell Your Soul (2006).
Who needs Halloween music when you got Tom Waits with his Olds 88 and the devil on a leash.
Been a busy week taking care of busy-ness and dodging busybodies. Tomorrow we’ll porch. See you at the crack of noon.
Hasil Adkin’s Contribution To The World
“We salute one of the great outsiders in R&R: Hasil Adkins was born in Boone County, West Virginia on April 29, 1937, where he spent his entire life. He was the youngest of ten children of Wid Adkins, a coal miner, and Alice Adkins, raised in a tarpaper shack on property rented from a local coal company. Born at the time of the Great Depression, Adkins’ early life was stricken by poverty. His parents were unable to provide him shoes until he was four or five years old. Some reports say he attended school for a very brief time, as few as two days of first grade.
His genres include rock & roll, country, blues and more commonly rockabilly, and because of his unusual playing and singing style, he is often cited as an example of outsider music. He generally performed as a one-man band, playing guitar and drums.
Adkins was born during the Great Depression and grew up in poverty. His spirited, unusual lifestyle is reflected in his music. His songs, which he began recording and distributing locally in the mid-1950s, explored an affinity for chicken, sexual intercourse, and decapitation, and were obscure outside of West Virginia until the 1980s. The newfound popularity secured him a cult following, spawned the Norton Records label, and helped usher in the genre well known as psychobilly.”
[Found here via here, and there’s a documentary trailer here.]
Saturday Matinee – Luther ‘Snakeboy’ Johnson, Big Guitars From Memphis & The Radiacs
Luther Snakeboy Johnson (aka Snake, Georgia Boy, Little Luther & Luther King) was born in 1941 in Davisboro, GA, and taught himself guitar while still in grade school. He served in the US Army, and after discharge performed with a gospel group before heading to Chicago. In the late 50s, he played regularly with Otis Spann and Elmore James before joining Muddy Waters’ band in 1967. This video is from a 1973 French television show; three years later he succumbed to cancer at the age of 34.
Big Guitars From Memphis show their chops in this video, recorded for Mugz, an indi film that was scheduled for 2010 but never released. (They don’t sound like Memphis because they aren’t from Memphis).
Doing 90 on the 90, The Radiacs are/were a psychobilly quartet formed in 1987 in Sheffield, UK. Can’t find much about them, but it appears they were active through 2011.
Got a lot to think about these days, and I think sitting out on the porch with a couple of dogs is a damn fine idea. See you there tomorrow.
Saturday Matinee – The Creepshow, Messer Chups, Paulie Martin & Blues Confidential, and The Reverend Horton Heat
The Creepshow has been blasting psychopunkabilly for a while. Zombies Ate Her Brain was from their debut album, Sell Your Soul (2006).
From St. Petersburg, Russia, Messer Chups is listed under vampire space zombie surf rock. “Messer” is German for “knife” and “Chups” is from Chupa Chups lollipops.
Decent cover of Freddie King‘s classic Boogie Man performed by Paulie Martin & Blues Confidential of Ireland. According to the band’s website, Martin has moved on to other ventures..
Gretchmaster The Reverend Horton Heat has a tailgater to deal with.
Just a few days to go before the little spooky ones come a-knockin’. We had maybe a half dozen last year, and that includes the one who showed up twice. In any case, pumpkin vivisection is scheduled for Monday.
See you tomorrow, you know where to find me.
Saturday Matinee – A.I. – The Carnival of the Ages, LA Priest, The Growlers & Sturgill Simpson’s Sunday Valley
“Where past and future collide in a retro-futuristic spectacle.”
[via Nag On The Lake]
LA Priest (aka Sam Dust, aka Sam Eastgate) found some electrical outlets in the Mexican jungle to play Carribean techno space lounge music.
The Growlers had some fun with a dark subject.
Enough of that oddness. Time for some jaw-dropping high speed electric bluegrass hollerin’ cowpunk, and Sunday Valley fits the bill. The band is defunct, but Sturgill Simpson is still kicking it… somewhere.
Well looky here. It’s the weekend again, so have a great one and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.
Saturday Matinee – Aaron Hughes’ Five Cents, The Meteors & The Interrupters
Aaron Hughes‘ impressive hand-drawn animation Five Cents:
“Drawn by hand on thousands of market data pages from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times with ink, white-out, gouache paint, gold leaf and other materials.”
[h/t Mme. Jujujive].
Formed in South London in 1980, The Meteors are considered the first verifiable psychobilly band (and the second band to use the term).
The Interrupters: Aimee Interrupter & the Bivona brothers always look like they’re having fun, probably because they are.
That’s all for now. Be back here tomorrow and we’ll make up stuff.
Saturday Matinee – Tokyo Groove Jyoshi, Edward Phillips & The Raunch Hands
What is hip? Tokyo Groove Jyoshi is. They’re a groove band formed in 2018 by three session musicians:
Juna Serita – Bass
Emi Kanazashi – Keyboard
Yuriko Seki – Drums
w/ Shinobu Kawashima – Shamisen
[h/t Feral Irishman]
Blind Boy Fuller‘s Step It Up and Go (1940) as covered by blues roots historian Edward Phillips.
New York retro-rockers The Raunch Hands were underrated and overrated at the same time. [h/t Gord S.]
Hope you have a wet weekend and we’ll check the rain gauge tomorrow.
Tacky Raccoons 