Sundazed has announced a 10" EP by 60s garage legends The Unrelated Segments. The EP includes The Story Of My Life, of course, as well as five other songs. Liner notes are by Jeff Jarema. Official release date is October 21st. (news c/o 60sgaragebands.com).

Those of you lucky enough to be heading for the Budget Rock festival in San Francisco on Sunday night (Oct 5th) will be chuffed to learn that Cyril Jordan's new band, Magic Christian, are taking the stage directly before the Fleshtones. More info about the Groovies and Magic Christian at: http://www25.brinkster.com/chancede/News.html

Kids, Chip Zepp, who is one of our brethren in Dictators/MWK fandom, has undertaken the noble project of trying to compile a complete list of all the dates and venues the guys have ever played over the yrs, with set lists. This is an open plea for help - search your memory banks, where did you see them back in the day? Who opened, or who did they open for? Any set lists in the bottom of drawers anywhere? Old ads or listings? Please give him a shout if you can help in any way. He's at cwzepp@yahoo.com, his results thus far are posted here.

RIP: Paul Burlison.

Just my luck; for whatever reason my e-mail program wiped itself clean, which means I've lost all my previous correspondence and the contents of my address books !. So if you're waiting for a reply from me, please let me know. In any case I'd appreciate it if everybody I'm contact with would drop me a line so at least I'll get your address again.
What a way to start the week........ (contact me here).

The Dirty Water Club, London - Friday 26th September

The Voladoras can be described as a gutsy femme garage band from Sweden with matching dresses and big hair. They offered little in the way of "stagecraft" but were a treat to listen to and watch, especially, when the blonde guitarist lilted back and forth during solos. Their set definitely moved-up a gear when Mans from the Maggots leaped onstage to add maraca shaking and grunts during “Monkey Man”. If you dig female garage bands such as the Pandoras then these girls are worth seeking out. On the other hand The Raven is apparently a US booking agent by day and itinerant rocker by night. On this occasion, he was backed by a bunch of Limey geeks, featuring Parsley The Lion on Keyboards, and performed tunes that ranged from 70s punk to bluesy garage blasts while referencing “hits” by Sir Cliff Richard and the Pleasure Seekers along the way. A thirty minute set from the man in black was enjoyable and just about right. OK, the time is 11.30pm and Alan Crockford from The Solar Flares has been pacing around for thirty minutes wondering when his band can take to the stage. The tube system closes down as 12.30, right! Parsley remained behind his bank of vintage keyboards and my ears told me that he is now fitting in well alongside Day, Crockford and Howard. Not only is Parsley’s playing more assured but he’s also contributing backing and lead vocals. For example, he sang a great version of “Hold On” at the end of the set. Several new songs were performed by the Flares and although Crockford was being ironic when he explained “They’re just as bad as the old ones,” an alternative observation would be that they also share exactly the same structure and chord changes. Still, if you dig The Solar Flares then you’re not gonna have a problem with that are you? Another thing that struck me about them on Friday was how abrasive these guys are on stage. Actually, Crockford and Day were just the same when the Prisoners played at the Hope & Anchor back in ’83. In other words, lots of aggressive back handed comments thrown at the audience. While there is probably a kinder side to their natures they sure as hell do not want to show it on stage. Why so much verbal confrontation? To be fair, they attacked the stage with such venom that they made The Raven and the Voladoras look like they were playing at a tea party in an old folks home. In nothing else, these old codgers know how to “make show,” as Tony Sheridan would put it, and besides, if they were “nice boys” they would probably wouldn’t be half as exciting to watch. File under: grouchy life-affirming vibe.

Weird or what?, seems that Tony Slug's former band Loveslug have inspired the creation of the "Loveslug cocktail". GO!.

After that "Support the next generation, dagnabbit!", or whatever it was Lindsay stated a couple o' days ago, I figured it was about time I clued you in on a trio of young 'n upcomin' contenders;
First up are the Little Killers from NYC who have just released their debut full-length on Crypt. If you can imagine a head-on collision twixt prime Velvets, NY Dolls 'n Saints you're about halfway there. Easily the best new band on the scene since, uh....., the Leg Hounds (no kiddin' !).
Speakin' of the next generation; the Diskords are about as young as bands get these days without bein' directed at the kiddy-porn market. Their EP on Vinyl Warning is solid p-rock action that ol' foggies like me will compare to Eater or the Lurkers but may in fact be much better then either of those ever was...
Closer to home we find the No Goods who's latest 45 on High School Refuse offers some ace Dutch beat/garage sounds.
Hey, I could go overboard 'n analyze these discs to death, but if in anyway you are inclined to the NBT sphere o' thinkin' I suggest you pick these up like pronto so you'll be able to congratulate yourselves w/ bein' well ahead of the pack somewhere in the near future, but best of all are up for some truly wild sounds that piss all over just about everything offered as an "alternative" these days.

The big news this morning is that Kylie has received 700 death threats. These were presumably wrongly addressed. Shouldn't these idiots be after Robbie bloody Williams? But nothing like encouraging numbskulls eh media? However all is not lost with the world. This very am, I caught Tiny Tim's rendition of Great Balls of Fire and an alternate take of All Tomorrows Parties. All pre 10 in the morning. The only real outlet for great music this side of wir ain Radio Scotland. A prime example of why visitors to the R&R-B&B go mental when they hear Brian Matthews show. You hipsters with broadband can listen to this hootch online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/sounds60s/
The closest the UK will ever come to the wonders of WFMU.

November is already shaping up to be a busy ol' month starting with The Star Spangles opening for (I never dug 'em but what the heck) Janes Addiction. Not sure how our boys rock'n'roll will go down with that ensembles fans but they're doing it so hopefully said unfortunates will see the light. Then we've got Laura Cantrell and the mighty Paul Burch opening for the grand auld man of Bluegrass, Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys. Then, at the end of the month, a triple shot of Spit & Polish moonshine hits the road, Amy's Allison and Rigby along with Neil Cleary. All of 'em deserve to be famous and being that they're family and all, we divnae play favourites. Full date action when it becomes available but they'll be all over the UK and Ireland so make sure you catch 'em.
Hey, another one gone... poor ol' Robert Palmer. I never cared for a lot of his music but his version of Moon Martin's Bad Case Of Lovin' You was pretty decent. My friend, Kathy Kenyon, used to work for him too and by all accounts he was a nice geezer. It's seldom the one's that deserve it, innit?!

Shapin' up to be a wild weekend in "the London" with Voladoras at The Dirty Water Club and Stereo Total at Water Rats, Brighton, then somewhere else in town on Monday. Being stuck some hundreds o' miles away from such action though, you folks have to go and report back.
The Cramps are there also for their long-awaited two night stint so I know a lot of you will be daundering aboot the capital anyway. Support the next generation, dagnabbit!

Eric Goulden - A Dysfunctional Success (Do Not Press).
Picked this up in London last weekend, began reading it on the flight home and finished it within 24 hours. Yep, Wreckless Eric's auto-bio is a fine read; fast, funny and (at times) frightening. Just the fact that there is little to no self-pitying here makes a nice change from most other rock-bios. From his childhood days on Eric is able to create a picture of himself as someone who almost accidentally stumbled into success and found out he was completely unable to deal with it. Luckily for us he was still able to come up with a batch of amazin' tunes over the years that (at least) still get their just RPM's here at HQ on a regular basis. My only beef is that the book ends somewhere in the mid 80s, robbing us of almost two decades of the complete story. At that point Eric managed to battle his alcoholism and became a father, which is all fine 'n dandy, but certainly didn't finish his musical genius. Anybody familiar with the stellar 'Joe Meek' 45 he did for Sympathy will attest to this. But hey, maybe he saved some for a second book, which, on the strength of this one, I'd pay for in advance!.

The latest issue of the I-94 Bar e-zine is a Detroit music special.
"*We speak to Prime Movers singer Michael Erlewine who offers some insights into the early Iggy Pop. The Prime Movers were a seminal Michigan blues band who had a young Jim Osterberg on the drummer's stool. See outrageously rare photos of Iggy before he was a Stooge.
*Speaking of photos, Sue Rynski was there in the late '70s and early '80s when the likes of Destroy All Monsters, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, the Mutants, Motor City Bad Boys, the Ramrods and Johnny Thunders (among others) were leading lights on the Detroit underground scene. Sue's exhibiting photos in Paris which seemed as good an excuse as any to chat to her and have a peak through her album.
*The Stooges have been on the road and we have reports - and pictures - from shows in Spain and France.
*Radio Birdman's Euro tour has wound up but the missives from I-94 Bar reporters haven't with gig reviews from Italy and Germany (2) uploaded a few minutes ago.
*Also, we carry reviews of the Casanovas, Intercooler and the Specimens.
*Keep checking for more Birdman reports and in the next few days, as well as a backlog of disc reviews.
*Don't forget our ridiculously easy Sheek the Shayk contest".

The I-94 Bar: Sydney Rock Action via The Bowery and Motor City
www.i94bar.com.

If Steve won't post 'm, I will: More Fleshtones dates;

Fri Oct 17th Hoboken, NJ at Maxwell's w. Swinging Neckbreakers
Sat Oct 18th Baltimore, MD at Fell's Point Oyster Festival
Fri Oct 24th Baltimore, MD at Mojo/Tattoo Bar
Sat Oct 25th Chapel Hill, NC at Local 506
Sat Dec 6th New York, NY at CBGB's w/ Dictators- CBGB's 30th Anniversary Event.

Sites recently added to The Garage dedicated to 60s garage bands include the following: A resource dedicated to Kenny & The Kasuals that includes a biography, news of forthcoming dates, and even autographed merchandise. Why not email Kenny and ask him when that comprehensive “Best Of” is going to appear? Most readers of the NBT blog will probably have committed to memory the tracks on the first dozen volumes of Pebbles. In which case check out the Heard photo archive, sadly devoted to a recently deceased former member, and then move it on over to a site put together by the guitarist in the Satyrs. Said bloke conducted a Google search and found that, much to his amazement, “Yesterday’s Heroes” had been comped several times. Crikey! And while we're in the land of one-45rpm-wonders, don’t forget to read the story of the Rising Tydes rise to semi-obscurity. Finally, if your more of a Liam Watson than a Dr Watson, conduct a virtual rummage around the Fine Recording Studio archive. Get the low-down on the Rochester, NY studio that started in the 50s and captured a slew of 60s punkers, including “I Try” by the Young Tyrants, along the way.

"Some of you may be interested in reading my interview here with DK Smythe - the Rezillos first bass player. It's accompanied with some great photos from the second ever Rezillos gig in November 1976!". GO!
(c/o Martin Percival)

"Smog Veil has 2 very special gigs next week and if you are in the Los Angeles or San Francisco area, please attend: the first ever North American appearances of Rob Younger the vocalist for The New Christs and Radio Birdman:
Wednesday, September 24, Knitting Factory, Los Angeles:
Rob Younger and the Leaving Trains, Duane Peters and the Hunns, Hangmen.
Thursday, September 25, Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco:
Rob Younger and the Leaving Trains, Harold Ray Live In Concert, Hard Place.
Can't make it? Rob will doing a radio interview tonight between the hours of midnight and 3 a.m. on Stella Stray Pop's amazing radio show on KXLU, 88.9 on the FM dial in Los Angeles and simulcast at: www.kxlu.com".

Went to see the Cramps last night in Amsterdam and I'm sorry to report that it was absolutely dismal. Of course, the Paradiso is hardly the place to be on a hot (late-)summer night, esp when filled to the rafters the temperatures there quickly reach boiling level, couple that with a chain smokin' crowd and no ventilation to speak of, and we're off to a seriously bad start....
First up were the Riots, a band from my hometown so I would have given 'em the benefit of doubt in most other situations, but their brand of Motorhead/Zeke-styled "rawk", failed to impress. Maybe it was the crappy sound (all drums 'n vocals), but I couldn't find any tunes or riffs to latch onto. Oh well, maybe another time...
When the Cramps came on I was ready to get all excited, but alas, it was not to be. And even tho' the sound had improved somewhat, they sounded lumpy and seemed to be plodding along. Ivy still looks cool, but havin' seen 'em so many times over the years it was obvious Lux was just goin' thru' the motions, the other two guys could have been you, me or your mother, nobody would've noticed the difference. So I did what I hardly ever do, I just left after 20 minutes or so, no time to waste 'n all that. Or maybe it was just that after seeing Radio Birdman earlier in the week actually enjoying their time on stage (jeez, Deniz Tek was smiling at one point !), I couldn't be bothered to watch a pale copy of what once was the wildest show around, who knows.
(Social observation: the crowd of aging psychobillies and "rockers" gave a good indication of what to expect when the current hordes of pierced 'n tattooed idiots will get older and their flesh starts saggin' and their "tats" fadin'. Believe me, there are frightening times ahead of us....).

History Of Rock Written By The Losers "The social misfits who chronicle rock seek not only to log facts, but also to influence public opinion about obscure rock issues, something most people care little about". GO!.

So lets get the gripes outta the way first shall we? This Mean Fiddler practice of putting a band on in the matinee slot on a Saturday night is a fallacy. The howff that Radio Birdman played is a far cry from that great space in Harlesden that the MF use to reside in. So we arrive at the venue and the band are at least 3 songs into their set by 8.15pm. Obviously that set the ol' teeth on age from the get go but we made our way through the labyrinth to the body of the crowd. Next problem was the sound at that point, a tad lumpy and only inkling at what I know in my mind's eye that yon twin guitar attack will sound like. The sonic fog cleared though and it all started coming in loud and clear. I'm reliably informed that the sound in the DJ booth was bang on all the way through, causing Brother Joe to reassess his take on the band. He heard the light, what can I tell ya? So my understanding that the band would come on at 8.45pm musta been a dream or something. The place has gotta turn into a disco at 11pm. Thats disco, not club, don't try and make it sound like anything other than the sorry hole in the Tottenham Court Road that it is. Having travelled 400+ miles to miss such a large chunk of the show was a pisser. Not though drunkenness, not through a disagreement with a cheese sandwich on hte train, no - nowt like that. Through sheer goddamn rudeness. The UK doesn't know how to treat theat all too rare beastie, the R&R legend. Spain, France, anywhere else (even Scotland) can conjure up some decorum but not London. I have a feeling that when The Dictators make it here then that's where they'll play. I'll be there at bloody teatime the night before when that happens. So anyways, when the sound was sorted, the band really gained altitude. Most of the crowd seemed to get what they came for but their second encore didn't include Transmaniacon MC like the web reports suggested. No we got bloody Cold Turkey didn't we. That encore also included a swaggering Waitin' For My Man (a really cracking version) and a blood curdling You're Gonna Miss Me so like that big, stout feller Meatloaf might say, Two outta three and all that.... So yeah, it was all over very fast. Didn't get to say hi to the band or to John Needham. As it was, we only got to hang with Jeroen for maybe an hour and virtually a handshake with Steve. Guess that AGM will have to wait?
Stayed in Chiswick though, what a contrast to the centre of town dump. Our hosts, David and Penny did us proud and made it seem like we weren't in London at all. Even saw the guy who used to let The Small Faces rehearse in his basement ferchrissakes.
T'woulda been nice if Birdman had made a stop in Scotland as was originally intended. A rousing Aye Hup woulda cleared the tubes alright. The kids who were supposed to start this new race thing are a tardy bunch. Took 'em a full quarter century to get their tails in gear but let's salute the rock'n'roll soldiers anyway. Don't make me drag up those stories about the punk rock Wars again...