"Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa ooma mow mow papa oom mow ma mow..." The Trashmen's crazed co-mingling of The Rivingtons' "Papa Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's The Word" may be the most perfect rock 'n' roll song of them all. Meaningless / beyond meaning. An atomic audio monolith. Pure drive with no purpose. A divine visitation that lives outside logic.
from the single Surfin' Bird available on CD - Tube City! The Best of The Trashmen (Sundazed)
14 Apr 05 ·Goes Up To 11: A true "garage" classic! If you were in your early teens in 1963, sweating like a pig at a dance in a school gymnasium with the local cover band up on stage wailing away, this was a song you wanted to hear over and over. Even more mindless than the ultra-classic "Louie Louie" but also even more fun!
available on CD - The Brian Wilsons Productions (Aze Records)
14 Apr 05 ·Goes Up To 11: As you might know, after the first few Beach Boys albums, Brian Wilson stopped touring with the group and stayed back in LA to write songs and record instrumental tracks for the next album while the band was out on the road. Somebody had to fill in for Brian with the touring band, and for a while that someone was Glen Campbell. So the story is that Brian gave this song to Glen Campbell as a thank you. A great cover version appears on the Wondermints' 2000 UK reissue of the album "Wonderful World of the Wondermints." The Wondermints, a great LA band in their own right, now form the core of Brian Wilson's current touring band.
This is the sound of ecstasy, the most joyful song to ever hit the charts! Quite unlike the mope-rock of recent decades (although I like the Smiths too). It just rings out, I think because it has a very heavy emphasis on the "dominant" musical tone.
The Association, of course, had several huge hits in the 1966-68 period, like "Cherish", "Windy", and "Never My Love", and the also-wonderful "Along Comes Mary" (their debut), but in my opinion "Everything That Touches You" is definitely their best.
22 May 03 ·konsu: Yes indeed! Birthday is such a great album. I think this one was a minor hit for them, but the rest of this record is just as worthy of exhaltations. Check out the tune "Like Always" as well. Pure genius!! 24 Jun 03 ·tinks: i heart birthday. but then again, i heart the association. even stop your motor. 22 Dec 04 ·ronin: Their interweaving vocal harmonies still blow me away, especially on songs such as this one, my personal fave. "Insight Out" was 1st album we ever purchased independent of parents. "Requiem for the Masses" is another powerful harmonic tour de force. Who sings (not yells) like this anymore? Every member of the group (even Brian!) sang. 14 Apr 05 ·Goes Up To 11: My then-girlfriend (now wife) and I had breakfast with the Association at about 2 am in the Atlanta Hyatt-Regency's coffee shop after a concert at Georgia Tech in 1969 or 1970. Nice guys! Although the Association took a lot of critical heat in the years since, I remember them as extremely professional musicians, able to precisely recreate their complex studio vocal harmonies live in concert. Part of the reason may have been that they were the first band I remember employing a mixing board out in the audience during a concert, something that became standard practice in the industry within a few years afterwards.
David Axelrod leads ol' Lou through a pent-up take on the Donovan classic. Starts out slow, building momentum as it draws to a fantastic close.
from the single Season of the Witch (Capitol) available on CD - Classic Soul (Magnum Midprice)
14 Apr 05 ·Goes Up To 11: And definitely don't miss the 1968 cover of "Season of the Witch" by Vanilla Fudge -- an absolute triumph of excessive bombast! The phrase "over the top" barely begins to capture that performance. It will leave you shaking your head in amazement at the sheer audacity and monumental bad taste, but it is so much fun! 07 Dec 05 ·Swinging London: Lou Rawls never really cut it for me.
Sounds like '60's soul for housewives.
His voice sounds strained a lot of the time.
