1. Theme from Stingray - Barry Gray Orchestra
When we were planning to start a band the name was really important, and we spent weeks endlessly trying different monikers.
The Gerry Anderson puppet TV show Stingray (along with Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet etc.) had been a childhood fave for all of us, and so the name the Sting-Rays was finally agreed upon.
The classically-trained musician Barry Gray was hired as an in-house composer for Gerry Anderson’s AP films, working on a variety of puppet shows for television that developed into the Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds franchise. Barry wrote and recorded all of the theme tunes.
Stingray was first aired in 1964 and ran for 39 episodes.
We opened with the theme for a few shows very early on, and part of it appears backwards on our first E.P.
2. Drive-In Movie - Mickey Gilley
‘Drive-In Movie’ was written by Ron Hargrave, who had a deal with MGM working on films and making records. He recorded the original version.
Mickey Gilley grew up in Ferriday, Louisiana, alongside his cousins Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart (later an infamous TV evangelist). When Jerry found fame with hits on Sun records Mickey, who had grown up playing piano with Jerry Lee, decided he’d have a crack at rock’n’roll stardom. He recorded a handful of singles (including ‘Drive-In Movie’) for a variety of obscure labels in the 50’s and early 60’s. Gilley later found fame as a country artist and successful nightclub owner.
It was his faster and more driving version from 1961 that inspired us to cover this great song.
3. Psychotic Reaction - Count Five
In 1965, a group of guys from San Jose, California worked up a song idea based on a lecture one of them had attended in their health education class, on psychosis.
They had formed a band called the Squires, who were to become Count Five. Under that name, they recorded it for a newly-formed label, Double Shot. Released in the summer of 1966 at the height of the fuzz guitar craze (such as the Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’), the record clicked and became a hit.
It was always a fave on our turntables, and we included the song on our very first studio demo in early 1982. Later, we recorded a version at the tail end of our ‘Escalator’ recording session. It was released on the first Blood On the Cats compilation, credited to the Bananamen.
4. You’re Gonna Miss Me - The Spades
This timeless classic was written by a 15-year old genius from Austin, Texas – Roger “Roky” Erickson. He first recorded it in 1965 with his early band the Spades for the cool Zero label (which is the version we include here). Two other local musicians thought Roky was great and they persuaded him to join their band, and the new ensemble was christened the 13th Floor Elevators. They re-recorded ‘You're Gonna Miss Me’ with the new line up (including Tommy Hall playing an amplified jug) for the Contact label in early 1966. The single was picked up a few months later by International Artists, who gave it a nationwide release. Reaching number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1966, it was their only hit.
Like ‘Psychotic Reaction,’ we all knew ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ from its inclusion on Nuggets. Our mate Ski had painted the sleeve of the Elevators first LP on his bedroom ceiling, and we used that as the background for the photo shoot for our first EP sleeve, which included our cover of this great piece of Texan garage.
5. Blue Girl - The Bad Roads
After Alec started raving over 60’s garage music when he discovered Lenny Kaye’s original Nuggets compilation, our next stop was Greg Shaw’s Pebbles compilations of cool 60’s garage. These feature thousands of classic tunes, but on Volume 9 we came across the fuzz-drenched classic ‘Blue Girl.’
The Bad Roads were from Lake Charles, Louisiana, and grew up digging New Orleans-type music. In 1965 the members had formed an instrumental band called the Avengers, but with the advent of the British Invasion - and particularly for them, the Rolling Stones - they added a singer and renamed themselves the Bad Roads (after the Duane Eddy hit ‘Forty Miles of Bad Road,’ cool cats indeed).
They cut ‘Blue Girl’ in August 1966, which was released on Floyd Soileau’s Jin label (which otherwise featured Cajun music). It was a local hit but didn’t cross over into the national charts.
6. I Want My Woman - The Emperors
Alec came across this killer track on the International Artists anthology Epitaph for a Legend - which was a bit weird because they actually hailed from Long Beach, California! (turns out it was on that comp because it was produced by Texan garage guru Lelan Rogers, brother of Kenny, who worked for International Artists).
They cut a couple of singles before nailing this totally boss tune as the B-side to their fourth single, released on the obscure Sabra label in 1965.
They looked really cool too, all sporting peroxide blonde Beatles mop tops.
7. The Cat - Rod Willis
Our guitarist Mark had a younger brother, Tim (who would later play bass in the X-Men), and a couple of his mates from school ran a little record hop in the Wolsey Tavern in Kentish Town, which we would often go to. One night they spun ‘The Cat,’ and we were all so knocked out, we immediately decided to cover it (along with the aforementioned ‘I Want My Woman’) for a forthcoming Big Beat compilation These Cats Ain’t Nothing But Trash – this was before our first EP had even come out.
Rodney Earl Willis was born in Milton, Florida in 1934. After high school he served in the US Marine Corps. A keen music fan on his return to civilian life, he signed to Chic Thompson’s Chic label and recorded a couple of singles written by Thompson to little acclaim. His third and final release ‘The Cat’ (also penned by Thompson) appeared on the NRC label, with which Thompson had merged. It did little business.
Rod married, had a family of five kids and left the music business behind to work in local government, he died in June 2013.
(thanks to John Marcus, of Sting-Rays support act the Huns, for his research on Rod’s story).
8.Wedding Ring - The Easybeats
We all loved Antipodean rock’n’roll (Johnny O’Keefe a fave), but it was from The Easybeats’ catalogue that Alec plucked ‘Wedding Ring’ as a B-side to our ‘June Rhyme’ 12” single.
The Easybeats became one of the biggest and most successful bands of the mid-1960s from Australia, despite all of them having emigrated there from Europe: three from the UK, two from the Netherlands. They wrote and recorded their own material, and were almost as big as the Beatles downunder.
‘Wedding Ring’ was their third single, released in 1965, and doing well in their home charts. The band went on to have a worldwide best seller with ‘Friday On My Mind,’ recorded in London and produced by the legendary Shel Talmy (whom Alec now works with).
9. What More Can I Do - The Zombies
Alec’s musical obsessions are as diverse and multifarious as anyone’s. From Jonathan Richman to the Byrds, Creedence to the Mystery Trend, but perhaps one of his overarching passions has always been the Zombies.
The Zombies were still at school when they first got together, based in St. Albans (not a million miles where we were all at school together). After winning the “Herts Beat” competition, they secured a deal with Decca Records and their first single, ‘She’s Not There,’ became a huge international hit (reaching number 2 on the U.S. top 100). They toured the UK and the US, where they appeared on TV shows like Hullabaloo.
Sadly, at the time none of their subsequent records lived up to the chart success of ‘She’s Not There,’ but they continued to tour and record, releasing singles and two albums. They switched CBS later in their career, but ironically, the band enjoyed another huge chart success with ‘Time Of The Season,’ which topped the US charts in March 1969 - a year after they had split up.
Alec later compiled, curated and wrote the extensive sleeve notes for a fantastic overview CD box set of the Zombies, Zombie Heaven.
We did this track live, and also made a demo of it at our fave studio Pathway, which remains unreleased.
10. How Much More? - Terry Knight & The Pack
Michigan-based Terry Knight started his career as a hip DJ and made many good show biz contacts. He really got into the sounds of the British Invasion, particularly that of the Stones. His next move was a plan hatched to emulate his heroes and cash in on some babes and beer by becoming the front man of a boss beat band.
Knight persuaded an established local band (the Jazz Masters) to let him re-launch their career with a new name, and himself as the lead singer. He rechristened them ‘The Pack,’ taking the name from the Shangri-La’s ‘Leader of the Pack’. They worked up a set of cool Stones-style rhythm and blues and rock ’n’ roll.
‘How Much More’ was the A side to their first Terry Knight & The Pack single. They issued a total of eleven 45s, and did a couple of LPs too, along with numerous TV appearances. The band evolved into Grand Funk Railroad.
We found ‘How Much More’ on a great garage sampler called The Chosen Few. Our own version was recorded for Mike Spenser’s compilation LP on his Hit Records label, Garage Goodies Volume One. It featured Mike on a raucous harmonica (the version on our later From The Kitchen Sink compilation is an alternative take without the harp).
11. My Flash On You - Thee Sixpence
‘My Flash On You’ was originally written and performed by Arthur Lee and his band Love, a seminal and hugely influential L.A. based outfit at the cutting edge of the switch from gritty rock’n’roll flavoured garage to the more psychedelic, freaky change in the music scene taking place in the mid-60s. Arthur was a regular face in the clubs on Sunset Strip, describing himself as the first black hippie (he came from mixed Afro-American and Native American ancestry).
Alec loved Love, but it was when he heard the Thee Sixpence version of ‘Flash’ that he decided it could work as a Sting-Rays number.
Thee Sixpence were ‘neighbours’ of Love, coming out of Glendale, California. They covered ‘My Flash On You’ on the All American label in 1966. Shortly afterwards, most of the group morphed into the much more commercially successful Strawberry Alarm Clock in 1967.
Sadly, our recorded version on our first LP doesn’t really do the song justice.
12. Come On Kid - Kenny & the Kasuals
Garage music was always a huge influence on the Sting-Rays, and Texas seems to have had more than its fair share of great acts.
Kenny & the Kasuals were a Dallas-based band formed in 1964, digging the Brit Invasion sounds. Local hustler Mark Lee took over management duties, dressed them in suits and made them play Vox amps, just like the Beatles. He got them touring around the country and secured them support slots opening for the likes of the Stones, the Beach Boys and the Buckinghams.
There are great stories on their website involving hair-straightening disasters, hearse drag races with rival band the Chessmen, and being escorted out past the Houston City limits by the Texas Rangers.
Alec suggested we cover it for our appearance on Channel 4’s The Tube, great idea Alec. We had no bass player at the time, so Alec played a fretless bass (with great fuzz break), as well as drums on the recording.
13. You Got A Hard Time Coming - The Remains
OK, I just said Texas had lots of outstanding bands, but Boston’s the Remains were a revelation when we grabbed the Eva reissue of their stuff in 1983 - we seldom had it off the turntable. Absolute killer band.
The Remains all met at university in Boston, where they rocked the socs sox off, becoming a hugely popular live act locally.
They were signed to Epic and tried to break into the big time by moving to New York, where they scored an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, but the big breakthrough didn’t happen, so they tried again, this time moving to the West Coast and appearing on the legendary 60’s music show Hullaballoo.
At last it looked like they might get that break when the Remains were chosen as one of the support acts on the Beatles’ last U.S. tour. But a change of drummer caused a rift in the band and they split soon after.
There is a video floating around of us doing this, taken from the filming of the Pretenders video (for ‘Middle of the Road’), where we appear briefly at the start. Chrissie even put us on the bill with them at the Hammersmith Odeon, bless her.
14. Satisfy You - The Seeds
We are back to another of Alec’s obsessions: Sky Saxon’s band the Seeds. Now he’s ended up playing with them!
The Seeds formed in Hollywood in early 1965 when Sky relocated there from his native Salt Lake City, and having failed as a teen idol, put out an advert for some other guys to get a band together. They quickly worked up a set and started gigging, getting a rep as a great live act.
Their first single ‘Can’t Seem To Make You Mine’ was a small local hit. The follow up, ‘Pushin’ Too Hard,’ after several months, eventually broke nationally in late 1966. The Seeds then became proper music stars, appearing on the NBC sitcom The Mothers-In-Law and the B-movie Psych-Out.
Their first two albums were strict garage; the third one in 1967 offered a more psychedelic groove. ‘Satisfy You’ comes from a fourth “live” LP which was much more back to their garage roots, and the song was released as a single too.
It was one of the four live tracks released on the first Stomping at the Klub Foot LP, while a studio demo was included on the retrospective The Essential Sting-Rays compilation.
The second part of this will appear mysteriously some time in the near future !
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