STAY SICK,.......An institution.

A couple of guys, one objective!......Stalwarts of the Brighton music scene, Chris & Neil of Stay Sick have been preaching the gospel of primitive Rock 'n' Roll for a good while now, with their gigs and events taking on almost legendary proportions. I found Chris nestled in his mancave located deep in the wilds of the Sussex Downs, after enticing him out with a bucket of raw meat and the promise of copious amounts of free liquor..... here's what he had to say about Stay Sick and their ongoing crusade to keep it real.

Ahhh.....Someone's happy !

The sounds! Sleazy and greasy rock n roll from the fifties & sicksties including Tarantino surf, boppin' rockabilly, girl groups, swingin' rhythm and blues and twistin' tittyshakers for all of ya to go-go, grind, shake, shimmy, watusi and jerk to! Plus 60s primitive garage punk n 70s US/UK punk for all you bone necklaced, brothel creepin', striped t-shirted sicksties cavemen, cavewomen and black leather clad rockers out there. Always vinyl, always rockin’!

The Dynamic Duo ?

How it all started. Way back in 2008, a DJ, a punk and a drunk (all with an unhealthy obsession with the Cramps) met up to to discuss why there weren't any clubs like CBGBs in Brighton. After a few beers, and a few more, we drunkenly decided to put our money where our mouths were and start an underground garage punk night, putting on obscure and unknown bad ass bands from around the world and spinning sleazy scratchy rock 'n' roll records to tipsy dancers. And it worked! We started promoting bigger shows and DJing anywhere you can plug a pair of decks in. To date, we have put on over 150 bands from Billy Childish, Kid Congo from the Cramps, Monotonix, Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster to Thee Oh Sees.

T'was a great night (2013)

Mission statement no less! With bands from Japan, Germany, USA, France and even Croatia (to name but a few), we have made it our mission to track down, kidnap and present you with the best bands from all over the globe!

Dark forces at work!

The Highs! The best gig to date, that's a tricky one. I have loved putting on heroes of mine like Cramps royalty Kid Congo, John Spencer, the 5678's but I think the most fun I've ever had was CBGB's stalwarts the Fleshtones. We were originally worried that these guys may not cut it. Sometimes seeing your favourite band years after their hayday can be sad and disappointing. But the Fleshtones never had a hayday, they are still playing and partying as they did back in the day. I smiled through out their whole gig and danced like a loon. 

Satisfaction guaranteed.

The Lows! The worst experience. Well, almost everyone I have met doing this promoting lark had been lovely, lovely people. A couple have been moody, a couple rude, and a couple arrogant. But the one person that sticks out as being a total arsehole was a tour manager who wanted to argue about the price of everything on the rider and the number of tickets sold (when we had saved the gig after another promoter cancelled a week earlier). After a long time justifying our figures I had missed the band that I had paid to fly half way round the world and play. I literally, caught the "CRANG, CRASH, thank you and good night..." bit.

The Good Man Himself.

Lux Lives!  It was a shock when I heard the news that Lux died (mainly because I thought he was undead). I never got the chance to see them live, Neil, my sick partner in crime, saw and met them a few times as a goth growing up. Every year since we have celebrated the records he, Ivy and the 20 odd other band members gave us on the Feb 4th. We also play records that influenced them (Songs the Cramps Taught Us and Lux and Ivy's Favourites style). We have been thinking of getting a few bands together to do live covers of their favourite Cramps tracks so watch this space. It's amazing to see all the Cramps fans crawl out of the woodwork to worship at the alter of our lord Lux. 

In The Pipeline. It has been a plan for a long time to release a record. As vinyl addicts and lovers of great bands, it seems like a natural progression. We have a few things up our black leather sleeves but at the moment we are just a bit busy. I also work for a German record label, Stag-o-Lee, as a designer so I get my wax fix fulfilled doing the artwork for things like "Beats From Badsville vol 3 - Trash Classics from Lux and Ivy's Vinyl Mountain". double 10" gatefold (drool...).
 
Check out their website for regular upcoming gigs and news (Just hit the STAY SICK link button on the panel) and if you're lucky enough to be in that neck of the woods, at the right time, you're in for a real treat !

Stay Sick People. 

The Cramps...'Blues Fix' vinyl release !

Finally and at long last a vinyl release of The Cramps 'Blues Fix' EP.

Release date 29th Sept 2014

This is long, long overdue......22 years is a wait and a half !  Four cover versions all produced by Poison Ivy incidently.

A-Side: Hard Workin' Man (Capt Beefheart). It's Mighty Crazy (Lightnin' Slim).
B-Side: Jelly Roll Rock (Walter Brown & The Alleycats). Shombalor (Sheriff & The Ravels).

Apparently, this is a limited edition of 1000 on 10" black vinyl although on the ACE website it is listed as an LP ?

If you want to be sure of getting a copy ?  You can pre-order it on the ACE Records website by hitting this link: http://acerecords.co.uk/blues-fix

Turnin' Blue !

The Cramps, Ye Nuns.........New releases.

There have been some pretty amazing releases and boots in the last couple of months, not least a damned fine 7" boot from The Cramps featuring a couple of tracks that to my knowledge at least, haven't appeared on vinyl or cd before. The A-side is a cover of Love's 'My Flash On You' (which was also a long standing favourite of The Sting Rays), with the B-side being another cover, Nat County and The Braves 'Woodpecker Rock'. After going through the set lists available it would seem that the a-side was taken from a San Francisco show in 2006 some time and the b-side could well be taken from their new years eve 1988 show at the Fillmore in San Francisco. This track can be found on a an American semi-legit DVD of the show (Vampiro's video vault) which came out god knows when. This 7" is out on 200 copies only, a 100 yellow and a 100 black vinyl.

Expect to see silly prices on Ebay.

Also coming to light in the recent weeks has been a limited repress of The Cramps most expensive if not rarest official 7". The French release of 'Garbageman' which regularly sells for in excess of 100 Euros a pop! According to the vendor, 60 copies on gold vinyl and 150 copies on black (I got mine at Discogs).

Booted.

 Now this has easily got to be one of the best 'modern' garage releases in many a year.....Ye Nuns 'Nun More Black' without doubt this baby is set to be a classic, there's nothing really new here as it's an album entirely of Monks covers, BUT it's brilliant !  Basically an all girl 'tribute' band to The Monks and it works so well, not deviating too much from the original formula, it manages to come across as fresh with the raspy female (Lolo) vocals adding a totally unexpected dimension to the sound.    It's all there !  the delirious banjo, the pounding drums, the fuzzy basslines and general sense of controlled chaos, the same sensations you get when hearing 'Black Monk Time' for the first time.
Don't take my word for it........... I particularly dig their rendition of 'Love Came Tumblin' Down'

You can hear the entire album here: http://riotsnotdiets.bandcamp.com/album/nun-more-black

Almost as good as the original...In a class of it's own.

Where it gets sticky is that this was released in the middle of June (2014, for those of you watching on 'Dave') on ONLY 300 vinyl copies and with no CD release this will be like Rocking Horse Droppings by Christmas !
For those of you that live within easy reach of London (UK), these girls gig regularly so you shouldn't have much trouble seeing them soon enough, hopefully they'll play a little further afield too for the rest of us.

We're all Monks...Even when we're Nuns !

Here's the link to their website: http://itsnuntime.wordpress.com/about/

There's a great review of one their gigs by none other than Eddie Shaw himself (Original bass player in The Monks)....in the posts section of their website, well worth the read.

Good luck getting your hands on this.

Marcel Bontempi.........Rock 'n' Roll Gentleman !

For those of you that haven't yet sampled the musical delights served up by Marcel Bontempi ? You are in for a treat. The half Catalan, half German frontman of The Montesas (60's Beat, Rockabilly with a healthy dose of Boogaloo) has released a slew of (7 to date, with more set for release) 7" EPs and singles over the last couple of years, every one of them a killer diller ! Off on a totally different tangent from The Montesas (more about them another time), what you get is authentic Rock'n'Roll, no over production and no slavishly following a formula.........unless you call R'n'R a formula.

   The arachnophonic sounds of Mr Bontempi  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk911s1deaw   Catch the video !

Musician, part-time snake oil salesman and illustrator, Marcel is a busy guy. When not gigging with the band or playing in his own right, he paints and has exhibited throughout Germany as well as further afield, his style (although I hate pigeonholing) would be firmly retro, reminiscent of  40's-50's American animation and cartoonesque (publicity ?) images , often with recurring themes such as apes, musical instruments and the like.

 Taken from the Art Garage Sale, Zurich 2013

You can see more of his works by hitting this link: http://marcelbontempi.blogspot.com/

Can't live without some this ?  Contact him directly here: www.facebook.com/marcel.bontempi

In order to avoid starvation and pay the bills he plys his trade as a graphic designer and illustrator, providing his services in the main to the European retro-scene. Event organisers, record labels, children's book publishers to name but a few.

It's that Ape again !

But now, back to the music, it's why we're here after all! Similar to the recurring imagery running through his artwork, the releases to date are also thematic, whether it's an EP about frogs (Rufus Thomas meets Billy Pitcock meets The Cramps) or a devilish 4 track (Old Mad Witch, Train of Sin, Race with the Devil and Train to Satanville) all fantastic versions with the inimitable Bontempi stamp.

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1zOpWR74pw  The great original of  'Do the Frog'    what was he thinking ?       
And here it is again after being given the Bontempi treatment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHnOgdDWD8U

The latest slab of wax (as of 19.07.17)

Continuing with the scary subject matter, the latest release re-interprets the classic American folk tale of a blood thirsty Hessian mercenary....Now, I'm a fan so objectivity goes out the window but the guitar on the title track is absolutely brilliant, for some reason makes me think of Gin Gillettes 'Train to Satanville' which he also covered and the use of the echo over the vocals in German at the end is chilling and rather apt as the Hessians were Germans (Useless pub quiz info No1).
  
With no LP/CD releases to date, rumour has it that there will be a compilation out this year collecting cuts from the EP's and singles (All the releases came out as editions of 500) as well as some alternate versions and maybe some unreleased material...here's hoping, that way you won't have to pay silly money on Ebay in order to get these babies.

If you like your tunes authentic and original sounding, real R'n'R, Rockabilly (with a hint of hillbilly and swing for good measure) ? Then you should own these.........you have no excuse.

New single due out on Migraine records ( http://www.migraine-records.com/) in the coming months and it's about 'Wolves' this time !

New Dr Bontempi's Snake Oil Co single out on Squoodge Records (http://www.squoodge.de/prestashop/) in the coming 6-8 weeks and an LP to follow on the same label in Autumn

Hillbilly hoedown from the good Dr and Co.

What are you waiting for ?
   

Compilation. If I was to make a comp.

These things are always subject to whimsical fancy and whatever is the flavour of the moment but I always find myself coming back to these tunes.....There's an enormous amount of material out there and while the 60's garage oficianados comp almost anything these days, there has been very little in retrospective garage/trash from the the 80's, 90's and 00's put out on comps. So here is my take on what would be a good compilation, in no particular order as I love 'em all.

Any comments most welcome.

I've put youtube links where applicable for those of you who may not have heard any of the cuts before.

The Vibes.          Egyptian Thing.   John Peel Session from 1985.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYoS-YKRmEQ

The Psychotic Petunias.  Surfin Bird.    Mayhem Records   1978.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DILfu4xS4Wo

The X-Men.    Do The Ghost.      Creation Records  1984.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hks-DXYK1A

Duane Ripley & His Go Go Set.  Revenge of the 50 Foot Go Go Girls.  Barbarella Recs 1986.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLU-Mk_buyk

The Linkers.   Suzy.     Weed Recs 1994.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdQbb2zXbpU

The Slammers.   Low Low Low.    Swamp Recs   1986.

The Juanitos.   Oh, Girls, Girls.      Larsen Recs   1991.

The Dukes.    She'll Be Mine.          Kavern 7 Recs     1987.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBo02tU8OqQ    

The Shockwaves.   Big Bad Mescalin.     Unreleased Demo   1987.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrwU99JY6Gc&list=PLEE97243350BD4CD1

The Golden Horde.    The Curse.       Hotwire Recs   1984.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GUyhJBy97c&index=105&list=PLEE97243350BD4CD1

The Purple Things.    Insect Bones and the Astronaut.   Media Burn   1985.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv-FI7Z2SiA&list=PLEE97243350BD4CD1&index=176

The Bottle Ups.       Fatback.       Amigo Recs   1985.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvtp0xTlkTc

Emptifish.        Surfboard.         Crystal Recs     1985.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9_Br-h_o4A

Melody Massacre.     Tornado.         Soundwork Recs   1986.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zHdrZ79FKk


Enjoy.

The Dirteez.........Cramps a la Francaise !

The Dirteez were, still are ? the nearest thing that France got to having their own version of The Cramps. Formed around Clint Lha Zar and Wild Cat Lou (I'm guessing that's not her real name) in Paris around the mid 80's.

  The Dirteez circa '88-89

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They started off well with a great single released in 1988 called UFO with Mad Boys on the flipside (Krezimikroid was the label, probably self produced), this was followed up with a second 7" on French label 'Go Get Organised'  Gypsy Rose Lee/The Beast inside. A lovely little ditty about a stripper ! There's a bit of confusion around this as I think the single wasn't officially released and possibly came out as a promo for their debut album (Anyone know for sure, feel free to let me know) as I found my copy in the ridiculously expensive Parisian record shop 'Monster Melodies' .

1st 7". L-R  Red River Fred (Bass), Wild Cat Lou (Guitar), Clint (Vocals) and Sly Fire (Drums).

Their first album (in my opinion, their best) 'The Wild Side of Love came out in 1990 on G.G.O. and it was very soon after the release of the album, that things started going wrong for them. The label went bust and this resulted in very poor distribution of the LP and with no label behind them the promotion disappeared too. It was around this time 1991-2ish that the original line up split with both Fred and Sly the drummer leaving the group. Clint and WC Lou (faux pas for a name if there ever was one !) left Paris around this time ending up in Marseilles where they currently reside.

http://dirteez.free.fr/     Website, all in French incidently.

The Dirteez first album: The Wild Side of Love

After they quit Paris, there were no releases until 2000, a gap of  8-9 years although they appear to have made up for lost time by releasing 4 more albums and 3 (?) singles, the last album coming out in 2006 and their 1st album getting a digital re-release only last year (2013).....hunt it down, it's well worth it.

They're still keeping the flame burning and play where and when they can.....

 

A+ les gars.

Empti Fish.....possibly the most under-rated garage band to have come out of England !

I spent some of the happiest times of my teenage years following these guys, they were the real deal, never taking themselves seriously, unpretentious and extremely good fun....they really did practice in a garage too!
From Portsmouth (Pompey), Hampshire in the UK, they formed in 1983 with their first 'real' gig supporting Goth band 'The Skeletal Family' in Nov 83. The line-up was George (Hart) Wipeout vocals and rhythm guitar, Ian (Parmiter) Sonic lead guitar, Ricky (Hayes) Sonic on bass and Damien (O'Malley) O'Delic on drums.

Ricky (R.I.P.), Ian, George and Damien circa late '83

Taking their cue from The Sonics, Bo Diddley, Link Wray, Hamburg Era Beatles, The Trashmen, Surf and The Cramps, who were a major influence on Ian in particular as he was a serious Crampophile, they wrote all of their own material with very few covers even in practice sessions. Unfortunately due to the quasi exclusive nature of the Garage punk, Trash scene in the UK at the time which was very, very London centric and the guys not having the slightest interest in relocating, finding a label to release their material wasn't the easiest so they simply released a couple of 7"s themselves, both of which are seriously worthwhile tracking down. The first was a 4 track EP called 'The Branksmere Sessions' with the archetypal, garage band pose on the cover. (You can find the individual tracks on Youtube).

The first release from Empti Fish.

Both Ian and Ricky favoured Hofner guitars, Ricky using an original 60's violin bass and Ian partnered his selected model (He has a collection) with what seemed at the time, a very beat up WEM copycat tape echo unit. This gave them a seriously unique sound which very few bands were capturing at the time. Their second release was 'I Want That Girl' a 3 track single.

A fish eye lens no doubt.

In the summer of '84 Empti Fish did something extraordinary, rather than get some of the more attractive female followers to form a troop of 'Go Go' dancers, they got several of the ugliest guys (including George's brother Tim) to form the 'Shakin' Sharks'. The core of this dance troupe were Perry (Goble), Tim (Hart), Sean 'Foxy' (Fox) and Wayne (Godley) although it was subject to spur of the moment changes (I even had the honour several times of standing in for my flatmate of the time, Wayne, when he was otherwise disposed). Bizarrely enough they were so well received that they eventually went on to gig as a name in their own right !

The Shakin' Sharks. L-R. Foxy, Tim, Perry, Wayne

Things got a bit skewed for the lads late '85 when they received some adverse attention in both the local and national press due to a bit of fighting (Oh, and a shark being dumped in a city centre fountain), rarely at home venues it must be said and in the main unprovoked (ahem), Empti Fish had a strong local following which crossed all genres (Punks, rockabillies and soccer fans alike) often travelling to away gigs with several coachloads of friends and fans. Unfortunately, after police had been called to various venues in the south of England the guys were on their radar which led initially, to a local ban and eventually to a wider reaching regional ban. Instigated (by all accounts) by local councillor (and alleged perve) Mike Hancock leading to the subject being debated in the houses of parliament. Stifled from not being able to play anywhere the group fizzled out and eventually called it a day late '86 early '87......They did however reform for a good few gigs in the mid and late '00's.

L-R. Ricky, Ian, Tim (George's brother) and George in the studio.

There are a good few live tapes out there, as well as at least enough unreleased studio material for an album or two, their two singles and a couple of comp appearances and a pro video from '85.....dig them up, you'll enjoy them without a doubt.            

Messer Chups.....Surf a go go !

Oh my.....I really dig this band, a lot !  Hailing from Russia they're off the scale cool and not so unlike The Cramps in many ways, the core duo of the group being Oleg Gitarkin (Guitar) and Zombie Girl/Zombierella (Bass), their rise to cult status has been a slow burn rather than an overnight sensation having been in existence in one form or another since 1999 and going through a few line up changes along the way (Sound familiar ?) their love of 50's & 60's pop kitsch, burlesque, tiki imagery, sci-fi & horror b-movies (check out the use of the Theramin on some of their tracks).
Although more Mosrite and Fender than Gretsch, Rockabilly is a big influence on them as listening to their recent album as The Bonecollectors will show but it's the reverb and twang of Surf which is the overriding influence here, they do it well, very well indeed !

In terms of releases, it's an odd one, some 17 albums and counting, with all but three as CD releases, yep, only 3 album releases on vinyl and their first single due out late summer (2014). Gitaracula Records is the band's label and it's not always easy to get one's grubby hands on them when they come out....so good luck tracking them down.

The first 7" release due out summer 2014

It would appear that Mr Gitarkin is a somewhat talented chap too, composing movie scores, advert sounds and just check out the dozens of videos that accompany Messer Chups songs on Youtube, all this in addition to touring, recording and running the label....Hats off to you dude.

You can't really talk about the band without giving good copy to Zombierella / Zombie Girl....Wow ! Looks like a younger Bettie Page who has inherited all the best bits from Ivy Rorschach's wardrobe, laying down solid bass lines while looking this good seems effortless to her.

Borrowed from their website  www.messerchups.ru

    
 Turn Blue.
    

Jett Powers/PJ Proby............Go Girl Go !!!

Jett Powers, P.J.Proby, Orville Woods or just plain old Jim Smith.....whichever way you look at the man with as many personas as names? he is definitely a character and a half. Belonging to a bygone era of where it was a game of 'wannabe hit and miss' with the pop industry.....one name and style one week....didn't work ?  No bother, change name, change style and give it another go......2nd rate Elvis to pop crooner in the space of a couple of years......cut off the quiff, grow a bowl cut, quit the USA and move to the UK, get some overtight trousers and scandalise the British public......cool !  Fall out of favour, get drunk for a decade and come round as a re-invented and marginalised cult figure doing punk and post punk covers before hitting the charts as one part of a comeback duet (Marc Almond being the yang to PJ's ying) before disappearing yet again..........some roller coaster ride of a life that !

Absolutely essential although CD only

This 7" is out on green vinyl

What's interesting from a Cramps fan's perspective is that as most would be aware of the Cramps taking Jett Powers Go Girl Go and doing their thing with it, Jett Powers as 80's PJ Proby released his version of  Garbageman on Manchester's (UK) Savoy label, Savoy also released a Cramps scrapbook (which is still available (14.06.2014) from them as is the PJ Proby CD 'The Savoy Sessions' and the 12" vinyl of 'Garbageman').     http://www.savoy.abel.co.uk

Deranged cover versions

 

 Enjoy the madness.

Lux & Ivy's favourites comps.

There are no direct links to download these amazing compilations from this blog, Kogar the Swinging Ape is where you need to be headed for that. Kogar's Jungle Juice kogarsjunglejuice.blogspot.com/
Drop by, say 'Hi'.......praise the man for his hard work, often imitated, seldom equaled in content ! 
It's a pity that the labels who've released a slew of Cramps related compilations in recent years don't give the man credit where it's due and they could do worse than take a few pointers in the artwork dept too....Anyways, head over, download and enjoy them, they're brilliant....all 17 volumes !