PRAE-KRAUT KINDERGARTEN-Bootleg
"YOU COULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT IF YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE DOING."
Gritty, Old World 60's garagepunk, served up by
reservatory !Liner Notes:
THE STARFIGHTERS "I Like Trouble" should be the official compiler's anthem, 'cause that's what you'll get sooner or later. This one's a private pressing, probably by the same band that had the fine "Lost John" on Bellaphon.
THE SLAVES The mighty Slaves give us some of the most violent
Bo Diddley ever. Paul and Hannes Fischer, Herbert Radakovic, Charlie Ratzer from Switzerland and Austria respectively and German-born Heinrich Behrends on bass. Their 3 singles, issued simultaneously in '66 by Philips in Switzerland and Austria, are among the all-time greats of European 60's R&B. They disappeared following a Swiss drug bust.
THE SKINS Loud, proud and primitive. In 1966 CBS recorded the "Beat Contest of the City of Frankfurt" and released one of the few real live LPs (most others had fake applause). If you've ever heard how The Skins shredded The
Kinks' "I Need You" (in spite of the heavy riff, a love song after all) you'll know what a Rock'n'Roll suicide is. They probably took hostages. By the end of the year they had the LP "Beat Party Nr. 4" out on that label (actually a split LP with
The Black Points). Among ultra heavy covers of songs you know from The
Troggs, The
Pretties and The
Small Faces, we've found "What To Do", which seems to be an original and The Skins' idea of a ballad.
THE RHYTHM CHECKERS From the zonal fringeland of Alsace. Members of this truly European outfit hailed from Germany, France and Holland. "On Your Way Down The Drain" covers
The King Bees from New York City.
THE RED DEVILS They may be the same outfit that recorded for a Swiss label. "Little By Little" is a cover, not the Stones number, but a nearly brutal interpretation of
The Pickwicks' final effort.
THE RAGGED MEN This fuzzy stomper on the flip of a decent version of "Take This Hammer" is the finest moment of ... er... well, this single on the Patria label seems to be sole artifact of the Ragged Men. Philosophical views (peeps?) at topic No. 1 lead to the conclusion, "I want new lovers here of the careless kind". Yeah, man, those were the days before safer sex.
THE CANDIDATES While most of Germans bands, trying to keep up with every new trend, developed a strange variety of styles without ever finding their own, The Candidates were strictly R&B. Pretty good at that, but unfortunately a lazy bunch, they never tortured their brains writing original material. Good taste anyway, as the
Pretty Things,
Rolling Stones and the very popular (in Germany)
Renegades obviously were their heroes. In '66 they recorded an LP for budget label Baccarola. "Bad Bad Baby", the continental B-side of the exiled UK-Renegades' greatest hit "Cadillac", gets a great face lift here. A cover version, admittedly, but one that doesn't show up on every second compilation.
THE BATS, another of the early Hamburg bands, came together in '61. They went through the usual Star Club routine, but recorded mainly for Polydor after a quarrel with the Club’s owner Weißleder. While most of their records don’t show the group’s true potential, their 7” on Wam, “Got A Girl”, is a German garage classic. Unlike other 2nd division entries, they stayed active, still gigging in the 90’s. In '81 they issued an LP of unreleased late 60’s/early 70’s recordings on their own Summer label LP.
THE SHAGGYS Ah, the band that started it all! It was the irresistible charm of kindergarten bands like
Rene & The 10 Less 5,
Ric & The Skyliners,
Magic Herbs and
Wildcats that pushed us to share the results of our vinyl archaeology with the rest of the world. The Shaggys' first 7" was always top of the bill. Rumours of a second single gave us quite a hard time until we finally tracked it down. Like The Ragged Men's record, it came out on Patria, formerly known as the R&B label. (R&B stands for whatever you like, but definitely not Rhythm and Blues)."I'm Shy" features the immortal line, "You know it's hard to say, because I'm many shy". How can they say there's no German sense of humor?
THE PARTY BROTHERS "Our Love Is Gone" was the a-side of their sole 45, but listen to the sick croaking on "Every Night" and you see why we love the flip even more.
THE ROBOTS When Polydor dropped The Robots after one flopped single, they picked up the pieces, recorded the comparatively heavier "Soldier Beat" and released it on the totally unknown Ursus label, to the same result. And most likely that was it for The Robots, but as this second sign of life comes as a big surprise to those who thought they knew all about obscure 60's plastic (i.e. us)..., who knows?
TIME OUT Their claim to fame was a 7" for Hansa for which the company advertised them as "Gemany´s Youngest Beatband". Judging by the picture cover, they were about two years older than
Percy & The Gaolbirds had been in ´66, but this was '69 and a bit too late to cause sensation with an old-fashioned term like Beat anyway. And the bungled, out of tune-guitar solo, as much as we like such trash today, was the commercial kiss of death. Time over for Time Out...
A damn rare record from the northern part of the country is
THE PONTIACS´ 7" on Mash ('65), seemingly the only release on this very private label. Typical mid-60´s beat by a group of neat looking young gentlemen who hadn´t yet finished discussions about what kind of style they'd like to follow. Great mishmash of influences, and it´s nice to hear how a caveman on drums and a mean stringbender can spoil the ambitions of a crooner.
Although they also recorded a couple of Top Ten covers for Tempo,
THE VENTURE 5's only collectable opus is this 7" from '65 on Munich's Juke Box Records. The plug side is certainly "What's Your Name?", but the flip "Yes Pretty Baby" is a winner too. Exact city of origin unknown, but it wasn´t Munich. They were active between Augsburg, Regensburg, Landshut and Nürnberg, a lower Bavarian or Franconian provincial beatband obviously...
THE ROADRUNNERS Pure-bred Liverpudlians. In '63 and '64, long residencies at The Star Club led to various recordings released only in Germany. "Little Ruby" is the first of 2 non-LP 45's recorded on location. John Peacock on piano sounds under the spell of
The Killer from Feriday, who caused spontaneous piano combustions at the Club in '64.
THE LOOSERS From 1966, a private pressing from Bad Oldesloe. Pimply and mysterious.
Tracklist:
01
THE STARFIGHTERS - I LIKE TROUBLE
02
THE SLAVES - SHUT UP
03
THE SKINS - IT'S TOO LATE
04
THE RHYTHM CHECKERS - THEME OF THE RHYTHM CHECKERS
05
THE RED DEVILS - LITTLE BY LITTLE
06
GESINE DARIEUX & THE CHOSEN FEW - CRAZY, CRAZY
07
THE SLAVES - GET OUT OF MY WAY
08
THE RAGGED MEN - LOVE IS A FIGHT
09
THE CANDIDATES - BAD BAD BABY
10
THE SLAVES - YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE
11
THE LOOSERS - UNDERSTAND
12
THE PRALINS - JUMPIN' RUN
13
THE WILDCATS - ALL RIGHT
14
THE BATS - GOT A GIRL
15
THE SHAGGYS - I'M SHY
16
THE PARTY BROTHERS - EVERY NIGHT
17
THE RETREADS - YOU YOU YOU
18
THE ROBOTS - SOLDIER BEAT
19
TIME OUT - BABE
20
THE SHAGGYS - I NEED YOU SO
21
THE SHAGGYS - ONLY AN HOUR
22
THE VENTURE 5 - YES PRETTY BABY
23
THE SLAVES - PANIC
24
THE SLAVES - SLAVES TIME
25
THE PARTY BROTHERS - OUR LOVE IS GONE
26
THE PONTIACS - YOU KNOW ME
27
THE VENTURE 5 - WHAT'S YOUR NAME?
28
THE ROBOTS - IT'S HARD TO SAY
29
THE SKINS - WHAT TO DO
30
THE ROADRUNNERS - LITTLE RUBY
31
THE RHYTHM CHECKERS - ON YOUR WAY DOWN THE DRAIN
32
THE LOOSERS - SENSITIVE
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