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The Caravans

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the Caravans

The Caravans

The Caravans – Easy Money

Nervous Records – NERD 036 [1988]
Rough Diamond – Sneakin` Out – I`ve Lost , You Win – Cryin’ – I Ain’t Got No Excuses – Easy Money – A Better Place – Blues Train – Stranded – Good Bye, Good Bye – In The Heat Of The Day – Sometimes I Wish – Stoned Tired & Cryin` – (Be My) Heart`s Desire – Love Me Like You Do

Easy Money
The Caravans – Easy Money

The Caravans formed in 1983 and after a few contributions to various compilation albums they finally released ther debut album on Nervous records in 1988. The line-up for this album was Mark Pennington (double bass/lead vocals), Rich Caso (lead guitar who replaced former lead guitarist Rob taylor), Darren Francis and Brian Gillman (rhythm guitars) and Lee Barnett on drums.
The result is very good melodic but hard hitting neo-rockabilly. All the songs are originals mostly from the pen of Pennington. Some songs are very good (Easy Money, Goodbye Goodbye, Sneakin’ Out, A Better Place, Cryin’ in a neo-Gene Vincent style or the hillbilly skiffle of In the Heat of the Day with accordion) still, some are more average and break the dynamic and the homogeneity of the records . And on some songs the two rhythm guitars add more confusion than power.
A good album but had it been limited to 6/7 tracks it could have been a killer.
Later reissues on cd include four unreleased songs from the same sessions.

the Caravans

The Caravans – No Excuses

Chuckeedee Records – CHUC 001 [1991]
Sixteen Chicks – Cross My Heart – Nothing Compares 2 U – I’ve Been Driving – Ain’t Got No – Cool Off BabyExcuses – She Wants You – Baby Drive Me Back – Is This Fear? – That’s The Way It Is – Nerves Of Steel – Money Man

No Excuses
Caravans – No Excuses

After the release of their debut album (Easy Money) the Caravans saw some line up changes. Brian Gillman, Darren Frances and Lee Barnett had left . Mark Pennington (vocals and double bass) and Rich Caso (lead guitar) then recruited Johnny Bowler (who played bass with Caso in Get Smart) to play drums and this three piece band recorded No Excuses for Chuck Harvey (Frantic Flintstones) short lived label.

Though Easy Money was good, it contained a few fillers that broke the dynamic of the album and were a bit monotonous on long distance. This is not the case here. No Excuses is simply perfect. It’s exactly what one can expect from a neo-rockabilly album with powerful slap bass, syncopated drums (with breaks and rolls), light guitar. The absence of the two rhythm guitar doesn’t affect the sound of the band, far from that. It’s clearer and Caso’s solos are more in evidence rather than drawned in the rhythm section like on Easy Money. The better mix also helps alot to achieve that.

The reissue features the three tracks of the « On The Rocks » Ep.

The Caravans – Straightside

Rockout [1994] Crazy Love [reissue 2001]
Sure Miss You – Hobo Baby – Rockin’ Tonight – Baby Blue Eyes – Sunset Blues – She’s Just Rockin’ – Baby that’s Where You’re Wrong – Mean & Cruel – Lost Love Blues – Do Without You – That’s What It’s Meant Tobe – Freight Train – That Gal Of Mine – That’s My Belief – Gonna Love Ya – Ole River Blue – Want U Back

Straightside
The Caravans – Straightside

New album and new line-up for the Caravans. On Straightside Sean Goan arrived on drums, Jonny Bowler switched to doublebass and leader Mark Pennington ended on… guitar.
But this is the main change to be noted for the music remains more or less the same than on the previous albums.
Good originals and tailored made covers to suit the brand of neo-rockabilly that became the Caravans’ trademark.
Originally released on orange vinyl on Gaz Day’s Rockout records and later reissued on cd on Crazy Love with five bonus tracks.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Caravans

Roy Williams – Nervous records

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Nervous records second logo

Nervous records second logo
Nervous records second logo

Nervous Records – the Roy Williams interview

-Hey, I’ve just bought the debut album of a psychobilly combo called the Frantic Flintstones.
-Is that any good?
-Of course, it’s on Nervous Records!

That’s the kind of dialog that my psychobilly pals and I used to have. Nervous was for us – and I’m sure we weren’t alone – a reference. Nervous records always had the best stuff coming with nice sleeves too. Judge by yourself: the Polecats, The Sharks, Frenzy, the Ricochets, the Coffin Nails, the Caravans, the Nitros, Restless, the Blue Cats, Buzz & the Flyers, Torment, Skitzo, Nekromantix, Batmobile, the Quakes, the Rattlers… Impressive isn’t it. Reading Nervous records’ back catalog is like reading a Who’s Who of Neo-Rockabilly and Psychobilly.

Of course, there was some exceptions:
-Look that’s the latest Nervous records lp.
-What’s the name of the band?
-Spook & the Ghouls.
– …

Anyway Nervous records is indissociable from the whole genre, and we had to talk to Roy Williams. Now put your favorite Nervous album on the platter or in the player if it’s a cd and read the following interview..

by Fred “Virgil” Turgis

When and how did you discover rockabilly music?
I was collecting old rock’n’roll records in the early 60’s and I came across a listing of SUN 45’s for sales from someone called Breathless Dan Coffey (Breathless Dan Coffey is a well known record collector in Europe and he’s also the brother of Mike Coffey, guitar player for Crazy Cavan – ed.). Before that, the only time I’d heard of rockabilly was from a Guy Mitchell song! In truth, I’d been buying rockabilly records for some time, but never really knew the word in relation the records I had. We used to call it ‘the empty sound’ because of the slap-back echo!
The ‘division’ of rock’n’roll and rockabilly can be subtle and there’s a lot of ‘crossover’. I think of it this way
All rockabilly is rock’n’roll
All rock’n’roll is not rockabilly
or
All ants are insects
All insects are not ants
You can say that we have an interesting linguistic discussion here between etymology and entymology =;-)

Was Rock’n’roll the kind of music played at home when you were a kid?
Oh no! My mother used to sing songs to me when I was very young. These were songs from the 1940’s. The only music my father liked on the radio was religious music. He used to complain that there was too much ‘boogie woogie’…. He used to tell me that our radio couldn’t get Radio Luxembourg (where all the good stuff was). I used to go and watch TV in the village pub with my friend whose parents owned the pub. I saw ‘6-5 Special’ on a small black and white TV, one of only two in the village. Then we moved back to Wales and lived in a village with no electricity for a while, so I missed a lot of 1950’s TV. Then, one day in 1958, I got on my bicycle and rode into the town (Aberystwyth) and walked into the pier. There was the smell of the candy floss and lots of flashing lights and a big jukebox pounding out rock’n’roll. I was lost……
Then we moved closer to the town and had electricity again and my parents bought a new radio and gave me the old one. I spent all my time on this radio listening to radio stations from other countries searching for rock’n’roll.

As a DJ you helped to promote Hank Mizzell’s Jungle Rock, you managed young bands. How did you decide to create your own label?
I saw a bit about how the music business worked from ‘Jungle Rock’ and I thought that I could create another hit with a young good looking British band. At about the same time, I saw that Ronnie Weiser has started his own label and there were lots of new labels in England because of punk. I thought that I could do this, too. I also thought that it was time that I established better financial security for my family because DJ work was not so reliable! I actually started in music publishing and the label came after.

Nervous records first logo
Nervous records first logo

Looking back at the Nervous records back catalog, one thing struck me. Like Sam Phillips who always said he didn’t need two Elvis, it seems that you were always looking for bands that sounded different…
The lesson that I learnt from Rollin’ Rock was NOT to go for a ‘house label sound’. There was a time that everything on Rollin’ Rock was hot, and then suddenly it wasn’t because it all had the same ‘house sound’ and the whole catalogue was out of style. I didn’t want to have this happen to Nervous records, so I deliberately tried to be more ‘diverse’.

You have worked with many of the best psychobilly bands, but strangely you never worked with the originators of the genre, the Meteors. Do you regret it?
Not really. they seemed very shambolic to begin with and after their first EP and LP, I didn’t find them so interesting. The first LP was REALLY good, though and hugely influential.
In the end, when I bought out the Alligator label, I became the owner of the earliest Meteors’ recordings [three songs were released on Homegrown Rockabilly – ed.]

Today I suppose things have changed radically with the mp3’s. But in the heydays of neo-rockabilly / psychobilly what was the average pressing for a Nervous record?
I always remember that when we released the Buzz And The Flyers LP, we pressed 3,000 copies and delivered 2,000 to various customers in the first week! Those days are long gone.

How do you / did you involve in the recording process as a producer? Do you suggest songs to cover, different ways to approach songs, select songs with the artists etc.?
I make all sorts of suggestions. Some bands have all of their ideas ready, and some need more ‘guidance’. Sometimes I give the project to a producer. I can’t force bands to record what they don’t want to. I feel awkward sometimes because I can’t play an instrument and it’s often difficult because of that.

Is there a release in which you had strong hope that failed to sell?
Quite a few! Often because the bands split up just after the recording!

Some of Nervous records releases - photo by: Mitutaka Namie
Some of Nervous records releases – photo by: Mitutaka Namie

Which Nervous records releases are you particularly proud of?
The first Restless album and The Blue Cats ‘The Tunnel’.

And is there one that retrospectively you think “I shouldn’t have released this one”?
That’s too political!

Beside Nervous records, I believe that you were involved with the organisation of the Big Rumble. What memories do you keep from it?
A lot of work, and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed going round the caravans in the morning with a video camera, and finding people in the ‘wrong’ beds! I also had some funny experiences at the reception of the camp. Del used to put me there because I could manage some words in various languages. It was always difficult explaining to French people about the meters for the electricity!

I have the sad feeling that today the rockin’ scene is more and more divided in sub-scenes like neo-rockabilly, modern rockabilly, authentic rockabilly, old school psychobilly, gothabilly, trashbilly (and so on), with much importance given to the clothes rather than anything else. What do you think of the evolution of the scene?
I agree with you. It’s become fragmented and this is BAD news.

You were one of the first to bet on the cd’s then on the mp3’s. How did the internet change the way of selling music?
It’s broken down the national barriers. Really there is only one marketplace now, and everyone is equal in it. This is good. Music is no longer qualified by its rarity. It’s qualified by it’s standard. When I was DJ-ing, there were some people who would not dance to a record if it wasn’t an original 45. This is BOLLOCKS!
The ‘downside’ of all this is that there needs to be a lot more ‘back-office’ computer work to make it all work properly. Most small labels are hopeless at the paperwork side of things and this leaves the ownership of copyright in a bit of a mess. I’ve actually written my own computer program to handle this stuff.

The last word is for you…
I’m more interested in the future of rock’n’roll/rockabilly than the past.


Website: http://www.nervous.co.uk/

Nervous records

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Nervous records second logo

Nervous records, the legendary rockabilly/neo-rockabilly/psychobilly label formed by Roy Williams (interviewed here), once called by Paul Roman of the Quakes “the Sam Phillips of Psychobilly”.
Website: http://www.nervous.co.uk/

nervous records

Nervous Records discography

The Polecats – Cult Heroes – NERD 001
Deltas – Boogie Disease – NERD 002
Various Hep Cat Hop – NERD 003
Restless – Why Don’t You Just Rock – NERD 004
The Ricochets – Made In The Shade – NERD 005
Buzz & The Flyers – Self titled – NERD 006
Various – Stack-A-Records – NERD 007
The Sharks – Phantom Rockers – NERD 008
Dave Taylor – Midnight Rock – NERD 009
The Blue Cats – Early Days – NERD 010
The Blue Cats – Early Days Vol2 – NERD 011
Big Daddy Sun and Outer Planets – Rockabilly – NERD 012
Freddy Frog – Self Titled – NERD 013
Ronnie and The Jitters – Roll Over – NERD 014
Restless – Do you Feel Restless – NERD 015
Frenzy – Hall Of Mirrors – NERD 016
Various – Hell Bent On Rockin’ – NERD 017
Rochee & The Sarnos – Understanding Sarno – NERD 018
Rapids – Turning Point – NERD 019
Pharoahs – Blue Egypts – NERD 020
The Jets – Session Out – NERD 021
Various – Aussiebilly – NERD 022
Various – Zorch Factor One – NERD 023
Kevin Fayte & The Rocket 8 – Ridin’ In A Rocket – NERD 024
The Torment – Psyclops Carnival – NERD 025
Restless – The Early Years – NERD 026
Get Smart – Self Titled – NERD 027
Skitzo – Skitzo Mania – NERD 028
Various – Zorch Factor Two – NERD 029
Rhythmaires – Losin’ Out – NERD 030
Coffin Nails – Ein Bier Bitte – NERD 031
Torment – Three is a Crowd – NERD 032
Frenzy – Live At The 100 Club – NERD 033
Frantic Flintstones – A Nightmare On Nervous – NERD 034
Batmobile – Bail Was Set At $6000000 – NERD 035
The Caravans – Easy Money – NERD 036
The Quakes – the Quakes – NERD 037
The Jackals – Prowlin’ – NERD 038
Skitzo – Terminal Damage – NERD 039
Pharoahs – Hammer & Sickle blue – NERD 040
Ratmen – Live Fast, Die Young – NERD 041
Various – Zorch Factor Three – NERD 042
Spook & the Ghouls – Whitechapel Murder – NERD 043
Catmen – Catmen – NERD 044
Surfin’ Wombatz – Lager Loutz – NERD 045
Sharks – First & Last Live – NERD 046
Griswalds – Who Framed The Griswalds – NERD 047
Various – American Rockabilly – NERD 048
The Nitros – Stompin’ Beat – NERD 049
Torment – Around The World – NERD 050
Rusti Steel & The TinTax – More Dollars Than Cents – NERD 051
Rattlers – Never Say Die – NERD 052
Various – Home Grown Rockabilly – NERD 053
Lost Souls – Chasin’ A Dream – NERD 054
The Screamin’ Kids – Don’t Get Down – NERD 055
The Nervous Fellas – Born To Be Wild – NERD 056
Torment – Hypnosis – NERD 057
The Quakes – Voice Of America – NERD 058
The Coffin Nails – Who’s he? – NERD 059
The Catmen – Cuttin’ Through The Red Tape – NERD 060
Various – Boppin’ In Canada – NERD 061
The Scamps – Mayday – NERD 062
Nekromantix – Curse Of The Coffin – NERD 063
Beverley Stauber – Nail My Feet To The Kitchen Floor – NERD 064
Frenzy – Clockwork Toy – NERD 065
Various – Live At The Big Rumble – NERD 066
Sonny West – Relentless – NERD 067
Radium Cats – Other Worlds – NERD 068
The Blue Cats – The Tunnel – NERD 069
The Taggy Tones – Viking Attack – NERD 070
Colbert Hamilton And The Hellrazors – Self – NERD 071
Restless – Figure It Out – NERD 072
The Quakes – New Generation – NERD 073
The Rattlers – Scare Me To Death – NERD 074
Three Blue Teardrops – One Part Fist – NERD 075
Colbert Hamilton And The Nitros – Wild At Heart – NERD 076
Voodoo Swing – We’re Usin Code Names – NERD 077
Tim Polecat – Virtual Rockabilly – NERD 078
Mean Cat Daddies – Ghost Of Your Love – NERD 079
The Taggy Tones – Lost In The Desert – NERD 080
Various – Is It Cool – NERD 081
Darrel Higham – Mobile Corrosion – NERD 082
The Elektraws – Shock-rock – NERD 083
The Quakes – Live In Tokyo – NERD 084
Wild – Good To Go – NERD 085
King Memphis – The Astonishing – NERD 086
Restless – The Very Best Of – NERD 087
The Backbeats – Back To The Beat – NERD 088
Bill Mc Elroy – Slimline Daddy – NERD 089
Skitzo – Vertigo – NERD 090
The Muskrats – The Young And Restless – NERD 091
Hayride To Hell – Self Titled – NERD 092
Nine Lives – Roundabout – NERD 093
Rock Island Line – The Very Best Of – NERD 094
Various – The Nervous 45 rpm Collection – NERD 095
The Midnight Dynamos – Do You Wanna Dance? – NERD 096
Bonneville – Trouble – NERD 097
Various – Rockabilly Gold – NERD 098
High Voltage – Danger… – NERD 099
Blue Flame Combo – Rockabillies Go Home – NERD 100
Mystery Gang – Hot’n’Wild Rockabilly Cuts – NERD 101
The Jime – It’s Still Rock’n’Roll To Me – NERD 102
Johnny Black – Extra Chrome – NERD 103
JC Lee – Tokyo Heat – NERD 104
Mick Satan & The Rockin Devils – Teddy Boy Anthems – NERD 105
Vernon & The GI’s – GI Bop – NERD 106

Quakes (the)

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The Quakes - Chris Van Cleve, Paul Roman and Rob Peltier
The Quakes – Chris Van Cleve, Paul Roman and Rob Peltier

The Quakes are one of the first (if not the first) american psychobilly band. Like their compatriot the Stray Cats they crossed the sea to find fame in Europe where by the time the psychobilly scene was growing bigger and bigger. Roy williams and Nervous record quickly signed them and released their first album, which soon became a raw psychobilly classic. Their second record “Voice Of America” was more neo-rockabilly, and stands for me as their best. They then find a big audience in Japan with sold out shows and albums like Quiff Rock and New Generation where they mixed the usual rockabilly and psychobilly stuff to Billy Idol and Adam & the ants influences.
This interview with Paul Roman took place in 2005 for the release of  “Psyops”. More infos abot their recent albums on their website www.thequakes.com .

by Fred “Virgil” Turgis

How did you become interested in music?
I was always interested in music as a kid.When I was 9 or 10 I started buying records. I was a big fan of The Beatles- The Rolling Stones- The Kinks- Monkees. I had older brothers and sisters who left those records behind when they moved out.

In what kind of musical background did you grow?
My parents always had music on in the house. My dad was from Poland and he liked polka music and my mom would listen to big band stuff. My oldest brother had a band and I used to watch them practice in the garage.

When did you start playing guitar ?
When I was 15 or 16, Dave “the ace” Hoy got an acoustic guitar for Christmas and we went out in the garage to jam. I was playing drums on garbage pails because I used to have a snare drum and cymbal when I was 12 but I sold it cause I never played it. Anyway, we switched instruments and found that Dave was a better drummer and I was a better guitar player- that’s how the whole band thing started.

Did someone influence you to choose that instrument?
YES! Absolutely- It was Brian Setzer- When I saw the Stray Cats on MTV I knew what I want to do! I had the snare drum like I said and that went no where and then I bought a keyboard because I was into New wave bands like the B-52’s and Devo etc. but I lost interest in that to -but when I saw the Stray Cats it was like I found my thing.

I assume you play bass too…
Yes- I bought an upright bass when I was 17 cause we couldn’t find anyone to play it so I decided to get one and learn how to play then I could teach someone. (Ed. Paul plays bass on some of the Quakes’ recent cd’s)

In your bio, you’re talking about the Quiffs. Were you in other bands before?
Yes but they were all with Dave and me- there was The Runaway Boys-The Teenage Rebels- Rockin Wildkats

What was the style of the Quiffs,? Was it a pre-Quakes kind of band?
We played obscure rockabilly and modern covers and originals- it was kinda pre Quakes again with Dave Hoy playing bass and Chris Van Cleve on drums. We recorded some stuff in a studio but its terrible. We were not very good in those days but we had fun.

When you start playing with the Quakes, were you aware of the European psychobilly scene?
Well… yes and no- I went to London to try to start a band in the summer of 1985 and at that time I had heard some psychobilly and I hated it- to me it sounded like punk rockers trying to cash in on the rockabilly scene- I didn’t understand it. I was a real ROCKABILLY GUY. Then in 1986 I went to London again to try to start a band and I was staying right down the street from the Klubfoot- but I wasn’t gonna go there…My friend had just bought the first Guana Batz album and I remember I liked the song “Down on the line” but I didn’t like the rest of it- I didn’t get it. I was hanging out at all the rockin clubs in London listening to Curtis Gordon etc.When I went back home- I put the Quakes together but we were trying to be a modern band like the Stray cats-Rockats-Polecats etc.The things that lead us to psychobilly were 1) we couldn’t play our instruments like the bands we wanted to be like (frustration) and 2) no one was paying any attention to us around town(more frustration) So I started writing these songs like “You’re Dead” and others because I was pissed off at everything-we changed our look also at that time. After that the hardcore kids would all come to see us and we started getting more gigs. Hardcore music was real popular in Buffalo at that time so we tried to incorporate some of those ideas into our stuff. “Psychobilly Jekyll & Mr Hyde” is an example of the slow part- fast part thing from the Hardcore scene-a perfect example would be “institutionalized” by Suicidal Tendencies which was a big song at that time. I think all those “HEY”s in our music came from the Ramones which I always liked.

Is this what led you to move to London?
We moved to London because after realizing that there was this big scene over there, we wanted to be a part of it. We had sent a couple of demo tapes to Nervous and Roy said we were too slow, so naturally we thought the secret to success is just play fast so that’s what we did. We knew that the Stray cats had sold all their stuff and moved to London so we were kinda going the same thing. I was 20, Rob was 18 and Dave was 16.

How was the American scene at that time?
Ha ha there was no scene at all, people laughed at us?! That’s another reason we wanted to move to London.

Your first album was a graphic reference to the first Stray Cats album…
We did what they did by coming to London and getting a record deal. I thought it was a good Idea- I had seen pictures of the Bluecats album that references the Gene Vincent album and some Polecats pictures that were like the Beatles album cover standing over the railing. It was a cool idea and it worked for us.

Didn’t that deserve you, due to the fact of stupid people who classified you as Stray cats followers?
Well the sad reality is…if I COULD have sounded like Brian Setzer, I probably would have. We had no choice in the fact that we had our own sound-it was that way because we sucked ha ha.

Did you have reaction from the Stray Cats about this homage?
Yes- they saw it when they came over for the BLAST OFF tour in 1990 and I got to go to two shows and meet them backstage. Slim Jim says he still has it on the wall at his house!

During the first “split” of the Quakes you played with Demented Are Go. How did it happen?
I was in London working on a solo album (never happened) and I was living in a squat. I saw Ant Thomas in the laundry mat by my house-it turns out that he lived in the same neighborhood. He said that Lex had quit and they had a bunch of shows lined up that they were going to have to cancel so I said I would do it. It was a lot of fun but I wanted to do my own thing.

Even if each album has its own sound, the change between the first one and Voice of America was radical. How do you explain this evolution?
Well first and foremost we didn’t have Dave Hoy anymore, he was killed in an auto accident in Buffalo. Any time you get a new guy in the band, the sound is going to change.We also could play our instruments a lot better at that point. After that first record there was no place else to go- I mean..what would we do ? Try to make a faster record?? We did the monster- graveyard- thing and I could see that- that was no where and I didn’t want to be one of “those” bands.
I think the stuff on Voice Of America is more of what we sounded like BEFORE we did the first record.

You started to be quite known in Japan, even had a deal with a major. Did they try to change your sound?
No they didn’t?! In fact they didn’t care about the music at all… For them it was about the packaging?! We argued with them for months about what the cd booklet was going to look like.They wanted to use all this cliché’ stuff like switchblades and dice etc. etc. They also wanted us on the cover with our instruments- we were very against this. We were trying to cross over into a new audience and we didn’t want any obvious references on the cover. The rockabilly/psycho crowd already knew who we were so it was pointless to put all that stuff on the cover for them. That record was only meant for Japan- then Nervous licensed it but I knew our fans would not like it- some did- When we put out the Nervous one we did the cover ourselves and we are still getting crap from people who don’t understand what we were..or ARE about. I think its funny that people said we look GAY on the cover because we are wearing leather pants and make -up. You know to us, we thought all those cds covers with silly cartoons were very stupid- We always wanted to be taken serious- I believe that psychobilly is a valid style of music. Too many people who write for rock magazines see psychobilly as something silly and stupid. We were trying to break that stereo type. Its not a cartoon-its great MUSIC and it doesn’t have to be about graveyards and stupid shit.

Don’t you consider the psychobilly label too limited for a band like the Quakes? On a record like New Generation there are more than just rockabilly and psychobilly influences.
Yes for sure but we sort of fit into this scene- we still play psychobilly- we do all those old songs in our set-we are definitely not rockabilly. Im not interested in those labels-To me its all about the sound of the Slap bass and twang guitar.

You created your own label, is this because you had problems with records labels (you said you didn’t touch anything on the Nervous release of Live In Tokyo)
Ya- we signed a lot of bad contracts- we were kids and we wanted to be on a record. We didn’t bother to have lawyers look at those contracts etc.The “Live in Tokyo” story is a whole story in itself but we got screwed by a Japanese label on that one and now we don’t receive any royalties on that.

Will there be other artist on this label?
I don’t think so- I don’t want to be “the guy” at the record label- in other words I don’t want to be “the asshole” Its a lot of work just to put out the Quakes cds.

So, what about this new Quakes album?
Im working on it and I hope it will be out by May or June (this interview took place in april 2005 ).There is a lot of songs and Im going to have to leave a lot out.The new record will be different than the rest but its still me writing the songs so if you are a fan you will like the new one. Its gonna be what I call “Quiff Rock” rockabilly+psychobilly+hillbilly=Quiff Rock

A last word?
Stick to your guns?!

Get Smart

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Get Smart - s/t
Get Smart – s/t

Get Smart – S/T

Nervous NERD0027
Ain’t no use – Baby, won’t you come out tonight – Early times – Ape man – My babe – Frankie and Johnny – You’re my baby – Heavens above – Sixteen tons – Lines of love – I Can’t Wait – Game Called Love

Get Smart released their debut album in 1988. Before that they had songs on Stompin’ At The Klub Foot Vol.5 and Zorch Factor vol. 1, 2 and 3. They were Roy Phillips on vocals, Rich Caso (Caravans) on guitar, Jimmy Fahy (Flip Out, early Krewmen with Carl Leyland) on drums and Johnny Bowler who later joined the Guana Batz on bass.
Their style was a mix of neo-rockabilly and blues with a touch of jazz (some even referred to their music as Jazzabilly which is a good description). It’s a very cool sounding album with good original songs but one can regret the lack of production. If it works fine on the more neo stuff like I Can’t Wait which is as good as anything released by Restless or the Nitros, it’s a bit thin on the more traditionnal stuff. With a warmer sound those songs could have been as good as, say, the early Northwood releases..

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

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