Juke Box Jury

Juke Box Jury

BY GREG SHAW

Summer Means Pun Or I'll Kill You

April 18

What a dull month. The great records have mostly slipped away after futile stabs at the charts, with the everpresent mediocrity surging once again into the breach. Dawn, Vicki Lawrence, War, Anne Murray, Stealers Wheel, Steely Dan, Helen Reddy, Roberta Flack, Skylark - I don't want to talk about that stuff! Forget it. Instead, I'm gonna tell ya about some older singles I've been listening to a lot lately.

It's summer, after all (in California anyway) an(l the time is right for dancing, parties on the \?each, good times and above all, fun in the sun! Of which Steely Dan is as ignorant as, well, Walter Brennan. Gimme a band like Gary Lewis & The Playboys who, in the final analysis, Weren't much but they did put out one fantastic record, 'She's Just My Style,' (Liberty 55846) which if you haven't heard it in awhile sounds like some forgotten Beach Boys classic. What a fantastic record! Every time I hear it, it's a reminder that I gotta get that tape player for my car, real soon now. (And for you hippies out there, it was arranged by none other than Leon Russell!!)

The next song on the tape will have to be Bruce & Terry's 'Summer Means Fun' (Columbia 4-43055). These guys, Johnston and Melcher, were responsible for most of your favorite summer records, like all the Rip Qiords stuff, a lotta your Jan & Dean hits, and plenty more you betcha. This was their ultimate statement, summer means fun, can't put it more concisely than that. And for a bonus, the song was written by Sloan & Barri, the Fantastic Baggies, Dunhill Records, 'Eve of Destruction,' and all the rest - altogether about 28% of my favorite songs of all time. Heavy stuff here.

You wanta get really heavy tho, check out the Trashmen. They hadda be psycho in the first place, living in Minneapolis, standing in garbage cans singing Ronnie Hawkins songs with surfboards tied to their woody. And they were! Aside from their immortal hit, they made one true undiscovered masterpiece that I'm sure Greil Marcus would rewrite his entire book immediately upon hearing. 'New Generation''/'Peppermint Man' (Garrett 4010) is one cosmic record. Naturally it's hard and fast and exciting, that's taken for granted. Beyond that, it's in a class with 'My Generation' as far as summing up an entire generational stance in an even two minutes. It's even got hydrogen bombs exploding at the end of each chorus!

Ah, but you say, this old stuff doesn't have the power of the Stooges. Baloney. Just treat yourself to a listen to 'Any Way You Want It' (Epic 9739) by the greatest noise group of all time, the Dave Clark Five. Even at low volume it's so loud its echoes reverberate from the other side of town. Crank it up til your speakers do the mashed potatoes, and see if it isn't the heaviest record ever made.

Or how about the ultimate heavy group of the sixties — Paul Revere & the Raiders? All their records were fantastic, but my favorite is 'Him Or Me — What's It Gonna Be?' (Columbia 4-44094) which has the sound of that legendary supersession between the Stones,. Beatles and Monkees that you always dreamed about. Yeah, really! Go back and listen if you don't believe me. People forget so fast, they don't know what's good for them...

All right, thanks for indulging me. I'm ready now to face the present. I guess the present ain't so bad, at least the Sweet are in the Top Ten, don't ask me how. Wait'll you hear 'Wig Warn Bam' (not released here yet), if you think 'Little Willie' is good. And J. Geils is on the charts with 'Give it to Me' (Atlantic 2953), surprising me no end by doing a reggae song. Brinsley Schwarz' new single is a reggae number too, watch for it,they're called the Hitters now.

My big discovery of the month is one that's been out awhile, 'I Need Your Love' by Circus (Metromedia 265). New group, believe they're from Cleveland, with a solid two-sided pop/hard rock pastiche of Stones, Who, Grand Funk, Raspberries, and the 1910 Fruitgum Co.

Other than that, it's just odds & ends. 'Let John and Yoko Stay in the U.S.A.' by the Justice Department (New Design 1008) is a timely Artie Resnick protest song, real neat corny lyrics ('aren't we really the ones up for trial?') that should bring P.F. Sloan out of the woodwork. Tommy Roe's latest is 'Working Class Hero' (MGM 7013), not the J. Lennon song, no, this one's an ode to the hardhat. I'd rather hear Freddy Cannon do 'If You've Got the Time' (Metromedia 262), yeah the Miller beer song. Not as good as the Troggs version (which you can't get anymore) but still a trip.

One I really enjoy is Jerry Lee's 'Drinking Wine Spo-Dee O'Dee' (Mercury 73374). I saw the Killer at a 'Midnight Special' taping recently, and man is he ever great. He's got what almost everybody in rock is lacking these days - a true personality, and an insolence completely justified by his brilliance. His superstar sidekicks are a little less lame here than on the rest of the album, and it makes a nice 45. I'm also favorably impressed by the Kingsmen's first in many a year, 'You Better Do Right' (Capitol 3576). It's not the complete original group, and not at all their sound. Very modern hard rockpop, chord and production heavy, a bit like some of the lesser Vanda-Young productions I've heard lately. Speaking of which, keep your eyes peeled for anything on which those names appear. Easybeats, Marcus Hook, etc., remember? They're back in Australia now and turning out some of the best stuff of the seventies. Even their bad sides are good, like 'Hard Road' by Peter Kelly (RSO 403).

Poco's 'Go and Say Goodbye' (Epic 10958) is a bore. The Buffalo Springfield and all its progeny are a product of the past, their revival isn't due for another couple of years yet, and they should have the decency to die for awhile before being resurrected! I'm fast running out of room, but want to finish by recommending some excellent R & B records: 'Many Rivers to Cross' by Lorraine Ellison (WB 7700) is a really fine version of the Jimmy Cliff song; 'Pillow Talk' by Sylvia (Vibration 521) is one of those seductive April Stevens-type affairs, and if it reminds you a bit of 'Love is Strange' yer right, it's the same Sylvia. 'That Lucky Old Sun' by the Velvets (Monument 8917) is right out of the Ravens heyday, fine black vocal harmony. Pick up on it if you like the Persuasions. And 'More Than Just Friends' by the Jackson Sisters (Prophesy 3004) is more delightfully smooth female group singing, produced by our hero Albert Hammond.

Y'know, I figured out that if all the good stuff we've mentioned here over the past few months were being played, '73 radio could shut down just about any year shy of '65-6. And I'm gonna have my chance to prove it; starting May 6, I'll be on the air noon to six every Sunday, with the able assistance of Ken Barnes, Mark Shipper and Gene Sculatti, playing recent killers and past classics. If you live in the LA area, invest the couple of bucks it takes to get hooked up and listen to the T.A.M.I. Show on CABL (cable radio is the latest thing, folks, you'll be hearing more about it soon). If nothing else, it'll be fun, fun, fun.