Sitars, theremin and mellotron, backwards guitar, phasing and fuzz, fringes and mohawks, paisley, black, velvet and leather, feedback, bass and drone, beads, berets and safety-pins, Shindig! and Creem, 3 chord wonders, teenage symphonies and snarl, Rickenbacker, Farfisa and 4-track recorders... onstage at CBGB's, Max's Kansas City or the Trip, the Roundhouse, the 100 Club or the Crystal Ballroom, Catcher's, Big Daddy's or the Squatters Arms.... and the Cat and the Brat on 3D Radio!
Three D Radio announcer, MeganCat (up until recently with her husband, the late Peter Brat)lives in "The BratHaus" a rural seaside home about 100km from Adelaide on South Australia's scenic Fleurieu Peninsula. Veteran musician Peter, and artist/musician Megan, were long-time DJs onThree D Radio 93.7fm, Adelaide's eclectic independent music station. Together Peter & Megan, known as "The Cat and The Brat" created this blog to allow listeners to review the playlists of their radio show, "Technicolour Dreaming", watch clips of selected songs and simply join them in the enjoyment of their favourite music... psychedelia, 60's garage, surf, punk/post-punk, pop, folk-rock, glam, 'Krautrock', goth, 80's electro... and much more!
But The Cat is carrying on the tradition, with guest co-presenters, and "Technicolour Dreaming" will continue in the same format, drawing from the huge "Cat & Brat" music collection, with the addition of new releases and reissues to keep things current. The Brat is hugely missed, but the show must go on, as he wanted...
This was a very, very sad weekfor losing legendary front-men - first, the news that the Easybeats'Stevie Wright, later a successful solo musician in his own right, had died on December 26; and 3 days later we lost Lemmy, best known from Motorhead, but prior to this the Rockin' Vickers, Sam Gopal, Opal Butterfly, and of course Hawkwind. At least The Brat will have some more people to jam with! So of course a few tribute songs were in order, but of course the show must go on - with quite a few instrumentals - Wiskey Biscuit,Scantharies and White Candlesfeatured, plus some French tracks (which I'd been missing) from Jacques du Tronc, Bernard Chabert and Dansez avec Moa. There was also a bit of a "Garden" and "Violet" theme going on for a while there, too, and another track from Sir Psych & LA Al'sSmoking Trees. Plus the usual mix...
...so here is the playlist, with candy to feast your eyeballs upon!!!
White Candles - Behold! The Abstract Eye ("Flowers for Delia" EP 2014 Philadelphia, USA)
The Scantharies - The Bear ("The Scantharies" 2012 UK)
The Smoking Trees - Victoria's Garden ("TST" 2015 Los Angeles, USA)
Violet Swells - Jupiter's Garden (CD Single 2014 Hobart, Aust.)
Violet Woods - Take Your Time ("Violet Woods" 2014 Cambridge UK)
Frantic Chant - Spittin' Fire ("Ruthless Supermen" 2014 Edinburgh, Scotland)
Love - Seven and Seven Is ("Da Capo" LP 1966 Los Angeles USA)
Wiskey Biscuit - A Shot in the Dark [Henry Mancini] ("Shots in the Dark" comp 1996 USA)
Sagittarius - My World Fell Down ("Present Tense" LP 1968 USA)
The Church - Silver Machine [Hawkwind] ("Box of Birds" 1999 Aust.)
The Easybeats - Sorry (7" Single 1966 Sydney, Aust.)
Thursday's Children - E Too D [Small Faces] ("Kaptain Kavemen From Brisbane" 2015 Aust.)
Running Jumping Standing Still - Diddy Wah Diddy (7" single 1967 Melbourne, Aust.)
Lord and the Flies - Echoes (7" single 1966 USA)
Purple Hearts - Early in the Morning (7" single 1966 Brisbane, Aust.)
The Cryan Shames - Ben Franklin's Almanac (7" single [b-side to "Sugar and Spice"] 1966 USA)
Jacques Du Tronc - Les Gens Sont Fous, Les Temps Sont Flous ("Jacques Du Tronc" (1) LP 1966 France)
Dansez avec Moa - Les Francais sont des veaux (7” single late 1960s, taken from “Wizzz Psychorama Francais Vol 3 "compilation 2015 France)
Bernard Chabert - Helga Selzer (7" single (b-side to L'homme De L'univers {Neanderthal Man] 1970 France)
Flyying Colours - Like You Said ("Flyying Colours" EP 2013 Melbourne, Aust.)
Myrchents - Indefinite Inhibition (7" single 1967 Ohio, USA)
The Craig - I Must Be Mad (7" single 1967 USA)
Les Mistigris - Summer Nights ("Psychedelic Super Pjotr (Original Motion Score)" 1999 Ukraine)
George & Beathovens - Jdi Dal ("Psychedelic Super Pjotr (Original Motion Score)" 1999 Ukraine)
Quite a diverse show this week - close to home, there were new singles from Perth's Wheelers of Oz and Melbourne's The Creeping Bam, proving that psychedelia in Australia is still well and truly alive and relevant, plus a re-release from The Monocles, later known as The Higher Elevation, famous in their latter form for the much comped "Spider and the Fly" - that squeaky "help me" fro the fly makes my heart melt for the little insect every time! Added to that, a couple of reasonably recent Fruits de Mer releases from the Soft Hearted Scientists and Ex Norwegian, and tracks from Poland, Finland, Rhode Island, Miami Beach, Houston, San Francisco and of course, my hometown, Adelaide...we try to be as inclusive as we can - but the music dictates!!
And here is the playlist, with associated visuals....
John Foxx - Europe after the Rain (7" single 1981 UK)
Bliss Bombs - Trees at Night ("Adelaide Demos 1979-1981" 1981 Adelaide, Australia)
Combustible Edison - Carnival of Souls ("I, Swinger" 1994 Rhode Island, USA)
The Love Machine - Mindblower ("Electronic Music to Blow Your Mind With" LP 1968 USA)
Ex Norwegian - It's a Game (7" single 2015 from future album "Pure Gold" Miami Beach, Florida USA)
Soft Hearted Scientists - Surferella ("Exorcising the Demos Part 3"2015 Wales, UK)
All in the Golden Afternoon - Tidal Wave ("Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea" 2011Austin, Texas USA)
1984 - This Little Boy (demo ) (demo version of the later 7" single 1969 UK)
The Moving Sidewalks - I Want to Hold your Hand (7" single 1968 Houston, Texas USA)
The Iguana - California My Way (7" single 1968 Melbourne, Aust.)
No to Co("So What") - Saturday to Sunday (7" single 1969 Poland)
The Easybeats - Come and See Her (7" single 1966 Sydney, Aust.)
House of Fire - Drifting Sunward (Ship of the Dead) ("Keeper of the Doors" 2014 Pennsylvania, USA)
Quilt - Secondary Swan ("Held in Splendor" 2014 Boston, USA)
The Smoking Trees - Awake in Your Dreams ("TST" 2015, Los Angeles USA)
Octopus Syng - If You were a flower ("Evolver - Mega Dodo sampler" 2014 Finland)
The Monocles and the Higher Elevation - Psychedelic ("The Spider, the Fly and the Boogie Man" 2015 Boulder, Colorado USA)
The Monocles and the Higher Elevation - The Spider and the Fly ("The Spider, the Fly and the Boogie Man" 2015 Boulder, Colorado USA)
The Dunes - Transition ("Between Midnight and Dawn" 2012 Adelaide, Aust.)
The Chocolate Watchband - Baby Blue ("The Inner Mystique" LP 1968 San Jose, California USA)
The December Sound - Painkiller ("The December Sound [Silver Album]" 2007, Boston Massachusetts USA)
The Dials - Watch Her Walk Away ("Companions of the Rosy Hours" 2009 UK)
The High Dials - Chinese Boxes ("Anthems for a Doomed Youth" 2010 Montreal, Canada)
Kim Fowley - Strangers From the Sky (7" single 1967 USA)
The Morning After Girls - The Trip [Kim Fowley] ("He Put The Bomp! In the Bomp" compilation 2007 New York, USA/Australia)
The Creeping Bam - Don't Get High (CD single 2015 Melbourne, Aust.)
Wheelers of Oz - La Petit Mort ("Revivalised" 2015 Perth, Aust.)
The Amazing Friendly Apple - Magician (7" single [b-side to "Water Woman"] 1969 UK)
Wooden Shjips - Down By The Sea ("Dos" 2009 San Francisco, California USA)
This week saw (or to be more accurate, heard) the temporary return of Michael Hunter to the timeslot, no stranger from the "Obscured By..." days. An 18-minute suite of cleverly combined songs by The Butterscotch Cathedral set the tone, followed by psych from Australia, the UK, US, Denmark and Lithuania. Other rarities included some recently re-discovered demos of Adelaide bands Foreign Body, Dinosaur Envy and Terminal Twist from around 1980 (not commerically available).
Trembling Bells' version of George Harrison's "Wah Wah" was also played; a couple of sources say the term was English slang for a headache, which makes more sense than the song being about an effects pedal at least! Adelaide band The Systemaddicts also got an airing with their version of the very old song Black, taking their arrangement from 60s Australian group The Throb. The general concept of not knowing what's coming next on the show - keep 'em guessing! - was hopefully as apparent as ever, and normal - or as close as we're likely to get - transmission will resume next week.
The Butterscotch Cathedral - Side A ((Won't You Come Inside) The Butterscotch Cathedral / And When We Land / Flood Of Mendoza / Paniolo By The Ocean / Waterfall Parasol / Crocodile / Uncle Tommy's Song / Saxifrage Drive) ("The Butterscotch Cathedral" 2015 US)
The Bermuda Jam - 1. Hold Me 2. Good Trip Lollipop (An Antihystathmn) ("The Bermuda Jam" released 1971, reissue 2015 US)
I actually managed to stay for the whole 2 hours of this week's show, whichwas a welcome change, while Harry had a well-earned rest. Amongst the bands I played were The Moving Sidewalks, which included Billy Gibbons,later of ZZ Top, as well as The WC Fields Memorial Electric String Band,who were the first band to release Stepping Stone, the classic version of which was made famous by The Monkees not long after. Also featured were a selectionof bands playing at the "Going Steady Festival" at Jive on December 13 2015, such as local acts The Dunes, Black Coral and Glass Skies, and headliners Moon Duo.
...and here's the playlist,moving pictures and all!
Pinkunoizu - Necromancer ("The Drop" LP 2013 Copenhagen, Denmark)
Sudden Death of Stars - I'm Not Among Believers ("Getting Up, Going Down" LP 2011
Rennes, France)
Dead Skeletons - Dead Mantra ("Dead Magick" 2011 ReykjavÃk, Iceland)
The Moving Sidewalks - 99th floor (7" single 1967 Texas USA)
The Purple Gang - Granny Takes a Trip (7" single 1967 UK)
The Litter - Action Woman (7" single 1967 Minneapolis USA)
The WC Fields Memorial Electric String Band - Hippy Elevator Operator
(7 " single 1966 California USA)
The Rokes - When the Wind Arises (7" single 1968 UK)
The Pretty Things - Defecting Grey (7" single 1967 UK)
Flamin Groovies - Slow Death (7" single 1972 San Francisco USA)
Goat - Gathering of Ancient Tribes ("Commune" 2014 Sweden)
The Night Beats - Outta Mind ("Sonic Bloom" 2013 Seattle USA)
Holy Wave - Spooky Fuckin' Blues ("Evil Hits" LP 2012 Austin, Texas USA)
Wall of Death - Marble Blues ("Main Obsession" LP 2012 Paris, France)
Magician - Fuck for Peace ("Golden State Psychedelia" compilation, late 1960's San Francisco USA)
Wooden Shjips - We Ask You To Ride ("Wooden Shjips" 2007 San Francisco, USA)
Six Organs of Admittance - Actaeon's Fall (Against the Hounds) ("Luminous Night" 2009
California USA)
Espers - Widow's Weeds ("Espers II" 2006)
Black Coral - Please Never (CD Single 2014 Adelaide, Australia)
Moon Duo - In A Cloud ("Shadow of the Sun" 2015 San Francisco, USA)
Glass Skies - Highway ("Glass Skies" EP 2014 Adelaide, Australia)
The Dunes - When You Wake Up ("Live at the Sound Lounge, Three D Radio" 2015 Adelaide Australia)
The Systemaddicts - Black [The Throb] ("Broken Hearted on the Nullarbor" 2015 AdelaideAustralia)
Richard Hell - (I Belong To The) Blank Generation ("Ork Records: New York, New York" compilation 2015 USA)
Alex Chilton - Can't Seem to Make You Mine [Seeds] ("Ork Records: New York, New York"
It's the first day of summer here in Adelaide, but you wouldn't know it - cold, raining and generally miserable! Hopefully I managed to cheer up a few listeners with my choice of music - including Harry, who was taking a well deserved rest to ward off an incipient lurgy!! This weeks show was a bit on the short but sweet side, only lasting for an hour, but I'll be back next week hosting the whole 2 hours for a change. Oh, and a belated congratulations to The Systemaddicts, who have made it to the Number 1 spot on Three D Radio's Top 20+1 chart with their new CD - and it's not even released yet!
Anyway, enough of my rambling - here's what I played ...
Wall of Death - Light My Fire [The Doors] ("A Psych Tribute to the Doors" 2014 USA)
Mr Elevator and the Brain Hotel - Are You Hypnotised? (7" single 2013 Los Angeles USA)
The Red Plastic Buddha - A House is Not A Hotel [Love] ("Songs for Mara"2014 Chicago USA)
Love - Seven and Seven Is ("Da Capo" LP 1967 USA)
Balduin - Shadows of Your Mind ("Post from Mars" LP 2014 Switzerland)
Balduin - In A Better Land ("Post from Mars" LP 2014 Switzerland)
Mick Ronson - Only After Dark ("Slaughter on 10th Avenue" LP 1974 UK)
White Candles - Monolith ("Flowers for Delia" 2014 Philadelphia USA)
The Wondermints - The Party ("Shots In The Dark" compilation 1996 USA)
The Tiki Tones - Monkey Farm ("Shots In The Dark" compilation 1996 USA )
The Playboys - Theme from Dr No (7" single 1965, taken from "Board Boogie - Surf & Twang from Downunder" compilation, 2002)
The Barbarellatones - Electric Pussycat (demo 2014 Hawaii, USA)
Flyying Colours - Running Late ("ROYGBIV" 2015 Melbourne, Australia)
and an acoustic version of Wall of Death's cover of "Light My Fire" - quite a bit different to the album version!
