The Barracudas are an English surf rock band formed in late 1978. The band's original line-up consisted of Jeremy Gluck (vocals), Robin Wills (guitar and vocals), Starkie Phillips (bass and vocals) and Adam Phillips (drums). Before the band recorded its first single, Starkie and Adam Phillips left the band.
The band is notable for their 1980 hit single "Summer Fun", which started with an excerpt from a 1960s spoof advertisement for the Plymouth Barracuda campaign. The song included dialogue where announcers had difficulty pronouncing the word barracuda. The single reached number 37 on the UK Singles Chart.
The band officially lasted until 1981 with a final performance in Madrid. There have been few occasional performances since.
The beginnings of the band can be traced back to the year of 1978 when Canadian-born Gluck met Wills at a Dead Fingers Talk concert. Here the pair bonded over a shared passion for "60's garage and psychedelic music ". They started off calling themselves the "R.A.F.", but eventually settled on the name of The Barracudas. The name was inspired by a song they both liked by The Standells.
Initially perceived as a novelty surf act due to their first album, subsequent recordings showed them to be a fierce garage rock and roll band in the mould of the 13th Floor Elevators and The Seeds. The band split in 1984, but reformed in 1989 to record "Wait For Everything," and then again in 2003. In 2005 they recorded the self-titled album on NDN. Throughout their career, their live performances have been energetic and frenetic.
Drop Out with The Barracudas is the debut studio album by English rock band The Barracudas,
released in 1981 by record label Zonophone. The US version released on
Voxx Records with an alternative cover features a revised track listing,
replacing Campus Tramp with Surfers Are Back.
Everything is original on Drop Out, though sources of inspiration aren't far off at any turn, however reused and remade. "Codeine" has a more epic swoop and cautionary feel than the Sonics gave to "Strychnine," and "I Saw My Death in a Dream Last Night" isn't quite the Electric Prunes, but the same sort of not-quite-borrowing crops up song for song, and not too badly at that. Some songs, such as "I Can't Pretend" and "This Ain't My Time," have just enough of a crisp kick to remind you that they were recorded in 1980 rather than 15 years earlier.
Generally speaking, though, one song title sums up the entire fun spirit of Drop Out: "I Wish It Could Be 1965 Again." [EMI's 2005 reissue of the album adds five B-sides (including one of the band's signature songs "Surfers Are Back!") and seven songs recorded in 1981 but never released.]
After the first attempt at their second album, the group lost drummer Nick Turner to the group Lords of the New Church. Afterwards, Jeremy Gluck and guitarist Robin Wills assembled a new The Barracudas group, that went on to record their second album Mean Time.
The Barracudas disbanded in 1984, after making their third and final album Endeavour to Persevere. However, in 2005, there became a growing interest regarding the reissue of their back catalogue. This resulted in Gluck and Wills reconnecting, and the two of them began composing again.
In 2014, the band reissued their Meantime album as a limited edition picture disc, under the reborn "Closer French" label.
Personnel
Jeremy Gluck – vocals
Robin Wills – guitar, vocals
David Buckley – synthesizer, bass guitar, vocals
Nick Turner – drums, vocals
Original Album
01. I Can't Pretend [0:02:37.57]
02. We're Living In Violent Times [0:02:50.30]
03. Don't Let Go [0:03:29.35]
04. Codeine [0:03:40.30]
05. This Ain't My Time [0:03:06.23]
06. I Saw My Death In A Dream Last Night [0:03:34.12]
07. Somewhere Outside [0:03:15.00]
08. Summer Fun [0:03:15.48]
09. His Last Summer [0:03:34.07]
10. Somebody [0:03:09.38]
11. Campus Tramp [0:02:53.70]
12. On The Strip [0:02:43.27]
13. California Lament [0:03:42.38]
14. (I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again [0:03:26.65]
Bonus Tracks : B-Sides
15. Chevy Baby [0:02:19.47]
16. Barracuda Waver [0:01:57.35]
17. Surfers Are Back! [0:02:17.40]
18. Rendezvous [0:01:56.23]
19. The KGB (Made A Man Out Of Me) [0:02:12.00]
Bonus Tracks : Unreleased, 1981
20. Ballad Of A Liar [0:03:33.30]
21. Gotta Get A Gun [0:02:29.32]
22. Grammar Of Misery [0:03:35.05]
23. I Can't Sleep [0:02:21.73]
24. On A Sunday [0:03:27.17]
25. Shades Of Today [0:03:02.33]
26. Summer Fun (Alternate Version) [0:02:43.50] (This track has a problem)
Air are a French music duo from Versailles, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel.
Dunckel grew up listening to both classical music and electronic music, especially Kraftwerk. Next, he took an interest in what he called the "English dark rock" of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division, while being a fan of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. Brian Eno and Cluster were two of the electronic acts who inspired him the most. He cited among his favorite artists: Maurice Ravel for classical music, François de Roubaix for music soundtracks and Siouxsie and the Banshees for pop music. Dunckel shared with Godin a special liking for the music of Michel Legrand, Philip Glass and Grace Jones.
During his childhood, Godin was fascinated by the Beatles before later discovering the soul of Sly and the Family Stone. The duo were influenced by progressive rock pioneers Pink Floyd.
The Virgin Suicides is a score composed by French electronic music duo Air for the 1999 film of the same name by Sofia Coppola. It was released on 23 February 2000 by Virgin Records. The album was nominated for Best Soundtrack at the 2001 Brit Awards.
Godin and Dunckel have a larger arsenal of instruments here. The bulk of the equipment implemented still seems to be a diverse assortment of analog keyboards, but Air also incorporate those dependable traditional rock instruments, guitar and bass. It's a marked improvement from the synth surplus of their previous material. The band also seems more influenced by the melodic psychedelic rock of the late 60's and early 70's than before.
The French edition of Rolling Stone magazine placed The Virgin Suicides at number 49 on their list of the 100 essential French rock albums. In 2014, NME placed the album at number 11 on their "61 of the Greatest Film Soundtracks Ever" list. In 2019, Pitchfork placed the album at number 4 on their "Top 50 Best Movie Scores of All Time" list.
[ AllMusic Review by John Bush
Two years after the arrival of their debut album, the French twosome Air returned, not with a proper sophomore LP, but with The Virgin Suicides, a full soundtrack to the directing debut of Sofia Coppola.
Only one track, "Playground Love," has vocals, and that comes from an outsider (Gordon Tracks) who sounds more like the Auteurs' Luke Haines than Beth Hirsch, the only real vocalist employed previously. The trademarked Air sound is for the most part unchanged; as on Moon Safari, producers Godin and Dunckel rely on contemplative electronic mood-music in a minor key, heavy on the analog synth and organ yet with plenty of traditional textures (guitar, brass, strings, live-sounding drums) in keeping with lounge music and space-pop from the 1960s and '70s.
And though all the music here is as meticulously detailed as the tracks on Moon Safari, the soundtrack cultivates an atmosphere more in league with traditional scoring -- instead of focusing on pop songs in an electronic context, Air constructed these tracks as mere soundbytes, simple themes with little embellishment on the basic ideas. Of course, that's perfectly in keeping with the secondary role soundtracks should play to truly serve the movies for which they're composed.
Listeners eager for a second dose of the exquisite electronic pop found on Moon Safari will be pleased with much of The Virgin Suicides, but will probably have to wait until Air's proper follow-up to find more evidence of their greatness.]
On 3 June 2010, Air performed the full score with the band Hot Rats (with members of Supergrass) at the Cité de la Musique in Paris.
AIR – Original Motion Picture Score For The Virgin Suicides
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock
Year: 2000
Air discography
Moon Safari (1998)
10 000 Hz Legend (2001)
Talkie Walkie (2004)
Pocket Symphony (2007)
Love 2 (2009)
Le Voyage Dans La Lune (2012)
Soundtrack albums:
The Virgin Suicides (2000)
Music for Museum (2014)
Extended plays:
Premiers Symptômes (1997)
Collaborative albums:
City Reading (Tre Storie Western) (2003)
Mix and remix albums:
Everybody Hertz (2002)
Late Night Tales (2006)
Compilation albums:
Twentyears (2016)
TRACKS
01. Playground Love 3:32
02. Clouds Up 1:30
03. Bathroom Girl 2:25
04. Cemetary Party 2:36
05. Dark Messages 2:28
06. The Word 'Hurricane' 2:33
07. Dirty Trip 6:12
08. Highschool Lover (theme from The Virgin Suicides) 2:42
Various Artists - Pebbles, Vol. 12 Subtitled: The World, Original '60s Punk & Beat Classics 1999 Archive International Productions (AIP) CD cat. #: AIP CD 5029
Pebbles, Volume 12: The World is a compilation album featuring psychedelic and garage rock musical artists from outside North America and the UK that were active in the 1960s. It is a compact disc installment of the Pebbles series and was released on AIP Records on October 5, 1999.
Though the album specifies that all the recordings were produced outside North America and the UK,
the Rokes, the Shamrocks, and the Scorpions were British outfits who moved abroad across continental Europe. Despite the geographically wide-array of material, most of the groups were heavily influenced by bands of the British Invasion. Musical highlights include the Shamrocks' R&B single, "Midnight Train", which was not included on their cult classic album. A unique French cover version of John Mayall's "I'm Your Witchdoctor", retitled "Curieux Docteur", is performed by Noel Deschamps. Additionally, Sir Henry and His Butlers' "Pretty Style" exhibits psychedelic pop and exotic sitar instrumentals.
Pebbles, Volume 12: The World was the first reissue for nearly all of its contents. Although some of the songs are covered by other artists to an extent that they are more common than others, the album also marks the most commercially accessible release of the material in the U.S. and the UK.
[ This collection features 27 mid-'60s beat/punk singles from bands outside North America and the U.K., although a few of these bands were actually British outfits that moved abroad (the Rokes
to Italy, and the Shamrocks and the Scorpions to Germany). Most of these singles have not been previously reissued. To their credit, the compilers have cast their net far and wide, encompassing not just continental Europe, but also New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and even Lebanon.
The chief flaw of the volume is one that afflicts many such '60s anthologies: there are too many covers of songs (often R&B classics, like "Roadrunner" and "I Can Tell") that were done better by much more famous British bands. Nonetheless, there are some class selections here, particularly when the bands go out of the routine R&B rave-up orbit into poppier or more psychedelic territory.
Among the more satisfying entries are the Four Rockets' (from Belgium) "The Place Where She Lives," with its mod chords; the Shamrocks' hot R&B single "Midnight Train" (which is not on their cult-favorite album); and Noel Deschamps' fine French cover of John Mayall's "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (retitled "Curieux Docteur"). Los Salvages' (from Spain) "Las Overjitas" is as raw a bash as continental bands managed; Japan's Bunnys merge British Invasion guitar with the Shadows on "Moanin'"; and Sir Henry & His Butlers' (from Denmark) "Pretty Style" is trance-inducing pop psychedelia with sitar.
Richie Unterberger, AllMusic ]
TRACK LISTING:
01. The Bunnys [Japan] / Moanin' - 02:36 02. The Four Rockets [Belgium] / The Place Where She Lives - 02:41 03. The Shamrocks [Germany] / Midnight Train - 02:48 04. The Shake Spears [Belgium] / I Can't Tell - 02:20 05. The Henchmen [Australia] / Baby What's Wrong - 02:18 06. The Phantoms [Holland] / Roadrunner - 03:03 07. The Klan [Belgium] / Already Mine - 02:10 08. The Merrymen [Sweden] / Walking Down Lonesome Road - 02:01 09. The Nicols [Holland] / She Had A Name To Find Out - 02:46 10. Noel Deschamps [France] / I'm Your Whitchdoctor - 02:09 11. The Odd Persons [Germany] / I'm Cryin - 02:40 12. The Scorpions [Holland] / Baby Back Now - 03:19 13. Honestmen [Holland] / I've Been Wrong - 01:52 14. The Rokes [Italy] / She Asks Of You - 02:09 15. John Wooley and Just Born [Belgium] / Look And You Will Find - 03:30 16. John Wooley and Just Born [Belgium] / You're Lying - 02:43 17. The Shirrows [Norway] / Not For Me - 02:47 18. The Cedars [Lebanon] / Hide If You Want To Hide - 02:36 19. Evariste [France] / Connais-tu L'Animal Qui Inventa Le Calcul Integral - 02:39 20. Sir Henry and his Butlers [Denmark] / Pretty Style - 02:49 21. Los Salvages [Spain] / Las Ovejias - 02:34 22. The Tonics [Germany] / Daddy - 03:06 23. 5 Gentlemen [France] / Dis-Nous Dylan - 03:52 24. The Pleazers [New Zealand] / Bald Headed Woman - 02:47 25. The Entertainers [Holland] / Searching - 02:45 26. Satins [Portugal] / Too Much Monkey Business - 03:37 27. Brothers Grimm [Australia] / Beautiful Delilah - 02:19
Playing time...1:12:57
Everything NUGGETS II should have been and more!
After the abysmal VOL. 10 of the PEBBLES series, VOL. 12: THE WORLD is the quintessential compendium of international garage rock, from Japan to Sweden and back again, covering some of the least expected countries on the globe (Lebanon, too!).
Kicking off with a Japanese instrumental, "Moanin'", packed with marvelous wall-to-wall guitar and keyboard work by The Bunnys, the CD never lets up from there! Belgium's The Four Rockets' go Merseybeat with a vengeance in "The Place Where She Lives" and Germany's The Shamrocks go to town on "Midnight Train". Other highlights include: The Shake Spears' "I Can Tell" (Belgium), The Henchmen's "Baby What's Wrong" (Australia), The Phantoms' "Roadrunner" (France), The Klan's "Already Mine" (Belgium), The Merrymen's "Walking Down Lonesome Road" (Sweden), The Nicols' "She Had a Name to Find Out" (Holland), ah hell, every single track is an exciting discovery you'll love! If I had to choose a favorite, it would be Evariste's "Connais-tu l'animal que inventa le calcul integral?", a French-language oddity, plastering to vinyl a schizophrenic's bad acid trip.
Were you disappointed with NUGGETS II, that huge boxed set with only a few really great rock-out tunes and too much psychedelia and Beatles rip-offs? Well, here is the real deal: 27 tracks of international garage/punk genius, every one of 'em a classic. Don't hesitate to go on this global trip through the hidden gems of Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand!
Volume 12 of the Pebbles series (which, curiousy, was released before volume 11) takes listeners around the world, serving up 27 tracks of globetrotting garage rock madness! Now, any fan of
international garage can probably tell ya that those boys and girls overseas knew how to rock just as hard as the U.S. of A., and can often outdo their stateside counterparts.
This set certainly makes a
good case for it; these songs rule! I mean, just listen to "Moanin'," an eye-wateringly wild instrumental courtesy of Japan' own the Bunnys. Lead stringman Tekashi Terauchi rips his guitar apart, unleashing unholy clouds of pure rockin' noise for your listening pleasure.
There's also the acid-tinged sneerfest of "Already Mine," courtesy of Belgium's Klan, and "Midnight Train," a mind damaging boogie from Germany's own Shamrocks. The Four Rockets (also from Belgium) provide a punked-up British Invasion-style pounder by the name of "The Place Where She
Lives," and a French hero by the name of Noel Deschamps does a world-burning cover of "I'm Your Witchdoctor." The (Portugese) Satins do a way-cool take on Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business," and the Cedars (dig this: they're from Lebanon!) contribute a classic piece of teen sneer by the name of "Hide If You Want To Hide."
And there's the Phantoms (Holland), who do an absolutely unbelievable version of Bo Diddley's "Roadrunner." It's a literal screamer, with the kind of unbridled insanity that makes garage rock so much fun in the first place. France's Evariste contributes another (equally appeling) all-out weirdo by the name of "Connais-to L'animal Que Inventa Le Calcul Integral?" (My French isn't great, but I believe it means something along the lines of "Do You Know The Animal Who Invented Integral Calculus?"). Anyway, get it. You'll love it!
5 Gentlemen [France] / Dis-Nous Dylan
English translation
Tell Us, Dylan
Tell us, tell us Dylan
Tell us, tell us Donovan
Tell us if the word "drum" has eventually found a way to love
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
Tell us, tell us Dylan
Tell us, tell us Donovan
Tell us whether or not the UN soldier is fighting for a cause already lost
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
Tell us, tell us Dylan
Tell us, tell us Donovan
Do you believe that thanks to your songs one day the world will answer all our questions?
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
Tell us, tell us Dylan
Tell us, tell us Donovan
Do you sing about love and war, peace, bombs, racism and misery?
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
English translation
A
A
Tell Us, Dylan
Tell us, tell us Dylan
Tell us, tell us Donovan
Tell us if the word "drum" has eventually found a way to love
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
Tell us, tell us Dylan
Tell us, tell us Donovan
Tell us whether or not the UN soldier is fighting for a cause already lost
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
Tell us, tell us Dylan
Tell us, tell us Donovan
Do you believe that thanks to your songs one day the world will answer all our questions?
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
Oh oh Dylan
Oh Donovan
Tell us, tell us Dylan
Tell us, tell us Donovan
Do you sing about love and war, peace, bombs, racism and misery?
The Pebbles CD series, released by AIP Records in the years 1992-2007:
Volume 1: Various Misfits, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5016] - Released 1992 Volume 2: Various Hooligans, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5019] - Released 1992 Volume 3: Various Burnouts - The Acid Gallery, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5020] - Released 1992 Volume 4: Various Hodads - Surf N Tunes!, Original Rare '60s Surf/Rod Classics [AIP CD 5021] - Released 1992 Volume 5: Various Morons, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5022] - Released 1992 Volume 6: Chicago 1, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5023] - Released 1994 Volume 7: Chicago 2, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5024] - Released 1994 Volume 8: Southern California 1, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5025] - Released 1996 Volume 9: Southern California 2, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5026] - Released 1996 Volume 10: Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5027] - Released 1996 Volume 11: Northern California, Original '60s Punk & Psych Classics [AIP CD 5028] - Released 2007 [NOT a typo! Vol. 11 was actually released 8 years AFTER vol. 12!]. Due to legal issues this CD was withdrawn soon after release. Volume 12: The World, Original '60s Punk & Beat Classics [AIP CD 5029] - Released 1999 [NOT a typo! Vol. 12 was actually released 8 years BEFORE vol. 11!]
The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng (born September 18, 1955, New York, New York) and Jan Marek Pakulski (born August 23, 1956, Lewiston, Maine), two roommates who discovered that a previous tenant had left behind some instruments in the basement of the house they were renting. Streng, on guitar, and Pakulski, on bass, were soon joined by neighborhood friends Peter Zaremba (born September 16, 1954), Queens, New York) on harmonica, keyboards, and vocals, and Lenny Calderon (born 1958), New York City) on drums.
In 1980, with the Red Star Records album not released (but later issued on cassette on ROIR, and subsequently on CD and vinyl), the Fleshtones were signed by Miles Copeland III at I.R.S. Records, where they worked with producers Richard Mazda and Richard Gottehrer.
Roman Gods is the first album by The Fleshtones. Trouser Press called it a "big leap forward" from the band's debut EP, Up-Front, noting that its adds "new personality and passion to the beat". The album was largely recorded at Skyline Studios in New York City in June 1981, with the exception of one track ("The World Has Changed"), which was recorded at RKO Studios in London in February 1981, and produced by Richard Mazda. The record sleeve was designed by lead singer Peter Zaremba. The song Shadow-line (to J. Conrad) was performed by The Fleshtones in the concert film Urgh! A Music War.
[ AllMusic Review by Mark Deming
In the 1980s, of the dozens of bands who were mining the sounds of '60s garage rock for inspiration, few were smarter or wittier about it than the Fleshtones; lots of folks might have sounded more like the Knaves or the Remains or whatever band they chose to embrace as a sonic template, but Peter Zaremba, Keith Streng, and their partners in Super Rock were able to communicate heart, soul, and actual thought instead of a mere awestruck nostalgia.
The Fleshtones could also rock pretty hard, and were willing to mix up their influences a bit (not many nuevo garage bands would pick Lee Dorsey as the source of their album's sole cover tune). There's never been a real substitute for seeing the Fleshtones live (not even their live album quite fills
the quota), but Roman Gods does a fine job of getting their ideas down on plastic with muscle, enthusiasm, and creative thinking, and it boasts several of their best songs, including the hard-charging "R-I-G-H-T-S," the moody "Shadow Line," the rollicking "I've Gotta Change My Life" (good advice!), and the title cut, easily the finest Kingsmen tune ever written by some guys from New York 20 years after "Louie Louie" was a hit. It's cool, it's not dumb, and it sounds great at a party -- Roman Gods is everything you've ever wanted in a garage revival album, and more!]
It was at this time that the band replaced Calderon with drummer Bill Milhizer (born September 21, 1948, Troy, New York), and appeared in the British punk/new wave film Urgh! A Music War, and released its first EP Up-Front. Four albums on I.R.S. followed: Roman Gods (1982), Hexbreaker!! (1983), and the live Speed Connection and Speed Connection II (1985). In 1982, they appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand TV show. In 1984 they re-recorded "American Beat" as part of the soundtrack of the Tom Hanks's movie Bachelor Party.
Despite having a large cult following, the band never achieved commercial success: Roman Gods debuted at No. 174 on Billboard’s album chart, the highest position that a Fleshtones album has attained.
The Fleshtones played at a CBGB 30th Anniversary show along with The Dictators in December 2003, and in August 2004 played Little Steven's Underground Garage Festival at Randalls Island in New York City with 39 other bands, including The New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, The Strokes, and Bo Diddley.
The Fleshtones signed with Yep Roc Records in 2003, which has released the albums Do You Swing? (2003), Beachhead (2005), Take A Good Look (2008), Stocking Stuffer (2008), Brooklyn Sound Solution (2011), Wheel Of Talent (2014), and The Band Drinks For Free (2016), as well as the EP Quatro X Quatro (2012), the compilation Budget Buster (2017), and several singles.
In September 2016, the Fleshtones toured China for the first time in the band's career. The tour was organized by Shanghai-based punk band Round Eye.
TRACKS
01. The Dreg (Fleshtone-77) - Keith Streng, Peter Zaremba 3:17
02. I've Gotta Change My Life - Keith Streng, Peter Zaremba 2:32
03. Stop Fooling Around! - Peter Zaremba 4:06
04. Hope Come Back - Keith Streng, Peter Zaremba 2:25
05. The World Has Changed - Keith Streng, Peter Zaremba 3:10
06. R-I-G-H-T-S - Keith Streng, Peter Zaremba 2:32
07. Let's See the Sun - Peter Zaremba 2:40
08. Shadow-line (to J. Conrad) - Keith Streng, Peter Zaremba 3:13
09. Chinese Kitchen - Keith Streng, Gordon Spaeth 2:12
10. Ride Your Pony - N. Neville 3:21
11. Roman Gods - The Fleshtones 4:40
The Fleshtones
Bill Milhizer – drums
Jan Marek Pakulski – bass guitar
Keith Streng – guitar
Gordon Spaeth – alto saxophone, harmonica, art direction
