The following is a discography of New York garage bands, including
teen combos and professional
'discotheque' bands (note: the following does not include Upstate NY or
Long Island bands,
and unless specified the band was either based out of Manhattan or various
boros).
ADAM
"Eve" b/w "Where Has My Little Girl Gone" (Mala 547)
Released December 1966
A cool psyched-out Byrds hypnotic tune on the a-side, featuring several
members who performed under different monickers afterwards, including the
Balloon Farm and Huck Finn. "Eve" was comped on both Incredible
Sound Show Stories Volume 7 and A Lethal Dose Of Hard Psych.
BALLOON FARM
"A Question Of Temperature" b/w "Hurtin' For Your Love"
(Laurie 3405) Released September 1967
"A Question..." was comped a ton of times -- Acid Dreams,
Boulders Volume 4, Mindrocker Volume 3, etc. -- most recently
on the Nuggets boxset, while "Hurtin' For..." can be found
on Turds On A Bum Ride Volume 6.
BAY RIDGE
"I Can't Get Her Out Of My Mind" b/w "Backtrack"(Atlantic
2431) Released July 1967
"I Will Wait" b/w "Without You Released" (Atlantic 2520)
Released June 1968
A Brooklyn-based group.
BEACHNUTS
"Iconoclastic Life" b/w "Nature's Company" (Showcase
9902) Released 1967
The a-side shows up on compilations and in reference 'zines as being recorded
by a Chicago area group -- not so, The Beachnuts were from Brooklyn! And
there is no connection to the Beachnuts with which Lou Reed was involved.
BEATEN PATH
"Dr. Stone" b/w "Never Never" (Jubilee 5556) Released
December 1966
Yup, an ace version of the Leaves tune. Not from California as suggested,
but from Brooklyn. "Dr. Stone"" is comped on Boulders
Volume 14.
BIT 'A SWEET
"Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind" b/w "Is It On, Is It Off"
(MGM 13695) Released February 1967
Killer version of "Out Of Sight...," also done by the Marauders
on Laurie, among others. A top draw at the big discotheques in NYC. This
boro-band had another 45 that's not garage, and an LP. "Is It On..."
was used as the theme song to a sexplotation flick Blonde On A Bum Trip
and there's a clip of the group performing the song at the beginning of
the movie. "Out Of Sight..." is comped on Psychedelic Unknowns
Volume 4.
BLUE CHIPS
"Where" b/w "Keep Looking For Love" (Roaring 804 ) Released
1967
Rego Park, Queens-basd group.
CHAIN REACTION
"When I Needed You" b/w "The Sun" (Date 1538) Released
October 1966
Steve Tallerico's (later Tyler) teen combo from Yonkers. The songs were
cut in Manhattan. Steve left and headed up to New Hampshire. "When
I Needed You" is comped on Psychedelic Unknowns Volume 4.
CHARLIE BROWN'S GENERATION
"Fast Retreatin' Female" b/w "Trash" (Atco 6438) Released
September 1966
Cool movin' two-sider from the Big Apple -- possibly comped. And yes, there
really was a guy in the group named Charlie Brown
CLOUDWALKERS
"Sunglasses" b/w "Never Told Me So" (Capco 106) Released
July 1965
You can find the a-side on a California Pebbles compilation, but
this group never set foot west -- they were from Brooklyn!
CREATION'S DISCIPLE
"Psychedelic Retraction" b/w "I'll Remember" (Dawn 309)
Released 1966 *
* Promo copies were released on red wax
The flipped out a-side was worked up in the studio on the day of recording!
The leader of the group told me he's got tapes of unreleased stuff, all
originals. From the South Bronx, where they'd get killed today! "Psychedelic
Retraction" is comped on both Destination Frantic! and Psychedelic
Unknowns Volume 4.
CURTISS, JIMMY
"Psychedelic Situation" b/w "Gone But Not Forgotten"
(Laurie 3383) Released April 1967
Based in Bayside, Queens. Recorded several other 45s for Warner Brothers
and United Artists, none of which qualify as garage. "Psychedelic Situation"
is comped on Pebbles #16.
DENIMS
"The Adler Sock" b/w "The Adler Sock" (Columbia AD 1)
Released 1965 *
"I'm Your Man" b/w "Ya Ya" (Columbia 43312) Released
July 1965
"Sad Girl" b/w "Everybody Let's Dance" (Columbia 4-43367)
Released 1965
"Salty Dog Man" b/w "Salty Dog" w/PS (Cavort 122322)
Released April 1966 **
"The Ghost In Your House Is Me" b/w "I Do Love You Baby"
(Mercury 72572) Released April 1966
"White Ship" b/w "Salty Dog Man" (Mercury 72613) Released
August 1966
* Promotional issue for the Adler Sock Company.
** Promotional issue for Scrub Denim Jeans.
Manhattan-based band whose song/advertisment for "The Adler Sock"
can be heard on High In The Mid-Sixties Volume 9. They also were
comped on Mindrocker Volume 7 ("I'm Your Man"), Pebbles
#7 ("White Ship"), Fistful Of Fuzz ("White Ship"),
Essntial Pebbles Volume Two ("I'm Your Man") and most recently
on Fuzz, Flakes & Shakes #2: The Day Breaks At Dawn ("Salty
Dog Man"). Not the same Denims who featured future guitar-wizard Adrian
Belew.
DESCENDANTS
"Lela" b/w "Garden Of Eden" (MTA 112) Released October
1966
Lots of groups on this label were from CA, but not these guys -- they were
from Yonkers and the Bronx. "Lela" was comped on Pebbles #7.
FIRST CROW TO THE MOON
"Spend Your Life" b/w "Sun Lights Up The Shadows Of Your
Mind" (Roulette 4774) Released October 1967
Brooklyn-based group. Both sides of their single, plus a previously unreleased
cut are comped on Psychedelic Microdots Volume 3, while the a-side
can be heard on Psychedelic Unknowns Volume 2 and the flip on Psychedelic
Unknowns Volume 7.
FOUR FIFTHS
"She'll Hurt You In The End" b/w "Life Goes Movin On"
(Associated Studios Acetate)
"If You Still Want Me" b/w "Have You Ever Loved A Girl"
(Columbia 43913) Released November 1966
Their single is my personal pick for the top folk-rocker ever., with the
a-side comped on Pebbles #7 and Essential Pebbles Volume Two.
These 13-16 years olds from Manhatten -- who once played a Long Island gig
with The Fugs! -- also had an unreleased acetate you can hear via Teenage
Shutdown #8.
FOUR OF US
"I Don t Need No One" b/w "Iga Diga Doo" (Brunswick
55288) Released January 1966
Woodhaven, Queens-based group.
FUGITIVES
"Mean Woman" b/w "I'll Be A Man" (Columbia 43261) Released
March 1965
"Your Girl's A Woman" b/w "She Believes In Me" (Mala
533 ) Released June 1966
"Mean Women" is comped on Mindrocker Volume 7.
GILES STRANGE
"You're Goin Up To The Bottom" b/w "Watch The People Dance"
(Boom 60022) Released 1967
Features members of the Strangeloves.
GO-BETWEENS
"Have You For My Own" b/w "Knock Knock" (Cheer 1011)
Released 1965
Corona, Queens-based group.
GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY
"Wasted" b/w "Heartless Hurdy Gurdy" (ABC 11206) Released
May 1969
GROUND FLOOR PEOPLE
"It's All Right Now" b/w "Walkin On Eggs" (Parfait 91666)
Released September 1966
"Treat Me Better" b/w "Workaday World" (Mercury 72719)
Released July 1967
Bronx-based group.
GURUS
"Come Girl" b/w "Blue Snow Night" w/PS (UA 50089) Released
October 1966
"It Just Won't Be That Way" b/w "Everybody s Got To Be Alone
Sometime" (UA 50140) Releasd March 1967
"It Just Won't..." is comped on A Heavy Dose of Lyte Psych.
HATCHETMEN
"I'll Give You Love" b/w "I Must Be In Love" (Comet
2166) Released November 1964
HOUSEHOLD SPONGE
"Scars" b/w "Second Best" (Murbo 1017) Released 1967
Brooklyn-based group. Both sides are comped on Garagelands #2.
INNKEEPERS
"Never Should Have Done It" b/w "Wanted" (Galiko 895)
Released October 1966
Bayside, Queens-based group.
JERRY & THE GEMS
"Last Stop" b/w "Summertime" (Heigh-Ho 630 ) Released
April 1966
Bronx-based group.
KEEPERS
"She Understands" b/w "Lost Love" (Bravura 6003) Released May 1965
Brooklyn-based group. "Lost Love" is comped on Misty Lane's Leavin' It All Behind.
KING BEES
"What She Does To Me" b/w "That Ain t Love" (RCA-Victor
8688) Released October 1965
"On Your Way Down The Drain" b/w "R&B" (RCA-Victor
8787) Released March 1966
"Lost In The Shuffle" b/w "Hardly (Part 3)" (RCA-Victor
8979) Released October 1966
This Manhattan-based band featured Danny Kortchmar, a 'famous' producer
in the '70s. "Lost In The Shuffle" is comped on Mindrocker
Volume 9.
LEATHER BOY (a.k.a. MILAN)
"I'm A Leather Boy" b/w "Shadows" w/PS (MGM 13724) Released
April 1967
"On The Go" b/w "Soulin" w/PS (MGM 13790) Released August
1967
"You Gotta Have Soul" b/w "My Prayer" (Flower 100) Released
1967
Manhattan-based band fronted by Milan Radenkovich, who also cut 45s on Brunswick
in 1966 under the name The World Of Milan and for Phillips under the name
The Unclaimed. Both "I'm A Leather Boy" and "Shadows"
are comped on Pebbles #11; "On The Go" and "Soulin'"
are comped on A Journey To Tyme Volume 5.
LIVE WIRES
"The Mask" b/w "Keep It To Yourself" (Boom 60015) Released
June 1966
LIVING END
"Turkey Stomp" b/w I Need A Lot Of Lovin" (Mira 215) Released
December 1965
Brooklyn-based band who recorded for a California label.
MAJIC SHIP
"Green Plant" b/w "Night Time Music" (B.T. Puppy 548)
Released 1969
Brooklyn-based band who also released several hard-rock 45s on Crazy Horse.
MAVERICKS
"When I m Gone" b/w "Life Ain t No Bucket Of Roses..."
(20th Century- Fox 595) Released April 1965
Brooklyn-based band.
MINITMEN
"Smokin' In the Boys Room" b/w "Rollin In Money" (Rust
5103) Released July 1965
"Smokin' In The..." is comped on Mindrocker Volume 8.
MISSING LINKS
"Don t Hang Me Up" b/w "Show Me The Way" (Sock-It 203)
Released 1968
Brooklyn-based band.
MUSTACHE WAX
"I'm Gonna Get You" b/w "On My Mind" (Inner 501/2) Released
November 1965
Teen combo based out of Kew Gardens, Queens and the Bronx. "I'm Gonna
Get You" is comped on High In The Mid-Sixties Volume 13, while
the flip is on Sixties Rebellion Volume 5.
NEW ORDER
"You've Got Me High" b/w "Meet Your Match" (Warner Brothers
5816) Released May 1966
"Why Can t I" b/w "Pucci Girl" (Warner Brothers 5836)
Released August 1966
No, not the '80s losers! A top discotheque group who also recorded a lounge-y
third 45 for WB. The first two a-sides are great, with "Why Can't I,"
featuring a cool-secret agent man riff, killer harmonies, and a tuff guitar
break.
OUTSIDERS
"The Guy With The Long Liverpool Hair" b/w "The Outsider"
(Karate 505) Released 1965
Brooklyn-based band.
PEBBLE EPISODE
"Tripsy" b/w "The Plum Song" (J-2 1300) Released October
1967
Brooklyn-based band. "Tripsy" -- comped on Beyond The Calico
Wall -- is a cool, psych instro. Note: some copies were released as
by Vincent Oddo in error. Oddo was not a group member; but the owner/operator
of the recording studio where the songs were cut.
PLASTIK PEEPLE
"Wait" b/w "Work" (Sanfris 31) Released November 1968
Bayside, Queens-based group.
PRESENT
"I Know" b/w "Many's The Slip Twixt The Cup & The Lip"
(Philips 40466) Released June 1967
Brooklyn-based band.
PRIMATES
"Knock On My Door" b/w "She" (Marko 923) Released September 1965
"Don t Press Your Luck" b/w "Cathy" (Marko 924) Released January 1966
Astoria, Queens-based group. "Knock On My Door" is comped on Chosen Few Volume 2,
"She" is on Fuzz, Flakes, & Shakes Volume Four and "Don't Press Your Luck" is
on Garage Punk Unknowns Volume One.
QUADRANGLE
"She's Too Familiar Now" b/w "No More Time" (Philips
40408) Released October 1966
A studio-only group from the Manhattan. "She's Too..." is comped
on The Chosed Few Volume Two.
RARE BREED
"Beg Borrow And Steal" b/w "Jeri's Theme" (Attack 1401)
Released May 1966 *
* Some pressings credit tile as "Beg Borrow Or Steal" in error.
A Brooklyn/Bronx-based group, with the original version. They had another
45, "Come And Take A Ride In My Boat" later in the year, which
went nowhere until Every Mother's Son redid the song in '67. The guys were
fired by their producers for not "playing ball" (i.e. doing what
they were told). The exact track was rereleased as the Ohio Express in '67,
who were actually Sir Timothy & the Royals, from Mansfield, Ohio under
a new name. There is no connection to the Rare Breed, despite what you may
read in reference books. "Beg Borrow And Steal" is comped on the
Nuggets boxset.
RAVES
"Mother Nature" b/w "Mister Man" (Smash 2088) Released
April 1967
"Don t Chop Down My Tree" b/w "Think Of Your Love" (Smash
2015) Released July 1967
"Everything's Fire" b/w "Sing Children Sing" (Smash
2162) Released April 1968
Brooklyn-based group. "Don't Chop Down My Tree" is a killer Easybeats-type
number. There's a bunch of unreleased stuff in the can, too. "Mother
Nature" is comped on Echoes In Time Volume 1 and Beyond The
Calico Wall (CD version) while "Don't Chop Down My Tree" is
on Psychedelic Unknowns Volume 9.
REVELERS
"It Just Can't Be" b/w "Don't Listen To Your Friends"
(PJ 1400) Released May 1964
Brooklyn-based band.
RITES
"Hour Girl" b/w "Things" (Decca 32218) Released November
1967
ROAD'S END
"When I Look At You" b/w "Why" (Brahma 62261) Released
June 1966
"When I Look ..." is comped on Psychedelic Unknowns Volume
7.
SAINTS
"Girl Forgive Me" b/w "Don't Make Me Wait Around" (Raydin
101) Released April 1967
Cited on compilations as being from New England, but the group was actually
from the Bronx.
SAVAGES
"Cheating On Me" b/w "Best Thing You Ever Had" (Red
Fox 111) Released May 1966
A tuff girl-putdown punker by a Brooklyn group that is on a few comps, including
Cicadelic Sixties Volume 5.
SCOUNDRELS
"Come Home With Me" b/w "La Bola" (Verve 10389) Released
March 1966
"Up There" b/w "Devil's Daughter" (ABC-Paramount 10834)
Released September 1966
"Easy" b/w "The Scoundrels" (ABC-Paramount 10892) Released
December 1966
"Up There" is comped on Punk Classics Volume 2, while "Come
Home With Me" is on Psychedelic Unknowns Volume 11.
SHADES
"Cry Over You" b/w "The 5th Of September" (Rapa 2010)
Released November 1964
Queens-based group.
SHANE
"Don't Turn Me Off" b/w "That Girl Of Mine" (Brent 7047)
Released September 1965
Both sides on this single are comped on Mindrocker Volume 13.
SHEEP
"Hide And Seek" b/w "Twelve Months Later" (Boom 60000)
Released 1966
"I Feel Good" b/w "Dynamite" (Boom 60007) Released 1966
Sheep was a recording pseudonymn of The Strangeloves, although an actual
group called The Sheep was signed by The Strangeloves crew to record for
their publishing outfit. One song exists on acetate only. "Hide And
Seek" is comped on Garage Monsters.
SINTRIFICAL FOURS
"(You Put Me Through) Changes" b/w "The Music Got To Me"
(Mr.G 807) Released January 1968
"Flashin Thunderbolts Of Jupiter" b/w "Queen Of My Hear"
(Mr.G 812) Released May 1968
Queens-based group.
SOUP GREENS
"Like A Rolling Stone" b/w "That's Too Bad" (Golden
Rule 5000) Released May 1966
The A side is a classic -- comped on Pebbles #1 -- by a quintet from
Brooklyn, though one member called Staten Island home. (Does anybody admit
to livin' there?) "That's Too Bad" is comped on Psychotic Reactions.
SPIRIT
"Man Enough For You Baby" b/w "No Time To Rhyme" (Roulette
4757) Released July 1967
Flushing, Queens-based group with no relation to the California group with
45s on Ode. Both sides of this single are comped on Pebbles #13.
"No Time To Rhyme" is also featured on Psychedelic Unknowns
Volume 8 and "Man Enough For You" on Essential Pebbles Volume
Two.
STITCHES
"I'm Looking For You Baby" b/w "Hey You" (Goal 101)
Released September 1966
SUNRISERS
"I Saw Her Yesterday" b/w "No One" (Patty 101) Released
October 1966
Little Neck/Whitestone, Queens-based group.
THIRD EVOLUTION
"Don't Play With Me" b/w "Gone Gone Gone" (Dawn 306)
Released June 1966
"Everybody Needs Somebody" b/w "You're Gonna Lose The Only..."
(Dawn 312) Released Oct 66
Bronx-based group. Both sides were comped on Pebbles #11, while "Don't
Play with Me" also appears -- in much better quality -- on Teenage
Shutdown #7: Get A Move On.
TIDES IN
"Trip With Me" b/w "Go Away From My Door" (Sanfris 18)
Released November 1967
Teens from Woodhaven, Queens. "Trip With Me" is comped on Chosen
Few #2.
UNCLAIMED
"Memories Of Green Eyes" b/w "Jingle Jangle" (Philips
40430) Released Febuary 1967
Recording pseudonymn for Milan (also see Leather Boy and World Of Milan)
UPWARD MOVEMENT
"Whatever Happened To Us" b/w "Won't You Help A Poor Man
Out" (Sanfris 38) Released April 1969
Richmond Hills/Ozone Park, Queens-based group.
WHAT FOUR
"I'm Gonna Destroy That Boy" b/w "Ain t No Use..." w/PS
(Columbia 43843) Released October 1966
WORLD OF MILAN
"Luva-Luva" b/w "Cry, Lonely Boy" (ABC-Paramount 10718)
Released August 65
"One Track Mind" / "Shades Of Blue" (Brunswick 55298)
Released June 66
See Leather Boy and The Unclaimed.
YO-YOs
"Crack In My Wall" b/w "The Raven" (Coral 62501) Released
October 1966
Cool, cryptic two-sider (the flip borrows Poe's famous poem and puts it
to music). Most of the guys were students at New York University. "Crack
In My Wall" is comped on Essential Pebbles Volume Two.
YOUNG EXECUTIVES
"Come On In Baby" b/w "Everybody Do The Duck" (Mercury
72524) Released December 1965
(Mike is in the process of compiling what is to be THEE BIBLE
of American 1960s
garage-rock, Teenbeat Mayhem. Mike also does research for many of
the compilations
you know and love as well as writing for 'zines like the excellent Brown
Paper Sack,
where he will soon have an article on Long Island-based '60s garage bands.)