SUNDOG SUMMIT, Crude Blasting Rock EP (1978)

SUNDOG SUMMIT – CRUDE BLASTING ROCK EP (Plenty Big, 1978)

It is one of the many positive, residual ripple effects of publications like Flashback and Ugly Things and books such as The Acid Archives, Endless Trip and Galactic Ramble (and even this blog), that, in addition to expanding the canon and increasing access to the available body of musical knowledge, certain notions and dominant narratives, long over-ripe for revision, are held up for scrutiny and exposed as the red herrings they always were.

The false gospel most rapidly approaching its own Jurassic sell-by-date thanks to these works is the entrenched post-punk maxim correlating artistic comportment with qualities of musical output.  …that is, if you wore a leather jacket and were mediocre, you were already automatically better than someone with a mustache who covered PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE.  …if you believe what you read in the pages of Forced Exposure that is.

Likely to enjoy both PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE and the feeling of leather on their shoulders are the quintet of Midlothian, Illinois misfits who are to be our focus today:  SUNDOG SUMMIT! 

Mustaches and – worse – cowboy hats aplenty didn’t help the cause of these Chicagoland A-heads.  Nor did the presence of arch Windy City A-hole (that’s A for ART in this case) Lee Groban, the ace-degenerate familiar to some for future JT I.V. infame and long-winded poetry Guinness book-a-world-record-award-winning (and recently passed away).

Dee-termined from the beginning, it seems, to occupy forever the dog house of no-fans-land, SUNDOG SUMMIT (here after, SS) cut a great and frustratingly scarce album in 1976 (‘On Summit Hill’), issued on their own label and described by one keen Ohio ornithologist as ‘the missing link between rural rock and punk.'

…that is, they covered both JOHNNY CASH AND THE VELVET UNDERGROUND on the same record – all before Mike Ness was even so much out of his pork-pie PJ’s!

For their trouble though, SS received no accolades; indeed, it was just the opposite.  Decried as poseurs by the nascent La Mere Vipere in-crowd and as punks by the luded-up Loop FM listening audience, SS made about as many friends as PHIL OCHS at an all-day John Wayne movie marathon.

However, as good as their album was (and it was and it is!), the EP SS cut two years afterwards – in a bizarre attempt at hitching a ride on the rippling new wave – was even better.

Emblazoned on the beyond-primitive paste-on EP front-cover is the masthead ‘CRUDE BLASTING ROCK.’  It is unclear whether or not SS intended to take this epithet as the EP’s title, but, for our purposes, it will suffice as it more than aptly describes the EP’s contents.

It’s little wonder punks at the time weren’t ready for this:  no safety pins, no sloganeering and they queer the deal from the get-go by starting off with a SLADE cover that they somehow manage to dumb-down and make sound even more rudimentary than the original. 

The remaining two musical compositions are equally Giz-worthy, focusing on the plight of underground musicians and floozy trampy girlfriends.  Fans of loser-rock and proto-punk ineptitude alike will doubtless find much to love in the fuzzed-up pop appeal upon which ‘CRUDE BLASTING ROCK’ expounds.  Some known tastemakers tout ‘Underground’ as the pick-hit, but for me it’s ‘Just A Girl’ or nothing.

…which brings us again to Lee Groban.  Your fingers can do the walking for more info on this Nyquil-throated weirdo, but he certainly was one lousy impresario.  Sub-Father Yod sounding here, his poetry, this time, thankfully, is kept much more in check than on SS’ LP wherein he takes up almost an ENTIRE SIDE with his babbling.  Here SS allot the presumptive High Commissioner Of Cyprus but one singular track, in which he raps and moans illogically about whiskers and weed until the crew cut him off.

A rare treat from the true soft white underbelly of the beast and one of the best records I have ever heard.   MOGAN DAVID & THE WINOS, BOLD CHICKEN, FURY and RITTENHOUSE SQUARE all got nothing on SUNDOG SUMMIT; nor do other supposed local luminaries such as EPICYCLE or DV-8 whose auras – when compared to CRUDE BLASTING ROCK’s 40 oz corona – amount to so much kitty litter and tea lights in white paper sacks.

'GUDBUY T JANE'

'SHE'S JUST A GIRL'

'UNDERGROUND'

'A POEM ABOUT GOD'

COUNTRY, HARD ROCK, BOOGIE, BLUES, 50's...PLUS THE AVANT-GARDE ART & POETRY OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER OF CYPRUS!

 

THE MECHANICS, 'No Brakes' b/w 'Drivin' Me Away' (1980)

Guess who’s back?

Back again.

Sing Sing’s back
Tell a friend.

THE MECHANICS, 'No Brakes,' b/w 'Drivin' Me Away' (private label, 1980)

'Oh, SoCal – so much to answer for...' 

But don’t blame THE MECHANICS for their name OR for the dummies that they allegedly inspired (SOCIAL DISTORTION and TEH ADOLESCENTS or so the legend goes). 

Fullerton’s finest CHEAP TRICK grease-monkeys earned their chops and lubed their gaskets playing in dirt-track/dirt-weed UFO and MONTROSE cover combos with names along the lines of CREAM PUFFY FATTY and THE L.A. BRATS (the latter proving, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to be the most-franchised proto-punk surname in history – literally like a satin jacket Papa Johns).  After poaching spare-parts from other respective bubble-perm and frayed-denim Radio Free Hollywood pit-crews, THE MECHANICS began their ill-starred crusade as street-preacher spokesmen for the Carburation Generation, playing mostly to crowds of bored and brainless Orange County stoners before famously being denounced as ‘waaaaay too metal’ by Brendan Mullen at the band's audition to play at The Masque.

In any event, despite a lengthy life-span ('77 – '81) and TONS of unreleased material, THE MECHANICS lone 1980 45 is the sole skidmark clue as to the band's existence.  With guitarist Tim Racca drawing heavily upon the Ginsu-knife guitar pop/rock attack of Rick Neilsen, both sides of THE MECHANICS' self-issued single, if failing to immediately elevate one to heaven tonight, at least rescues the listener from the mediocre purgatory that is 99.9% of late 70’s L.A. punk rock. 

Yeah, I said it.

Also, I’ve never actually knowingly heard either SOCIAL DISTORTION or TEH ADOLESCENTS so I’ll leave it up to the more pop-punk philistine elements of this blog’s readership to comment upon the sonic verisimilitude.

Come on Vann’s wearers – we're counting on you!

Post-script: the Youtube videos of THE MECHANICS tearing it up at the Starwood are ignored at your own reputation’s extreme peril (fingerless-gloves-related).

Oh yeah honey, (sh)it's all coming back!

‘NO BRAKES’

‘DRIVIN’ ME AWAY’

Sing Sing Tattoo

You might of noticed we have a habit of modifying original label logos for our reissues so that its noticeably on Sing Sing while still maintaining the original aesthetic. We're approaching 50 releases now which means almost that many Sing Sing logos. With that many brandings it might not of been apparent that we do have a few of our own making. Perhaps most prevalent is our whistling hobo-record-guy. Jeremy drew this little guy back in January of '09 and he's been a favorite ever since.

This morning, we got an email from Jake, who was writing to share his new tattoo with us. It's our whistling hobo-record-guy!! So cool! Thanks Jake! We'll be sure to return the favor.

Blitz Boys!

We'll have our 4 new releases - including The Blitz Boys' Eddy's New Shoes 7" EP -  up on our website sometime this week, but as a teaser, here's some photos and flyers the band dug up for us, along side a wonderfully written bio from guitarist Barry Phillips. Check it out!

1979. Punks were few and far between in the Forest of Dean - a remote, heavily wooded, former coal-mining area on the border between England and Wales. You had to be dedicated or stupid to survive the constant ambushes from local disco boys, bikers and rugby club drunks. Five teenage punks ('Topper' Toplis, Jer Phelps, Drew Smith, Jon Ralphs, Barry Phillips) united in a love of The Boys, The Ramones, T Rex and 60s girl-groups formed The Blitz Boys. A million miles from the narcissism of the deteriorating London scene the boys drew inspiration more from Northern Ireland - the tunes and escapism of Good Vibrations Records, of Protex, Rudi, The Outcasts and The Undertones.

It was DIY or do-nothing. Gigs were initially few and far between - and what gigs there were often ended abruptly due to fighting amongst, or with, the audiences...or equipment failure. Helped by incendiary Gloucester punks Demob, who gave them support slots, the boys began to pick up more gigs and press. In 1980 The Blitz Boys second studio venture yielded 3 tracks – live favourites Eddy’s New Shoes, She Told My Friends She Loved Me (But She’s Too Shy To Talk To Me) and Eddy’s Friend. Self-funded with the support of their loyal circle of friends and fans, and with outstanding artwork from the Inadequate Youth, the Eddy's New Shoes EP was released on the bands own Told You So Records – a dig at a journalist who predicted they’d never achieve anything. Within a week the title track was getting repeated plays by John Peel who also aired both flip-side tracks. The great man 'got it', commenting that he loved bands who created their own world. They met with Peel at the BBC and things momentarily looked bright with a second single planned and talk of a Peel session. But it wasn't to be. The band was always destined to burn briefly (and vividly). Eddy's New Shoes was a poignant legacy created from the chaos and the total lack of focus which would lead to the bands inevitable evaporation. Barry carried his guitar through various other bands eventually realising his ambition when The Rainsaints signed to Good Vibrations Records.

Meanwhile, Eddy's New Shoes became a cult track - pirated on a number of punk compilations despite the band’s ambivalence, but until now never legitimately re-released.

The Blitz Boys were:
‘Topper' Toplis: Drums
Jer Phelps: Vox
Drew Smith: Bass
Jon Ralphs; Guitar/vox
Barry Phillips: Guitar/vox (Demob, The Rainsaints)

Eddy's New Shoes:

Snapshots - Since You've Gone

After we posted the Snapshots interview we got a few requests for the B-side. It's a toss up on which side's better!

SNAPSHOTS - No Jane / Since You've Gone (Clic, 1980)

Almost two years ago my friend over at Pop N Roll sent me an .mp3 of an obscure Power Pop band from upstate New York called Snapshots.  Immediately catchy, we both geeked out over the track and I created the obligatory "saved search' but with no other info to go on I figured it'd forever sit on my want-list.  Fast forward a few years and it so happens that Snapshots played part in a Westchester band reunion concert.  With this little bit of internet presence, we've now got something to go on.  So we tracked the guys down to get the story on their infectious 'No Jane' single, the Westchester scene and what turned out to be a much more extensive career than expected.  Now, for some introductions:


SNAPSHOTS are:
FC: Frank Corbo - Drums, vocals
RM: Robert Mag - Vocals
JW: John Winhimer - Bass, vocals, guitar
BR: Bob Rocco - Guitar, vocals


When / how did you guys get together and/or know each other? What was the inspiration for the beginnings of The Snapshots?

BR: Frank, John and I were in the first incarnation of Snapshots. John and I had been playing together since our early teens. We had fooled around with a few bands but it wasn't until we met Frank that we started getting serious. We started out as a trio and released the single 'No Jane' / 'Since You've Gone'. We decided we needed a front man and after going through a few, unsuccessfully, we felt the band was struggling and needed a new direction. Robert was a high school friend of John and me and we really admired his art and loved his musical taste. Frank campaigned to get Robert in and the rest was history.

RM: I thought my role as lead singer was going to be short lived. Before I was officially the lead singer, I was asked to join them for two songs at a gig they had at the pub for an all girl Catholic School. Snapshots at the time was a cover band and had just landed a weekly gig here and I imagine they were pretty happy to be playing to a largely all girl audience. I was into the second song, I think it was Cheap Trick's 'I Want You To Want Me'. A table of girls right near the front started to heckle me. Not sure why but I can guess because I probably sucked. John, in a moment of brilliance, leaned over to me and asked "What would Alice Cooper do?". After a moments thought, I raised both hands and gave the main instigator the finger. I don't think this is exactly what John had meant. A friend of ours seeing this, went over and pulled the chair out from underneath her, making her fall flat on her ass. We later found out she was the Dean's daughter and needless to say Snapshots were banned from ever playing the pub again. I felt pretty bad about that but at the moment I felt like a Rock Star.

Were you part of a ‘Westchester scene’ at all, and if so what other groups where there with you?

JW: Yeah, we were and in fact, some those very bands performed in a reunion gig in the summer of 2011. Snapshots, The Kingpins, The Norm, and The Latest reunited for this one night. It was a blast. Other great bands at that time were Connie and the Linguistics and Rusty Dunn and the Guns. Unfortunately Rusty had passed away just weeks before the reunion.

RM: It was really a great time. Living in Westchester up till the early 80's was really pretty boring. There really was no music scene. Then all of the sudden radio stations started playing bands like The Ramones, Stranglers, Squeeze, Costello etc. and it was like a bunch of us from all different areas of Westchester caught the bug at the same time. It seemed like overnight there was this cool music scene. It was awesome. We all supported each other and would attend each others shows. We really became a close stitched bunch. I still keep in contact with some of the folks from some of the bands.

BR: We definitely had more fun than should have been allowed. Although we took playing seriously, we took having fun even more seriously- which meant lots of beer consumption. I would say we played half of our gigs fairly tipsy. Our shows were like big parties. We just had too much energy for our own good. Especially in the beginning when we were mostly a cover band. Seeing us was always a good time for all.

Can you give some examples of what your shows were like?

RM: Like we said there was usually alcohol involved. Beer and pitchers of kamikaze's. So at some point, we thought it funny to do our encores in our underwear. This became known the Underwear Set. One night we decided to play a trick on Bob while playing a bar in upper New York. We said instead of underwear, let's play completely nude. We used the kitchen as a dressing room and to get to the stage, you had to walk across the dance floor. We all stripped down and made sure Bob was first out the door. As soon as he was completely out, we slammed the door behind him leaving him naked on the dance floor with all our fans and friends while we stayed behind the door laughing our asses off. He was a very good sport about it. We did the same thing to him at a club in Connecticut. We waited until Bob was just down to his underwear and then John, Frank and I went over to the back door and looked up to the sky. We started saying things like "What the hell is that?" Bob was very much into UFO's at the time. Bob walks over only wearing his BVD's and looks out the door. Push! Slam! and Bob is outside in the middle of winter in his undies right where the line of people were to get in.

JW: On stage, it was always a party. People were always invited up on stage. The more the merrier. We usually ended with Twist and Shout. We could easily have 10 to 15 people on stage with us all helping out with background vocals. It really was always just a big party.

I noticed from some of your old flyers that you played CBGBs a few times. Can you tell me about these shows? Did you guys have ties to the NYC scene at all or were these kind one-off gigs? Did you ever do any more extensive touring?

FC: We were really pumped -- CBGB's was a right of passage at that time. Great bands passed through those doors. We once backed up Richard Lloyd of Television. You never knew who would show up in the audience -- Joey Ramone, John Bentley, Joe Jackson. We loved he crowds there.

BR: Plus CBGB's had the best sound system around and decent lights. Something we weren't used to playing Westchester.

JW: We played a few other NYC places, like Lone Star, Pyramid Club but, CB's was the place... Snapshots never really hit the road, aside from paying some gigs in Connecticut, up-state New York and Long Island.

I mentioned your gig flyers…they’re very well illustrated! Who’s responsible for these?

BR: The guy whose art we said we admired -- Robert Mag did them all.

RM: Ha- Now that I am a professional designer/illustrator, I find them a bit embarrassing. No design sense at all.

Your only release, the “No Jane” single came out in 1980 on the Clic label. I assume this was just you guys pushing your own record, right? What kind of response did it get at the time? Any distribution or airplay?

FC: The Clic label was our own (get it, "Clic", "Snapshots"...). We sold them at at clubs and to anyone who was interested elsewhere. We were really proud to have anything in vinyl. That was recorded just before Robert joined. 'No Jane' wasn't our only release. A few years later, we recorded a two song Flexi disc that we gave out at shows. It included 'Oh Japan' and 'Wish Me Well'. We also appeared on a Christmas compilation album out on Johnny Apollo Records. We wrote a song called 'Christmas Presence' which actually got played a bit in some Manhattan clubs at the time.


Did you guys use a professional studio to record, or was this a DIY home-recording? Any anecdotal stories from the recording session?

BR: Yea, at that time few people had home studios worth anything. We recorded that 'No Jane' at Wildflower Studio in NY. Almost everything was live, with a few dubs.

RM: We also used to record quite a bit at a small studio in Mt. Vernon called Back Street. One day this guy walks in- looking a bit shabby. He interrupted our session to talk to the engineer. We were like "what the fuck? Who's this homeless dude wasting our recording time?". After about 10 minutes he leaves and our Engineer, Eddie turns to us and says "You know who that was? Ace Frehley". Ended up they grew up together and were best of friends. We were all huge KISS fans and here we were making fun of him.


Is there unreleased Snapshots material? Where there ever plans for future recordings?


JW: Snapshots wrote and recorded lots of materials. We were pretty dedicated at the time. Rehearse three days a week and played out all the time. When we weren't rehearsing for a gig, we were writing new songs. We all contributed. It was pretty democratic. We were most prolific in the New Wave era -- loads of songs. I would guess there are 30 to 40 songs in all. Maybe more.


When did you guys call it quits? What led to that decision?

FC: The Snapshots ended in 1983. It just had done all there was to do.


On YouTube there’s footage from 2011 of a reunited Snapshots where you guys played as part of a Westchester Band Reunion concert. What was it like playing these songs together again? How was the response to the shows? Are you guys still playing together now?

JW: Yea, that reunion gig was pure nostalgia. We had not seen most of the musicians and many of the "fans" for decades. It felt really great to play those songs and see al those people -- we all grew up together and shared loads of great times. It was a great night.  


What are you guys up to today? Are any of you still actively involved with music?

FC: Robert, John and Bob are still together in Lostdog in Loveland, a glam influenced pop/Rock band and I am playing with long time band members in Boom Boom Crash.  We have been talking about doing something together as Snapshots for 2012/13. Maybe a four song EP!

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NO JANE:
 
SINCE YOU'VE GONE:

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Additional Photos   Additional Flyers

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Promise - S/T LP (Cumulus, 1980)

1980 Colorado Private-Pressing Pop-Psych LP by PROMISE entitled "Promise" on Cumulus Records (#180, Stereo). RARE Limited-Pressing listed in the almighty "Acid Archives" book. Seldom seen album with tunes ranging from strong Power Pop, to Beatles-influenced Pop Psych, to occasionally Heavier Edge!

Back In My Heart


Later On Tonite


The Find


Album