In The Past: Garage Rock Podcast

We're your dealers this week and the score is songs about gettin' stoned, high, baked and beyond! Pills, tabs, and joints ... and even with some stern warnings, we get high on our own supply ! The Bohemians ,  The Rolling Stones ,  Paul Revere & the Raiders ,  The Bees ,  The Other Half , and  The Fe-Fi-Four Plus Two.  We'll get you through your busy day!

A six-pack of songs about gettin' soused (for or against) by  Stick McGhee (40s),  The Four Deuces   (50s),  The Champs (also 50s) - you know what song it is!,  The Pleasure Seekers ,  The Moods (both 66ers!), and  The Housemartins  (80s). Put on your beer goggles and listen good!

This week we're talking  The Zombies and their 1964 Bacharach-inspired number, "Tell Her No." These guys really stood out from the rest of the British pack because they added some nice jazz chords into their superb pop. Our favourite budget label, Nashville's "Hit Records", got some guys they called  The Mummies   into the studio in '65. The vocals are lugubrious...

Hey rebels! Take a break from breakin' rocks in the hot sun to listen to our episode on "I Fought The Law"! The original is by The Crickets , just after Buddy Holly became a slice of American Pie. But we all know the Bobby Fuller Four stole the song and made it their own - no cop is going to haul them in for their version. Can the same be said for other 60s scofflaws   Sir Henry &am...

John and Bobby from the Gruesomes join us for the umpteenth time!!! ... and we're talkin' about misogyny in 60s garage lyrics. Here's the jerkass tunes: "No Good Woman" by  The Tree , "Be A Caveman" by  The Avengers , and we also revisit "What a Girl Can't Do," except this time it's  The Lyres'  version. Were these guys the earliest incel...

Patron Saint of the Podcast  Bo Diddley is up this week with his 1960 track "Road Runner," with cover versions by  The Pretty Things ,  The Gants ,  The Liverbirds , and  The Phantoms  - those last 4 in a  race  for the coveted Bo Diddley Award. Meep meep!

Get ready to flop on the floor this week - we'll be doing the Alligator, as mentioned in "Land of 1,000 Dances"! The first in our animal menagerie is "Alligator Meat" by Charlie Singleton & His Orchestra from 1951, which sounds like Slim Gaillard if he rocked, rather than jazzed. After dinner, enjoy "Alligator Stomp" by The Rampages - a throwback rocker from...

Let's get on our bikes and ride this weekend !!- we're talking about Tomorrow 's 1967 psych classic, "My White Bicycle." A story of a rebellious youth flouting society's conventions, full of trippy headphone frolicking! Leviathan were the next act to take up the bike ... er ... song ... I guess the bell was broken by the time they got it? Nazareth actually had a hit w...

You're about to hear one of the most wounded garage rock tunes ever this week - "Point Five", by another group of Nomads , this one from Pennsylvania. There's something about this one that stands out - from the powerless vocals, to the poetic lyrics, to the awkward, amateurish, but compelling playing. We'd say it's one of a kind, but another Pa. band - the excellently...

As a follow up to our "Dick Picks" episode, we have an embarassment of Riches this week - including Rick and The Raiders (the first record by Rick Derringer !), The Old Exciting Scot Richard Case , and more! 

After our episode on Minneapolis garage rock (#273, April 17, 2026), we discovered that another Gopher State band had recorded "Action Woman," and the vocal performance is even wilder than The Litter ! We hearken to  The Electras  version line by line to analyze the madness, and I think we even throw in a bonus song!

A buncha songs by a buncha Dicks with some notable organ solos this week:   The Dick Watson Five (there were two bands with this name, only one with the titular Dick W.), Dick Roby (goin' solo from The Castaways , having his Lynn Easton moment), The Spats (featuring the doubly-phallic Dick Johnson ), Dicky Treadway & The Salados , and some dirtbags from Michigan who called their band Dick...

Consider this Fat Friday! - we're doing the legendary Mardi Gras tune "Iko Iko" this week but first we have to reverse the parade back to the 50s to hear the source, James 'Sugar Boy' Crawford & His Cane Cutters and "Jockomo." It's got a real carnival feel and Sugar Boy blows out the mic! The spy boys then scout rival krewe The Dixie Cups version, "...

This week we're celebrating the music of Minneapolis - and we're sending it out to Pastronaut "Dr. Fate," who requested the last song on our list. The first group of Minneapolitans are The Accents with a boss cover of Lonnie Mack's "Why." Who doesn't love the Minnesota accent they give this wailer?! The next busload of teens actually come to the city from Ed...

Some minor audio issues this week - Weldon's mic is too hot! - but it's tempered by a gentle song by The Monkees - "I Wanna Be Free" from 1966. Infact, they did two  versions - the first is sweet, simple and stringy with a vocal by Davy Jones , the second is Dylan-bait with Mickey Dolenz  singing.  Mod and The Rockers from Virginia did a garage version in '67, and then the...

Let's go crazy! This week's pick is "Psychotic Reaction" originally by  The Count Five - a song which has to be in the Top 10 of all-time garage toonz ... a Yardbirds-style rave-up with great drums & atmospheric harmonica wails. Two versions, also from 1966, follow hot on the caped ones' heels - Texans Positively Thirteen O'Clock  (who are actually  Mouse & Th...

The Syndicate of Sound 's 1966 hit "Little Girl" is a well-known garage nugget and we hopscotch through a bunch of other versions by The Five Kinetics, The Dead Boys, The Banned, The Divinyls , and Dwight Yoakam . 

It's time to dance again!  and this week our dance card starts with The Capitols ' 1966 hit "Cool Jerk." Erik has a hard time getting over the song's origins and we both blow a gasket over D. Storball's high octane vocal performance. The Creation mod -ified the song the next year and then it's fast forward to the 80s to hear The Go-Go's sprightly rendition....

Here's Johnny!!!! Our latest theme episode features songs about one of the most rock'n'roll names ever. But you wouldn't call "Johnny Angel" by Shelly Fabares rock, though it'll grow on you, unless you're a total yutz ... Song 2 is "Johnny B. Goode," a version of Chuck Berry 's immortal rockin' classic performed by Cumberland, Rhode Islan...

Look, there's no time for a long descripto, there's a tiger in them thar hills! This week's tune is "Hey Tiger," originally done by the rather capable jazzbos-turned-garagers  The Topsy Turbys . Hear their wild story and sounds here! Then stay tuned for a boffo 80s revival version by podcast saints  The Tell- Tale Hearts . Finally, we set the tiger trap for a third version...

The night is young, the mood is mellow, and there's music in our ears ... namely, the 1980 postpunk gem "Is Vic There" by Department S . We discuss the enigmatic lyrics and the surrounding lore of this everdark tune. There's also a version by Trolleybox , a surprising appearance of Clan of Xymox on this (or any!) garage rock podcast, and a totally groovy R&B rendition by Cu...

Back to the garage this week for a five-pack of versions of "I Ain't No Miracle Worker." The Annette Tucker/Nancy Mantz penned tune (they wrote "I Had Too Much Too Dream Last Night) was originally waxed by  The Brogues  in 1965. The Everyman, gruff vocals will put hair on your chest and the precise playing will make you think these guys  can move mountains. An even more macho t...

We must have had too much too dream lately because we're leaving the 60s behind and starting in 1979 with Suicide 's beautiful trance-drone, "Dream Baby Dream." It's a fingersnappin' rock n roll lullaby with electronics! Next up,  Angel Corpus Christi 's version wows us with the accordion! Bruce Springsteen swerves instrumentally and has the hypno-drone come from...

Here's a song that's been on the fabled Masterlist for years ... "Rumors, Gossip, Words Untrue", originally by The Knickerbockers . It's got a good riff, harmonies, chord changes, and a faux-sitar sound that will win you over, and it's from 1965!! The version that sparked the episode is by The Swinging Blue Jeans . Why are they wearing suits, if they're forever i...

He might not have made it into your history textbook, but  Brad Berwick  has recently emerged as one of the most controversial figures of the 1960s. While he may seem less impactful than LBJ or George Wallace, the fact that he sang a little ditty called "I'm Better Than The Beatles" has resulted in Youtube comment sections lambasting the former child actor. Listen to us listen to th...