Psyching Myself Up posted by O.W.

The Bee Gees: Holiday
Taken from the LP Bee Gee's 1st on Atco (1968)

Count Five: She's Fine
Taken from the LP Psychotic Reaction on Double Shot (1968)

The Zombies: Leave Me Be
Taken from the 7" on Decca (1964)

Arthur Brown: I Put a Spell On You
Taken from the LP Crazy World Of Arthur Brown on Atlantic (1968)

BONUS!

The Id: Short Circuit and Butterfly Kiss
Taken from the LP The Inner Sound Of The Id on World In Sound (1967)

I was shocked when I realized recently--somewhere in between my not writing entries for this blog and wishing that I was writing entries for this blog--that for several weeks now, I have possessed exactly zero desire to listen to music. Sure, I would muster the goods for my weekly DJ throwdown, and occasionally I'd put something on, albeit noncommitally, while I made my breakfast or cleaned my house... but the sad, simple truth is that I just wasn't feeling it.

Hip Hop, for a little beat-y satisfaction? No thanks. Brazilian, for some tropical transportation? Maybe another time. Reggae, to reach higher heights? Feel too low. Jazz? Nope. Salsa? Nah. And horror of horrors: even the trusted sanctity of Soul music offered me no reprieve.

The doldrums, friends. Angsty music-less doldrums.

So this morning, I got desperate. And searching through my ill-organized quasi-by-genre clusters of LP's I fell into that heady mess of late 60's rock and roll nestled somewhere at the base of my IKEA Expedit shelving unit. And surprise, surprise: I GOT SAVED!

There it is: the twang of angst! There it is: the bassy rumble of discontent! There it is: the strained melody that I CAN SING ALONG TO!

And just in case I felt I needed a reminder of to the baffling nature of redemption, who should provide that first enticing morsel to refuel my malnurished soul... THE BEE GEES!

Being that this particular era of rock and roll was what ushered me from mush-brained childhood into music loving adolescence, it's only appropriate that it took a return to my roots to find solace again. That said, things being what they are, I thought I'd keep the selections in minor-key melancholy because, well, I still feel like Soul music should have saved me from this funk, so in it's place I found some soulfully infused white dudes who get the job D.O.N.E.

I'll update with a little more band information later on, but for now I have to take my new puppy to the vet and you have some music to listen to.

UPDATE:

Though hard to imagine now, those sequined goofs who once crooned "Night Fever" for ol' Johnny Travolta's dancing pleasure were once a prolific and widely respected ROCK GROUP. Yep. Initially heralded as the second-coming of the Beatles, they produced an impressive ten plus albums worth of material, before hitting a creative and commercial rut. At which point, at the advice of the late great Ahmet Ertegun, they repositioned themselves as an R&B-cum-disco outfit and changed the world of wedding parties forever. (Regardless of the sequins, I stand by the assertion that "Staying Alive" is actually one of the great disco tracks ever recored. Check the video to be reminded.)

Count Five: San Jose-based high school-aged shredders who, with their single "Psychotic Reaction", would lay the double time percussive foundation of punk many years in advance. And they had ILL music videos.

Pete Townshend from a band called The Who (maybe you've heard of them), produced this record of amazingness. Arthur Brown, who was a notoriously extravagant performer (Jimi Hendrix kicked him off his tour when his pyrotechnics on stage became a liability), would later be cited as a major influence on Kiss and Alice Cooper. This cover of one of my absolute favorite tunes EV-AR pretty much rules.

And do yourself a favor: If you're not very familiar with The Zombies or their music, remedy that. This is one of the absolute cornerstone bands of 60's psych. As good or better than Nutella. And that's saying a lot.