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Wednesday, December 30, 2015
The Fringe Factory's Top Fringin Faves of 2015!
and as an added treat; here's a link to a mix for you I made of just the songs with a few bonus tracks:
https://www.mixcloud.com/TheFringeFactory/the-fringe-factorys-2015-fringin-faves-mixtape/
Enjoy! - Vikki V
Posted by Vikki Vaden at 8:03 PM 0 comments
WOOLY GIRLY with the Sham-ettes and all the other ettes, on Crayons to Perfume! at 7pm Eastern, 4pm Pacific!
1-2-3 ... ETTES! Today on Crayons To Perfume! it's girl groups with the suffix "ettes" on their name, and the Sham-ettes are our girls of the week! A full hour of Fab-u-l-ette-s girl groups! https://wfmu.org/playlists/CE
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 6:28 AM 0 comments
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Whig Your Way...TODAY! WHIG OUT! 8pm EST, 5pm Pacific!
Whig Your Way...from the 60's into the 80's with Richard and Glynis on the Whig Out, right after The Real Nitty Gritty! We've got 60's garage bands covering other 60's garage bands and 80's garage bands covering other 80's garage bands ... so grooveth your gourd, and flip your Whig tonight with the Fringe Factory! 8pm Eastern, 5pm Pacific!
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 6:30 PM 0 comments
God Save Stevie Wright
Sad news has come to pass with the legendary Stevie Wright dying this week at age 68.
Stevie was the unstoppable, frantic, and fabulous singer of Aussie legends The Easybeats.
The Easybeats WERE THEE band of the 1960s in Australia. They put that country on the map as a competitor of the British Invasion and the American scene. Featuring 2 Britons, 2 Dutch, and 1 Scotsman. They were simply one of the most rocking and original bands of the entire rock 'n' roll canon. Inventive riffs, humor, soul, and heart-stopping performances.
A lot of this was due to Stevie Wright who co-wrote most of their early hits with George Young, including "She's So Fine."
Just watch this insane performance of another Wright/Young song "Sorry." Stevie is a man possessed by the power of teenage lust and rock 'n' roll.
Posted by Unknown at 2:33 PM 1 comments
The Real Nitty Gritty: Fying Saucers Rock n Roll tonight at 7
7pm on the WFMU Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban stream http://www.wfmu.org/
Posted by Nitty Gritty Tania at 11:57 AM 0 comments
Friday, December 25, 2015
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: Home For The Holidays (1972)
Posted by Ted Cogswell at 5:45 PM 1 comments
Labels: 1972, psychotronic movies, Ted Cogswell
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
It's the Fringe Factory's 8th Annual Rock-n-Psych-Mas! Dec 23rd, 2015
Listen to the show here! (originally aired Dec 23, 2015)
Posted by Vikki Vaden at 5:50 PM 0 comments
Vashti Bunyan and Winter Girls tonight at 7 on Crayons to Perfume!
Vashti, Carol & Cheryl, Francoise Hardy, Irma Thomas and The Eighth Day ... all the girls of winter, tonite at 7 here: https://wfmu.org/playlists/CE
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 5:17 AM 0 comments
Monday, December 21, 2015
Book Report: Riot On Sunset Strip by Domenic Priore
That is what I thought after reading the fantastic "Riot On Sunset Strip" by Domenic Priore. A revised edition with a fantastic cover, pictures of the action and a story like no other.
The 1960s music scene in Los Angeles is prefaced with an old wild west tale of mobsters being run out of town, prohibition and fast money. This leaves the Sunset Strip area ready to be cared for by the burgeoning jazz and R&B scenes.
Famed vocalist Billy Eckstein broke the barriers of segregation at the clubs and the musician's union leading to hep cat jazz joints and the small club scene to flourish. Charles Mingus, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan and a host of other cool jazz and bebop swingers all made the strip home. Louis Prima and Keely Smith brought their hot New Orleans inspired swing to the Sunset Strip that led to crowds coming to dance and swing.
Also incredibly key to the scene, is the folk movement. The explosion of the folk scene is largely as a result of the R&B and rock 'n' roll scenes being destroyed by payola, death and racism. Protest and anger was to found in the words and music of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. With the recent blacklist, oppressive racism, sexism and the Civil Rights movement about the explode, the time had come today.
The Strip catered to the surf scene and the R&B movement at the clubs. Many of the exciting hits came from Los Angeles during 1960-1963 era with The Beach Boys, The Pyramids, Thee Midnighters, The Platters and Sam Cooke all emerging from this early club scene.


Trouble begins just as The Byrds hit number one with the Watts Riots in 1965, a result of neglect and racism from the city at large. This leads to a fearful and ridiculously paranoid city. Their policy appears to be wanting to stamp out any sign of integration or change. With the extremely rich Beverly Hills right next to the Strip, it was only a matter of time for the city to make changes. One way they begin to stamp out the scene is by attempting to close the clubs and build skyscrapers. The next stage is in 1966 to reenact old cabaret policies of dancing and curfews, leading to a sharp decline in the club's ability to draw crowds and maintain the momentum. This results in the riots on the Sunset Strip, which common to all riots, is caused mainly by police officers looking for trouble and dirt by instigating and escalating situations.
By 1967 the death knell is all but rung with the Monterey Pop Festival occurring in Northern California. Although largely the result of the excitement of the Strip, it leads to San Francisco to becoming the new center of action. With only Sly and the Family Stone reminiscent of the older Strip days of fun, dancing and togetherness. The rest of the scene is largely inward looking and snooty. Rolling Stone magazine rewrote history to change the perspective of what it means to be a musician and a consumer of records.
All these changes happen at the same time as the escalation of the Vietnam War, the wholesale of radio and television to bigger corporations, the slow collapse of the power of the union, and a renewed evangelical conservatism.
This was a fantastic read and a definite recommendation to anyone with any interest in the 1960s music scene and how the Sunset Strip was truly a revolutionary force of art and positive change. I was left feeling that this same story could be told today in the 2010s with the collapse of music venues, the snark of Vice, still blatant racism and xenophobia, NIMBYs and the rise of skyscraper living.
Read this book and get inspired to keep on keepin' on!
Posted by Unknown at 3:12 PM 0 comments
Happy Winter Soul-stice!
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Gray Georgia |
Posted by Debbie D at 11:03 AM 0 comments
Labels: Debbie D, Gaylord Fields, Winter Soul-stice
Rock'n'Roll Santa, bring me some records this year please...
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 8:31 AM 0 comments
Sunday, December 20, 2015
California Christmas with the Whig Out! at 8 pm
Sunshine and Surf... it's Christmas California style on the Whig Out! Lotsa surf, garage 'n a bit of psych on today's show and just a drop or two of holiday cheer! Check it out! https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/WT
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 6:25 PM 0 comments
Shake your soul, honey -- The Real Nitty Gritty tonight at 7:00
Tonight at 7:00 on Ichiban The Real Nitty Gritty's got a stack of greasy platters to play for you. Shake your soul, honey!
Posted by Nitty Gritty Tania at 10:44 AM 0 comments
Friday, December 18, 2015
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: The Dirty Outlaws (1967)
The Dirty Outlaws is a classic lesser known spaghetti western from 1967. It's filthy. Most of the people are deplorable, the towns are all mud, dust, and scum. The plot is based around an outlaw who comes across a dying Confederate and assumes his identity to try and get his hands on a stash of money being kept by the soldier's blind father. Franco Rossetti was a film critic who started writing screenplays, and this was his directorial debut. As you might hope, The Dirty Outlaws has some very cinematic moments that only a film fanatic would concoct, a great screenplay, and is described by the Spaghetti Western Movie Database as "an atmospheric, mean, brutal, and sinister film." What makes this a great spaghetti western is that it's full of style but with lots of plot, archetypal but still full of surprises.
Posted by Ted Cogswell at 1:32 AM 0 comments
Labels: 1967, Italy, psychotronic movies, spaghetti westerns, Ted Cogswell
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Hold Tight with the Fringe Factory! (Dec 16th, 2015)
Posted by Vikki Vaden at 8:50 PM 0 comments
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Keep Blondes Happy, Listen to the Whig Out! 8pm Sunday
Strawberry blondes, dirty blondes, brunettes, redheads ... they'll all be happy listening to the Whig Out! This Sunday at 8 with Richard Whig and Glynis djgirlgroupgirl Ward! We say goodbye to Atlanta with 60's and modern Atlanta garage groups, and hear a bit more about the DC scene from Marti - Richard's Mom! Listen Here: https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/WT and check out all our older shows, including past fill-ins, here: http://whiggedout.blogspot.com/
Don't forget to tune in again next week after The Real Nitty Gritty when we celebrate the holidays West Coast Style from our new studios in San Diego!
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 6:15 PM 0 comments
The Real Nitty Gritty Got Sumpin' for You -- Tonight at 7:00
The Real Nitty Gritty Got sumpin' for you: savage R&B, greasy rockabilly, gutbucket blues, gruesome garage, sweaty soul, sleazy instrotrash -- tonight at 7:00 on WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban http://www.wfmu.org/
Posted by Nitty Gritty Tania at 12:07 PM 0 comments
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Friday, December 11, 2015
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
The Fringe Factory Plugs Your HEAD IN!
Things are getting weird at the Fringe Factory while Vikki spins 60s mind-melters and silly songs and Pietro from the Midnight Larks pops in again to visit! Show and playlist here: http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/64027
Posted by Vikki Vaden at 8:15 PM 0 comments
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: I Drink Your Blood (1970)
Posted by Ted Cogswell at 2:27 PM 0 comments
Labels: 1970, Cinemation Industries, gore, Hippies, Jerry Gross, Lynn Lowry, psychotronic movies, Satanists, Ted Cogswell
French Swinging Mademoiselles special on Crayons to Perfume
Thanks to DJ GirlGroupGirl for inviting me to present my perspectives on the French Swinging Mademoiselles during two episodes of Crayons to Perfume, a weekly show featuring girl group sounds 1960-69 !!!
My show is called the Atomic Jukebox. Below are the texts that I read at the beginning of the shows, just for the record. The shows will appear live on the Ichiban stream, and then be archived. I will put links to the archives below when they are available. The archive pages include a full setlist. Thanks for listening !
Show 1 archive
Show 2 archive
I'm going to spotlight French 60s music. Its history is long and complicated, and its problems are numerous, so I am going to summarize. If you want the full story, buy me a drink some time.
You might hope I'm gonna do a show with some great 60s soul, R&B and garage from France. But I can't, because basically there isn't any. While Americans, and to a limited extent the British, were turning out tens of thousands of incredible records in the 60s, the French simply were not.
The explanations are long but boil down to, on one hand, control of the artists, media and record labels by a handful of people and corporations seeking to exploit a lame and uninformed public, and keep them that way, and on the other hand, a cultural impediment to rock n roll. Can you imagine Frank Sinatra doing a convincing reggae record ? No. Well, culturally speaking, and with a few exceptions, the French can't do rock n roll.
However, there was one thing they did do well, a certain category of female vocal music now known as the "Swinging Mademoiselle" style (with various spellings), a term coined by a certain Sasha Monett who put out a series of outstanding compilations with that name. At its best, this style is comparable to what would be called "pop music" in America, like Nancy Sinatra or Tom Jones, featuring a vocalist rather than a group, often with sappy orchestral accompaniment, often a bit precious or with a novelty angle, and very far from garage, soul or r&b. There is a lot of mediocre material, but a few remarkable records as well, and a very few that really stand out.
Thanks, in particular, to several excellent compilations, you have probably heard the handful of really brilliant pop hits that came out of France in the 60s. I'm going to go a little deeper today, in the Swinging Mademoiselle style, and I have some cool songs to play. But I'll be a little critical again and say that, while you may get excited and imagine that these songs are the tip of a fantastic iceberg of thousands of groovy tunes, I would say that's not the case. There are some more good ones, but not a whole lot.
In the last episode I talked about some of the problems that affected French music in the 60s : cultural impediments, centralized control of the industry and the attraction of adapting Anglo-saxon hits rather than writing their own.
I mentioned that there are some excellent compilations available that feature the best of what the French produced in the 60s. The Swinging Mademoiselle series (3 volumes) is, of course, indispensable. Other compilations that feature the Swinging Mademoiselle sound you're hearing today include :
Girls in the Garage vol 10, 12
Pop à Paris vol 5
Ultra Chicks
Femmes de Paris
Ace C'est Chic! series (3 volumes)
If you are interested in other French 60s music, you can also check out
Gentlemen de Paris
Psychegaelic
Ils Sont Fous Ces Gaulois
Wizzz
Pop à Paris
And sorry if I came off as negative or sarcastic about the limited amount of good French 60s music, but it's simply the truth. There are perhaps 30 good compilations of French 60s music out there (counting both male and female vocals). My friends, who are literally the experts in the field, all agree that there is basically no good stuff left that's not on a compilation.
Another part of the French story is the Scopitone, a sort of jukebox that projected 16mm sound films that what we now realize were the precursor to video clips. This unreliable gadget came and went in 10 years, but they happened to be the right 10 years. With the imperative to fill the machines, the company filmed many of the French artists of the 60s. You can see them now on YouTube, and the 16mm reels have become collectible.
Posted by Jon von at 9:59 AM 0 comments
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Bloodstains on the Wall: The Real Nitty Gritty tonight at 7
Posted by Nitty Gritty Tania at 7:15 PM 0 comments
Whig Out with Brian Poust, dj Agent 45, and Georgia Garage 'n Soul!
Brian Poust is probably best known for his Georgia Soul website where he writes about his favorite Georgia soul sides, and his adventures in record collecting. Although recently re-locating to San Antonio Texas, Brian is still working his Georgia angle, and has a feature article in Oxford America Magazines' Georgia Music Issue 'Atlanta's Sweet Auburn Soul' coming out in mid-December. Brian talks about the artists he spotlights in his article, plays some of his favorite Atlanta Garage 45's and gives us the low down on some of his best Georgia finds. Join us at 8pm, right after the Real Nitty Gritty. Tune in here! -> https://wfmu.org/playlists/WT
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 6:25 PM 0 comments
Friday, December 4, 2015
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: Johnny Cash in Five Minutes To Live (1961)
Posted by Ted Cogswell at 3:49 PM 1 comments
Labels: 1961, American International Pictures, Johnny Cash, psychotronic movies, Ted Cogswell, Vic Tayback
Timi Yuro & the girls at 7 tonite!
Timi Yuro is our Girl of the Week! She sings along with the Shangri-Las, Anna King, The Jewels, Judi & The Affections and Patti Drew! Listen Here! https://wfmu.org/playlists/CE
and make sure you tune in the next two weeks as the Atomic Jukebox fills in for Crayons to Perfume! Jon Von Zelowitz will bring you the best in French 60's girl pop, swingin' Mademoiselles, Ultra Chicks .... ye ye girls! Ohh, la la! I'll be back again on the 23rd of December...but the fun doesn't stop there! The Real Nitty Gritty Tania is going to help kick of the Crayons to Perfume! new year in style so keep your dial tuned to WFMU's Rock'n'Soul Ichiban!
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 5:11 AM 0 comments
Monday, November 30, 2015
Goin' Back AGAIN to Swamp Guinea! (Part Five)
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There are large gaps in my Athens phonebook collection, so this 1976 listing is the earliest I can provide. |
Many of you folks out there in Ichibanland are probably a bit mystified at this blog's longtime obsession with long-defunct Athens, GA-area restaurant the Swamp Guinea, but we're going there again, so you'll just have to accept it! |
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Thee Original. |
The thing that drives most folks' interest in the restaurant is this record, which has intrigued and confused record hounds in this region for decades. You may listen to it here. I've had a fair number of them pass through my hands over the last quarter-century– maybe as many as a dozen. Knowing my interest in the subject, the noted record collector/dealer Kurt Wood recently presented me with a surprise– a heretofore unknown Swamp Guinea record! It's not as fascinating as its predecessor, but it's a perfectly fine bluegrass tune. Its worst sin is that it's not as focused on the particulars of the restaurant, but I've gotten the word from composer Tony Pritchett that this is not happenstance. Asked to recall what had could about this, he responded:
Hi, Devlin. I was mentored by a man named B.W. Coile back in the early 1970s. He asked me to write a song with Swamp Guinea in the title and in the song. I asked him did it have to be "about the restaurant" or could it be just a song...so I thought about the name, Swamp Guinea, and it reminded me of my daddy telling me not to believe everything I read or hear. Because, it wasn't a swamp and it wasn't a guinea hen. So, I just wrote. Then B.W. took me in to the studio to record it. That's pretty much all I remember about it. He also asked me to write a commercial for Golden Pantry. That got some radio airplay. I've been an "Athens musician" for a very long time. Played almost every club there was to play. Now, my guys and I just do a little Jimmy Buffett cover show. Called Sons Of Sailors. You can access that here: www.sonsofsailors.com
BONUS! Go here to read an account of a 1978 visit to the Swamp Guinea by famous author William Least Heat-Moon, from his 1982 NYT bestseller, Blue Highways!
Posted by Devlin Thompson at 2:34 PM 2 comments
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Whig Out! Opens the Doors of your Mind! 8pm tonite!
Psych Out with the Whig Out! tonight at 8 with Doors impersonators and off-the-wall psychedelic wackiness! click here to listen -> http://wfmu.org/playlists/WT
Posted by GirlGroupGirl at 6:45 PM 0 comments
GRADE A!!! THE REAL NITTY GRITTY tonight at 7PM on WFMU'S Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Stream!

GIT WITH THE GRIT! https://wfmu.org/playlists/RG
Posted by Shouting Thomas Torment at 11:27 AM 0 comments
Friday, November 27, 2015
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Happy birthday, Anna Mae!
Posted by Nitty Gritty Tania at 8:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Ikettes, Tina Turner
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
The Fringe Factory goes COLD TURKEY this Thanksgiving Eve!
Posted by Vikki Vaden at 6:20 PM 0 comments
Psychotronic Movie of the Week Returns! Spend your Thanksgiving with BLOOD FREAK!
I'm bringing the PSYCHOTRONIC MOVIE OF THE WEEK back to the Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban blog and I'm kicking off version 2.0 with my own favorite Thanksgiving cinematic tradition, Brad F. Ginter's BLOOD FREAK.
Ginter's filmography as a director includes just five titles, and it's three that he's primarily remembered for today - the awful biker flick DEVIL RIDER (1970), the bizarre Veronica Lake swan song FLESH FEAST (1970), and today's feature, BLOOD FREAK (1972).
Steve Hawkes, whose previous acting resume was highlighted by two low-budget, shot in Florida Tarzan movies, co-wrote the screenplay with Ginter and stars as Herschell, a Nam vet biker who gets invited to a party by a beautiful young lady and well, one thing leads to another and before we know it, Herschell is addicted to the pot! He ends up eating some chemically altered turkey and when he wakes up he's become a monster with a giant turkey head who needs to feast on the blood of drug addicts to satisfy his cravings. In the end, the only thing that can save him is turning to God - the film was described by Shock Cinema's Steven Puchalski as "the world's first Christian, anti-drug splatter movie!" And if that plot wasn't enough of a trainwreck, wait until you get a load of Ginter himself as the narrator, sitting at a desk in front of faux wooden paneling, talking about "the human body as a mixing bowl," spewing Reefer Madness-style anti-drug rhetoric while smoking a cigarette. At one point he breaks into a coughing fit that only adds to the delicious (unintentional?) irony. You would think they would have done another take, but I guess it wasn't in the budget.
Posted by Ted Cogswell at 4:05 PM 2 comments
Labels: 1972, Blood Freak, psychotronic movies, Something Weird Video, Ted Cogswell, Thanksgiving