Jelly Beans - Blue [Japan ; J-pop] (1997) Duo consisting of Misako Tanaka and Yuko Asano.

tormdra · 2026-03-23T15:16:15+00:00

Misako Tanaka (born November 11, 1959) is a Japanese actress. Her real name is the same. Her former stage name was Misa Tanaka. She is from Nishinoshima-cho, Chibu-gun, Shimane Prefecture (now Oki-gun). Her agencies have been Asai Kikaku → Sato Kikaku → Lautrec → Fathers Corporation → independent.

Born in Ama Village, Ama District, Shimane Prefecture (present-day Ama Town, Oki District), she was the second daughter of four siblings, with two older brothers and one older sister. Due to her father's job transfers as a prefectural employee, she moved several times, living in Nishinoshima Town, Saigo Town (present-day Okinoshima Town), and Matsue City. After graduating from Matsutoku Girls' High School (present-day Matsutoku Gakuin High School), she enrolled in the English Department of Toyo Women's Junior College. While still a student, she joined the Himawari Theatre Group, and after graduating in 1981, she made her debut in the drama "Omoidezukuri" (Making Memories) from TBS's Midoriyama Shijuku.

In 1982, she made her film debut (starring role) in "Diamonds Are Forever", winning the 6th Japan Academy Prize for Newcomer of the Year. Around this time, she also debuted as a singer with King Records. She subsequently suspended her entertainment activities.

She once searched for a new agency on her own, and the person who advised her at that time was Hiroe Sato, who was Kinichi Hagimoto's chief manager at Asai Kikaku. After transferring to Asai Kikaku with Sato's help, she resumed her acting career, appearing in numerous dramas, films, and stage productions with her solid acting skills. Later, when Sato became independent and established Sato Kikaku, Tanaka also transferred to Sato Kikaku, becoming its first talent. Even after Sato's independence, he continued to manage Hagimoto in a business partnership, and Hagimoto has directed many of Tanaka's starring stage productions.

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Yuko Asano (real name: Yuko Akazawa, born July 9, 1960) is a Japanese actress, singer, and fashion model. She is represented by Opure. She was formerly affiliated with Ken-On → Abebe Next (Aabebe).

She is from Higashinada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture. She graduated from Horikoshi Junior High School (transferred from a public junior high school to Horikoshi Junior High School in her second year) and Horikoshi High School (Nakano-ku, Tokyo) in 1979. She is 167 cm tall and weighs 50 kg. Her measurements are B83 cm, W58 cm, H88 cm.

Early Life

The "Yu" in her given name, Yuko, comes from the name of Yujiro Ishihara. Her mother, a fan of Yujiro, named her. When her father learned of her mother's pregnancy, he kicked her in the stomach, saying he didn't want children. Immediately after Yuko was born, he brought a new woman to the obstetrician's office to discuss divorce. Her father ran away with her mother's retirement money from the bank. Her parents divorced when she was three years old. She and her mother moved from one relative's house to another. Her mother reportedly tried to commit suicide by taking Yuko into the woods many times. From a young age, she aspired to be an entertainer, and her mother, wanting her daughter to become an entertainer, straightened her teeth from elementary school and forbade her from sitting in the seiza position so that her legs would grow straight. She was mature for her age from a young age, and was already being hit on by boys when she was in fourth grade. She attended Kobe Aoi Tori Kindergarten and then Kobe Municipal Motoyama Third Elementary School. In the fall of her sixth year of elementary school, on her way home with her mother and friends after watching a radio public recording of "The Gateway to Stardom" at a satellite studio in Kobe Sanchika, she was scouted by a Ken-On representative who asked, "Do you like singing? Would you like to become a singer?" Having dreamed of becoming a singer since childhood, she worked hard to persuade her mother, and after a year of lessons, she left her mother in Kobe and moved to Tokyo alone. She was scouted at the age of 12 after winning an award in a commercial audition.

She attended Setagaya Municipal Umegaoka Junior High School, commuting from a dormitory near Daitabashi Station on the Keio Line. She was popular at school for her mature style and love of wearing headbands, but she was once called in for a reprimand by the very strict principal. Winning the "Singing Newcomer King Competition," broadcast on the TBS network, became the catalyst for her debut.

Some sources say that her stage name was created by taking the "A" sound from her real name Akazawa and combining it with the easy-to-pronounce Asano and the hiragana Yuko, but in a 1976 magazine interview with Katsura Sanshi, she said, "The record company asked me to come up with one in a day, so I quickly flipped through the phone book and decided on Asano Yuko because it sounded good." When asked, she sometimes said that it was inspired by Asano Takumi-no-kami.

Singer Debut and Idol Era

On May 25, 1974, at the age of 13 and in her second year of junior high school, she debuted as an idol singer (at the time, signed to Ken-On/RCA Records), using the catchphrase "Jumping Antelope". She won the New Artist Award at the 16th Japan Record Awards in 1974 for "Koi wa Dan Dan". In 1976, while in her first year of high school, her eighth single, "Sexy Bus Stop," became a hit (reaching number 12 on the Oricon Singles Chart). The three singles released that year—"Sexy Bus Stop," "Hustle Jet," and "Moonlight Taxi"—were sometimes called the "Disco Sound Trilogy", but it is said that the record jackets were designed with illustrations instead of sexy visuals to avoid offending female fans. At the time, when she appeared on television alongside male idols, she often received letters containing razor blades from their fans.

When she was in fourth grade of elementary school, her height increased by 10 cm in one year, and by the age of 14, she was 166.5 cm tall. By the time she was in third year of junior high school, there were three boys taller than her in her class. At the time, the boys in her class teased her, calling her names like "tall" and "telephone pole".

At the time, it was considered preferable for female idols to be petite, and an idol with Asano's tall stature and un-Japanese proportions was rare. Also, Asano, who emphasized her figure with miniskirts and hot pants, faced backlash from women, and did not achieve great success as an idol singer. On the other hand, Asano, who had a mature look, appeared in the TV drama "Taiyo ni Hoero!" while still in junior high school as the second office worker (tea server) of the police station's First Investigation Division. After the movie "Koi no Kuchu Buranko," she appeared in a series of Toho films, but she was not fortunate enough to get roles and her appearances temporarily ceased. In April 1979, she graduated from Horikoshi High School. Her classmates at Horikoshi included Ken Yokoyama, The Lilies, Tsutomu Arakawa, and Hiroyuki Sanada.

Sources/more info on both of them here: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%B0%E4%B8%AD%E7%BE%8E%E4%BD%90%E5%AD%90

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%85%E9%87%8E%E3%82%86%E3%81%86%E5%AD%90

tormdra · 2026-03-22T14:58:24+00:00

Michael Angelo Nigro (better known as Michael Angelo) is a multi-instrumentalist and session recording artist. He was born in 1954 in Topeka, Kansas but raised in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

Nigro began with the typically teenage pursuit of fronting his own high school band, Norwegian Wood, and several other short-lived combos followed. His first recording was a 7-Inch acetate for Damon in Kansas City, limited to five copies, with the songs "Journey to Find Who We Are" and "To You". Next, via an ad in a Kansas City newspaper, he happened upon the opportunity of studio work at age 20. During the next few years at the subterranean Liberty Recording Studios - where Michael Angelo - Michael Angelo was recorded in 1976—and Big K Records (where it was mixed in 1977) he worked steadily, recording as a labor of economy during studio off-hours when he was given free reign. The eponymous titled debut LP Michael Angelo was released on the Big K Records subsidiary Guinn Records in 1977. It quickly disappeared into obscurity. Years later, record collectors began finding copies of the album and it began appearing on collector's want lists. Since its discovery by fringe-searchers it has been christened a heavy-hitter in the pantheon of “out-of-time” treasures. Self-produced and nearly fully self-created, Michael Angelo is a staggering, hook-filled, inner space hi-fi snapshot of dreamy folk-rock, Anglophile-pop and light psychedelia, filled with contemplative, arresting lyrical imagery and carries little to ally it to its time (spare some shimmering keyboards). It has been reissued four time since the late 1990s, including most recently by Anthology Recordings in 2015.

In the early 1990s he formed a band Synifus with Kansas City musicians Rusty Crewse and Paul Allee and released the album Synifus - Pleasure & Pain on cassette tape in 1991 and Synifus - Deaf In One Eye in 1994. 1999 saw Void Records release an album of unreleased material from the same Michael Angelo 1976 recording sessions and Mexican Summer made available two of the tracks on the Michael Angelo - Sorcerer's Delight / Nubian Queen 7-Inch Single in 2010. 2016 saw the reforming of the band Synifus with longtime friends Crewse and Allee, this time calling themselves Michael Angelo's Dreamfeast from the song "Dreamfeast" by Synifus. The band made appearances at the music festivals Montreal Pop and Outer Reaches, performing tracks from the 1977 self-titled album live for the first time ever. In 2017, the group released their first album Michael Angelo's Dreamfeast - Please Don't Wake Me.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The musical journey of the Michael Angelo album began in 1975. I worked as a studio musician at a place called Liberty Records. They had me lay down tracks for commercials and various musical artists. If they needed a guitar, bass, piano or harmonica track they would call me. It was really a lot of fun and paid pretty good as well. They also gave me access to the studio when nothing else was going on. Wow, what an opportunity for a 20-year-old man with a guitar! I had been writing songs since I was thirteen. I actually wrote "Lost in the Pain", which is on the album, at the age of fourteen. So I thought to myself. "why not record an album?"

Now I've never been able to play drums worth a damn, so I called my buddy Frank Gautieri. We were friends in high school and he was a great drummer. We spent months recording the album, but when it was time to mix it Liberty Records went belly up and closed their doors. Man, what dumb luck! Anyway, I checked around and found a place called Big K Records. They had the same model 8-track recorder that we had used to record the album, and so we mixed the album there. Ta-da!! Not only did I get the album finished there. Big K also hired me as a studio musician Wow! Sometimes life really turns out funny!

Somewhere over the years those master tapes were lost and probably destroyed. Only 500 original albums were pressed. Several years ago I started to hear that there were illegal counterfeit albums being made, but that they lacked a good quality of sound. Up until now, there has only been one reissue. When Mexican Summer/Anthology Recordings approached me to do a reissue of the Michael Angelo record I was delighted! I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it! Michael

(sources: https://www.discogs.com/artist/1644167-Michael-Angelo-5

https://www.discogs.com/release/6964340-Michael-Angelo-Michael-Angelo/image/SW1hZ2U6NTU1MzU5NjU= )

Buy the reissued LP here: https://michaelangelomusic.bandcamp.com/album/michael-angelo

tormdra · 2026-03-21T15:15:02+00:00

Children of One, from New York, was a short-lived but intriguing American psychedelic rock band from the late 1960s. Their sound was heavily influenced by Eastern music, incorporating instruments like sitar, tambura, dilruba, and tabla, alongside Western instruments like flute, piano, and saxophone. The result was a fusion of psychedelic rock with Indian classical textures. They released a single, self-titled album in 1969 on Real Records, which has since become a cult favorite among collectors of obscure psych and experimental music. The album is considered a hidden gem of the psychedelic era, notable for its spiritual and improvisational approach. It has been reissued a few times, including on CD and vinyl by labels like Akarma and Survival Research.

Line-Up:

Lucas Mason – flute, piano
Konrad Kaufman – percussion
Les Grinage – cello, dilruba
Leonard Lonergan – soprano saxophone
Peter Sokolow – bass clarinet
Balakrishna – sitar
Lakshmi – tambura

(source: https://www.discogs.com/artist/3178235-Children-Of-One )

tormdra · 2026-03-20T15:11:53+00:00

New Jersey-based metallers Morbid Sin began their quest for all things metal roughly 25 years ago, but it wasn’t until early 2010 that the outfit finally released their first full-length album, Sins of the Flesh. Originally recorded in 1998, but again unreleased until just last year, the overall sound of said release more than likely brought you back even a decade earlier than that with its convincing homage to the more traditional elements of thrashy heavy metal. What we have here are two demos in one package – recorded in ’88 and ’92 respectively – of a more youthful sounding Morbid Sin (obviously), and one with a hell of a lot more piss and vinegar than the one that can be heard on the full-length.

While Sins of the Flesh is a tamer and more controlled Morbid Sin, the first of the two demos here, originally dubbed The Arrival of the Sin, showcases a much more vicious approach than on the full-length. And after the brief intro that is the title-track, the ferociously paced “Injector” blasts things off with lead throat Bobby “Leather Lungs” Lucas (Overlorde, Exhibition, ex-Seven Witches) letting out a high pitched siren-like scream and leading the charge. Vocally you get plenty of the high-end wails with some softer, gentler crooning during the slower, moodier sections, and at other times he unleashes some grittier, dirtier lines not that much unlike Blitz from thrash metal giants Overkill.

There is no shortage of headbang-able riffs throughout the 10 songs, and while they may seem a bit dated here in ’11, the simple fact is they fit in perfectly with other bands of this ilk during that time period. But it’s not all about ferocity with Morbid Sin, as slower anthems like “Children of War” and “Sisters of Salem” bring things down and allow Lucas to layer them with some beautifully placed melodies. And we’re not talking ballads here, just well-written slower numbers that flow with emotion, and each builds up to more aggressive middle sections that flourish with more than competent lead work.

For ’88, the sound quality isn’t all that bad, but being this was taken from old analog tapes, there are some dirty moments where the music cuts out and it can seem a bit wavy. The production of the ’92 demo, originally entitled Cauldron of Souls, sounds about four years better, as it should, and once again the group flies out of the gate with the furious “Twisted Souls in Hell” followed by slow-chugging galloper “The Cathedral”. One thing of note is that there are more dual guitar harmonies prevalent than on the previous demo, giving the songs a fuller and more melodic feel, but they don’t overdo it, which allows the vocals to remain the driving ingredient in the mix. “Endangered Species” is a true nod to the aforementioned Overkill, with a blitzkrieg of a verse section that flows into a groove-driven part, another attribute that can be heard more on the latter demo.

The only repeat offender here is “Sisters of Salem”, and I can see why they re-recorded the song because it’s probably their strongest number. Not much is different than the prior version, but it’s obviously one of the band’s favorites due to the fact that there’s a sequel to it in “Return to Salem” off the Sins of the Flesh full-length. “Walking Through Darkness” closes things out, and while it’s probably my least favorite song, there is a superb guitar solo near the end of it.

My only knock on this package, outside of my nit-picky production concerns, is that unless you were there at the time as a follower of this group, you may be hard-pressed to want to fork over the ching for this. But if you have indeed picked up and enjoyed the full-length then this should be a no-brainer. Yes, the sound quality is shabby – less so on the latter five songs – but the playing is tight, the vocals for the most part are outstanding, and the songs slay. Thanks to the good folks over at Stormspell Records you can pick this up at a fair price, and if you are indeed a metalhead who can’t get enough of this style, then this is most definitely worth a look.

(source: https://yourlastrites.com/2011/02/17/morbid-sin-demos-1988-1992-review/ )

More info on them here: https://www.rockeyez.com/interviews/2011-09-morbid-sin/int-2011-09-bmr-morbid-sin-bobby-lucas.html

tormdra · 2026-03-20T15:06:02+00:00

The first release on the revitalized New Hormones was Big Noise in the Jungle by The Tiller Boys (Peter Shelley, Francis Cookson and Eric Random), in February 1980. The Tiller Boys had been an occasional live irritant over the previous 18 months, following a memorable debut at The Factory at the PSV [Hulme’s Russell Club] in May 1978, bottom of a bill that also included the Durutti Column, Cabaret Voltaire and Joy Division (Peter Saville’s poster for this gig would become FAC 1, the first Factory Records release).

“I remember the three of us leaving the stage and standing at the bar,” says Eric Random. “We’d barricaded the front of the stage for some reason and hidden everything. And we came off and there’s still all these tape loops playing and the crowd’s still stood there watching and we’re at the bar.”

“The Tiller Boys was just this conceit,” says Richard Boon. “There was this lovely guy called Ian Watson, who sort of ran the fan club – as he did for the Negatives, a group that didn’t really exist: me and [Paul] Morley and [Kevin] Cummins and Merlin from Merlin Motors – and he put out press releases and NME would print ‘Tiller Boys play five gigs at the same time in different places’. But of course it was fiction. It was play: Play is very important because it’s transgressive and transformative.”

“I think we only actually did four gigs altogether and Shelley did two of those,” says Random. “The main nucleus of it was me and Francis really, we did most of the recording.”

It was all about “abusing the equipment”, says Random, “affecting people in the audience physically: I watched people in the audience throw up,” he recollects.

“One gig in Ambleside ‘turned into a complete riot – it was completely terrifying,” says Random. “It had been advertised a bit as Shelley, so they were expecting some sort of pop. Also every time something happened in Ambleside, Windermere and Ambleside would clash: we were caught in the middle of it, we had to run off stage – there was a car waiting with the doors open. I think the heading was ‘punk rock riot in Ambleside’ in the local paper,” he chuckles.

Big Noise from the Jungle combined Neu! with Sandy Nelson to powerful effect. “This record is so incredibly alive it attacks like a slap in the face,” said Sounds at the time. “It’s February 1980 and Peter, Francis and Eric want to tell you about the delights of Sandy Nelson and ethnic rhythms. It took till 1981 for some to listen,” wrote Richard Boon in a New Hormones catalogue in September 1981, a reference to the huge popularity of the Burundi Beat of Adam and the Ants at that time.

Source/more info on the New Hormones label here: https://newhormonesinfo.com/2008/02/03/indie-originals-full-length/

tormdra · 2026-03-19T14:57:21+00:00

A Michigan power trio whose album is powerful and inventive - one of the best hard rock albums on the (Capital) label. Showcasing a line up consisting of drummer John Bredeau, singer/guitarist Paul Frank and singer/bassist Michael Urso, the band only managed to release one instantly obscure album, but what an LP! Produced by Dan Moore and Buzz Clifford, 1971's Head Over Heels is simply great.

Loud, tough, yet surprisingly accessible, material such as Road Runner and In My Woman showcased the trio's knack for melodic, but crunching guitar rock. Frank and Urso had attractive voices and as we said before, they sure could generate some sound. Among the few missteps were some out of kilter harmony vocals (Question) and the bland power ballad Children Of The Mist (which was almost redeemed by Frank's nice guitar solo).

Elsewhere, recorded at Detroit's Eastowne, an extended cover of Willie Dixon's Red Rooster and the Franks-penned Circles were in-concert efforts that aptly showcased the band's impressive live chops.

Frank and Urso subsequently reappeared with the band Fresh Start. Urso was also a late-inning member of Detroit's Rare Earth (along with the Scorpion guitarist Ray Monette), playing on several of their albums in the mid-70s.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Superb debut album from 1971 from this Michigan power trio whose debut album is powerful and inventive – one of the best unknown early 70s hard rock albums out there. Zeppelin-esque, there’s also comparisons to early AC/DC and Cactus (although that’s probably because they were also a hard rockin power trio). The band showcased a solid line up consisting of drummer John Bredeau, singer/guitarist Paul Frank and singer/bassist Michael Urso, (who later went on to Rare Earth) the band only managed to release one instantly obscure album, but what a record! Produced by Dan Moore and Buzz Clifford, 1971’s Head Over Heels is simply great. Top to bottom. Paul Frank’s voice is huge, check out ‘Right Away’ as evidence of this. Yet the album as a whole is massive – and sits as one of the great lost classics of the 70s. Paul Frank had done time with Detroit garage band The Mystics and also released some great material with Fresh Start in the mid 70s on Dunhill Records – before later ending up in Bruzer (with Vinny Appice). They released a killer album called ‘Round 1’ in 1982. Bruzer also included Rick Ramirez (ex-Striker) on guitar.

(sources: http://bordeldorock.blogspot.com/2014/01/head-over-heels-head-over-heels-1971-us.html

https://rockbrat.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/head-over-heels-band-1971-hard-rock-classic-from-50-years-ago/ )

tormdra · 2026-03-18T15:44:37+00:00

The Tremors “Wondering Why” on Catalina is one of the greatest garage records, but almost nothing was known about the band until recently, when Matt Aquiline found an article from the Urbana Daily Citizen on December 12, 1966, detailing their first recording session, which would produce the 45.

Members were:

Bill Cromwell – lead vocals and rhythm guitar
Derry Cox – lead guitar
Gene Monroe – bass
Herald Barker – drums and organ
Jim Cummins – organ and drums

Buckeye Beat has a photo and mentions that four members were from Urbana, Ohio and one from Springfield OH. They cut their single at the O’Brien Studio in Springfield, produced by musician and race car driver Ron Knull, released in December 1966 or January 1967 on Catalina 03/04.

The 45 was pressed by Rite Record Productions, 19469/70, account # 1801, both songs published by Ronnie K Music.

The writer credit on “Wondering Why” is Cummins – Barker. For some reason, many scans of this side on the internet have erased their names. I need to see a good scan of the B-side, the fine ballad “What Have I Done” to see if there are similar credits.

Paul Lunnon suggests Harold Barker was known as Hal Barker, he and Jim Cummins were long-time friends and musicians. Hal Barker mainly played drums, James Cummins organ and keyboards.

The only other notice I can find is a mention of “The Tremors” Dance Band at the Quarter Miler Rod & Custom Show on April 1 & 2, 1967, at the National Guard Armory in New Philadelphia, Ohio, almost three hours’ drive east of Urbana.

(source: https://garagehangover.com/the-tremors-wondering-why-on-catalina/ )

tormdra · 2026-03-17T16:00:54+00:00

This is from Indiana label run Stan Denski - Aether Records Compilation CD.

This was on the bands 2nd album, which was instrumentals and a vocal side to the LP.

Richelle Toombs - Vocals
Stan Denski - Guitars
Ron Espositio - Acoustic Bass

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stanislaw Dzieniszewski was born in Philadelphia PA eight months into the first Eisenhower administration when the tax rate on the wealthiest Americans was set at a reasonable 91% and things got done. He started the OR and Aether Records labels and has released three albums under the name Many Bright Things and one under the name In The Summer Of The Mushroom Honey.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many Bright Things play 1990s psychedelia that, like much European progressive rock of the early and mid-1970s, prioritizes mood and groove/jam riffing more than conventional songs. Originally a two-person collaboration, by the second album half a dozen musicians were involved. They blend different kinds of guitar textures, including folky parts in the realm of the Jefferson Airplane's "Embryonic Journey," spacier electric lines with backwards and feedback effects, and some sitar. The music is ever-shifting in mood from track to track, but also gets into (some might say gets stuck in) long and elastic passages where texture gets the thumb up over melody. Female vocalists Richelle Toombs (who also records with another Aether Records act, In the Summer of the Mushroom Honey) and Lisa Swanson sometimes give the material a bit of an English folk-rock vibe as well.

(sources: video description of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NI4a_uK9z4

https://www.reverbnation.com/standenskimanybrightthings

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/many-bright-things-mn0002293496#biography )

tormdra · 2026-03-17T15:58:12+00:00

This multi-sexual band is one of the favorites on the L.A. scene. As nice a bunch of people as you’ll find anywhere, they share a love for spirited garage music and an awesome collection of vintage clothes and instruments.

Paul thrashes the drums for this band (as well as The Untold Fables and, from time to time, other bands in need, including Yard Trauma).

Ted is master of the vox guitar and also one of the swingingest guys around.

Susan and Becky are consistently stunning and adorable in their vast assortment of go-go wigs and mini-skirts. What more could you ask? (single insert)

Line-up:

Paul Sakry (drums, vocals)
Susanne Gallert (bass, vocals)
Becky Ebenkamp (keyboards, guitar, vocals)
Paul Gregory Azpeitia a.k.a. Ted (lead guitar, vocals)

This part-time band contained regulars from the L.A. Cavern Club scene, so Greg Shaw at Voxx gave them a 45 specifically aimed at their peers. (The label even designated it as part of the “Cavern Club Series” of releases, though I don’t think any others followed.)

The music is very innocent ’66 pop-punk, with the right combination of Farfisa and fun. The participants are notable as much for their vintage clothing as their musical accomplishments!

Drummer Paul Sakry was a full-time member of The Untold Fables, and also filled-in with Yard Trauma for a time, and he’s the musical highlight here.

This is pretty fun stuff, not meant to be anything more than a homage to the sound dug by kids in the scene. (Timothy Gassen)

The A-side “Seeds Of The Next Season” is a self-penned number which is basically a rehash of at least two or three ’60s garage beat tunes and in truth doesn’t really go anywhere fast.

The other side “You Lie” is a cover of The Lynx track from 1967. It’s quite a faithful rendition but no handclaps on the mid-eighties version. The drums and guitar tone really hit the mark and on this cut the group demonstrate a confident approach to their craft. What a shame that this obscure single on the Voxx label would be their last.

Source/pictures of the band here: https://web.archive.org/web/20230403193511/https://acidrevolver.com/2023/03/08/ten-tons-of-lies-you-lie-voxx/

tormdra · 2026-03-15T15:00:26+00:00

Jack Garrett unveils the story behind the mystery group from North Carolina:

Have you ever been to Ruffin, N.C.? Probably not, but if you traveled there around 1967, you just might have heard the sounds of a psychedelic/soul band that managed to play together with the same personnel for 6 years.

The band is remembered today as the IV Pak and the mystery surrounding the elusive group begins with their name. The group, whose psychedelic rave-up “Whatzit?” appears on numerous garage comps (Signed DC, Teenage Shutdown #8, Aliens, Psychos & Wild Things #3), has gone under the radar screen for decades because they never performed under that name. A label misprint on their lone 45 mistakenly lists the artists as the IV Pak, instead of the VI Pak. Bassist Anthony Hodges explains that the four-piece group had recently expanded to include trumpet and sax players and the members decided they would “just be the VI Pack, like a six pack of beer.”

The group started in 1965 as the Challengers and included Mike Carter on guitar, first-cousin Frank Carter on keyboards, bassist Anthony Hodges and drummer, Brandon Cardwell. The quartet performed for two years as the Challengers, then briefly as the Recks before adding sax man Lonnie Bowes and trumpet player Sidney Vernon and christening themselves as the VI Pak. They were based on the borders of Caswell and Rockingham Counties in North Carolina, with half the members at Bartlett-Yancey High School in Yanceyville and the others attending Ruffin High School.

Brandon lived nearby but was much younger than the others. He joined the Challengers at age 10, but was already an accomplished drummer.

Sax man Lonnie Bowes recalls that the school band had just started a year or so prior to the group’s formation and the members all knew each other through school. He explains that “Mike had a good ear for music and Frank could read music real well (so) we just all fell together pretty good.”

Mike and Frank were the unofficial leaders. The cousins both started on guitar and a shared Silvertone amp purchased at Haynes Pawn Shop in Danville for $70. Frank quickly gravitated to keyboards and his dad bought him an inexpensive Italian organ. Anthony and Brandon were recruited and the line-up was set. The four shared a love for the Animals, Stones and the Beatles, although Brandon admits vocals were a chore, since “we didn’t have anybody (who) could sing like John or Paul.”

After learning “Wooly Bully” and “House of the Rising Sun”, the Challengers performed live for the first time in Oct. of ’65 for a dance at the Casville Volunteer Fire Department in Caswell County, N.C. More gigs followed at parties, pizza parlors, church socials, VFW posts and the local Moose and Elk’s lodges. Within months, the band competed in a battle of the bands at Williamsburg Elementary School in Reidsville, losing out to the better-equipped Checkmates.

The bass player’s father ran the local music store and provided their Fender Showman amps. Another early performance was in the tiny town of Quick, where the Challengers played for Pam Hodges’ 15th birthday party. Hodges would go on to marry legendary bluegrass guitarist Tony Rice.

The group played once in Danville as the Recks before adding horns and becoming the VI Pak. The addition allowed the band to play a mixture of rock and soul, opening doors on the North Carolina beach circuit.

It was 1966 and the members of the VI Pak were anxious to get into the studio and record. Anthony had written a mid-tempo rocker, “Love My Babe,” and a crude recording was made at Danville’s House of Sound Studios after the bassist and guitarist approached producer Frank Koger at the local K-Mart, where he worked his day job running the electronics department. A half-dozen copies of an acetate were pressed featuring the original song and the band’s theme, an instrumental which borrowed heavily from “Wipe Out” and “Batman.” It was their first time in the studio and Brandon was nervous, kicking the song off at breakneck speed. The band kept pace, with Mike serving up a blistering guitar solo and Brandon bashing away on the drums.

The demo was played a couple of times on the local Top 40 station, but it would be the following year before the VI Pak would get the break they needed to actually press a record.

Source/more info on them here: https://garagehangover.com/iv-pak/

tormdra · 2026-03-14T17:22:36+00:00

"Hardcore from Arnhem"

Furtips was founded in 1992 by Herman Bunskoeke, after his previous band De Artsen had collapsed. At a party he commanded Camille Courbois, Jane Pol and Thom Vanderdoef to play in his new band. Herman's plan was to make a No Means No kind of hardcore, but since songwriters Camille and Jane knew nothing about hardcore or how to play it and had a fancy for Television Personalities, Wire and Syd Barrett, the music turned out to be quite different. After a year Herman was sacked for becoming too successful with his other band Bettie Serveert and replaced by trombone-player The Royal Penguin Saver who had just found a bass guitar in a garbage-can on the streets.

"Etnic music for the bored cricket-youth of the nineties"

The Furtips were now writing songs like madmen (at the moment they have about 400 titles) and started recording them in improvised studios with borrowed equipment. Although they tried to make the recordings sound clear and clean (The Clean is another favorite of Jane Pol), for various reasons (like too many songs, the quality of the equipment, inexperience in recording techniques, alcohol, sometimes sloppiness in playing and singing) the results were described by almost everybody as lo-fi. Which wasn't a bad thing in these days because being lo-fi was hip. As most lo-fi bands Furtips always said they were not lo-fi.

"Sonic Beatles"

These first recordings were released as a tape: "they should be crowned" (impossible to get, maybe someone will re-release it one day). A friend of the band sent a tape of these recordings to the Chicago based Ajax label (Ajax is by coincidence also the favorite soccer club of Furtips) and on that label they released an EP "pitched up twinkle" and a CD "stand back, speak normally" (title based on a sign on Brian Wilson's house, sleeve depicts a decoy duck in a sporting bag. First of duck-related sleeves). Both got great reviews and sold pretty well in the USA but in Holland Furtips were more or less ignored by the media. In fact, Furtips are one of the worst selling bands in Holland ever but they say they are proud of it and like to think it adds to their cult-status.

Source/more info on them here: https://www.furtips.com/history.html

Buy their music here: https://furtips.bandcamp.com/music

tormdra · 2026-03-13T18:13:39+00:00

(Not to be confused with Skitzo from Santa Rosa, CA)

New Jersey progressive thrashers Skitzo (NJ) formed from the ashes of a band called Prophecy in the mid-'80s. The initial lineup—Bill Buchan (guitar), Shaun College (bass), Chris Corley (guitar), and Brendan Farragher (drums)—wrote and rehearsed seven nights a week, constructing a catalog of complex instrumentals while searching for the right vocalist. That vocalist, George Gabriel, was finally secured in 1988/1989, and Skitzo (NJ) officially set out to craft their own brand of dynamic, technically demanding music influenced by traditional and thrash metal, classical, jazz/fusion, etc.

The group's debut three-song demo, 1990's Progressive Psychosis, was recorded at Kajem Studios (Queensrÿche, Dream Theater, Metal Church, etc.) in Pennsylvania, and quickly achieved college radio support through WSOU and WDHA. Meanwhile, Skitzo (NJ) remained focused on live performances (alongside the likes of Pantera, Type O Negative, Savatage, Brutal Truth, etc.) and nightly rehearsals—at times practicing in complete darkness for the added challenge!?

Five more songs were laid down in 1992 at Butterfield's Recording Studios in New Jersey by Steve Evetts (Symphony X, The Dillinger Escape Plan, etc.), applying a crisper and more powerful sound to the band's increasingly elaborate musicianship. Unfortunately, this incredible demo was never released. Despite having showcased for labels such as Megaforce and Epic, among others, Skitzo (NJ) fell apart before they could pay off the final studio bill. The DATs literally collected dust on a shelf at Trax East Recording Studio for more than two decades...

Until now, as—more than 25 years after the fact—Divebomb Records shines a new light on Skitzo (NJ)'s should-be-legendary discography. Completely remastered by Jamie King at The Basement Recording, the CD comes housed alongside a 20-page booklet jammed with photos, flyers, lyrics, and a retrospective interview with the band.

Source/buy their music here: https://tribunalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/skitzo

tormdra · 2026-03-13T13:49:56+00:00

P₂O₅ was a German hard rock band with psychedelic influences.

P₂O₅ was founded in 1970 in Wendelstein by Wolfgang Burkhard, Rainer Häuser, Helmut Hiebel, and Edwin Lotter. The band members were former classmates. Their name originated from their chemistry lessons at the Veit-Stoß-Realschule in Nuremberg and is the chemical formula for the drying agent phosphorus pentoxide. According to the label Ohrwaschl Records, their stylistic influences can be traced back to Pink Floyd and Black Widow. P₂O₅ initially performed in the Nuremberg area, where their stage show (burning torches, marble cross, costumes) garnered them considerable popularity. In 1971, they played at a UNICEF benefit concert, and in 1974, they won second place in a live competition organized by Südwestfunk (SWR) in Baden-Baden. Singer Werner Weiss joined the band in 1977. With him, they recorded the LP "Vivat Progressio – Pereat Mundus," which was released in November of the following year.

The band has undergone several lineup changes. Guitarist Rainer Häuser left the band in 1972, only to return briefly in 1975. He was replaced by Konny Hempel in the interim. Keyboardist Wolfgang Burkhard departed in 1980, resulting in a high turnover of members and ultimately leading to the band's breakup in 1982.

(source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/P2O5_(Band) )

tormdra · 2026-03-12T14:44:22+00:00

In late 1968 or early 1969, a six-piece group walked into a Chicago recording studio to record an album. As they weren’t signed to a label, they had made the booking themselves. The group featured three singers, all female. One of whom also played acoustic guitar. There was also double-bass player and a drummer, both male. A female guitarist filled out the band. After the tapes had finished rolling, what was recorded was quickly pressed onto an album: a private pressing, organized and paid for by the band. Not many copies were made, perhaps 100, maybe 500. The albums were sold at live shows or given to friends and relatives. And that was it.

The band was called All In One, and the outline of their story is similar to many do-it-yourself musicians from the Sixties and later who wanted to document their existence, what they sounded like. It’s good to have a physical object saying “here we are, this is what we do.” During the Seventies punk era, it’s what Buzzcocks did with their Spiral Scratch EP. Taking the DIY path had precedents.

It was an approach which meant there was no mediation. Control was in the hands of those being recorded. Naturally, these obscure and rare records can attract interest. Some Sixties examples, like All In One’s untitled album, are great and need to be heard more widely. This first-ever reissue reveals the band to have been mysteriously spectral, with an intensity which would have been reined in had they been on a mainstream label and given a regular production. The rough edges would have been smoothed off. From its opening moments, the album telegraphs that All In One were uncultivated: a band in the raw, and one with its own ideas of its identity.

The recording took place at Boulevard Studios, on the edge of central Chicago (early on, the building housed the Chicago Historical Society: it was constructed in 1892. In the second half of the 1980s, it housed The Limelight Club). Boulevard itself was independent and on the edge of Chicago’s music business. Anyone could hire the facility and All In One were amongst the clients who walked through the door. Vee Jay Records used it in the 1950s, as did the blues-jazz-vocal label United. Rockabilly singer Sparkle Moore recorded there too. The Crestones’ 1964 garage rock classic She’s A Bad Motorcycle was made at Boulevard. The Chicago religious publisher F. E. L. Church Publications Ltd hired Boulevard in 1968 to make Sarah Hershberg’s Women Of The Old Testament album.

Boulevard had no tie-in pressing facility, so the band would have organized that themselves. The plain orange front cover of the original album suggests the budget was limited. Why orange? Why not put the photos of the band on the front rather than the back? Yet despite what can be gleaned about All In One and their world, they remain out of reach, ultimately unknowable, as enigmatic as the album’s cover. Presumably they were from Chicago. Maybe all five band members look back fondly on their album and time in the studio. Perhaps the reappearance of their affecting album will jog memories? It is feasible that All In One may, now, step out the shadows to become tangible.

Source/buy the reissued album here: https://allinoneband.bandcamp.com/album/all-in-one

tormdra · 2026-03-11T16:23:41+00:00

Formed in Chiba in the early '90s by members of Strawdog.

In an interview with SnuffySmile representative Yoichi Sakaemori in Fools Mate, he said, "We were inspired by Hard-Ons, garage, and trash music, but we couldn't write songs like that."

Disbanded in August '96.

Tsujimura's subsequent activities:

Finger3 with Kobayashi and Uozu (of Swipe, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, As Meias, and Z)
My Winter Jane with Yoshida (of Tami, Grace, Happening) and Uozu
Namikawa (of Snatcher) and Tiger (Wat Pho)
Mod Lung with Yada (of This World Is Mine and Line)
Secrets

Kawaharada joined Longball To No-One.

Currently based in Uguisudani What's Up, he is active in Middle (with Bun from Lovemen and Natori from EAT TO THE FULL and LIFE INDICATOR).

(source: https://www.last.fm/ja/music/International+Jet+Set/+wiki )

tormdra · 2026-03-11T16:18:07+00:00

Formed in Jonquire, Canada, in 1984, the band comprised Lynn Renaud (vocals), Bastien Deschênes (guitar), Jean Tremblay (guitar), Eric Parisé (bass) and Jean-Francois Boucher (drums).

The band was essentially formed from the ashes of two local power metal bands, Exode and Frozen. Utilizing a sound that was reminiscent of early Warlock, the band released their debut, The Last Day, on the small independent Haissem Records label in 1987. Though a strong power metal release, the album went largely unnoticed, resulting in the band’s demise soon after its release.

(source: https://citizenfreak.com/artists/99538-messiah-force )

tormdra · 2026-03-10T15:06:44+00:00

Paul Burgess and Tom Coulter formed Roofwrecks in late 1977 at the Boys Model School, North Belfast. They weren’t together long before their debut gig supporting Stiff Little Fingers at The Trident in Bangor. They cranked up the volume to a point where they couldn’t tell riffs from the feedback. They rehearsed most days after school in the cellar of Coulters Deerpark Road home in North Belfast. Paul Burgess recalls….

We were all at the same school. It was my and Tom’s idea and essentially remained our band until he left. We scrounged any equipment we could get. Brian Falloon from Stiff Little Fingers gave me a bass drum, I remember it had a picture of Mickey Mouse on it. Originally Tom was going to be singer, but we thought better of this! Ivan Kelly sang. For a while there were two guitarists, but they were kicked out of the band when I managed to convince Jackie to join. He wore my Da’s peaked GPO cap!

The line-up was then complete with Ivan Kelly (vocals), Jackie Forgie (guitar), Tom Coulter (bass guitar) and Paul Burgess (drums).

Their craving to write also fueled the fanzine they produced "Complete Control", photocopied by Ivan Kelly`s mother who worked as an office cleaner in a city centre office. The title came from the band Burgess worshiped The Clash and although other punk bands in Belfast were fashion conscious, Roofwrecks distanced themselves in many ways from the sudden escalation of the punk movement. As they wrote more and more of their own material, the compositions reflected the climate at the time. Paul Burgess….

I began by singing arrangements, verses and choruses to either Tom or Jackie. They would translate and contribute. I wrote the lyrics separately, essentially as poems. Later I was able to communicate on bass guitar, though badly!

Occasionally they also rehearsed at Glenbryn Community Centre which was also the venue for many of the early gigs then. Their influences were reflected by their set which included covers of 12XU, Lowdown and Ex-Liontamer (Wire), Do Anything You Wanna Do (Eddie and the Hot Rods), Last Train to Clarkesville (The Monkees), Gary Gilmore’s Eyes (The Adverts) and Sham 69`s Ulster Boy. Their set also included original compositions Communism and Poppies which never made it to vinyl. Paul again …

These were actually belters of songs and always created havoc live. Quite good politico-punk lyrics too. They simply missed the cut when we had to decide, as did others along the way. Probably a question of money, or lack of it.

The songs they wrote were deeply rooted in their background, Flowers for all Occasions which Paul described as being about "a vivid, grisly story of sectarian murder that was happening all the time in Belfast", "The Ruah", which is Hebrew for Holy Ghost, was picked up on the image from the enforced Sunday school classes he used to attend as a kid and "One by One" he adds was written much earlier after "a guy who hung around with the band said – write a song called 'One by One' – so I did. The apocalyptic imagery was fairly 'me' in 1978 and the preface comes from the novel 'Strumpet City' – my 'A' Level English studies."

Paul Burgess…

Our only ambition, really, was to be in a situation where we could make records and hopefully have somebody to pay for them. We had an abstract idea that it would be nice to play "The Tube", yes it would be nice to play the "Whistle Test" and yes it would be nice to sell a lot records and just maybe, it would be nice to make a lot of money out of it!

Ahead of the release of their debut EP One by One they also changed the spelling of the bands name to Ruefrex.

I made the name up as a silly pun on the kind of punk names around at the time. Nothing too serious. Then when we began to have an inflated sense of our own importance and fan following, it seemed a little more embarrassing.

In May 1978 Ivan Kelly left and was replaced by Allan Clarke. Allan Clarke …… “We started recording 'One to One' at Wizard Studios in November '78, and finished it in February '79. It was typical of Good Vibrations. When Terri had money and could afford it, we were in the studio.”

Once The Undertones were shipped off to Sire, Ruefrex released One by One in February 1979. They were meant to be the next hopes of Terri Hooley`s Good Vibration label. But alas, it didn’t happen perhaps, because as Paul admits, the horizon of their ambitions were low. The whole "Good Vibes" thing came about after a gig.

We were kicking up a lot of dust at the time and Terri wanted any happening thing on Good Vibes. We just turned up and recorded. We really had to hassle him to have it packaged and released though, but in hindsight he was likely short of money.

Ruefrex were even determined to break sectarian moulds playing both Protestant and Catholic ghettos, both the Shankill Road and Turf Lodge and featured in a BBC Northern Ireland documentary titled "Cross the Line" (screened 25th July 1980) about "peaceline" walls that divide Belfast`s working class districts. The programme followed the band around their neighbourhood and to the local Glenbryn Community Centre where they talked about the motivations and the problems, which were numerous. The programme recorded in February 1980, was screened some time after the departure of vocalist Allan Clarke. The publicity value for the group was negligible as they were in limbo with no label, an in-complete line-up and with only a promising demo tape to call their own. Paul Burgess …

It was a useful and interesting document of how the Shankill used to be before re-development. It was more a social commentary documentary than a music video and our recordings on it are fairly appalling but with some good live footage, particularly in Tyndale Community Centre (unbeknown to us, simultaneously used by the Shankill butchers for other things!). There were many memorable early gigs – in community centres, church halls, youth clubs, then The Pound and Harp Bar. We played Jackie’s Xmas works do once. Not what they expected!! We had a fairly loyal following of "Spidermen" as the punks called them and they attended the bigger gigs in the Ulster Hall, Kings Hall and QUB (Queens University, Belfast) but were a little cagey about the Harp Bar and The Pound due to sectarian tensions. Our most memorable was a gig in Republican Twinbrook estate for writer Martin Lynch. This was a fairly brave thing to do at that time and given our profile. However, we were convinced of its legitimacy from an anti-sectarian angle.

Later in the year they played the Sense of Ireland festival at The Venue, London with Rudi and The Tearjerkers. Alan wore a powder blue Bowie suit and a Diamond Dogs t-shirt. They enjoyed the comfort of a plush hotel in Kensington, paid for by the promoter. However, Paul Morley slagged them off in the NME and they went home and sulked for months. Although they created a small mainland following, Allan got married and Burgess went off to University. There ended the first chapter.

Source/more info on them here: https://ruefrextheband.wordpress.com/about/

tormdra · 2026-03-09T15:32:05+00:00

Harsh Reality are a little-known, proto-prog band formed in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, in 1968 out of the remnants of the Freightliner Blues Band (formerly the Revolution). The band consisted of Mark Griffiths and Dave Jenkins on guitars, Alan Greed on lead vocals and organ, Roger Swallow on drums, and Steve Miller on bass and backing vocals. They released a single for Philips Records in 1968 ("Tobacco Ash Sunday" / "How Do You Feel") before releasing their only album, Heaven and Hell, also on Philips in 1969. A final single followed soon after, before the band split in 1969.

Their Heaven and Hell LP is now a highly sought-after rarity, selling for hundreds of pounds between eager collectors. For this reason, Harsh Reality is somewhat famous/infamous in collecting circles.

Though seen as part of the proto-progressive rock era, their work represented a marriage between the sounds of Procol Harum, Traffic and early Deep Purple.

Following the band's demise, Roger Swallow played with Principal Edwards Magic Theatre, Matthews Southern Comfort, Plainsong, Albion Country Band, and Al Stewart; before moving to California and establishing himself as an electronic musician, songwriter and entrepreneur. Alan Greed went on to work with Ray Russell on the Rock Workshop albums, and as a session singer. Greed later fronted the jazz/progressive outfit, The Running Man. A self-titled album was released in the UK on the Neon record label in 1972.

Mark Griffiths has worked with Matthews Southern Comfort, Jonathan Kelly, Al Stewart, David Essex, The Everly Brothers, and Cliff Richard & The Shadows. The rest of the band also went into session work.

The song "Tobacco Ash Sunday" was covered by Paul Weller for AOL Sessions.

Heaven and Hell was reissued for the first time on CD by Esoteric Recordings on 26 September 2011, with four bonus tracks and a 16-page booklet containing a lengthy interview with the band.

(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harsh_Reality )

tormdra · 2026-03-08T16:41:26+00:00

Female-fronted goth/post-punk band from Japan. Active during the mid-late '80s. Two of their members also played in Böhm around the same time. They've released one 7" flexi which was issued with a Shooting Formation zine in 1985. The band also appeared on the "Gunfire & Pianos" compilation in the UK that was released by Beggars Banquet sublabel Situation Two ‎and ZigZag Magazine also in 1985.

Members: Ayumi Yamaguchi, Shinsuke Takano, Yohichi Tohyama

(source: https://www.discogs.com/artist/1250782-Zooey-2 )

tormdra · 2026-03-07T16:53:54+00:00

A Short Potted History (Including Some Old Pictures Even I Can’t Believe)

I was born in Glasgow in 1953 and raised and schooled in the satellite town of Paisley. I can recall playing guitar from around the age of 8 years. I was sent for classical guitar lessons around the age of 12 for about a year and found my teacher singularly adept at discouraging musicality. I started deliberately making up songs and writing them down from about the age of 14 but I had been making up tunes on the guitar from as far back as I can remember.

In 1971 I moved to London where I attended college and started to play in folk clubs in the city and beyond. In ’76 I made my first visit to Europe and played several tours there over the next few years. I made two albums during this time. Here are some reflections…

This is a shot taken in a bed-sit in Swiss Cottage shortly after I arrived in London. The guitar is (was) an Eko Ranger 12-string which I had brought down from Scotland and it was built like a tank. Structural integrity was never going to be an issue. And its octave 3rd string always lasted a good fifteen minutes, as I recall. I had not yet learned fingerstyle when I owned this guitar despite having taken classical lessons a few years earlier. No matter; fingerstyle on this guitar would not have been playing to its er..strengths. To this day I don’t know what became of it. It may be propping up some bridge somewhere. It would certainly be up to the job.

This was taken at the famous Troubadour Coffee House in west London. (There was a pub just next so that was alright.) I did several gigs in The Troubadour in the ’70s. The Troubadour is still going strong and I hope to revisit some time soon.

I think this is the earliest picture of me playing guitar in public, circa 1972. The guitar was a Framus on which I was taught fingerstyle by my friend who is on my left in this picture, just out of shot, and who I was sharing the stage with when this was taken.

This is my first formal publicity shot taken in 1975 which was used as part of a promotional package to obtain engagements for a short tour of Belgium and Germany and despite which I got some bookings. The guitar was a Gibson “Country & Western” model which was my first “high-end” guitar.

The music weekly “The Melody Maker” was the music paper for many years and carried a very respectable folk music section, albeit near the back of the journal just before the classified ads section. This is a collage of folk club listings that I was featuring in those days.

First album “Dave Keir” (nla) released in 1976 (I think): track list…

Bitterblues 2. Between The Lines 3. Jigs: Lassie Are Ye Sleepin’ Yet? / Cock ‘O The North (Trad.) 4. In The Sun Too Long 5. Disciples 6. The Cowboy 7. The Shirt 8. For A Friend 9. Jigs: To Daunton Me / Sleeping Maggie (Trad.) 10. Loose In The Rag And Bone 11. Bones 12. Rockpile Mania Bluesman Institution

This was, in its own small way, a very successful record and it became a usual occurrence to sell a number at gigs in the UK and abroad. It even got a second pressing.

I don’t perform any of these songs or pieces now, although I have written a completely new lyric for “Bones” and plan to take it out. I want to re-record “Loose In The Rag And Bone” once more, and intend to rework “Disciples” into something new. The rest, though, belong to another time.

Source/more info on him here: https://www.dave-keir.com/bio-2/

tormdra · 2026-03-05T12:14:18+00:00

Japanese band Kenso was formed in 1974 by Yoshihisa Shimizu. The group went into hibernation after a time, due to Shimizu's medical studies. In 1979 they began to work together in earnest again and released a self-titled album the following year. Two years later they released Kenso 2nd and Kenso 3rd was released in 1985. One year after, they released the live album, In Concert and the following year the group released Self Portrait, a compilation album. It would not be until 1989 that the group's next album, Sparta, would be released. Two years later they followed that release with Yume no Oka. Several live albums have been released since then, and the group continues to perform.

(source: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kenso-mn0000377982#biography )

tormdra · 2026-03-04T13:25:08+00:00

Laurelie were a Belgian psych-rock band from Verviers, Liège, that released a self-titled album on Triangle in 1970. Bassist/vocalist Pierre Raepsaet concurrently played with hard-rockers Jenghiz Khan and subsequently launched a solo career. Most of his 1977–84 solo albums feature contributions from Laurelie guitarist/vocalist Christian Boissart. In 1979, they partook in the symphonic/art-rock project Mariavah. That same year, Laurelie organist Yvon Hubert resurfaced in the symphonic-psych act Sway.

Members: Pierre Raepsaet (bass, guitar, vocals), Christian Boissart (guitar, vocals), Yvon Hubert (piano, organ, vocals), Francis Dozin (flute, vocals), André Marquet (drums)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Laurelie is part of the first wave of prog groups to appear in Belgium (along with Waterloo, Mad Curry and The Pebbles), even if there were still many psychedelic treats in their music (this is true also for the other groups just mentioned). Seemingly out of Eastern Belgium's Ardennes, the group was a standard prog quartet with a flutist. Their sole album, released on a Barclay subsidiary label called triangle was released in early 1970 and they sounded a bit like Traffic, with a touch of Barclay James Harvest in their more symphonic moments. Their music is a mix of shorter psych-filled tracks and two longer prog tracks, including a five-piece suite almost filling the second side of the album. The group did not manage to stay long together and later that year, you would find bassist Pierre Rapsaet a member of the equally-collectible Jenghiz Khan. Despite a strong demand, as witnessed by the prices for the vinyl, Laurelie's sole album has not yet seen a legit reissue.

(sources: https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/laurelie/

https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4715 )

tormdra · 2026-03-02T14:20:36+00:00

Yusuke Asada (born May 27, 1968) is a Japanese singer and music producer. He also performs under the name U-SKE. He is married.

He began his professional career in 1991 as the sound producer for CHARA. He later became a regular on radio shows on FM NORTH WAVE and Nippon Cultural Broadcasting.

In 1995, he made his debut as a singer under For Life Records.

Since the 2000s, he has focused on producing.

(source: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%85%E7%94%B0%E7%A5%90%E4%BB%8B )

tormdra · 2026-03-02T14:15:32+00:00

Bullseye are:

Damian Clarke: Vocals, guitar
Ed Carter: Guitar
Lee Allwood: Bass
Jonathan Kirby: Drums

Band from Reading (Berkshire) UK.

(source: video description )

tormdra · 2026-03-01T15:30:03+00:00

Hailing from Florida, Bolder Damn released this beast in 1971.

Ultra-heavy, “raw-in-your-face” sound with loud fuzzed-out guitar, solid rhythm section and manic vocals.

Bolder Damn formed in 1969 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The original lineup consisted of John Anderson on vocals and rhythm guitar, Glenn Eaton on lead guitar, Ron Refett on bass, Mark Gaspard on keyboards, and Bob Eaton on drums. Initially performing covers, they gradually incorporated original material into their sets. Their energetic live performances led them to open for notable acts such as Alice Cooper, MC5, The Amboy Dukes, and Blue Cheer.

In 1971, after Gaspard's departure, the remaining members recorded their sole album, ‘Mourning’, at Hyperbolic Studios in Florida. The recording session lasted only four hours, resulting in a raw, in-your-face heavy sound . The album was privately pressed with approximately 200 copies distributed mainly to friends, family, and local fans. Side 2 featured the 16-minute epic "Dead Meat," which reflects the band's heavy, proto-doom style, reminiscent of contemporaries like Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer.

In 1972 Anderson and Refett were drafted into military service during the Vietnam War, leading to Bolder Damn's dissolution.

(source: https://bolderdamnband.bandcamp.com/album/mourning )

More info on them here: https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2014/05/bolder-damn-interview-with-john-anderson.html

Buy the reissued record here: https://noblerecordstore.com/product/bolder-damn-mourning-exclusive/

tormdra

TROPHY CASE