Dutch psychedelic band Q65 were a band I discovered reading magazines like Record Collector, who hyped them up as a band with a monstrous reputation. They were, and to my ears, are, among the best bands of the late 1960s.
Classic Rock
[Music] Irma Thomas – Time Is On My Side
Though The Rolling Stones‘ version is more famous, this version by Irma Thomas packs quite a whallop!
[Music] The Beatles – Blackbird
Though my favorite Beatles song is George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps (in a bare acoustic setting), this is definitely #2 as I get older.
[Music] Scott Walker – The Seventh Seal
How many people do you know who could seamlessly pull off an Ingmar Bergman reference in a song? Scott Walker does so admirably.
[Music] Rodriguez – Sugar Man
Sixto Rodriguez’s story is a pretty incredible one. A Mexican-American folk singer from Detroit who didn’t sell too many albums, but did manage to have a good tour of Australia, and then fell into obscurity, or so he thought. He ended up outselling Elvis Presley in South Africa, and fans from there hunted him down. The movie Searching For Sugar Man documents his rise, fall, and rise back to popularity.
[Music] War – Slippin’ Into Darkness
My friend Owen made the pick of the night. War’s classic is a meaty, visceral tune which, if memory serves me right, would influence Bob Marley in making Get Up, Stand Up.
[Music] Journey – Topaz (1975)
I loathe Steve Perry. No, not as a person. I’m sure he’s swell and a blast to hang out with. I mean what he did to Journey. Former members of Santana, guitarist Neal Schon and vocalist Gregg Rolie, started the band out as a really good jazz-fusion band, touched a bit with hard rock. Perry’s vocals killed the band, at least for me, though millions of screaming teeny-boppers will, no doubt, tell me otherwise.
[Music] Gloria Jones – Tainted Love
Everyone knows the great cover Soft Cell did of this classic 60s slab of soul, but few remember that this cut by Gloria Jones is the original!
[Music] Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing (Old Grey Whistle Test, 1978)
I never could understand the fascination my friends in Eastern Europe had with Dire Straits. I saw them as nothing more than a white-boy blues band trying to act cool, yet I never bothered to give their early work a chance. After hearing this, I think I get it now.
I was a fan of guitarist Mark Knopfler’s work outside of Dire Straits, especially his collaboration with Chet Atkins. I can finally appreciate his roots now.
[Video] Thor’s Hammer – Show Me You Like Me
Thor’s Hammer don’t particularly strike one as worthy of their name. However, these guys were about 20 years ahead of really cheesy heavy metal bands who might have better fit the part.
Musically, however, they were incredibly good at producing a fuzzy, garage-y freakbeat.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 