06.29.05 (MusicPortal.com) Long-time denizens of the Garage Rock world THE FLESHTONES are set to make a return August 9th with the release of "Beachhead," the band's latest offering from Yep Roc Records. Produced by SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS' Rick Miller (The Forty-Fives, The Moaners) and THE DIRTBOMBS' Jim Diamond (The White Stripes, Andre Williams), THE FLESHTONES deliver another time-tested premium blend of garageified Rock and old-school R&B on "Beachhead." The band got their start nearly 30 years ago now after forming in New York City in 1976, where and when bands like THE RAMONES, BLONDIE, TALKING HEADS and TELEVISION were making their mark in that city. THE FLESHTONES' material of choice is, like most others, music they've grown up with: THE SEEDS, THE STANDELLS, THE YARDBIRDS and funky, backfield-in-motion Soul and R&B. By 1978, their high-energy shows, Neo-Psychedelic sound (tremolo guitars, fuzz organ and pounding drums) gain THE FLESHTONES a rep as a don't-miss live band, even if the Art Punk set does dismiss them at first as a "dance/twist band," to which they have the last laugh in 2005. After a single release on the quickly defunct Red Star Records, THE FLESHTONES are snapped up by the '80s' most visible "alternative" label, I.R.S. Records (R.E.M., The Go-Gos), after which band members Keith Streng, Jan-Marek Pakulski and Peter Zaremba add drummer Bill Milhizer to the line-up. They release a classic trio of records in "Roman Gods," "Hexbreaker" and "Speed Connection," Zaremba becomes a celebrity of sorts as the host of MTV's "The Cutting Edge," a precursor to the much-praised "120 Minutes." However, mainstream success eludes the band and I.R.S. cuts them loose. Co-founder Pakulski leaves, to be replaced by Kenny Fox - the line-up that's continued to this day. Now, after 16 albums and more than 25 years conquering Rock fans in the U.S. and abroad, THE FLESHTONES have remained amazingly true to their danceable, crowd-pleasing, shindiggin' Rock ethic. Says Zaremba: "The Garage thing ... A lot of people take it and it's almost like archeology -- very dry, keeping it the same as it was -- they're too much in awe of it. We look at it as an approach - we see it as a living thing. We'll cover stuff like Sylvester's 'Do You Wanna Funk' and people accuse us of not being pure. Actually, we're working with the essence of rock 'n' roll -- the thing that gives you the buzz from the music."
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06.29.05 (MusicPortal.com) Castle Music will release the ultimate JOE MEEK anthology box set in "Portrait Of A Genius: The RGM Legacy" on August 22nd. The deluxe 4-disc set chronicles the UK's first successful independent record producer, Robert George "Joe" Meek. The anthology combines elements from his independent career, as well as from his time as a successful engineer at the IBC and Landsowne recording studios, where he'd cut many hits for the major UK record companies (albeit often without receiving a label credit). This is the first compilation to draw the two separate phases of JOE MEEK's all-too-brief career together. Meek's very first UK chart entry came in October 1955, with Gary Miller's 'Yellow Rose Of Texas,' and he subsequently carved out huge hits for Humphrey Lyttleton, Anne Shelton, Frankie Vaughan, Lonnie Donegan, Johnny Duncan, Chris Barber, Marty Wilde, Emile Ford, etc. Between January 1960 and his violent death in February 1967, he carved out a reputation as a wildly eccentric maverick, famous as much for his "difficult" personality as for his pioneering, innovative recording techniques. One of his very first independent projects was the legendary "I Hear A New World" album and he soon began registering hits with Michael Cox, Danny Rivers and Mike Berry. He cracked it big in the Summer of 1961 with John Leyton's UK No. 1, 'Johnny Remember Me,' repeating the trick the following Summer with THE TORNADOS and 'Telstar,' which went on to become a worldwide No. 1 record. After successfully launching Heinz as a major solo singer, JOE MEEK found the hits harder to come by, although THE HONEYCOMBS briefly restored him to No. 1 in 1964 with the stomping 'Have I The Right,' This led to Meek recording R&B/Freakbeat groups like DAVID JOHN & THE MOOD, THE CRYIN' SHAMES and THE RIOT SQUAD during 1965/66 in his eternal search for new sounds & styles. "Portrait Of A Genius: The RGM Legacy" juxtaposes some of JOE MEEK's biggest independently-produced early 60's hits alongside a carefully chosen selection of collectors' rarities, previously-unreleased B-sides and demos. They are all sequenced chronologically, enabling the listener to trace his wildly uneven career path in his interminable quest to make hit records. "Portrait Of A Genius: The RGM Legacy" is simply the ultimate JOE MEEK anthology.

06.14.05 (MusicPortal.com) Legendary long-lost Country music duo BANJO & SULLIVAN are being celebrated on the upcoming release of "Banjo & Sullivan - The Ultimate Collection," due for issue June 28th on Hip-O/UMe Records. It's a tragic story --struggling musicians who finally experience success only in death, that which they could never achieve in life. BANJO & SULLIVAN disappeared amid a series of heinous homicides and were basically forgotten - until now that is. Their story is being told in director Rob Zombie's latest film entitled "The Devil's Rejects," which Lions Gate Films is releasing on July 22nd. Now the duo are being rediscovered by a whole new generation due to the latter intense and exciting film. It's a story reminiscent of the success of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," except for the multiple homicide part. Such is the story of BANJO & SULLIVAN. Spurred by 'I'm At Home Getting Hammered (While She's Out Getting Nailed)' as heard on the soundtrack to The "Devil's Rejects" (also due June 28th), "Banjo & Sullivan - The Ultimate Collection" revives their long-ignored recordings. Kentucky-born guitar ace Roy Sullivan was a Nashville session player in the '60s before teaming with Adam "Fingers" Banjo, a banjo picker from Mississippi. Their 1972 debut album, "Two Silver Tongue Devils (Who Ain't Got A Clue)" was followed by 1974's "Wasted Banjos And Drunken Guitars." Sullivan then married Gloria Harrison, a respected studio singer, who joined the group on piano and backing vocals. In the Summer of 1975, 'I'm At Home Getting Hammered (While She's Out Getting Nailed)' hit #34 on the Country chart while the song 'She Didn't Like Me, But She Loved My Money' reached #23. In 1977, Banjo married backup singer Wendy Clark, who joined on backing vocals and tambourine. The next year, BANJO & SULLIVAN checked into The Kahiki Palms Motel after a rousing run of gigs, where their wives and roadie Jimmy Cracker were mysteriously murdered there by a group later dubbed as "The Devil's Rejects," after which BANJO & SULLIVAN were never found and have since been presumed dead. Oddly, after the murders and disappearance, sales of their latest album "Where The End Meets The Road" skyrocketed, selling more than 1,000,000 copies.
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[Blues News: May 2005]
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