Three Lost Singles From The 1960’s

Hugh Barrett & The Victors

There Was A Fungus Among Us

1961

In 1961 Chicago DJ Dick Biondi started using the phrase “there was a fungus among us” on his WLS radio show. It quickly became a favourite local schoolyard saying. Biondi had borrowed it from Terry Noland's 1958 song of the same name.  Chicago label Madison records saw an opportunity. They hired Hugh Barrett, Debbie and Sandy, and the some other local musicians to re-record it. It became a hit in the Chicago area. Thanks in part to Biondi's heavy promotion. First time I heard this, I thought The Cramps must have covered it, but I can’t find a version by them.

Hugh Barrett & The Victors - There Was A Fungus Among Us

The Poets

Now We're Thru

1964

The Poets were a Scottish band managed by Andrew Loog Oldham. Between 1964-67 they released six singles, but no albums. This is their 1964 debut single Now We’re Thru.

The Poets - Now We're Thru

The Soup Greens

Like A Rolling Stone

1965

This is the only record Brooklyn, New York’s The Soup Greens ever released. 1965’s Like A Rolling Stone. The song is a cover of half of a Bob Dylan song.  They don’t play the verses (too hard), for two and half minutes they just repeat the chorus over and over again with guitar brakes in between.

The Soup Greens - Like A Rolling Stone

Modern English: Smiles And Laughter 1981

   The biggest problem Modern English has, is they will always be remembered for I Melt With You. The quintessence 80’s synth-pop hit. It has been forgotten that they were an early signing to the 4AD label along with the Cocteau Twins.  Members of Modern English were also part of This Moral Coil. Whose biggest hit, a haunting version of Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren, started life as a B-side to a medley of two Modern English songs (Sixteen Days and Gathering Dust).
   1981’s Smiles And Laughter was Modern English’s fourth single for 4AD. It and the B-side - Mesh And Lace - were recorded around the same time as their debut album. Yet neither is included on the album, despite the fact the album was called Mesh And Lace. Both song titles are "something" and "something", Smiles And Laughter, Mesh And Lace. 

Robbie Grey                      vocals
Gary McDowell       guitar, vocals
Michael Conroy        bass, vocals
Richard Brown                   drums
Stephen Walker           keyboards

Produced by Modern English & Robbie Mayhew

Smiles and Laughter

Mesh and Lace

As a bonus here's the two Modern English song This Moral Coil covered.

Sixteen Days

Gathering Dust

The Parliaments: Heart Trouble 1965

The Parliaments were the precursor to Parliament, the George Clinton led 70’s funk band. This is the George Clinton led 60’s soul/doo-wop quintet. Heart Trouble was their third single. It was released in 1965 on Golden World Records.  Like the flipside (That Was My Girl), it was co-written by George Clinton and Sidney Barnes. A few years later George Clinton rewrote Heart Trouble as You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure for his other band Funkadelic, it appears on their 1973 Cosmic Slop album. The B-side, That Was My Girl, was also later reworked by George Clinton and features of Funkadelic’s 1972 double album America Eats Its Young.

George Clinton      vocals
Grady Thomas       vocals
Ray Davis              vocals
Fuzzy Haskins       vocals
Calvin Simon         vocals

Produced by George Clinton, Sidney Barnes, Mike Terry

Heart Trouble

That Was My Girl

As a bonus here's there biggest hit I Wanna Testify

I Wanna Testify 

Splodgenessabounds: Simon Templer 1980

Punk rock meets Benny Hill. Splodgenessabounds specialized in toilet humour lyrics, many of their songs were about farting and sniggering at sex. With song titles that sounded like a Viz cartoon (Michael Booth's Talking Bum) clearly they were not The Clash. Their live shows feature simulated and some not so simulated sexual acts between singer Max Splodge and his backing singer girlfriend Baby Greensleeves.
Simon Templer released in 1980, was their debut single. It failed to get any airplay but the B-side Two Pints Of Larger And A Packet Of Crisps Please, did. In fact, it became a bit of a radio hit. It pushed the single all the way to #7 in the UK Singles Chart. The BBC situation comedy Two Pints Of Larger And A Packet Of Crisps was named in its honour. It was one of the last releases on Deram Records.  Who gave it the catalogue number Bum 01. 

Max Splodge                                             Vocals
Chrissie (Baby Greensleeves)     Backing vocals
Desert Island Joe Slythe                       Coconuts
Miles Flat                                                   Guitar
Pat Thetic Noble                                        Guitar
Roger Rodent                                    Bass guitar
Wiffy Archer                              Comb and paper
Winston Forbes                                  Keyboards
Squint                                                   Windows

Produced by Mike Robinson

***Warning recorded off of vinyl. Surface Noise.***

Simon Templer

Michael Booth's Talking Bum
Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please

Stevie Wonder Gig Poster 1973

A poster for a 1973 concert by Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire at The University of Maryland. Unlimited free parking and tickets from only $2 to see Stevie Wonder, those where the days.

Blind Blake: In The Jailhouse Now 1927

It is thought that Blind Blake was born around 1893. His record label Paramount Records listed is hometown as Jacksonville, Florida by but no one is sure. It is known that his first name was Arthur, though his last name may have been Phelps not Blake. The date and course of his death are unknown. The most popular guess for the year is 1933, as there are no known recordings from him after 1932. What is known about him is that he was an amazingly talented guitarist. Frequently referred to as "The King of Ragtime Guitar", as his playing style was more like that of Ragtime piano than Country Blues. He also recorded solely for Paramount Records. Between 1926 and 1932 he recorded over 80 songs for them. It was also known that he liked to drink.
The song ‘In the Jailhouse Now’ has its origins in Vaudeville. The earliest copyright for the song is a 1915 version by two African-American theatre performers named Davis and Stafford. Jimmie Rodgers was often been created with writing it but Blind Blake’s 1927 version (with different words) was recorded four months before Jimmie Rodgers’.

In the ad above, the guy in the jailhouse has the longest necked guitar in the world.

***Warning recorded from 78rpm vinyl. Surface Noise.***

In The Jailhouse Now

Southern Rag

As a bonus here's Police Dog from 1929

Police Dog Blues 

Hoodoo Gurus: Tojo 1983

This is the 1983 second single from Sydney, Australian’s Hoodoo Gurus. It’s the first to include guitarist Brad Shepherd, who has been with the band ever since. Like most of their singles it was written by the singer and the other guitarist Dave Faulkner.
There are two main references in the song. The first, the World War Two Japanese Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo. The Japanese bombed Darwin, Australian in the War but didn’t invade. They were stopped in Papua New Guinea by Australian troops. The second is the 1975 song ‘Santa Never Made It Into Darwin’ by New Zealand duo Bill & Boyd. Which was a charity record to raise money for the victims of Cyclone Tracy which devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve / Christmas Day 1974. Both General Tojo and Cyclone Tracy had tried to destroy Darwin. It was released on Big Time Records in June, 1983. (Lets All) Turn On was the B-side.

James Baker                                 drums
Clyde Bramley                    bass, vocals
Dave Faulkner           lead vocals, guitar
Brad Shepherd                 guitar, vocals

Producer — Alan Thorne
Design (cover) — Yanni Stumbles, Dave Faulkner

***Warning recorded off of vinyl. Little bit of Surface Noise & a couple of clicks.***
Tojo
(Lets All) Turn On