A very highly sought after garage 45, a teenage classic, and a good lesson for young bands. Do not assume that it will be harmless fun to allow an untalented friend to be the tambourine player, no matter how much fun he or she may be to have around, or how good looking she or he may be, or if you are currently sleeping with him or her. The results can be disastrous. Especially if the tambourine is going to be the loudest thing in the mix.

Cool local angle: This song was recorded by Topeka's Psychic Archie in the early 80s. You can hear it on Fresh Sounds From Middle America Vol. 3, along with cool stuff from the Homestead Grays (Chuck Mead from BR5-49), Lions and Dogs (Little Hits hero Todd Newman), and the Pedaljets (as well as their side project, the Von Bulows).

You can pick up this track on the Pebbles Vol. 8 CD, or the Essential Pebbles CD, either of which will cost you well under $1000.

The Distractions made great, commercial pop singles, but they were a bunch of nerdy boys and their inability to fit comfortably into the proper niches of the time hurt them (meaning they had bad haircuts as opposed to stupid haircuts). They did make a handful of great records: 45s for Factory and Island (including "Boys Cry"), a 12" EP, "You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That," and a terrific LP called Nobody's Perfect, which the late Steve Greenwood insisted that I buy in the dollar bin at Love Garden long before I started working there. We still miss you, Steve.

Pop singles don't get much better than this, the first of three 45s from the Hummingbirds' loveBUZZ album, produced by Little Hits first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Mitch Easter. The other two, "Alimony," and "Word Gets Around" are also terrific, but this one is the monster. This record and "All Away" by the Summer Suns were the singles that ignited my fascination with Australian guitar pop bands in the late 80s, at which point I already had quite a bit of catching up to do. The Hummingbirds reported being quite taken with Dinosaur Jr. at the time, which may account for some of the guitar din.

For some reasons Australia had the best looking picture sleeves in the world during this era. They tended to be in color, and were generally die-cut and glued, as opposed to the wraparound jobs that were so common here. I picked a LOT of Oz discs out of the 45 bin at Kief's just because they looked great. Batting average? About .500. This particular sleeve is a favorite; it looks like the record sounds. A most satisfying object; It gives me no small amount of glee just to pick it up and look at it. Which is really what record collecting is all about, right? I mean, it's not like I have time to listen to all of these things...

Ths is perhaps my favorite Dutch beat 45; It sounds like it could have fit right in on side two of Happy Jack. I've never seen a copy of the original vinyl, but it turns up on the Distortions Records compilation CD Dutch Beat Explosion, which is an excellent way to use up fifteen or so of your dollars.

Because it is our friend DEAN's personal anthem and because I just saw the Wedding Present last night (Magnificent! They've no business being that good at this late date.) who were also mentioned in the Bodines post and because I just picked up the 45 of this and because I need to get something put up here so I can get back to worrying about school (it will all be over this time tomorrow) here's a great indie-pop anthem from a band that had a bunch of 'em.

Back in the early 90s, there used to be these pretty cool poetry slams (held at a local strip bar, no less) that were organized by one of the Kansas University faculty members. She and her co-conspirators would often arrange strange performance art pieces between the poets, so as to keep a variety of things happening, and the events had a surprising amount of energy. One of the best pieces I saw was created by the professors from the fine arts department. It involved dry ice, and metal bowls or other objects that would make horrible groaning and whining noises as a result of the vibrations caused by contact with the dry ice. They stood there and performed their bit, much as an indie rock band would perform their most popular song, with a bit of rock-star gesturing thrown in, and then left to a good bit of applause. And the only reason I'm telling you this story is because the racket they made was quite similar to the guitar break in this song. Sweden's Shoutless made several fine singles and an LP or two, but this one is the most brutal. My favorite little moment on this 45 is that little bit of Eastern guitar riff that comes in after the guitar break. As if anything could posssibly seem threatening after THAT.