This is the B-side of their version of "Ring Of Fire."

Some of the best 60s 45s are the result of a band copping superficial aspects of their heroes' style and blowing those aspects up to ridiculous proportions. Example: This bald faced Who cop, which despite it's obviously derivative nature is nearly as exciting as the genuine article. This can be found on Wild Things Vol. 2 (Zero Records), which like the first volume, is a uniformly excellent collection of rare New Zealand beat.

I've always suspected that what attracted me to this record was really the amazing SOUND rather than the songs. "Produced by Liam Sternberg in an aircraft hangar" sez the jacket; clearly the goal was Maximum Rock and Reverb. However it is worth noting that while this is my favorite track from the EP, Rhino selected "Not My Memory" for the Children of Nuggets box set (out on the 27th), and I believe Andrew Chalfen would opt for "Gun Fighting Man." That should be some indicator of the songs' quality and consistency, so I think the Unknowns earn some credit for that.

I bet they were something to see. The jacket sort of hints that they were. By the way, lead singer Bruce Joyner's cane was not a mere prop; he was partially paralyzed as the result of a car accident. According to one website he also lost an eye in his youth, and was seriously injured at the age of four when he was given some chloride crystals by a neighbor girl and told they were rock candy.

Someday when I write that huge, lavishly illustrated coffee-table book on Flying Nun Records, I can verify some of the stories that have become part of the label's legend, like the one about the Jean-Paul Sartre Experience showing up at the FN Christmas party and asking to play. According to the Flying Nun trading cards (Yes!) this is exactly what happened, which of course, led to several releases. "Shadows" is perhaps the most beautiful thing the band ever came up with, but there are plenty of great tunes throughout the discography.

Clovis Roblaine is a talented Oklahoma multi-instrumentalist. His lone LP encompasses a variety of classic rock (as opposed to "classic rock") styles: girl groups, vocal and instrumental surf tunes, mersybeat, Buddy Holly, and a pinch of doo-wop. It is unfailingly charming. Roblaine has since been spotted with surf instro combo The Plungers.

I kind of worked my way backward through the TVP's catalog, and this was the first of their albums I heard, so I associate this band with the early 90s as much as with the early 80s. I think this was one Cody Ochs brought 'round the house along with Pere Ubu's Cloudland and The Stone Roses. It was, needless to say, an excellent spring/summer.