We follow up January’s release of “Here Are The Sonics!” with a 180g black vinyl replica release of “Boom” – the Sonics’ second album, originally released in 1966 on Etiquette Records in wonderful mono.

“Boom” still does much more than merely deliver on the promise of the first album, “Here Are The Sonics!”. Few records have ever packed as much of a musical punch from start to finish. Even more so than their first LP, it offers a representation of what the Sonics must have sounded like at the peak of their considerable powers.

Recorded in the most glorious no-fi you could ever wish for and with anthemic originals like ‘Cinderella’ and ‘He’s Waiting’ vying for your attention with what is possibly the most violent version of ‘Louie Louie’ that there will ever be, “Boom” is an album that has always justified the esteem in which it is held by collectors around the globe.

All the modern bumph like barcodes and whatnot is on a disposable sticker, leaving your copy of “Boom” as original as possible.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
01 Cinderella
02 Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
03 Skinny Minnie
04 Let The Good Times Roll
05 Don't You Just Know It
06 Jenny Jenny

Side 2
01 He's Waitin'
02 Louie Louie
03 Since I Fell For You
04 Hitch Hike
05 It's Alright
06 Shot Down

Wooooooooaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh THE CRAMPS ARE BACK! After a brief stay in the corporate clutches of EMI, they return to the warm, if slightly sticky, embrace of Big Beat, Their concern for the soft white bit of the under-belly of that thing lying over there on the ground, remains as touching and glamourous as it always was. Dames, booze, chains, boots, two heads, sex change, and that's just the first two little numbers. Slip outa something clinging, and let Lux Interior and lggy Pop tell you all about their mini skirt blues.... but who's wearin' it? Later that same evening there was little doubt left about the dress sense- "but Mister Interior what do you mean you wanna get in my pants???" - she panted!!! Hardworkin' woman Poison Ivy wiggles, wobbles and shouts out, screamin' with the sound of female rockin' & rollin' guitar, plastering great swathes of reverberation all over the place. The strangeness in the Cramps. No head???? - hey don't get funny with me punk!!!

TRACK LISTING

Dames, Booze, Chains And Boots
Two Headed Sex Change
Blow Up Your Mind
Hard Workin' Man
Miniskirt Blues
Alligator Stomp
I Wanna Get In Your Pants
Bend Over, I'll Drive
Don't Get Funny With Me
Eyeball In My Martini
Hipsville 29 BC
The Strangeness In Me (When I Get The Blues)

The film Good Vibrations was released late last year to great acclaim, with luminaries such as Roger Daltrey and Bono raving about its excellence. The story follows the turbulent life of record collector, DJ, record shop owner, record label founder and dance promoter Terri Hooley from his childhood to the present day. A true rollercoaster ride with rarely a dull minute, portrayed brilliantly in this cult film. The soundtrack has been woven together by film score composer David Holmes, who grew up listening to our releases, and Terri Hooley himself, whose love of vintage music is the cornerstone of the story.

With musical tastes formed in the 60s and 70s, Terri has chosen some wonderful music to portray his early years. The beauty of ‘Angie’, Bert Jansch’s folk guitar masterpiece, the haunting, sexually charged vocals of the Shangri-Las and the primitive clarity of Hank Williams’ ‘I Saw The Light’ show what an eclectic fellow Terri always was. ‘Outcast’ by the Animals gives a hint of the tougher side of the music eventually leading to Terri’s success and (coincidentally, or possibly not) was also the name of one of his label’s punk bands a dozen years later.

The story of how a scruffy bunch of Londonderry teenagers got their demo to Terri and virtually forced him to record it is one of the film’s highlights. The established record business and a hierarchical society fought against them but boundless energy, belief and desperate measures got a copy of the Undertones ‘Teenage Kicks’ to London-based DJ John Peel who made sure it did not remain an undiscovered gem.

Exciting music of the time from the Saints, Stiff Little Fingers, Niney The Observer and Suicide sit well with the earlier influences of psychedelia from Ramases & Seleka and the rocksteady sound of the Upsetters. Thrown into the imaginative mix are some unclassifiable musical creations from Michael Yonkers, Jason Falkner and the Langley Schools Music Project and of course the label’s top bands Rudi and those Outcasts are well represented. Stand-alone pieces from the film’s soundtrack are included on this musical celebration of a heady era.

Terri provided his own idiosyncratic notes for the booklet and needless to say he was tickled pink to have the great David Bowie singing for him on his CD: ever the fan.

TRACK LISTING

I Saw The Light - Hank Williams
Blood And Fire - Niney (The Observers)
Past, Present And Future - The Shangri-Las
Outcast - The Animals
Freedom Train - The Upsetters
You're A Disease - The Outcasts
Angie - Bert Jansch
Big Time - Rudi
Pear Shaped - Woody Jackson
This Perfect Day - The Saints
Gotta Gettaway - Stiff Little Fingers
Don't Wait Until Tomorrow - Michael Yonkers
Love You - Ramases & Seleka
Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
Dream Baby Dream - Suicide
The Pressure's On - Rudi
I Can Never Go Home Anymore - The Shangri-Las
To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Langley Schools Music Project
Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers
The Perfect Crime - Jason Falkner
Just Another Teenage Rebel - The Outcasts
Laugh At Me - Holmes Ensemble Aka Whole Ensemble
Star - David Bowie
Self Conscious Over You - The Outcasts

As the Cramps approached their 20th anniversary, they showed no signs of changing their signature kitschy psychobilly style. 'Big Beat From Badsville' is a collection of campy songs about sex, horror, violence, leather and perversion - well what else did you expect?! Sonically, it's slightly rawer than it's predecessor, Flamejob, and the group's performances are as inspired here as they are on any of their other '90s albums.

TRACK LISTING

Cramp Stomp
God Monster
It Thing Hard-On
Like A Bad Girl Should
Sheena's In A Goth Gang
Queen Of Pain
Monkey With Your Tail
Devil Behind That Bush
Super Goo
Hypno Sex Ray
Burn She-Devil, Burn
Wet Nightmare
Badass Bug
Haulass Hyena

This 1985 outing from the coolest band in the universe asks the question 'How Far Can Too Far Go?' and snaps back with an answer before you can say 'Aloha From Hell'.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
01 How Far Can Too Far Go?
02 The Hot Pearl Snatch
03 People Ain't No Good
04 What's Inside A Girl?
05 Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?

Side 2
01 Kizmiaz
02 Cornfed Dames
03 Chicken
04 (Hot Pool Of) Womanneed
05 Aloha From Hell
06 It's Just That Song

“Nippon Rock’n’Roll” documents the rise of Masaaki Hirao. Dubbed “The Japanese Elvis”, Hirao was one of the famed Rokabirii Sannin Otoko (Three Rockabillies), alongside singers Mickey Curtis and “Kei-chan”, Keijiro Yamashita. In early 1958, the rokabirii buumu (rockabilly boom) was born, the first youth music tribe in the Land Of The Rising Sun.

Rokabirii may resemble US rockabilly, but this Nipponese version is a more varied dish. Hirao and his band’s covers of Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley and Little Richard are not kitsch renditions, but raw, desperate rockers. Hear a Paul Anka makeover, but put through a rocking mangle; a smattering of jazz; a twist of New Orleans; and some Japanese folk songs with a greased-down quiff. American occupation a distant memory, these boys wanted to party.

Country and hillbilly music was a mainstay of young Japanese musicians working the GI base and jazz café circuit of the 1950s. Following the runaway success of a Japanese cover of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ (Hirao’s version here has dynamite in its teeth), demand grew for more of this strange, new music. The need was met with a huge gala, the Nichigeki Western Carnival, which showcased the new rokabirii groups to thousands of screaming Japanese teenagers. Wild footage of the concerts, alongside that of burgeoning radical student movements, put fear of a wave of delinquency into the heart of the establishment.

The studio numbers here are hardboiled, with unkempt live recordings that really rock. Tough drums back up honking sax, in a pedal steel pandemonium with slap bass. In the words of Elvis: these guys “get real gone”.

TRACK LISTING

01. Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Live)
02. Itsuki No Komoriuta Rock
03. Hoshi Wa Nandemo Shiteru 2 (Live)
04. Crazy Love (Live)
05. Jailhouse Rock

Side 2
01. Jenny Jenny (Live)
02. Ooh My Soul (Live)
03. One Way Ticket
04. Miyo-chan
05. Blues De Memphis

On August 30, 1986, The Cramps played the final night of their 'Date With Elvis' World Tour. The venue was The Galaxy in Auckland, New Zealand. Sleazing it up live, the band rated this their best gig of the whole tour (and it had been a great tour!). After the gig, the sound engineer gave the band a tape he had run off during the concert. Back at their hotel, The Cramps were amazed to discover that the recording was, unusually for these things, of almost studio quality. For a band that had been heavily bootlegged at live gigs, it gave The Cramps the chance to challenge the shoddy sound of the pirate recordings by putting out a top quality official bootleg album of their own. A deal was sorted out with Big Beat's Roger Armstrong and a one drop pressing arranged. There were no promos and the album was never advertised but the pressing of 40,000 copies sold out immediately. The original vinyl album came out on Vengeance, which, in the early days, had been The Cramps label for their first 2 singles. This version of The Cramps (with Lux Interior, Ivy Rorschach, Candy del Mar and Nick Knox) was one of the best and "Rockinnreelininaucklandnewzealandxxx" once again, offers the opportunity to catch one of rock music's greatest bands in scorching form.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
01 The Hot Pearl Snatch
02 People Ain't No Good
03 What's Inside A Girl
04 Cornfed Dames
05 Sunglasses After Dark

Side 2
01 Heartbreak Hotel
02 Chicken
03 Do The Clam
04 Aloha From Hell
05 Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?
06 Birdfeed