Mikey Wild and the Mess

Mikey Wild died the other day. He made himself a fixture around South Street and Philly punk long before I came poking around the scene in the late 80s. I really knew I was back in Philly when I ran into him about three years ago at the Record Exchange, where I ALWAYS saw him 20 years earlier. He wrote songs, played gigs, recorded records, made art, and had a very supportive and protective group of friends and fans. Despite a mental disability, he was a real showman proud of the unique abilities he had.  I never saw him perform, but I picked up his first single when it came out in 1988 and, I have to say, he always seemed happier than his angry punk songs would suggest.  But then again, angry punk songs make me happy too.  Right on Mikey.

I Hate New York

Die Die Die

Mikey's Obituary

The Shaynes (Lancaster 1966-67)

These handsome young men recorded at least three singles on Pee-Vee Records in 1966 and 1967.  I first heard them on the 1983 Return of the Young Pennsylvanians comp.  Pee-Vee was run by Charles Miller aka Pancho Villa and put out many doo-wop, garage, and prog rock singles from 1964-74.  Butch King (front, center?) was the singer.

You Tell Me Girl b/w Mo-Town Workout (Pee-Vee 140)
From My Window b/w I'll Always Be (Pee-Vee 142)
Valarie b/w Let's Go Steady

Sources: Bona Fide Records, WFMU's Rock and Soul Ichiban, WFMU Fool's Paradise   

If you were around Lancaster in those days and remember the bands, clubs, music stores, record labels, or any other part of the scene, please help us salvage that history!

The Couriers (Lancaster 1965)

I spy Alfred E. Neuman!

The Couriers recorded only one single on Lancaster's C.V. label after winning a contest at the "Moose Hall." 

We didn't exactly disappear after "Stompin' Time". We were supposed to cut two more 45's as per our informal contract with Chuck Raymond and Pancho, who awarded us the opportunity to make records after we won a Battle Of The Bands at Moose Hall in Lancaster. We never did cut those other two sides, but, for us as a band, the experience of recording and releasing "Stompin' Time Again" was a wonderful thing. It even got to #8 on the WLAN Top 60. I still think it sounds great to hear it, and I've always thought it sounded less "local" than most of the records cut by Lancaster bands, with the exception of The Shaynes, who I thought cut two very cool records themselves.... - Steve Kurtz, Couriers vocalist

Is that the same as the Moose Lodge that the Web of Sound record store rented out for local bands and Hasil Adkins in the mid-80s?  And they made WLAN's playlist, woo-hoo! Apparently local bands playing original music were able to get significant airplay on the big commercial radio stations in the 60s.  The rules were a little different then.

Stomping Time Again
Feelings

(Music, photos, and quotation from Garage Hangover) If you were around Lancaster in those days and remember the bands, clubs, music stores, record labels, or any other part of the scene, please help us salvage that history!

The Crystalaires.... ...(Lancaster 1959)

The reformed Crystalaires (after the accident).

The only info I've found on this group is from Daddy C's Youtube channel, but it's a fascinating and terrible story so here it is:

The Crystalaires were a group from Lancaster, PA and were the hottest act in town back in 1959. On May 25, 1959, while coming home from a gig in Reading, PA, they were involved in a serious car accident that claimed the lives of 4 members of the group. Earlier that evening they were informed by their manager that King Records, out of Cincinnati, OH, offered them a record deal and wanted them to come to Chicago to re-cut "Nobody Nowhere" for national release. In July of 1960, Stan Selfon, of Stan's Record Bar in Lancaster, released the 2nd version of the tune (complete with bad splices in the master tape), on Sound Souvenir No.1.  The proceeds (in part) were intended for the families of the deceased members to raise money for their headstones.

Nobody Nowhere

photo by M. Fitzgerald

The Stan's Record Bar connection is interesting.   I bought my first records there in the early 80s and always wondered who Stan was.  The store goes way back and it's still there at 48 N Prince Street!   The accident must have been big local news, so if anyone has access to Lancaster newspapers on microfilm it would be interesting to read the articles and obits. If you were around Lancaster in those days and remember the bands, clubs, music stores, record labels, or any other part of the scene, please help us salvage that history!

La Música Callejera Pt. 4 - Mexico D.F.

Street Music of Mexico and Central America
July-October 1995

Read the series introduction here.

Dedicated to street musicians making a living peso a peso.

MEXICO D.F.

After Zacatecas and Guanajuato, the streets of Mexico City were a swirling vortex of noise and activity.  But curiously, I encountered relatively little music. True, the city is a locus of Rock en Español, and I never made it to Plaza Garibaldi, the Grand Ole Opry of traditional mariachi, but there was a lack of everyday buskers eeking it out on the street.  I'm not sure if there were legal restrictions or practical issues that discouraged musicians.  Or maybe I just didn't make it to the right places.  ...14) I was fortunate to happen upon this rattletrap marimba, drum, and gourd conjunto hauling their instruments on their backs from bar to bar and competing with the sounds of passing traffic.

La Música Callejera - México D.F.

Próxima estación: Puebla