GS I Love You: Japanese Garage Bands of the '60s

by N/A

Overview

Japan, like many non-English-speaking countries, was home to a thriving garage/beat band scene in the 1960s. The Japanese scene, at least to Western ears, was more peculiar than most: for one thing, it didn't really kick into gear until well into 1966, and Japanese groups were still playing in an early British Invasion-influenced style until the end of the decade. Singing in both Japanese and heavily accented English, the guitars (as a result of the Ventures huge popularity there) were surf-ish Mosrites, and the material was often a strange fusion of Merseybeat, punk, and over-the-top weirdness. GS I Love You is a 28-track compilation of songs originally released on the Crown and Teichiku labels, and while it's no match for the British groups (or, for that matter, the best beat/punk groups from Holland and Sweden), it's truly like no other '60s rock you've heard. The guitar work is often frenzied and imaginative; the vocals walk the line between tough raunch and low comedy, particularly when they mangle English phonetics (the Swing West's version of Arthur Brown's "Fire," as well as the Out Cast's butchering of "Long Tall Sally" defy printed description). Sound quality and liner notes (in English) are excellent, and cuts like the Blue Jeans "One More Please" are genuinely good fusions of pop and punk, making this a good pickup for the more adventurous '60s collector. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	07/16/1996
Label:	Big Beat Records
UPC:	0029667415927
Rank:	93359

Tracks

1. You Gat a Call Me  -  Out Cast
2. Everything's Alright  - Nickey Crouch  - Keith Karlson  - John Konrad  -  Out Cast
3. Dynamite  -  Spiders
4. Monkey Dance  -  Spiders
5. One More Please  -  Blue Jeans
6. Stop Dance  -  Terrys
7. Shevidevi de Yuko  -  Playboy
8. Kaette Okure  -  Playboy
9. Kokoro No Tokimeki (Ajoen Ajoen)  -  Swing West
10. Fire  - Arthur Brown  - Vincent Crane  - Mike Finesilver  - Peter Ker  -  Swing West
11. Let's Go Rangers  -  Rangers
12. Koi O Kesunda  -  Napoleon
13. Aphrodite  -  Cougars
14. Suki Nanda  -  Cougars
15. Wipe Out  - Bob Berryhill  - Patrick Connolly  - Jim Fuller  -  Spiders  - Ron Wilson
16. Furi Furi  -  Spiders
17. I Saw Her Standing There  - John Lennon  - Paul McCartney  -  Burns
18. Bara O Anokoni  -  Days & Nights
19. Let's Go on the Beach  -  Out Cast
20. Bokuno Sobakara  -  Out Cast
21. Hold On! I'm Comin'  - Isaac Hayes  - David Porter  -  Voltage
22. J & A  -  Cougars
23. Seishun a Go-Go  -  Spiders
24. Hey Girl  - Don Backy  -  Van Dogs
25. Omiyasan  -  Toys
26. Long Tall Sally  - Robert "Bumps" Blackwell  - Enotris Johnson  -  Little Richard  - Richard Penniman  -  Out Cast
27. Kimamana Shelly  -  Out Cast
28. Jane Jane  -  Obata  -  Out Cast

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Out Cast   Primary Artist
The Days & Nights   Primary Artist
Blue Jeans   Primary Artist
Burns   Primary Artist
The Terrys   Primary Artist
The Swing West   Primary Artist
Van-Dogs   Primary Artist
Cougars   Primary Artist
Miki Obata   Primary Artist
Playboy   Primary Artist
The Rangers   Primary Artist
The Voltage   Primary Artist
The Spiders   Primary Artist
Napoleon   Primary Artist
The Toys   Primary Artist
Asamitsu Okada   Bass
Kazuo Okamoto   Guitar
Yoshitaka Yoshino   Drums
Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu   Guitar (Rhythm)
Rudy Abdo   Vocals
Masayuki Yuhara   Vocals
Yohru Yanase   Guitar
Mikio Aida   Guitar
Hiroshi Miyagi   Vocals
Isao Asakura   Bass
Masatake Chiba   Organ
Masaaki Sakai   Vocals
Akira Mine   Bass
Akio Mizo   Drums
Jun Inoue   Vocals
Shochi Tanabe   Drums
Hiroji Yokoyama   Organ
Takayuki Inoue   Guitar

Technical Credits

The Cougars   Performer
Napoleon   Performer
Bob Berryhill   Composer
Keith Karlson   Composer
Jim Fuller   Composer
Robert "Bumps" Blackwell   Composer
Nickey Crouch   Composer
The Toys   Performer
The Voltage   Performer
The Rangers   Performer
Patrick Connolly   Composer
Paul McCartney   Composer
Isaac Hayes   Composer
Don Backy   Composer
Vincent Crane   Composer
Enotris Johnson   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
Playboy   Performer
Peter Ker   Composer
Mike Finesilver   Composer
Miki Obata   Composer
Arthur Brown   Composer
Van-Dogs   Performer
Alec Palao   Liner Notes,Archive Research
Phil Smee   Cover Design
Toshimaru Nakamura   Historical Research
David Porter   Composer
Little Richard   Composer
Ron Wilson   Composer
Richard Penniman   Composer
John Konrad   Composer
Philip Lloyd-Smee   Package Design