Beatniks - Music for Sunday Date # 23

- Ah, say there Brutus, like, where is this King's pad?

Hello everybody, hi all! This is Karel and Radio Manzerock is on the air!

We've talked about Sputniks, and now it's time for Beatniks. After discovering the great gem by Nero & The Gladiators, I inspired to choose something similar from all over the continent. Bad boys playing bad music.

As you might know, Peer Gynt is a half-folk, half-real character from Norwegian fairy-tales. Writer Henrik Ibsen and composer Edvard Grieg made him popular back in the late XIX century. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" sequence is from Greig's suite, describing Peer Gynt sneaking into the Mountain King's castle.

Nero and The Gladiators recorded it back in 1961. It was an original band, very stylish. Ah, and that great guitar play of Joe Moretti here!

Irish writer Abraham "Bram" Stoker wrote novel "Dracula" in 1897. Dracula is a vampirish aristocrat, who now is well-known as the King of vampires.

ZZ en de Maskers from Amsterdam recorded song about him in 1966. I also have their English version, but I think that ZZ's Dutch vocal fits very well in this song.

I've aired Romanian big-beat band Sincron before, and here I go again. Their cool version of The Shadows' "F.B.I." became "Melodie", but with the full copyright credits on the Electrecord Records sleeve. And again, great guitar work, this time by Alexandru Arion.

Not much known about Alye Parusa. They were a big-beat band from Soviet city of Odessa. Later, some musicians played in Korabely ensemble. The band's name probably taken from Alexander Green's novel with the same title, written in 1923. Or, most possibly, from the beautiful movie from 1961 based on the novel...

This track was recorded from the Russian radio station in the late 1960s or early 1970s. If you have any more info on this band - drop me a line.

Alec Palao has chosen this Los Bravos song when he was producing UK version of the "Nuggets II" compilation. Sounds very familiar to Palao’s early works from The Sting-Rays days: melodical garage, if ya can imagine such cocktail. If not - here you are!

The Tramps are a five-piece band from Antwerpen. They recorded a few singles on Fontana label. "Murder" was released in 1962. Before The Tramps, vocalist and solo guitarist played in another Antwerp beat band The Jokers.

Czech big-beat band Olympic from Prague were formed in 1962. The frontman is Petr Janda, one of the first Czech beat musicians and guitarists. The song "Dynamit" was written by Janda and Zdeněk Rytíř, and recorded in 1970 for Supraphon label.

Italian big-beat band The Meteors recorded instrumental version of "Peter Gunn Theme" in 1964, for their first LP.

Peter Gunn was a private investigator from the TV series with the same title, which aired from 1958 to 1961. The track was written and originally recorded by the great Henry Mancini.

The 5 Dorados are from Switzerland. "Tilt" was written by Franco Bussmann and Fredy Enz. Released in 1964 on Luzern label Layola. Nice piece with crazy screams and cool organ sounds.

The Rocking Ghosts are a four-piece band from Denmark. They were formed in 1962, and after two years they won Copenhagen championship in Rock at Nora Bio, which lead to a record deal with Metronome Records and producer Jørgen Ingmann (you know this guy, don’t you?).

One of their best known hits is “Belinda”. However, I decided on a great "Shakin' All Over" cover. This song was originally recorded by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates. Some four Liverpool boys later named the Beatles, agreed that this is a very influential song from the early British beat music.

And the last track today is by the Swedish band called Bread. They are from the city of Malmoe. "Motortown Beat" is kinda a new dance for the bad boys and girls, represented by Bread in late 1960s.

Philips recording company put a lot of money into this recording. And it was worth it. About 10 additional musicians were invited. It resulted in this funky song with soul flavor and simple but great, I like it!

Here's the complete track list:

Nero and The Gladiators In the Hall of the Mountain King (UK, 1961)
ZZ en de Maskers Dracula!!! (Netherlands, 1963)
The Tramps Murder (Belgium, 1962)
Sincron Melodie (F.B.I.) (Romania, 1967)
L’ensemble Alye Parusa Escape (USSR, ?)
Olympic Dynamit (Czechoslovakia, 1970)
I Meteors Peter Gunn (Italy, 1964)
Los Bravos Going Nowhere (Spain, 1966)
The 5 Dorados Tilt (Switzerland, 1964)
The Rocking Ghosts Shakin’ All Over (Denmark, 1965)
Metro együttes Nincs Kegyelem (Hungary, 1965)
Bread Motortown Beat (Sweden, 1967)

I'm a Bad Boy
I'm a Bad Girl