Johnny & The Hurricanes

I think I got this in Belgium. That would explain the "Imprime en France" on the bottom right corner of the back. I might have gotten my other self-titled J & the H's album there too but that's got a different songlist. Before I talk about the band I'd like to ask you to pay closer attention to this cover. My favorite part is the black explosion letting you know that this product has ROCK. But also notice the very young kid playing acoustic guitar for a very amplified band. This is forgiven when you contemplate the mystery of these dancing teens. Are they in a bubble? Who designed this?

Anyhow, from what I understand Johnny and the Hurricanes are sort of pioneering fathers of surf but really make more sense as instrumental rock & roll. It's a distinctive sound, not aggressive but still very fast with their loud organ sort of acting as a calliope and managing clever covers of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes". Depending on the listener, this could either come off as really cheesy and a little early for the genre or one of those way-out sounds that was never duplicated like the Tornados. Maybe a little bit of both, but outside of their historical worth there's a simple glee to them that I can really get behind. There's not a shred of pretension here, like a kid made it (in spirit I mean, these guys can clearly play their instruments well enough)

I didn't take a picture of the back cover because it was just a songlist and advertisements for other albums but for those familiar with the group here's the line-up: 

A side:

1. Reveille Rock
2. Milk Shake
3. Cyclone
4. Travelin'
5. Beanbag
6. Rockin' "T"

B side:

1. The Hungry Eye
2. Hot Fudge
3. Time Bomb
4. Corn Bread
5. Catnip
6. The "Hep" Canary

Another clean rip here. I've also got another album with their big number "Red River Rock". I might give it some space before it finds its way to the Rock & Roll Hoo-Ha What What, but I could certainly be convinced otherwise.