Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Champs & The Fabulous Cyclones

RE-UPPED! And since writing this article I HAVE heard a cover of the Champs' Lowdown: by the Surfin' Gorillas (great album too!)

Probably not going to re-up those other songs, but the album link has been updated

This post is going to be easy. While I'm not going to kid myself, most people checking out this blog have some interest in the forgotten art of Rock & Roll and have some sort of savvy, often more than I do, but I explain the albums all the same. The Champs, however.... I think anybody can sing along to Tequila. 

This here's a split LP, though you can hardly tell by the cover. And honestly, the cover is sort of correct in doing so; The Cyclones side is far less fun, but we'll get to that later. Aside from Too Much Tequila, which got a proper 45 single treatment and was on their album Tequila these songs don't really appear anywhere else except for a rarities collection called Wing Ding (in the case of the last three songs) and a Greatest Hits collection which features Streamliner. However, these are excellent tracks, all with the signature Champs sound and with a healthy dose of humor. Club House was the immediate standout to me, and it apparently had some affect on Quintron as well since he did a loose cover on his album "These Hands of Mine". Quintron, why are you so great?






I haven't heard a direct cover of Lowdown myself, but it's got a great slow and dirty vibe to it that reminds me of this Eddie Angel song that I'd might as well throw on here






As for the Fabulous Cyclones, whose name got an even smaller typeface than their song titles on the cover, they're up against some hard competition but the LP is still worth flipping over. It's simple rock & roll instrumentals, reminding me of Joe Houston. If you wanna dance, The Cyclones will provide and you'll have a great time, but if you want something to whistle while walking down the street I'd stick with the A side. The real disappointment here is that the song Moon Journey has no sci-fi tone to it, because with the Quintron mention I would have another rare post fulfilling the Louisiana, Rock & Roll, Sci-fi trifecta in this blog's mission statement. 

this album isn't the cleanest one I've got but the songs are about 97% listenable, the only pops that I found were as one song faded out. Otherwise there's sort of a fuzz going on, but the music prevails. I don't have a back cover included since it says nothign about the album, just other albums on the label. The tracklist looks like:

Side A (The Champs):

  1. Too Much Tequila
  2. Streamliner
  3. Wing Ding
  4. Club House
  5. Lowdown

Side B (The Fabulous Cyclones):

  1. Boogie Guitar
  2. Rocking & Picking
  3. Moon Journey
  4. Blue & Mean
  5. Gone & Out

Re-Upped! go get it here

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have the LP record, no cover and in avg shape. Worth anything??

Anonymous said...

i have the LP too. the problem is my turntable broke and i haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. really want to give this a listen though, is there any way you could repost it?

Unknown said...

I had this LP years ago. I haven't heard it in FOREVER. I'm hoping for a repost, too...

Hunter said...

Reupped! And to Anonymous up there, I don't think it's worth all that much, but check popsike?

Exeter said...

WoW!
I was just looking at paying for a CD-R of this!! Incredible post!
Thank you so much!

Doccus Rockus Maximus said...

Had the LP too.qat ome time. IIRC, it's only worth about 15 to 20 $ if in mint shape..
But it is a curiosity.. dunno who the cyclones were, but in order to get 'stereo' for the champs tracks, they re-recorded it with a budget air-pump organ (you know the plastic ones!) and mixed in the simple organ dubs on one side of the stereo image..
Neat!

Jimmy² said...

Is there any possible chance this could get re-upped? The link's expires or restricted. Such a good record!!

Jimmy² said...

Is there any possible chance this could get re-upped? The link's expires or restricted. Such a good record!!

Jimmy² said...

Is there any possible chance this could get re-upped? The link's expires or restricted. Such a good record!!

Anonymous said...

Is there any possible chance this could get re-upped? The link's expires or restricted. Such a good record!!

Anonymous said...

Is there any possible chance this could get re-upped? The link's expires or restricted. Such a good record!!

Jimmy² said...

excuse my multiple posts

Doccus Rockus Maximus said...

I still have the rip somewhere, Jimmy.. if you want to give it some time so I can find them and clean them up..Check my doc rocks studio blog later today or tomorrow..

Hunter said...

There ya go

http://www8.zippyshare.com/v/35041574/file.html

Doccus Rockus Maximus said...

Hunter has supplied the mono version.. in case you want to hear the totally goofy "stereo" version (complete with pedal pump bargain bin air organ parts)
I will have a link for you in a couple of minutes..
So you've got more Champs/Cyclones than you bargained for, y'think? ;-)

Doccus Rockus Maximus said...

Here it is https://rapidshare.com/files/191180462/Spotlight_On_The_Champs.zip

The Grateful Jimmy said...

Gents & Scholars! More than I'd bargained for? Yes indeed!! Huge thanks Doc, Hunter. Now to find the vinyl!

Tom Price said...

Austin, Texas band Jack o' Fire does a cover of "Lowdown" on their 1995 10" EP 'Soul Music 101 - vol. 4' (on Sympathy For The Record Industry), though it's titled as "Tom Price's Favorite Song", and credited to "(Ask Tom next time you see him").

Doccus Rockus Maximus said...

+ OK,, I capitulate,, They win the chili flavor gummy bear award. I've been accused of picking obscure material before, but this one surely deseves the gummy bear for sure :-)