Intriguing Instrumentals – Part 1

Your rock n roll Dentist has a love of instrumental music passed on from a father who didn’t care for singers.  Dad loved easy acts like Henry Mancini and Percy Faith with memorable melodies played by strings.  He also loved honky tonk piano (Johnny Maddox) and organ music (E. Power Biggs).  If I had to pick a fave easy instro it would be Ron Goodwin’s theme that was used in all 4 early ’60s Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple movies.  Much to dad’s consternation, however, your Dentist was under the sway of rock and roll and a fave rocker has to be Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez and his “The Happy Organ”.   Just for fun this month we are going to showcase some random instrumental music that has no theme other than you likely have never heard them (or at least these versions).  Certainly the ’50s and ’60s were rife with instrumentals and we will play some of those, but we are also going to move in to later decades to find songs buried on albums and CDs not known to the masses.  Your blogger has a ridiculous collection so hope you find 1 or 2 you enjoy.

1.The Silencers – Peter Gunn Theme

Henry Mancini wrote it, Ray Anthony had the biggest hit version at #8 in ’59, Duane Eddy had the twangiest (#27 in ’60) while The Blues Brothers took it on a “mission from God” in ’80.  Really it would be hard to do a bad version and Pittsburgh’s Silencers didn’t disappoint with their take in 1980.  In the middle eight they snuck in a bit of “The James Bond Theme” for good measure. This gem was tucked in to their otherwise vocal album Rock N Roll Enforcers on the Precision label.

2.The Dave Clark Five – Dum-Dee-Dee-Dum

No other British Invasion band loaded their albums with as many instrumentals as the DC 5 did.  It was hard to pick just one – this song, which feels like Duane Eddy, or “No Stopping” that echoes the “Peter Gunn Theme”.  Another goody was “On The Move” and that was all just from 1 album.  The 1965 Having A Wild Weekend album was one my mom and dad allowed the young me to grab from their Columbia record club order and it was a winner.  The title track rocked like mad and “Catch Us If You Can” was a catchy hit.

3.The Astronauts – El Aguila (The Eagle)

Well I used to grab a burger at the Sink on the Hill in Boulder, with drummer Jim Gallagher who passed in 2021 (along with guitarist Fifield).  He told great stories about his time in the biggest band out of Boulder in the ’60s.  Rich Fifield nails the lead with Bob Demmon and Dennis Lindsey filling in with wet Fenders and Storm Patterson anchoring the bass.  By their 2nd studio album (their 3rd overall) they were moving from surf to cars a la their Hawthorne, CA counterparts The Beach Boys.  Lee Hazelwood had written “Baja”, their first hit, and “El Aguila (The Eagle)” was also from his pen.  It was on their 1963 RCA Victor album Competition Coupe. Tona Byona my late friend.

4.Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids – Pipeline

I’d be in hot water with bassist Warren ‘Butch’ Knight and manager Scott O’Malley if this wasn’t prominently featured.  This Chantays cover wouldn’t be here, however, if it didn’t deliver the goods.  This showed up on their excellent self-titled 1972 Epic records debut album.  The front cover is a vintage t-shirt (they still sell them sans ‘And The Continental Kids’) while Annette Funicello is credited with the liner notes.  The front-line are all gone – lead guitarist Sam ‘Flash’ McFadin, rhythm guitarist Linn ‘Spike’ Phillips III and keys man Kris ‘Angelo’ Moe.  I’m thinking of starting a petition drive to bring back the last part of their name – FREE THE CONTINENTAL KIDS!

5.The Revillos – Secret Of The Shadow

Short and tasty, this opened their 1980 debut Rev Up LP on the import Dindisc label.  The band had started as The Rezillos but had to change names to get out of their Sire contract.  The LP featured some crazy but interesting vocal rock like “Scuba Boy Bop” and “The Rock-A-Boom”.  Eugene Reynolds, Fay Fife, Hi-Fi Harris and Rocky Rhythm were the band on this.  The dopey 45 “Bongo Brain” (1981) is still a fave for your blogger.

6.Link Wray – Switchblade

When “Rumble” hit radio in 1958, it was a sound nobody had ever heard and was even banned in NY and Boston.  It sounds just as primitive today as when Fred Wray, Jr. poked holes in the speaker of his amp to make it raspier.  It was released on Cadence with his Ray Men making it to #16.  It has been lauded as setting the stage for power-chorded rock.  Wray hung around the fringes for years then staged a comeback as guitarist on Robert Gordon’s first rockabilly albums (Robert Gordon With Link Wray in ’77 and Fresh Fish Special in ’78).  This instrumental was from his 1979 Bullshot record which also had vocals by Link.  A wealth of unreleased material has come out on compilations both before and after his death at age 76 in 2005.

7.Brian Briggs – Spy Vs. Spy

John Holbrook released a couple of rock LPs on Bearsville as Brian Briggs that got little attention.  The first one (Brian Damage 1980) was more New Wave and had this fun instrumental which I assume was named after the Antonio Prohias Mad Magazine comic strip.  Another LP highlight is a rockabilly cover of the old Eddie Cochran song “Nervous Breakdown”.  Holbrook’s name can be found as an engineer and mixer with Bearsville records.  His ’82 LP Combat Zone is good if more conventional rock.

8.Dave Edmunds – Black Bill

The ring-tone on my phone, “I Hear You Knocking”, was a U.K. #1 and U.S. #4 in ’70-71.  On the B-side of the old MAM single is a Dave Edmunds composition that is a clear homage to the records of The Bill Black Combo.  Instead of sax, Dave put in some tasty lead guitar licks but the electric piano and metronomish beat is pure Bill Black.  I believe Dave played all the instruments.

9.Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames – Last Night

This is an exuberant cover of the old Mar-Keys Stax single from 1961 (#3).  Fame plays the organ and Mitch Mitchell (later in The Jimi Hendrix Experience) is the drummer.  It was on the 1966 Sweet Things LP in England and Get Away here.  Fame was more jazzy than your Dentist liked (“Yeh Yeh”), but dang if this song wasn’t a constant turntable spin in my bedroom back in the day.  “The Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde” was his biggest hit at #7 in 1967.

10.Paul Revere & The Raiders – You Can’t Sit Down

Another popular platter on my old GE stereo was this hot cover by The Raiders of the 1961 Phil Upchurch Combo instro (#29). It was also a #3 hit for The Dovells in 1963 as a vocal.  As the lead-off song on the 1965 record Here They Come!, it showcased what a hot live rock and roll combo they were and how good Mark Lindsay was on sax.

11.The Beachcombers – Mad Goose

You would have had to collect obscure British records to have known this crazed 1963 rocker.  Pat Wayne & The Beachcombers were from Birmingham (in the U.K.) and without Wayne released this as the A-side (“You Can’t Sit Down” was on the flip).  The original was by U.S. group The Sons Of The Piltdown Men.  The original Piltdown Men were Ed Cobb and Lincoln Mayorga, but I can’t tell you why these were Sons Of….  Ed Cobb is given compositional credit (though it sounds like he sort of borrowed the tune to the old folk song “Blue Tail Fly”).  Ed Cobb was a member of The Four Preps and wrote songs like “Tainted Love” and “Dirty Water”.

12.Laika & The Cosmonauts – Skater Dater

These Finnish instrumentalists were around for 21 years starting in 1987.  They took their name from the Soviet mongrel who in 1957 was one of the first animals to orbit the Earth.  Sadly the little doggy didn’t survive as the capsule he was riding in overheated.  Laika & The Cosmonauts put out some spiffy music including this faithful cover of the old Davie Allan & The Arrows fuzz-guitar classic.  This was from the CD The Amazing Colossal Band (1995 – Upstart records).  Their 1992 album Instruments Of Terror is also worth a spin.  This song (then titled “Skaterdater Rock”) was on the soundtrack to the 1965 indie movie Skaterdater about skateboarders (the LP came out on Mira in 1966).

13.The Beach Boys – Let’s Go Trippin’ (live)

The studio version of this Dick Dale cover is on the 1963 Surfin’ U.S.A. album and is frankly pretty wimpy.  When this came out on the album Beach Boys Concert in 1964 it proved that the guys could rock it up pretty good as a live band.  Mike Love even chips in some rudimentary sax here.  It was recorded live at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California and was the band’s 1st #1 LP on the U.S. charts.  The songs actually come from 2 concerts.

14.Zal Yanovsky – Last Date

Back in the day, after records were no longer current you could find them later as cheap cut-outs.  They would have a cut in the corner of the cover or perhaps a hole punched through it.  That is how your Dentist grabbed this LP by the ex-Lovin’ Spoonful guitarist Zalman Yanovsky.  Alive & Well In Argentina (Buddah 1968) had some good moments but suffered from not having former bandmate John Sebastian writing.   Zally was also a musical schizophrenic doing good straight material and then some head-scratcher comedic tunes.  The original song was a piano hit for Floyd Cramer (#2 1960).  Zal passed 6 days shy of his 58th birthday in his native Ontario, Canada where he owned a restaurant.

15.The Ventures – The Creeper

Own-up time – my pal DC and I stole this tune when we tried to play rock and roll back in the day.  Mr. D really pounded the skins pretty wildly, but so does Mel Taylor on this Ventures original from their Dolton records 1964 LP Walk, Don’t Run, Vol.2.  Mel also redid this on his 1966 In Action Warner Brothers LP as Mel Taylor & The Magics.

16.Shig & Buzz – Fog City

Shigema Komiyama was the drummer with the Jefferson Airplane offshoot Hot Tuna for a time.  Peter Miller was an early Brit rocker in acts like Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers then apparently moved to San Francisco and opened a studio.  The duo recorded as Shig & Buzz and put out the indie CD Double Diamonds in ’95.  Miller has also recorded as Bonney & Buzz with Bill Bonney from another old U.K. band The Fentones.

17.Ronnie Montrose – Town Without Pity

Town Without Pity was a 1961 Kirk Douglas film.  Dimitri Tiompkin wrote the movie’s score and, with lyrical help from Ned Washington, the title track.  The dramatic singer Gene Pitney was a perfect fit for the song and took it to #13 in the charts.  The 1st instrumental release by guitarist Ronnie Montrose of The Edgar Winter Band was Open Fire from 1978.  Here Winter plays piano under Montrose’s screaming guitar.

18.Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited – The Bossa Nova Squad

From Switzerland, Ernest Maeschi and Karen Diblitz recorded this on their 1997 Plays Lost TV Themes disc.  They have released at least 7 albums of cheesy-great instros.  This track feels like a backwards “Peter Gunn Theme”.

19.Ron Drand Orchestra – The Orbitus

Boy does this sucker ever sound like “Telstar” by The Tornadoes.  Obviously that was the point and I believe the only track by the Ron Drand Orchestra – actually Bruce Brand who has played drums and guitar for many Billy Childish projects.  This was on the really cool 2003 various artists import album Sympathetic Sounds Of Toe-Rag Studios.  It exposed me to many bands who wanted to get a retro sound so recorded at Liam Watson’s Toe-Rag Studios that became famous when The White Stripes worked there.  Watson’s studio is known for analogue recordings using tape and old Vox, Fender, Farisa and Ludwig gear.  The title likely refers to a 1965 comic from The Dalek World and a robot pet in the year 2612 that Capt. Rod Marlow gifted to his son Roger.

20.The Mustangs – Mandschurian Beat

There are so many other great instrumentals that choosing the last one has been tough (look for part 2 next month), but let’s go to Finland for a change of pace. This seems to be from 1986 and the album Must Twang!.  They formed in 1981 as The Scavengers in Orimattila, Finland northeast of Helsinki.  They appear to have given up the ghost in the ’90s.