"Psychotic Reaction"

The Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction" (1966)

The essay, that became the basis for the book Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by legendary rock critic Lester Bangs was named for this single.



I gotta say, I think the band is properly called Count Five or Count V without the 'The' but that's what the book has. At the time of this recording, lead singer and primary songwriter John Byrne was 19 and attending San Jose City College with at least two other members of the band. The youngest member of the band was still in high school.  They performed in 'Count Dracula' style capes and played up Byrne's international (he was Irish) heritage to take advantage of the British Invasion popularity. The single was a big local hit, so they recorded a few more, toured the California coast for about a year, recorded an album, had a #5 US singles hit and then turned down a nation wide tour to go back to school. They disappeared and never recorded again, a classic one hit wonder.

The song is a perfect embodiment of the mid sixties electric blues sound so associated with Eric Clapton. Whether in his work with The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, or Cream; the Clapton sound is what Count Five and many others were emulating. The Animals and The Rolling Stones were also big fans of the sound, and America was buying anything that sounded like it. On this track the pounding might as well be on a crate as a drum set, but it serves its purpose well. Layered guitars all playing similar notes with different sound qualities, a harmonica and a vocal about love from a bouncy yet hinting of anger voice were just what the doctor ordered. The middle and end sections, with their sped up driving beat, rising electric guitar solo, frenzied backing guitar effects and train-with-no-breaks harmonica is what all the fuss is about. There were probably thousands of garage bands in 1966. Hundreds of them had more than a handful of tour dates, and dozens of them cut a record and thought they could be something. But that sound was so heartfelt and raw and real that it doesn't surprise me what happened to their legacy.

Remember me mentioning Lester Bangs? He wrote an essay in 1971 about garage rock. In it he described the legacy of the Count Five and talked about their first album Psychotic Reaction and their second album Carburetor Dung as well as other albums and concerts. The thing is, he created everything after the first album. The band had split up, but Bangs created a fictional account of the group. This got them an odd amount of attention, and the song actually was popular with American soldiers in Vietnam years after the band had broken up.

"Roadrunner"

The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (1976)

Released five years after it was recorded, just as the singer was getting a solo career going.



A lot of road songs out there. Hundreds of odes to long black ribbons of freedom. This one is about a strip of road around Boston, and how much the singer loves it, loves driving, loves the radio, it's actually kind of infectious. It's as simple a base for a song as I can imagine. Two chords, one less than punk. Lyrics that sound like the singer is just coming up with the next line off the top of his head, and if he doesn't have one yet, he'll just repeat the line again and come up with a new line next time around. Singer, guitar player, and writer Jonathan Richman idolized The Velvet Underground. I can see that, the song does remind me of I'm Waiting For The Man or Run Run Run with even less concern for standard verse chorus verse structure. There's another reason the song reminds me of The Velvet Underground, namely, this track, and much of the album it's off of was produced by co-founder John Cale.

Musically, the standout sound is the keyboardist. Organ always makes for an interesting sound in a rock band. He plays cool stand out parts while the rest of the band is all jamming, and he gets a solo as well. Just to be thorough I looked him up to see if he had become a producer or anything cool. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the album was released several years after he had split to join newly formed New Wave act Talking Heads. Jerry Harrison was the member that wasn't David Byrne, the hot chick bassist, or the hot chick's drummer husband.

"7 Nation Army"

The White Stripes - 7 Nation Army (2003)

Jack White used to call The Salvation Army the 7 Nation Army when he was a child.

Two instruments and one voice. Takes us back to some of the earliest songs in the book. Allons a Lafayette was one male voice, a guitar and an accordion. St. Louis Blues was two instruments and a female voice, though three people were involved. During Jack White's portion of It Might Get Loud he plays us a recording of his favorite song. It is one man (Son House) singing and clapping his own rhythm. This makes pretty clear what the White Stripes are in a musical sense. Basic blues based with a twist.

The "bass" guitar sound on this track is Jack using an octave pedal. I had never heard of one before hearing this song, but they are now at least more common knowledge. Obviously in the studio version there is some use of multi-tracking, but live he does just push the pedal and switch back into the regular octave for the guitar and keep playing. Meg's drums are not at all background here. They are full volume in the mix, and yet rarely spoken of. She is a very stripped down drummer, nothing fancy, playing only what is necessary. I think the drums are insistent and driving, two things I love in a drummer. Having listened to it a few times now, I am surprised that it is almost 4 minutes long. I would have told you the song was shorter if you asked me.

A few secondary thoughts. The cover for the single is a really crappy image when you think about it. Jack is all in red, sitting on a stool, painting; using Meg as a model. the background is all red, but Meg is wearing all white. Jack is painting a white elephant. Also, Jack told MTV that when he wrote the riff he thought if he ever got asked to write a James Bond theme he would use that riff. Five years later he was asked.