Tuesday, September 23, 2014

NICE TRY KIDS

That's the High Numbers up there, roughly fifty years ago, the real deal. I'll get to them in the minute. I just wanted to point out that it is not the 45s. Have you heard of the 45s? Oh, brother. Don't know anything about them, but it's gonna take quite a bit to stop these eyes from rolling. They're chops are decent. Unfortunately, they wear their hearts on their sleeves, or rather, the medals on their jackets, just a little too obviously. It might be just the one video I've seen, so some slack may be be in order, but, man, this one goes way past homage, to the point of being a ripoff. Check out both of the videos below. The first is Kit Lambert's excellent footage of the Who, then performing as the High Numbers, in a small club '64-ish, doing Jessie Hill's "Ooh Poo Pah Doo". A great video that won't be online long, (It keeps being taken down. If so, just do a search, it'll pop up somewhere.). The second video is the 45s trying to cop the vibe, doing the same song, and like Lambert's footage, shot in a small club, shot in black and white, and interspersed with shots of the dancers. The appearance of scooters near the beginning of that footage, and the aforementioned medals being worn on the bands jackets, that just smacks of a half-assed nod to mod, particularly when you hear them. They're just a rock band with an informed choice of covers.Speaking of covers, Jessie Hill's original is the pre-game.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Jessie Hill - Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Pt 1 mp3 (via DivShare) at Junk Shop Juke Box
Jessie Hill - Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Pt 2 mp3
(via DivShare) at Junk Shop Juke Box
The 45's - Four songs (streaming) at Whiter Trash Soul
Video:
The High Numbers - Ooh Poo Pah Doo (live) at YouTube Exhibit A
The 45s - Ooh Poo Pah Doo (live) at YouTube Exhibit B

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