Browse Tag

Tombstone

Red Velvet Trio

The Red Velvet Trio – Million Tears

Tombstone Records TOMB-CD 2007 [1992]
Million Tears – Wild Boy – Crazy Night – Miriam – Hairy Upperlip Song – Ugly Twins – Ringelingeling – That’s Enough – Wheelchair Boogie – Bad Breath – I Want You Now – What Can I Do

Red Velvet trio

If you dig your Neo-Rockabilly with a jive beat, look no further; the Red Velvet Trio is the band for you. This German trio, Led by Claudius Wolke (ex-Magnetics) on vocals and double bass with Markus Wietholt on drums and Marcus Rettig on guitar, rips through a set of twelve originals that are sure to please fans of Restless and the Ringlets Trio. The setlist is very well-balanced, alternating tempos, melodies and styles, going from the wild Neo-rockabilly of That’s Enough to the Jazzabilly of Ringelingeling. The production is flawless, and each instrument is perfectly highlighted.


The Red Velvet Trio – Let’s Dance, Let’s Dance

Tombstone Records TOMB-CD 2017 [1992]
Friendship – Got Me, Got You – It Only Depends On A Moment – Pretty Faces – Rockin’ Guitar – Travellin Around The World – Looser All Down The Line – Hanging Jugs – Farmer Boys – Three Leg Man – Don’t Play With Me – How To Loose

Red Velvet Trio

The second album by the Red Velvet Trio takes more or less the same ingredients as their debut album. But who will complain when it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. The set list mixes fast Neo-rockabilly akin to Restless with mellower tunes in the style of the Keytones (It Only Depends On A Momen) or the Ringlets Trio, more moody songs in between (Traveling Around The World) and some jazz chords thrown in for good measure (Farmer Boys).Once again, the musicianship is top-notch throughout, and the production is outstanding.

The Red Velvet trio on Spotify.

Juvenile Delinquents

Juvenile Delinquents – Jumpin Around

Tombstone Records – TOMB-DISC 666 [1987]
Jump Around – Glad All Over – Ghost Train – Our Generation – Oeh Ah – She’s Wild So Wild

Juvenile Delinquents

It’s not easy to find pieces of information about The Juvenile Delinquents. The trio consisted of Crazy Eef on guitar, Ome Piet on electric bass and Robert van Driel on drums. They formed in the second half of the eighties and recorded this mini-album in January 1987. Using an electric bass gave them a fuller and more in-tune sound than many. If the Juvenile Delinquents are, musically speaking, a tight little band, one can’t say the same about the vocals that are a bit young.
Anyway, the songs are good, even excellent, like Ghost Train, and they had a good idea to release a mini-album to avoid the repetitions.

Rockats (the) – Psychobilly band

Rockats, not to be confused with the famous American neo-rockabilly band, were a psychobilly trio from Amsterdam. Originally known as a high school band named the Wild Rabbits, the Rockats formed in November 1987 with Martijn Spanteren on guitar and vocals, Arjan de Witt on electric bass and Remko Visser on drums.
After the band split, Remko Visser remained active, playing with Asmodeus.

Rockats (the) – The First Take Off

Tombstone Records Tomb-Disc 671 [1988]
Take-Off – Poor Zombie – Lost City – Lonesome Cowboy – I Hope She Loves Me – Mama – Gone – Don’t Leave Me Alone – Lucy – Prisoner – Screw & Roll – Baby Baby – Rapping Spirit

In May of the following year, they recorded their first album, “The first Take Off”, for Tombstone Records. It contains some good songs, but the global sound is slightly “young” though, like the Juvenile Delinquents, the use of an electric bass gives them a fuller and more precise sound. The main problem is the vocals. The singer tends to overact, and his scratchy voice is a bit annoying in the long run.


Rockats (the) – Keep On Turning

Tombstone Records Tomb-Disc 675 [1989]
Rockats – The Shadow – Rattlesnake – Nightmare – Let’s Go Crazy – Doctor Doctor – Everybody Needs Somebody To Love – Black Sunshine – All I Have To Do – Redlight Woman – Spend The Night With You – Whiskey On The Rocks

rockats keep on turning

One year later, they released “Keep On Turning”, still on Tombstone. This one is way better. It contains a few good ideas like Rattlesnake, a spaghetti western-tinged number, and original arrangements too. Furthermore, the singing shows quite an improvement.


Rockats (the) – The Last Crusade

Tombstone Records Tomb-disc 687 [1990]
Keep On Rock’In – Wanted – 1991 – Satisfied – Seducer – Last Crusade – Break Out – Fire – One Night Stand – Your Eyes – Burn In Hell – Jane

“The Last Crusade”, their third and last album, appeared in 1990. It contains excellent songs like the Seducer, featuring superb bouncing bass.
Other songs slightly departed from their previous release with more aggressive melodies and metal influences akin to the Krewmen of the same period.

The Radioactive Kid

Ten Strike

10_strike_cover
Ten Strike – Rawkabilly

Ten Strike – Rawkabilly

Trail To Hell – That’s Right – Under Vultures – Lonely Nights

Hailing from Germany, this trio played a mixture of wild rockabilly and what is now called old school psychobilly. They started in the 80’s, had an album on Tombstone Record in 1989 (Outlaw) and supported acts like The Guana Batz, Stray Cats, The Keytones and The Frantic Flintstones. On hiatus for a few years the band returned with this mini lp. The slap bass led mid-tempo “Trail To Hell” has a fine cowboy ballad feel. The singer’s voice on this one reminds a bit of the dutch bands The Tigermen and their song “Gone, Gone, Gone” for those who remember them. “That’s Right” is maybe more classical, a fast rocker with a psycho edge but nonetheless very pleasant. Under Vultures is a new version of a song from their Outlaw lp, and has that fine 80’s neo-rockabilly in the chorus I like so much with backing vocals and stop-starts with slap bass solos. This too short ep ends with “Loneley Nights” a slow tempo with a bluesy feel. The overall production work is very well done and the songs are all written by the band.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis


Ten Strike - Outlaw
Ten Strike – Outlaw

Ten Strike – Outlaw

Tombstone – Tomb-Disc 681  [1990]

No More Reason To Cry – Long Legs – Under Vultures – Wide Open Land – That’s Right – Country Playin’ – Outlaw Man – Bound To Die – She Ain’t No Good – Wheels Of Steel – Don’t Look Now – 51 Merc – So Many Times

First long play by this German band released in 1990. The line up on this record is Jürgen Fröhlich on Guitar, Vocals, Peter Urban on Double Bass and Jochen Vaupel (who previously played in the Swamp Dogs) on drums.
This is a classic neo-rockabilly album with twelve self-penned songs and one interesting cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Dont Look Now.

Scam

///

Scam - Gamblin fever
Scam – Gamblin fever

Scam – Gamblin’ Fever

Count Orlock
Pirates And Thieves – Captain Caveman – Magic Bus – Searching -. Hangover – Nutcrackers – Island Of Rock -. Somebody Tell Me – Losing Touch – Gamblin’ Fever – Dr. No – Ready, Willing And Able
Scam released their debut album on Count Orlock in 1988, this first album is very representative of the sound of the day. Light drums, slap bass and a clean electric guitar, influenced by Restless and fellow Dutchmen Batmobile. The sound is good (Johnny Z. produces. Any link to Johnny Zuidhof from Batmobile?) but could be a bit “fuller”. They have good original songs (Hangover, Captain Caveman, Ready Willing & Able) but the long distance (12 songs) tends to disadvantage the band and the album sounds a bit repetitive, they could have reduced it to eight solid songs. They also cover the Who’s Magic Bus,a band previously covered on the Juvenile Delinquents album (My Generation). I’m not sure sure it’s been reissued on cd, so try to grab a vinyl copy on ebay.


Scam - Infant Years
Scam – Infant Years

Scam – Infant Years

Tombstone
Haunted House – Death Train – Can I Get A Witness – Cry Out – I Can’t See – The Eyes – Boogie Disease
Despite an ugly cover, this mini lp, recorded in 1989, shows an improvement from the first album. If there’s not a big departure in term of sound but the band is tighter and the songs less repetitive.

 


Scam - A million dollar scam
Scam – A million dollar scam

Scam – A Million Dollar Scam

Rockhouse
The getaway – Dead and gone – Cold as ice – Where did I go wrong – Stop bugging me – I’m going crazy – Hang ’em high – Stop that gorilla – You can’t trick me – Goodbye so long – Which way now – Devil’s music – It ain’t right – Bloodbrothers – Trouble tonight – Loved that woman – Drink that bottle down – Candy man
Released in 1991, this album (their third after Gamblin Fever and Infant Years) marks a new step for the band. To their usual brand of light psychobilly/neo-rockabilly, they add a good dose of rockin’ blues with blues harp, saxophone and slide guitar. The set is varied and the song inspired. A guest singer is present on a couple of songs and brings a bit of diversity. A good album that shows the evolution and the maturity of the band. Reissued on cd with four bonus tracks.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

The Rockats (2)

Country: Holland
Genre: Psychobilly

Martijn Spanteren: guitar, vocals
Arjan de Witt: electric bass, vocals
Jottum: drums
Remko Visser: drums

The Rockats, not to be confused with the famous American neo-rockabilly band, were a psychobilly trio from Amsterdam. They formed in November 1987 and in May of the following year they recorded their first album “The first Take Off” for Tombstone Records. It contains some good songs but the global sound is a bit “young”. One year later they released “Keep On Turning”, still on Tombstone, with their new drummer Remko Visser. “The Last Crusade”, their third and last album appeared in 1990 showing a slight change in the sound with more agressive melodies and metal influences.
After the band split, Remko Visser remained active, playing with Asmodeus.

The First Take Off ‎- Tombstone Records Tomb-Disc 671 (1988)
Keep On Turning ‎- Tombstone Records Tomb-Disc 675 (1989)
The Last Crusade – Tombstone Records Tomb-disc 687 (1990)