The Remains - Diddy Wah Diddy
One of Boston’s most famous 60’s bands, the Remains had a hit with “All Good Things”, several regional hits, an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show and even opened for the Beatles on their last US tour! Despite or because of all of this, the band had broken up by the time their first album had been released. This record is a 19 song collection put out by France’s Eva Records and is a monster monument to their greatness, though, truthfully, I’m not certain if this is still available. If not, look for anything by these garage-pop masters!
Opening with a cool, bluesy guitar riff, “All Good Things” shows off all of the Remains strengths – solid playing, fantastic vocals and harmonies and super songwriting. One of their classics is “Why Do I Cry” – wow! A bompin’ groove, more amazing melodies, nice starts and stops and a cool rave-up. These cats proved that you didn’t have to be wimpy to be melodic and really set themselves apart from other “garage” bands by their superior songwriting. I do think that they could have been huge if they had stayed together – every tune here is top notch such as “Ain’t That Her” – a Beatle-esque minor key masterpiece.
They even do fun white-boy covers of r’n’b and blues tunes like “Mercy, Mercy”, “My Babe” and “Diddy Wah Diddy”. But they are at their best on their own tunes like the churnin’ “Time of Day” or their garage masterpiece (covered by the likes of the Unclaimed), “Once Before” – powerful, sharp, biting chords, cool harmonies, and “screw you girl” lyrics! Pretty much a perfect 60’s garage tune! And “You Got a Hard Time Coming” and “Say You’re Sorry” are right up there!
The band had another hit with “Don’t Look Back” and this gem was included in the original Nuggets album and therefore is one of their better known songs – and rightfully so! Really, this whole collection is rockin’ from the start to the finish with the wild build-up and rave-up in “Heart”. This band heavily influence most of the 80’s garage bands so anyone who loves garage – be it 60’s, 80’s, 00’s or any combination thereof – should own something by the Remains!
Opening with a cool, bluesy guitar riff, “All Good Things” shows off all of the Remains strengths – solid playing, fantastic vocals and harmonies and super songwriting. One of their classics is “Why Do I Cry” – wow! A bompin’ groove, more amazing melodies, nice starts and stops and a cool rave-up. These cats proved that you didn’t have to be wimpy to be melodic and really set themselves apart from other “garage” bands by their superior songwriting. I do think that they could have been huge if they had stayed together – every tune here is top notch such as “Ain’t That Her” – a Beatle-esque minor key masterpiece.
They even do fun white-boy covers of r’n’b and blues tunes like “Mercy, Mercy”, “My Babe” and “Diddy Wah Diddy”. But they are at their best on their own tunes like the churnin’ “Time of Day” or their garage masterpiece (covered by the likes of the Unclaimed), “Once Before” – powerful, sharp, biting chords, cool harmonies, and “screw you girl” lyrics! Pretty much a perfect 60’s garage tune! And “You Got a Hard Time Coming” and “Say You’re Sorry” are right up there!
The band had another hit with “Don’t Look Back” and this gem was included in the original Nuggets album and therefore is one of their better known songs – and rightfully so! Really, this whole collection is rockin’ from the start to the finish with the wild build-up and rave-up in “Heart”. This band heavily influence most of the 80’s garage bands so anyone who loves garage – be it 60’s, 80’s, 00’s or any combination thereof – should own something by the Remains!
posted by rich @ 10:56 AM
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