AND IT FEELS LIKE THIS: Thanks to the 1966 stroke of genius that is 'Psychotic Reaction', San Jose, California's Count Five are the ultimate one-shot garage punk band, bar none. Psychotic Revelation gathers the band's classic album, all their non-LP singles and, for the first time anywhere, a brace of way-cool unissued tracks, including the original unedited recording of their hit single. By Mike Dugo
San Jose, California, 1964. Local rock'n'roll band the Squires has the good fortune of hooking up with Irish native John Sean" Byrne, fresh from playing with Dublin beat group, the Scorpions. Though Byrne has written a song that the group, now renamed Count Five, completely believes in, it is to be rejected over the course of the next couple of years by several record labels, including Capitol and Fantasy. But after impressing deejay Brian Lord at a local fraternity party, Count Five audition at the old Decca Studios in Los Angeles, where the band is informed by manager Sol Ellner that they have finally landed a recording contract. The song is released as a single by new label Double Shot, and becomes a smash hit (Top 10 in October of 1966), propelling the group to dizzying new heights. Yet after much fanfare, including tours with the Beach Boys, Byrds, and Dave Clark Five, an appearance on American Bandstand, and the release of a full LP, Count Five turns down a million dollars worth of bookings to stay in school. That's right . . . a million. In 1967 dollars!
The song that launched Count Five on its way, of course, was Psychotic Reaction, a classic rave-up that firmly entrenched the band in the pantheon of garage rock legends. Though, in a recent interview for 60sgaragebands.com, Byrne denied the notion that the song was influenced at all by the Yardbirds, it's difficult after one listening not to associate the two. One thing that cannot be denied, however, is the fact that Psychotic Reaction is one of the most endearing singles of the 1960s garage band explosion. In addition to the hit single version, PSYCHOTIC REVELATION: THE ULTIMATE COUNT FIVE presents for the very first time the complete and unedited take of the song - including its never-before-heard original ending!
Big Beat has also unearthed an unedited version of 'Psychotic's flipside They're Gonna Get You, a demo version of Contrast, and four completely unreleased Count Five classics - all of which solidify the groups legendary status. These are Move It Up, a rather infectious ode to getting close to a girl-.-So Much, a punk rock tune with fuzz a-blastin', plus People Hear What I Say and Enchanted Flowers, Count Five's contributions to social awareness and psychedelia, respectively. And it's a true Psychotic Revelation to learn that the newly discovered songs are equal to, if not better than, the group's Double Shot recordings - all of which are of course also included, in the best-ever sound quality. It's not often that previously unheard cuts by a group as revered as Count Five turn up. Big Beat has done 60s collectors a huge favour by releasing this CD . . . a true million dollar collection of both classic and heretofore unheard garage rock recordings. And it feels like this!
(Mike Dugo is the proprietor of the essential online garage rock clearing house, www.60sgaragebands.com)"
