The Castaways--Liar Liar (1965)

     One of the often overlooked sub-genres of 1960's music is the garage band. These were the local bands that every city and town had. If a group was lucky, they would play a lot in their area and make a few bucks and garner some attention. The big groups were the ones who would make records at one of the small independent labels and get some airplay on local radio. The rarest of the rare would have a song that would break through to a larger audience.
     The Castaways were one of those groups. Coming from the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, James Donna (keys), Robert Folschow and Dick Roby (guitars), Roy Hensley (bass), and Dennis Craswell (drums) had only one chart hit. "Liar, Liar" was written by Donna and Craswell featuring the distinctive falsetto of Folschow. They continue to tour today, but Donna is the only original member of the band. Check them out at   http://www.thecastawaysrock.com/

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The Troggs--Wild Thing (1966)

     One of the things that make for a classic song is the opening riff. Rock classics are many times defined by something that simple. The chord structure of "Wild Thing" is about as easy as it gets, but has endeared itself to millions of garage band guitar heroes......

       The song itself was written by Chip Taylor, who's real name is James Wesley Voight, Jon Voight's brother. It was recorded first by The Wild Ones in 1965. Then The Troggs recorded made it a #1 hit in the US in 1966. They ended up with several hits here in the states up to 1968, and broke up a year later. They reformed in 1974 and has had varying success since, but will always be known for one of the greatest garage band hits ever....

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