Ignored Obscured Restored
The Ventures were a band out of Washington state that earned their fame with a slew of surf rock instrumentals. Their biggest hit was “Walk Don’t Run” from 1960. It reached #2 on the Billboard singles chart. They entered the Top 10 again when their version of the theme song to the popular TV show Hawaii Five-O made it to #8 in 1969.
Along the way, somewhere around 1963, the band entered into a contract with the California guitar maker, Mosrite. From that time, until the contract expired, the band used the “uniquely styled, futuristic-looking Mark 1 electric guitar model” exclusively. It became their trademark.
Between 1960 and 1970 The Ventures released over 30 albums on the Dolton and Liberty labels. (I must have about 25 of them!) Most of them are listenable, but the one that I always go back to when I’m in the mood for that type of Rock is Wild Things!, from 1966.
Wild Things! is a theme album. Its mix of originals and covers almost all have the word “wild” in their titles. The best is one of the originals, “Wild Trip.”
“Wild Trip” rocks! It’s so good that the Athens, Georgia punk/garage rock group, Flat Duo Jets, covered it in 1990 on their Go Go Harlem Baby album.
Enjoy… until next week.