Original Facebook Posts / May 2010 / THE NOT QUITE

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UNDER-APPRECIATED ROCK BAND OF THE MONTH FOR MAY 2010: THE NOT QUITE

Once I determined that I was going to take a stab at saving my poor record collection from the mud and water and yuck of Hurricane Katrina, I did a few experiments and quickly discovered that saving the covers would be impossible. I worked for close to an hour cleaning up one fairly stout cover (particularly for a European release) that did not look to be in too bad a shape, but I couldn’t get all of the dirt off, and there was no way I could get an album in it once it dried. I still decided to frame it, and it is on my wall today: Lazy Ways, the second and last album by a British band called the Marine Girls, from the early 1980’s. I don’t have another album in my collection quite like it: three talented women singing their own songs, mostly together, whose voices don’t quite mesh, backed by acoustical guitars that seem to be just slightly out of synch – but the album is absolutely captivating. One of the Girls, Tracey Thorn became the female half of one of my very favorite bands, Everything but the Girl; the male half, Ben Watt was the photographer for the album cover. The other album cover that I more or less cleaned up for framing was practically the first record that I picked up out of our front yard from the debris: The artist for this one was Katrina and the Waves (I kid you not); it was the cover from a 12” single, not for their big hit “Walking on Sunshine” but for the follow-up “Do You Want Crying” – and yes, there was quite a bit.

It was apparent that if I let the albums dry out, the wet cardboard and plastic would form something that would be a lot like cement; so, with some not-free help, we managed to pull the disks free from their covers, place them in and between small garbage bags, and stack them in liquor store boxes for temporary storing. I then assembled some tools: a plastic dish rack with drainboard that, it turned out, would hold 19 albums without touching; some cheap dish detergent for getting the worst of the dirt off; a record cleaning kit for the final clean-up; and lots and lots and lots of gumption.

The very first album listed on what I called “Rack 1” was . . . Or the Beginning (probably my only album whose name starts with ellipses) by a band called THE NOT QUITE. An entertaining though (as usual) overly long recitation of their history can be found buried on a website run by one Dark Lord Rob, the founder, vocalist, and bass player for the band, who also presents his other musical and theatrical endeavors; “coming soon” advertisements for his company American Entropy Productions like The Miskatonic Acid Test, Elvis in Wonderland, Here Be Witches, and American Nietzsche Man; and many other goodies.

The Not Quite were one of the early psychedelic revival bands of the early 1980’s and got some good press, with one outlet calling them a “major band”. Originally they were called the Starship Troopers (named after a famous and controversial novel, Starship Troopers by science fiction legend Robert Heinlein that was later made into a really entertaining movie, Starship Troopers), and the story of how they got their name is a lot like the one for Big Brother and the Holding Company (where Janis Joplin had her first big stint): Someone was reading out a long list of band names as suggestions, and the last two names on the list were “Big Brother” and “the Holding Company”. In this case, the bandmembers were trying out names on each other, and everyone would chuckle and say, “No, not quite”; after a while, the response became the chosen name.

The album, the band’s last was released in 1990 as an LP only on Voxx Records, a label operated by the late Greg Shaw of Bomp! Records to showcase 1960’s revival bands. (Bomp was slow to get into CD production, and they have kept much of their vinyl catalogue in print for decades). The music has a dark, moody sound with lots of ominous organ, and Dark Lord Rob has suitably gloomy vocals that are mostly sung in the lower register. The songs are often complex and also dark; the title track has three or four identifiable parts with a chorus that asks, “is this the end” several times before screaming out “or the beginning”.

I am up to Rack 28 now, just a few months shy of the fifth anniversary of Katrina (and with the Gulf full again – not with a blockbuster storm, but with barrels and barrels of leaking oil that are heading our way as I write); and for those of you with a calculator, that totals well over 500 cleaned up albums that I am now able to play again and enjoy. I have them sitting in plain covers that I get from Bags Unlimited, with full-color covers (including the back covers on occasion) that I have downloaded from the Internet; after printing them out, I tape them onto the blank covers. I also have information on the album down the spine just like they had originally.

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The Honor Roll of the Under Appreciated Rock Bands and Artists follows, in date order, including a link to the original Facebook posts and the theme of the article.

Dec 2009 – BEAST; Lot to Learn

Jan 2010 – WENDY WALDMAN; Los Angeles Singer-Songwriters

Feb 2010 – CYRUS ERIE; Cleveland

Mar 2010 – BANG; Record Collecting I

Apr 2010 – THE BREAKAWAYS; Power Pop

May 2010 – THE NOT QUITE; Katrina Clean-Up

Jun 2010 – WATERLILLIES; Electronica

Jul 2010 – THE EYES; Los Angeles Punk Rock

Aug 2010 – QUEEN ANNE’S LACE; Psychedelic Pop

Sep 2010 – THE STILLROVEN; Minnesota

Oct 2010 – THE PILTDOWN MEN; Record Collecting II

Nov 2010 – SLOVENLY; Slovenly Peter

Dec 2010 – THE POPPEES; New York Punk/New Wave

Jan 2011 – HACIENDA; Latinos in Rock

Feb 2011 – THE WANDERERS; Punk Rock (1970’s/1980’s)

Mar 2011 – INDEX; Psychedelic Rock (1960’s)

Apr 2011 – BOHEMIAN VENDETTA; Punk Rock (1960’s)

May 2011 – THE LONESOME DRIFTER; Rockabilly

Jun 2011 – THE UNKNOWNS; Disabled Musicians

Jul 2011 – THE RIP CHORDS; Surf Rock I

Aug 2011 – ANDY COLQUHOUN; Side Men

Sep 2011 – ULTRA; Texas

Oct 2011 – JIM SULLIVAN; Mystery

Nov 2011 – THE UGLY; Punk Rock (1970’s)

Dec 2011 – THE MAGICIANS; Garage Rock (1960’s)

Jan 2012 – RON FRANKLIN; Why Celebrate Under Appreciated?

Feb 2012 – JA JA JA; German New Wave

Mar 2012 – STRATAVARIOUS; Disco Music

Apr 2012 – LINDA PIERRE KING; Record Collecting III

May 2012 – TINA AND THE TOTAL BABES; One Hit Wonders

Jun 2012 – WILD BLUE; Band Names I

Jul 2012 – DEAD HIPPIE; Band Names II

Aug 2012 – PHIL AND THE FRANTICS; Wikipedia I

Sep 2012 – CODE BLUE; Hidden History

Oct 2012 – TRILLION; Wikipedia II

Nov 2012 – THOMAS ANDERSON; Martin Winfree’s Record Buying Guide

Dec 2012 – THE INVISIBLE EYES; Record Collecting IV

Jan 2013 – THE SKYWALKERS; Garage Rock Revival

Feb 2013 – LINK PROTRUDI AND THE JAYMEN; Link Wray

Mar 2013 – THE GILES BROTHERS; Novelty Songs

Apr 2013 – LES SINNERS; Universal Language

May 2013 – HOLLIS BROWN; Greg Shaw / Bob Dylan

Jun 2013 (I) – FUR (Part 1); What Might Have Been I

Jun 2013 (II) – FUR (Part 2); What Might Have Been II

Jul 2013 – THE KLUBS; Record Collecting V

Aug 2013 – SILVERBIRD; Native Americans in Rock

Sep 2013 – BLAIR 1523; Wikipedia III

Oct 2013 – MUSIC EMPORIUM; Women in Rock I

Nov 2013 – CHIMERA; Women in Rock II

Dec 2013 – LES HELL ON HEELS; Women in Rock III

Jan 2014 – BOYSKOUT; (Lesbian) Women in Rock IV

Feb 2014 – LIQUID FAERIES; Women in Rock V

Mar 2014 (I) – THE SONS OF FRED (Part 1); Tribute to Mick Farren

Mar 2014 (II) – THE SONS OF FRED (Part 2); Tribute to Mick Farren

Apr 2014 – HOMER; Creating New Bands out of Old Ones

May 2014 – THE SOUL AGENTS; The Cream Family Tree

Jun 2014 – THE RICHMOND SLUTS and BIG MIDNIGHT; Band Names (Changes) III

Jul 2014 – MIKKI; Rock and Religion I (Early CCM Music)

Aug 2014 – THE HOLY GHOST RECEPTION COMMITTEE #9; Rock and Religion II (Bob Dylan)

Sep 2014 – NICK FREUND; Rock and Religion III (The Beatles)

Oct 2014 – MOTOCHRIST; Rock and Religion IV

Nov 2014 – WENDY BAGWELL AND THE SUNLITERS; Rock and Religion V

Dec 2014 – THE SILENCERS; Surf Rock II

Jan 2015 (I) – THE CRAWDADDYS (Part 1); Tribute to Kim Fowley

Jan 2015 (II) – THE CRAWDADDYS (Part 2); Tribute to Kim Fowley

Feb 2015 – BRIAN OLIVE; Songwriting I (Country Music)

Mar 2015 – PHIL GAMMAGE; Songwriting II (Woody Guthrie / Bob Dylan)

Apr 2015 (I) – BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 1); Songwriting III (Partnerships)

Apr 2015 (II) – BLACK RUSSIAN (Part 2); Songwriting III (Partnerships)

May 2015 – MAL RYDER and THE PRIMITIVES; Songwriting IV (The Rolling Stones)

Jun 2015 – HAYMARKET SQUARE; Songwriting V (The Beatles)

Jul 2015 – THE HUMAN ZOO; Songwriting VI (Psychedelic Rock)

Aug 2015 – CRYSTAL MANSION; Martin Winfree’s Record Cleaning Guide

Dec 2015 – AMANDA JONES; So Many Rock Bands

Mar 2016 – THE LOVEMASTERS; Fun Rock Music

Jun 2016 – THE GYNECOLOGISTS; Offensive Rock Music Lyrics

Sep 2016 – LIGHTNING STRIKE; Rap and Hip Hop

Dec 2016 – THE IGUANAS; Iggy and the Stooges; Proto-Punk Rock

Mar 2017 – THE LAZY COWGIRLS; Iggy and the Stooges; First Wave Punk Rock

Jun 2017 – THE LOONS; Punk Revival and Other New Bands

Sep 2017 – THE TELL-TALE HEARTS; Bootleg Albums

Dec 2017 – SS-20; The Iguana Chronicles

(Year 10 Review)