Crypt Records TEENAGE SHUTDOWN opinions?

[Ron Stone]

While looking for something else, I stumbled across an amazing-looking series from Crypt Records, called TEENAGE SHUTDOWN, anthologizing tons of sixties garage rock. There seems to be at least 25 volumes. Has anyone heard these? Any opinons concerning the music and sonics? I recognize maybe 5% of these tracks, so it's defintiely not the same ol' same ol'.

[Michael]

Originally posted by Ron Stone
While looking for something else, I stumbled across an amazing-looking series from Crypt Records, called TEENAGE SHUTDOWN, anthologizing tons of sixties garage rock. There seems to be at least 25 volumes. Has anyone heard these? Any opinons concerning the music and sonics? I recognize maybe 5% of these tracks, so it's defintiely not the same ol' same ol'.

They sound great! Do you have their addy?
Thanks.

[Vivaldinization]

Originally posted by Ron Stone
While looking for something else, I stumbled across an amazing-looking series from Crypt Records, called TEENAGE SHUTDOWN, anthologizing tons of sixties garage rock. There seems to be at least 25 volumes. Has anyone heard these? Any opinons concerning the music and sonics? I recognize maybe 5% of these tracks, so it's defintiely not the same ol' same ol'.

Depends on your def. of 'same ol, same ol'. I have a few volumes of this (She's a Pest, two others) and I can't say anything stands out. If you like the endless volumes of Pebbles/Back from the Grave, you'll dig this, but it isn't anything really noteworthy.

-D

[Ron Stone]

Would you say that the PEBBLES or BACK FROM THE GRAVE series would be a better place to start than the TEENAGE SHUTDOWN series? I only have the Rhino NUGGETS comps, which are great.

[indy mike]

My vote is try out the garage comps on Sundazed and ACE UK first (and when S&P Records gets rolling! :D ) You'll like the mastertape quality those labels provide, and better sonics (oooh, get the Sonics sets on Norton - killer stuff!!!) than our Rhinophonic friends provide. The Pebbles/Boulders/Crypt stuff will most likely be disc dubs - they originated in the "I need to pay for my 45 collection" days when garage stuff never got reissued. There's some amazing stuff on them, and lotsa ok stuff. Dig up old back issues of Kicks, Cream Puff War, Ugly Things and other garage fanzines - they can steer you towards the cream of the crop tunewise.

[RetroSmith]

I have a couple of the "Teenage shutdown" Cds, and even the folk one isnt that good. Its lower level garage stuff, basically. Go with the Pebbles series (the SURF Pebbles is a killer, but the LP, not the Cd, different tracks).

"Boulders" is pretty good as well. Also anything on "Moxie" records.

Stay AWAY from anything on NORTON Records. They dont care ONE IOTA about quality. The Rivieras comp is a disgrace, and dont even get me started on the "Twist o Rama" Cd which is absolutely UNLISTENABLE, they had no business putting that out and charging 15.99 for it to boot.

[120dB]

Most of the songs on the Teenage Shutdown volumes
are taken from 35-year-old small run, custom press 45s from
defunct studios and labels. Maybe 200-500 records
pressed in 1966 or 1967--that's it. No survivng master
tapes in most cases. Who thought that amateur teen
rock combo stuff would ever have lasting value? No
one did, so nothing was archived. That's why a Jim
Whelan & the Beau Havens 45 on Gamma went for
over $500 on Ebay last week. Thank God somebody
reissued this stuff, vinyl dubs or not...

[indy mike]

Hmmm, let's establish some guidelines here: Norton is the most legit of the oddball labels listed above (Moxie, Crypt, etc..) - they actually license stuff and rumor has it PAY ROYALTIES - I doubt the same can be said for the others! The Rivieras were in legal limbo for decades and Norton slugged it out to release stuff - they even have access to tape sources mastered by Vic Anesini; granted they don't sound super hi-fi, but the recordings themselves were so-so to begin with. Add informed liner notes and great photos and I'll disagree with mikey's assessment - just bear in mind it ain't super sonic. As for Twist-o-Rama, well, the package and their website both warn folks it was mastered from vinyl AND that it sounds pretty barfy; they list it at their site @ $8 for lp, $12 for cd. I highly doubt that any tapes for that are around, as Norton tries these days to round up masters. I wish that they'd used the stereo masters for the Sonics reissues, but they like mono (Yello, paging Grant!!! :D ) Their liner notes are killer, they talk to the folks who made the noise, round up great pix, and do a swell job in a less than lucrative field (which probably explains the lack of DCC action on garage material). I doubt your sonic socks will ever be knocked off by a Norton reissue, but they are working in a lo-fi realm. While I love this stuff as much or more than others on the board, I'm gonna stick up for the folks who put out legit stuff (ACE UK, Sundazed, Norton, even Ralphie Rhino) and not encourage the boot type stuff ala Crypt and Moxie - last Pebbles comp I bought was scuzzy sounding - pops and clicks, not a mastertape in sight - maybe they've cleaned up their act since (No-noise...), but I'm not gonna take a chance.

[Vivaldinization]

As I've been doing this garage thing forever now, I figure that I'm qualified enough to give a detailed response to this.

First, with regard to Nuggets, do realize that most of the stuff on there is DEFINATELY higher-profile stuff; stuff where, for example, band details are known, and master tapes are procurable. One interesting feature of this is that most of these artists have other reissues dedicated to them, and said reissues are worth pursuing if you like their individual tracks. For example, if you like the E-Types track, by all means pick up the Sundazed comp.

Also, do realize that garage collecting is rarely an audiophile pursuit. You've been warned.

Lastly, there're two distinct camps to this sort of this. One camp loves the punky rocker....the full-o-snot teenage anthems found on your endless Pebbles. The other camp enjoys looking for *songs* more than distortion and attitude. Neither is more valid, and both camps are well represented, but you need to know what you're looking at before you purchase if you solidly find yourself in one or the other.


Now, a quick rundown of some of the famous series/labels:

AIP: AIP are perhaps the best-known garage label...they put out Pebbles, English Freakbeat, and several others. And yet despite being ostensibly legit (their stuff is sold in reputable outlets), AIP is *fantastically* mercenary; their packaging is bare-bones, and their tracks are usually ripped from 45s, and sometimes NOISY 45s. Their flagship series is, of course, Pebbles--which is re-configured from the vinyl into ~10 volumes on CD--which is nice, but can be utterly generic at times. Frankly, I think some of their other series fare much better. English Freakbeat compiles your usual rockers, but also some excellently imaginative UK rock (pity the sources suck), Ya Gotta Have Moxie is an excellent re-Anthologization of the Boulders series (crappy sound usually--including fade-ups/fade-downs as the tape starts on most tracks--but some excellent selections), and Electric Sugarcube Flashbacks, while short, is divine.

Sundazed: We all know 'em. They only have a few comps per se, but actually have a lot of "dedicated" CDs availible for several "garage" artists. Their comps are generally good, especially Psychedelic Microdots, but there aren't many of them.

Crypt Records: Home of Back from the Grave and Teenaged-Shutdown. Never been too impressed, as they're almost all sulk/punk rockers, but some swear by them.

Arf-ARf: I LOVE this label. Sometimes they do disc dubs, but their releases tend to be imaginative, and they strive for quality over quantity. New England Teen Scene's great, as are No No NO and Yes Yes Yes, and I love their Litter reissues (VERY worth buying, especially Distortions).

Bam-Caruso: Apparently, Bam's mostly folded by this point, but they were the home to an absolutely great series called "Rubble," which is now impossible to find (there's a mercenary series of repackages for the original 11 volumes called Best of the Rubble Collection, which are still currently in print, but are more than cheesy with regard to art, et cetera). They also have the great Circus Days and Garagelands comps (with Strange Things are Happening). Definately more in the "tuneful gems" category.

Big Beat: Generally tends to go with from-mastertape reissues. Has an excellent series called "Nuggets from the Golden State" that mines the vaults of several indie labels...very interesting, although some of the tunes don't quite live up to their excellent production values. Highly respected.

Collectables: The el cheapo, budget line people. Notable for the fact that they will put out absolutely *anything* they get a hold of, which isn't necessarily a bad thing; they've unearthed tons of gems in their day. Thing is, though, they also compulsively repackage (their old Cicadelic 60s series was phased out for the Green Crystal Ties series, which repeated several tracks) and issue things that're several degrees below inanity (a low-fi tape of the hyper-obscure "The Basement Wall" playing what is eitehr a frat party or a wedding reception). Still, they tend to be both pretty cheap and easy to find, and some of the CIcadelic/History Of Texas Garage/etc. entries are pretty decent.

And this is, of course, only scraping the "legit" spectrum. I was amazed to discover via Alec Palao that several of the comps I enjoy most are actually "pirates," yet very little distinction exists between these and "official" product put out by, say, AIP; more care was put into most of Billy's Psychedelic Unknowns series than most of Pebbles! Gear Fab, Shagadelic, Boobs a Lot...in NY's Greenwich Village, there're some shops that specialize in this sort of thing, and trust me, discerning which comps are official and which are Not is the least of one's worries!

-D

[Vivaldinization]

Originally posted by indy mike
...boot type stuff ala Crypt and Moxie - last Pebbles comp I bought was scuzzy sounding - pops and clicks, not a mastertape in sight - maybe they've cleaned up their act since (No-noise...), but I'm not gonna take a chance.

As I mentioned, though, there's frequently little distinction between "boot-type" and "legit." AIP apparently pays out royalties and such, and are considered "legit," yet their stuff is incredibly mercenary, while several "pirate" comps are put together much better.


Bizarre, eh?

-D

[indy mike]

Well, got some garage hounds here after all!!! I bet there's more mastertapes out there than we can imagine - I'm just old enough to remember that many of the Chocolate Watchband tapes were MIA when Rhino did their lp comp in the 80's, yet the tapes came out of the woodwork and everything is from tape these days. You're Gonna Miss Me was rechanneled for as long as I can remember and then it appeared in nice clean mono for the Nuggets box (ok, so that's about the sonic highlight there). Those bigger label (ok, International Artists is a stretch) examples may be unfair comparisons to the goofy local label things that are showing up on Crypt and Moxie, but given enough time and money even some of that stuff will turn up on tape - hell, look at Surf Legends and Rumors - tiny label, obscure stuff and WHAM - it all shows up in the 80's under Steve's watchful eye, the Lemon Drops stuff that came out on Cicadellic/Collectables (I Live in the Springtime is a stereo sonic gem), look at Sundazed's roster with Josefus, CA Quintet, Barbarians, Sir Winston and the Commons (dig my avatar - they r-u-l-e!!! ...:cool: ) Guess I need to type quicker - David is doing a nice job. It would be nice if AIP would take the next step and start going from tape if in fact they're paying royalties - hell, how much can the Swamp Rats insist on these days??? ;)

[RetroSmith]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by indy mike
[B]Hmmm, let's establish some guidelines here: Norton is the most legit of the oddball labels listed above (Moxie, Crypt, etc..) - they actually license stuff and rumor has it PAY ROYALTIES - I doubt the same can be said for the others




>>Indy.......Norton was issued a ceast and desist letter by Capitol Records for putting out the ESQERITA Lp without permission or royalties. They issued the Bobby Fuller "King of The wheels" stuff without permission.....Bob Keane told me this himself, because he was going to issue my bands LP on Delfi a few years ago.
They also put out the "Garage Unknowns" series of Lps without permission or paying royalties. They issued the Link Wray "Some Kinda Nut" Cds without permission. ( it all belongs to rollercoaster) Plus countless of other small runs. need more? I'll be happy to oblige.

On top of this, i'll say it again, they care not one iota about sound quality. You think the Twist O Rama CD is "OK"?? I dont , I use it as a beer coaster. The Rivieras stuff should have been stereo from master tapes, not the hissy, scratchy mono junk they issued. I've heard some of their stuff on comps that used the tapes.

Nuff said.

[indy mike]

Nope, I didn't say I cared for the sound on Twist-o-Rama - it sucks, and they warn folks it does. Bobby Fuller stuff/Bob Keane - well, the Fuller family has been doing stuff with Norton for a long time - those tapes that they're issuing aren't Del-Fi's - they're home recordings (no Del-Fi stuff shows up on Norton's comps as far as I know), and Yucca label stuff (which Norton owns) - Bob Keane is known to be a character, so who knows who's telling the truth???. Link Wray - yep, Rollercoaster owns the Swan label stuff, don't have that set but I thought that it was a license job as it's from master tapes. Esquerita - I didn't know they'd booted the lp - was this in the vinyl only days? The only Esquerita stuff they have now are later non Capitol cuts and demos (maybe the demos are the source of the problem???). Rivieras in stereo - that would be great - their stuff was in a legal mess for years and never got reissued except for California Sun - any stereo that leaked out would have been on boots, as I don't think it came out any way but mono back in '63/'65. If stereo exists, I'm the first to howl and want that, but Norton sticks with mono (they wish cd's and stereo just didn't exist) - that's what they like. We can go back and forth all day here - Norton may have done their share of goofy stuff on vinyl before I started getting interested in garage music and I won't buy it if I see it, nor will I recommend it. They are licensing stuff from Sony/CBS (more Wray) and I doubt those boys monkey around with less than legit labels. I'll quit now - you folks duke it out! ;)

[RetroSmith]

No duking bro, we can agree to dissagree. In the end, its the joy of the music that matters...agreed?


My Little Black Egg!!!

[indy mike]

Mikey, you betcha!!! Every story has 2 sides, and they probably all ahve some truth to their own version. Little Black Egg (in stereo, of course) - one helluva tune - I think I'll go play that now (royalties been paid up too, I think!!!) :cool:

[speedo]

Mikey, what did Norton pass on putting your band out or something that's got you so upset? 1 Capitol has no say in the Esquerita masters on Norton, they don't own them. The only thing Capitol has a claim on is the tracks contained on the Collectors Series CD nothing on Norton. Norton did the right thing and paid Esquerita which is something Capitol/EMI never did 2. Norton purchased masters from the Fuller family and estate and PAID them for them. Once again masters that had nothing to do with Bob Keane and master in which he had no claim whatsoever. You obviously don't know Bob very well or the way he does business because you wouldn't have brought this up and I'm not getting into here. Those in the know, know what I'm talking about. As mentioned in a previous post Norton usually will note on the packaging when something is of questionable sound quality for guys like you. Is that not enough for you? If you really dig 60's garage records Norton and Crypt are the real deal and sure it doesn't sound like your Barry Manilow records but that doesn't mean it isn't good. Hell haven't you posted before praising Vic Anesini's work? Do you think if he could have gotten the Riv's CD to sound any better he would have? Or does he do less of a job when it's on Norton? I know only if Steve did it it would sound good, well I got news for you man Steve doesn't do every CD released. Wouldn't you rather hear an album as cool as Twist a Rama the way Norton released it or would you not want to hear it at all? I rather hear it as Norton released and who knows maybe someday you'll be lucky enough to score one

[RetroSmith]

Hey, I'm not gonna get into a blaming contest here. Suffice it to say that if youre trying to paint a halo around Norton Records, it will be one very dirty Halo.

[Norton Records]

The link to your website was forwarded to me by someone at another record label. I’d like to address the slanderous misinformation concerning my company Norton Records that appears as an anonymous post by “mikey” on your site. I have responded to each of his acccusations with the FACTS.

"mikey" writes:
>>...Norton was issued a ceast and desist letter by Capitol Records for putting out the ESQERITA Lp without permission or royalties. They issued the Bobby Fuller "King of The wheels" stuff without permission.....Bob Keane told me this himself, because he was going to issue my bands LP on Delfi a few years ago. They also put out the "Garage Unknowns" series of Lps without permission or paying royalties. They issued the Link Wray "Some Kinda Nut" Cds without permission. ( it all belongs to rollercoaster) Plus countless of other small runs. need more? I'll be happy to oblige. On top of this, i'll say it again, they care not one iota about sound quality. You think the Twist O Rama CD is "OK"?? I dont , I use it as a beer coaster. The Rivieras stuff should have been stereo from master tapes, not the hissy, scratchy mono junk they issued. I've heard some of their stuff on comps that used the tapes. >>


My response to the above:

1. Esquerita: Utterly false. We were never issued a cease and desist from Capitol because we never reissued the Capitol material! The Capitol material has never been bootlegged to my knowledge, at least not in the time we’ve been in business. Norton owns Esquerita’s pre-Capitol demos which he financed in 1958, the rights to which we purchased directly from Esquerita. We licensed the two cuts Esq played on by Paul Peek from NRC Records. Richard Weize at Bear Family granted us persmission to add the Little Richard interview on our package. We even tracked down the guy who took the photos in 1958 and paid him! I take this serious allegation personally as Esquerita was a dear friend of mine. We assisted in organizing his final shows and before his passing in 1986, and he and I both urged Capitol to reissue his material in the States. When Esquerita’s posthumous Collector’s Series CD was issued, EMI contacted US and we granted EMI/Capitol use of our interview material and helped them with promotion, getting Esquerita’s story and photos in mags like SPIN, etc. I can happily report that EMI is currently pressing the LP for us with a full advance paid by us.
2. Bobby Fuller: The “King Of The Wheels stuff” has never been bootlegged, either. All reissues of that material on Repertoire, Ace, Line and most recently Munster clearly bear a “licensed from Del-Fi” credit. If you are referring to Bobby’s pre-Del-Fi/Mustang Texas material that Norton has rights to, we have a purchase agreement with the Fuller estate on the masters. We have issued two collections of that material to date. We are also owners of Bobby’s first label (Yucca) and we have publishing contracts with Bug Music who represent Bobby’s songwriting catalog. All these contracts are on file at our attorney’s office and if you care to further verify this please contact Norton Records.
3. Norton has absolutely nothing to do with the Garage Punk Unknowns series. These were legitimate Crypt releases and their logo is clearly displayed on the CD covers! They are cool collections and great listening!
4. Link Wray: SOME KINDA NUT and other CDs in our Missing Links series are NOT owned by Rollercoaster except for three tracks on volume three for which we were granted full permission by Rollercoaster. This is clearly indicated as such in the credits. The material on SOME KINDA NUT (and the other CDs in the series) is owned by Vernon Wray Music with whom we’ve shared a longstanding relationship, assisting them with sub-licenses and placement of their material in commercials. Rollercoaster does own Link’s Swan label material which we properly licensed from them for our MR. GUITAR CD. We have worked closely with John Beecher at Rollercoaster on several projects and have paid timely royalties for years. It’s a great label!

You are welcome to your opinion regarding quality and content but falsely bashing any label, small or large, regarding the legality of its releases is slanderous and you can save valuable time by directing your concerns directly to the label!
Regarding your tirade about our reissue of the legendary 1965 TWIST-A-RAMA album: This record has a weird worldwide cult-like status (akin to the Shaggs) for its uniquely amateurish performances and bizarre sound quality. Copies of the original album sell for over $500 and a mint, unplayed copy sounds horrible too by audiophile standards- it was a cheap styrene pressing mastered at the lowest possible level known to man. All of your complaints are addressed on the Norton reissue package and in fan publications prior to its release. The reissue was fully licensed and a recent TWIST-A-RAMA reunion brought in 3,000 faithful from all parts of the NY’s Mohawk Valley, a locale famed for truly the CRUDEST recordings in the world. We put out a warning on the tray card (that clearly begins with “AUDIOPHILE ALERT”) never imagining in a million years that an audiophile would go anywhere near it.
As for the Rivieras, we spent YEARS getting clear license to these recordings by one of our favorite groups. Their licensors informed us they could provide only the master for CALIFORNIA SUN and that the others were lost forever and all tracks would need to be dubbed from vinyl. It took us several years but we located all but one reel of four songs in the Indiana basement of their former manager where they sat untouched since 1965. All the tapes – the only ones we were privy to – were in mono, in fact all the session receipts were inside the tape box and indicated that the manager had paid for mono mixes. I can’t verify that the later CAMPUS PARTY sessions, of which we only used a few cuts, were mono only, but the manager indicated that their more famous early stuff was. Their first album sessions were done under primitive circumstances and the quality bears this out. If you listen to the unissued stuff cut right after that and gathered on our LET’S STOMP album, the Rivieras recorded under much better conditions and the sound is incredible. I stand by the fine job that Vic Anesini did - and always does - on anything he puts his name on. If Norton didn’t care “one iota about sound”, why would we employ Mr. Anesini, certainly one of the best in his field, in the first place?
Your forum serves a purpose and we have no problem with you discussing the quality of our releases, but when malicious accusations with no factual basis are made anonymously regarding the legality of a label’s releases, one has to wonder.
Billy Miller, Norton Records

[Claviusb]

(or may I call you Billy?) Welcome to the forum! Up until this thread, I was completely unaware of this world of garage music. I really appreciate you taking your time to set the record straight about some of the issues that are close to you. It's been a real learning experience for me, and I'm sure that a lot of others feel the same.

I get the impression that you came here angry that someone was knocking your product, but it's my hope that you'll hang around and continue to share your knowledge about the subject. Let's turn this into a constructive discussion! If there's any forum that can do it, this is the place.

I mean, if George Martin showed up here would we ask him WTF was he thinking with those Beatles CDs? No! We'd ask as many positive questions as we could think of!

This has been a highly interesting thread for me, it's my hope that we can clear up more misconceptions or straighten out stories that have been twisted through the grapevine here and now.

[Michael]

Originally posted by Michael


They sound great! Do you have their addy?
Thanks.

Hello Billy Miller,
I asked this before with no response. I enjoy the music you put out.
Do you have a Website address?
If so can you please post it?
Thanks
Michael:)

[indy mike]

Michael, try www.nortonrecords.com Truly a garage hound's heaven, and if you haven't seen a copy of Kicks (their ultra boss magazine put out when the mood strikes), by all means buy all the back issues you can get. Amazing poop on the Trashmen, Bobby Fuller, The Phantom, Esquerita - funny, crazed writing and unbeliveable pix make Kicks a gotta have...

[speedo]

have you tried www.nortonrecords.com? just a thought

[Michael]

Originally posted by indy mike
Michael, try www.nortonrecords.com Truly a garage hound's heaven, and if you haven't seen a copy of Kicks (their ultra boss magazine put out when the mood strikes), by all means buy all the back issues you can get. Amazing poop on the Trashmen, Bobby Fuller, The Phantom, Esquerita - funny, crazed writing and unbeliveable pix make Kicks a gotta have...

Mike I have tons of that stuff. Can always use a little more.!
Thanks!

[Michael]

Originally posted by speedo
have you tried www.nortonrecords.com? just a thought

Thanks Speedo!

[garage45srule]

I joined up here, kudos to Mr. Miller at Norton, who told me of the current topic.
Once I read thru the thread, which began with a query as to the Teenage Shutdown Series, I joined up in order to set one or two misguided 'know-it-all's' straight. Not that it will work...

Allow me to give you all some background on the Teenage Shutdown series, which feature mid to late 60's garage sounds of various styles...
I worked with Tim on the last two Back From The Grave comps - in 1988, and the final one from 1994 or 5 (a good amount of the 45's used for mastering came from my collection). Tim felt that he couldn't keep up the "snotty punk" standards of the Graves, because those kinds of 45's were not typical of the time period (there exist misguided fans who think every garage band sounded like the Alarm Clocks), and new discoveries were not turning up that would fit the concept.
It wasn't until 1998 that the idea to start a new series of comps came about. Tim and I were tired of seeing those limited edition, poorly mastered comps, which came from cassette tapes that I and a few other pals had made for a few fellow collectors via "trades". With lots of uncompiled 45's still out there in collectordom, the Teenage Shutdown series began, with the basic "rules" being top-notch disc mastering transfers in ANALOG, not digital, researched liners (I do all of the band tracking and contracts), payment of royalties (which Tim was the FIRST to do starting with the very first BFTG...I've seen the contracts and cancelled checks. He couldn't find every band at the time , but he did pay a good chunk of them, that's how he got the band pix and a clean copy of the 45 for a transfer. Anyone who thinks otherwise knows not what he spouts...).
Finally, a pressing on both LP and CD to satisfy followers of vinyl and digital drink coasters alike.

Now, we had hoped the series would be a consistent seller, but the fact is that the cost to put out the 15 currently in print volumes created a huge deficit. The sales on the series are pitiful, to say the least. So much so that there may not be any future volumes. For instance, the front LP cover full color pics cost over a grand to reproduce. Add to that the color label scans, etc...if you're in the print biz you know graphics don't come cheap. The last four volumes (#12-15) have sold minsicule amounts, compared to the halycon days of the 80's. This tells me that people just don't care anymore, and don't have the passion to want to hear stuff. I tell Tim he is crazy and wasting his time with this series, and people don't deserve to get future volumes if nobody wants to buy the in-print volumes.
Those who criticize without any background research (like, ASK said people who run labels like Norton and Crypt, you will get straight answers)
tick me off, and I ask myself why I still bother bustin' my *** trying to help create a nice package for fans of 60's garagebands. Valid criticisms are welcomed; I haven't read any in this thread, unforunately.

The Teenage Shutdowns are a good overview of the era, with something for everyone. Even if you only like one or two songs on a volume, I think it is worth it. Where else are you gonna get to hear the stuff? Are you gonna spend the cash to obtain an original 45? I don't think so.
I'm not flag-waving that TS comps are the best ever, only that the idea behind them was to reissue some of the 45's that had poor sound on earlier compilations, as well as unearth "new" garage 45's that would never be compiled due to rarity, etc. and provide a nice looking package with great sound, not CD recorder transfers, which is the rule of the day for those limited edition comps. I even work freelance for a label that has put out several comps, and all are done via computer transfer. They sound like crap to me. But that's not why I'm hired.

As for the "Master tapes" comments, I've only met a handfull of guys (I've tracked and interviewed almost 600 people involved in garage bands back in the 60's, as well as studio owners and small indy label owners) who possess their master tape for their garage 45. To think that you can unearth the Keggs master tape, or some other teen combo is beyond ridiculous. They are gone - destroyed, erased... Or if I found it, the owner refused to allow a loan for a transfer. For instance, the 45 by the One Way Streets included on Grave #1 "We All Love Peanut Butter" / "Jack The Ripper" exists, but the woman who is the widow of the studio owner wouldn't allow us to use the master, because, "The boys in the band might want the tape if they come for it..." So I asked her for the names of the guys so I could get permission, and she had no recollection, or documentation of the session.
Once she keels over, the tape will likely go in the trash!

I know almost all of the other people who are in the garage comp scene, and no matter what you have been told, I can tell you that the bulk of transfers are done from the cleanest sounding 45's because most tapes are not available, or in poor condition. Bob Irwin borrowed my "A Different Story" Mira label Leaves 45 for mastering because the tape had two drop-outs that were "unfixable". Vic is good, but he can't fix something that isn't there anymore thanks to oxidation.

I'll quit for now, anything else you wanna know, just post and I'll try to answer asap.

Mike Markesich