Описание
Count Five - US Garage Punkers. 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. (By Mike Dugo)
Band Line Up:
COUNT ONE! John "Sean" Byrne, 19, vocalist, rhythm guitar, composter, sophomore at San Jose City College, a native of Dublin, Ireland.
COUNT TWO! Craig "Butch" Atkinson, 19, drums, sophomore at San Jose State College, originally from Springfield, Missouri.
COUNT THREE! Kenn Ellner, 18, leader, vocalist, tambourine, harmonica, freshmant at Los Altos Foothill College, born in Brooklyn, New York.
COUNT FOUR! Roy Chaney, 18, fender bass, freshman at San Jose City College, home-town Indianapolis, Indiana.
COUNT FIVE! John "Mouse" Michalski, 18, lead guitar, senior at San Jose Pioneer High School, hails from Cleveland, Ohio.
PSYCHOTIC REACTION LP
(Double Shot DSM 1001) released in 1966
side 1: Double-Decker Bus / Pretty Big Mouth / The World / My Generation / She's Fine / Psychotic Reaction
side 2: Peace Of Mind / They're Gonna Get You / The Morning After / Can't Get Your Lovin' / Out In The Street
