FOR A VERY LONG TIME about the only way to find vintage '60s Midwest rock was to scare it up at a local garage sale or through the record collectors circles. The relative scarcity of many of these discs -- band 45s were often pressed in quantities of a couple hundred, and sold off the stage at shows -- meant those that survived often commanded prohibitively high prices. If your sole purpose of ownership was to listen to the music -- as opposed to investing in collectable vinyl -- you were pretty much out of luck. And when the songs you heard talked about had surfaced only on one or two acetates -- or existed only on rumored vault tapes and were never issued at all -- well, forget about it. This situation began to change once European and American garage enthusiasts began reissuing these songs on various compilation LPs in the mid-'80s. These comps were usually "mastered" off the best quality vinyl available to the label -- some were "legal," many were not. As we moved into the mid- '90s higher quality reissues -- often with legitimate access to the original master tapes -- became the rule, with detailed, knowledgeable liner notes and quality illustrations becoming more and more common.
The following listing is not meant to be a comprehensive discography of Midwest Sixties bands. That would impinge on the impressive research done by people like Tom Tourville, Gary Myers and Jim Oldsberg, all of whom have published extremely thorough discographies and dissertations on the Upper Midwest rock'n'roll scene. If you're interested in more details about the original singles we suggest you check out their valuable volumes, listed elsewhere here.
What we're presenting here is the only compilation we're aware of dedicated exclusively to the reissues of Midwestern Sixties rockers. For our purposes, we are defining the Midwest to include Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska and North and South Dakota. Listed by the issuing label, along with the year and format, and most importantly the contents of each album, EP or single, we hope to provide fans of this great music all the information they need to find it. In short, we hope to tell you what's out there in compilations and reissues, and where can you find it affordably. We play this music on our weekly Twin Cities show Radio Rumpus Room, and it's a flat-out gas to hear from listeners -- and even the bandmembers themselves -- who love this period as much as we do. Dig now the mighty sounds from the Rockin' Heart of the Beast -- The Midwest vs. The Rest...
All
track listings on this site compiled by Ron Thums and Radio Rumpus Room.
Every effort has been made to attribute other sources throughout when known.
Please refer to our Printed and Online Reference pages for additional information
as these sources often assisted us in our own research for this site. Lastly,
while we strive to be
accurate we are not infallible. Your corrections or additions to these pages
are welcome.
"Bird
Dance Beat" is named in honor of the Trashmen, the band that
epitomizes everything that is great about bashin' '60s Midwest rock'n'roll.
Last updated on August 18, 2007
