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Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of
rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is characterized by basic chord structures played on electric guitars and other instruments, sometimes distorted through a fuzzbox, as well as often unsophisticated and occasionally aggressive lyrics and delivery. Its name derives from the perception that groups were often made up of young amateurs who rehearsed in the family garage, although many were professional. In the US and Canada, surf rock—and later
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
and other beat groups of the
British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...
—motivated thousands of young people to form bands between 1963 and 1968. Hundreds of grass-roots acts produced regional hits, some of which gained national popularity, usually played on
AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmi ...
stations. With the advent of
psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...
, numerous garage bands incorporated exotic elements into the genre's primitive stylistic framework. After 1968, as more sophisticated forms of rock music came to dominate the marketplace, garage rock records largely disappeared from national and regional charts, and the movement faded. Other countries in the 1960s experienced similar rock movements that have sometimes been characterized as variants of garage rock. During the 1960s, garage rock was not recognized as a distinct genre and had no specific name, but critical hindsight in the early 1970s—and especially the 1972
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
'' Nuggets''—did much to define and memorialize the style. Between 1971 and 1973, certain American rock critics began to retroactively identify the music as a genre and for several years used the term "
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
" to describe it, making it the first form of music to bear the description, predating the more familiar use of the term appropriated by the later
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
movement that its musical approach influenced. The term "garage rock" gained favor amongst commentators and devotees during the 1980s. The style has also been referred to as " proto-punk", or, in certain instances, "frat rock". In the early to mid-1980s, several revival scenes emerged featuring acts that consciously attempted to replicate the look and sound of 1960s garage bands. Later in the decade, a louder, more contemporary garage subgenre developed that combined garage rock with modern punk rock and other influences, sometimes using the garage punk label originally and otherwise associated with 1960s garage bands. In the 2000s, a wave of garage-influenced acts associated with the post-punk revival emerged, and some achieved commercial success. Garage rock continues to appeal to musicians and audiences who prefer a "back to basics" or the " DIY (Do-It-Yourself)" musical approach ethic.


Social milieu and stylistic features

The term "garage rock", often used in reference to 1960s acts, stems from the perception that many performers were young amateurs who rehearsed in the family garage. While numerous bands were made up of middle-class teenagers from the suburbs, others were from rural or urban areas or were composed of professional musicians in their twenties. Referring to the 1960s, Mike Markesich commented "teenage rock & roll groups (i.e. combos) proliferated Everywheresville USA". Though it is impossible to determine how many garage bands were active in the era, their numbers were extensive in what Markesich has characterized as a "cyclonic whirlwind of musical activity like none other". According to Mark Nobles, it is estimated that between 1964 and 1968 over 180,000 bands formed in the United States, and several thousand US garage acts made records during the era. Garage bands performed in a variety of venues. Local and regional groups typically played at parties, school dances, and teen clubs. For acts of legal age (and in some cases younger), bars, nightclubs, and college fraternity socials also provided regular engagements. Occasionally, groups had the opportunity to open at shows for famous touring acts. Some garage rock bands went on tour, particularly those better-known, but even more obscure groups sometimes received bookings or airplay beyond their immediate locales. Groups often competed in " battles of the bands", which allowed musicians to gain exposure and a chance to win a prize, such as free equipment or recording time in a local studio. Contests were held, locally, regionally and nationally, and three of the most prestigious national events were held annually by the Tea Council of the US, the Music Circus, and the United States Junior Chamber. Performances often sounded amateurish, naïve, or intentionally raw, with typical themes revolving around the traumas of high school life and songs about "lying girls" being particularly common. The lyrics and delivery were frequently more aggressive than that of the more established acts of the time, often with nasal, growled, or shouted vocals, sometimes punctuated by shrieks or screams at climactic moments of release. Instrumentation was frequently characterized by basic chord structures played on electric guitars or keyboards often distorted through a fuzzbox, teamed with bass and drums. Guitarists sometimes played using aggressive-sounding bar chords or power chords. Portable organs such as the
Farfisa Farfisa () is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a se ...
were used frequently and harmonicas and hand-held percussion such as tambourines were not uncommon. Occasionally, the tempo was sped up in passages sometimes referred to as "raveups". Garage rock acts were diverse in both musical ability and style, ranging from crude and amateurish to near-studio level musicianship. There were also regional variations in flourishing scenes, such as in California and Texas. The north-western states of Idaho, Washington and Oregon had a distinctly recognizable regional sound with bands such as the Sonics and Paul Revere & the Raiders.


Recognition and classification

In the 1960s, garage rock had no name and was not thought of as a genre distinct from other rock and roll of the era. Rock critic and future
Patti Smith Group Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
guitarist Lenny Kaye remarked that the period "dashed by so fast that nobody knew much of what to make of it while it was around". In the early 1970s, Kaye and other US rock critics, such as Dave Marsh, Lester Bangs, and Greg Shaw, began to retroactively draw attention to the music, speaking nostalgically of mid-1960s garage bands (and subsequent artists then perceived to be their stylistic inheritors) for the first time as a genre. "Garage rock" was not the initial name applied to the style. In the early 1970s such critics used the term "
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
" to characterize it, making it the first musical form to bear the description. While the coinage of the term "punk" in relation to rock music is unknown, it was sometimes used then to describe primitive or rudimentary rock musicianship, but more specifically 1960s garage as a style. In the May 1971 issue of '' Creem'', Dave Marsh described a performance by ? and the Mysterians as an "exposition of punk rock". Conjuring up the mid-1960s, Lester Bangs in June 1971 wrote "...then punk bands started cropping up who were writing their own songs but taking the Yardbirds' sound and reducing it to this kind of goony fuzztone clatter ... oh, it was beautiful, it was pure folklore, Old America, and sometimes I think those were the best days ever". Much of the revival of interest in 1960s garage rock can be traced to the release of the 1972 album '' Nuggets'' compiled by Lenny Kaye. In the liner notes, Kaye used "punk rock" as a collective term for 1960s garage bands and also "garage-punk" to describe a song recorded in 1966 by the Shadows of Knight. In the January 1973 ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' review of ''Nuggets'', Greg Shaw commented: "Punk rock is a fascinating genre ... Punk rock at its best is the closest we came in the 1960s to the original rockabilly spirit of rock & roll." In addition to ''Rolling Stone'' and ''Creem'', writings about the genre appeared in various independent "fanzine" publications during the period. In May 1973, Billy Altman launched the short-lived ''punk magazine'', which pre-dated the more familiar 1975 publication of the same name, but, unlike the later magazine, was largely devoted to discussion of 1960s garage and psychedelic acts. Greg Shaw's seasonal publication, '' Who Put the Bomp!'', was influential amongst enthusiasts and collectors of the genre in the early 1970s. Though the phrase "punk rock" was the favored generic term in the early 1970s, "garage band" was also mentioned in reference to groups. In ''Rolling Stone'' in March 1971, John Mendelsohn made an oblique reference to "every last punk teenage garage band having its Own Original Approach". The term "punk rock" was later appropriated by the more commonly-known
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
movement that emerged in the mid-1970s and is now most commonly applied to groups associated with that movement or who followed in its wake. For the 1960s style, the term "garage rock" came into favor in the 1980s. According to Mike Markesich: "Initially launched into the underground vernacular at the start of the '80s, the garage tag ... slowly sifted its way amid like-minded fans to finally be recognized as a worthy descriptive replacement". The term "garage punk" has also persisted, and style has been referred to as 60s punk" and " proto-punk". "Frat rock" has been used to refer to the R&B- and surf rock- derived garage sounds of certain acts, such as the Kingsmen and others.


1958–1964: Origins


Regional rock & roll, instrumental, and surf

In the late 1950s, the initial impact of
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
on mainstream American culture waned as major record companies took a controlling influence and sought to market more conventionally acceptable recordings. Electric musical instruments (particularly guitars) and amplification were becoming more affordable, allowing young musicians to form small groups to perform in front of local audiences of their peers; and in some areas there was a breakdown, especially among radio audiences, of traditional black and white markets, with more white teenagers listening to and purchasing R&B records. Numerous young people were inspired by musicians such as
Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
,
Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...
,
Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...
,
Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...
, Buddy Holly, and Eddie Cochran, whose recordings of relatively unsophisticated and hard-driving songs from a few years earlier proclaimed personal independence and freedom from parental controls and conservative norms. Ritchie Valens' 1958 hit " La Bamba" helped jump-start the Chicano rock scene in Southern California and provided a three-chord template for the songs of numerous 1960s garage bands. By the end of the 1950s regional scenes were abundant around the country and helped set the stage for garage rock the 1960s. Guitarist
Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. His 1958 Instrumental rock, instrumental single "Rumble (instrumental), Rumble", reached the ...
has been cited as an early influence on garage rock and is known for his innovative use of guitar techniques and effects such as power chords and distortion. He is best known for his 1958 instrumental " Rumble", which featured the sound of distorted, "clanging" guitar chords, which anticipated much of what was to come. The combined influences of early-1960s instrumental rock and surf rock also played significant roles in shaping the sound of garage rock. According to Lester Bangs, "the origins of garage rock as a genre can be traced to California and the Pacific Northwest in the early Sixties". The
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
, which encompasses Washington,
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
, and
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
, played a critical role in the inception of garage rock, hosting the first scene to produce a sizable number of acts, and pre-dated the
British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...
by several years. The signature garage sound that eventually emerged in the Pacific Northwest is sometimes referred to as "the Northwest Sound" and had its origins in the late 1950s, when a handful of R&B and rock & roll acts sprang up in various cities and towns in an area stretching from Puget Sound to Seattle and Tacoma, and beyond. There and elsewhere, groups of teenagers were inspired directly by touring R&B performers such as Johnny Otis and Richard Berry, and began to play
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of R&B songs. During the late 1950s and early 1960s other instrumental groups playing in the region, such as
the Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...
, formed in 1958 in
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...
, who came to specialize in a surf rock sound, and the Frantics from Seattle. The Blue Notes from Tacoma, Washington, fronted by "Rockin' Robin" Roberts, were one of the city's first teenage rock & roll bands. The Wailers (often referred to as the Fabulous Wailers) had a national chart hit in 1959, the instrumental "Tall Cool One". After the demise of the Blue Notes, "Rockin' Robin" did a brief stint with the Wailers, and with him on vocals in 1962, they recorded a version of Richard Berry's 1957 song " Louie Louie"—their arrangement became the much-replicated blueprint for practically every band in the region, including Portland's the Kingsmen who went on to achieve a major hit with it the following year. Other regional scenes of teenage bands playing R&B-oriented rock were well-established in the early 1960s, several years before the
British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...
, in places such as
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
and the
Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
. At the same time, in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
surf bands formed, playing raucous guitar- and saxophone-driven instrumentals. Writer Neil Campbell commented: "There were literally thousands of rough-and-ready groups performing in local bars and dance halls throughout the US ''prior'' to the arrival of the Beatles ... e indigenous popular music which functioned in this way ... was the proto-punk more commonly identified as ''garage rock''".


Frat rock and initial commercial success

As a result of cross-pollination between surf rock, hot rod music, and other influences, a new style of rock sometimes referred to as ''frat rock'' emerged, which has been mentioned as an early subgenre of garage rock. The Kingsmen's 1963 off-the-cuff version of "Louie Louie" became the de facto "big bang" for three-chord rock, starting as a regional hit in Seattle, then rising to No. 1 on the national charts and eventually becoming a major success overseas. The group unwittingly became the target of an
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
investigation in response to complaints about the song's alleged use of profanity in its nearly indecipherable lyrics. Though often associated with Pacific Northwest acts such as the Kingsmen, frat rock also thrived elsewhere. In 1963, singles by several regional bands from other parts of the United States began appearing on the national charts, including " Surfin' Bird" by the Trashmen from Minneapolis, which essentially fused together parts from two songs previously recorded by the Rivingtons, " The Bird is the Word" and " Papa Oom Mow Mow". " California Sun" by the Rivieras, from South Bend, Indiana followed, becoming a hit in early 1964. Frat rock persisted into the mid-1960s with acts such as the Swingin' Medallions, who had a top twenty hit with " Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" in 1966.


1964–1968: Peak years


Impact of the Beatles and the British Invasion

During the mid-1960s, garage rock entered its most active period, prompted by the influence of
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
and the British Invasion. On February 9, 1964, during their first visit to the United States, the Beatles made an historic appearance on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...
'' watched by a record-breaking viewing audience of a nation mourning the recent death of President John F. Kennedy. For many, particularly the young, the Beatles' visit re-ignited the sense of excitement and possibility that had momentarily faded in the wake of the assassination. Much of this new excitement was expressed in rock music, often to the chagrin of parents and elders. In the wake of the Beatles' first visit, a subsequent string of successful British beat groups and acts achieved success in America between 1964 and 1966, often referred to in the US as "the British Invasion". Such acts had a profound impact, leading many (often surf or hot rod groups) to respond by altering their style, and countless new bands to form, as teenagers around the country picked up guitars and started bands by the thousands. In many cases, garage bands were particularly influenced by the increasingly bold sound of a second wave of British groups with a harder, blues-based attack, such as the Kinks,
the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
, the Animals, the Yardbirds,
Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...
, Pretty Things, Them, and the Rolling Stones often resulting in a raw and primitive sound. Numerous acts sometimes characterized as garage rock formed in countries outside North America, such as England's the Troggs. Their 1966 worldwide hit " Wild Thing" became a staple in countless American garage bands' repertoires. By 1965, the influence of the British Invasion prompted folk musicians such as
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
and members of
the Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...
to adopt the use of electric guitars and amplifiers, resulting in what became termed
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
. The resulting success of Dylan, the Byrds, and other folk rock acts influenced the sound and approach of numerous garage bands.


Height of success and airplay

In the wake of the British Invasion, garage rock experienced a boom in popularity. With thousands of garage bands active in the US and Canada, hundreds produced regional hits during the period, often receiving airplay on local
AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmi ...
stations. Several acts gained wider exposure just long enough to have one or occasionally more national hits in an era rife with " one-hit wonders". In 1965, the Beau Brummels broke into the national charts with " Laugh, Laugh", followed by " Just a Little". According to Richie Unterberger, they were perhaps the first American group to pose a successful response to the British Invasion. That year, Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs' "
Wooly Bully "Wooly Bully" is a song originally recorded by rock and roll band Sam the Sham, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1964. Based on a standard 12-bar blues progression, it was written by the band's frontman, Domingo "Sam" Samudio. It was released as ...
" went to No. 2, and they followed it up a year later with another No. 2 hit, "Little Red Riding Hood". Also in 1965, the Castaways almost reached '' Billboard'' top ten with " Liar, Liar", which was later included on the 1972 ''Nuggets'' compilation. Featuring a lead vocal by Rick Derringer, " Hang On Sloopy" became a No. 1 hit for Indiana's the McCoys, topping the ''Billboard'' charts in October 1965. They were immediately signed to Bang Records and followed up with another hit in 1966, a cover of "
Fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...
", originally recorded by Little Willie John. It is generally agreed that the garage rock boom peaked around 1966. That April, the Outsiders from
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
hit No. 5 with " Time Won't Let Me", which was later covered by acts such as
Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...
. In July, the Standells from Los Angeles almost made it into the US top ten with " Dirty Water", a song now often associated with Boston. " Psychotic Reaction" by the Count Five went to No. 5 on ''Billboard''s Hot 100 and was later memorialized by Lester Bangs in his 1971 piece "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung". " 96 Tears" (1966) by Question Mark and the Mysterians, from Saginaw, Michigan, became a No. 1 hit in the US. The song's organ riffs and theme of teenage heartbreak have been mentioned as a landmark recording of the garage rock era and recognized for influencing the works of acts as diverse as the B-52's, the Cramps, and
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
. Two months later, the Music Machine reached the top 20 with fuzz guitar-driven " Talk Talk", whose sound and image that helped pave the way for later acts such as the Ramones. The Syndicate of Sound's " Little Girl", which featured a cocksure half-spoken lead vocal set over chiming 12-string guitar chords, reached No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' charts and was later covered by acts such as the Dead Boys, the Banned, and the Chesterfield Kings. In 1965, a Pittsburgh disc jockey discovered " Hanky Panky", a 1964 song by a since-defunct group, the Shondells; the song's belated success revived the career of
Tommy James Tommy James (born Thomas Gregory Jackson; April 29, 1947) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. James is the frontman of the rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, which is known for hit singles such as "Mony Mony", ...
, who assembled a new group under the name Tommy James and the Shondells and produced 12 more top-40 singles. In 1967, Strawberry Alarm Clock emerged from the garage outfit Thee Sixpence and had a No. 1 hit in 1967 with psychedelic " Incense and Peppermints".


Female garage bands

Garage rock was not an exclusively male phenomenon—it fostered the emergence of all-female bands whose members played their own instruments. One of the first of such acts was New York's Goldie and the Gingerbreads, who appeared at New York's Peppermint Lounge in 1964 and accompanied the Rolling Stones on their American tour the following year. They had a hit in England with a version of " Can't You Hear My Heartbeat". The Continental Co-ets from Fulda, Minnesota, were active from 1963 to 1967 and had a hit in Canada with "I Don't Love You No More". The Pleasure Seekers (later known as Cradle), from Detroit, featured Suzi Quatro and her sisters. Quatro went on to greater fame as a musical solo act and television actress in the 1970s. The Luv'd Ones, also from Michigan, signed with Chicago's Dunwich Records and cut records with a sometimes somber sound, such as "Up Down Sue". San Francisco's the Ace of Cups became a fixture in the Bay Area scene in the late 1960s. Other notable 1960s female groups were the Daughters of Eve from Chicago and She (previously known as the Hairem) from Sacramento, California. All-female bands were not exclusive to North America. The Liverbirds were a beat group from the Beatles' home city of Liverpool, England, but became best known in Germany, often performing in Hamburg's
Star-Club The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...
. All-female groups of the 1960s anticipated later acts associated with the 1970s punk movement, such as the Runaways and the Slits.


Regional scenes in the United States and Canada


Pacific Northwest

In 1964 and 1965, the impact of the Beatles and the British Invasion shifted the musical landscape, presenting not only a challenge, but also a new impetus, as previously established acts in the Pacific Northwest adapted to the new climate, often reaching greater levels of commercial and artistic success, while scores of new bands formed. After relocating to Portland, Paul Revere & the Raiders in 1963 became the first rock-and-roll act to be signed to
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
, but did not achieve their commercial breakthrough until 1965 with the song "Steppin Out", which was followed by string of chart-topping hits such as " Just Like Me" (originally recorded by the Wilde Knights) and " Kicks". The Sonics from Tacoma had a raunchy, hard-driving sound that influenced later acts such as Nirvana and the White Stripes. According to Peter Blecha, they "were the unholy practitioners of punk rock long before anyone knew what to call it". Founded in 1960, they eventually enlisted the services of vocalist Gerry Rosalie and saxophonist Rob Lind and proceeded to cut their first single, " The Witch" in 1964. The song was re-issued again in 1965, this time with the even more intense "Psycho" on the flip side. They released several albums and are also known for other "high-octane" rockers such as "Cinderella" and "He's Waitin. Prompted by the Sonics, the Wailers entered the mid-1960s with a harder-edged sound in the fuzz-driven "Hang Up" and "Out of Our Tree".


New England and Mid-Atlantic

The Barbarians from Cape Cod, wearing sandals and long hair and cultivating an image of "noble savages", recorded an album and several singles, such as " Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl". In 1964, the group appeared on the '' T.A.M.I. Show'' on same bill as the Rolling Stones and
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
. In the film of the show, their drummer, Victor "Moulty" Moulton, is seen holding one of his drumsticks with a prosthetic clamp while playing—the result of a previous accident in which he lost his left hand. In 1966, Moulton recorded " Moulty", a spoken monologue set to music, in which he recounted the travails of his disfigurement, released under the Barbarians' name, but backed by future members of the Band. Boston's the Remains (sometimes called Barry & the Remains), led by Barry Tashian, became one of the region's most popular bands and, in addition to issuing five singles and a self-titled album, toured with the Beatles in 1966. Also from Boston, the Rockin' Ramrods released the distortion-driven "She Lied" in 1964, which Rob Fitzpatrick called "a truly spectacular piece of proto-punk, the sort of perfect blend of melody and aggression that the Ramones would go on to transform the planet with a dozen or more years later". The Squires from Bristol, Connecticut, issued a song now regarded as a garage rock classic, "Going All the Way". Garage rock flourished up and down the Atlantic coast, with acts such as the Vagrants, from Long Island, and Richard and the Young Lions from Newark, New Jersey, and the Blues Magoos from the Bronx, who got their start in New York's Greenwich Village scene and had a hit in 1966 with " (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet", which appeared on their debut album, '' Psychedelic Lollipop'', along with a lengthy rendition of the Nashville Teens' " Tobacco Road".


California

The garage craze came into full swing in California, particularly in Los Angeles. The Sunset Strip was the center of L.A. nightlife, providing bands with high-profile venues to attract a larger following and possibly capture the attention of record labels looking to sign a new act. Exploitation films such as '' Riot on Sunset Strip'', '' Mondo Hollywood'', captured the musical and social milieu of life on the strip. In ''Riot on Sunset Strip'', several bands make appearances at the Pandora's Box, including the Standells who are seen during the opening credits performing the theme song, as well as San Jose's
the Chocolate Watchband The Chocolate Watchband is an American garage rock band that formed in 1965 in Los Altos, California. The band went through several lineup changes during its existence. Combining psychedelic and garage rock components, their sound was marked by ...
. The Seeds and the Leaves were favorites with the "in-crowd" and managed to achieve national hits with songs that have come to be regarded as garage classics: the Seeds with " Pushin' Too Hard" and the Leaves with their version of " Hey Joe", which became a staple in countless bands' repertoires. Love, a racially integrated band headed by African-American musician Arthur Lee, was one of the most popular bands in the scene. Their propulsive 1966 proto-punk anthem " 7 and 7 Is" was another song often covered by other groups. The Music Machine, led by Sean Bonniwell, employed innovative musical techniques, sometimes building their own custom-made fuzzboxes. Their first album '' (Turn On) The Music Machine'' featured the hit "Talk Talk". The Electric Prunes were one of the more successful garage bands to incorporate psychedelic influences into their sound, such as in the hit " I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)", whose opening featured a buzzing fuzz-toned guitar, and which appeared on their self titled debut LP. Garage rock was also present in the Latino community of East L.A. The Premiers, who had a hit in 1964 with " Farmer John", and Thee Midniters are considered prominent figures in Chicano rock, as are the
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
–based, Cannibal & the Headhunters, who had a hit with Chris Kenner's " Land of a Thousand Dances". San Jose and the South Bay area had a bustling scene featuring the Chocolate Watchband, the Count Five, and the Syndicate of Sound.
The Chocolate Watchband The Chocolate Watchband is an American garage rock band that formed in 1965 in Los Altos, California. The band went through several lineup changes during its existence. Combining psychedelic and garage rock components, their sound was marked by ...
released several singles in 1967, including "Are You Gonna Be There (at the Love In)", which was also featured on their debut album '' No Way Out''. The album's opening cut was a rendition of "Let's Talk About Girls", previously recorded by the Tongues of Truth (aka the Grodes).


Midwest

Chicago, known for electric blues, continued to have a strong recording industry in the 1960s and was also a hotbed of activity for garage rock. Chicago blues as well as the Rolling Stones, the Pretty Things, and the Yardbirds influenced the Shadows of Knight, who recorded for Dunwich Records and were known for a tough, hard-driving sound. In 1966 they had hits with versions of Them's
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...
-penned " Gloria" and Bo Diddley's "Oh Yeah", and also released the aggressive "I'm Gonna Make You Mine", which Mike Stax remarked "was recorded live in the studio with the amps cranked beyond distortion, this is 60s punk at its sexually charged, aggressive best." Also recording for Dunwich were the Del-Vetts and the Banshees, who released the cathartic "Project Blue". Other notable Chicago acts were the Little Boy Blues and the New Colony Six. Michigan had one of the largest scenes in the country. In early 1966, Detroit's MC5 released a version of "I Can Only Give You Everything" before they went on to greater success at the end of the decade. The Unrelated Segments recorded a string of songs beginning with local hit "The Story Of My Life", followed by "Where You Gonna Go". In 1966, the Litter from Minneapolis released the guitar-overdriven " Action Woman", a song which Michael Hann described as "one of garage's gnarliest, snarliest, most tight-trousered pieces of hormonal aggression".


Other US Regions

In Texas, the 13th Floor Elevators from Austin, featured Roky Erickson on guitar and vocals and are considered one of the prominent bands of the era. They had a regional hit with " You're Gonna Miss Me" and a string of albums, but the band was hampered by drug busts and related legal problems that hastened their demise. Richie Unterberger singled out The Zakary Thaks, from Corpus Christi, for their songwriting skills, and they are best known for the frantic and sped-up "Bad Girl". The Moving Sidewalks, from Houston, featured Billy Gibbons on guitar, later of
ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...
. The Gentlemen from Dallas cut the fuzz-driven " It's a Cry'n Shame", which in Mike Markesich's ''Teenbeat Mayhem'' is ranked as one of the top two garage rock songs of all time, second only to "You're Gonna Miss Me", by the 13th Floor Elevators. The Outcasts from San Antonio cut two highly regarded songs, "I'm in Pittsburgh and It's Raining", which became a local hit, and "1523 Blair", that Jason Ankeny described as "Texas psychedelia at its finest". The
Five Americans The Five Americans was a 1960s United States, American rock music, rock musical ensemble, band, best known for their song "Western Union (song), Western Union", which reached number five in the United States, U.S. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboar ...
were from Durant, Oklahoma, and released a string of singles, such as " Western Union", which became a top 10 US hit in 1967. From Phoenix, Arizona, the Spiders featured Vincent Furnier, later known as Alice Cooper, and eventually adopted that name as the group's moniker. As the Spiders they recorded two singles, most notably "Don't Blow Your Mind", which became a local hit in Phoenix in 1966. The group ventured to Los Angeles in 1967 in hopes of achieving greater success, however they found it not there, but while in Detroit several years later, re-christened as Alice Cooper. From Florida, Orlando's We the People came about as the result of the merger of two previous bands and featured songwriters Tommy Talton and Wane Proctor. They recorded a string of self-composed songs, such as primitive rockers, "You Burn Me Upside Down" and "Mirror of my Mind", as well as the esoteric "In the Past", later covered by the Chocolate Watchband.
Evil Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...
from Miami, had a hard, sometimes thrashing sound and a reputation for musical mayhem, typified in songs such as "From a Curbstone" and "I'm Movin' On".


Canada, islands, and territories

Like the United States, Canada experienced a large and vigorous garage rock movement. Vancouver's the Northwest Company, who recorded "Hard to Cry", had a power chord-driven approach. The Painted Ship were known for primal songs such as the angst-ridden "Frustration" and "Little White Lies", which Stansted Montfichet called a "punk classic". Chad Allan and the Reflections from
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
, Manitoba, began in 1962 and had a hit in the mid-1960s, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates' " Shakin' All Over", then went on to greater success in the late 1960s and early 1970s as the Guess Who. In 1966, the Ugly Ducklings from
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
had a hit with "Nothin and toured with the Rolling Stones. The Haunted from Montreal specialized in a gritty blues-based sound influenced by the Rolling Stones and released the single "1–2–5". Two other bands from Toronto were the Paupers and the Mynah Birds. The Paupers released several singles and two albums. The Mynah Birds featured the combination of
Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...
on lead vocals and
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...
on guitar, who both went on to fame as solo acts, as well as Bruce Palmer who later accompanied Young to California to join Buffalo Springfield in 1966. They signed a contract with Motown Records and recorded several songs including "It's My Time". Outside of the mainland, garage rock became a fixture in the islands and territories adjacent to the continent. The Savages from Bermuda recorded the album '' Live 'n Wild'', which features " The World Ain't Round It's Square", an angry song of youthful defiance.


Variants in regions outside of the US and Canada

The garage phenomenon, though most often associated with North America, was not exclusive to it. As part of the international beat trend of the 1960s, other countries developed grass-roots rock movements that closely mirrored what was happening in North America, which have sometimes been characterized as variants of garage rock or as closely related forms.


United Kingdom

Although Britain did not develop a distinct garage rock genre in the same way as the United States, many British beat groups shared important characteristics with the American bands who often attempted to emulate them, and the music of certain UK acts has been mentioned in particular relation to garage. Beat music emerged in Britain in the early 1960s, as musicians who originally came together to play rock and roll or
skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...
assimilated American rhythm and blues influences. The genre provided the model for the format of many later rock groups. The
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
area had a particularly high concentration of acts and venues, and the Beatles emerged from this thriving music scene. In London and elsewhere, certain groups developed a harder-driving, distinctively British blues style. Nationally popular blues- and R&B- influenced beat groups included the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds from London, the Animals from Newcastle, and Them, from
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, Northern Ireland, featuring
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...
. Coinciding with the "British Invasion" of the US, a musical cross-fertilization developed between the two continents. In their 1964 transatlantic hits " You Really Got Me" and " All Day and All of the Night", the Kinks took the influence of the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" and applied greater volume and distortion, which in turn, influenced the approach of many American garage bands. With Van Morrison, Them recorded two songs widely covered by American garage bands: " Gloria", which became a big hit for Chicago's the Shadows of Knight, and "I Can Only Give You Everything". Keith Richards's use of fuzz distortion in the Rolling Stones' 1965 hit, " (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" affected the sound of countless American garage bands. Also influential were the Pretty Things and the Downliners Sect, both of whom were known for a particularly raw approach to blues-influenced rock that has sometimes been compared to garage. By 1965, bands such as
the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
and the Small Faces tailored their appeal to the mod subculture centered in London. Some of the harder-driving and more obscure bands associated with the mod scene in the UK are sometimes referred to as Freakbeat, which is sometimes viewed as a more stylish British equivalent of garage rock. Several bands often mentioned as Freakbeat are the Creation, the Action,
the Move The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...
, the Smoke, the Sorrows, and Wimple Winch. Some commentators have branded the Troggs as garage rock. Extolling the virtues of their seemingly unrepentant primitivism and sexually charged innuendo, in 1971 Lester Bangs memorialized the Troggs as a quintessential "punk" .e. garageband of the 1960s. They had a worldwide hit in 1966 with " Wild Thing", written by American Chip Taylor. The Equals, a racially integrated band from North London whose membership included guitarist
Eddy Grant Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese in the United Kingdom, Guyanese-British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound and socially conscious lyrics; his music has blended elements of p ...
, later a popular solo artist, specialized in an upbeat style of rock—their 1966 recording " Baby Come Back" was a hit in Europe before becoming a British number one in 1968.


Continental Europe

The beat boom swept through continental Europe, resulting in the emergence of national movements sometimes cited as European variants of garage rock. The Netherlands had one of the largest scenes, sometimes retroactively described as
Nederbeat Nederbeat (also: Nederbiet) is a genre of rock music that began with the Netherlands, Dutch rock boom in the mid-1960s influenced by British Beat music, beat groups and rock bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Much like British frea ...
. Website database includes over 1,400 mid-1960s bands from the Netherlands From Amsterdam, the Outsiders, who Richie Unterberger singled out as one of the most important 1960s rock acts from a non-English speaking country, featured Wally Tax on lead vocals and specialized in an eclectic R&B and folk-influenced style. Q65 from the Hague had a diverse but primitive sound, particularly on their early records. Also from the Hague, the Golden Earrings, who later gained international fame in the 1970s and 1980s as
Golden Earring Golden Earring were a Dutch rock music, rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Tornados. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ...
, had a top ten hit in the Netherlands in 1965 with "Please Go", followed by "That Day", which went to number two on the Dutch charts. Having nurtured the Beatles' early development in Hamburg, Germany was well-positioned to play a key role as beat music overtook the continent. Bands from Britain and around Europe traveled there to gain exposure, playing in clubs and appearing on popular German television shows such as '' Beat Club'' and ''Beat! Beat! Beat!'' The Lords, founded in Düsseldorf in 1959, pre-dated the British Invasion by several years, and adapted their sound and look to reflect the influence of the British groups, even singing in English, but providing a comic twist. The Rattles from Hamburg also had a lengthy history, but were more serious in their approach. There were numerous bands active in Spain, such as Los Bravos, who had a worldwide hit with " Black Is Black", as well as los Cheyenes and others.


Latin America

Latin America got swept up in the worldwide beat trend and developed several of its own national scenes. Mexico experienced its own equivalent to North American garage. The nation's proximity to the United States was detectable in the raw sounds produced by a number of groups while the country simultaneously embraced the British Invasion. One of Mexico's most popular acts were Los Dug Dug's, who recorded several albums and stayed active well into the 1970s. The beat boom flourished in
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
during the mid-1960s in a period sometimes referred to as the Uruguayan Invasion. Two of the best-known acts were Los Shakers and Los Mockers. In
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
,
Los Saicos Los Saicos is a rock music, rock band formed in 1964 in Lima, Peru. Their use of fast tempos, screaming (music), screamed vocals and aggressive riffing has led some publication to retrospectively credit them as pioneering punk rock. In a short a ...
were one of the first bands to gain national prominence. Their 1965 song "¡Demolición!" with its humorously anarchistic lyrics was a huge hit in Peru. About them Phil Freeman noted "These guys were a punk rock band, even if nobody outside Lima knew it at the time". Los Yorks became one of Peru's leading groups.
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
hosted bands such
Los Speakers Los Speakers (the Speakers) from Bogotá, Colombia, were a beat and garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United St ...
and Los Flippers from
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, Los Yetis from
Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...
. Los Gatos Salvajes, who came from
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...
, Argentina, were one of the country's first beat groups, and two of their members went on to form Los Gatos, a popular act in Argentina during the late 1960s.


Asia

The Far East was not immune to the beat craze, and Japan was no exception; this was particularly true after the Beatles' 1966 visit, when they played five shows at Tokyo's Budokan arena. The popular 1960s beat/garage movement in Japan is often referred to as Group Sounds (or ''GS''). The Spiders were one of the better-known groups. Other notable bands were the Golden Cups and the Tigers. Despite famine, economic hardship, and political instability, India experienced its own proliferation of garage bands in the 1960s, persisting into the early 1970s with the 1960s musical style still intact even after it fallen out of favor elsewhere. Mumbai, with its hotels, clubs, and nightlife, had a bustling music scene. The Jets, who were active from 1964 to 1966, were perhaps the first beat group to become popular there. Also popular in Mumbai were the Trojans, featuring Biddu, originally from
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, who later moved to London and become a solo act. Every year the annual Simla Beat Contest was held in Bombay by the Imperial Tobacco Company. Groups from all over India, such as the Fentones and Velvet Fogg, competed in the event.


Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand experienced a garage/beat explosion in the mid-1960s. Before the British Invasion hit, the region enjoyed a sizable surf rock scene, with popular bands such as the Atlantics, who had several instrumental hits, as well as the Aztecs and the Sunsets. In late 1963 and early 1964 British Invasion influence began to permeate the music scenes there. In June 1964 the Beatles visited Australia as part of their world tour and were greeted by a crowd of an estimated 300,000 in Adelaide. In response, many prior Australian surf bands adapted by adding vocals over guitars, and a host of new bands formed. The first wave of British-inspired bands tended towards the pop-oriented sound of the Merseybeat. With rise in popularity of bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Animals, a second wave of Australian bands emerged that favored a harder, blues-influenced approach. Sydney was the host to numerous acts. The Atlantics switched to a vocal rock format and brought in veteran singer Johnny Rebb, formerly with Johnny Rebb and His Rebels. "Come On" was their best-known song from this period. The Easybeats, featuring vocalist Stevie Wright and guitarist George Young, the older brother of Angus and
Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the hard rock band AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was a member of AC ...
of the later hard rock group
AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
, became the most popular group in Australia during the mid-1960s. One of Sydney's most notorious acts was the Missing Links, who throughout 1965 went through a complete and total lineup change between the release their first single in March and on the subsequent releases later that year, such as the primitivist anthems "Wild About You", as well as their self-titled LP. In 1966, the Throb had a hit in Australia with their version of " Fortune Teller", and later that year released "Black", a brooding version of a traditional folk ballad noted for its expressionistic use of guitar feedback. The Black Diamonds' "I Want, Need, Love You" featured an intense and hard-driving guitar sound that Ian D. Marks described as "speaker cone-shredding". From Brisbane came the Pleazers and the Purple Hearts, and from Melbourne the Pink Finks, the Loved Ones, Steve and the Board, and the Moods. Like Sydney's the Missing Links, the Creatures were another notorious group of the period, who Iain McIntyre remarked "Thanks to their brightly coloured hair and bad-ass attitude, the Creatures left in their wake a legacy of multiple arrests, bloodied noses and legendary rave ups". The Masters Apprentices' early sound was largely R&B-influenced garage and psychedelic. From New Zealand, the Bluestars cut the defiant "Social End Product", aimed at social oppression much in the manner of 1970s punk rock acts. Chants R&B were known for a raw R&B-influenced sound. The La De Da's recorded a version of the Changin' Times' "How is the Air Up There?", which went to No. 4 on the nation's charts.


Integration with psychedelia and counterculture


Historical and cultural associations

Increasingly throughout 1966, partly due to the growing influence of drugs such as
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
and LSD, numerous bands began to expand their sound, sometimes employing eastern scales and various sonic effects to achieve exotic and hypnotic soundscapes in their music. The development was nonetheless the result of a longer musical evolution growing out of folk rock and other forms, and prefigured even in certain surf rock recordings. As the decade progressed, psychedelic influences became pervasive in much garage rock. By the mid-1960s, numerous garage bands began to employ tone-altering devices such as fuzzboxes on guitars often for the purpose of enhancing the music's sonic palate, adding an aggressive edge with loudly amplified instruments to create a barrage of "clanging" sounds, in many cases expressing anger, defiance, and sexual frustration. The genre came into its peak of popularity at a time when a collective sense of discontent and alienation crept into the psyche of the youth in the United States and elsewhere—even in the largely conservative suburban communities which produced so many garage bands. Garage bands, though generally apolitical, nonetheless reflected the attitudes and tenor of the times. Nightly news reports had a cumulative effect on the mass consciousness, including musicians. Detectable in much of the music from this era is a disparate array of raw sounds and emotions, coinciding with surrounding events, such as the assassinations of major political figures and the ongoing escalation of troops sent to
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, yet certain commentators have also noted an apparent bygone innocence as part of the style's appeal to later generations. In 1965, the influence of artists such as
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, who moved beyond political protest by experimenting with abstract and surreal lyrical imagery and switched to electric guitar, became increasingly pervasive across the musical landscape, affecting a number of genres, including garage rock. The members of garage bands, like so many musicians of the 1960s, were part of a generation that was largely born into the paradigm and customs of an older time, but grew up confronting a new set of issues facing a more advanced and technological age. Postwar prosperity brought the advantages of better education, as well as more spare time for recreation, which along with the new technology, made it possible for an increasing number of young people to play music. With the advent of television,
nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...
,
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
, the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, and
space exploration Space exploration is the process of utilizing astronomy and space technology to investigate outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted bo ...
, the new generation was more global in its mindset and began to conceive of a higher order of human relations, attempting to reach for a set of transcendent ideals, often expressed through rock music. Though set to a backdrop of tragic events that proved increasingly disillusioning, various forms of personal and musical experimentation held promise, at least for a time, in the minds of many. While opening boundaries and testing the frontiers of what the new world had to offer, 1960s youth ultimately had to accept the limitations of the new reality, yet often did so while experiencing the ecstasy of a moment when the realm of the infinite seemed possible and within reach.


Garage-based psychedelic rock

Tapping into the psychedelic zeitgeist, musicians sonically pushed barriers and explored new horizons. Garage acts, while generally lacking the budgetary means to produce musical extravaganzas on the scale of the Beatles' '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' or the instrumental virtuosity of acts such as
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
or Cream, nonetheless managed to infuse esoteric elements into basic primitive rock. The 13th Floor Elevators from Austin, Texas, are usually thought to be first band to use the term "psychedelic"—in their promotional literature in early 1966. They also used it in the title of their debut album released in November, '' The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators''. In August 1966, the Deep traveled from New York to Philadelphia to record a set of hallucinogenic songs for the album '' Psychedelic Moods: A Mind-Expanding Phenomena'', released in October 1966, one month before the 13th Floor Elevators' debut album, and whose all-night sessions produced mind-expanding
stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...
ramblings. Other notable bands that incorporated psychedelia into garage rock were the Electric Prunes, the Music Machine, the Blues Magoos, and the Chocolate Watchband. Garage rock helped lay the groundwork for the
acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...
of the late 1960s.


Primitivist avant-garde acts

Certain acts conveyed a world view markedly removed from the implicit innocence of much psychedelia and suburban garage, often infusing their work with subversive political or philosophical messages, dabbling in
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
musical forms and concepts considered at the time to be decidedly out of the mainstream. Such artists shared certain characteristics with the garage bands in their use of primitivistic instrumentation and arrangements, while displaying psychedelic rock's affinity for exploration—creating more urbanized, intellectual, and avant garde forms of primitivist rock, sometimes characterized as variants of garage rock. New York City was the home to several such groups. The Fugs, who formed in 1963, were one of rock's first experimental bands and its core members were singer, poet, and social activist Ed Sanders, along with Tuli Kupferberg and Ken Weaver. They specialized in a satirical mixture of amateurish garage rock, jug, folk, and psychedelic laced with leftist political commentary. In a 1970 interview, Ed Sanders became the first known musician to describe his music as "punk rock".
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...
, whose roster included
Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...
, are now generally considered the foremost experimental rock group of the period. At the time of recording their first album, they were involved with Andy Warhol, who produced some its tracks, and his assemblage of "scenesters" at the Factory, including model-turned-singer Nico. She shared billing with them on the resulting album, '' The Velvet Underground & Nico''. The album's lyrics, though generally apolitical, depict the world of hard drugs in songs such as " I'm Waiting for the Man" and "
Heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
", and other topics considered taboo at the time. Outside of New York were the Monks from Germany, whose members were former US servicemen who chose to remain in Germany, where in 1965 they developed an experimental sound on their album '' Black Monk Time''. The group, who sometimes wore habits and partially shaven
tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...
s, specialized in a style featuring chanting and hypnotic percussion.


Decline

Even at the height of garage rock's popularity in the mid-1960s, the success of most of its records, in spite of a handful of notable exceptions, was relegated to local and regional markets. In the wake of psychedelia, as rock music became increasingly sophisticated, garage rock began to fade. After the release of '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' and other late-1960s big-production spectaculars, rock albums became increasingly elaborate and were expected to display a high level of maturity and complexity, while the 45-RPM single ceded to the long-play album as the preferred medium. Source B: Album-oriented FM radio stations eventually overtook AM radio in popularity, and as the large major-label record companies became more powerful and less willing to sign new acts, the once plentiful local and regional independent labels of the mid-1960s began to fold. Radio playlists became more regimented and disc jockeys began to have less freedom, making it increasingly difficult for local and regional bands to receive airplay. Teen clubs and dance venues which previously served as reliable and steady engagements for young groups started to close. The garage sound disappeared at both the national and local level, as band members graduated and departed for college, work, or the military. Musicians in bands frequently faced the prospect of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...
, and many were selected for service. Some died in action. With the tumultuous political events of 1968, the tense mood of the country reached a breaking point, while increasing use of drugs and other factors intermingled with shifting musical tastes. New styles either evolved out of garage rock or replaced it, such as
acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...
,
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
, heavy metal, country rock, and bubblegum. By 1969 the garage rock phenomenon had largely run its course.


Later developments


1969–1975: Garage-based proto-punk

Though the garage rock boom faded at the end of the 1960s, a handful of maverick acts carried its impetus into the next decade, seizing on the style's rougher edges, while brandishing them with increased volume and aggression. Such acts, often retroactively described as " proto-punk", worked in a variety of rock genres and came from various places, most notably
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, and specialized in music that was often loud, but more primitive than the typical hard rock of the time. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, several Michigan bands rooted in garage rock recorded works that became highly influential, particularly with the 1970s punk movement. In 1969, MC5 issued their live debut LP, '' Kick Out the Jams'', which featured a set of highly energetic, politically charged songs.
The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...
, from Ann Arbor were fronted by lead singer Iggy Pop, Describing their approach, Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented: "Taking their cue from the over-amplified pounding of British blues, the primal raunch of American garage rock, and the psychedelic rock (as well as the audience-baiting) of the Doors, the Stooges were raw, immediate, and vulgar." The group released three albums during this period, beginning with the self-titled ''
The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...
'' in 1969 and culminating with '' Raw Power'' (now billed as Iggy and the Stooges) in 1973, which featured the cathartic "Search and Destroy" as its opening track. The Alice Cooper band (previously the Spiders) relocated to Detroit, where they began to gain success with a new " shock rock" image, and recorded 1971's '' Love It to Death'', which featured their breakout hit "
I'm Eighteen "I'm Eighteen", or simply "Eighteen", is a song by American rock band Alice Cooper, first released as a single in November 1970 backed with "Is It My Body". It was the band's first top-forty success—peaking at number 21—and convinced Warne ...
". Two bands that formed during the waning days of the Detroit scene in the early 1970s were the Punks and
Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
. The Punks had a sometimes thrashing sound that caught the attention of rock journalist Lester Bangs, and their song "My Time's Comin was retroactively featured in a 2016 episode of HBO's '' Vinyl''. In 1974,
Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
, whose membership was made up of brothers David, Bobby, and Dannis Hackney, recorded tracks for an album that remained unreleased for over 30 years, '' ...For the Whole World to See'', which, along with the release of their other previously unissued tracks, finally earned them a reputation as pioneers in punk rock. Death's music anticipated the arrival of later African American punk acts such as the Bad Brains. In Boston, the Modern Lovers, led by Velvet Underground devotee Jonathan Richman, gained attention with their minimalistic style. In 1972, they recorded a set of demos that formed the basis of their belated '' Modern Lovers'' album in 1976. In 1974, an updated garage rock scene began to coalesce around the Rathskeller club in Kenmore Square. The Real Kids, a leading band in the scene, were founded by former Modern Lover John Felice. The Electric Eels, who formed in 1972, were a fixture in the underground rock scene in Cleveland, Ohio, which has sometimes been mentioned as a precursor to the punk scenes in New York and London. The Electric Eels were notorious for mayhem at their shows and had a markedly nihilistic approach suggestive of later acts and recorded a set of demos in 1975, from which the single "Agitated" b/w "Cyclotron" was eventually released in 1978, several years after the group's demise. Between 1969 and 1975, other movements further removed from the American garage rock tradition emerged, that nonetheless displayed hallmarks of proto-punk, such as Glam and pub rock in Great Britain, as well as
Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...
in Germany. Conversely, glam rock had an influence on the sound of the New York Dolls from New York, exhibited on their 1973 self-titled debut album and its follow-up, '' Too Much Too Soon''. The Dictators, fronted by Handsome Dick Manitoba, were another influential New York act of this period. The music from these disparate scenes helped set the stage for the punk rock phenomenon of the mid- to late- 1970s.


Mid-1970s: Emergence of the punk movement

Identification of garage rock by certain critics in the early 1970s (and their use of the term "punk rock" to describe it), as well as the 1972 ''Nuggets'' compilation exerted a marked degree of influence on the punk movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s. As a result of the popularity of ''Nuggets'' and critical attention paid to primitive-sounding rock of the past and present, a self-conscious musical aesthetic began to emerge around the term "punk" that eventually manifested in the punk scenes of New York,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and elsewhere between 1975 and 1977, and in the process transformed into a new musical and social movement having its own separate subculture, identity, and values. The mid- to late-1970s saw the arrival of the acts now most commonly identified as punk rock. Frequently mentioned as the first of these were the Ramones from New York, some of whose members earlier played in 1960s garage bands. They were followed by the Sex Pistols in London, who struck a far more defiant pose and effectively heralded the arrival punk as a '' cause célèbre'' in the larger public mind. Both bands spearheaded the popular punk movement from their respective locations. Simultaneously, Australia developed its own punk scene, which derived some of its inspiration from the 1960s Australian garage/beat movement. One of its leading bands the Saints, from Brisbane, included a rendition of the Missing Links' 1965 song "Wild About You" on their 1977 debut album. Despite the influence of garage rock and proto-punk on the originating musicians of these scenes, in the later half of the 1970s punk rock emerged as a new phenomenon, distinct from its prior associations, and the garage band era of the 1960s came to be viewed as a distant forerunner.


Revivalist and hybrid movements

Garage rock has experienced various revivals in the ensuing years and continues to influence numerous modern acts who prefer a "back to basics" and "do it yourself" musical approach.


1970s–1980s: Retro revival acts

The earliest group to attempt to revive the sound of 1960s garage was the Droogs, from Los Angeles, who formed in 1972 and pre-dated many of the revival acts of the 1980s. In the early 1980s, revival scenes linked to the underground music movements of the period sprang up in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and elsewhere, with acts such as the Chesterfield Kings, the Fuzztones, the Pandoras, and Lyres earnestly attempting to replicate the sound and look of the 1960s garage bands. This trend fed in into the
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
movement and future
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
explosion, which embraced influences by 1960s garage bands such as the Sonics and the Wailers.


Garage punk

Out of the garage revival, a more aggressive form of garage rock known as garage punk emerged in the late 1980s. It differed from the "retro" revival in that its acts did not attempt to replicate the exact look and sound of 1960s groups, and their approach tended to be louder, often infusing garage rock with elements of Stooges-era proto-punk, 1970s
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
, and other influences, creating a new hybrid. Several notable garage punk bands were the Gories, thee Mighty Caesars, the Mummies and thee Headcoats. Originally associated with the 1960s garage revival of the early 1980s, the Pandoras' sound became increasingly harder as decade progressed. Out of Japan came Guitar Wolf from Nagasaki and the 5.6.7.8's from Tokyo. Garage punk and revival acts persisted into the 1990s and the new millennium, with
independent record labels An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
releasing records by bands playing fast-paced, lo-fi music. Some of the more prolific independent labels include Estrus, Get Hip, Bomp!, and Sympathy for the Record Industry.


2000s garage rock revival

The 2000s was identified as having another wave of garage rock revivalism, with ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' in 2003 designating it a "new garage rock revolution",S. Borthwick and R. Moy, ''Popular Music Genres: an Introduction'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004), , p. 117. or simply a "new rock revolution".M. Spitz
"The 'New Rock Revolution' fizzles"
May 2010, ''Spin'', vol. 26, no. 4, ISSN 0886-3032, p. 95.
The mainstream attention to the revival began with
the Strokes The Strokes are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1998. The band is composed of lead singer and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Jr., Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikola ...
and their 2001 debut album '' Is This It''. Playing a style indebted to '60s–'70s bands like
the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...
and the Ramones, the band's intention musically was to sound like "a band from the past that took a time trip into the future to make their record." When the Strokes released their commercial debut, the public perception of "rock music" was based in
post-grunge Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s alternative rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox, Colle ...
,
nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...
and rap rock, putting their throwback style of garage rock as a stark contrast to the mainstream. The Strokes were accompanied in this commercial breakthrough by the White Stripes and the Hives, who according to music critic Jim DeRogatis, all had a sound "to some extent rooted in '' Nuggets''-era garage rock".J. DeRogatis, ''Turn on your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock'' (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003), , p. 373. Detroit's garage rock scene included the White Stripes, the Von Bondies,
Electric Six Electric Six is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Detroit in 1996. They are known for combining elements of Rock music, rock, disco, garage rock, Heavy metal music, metal, New wave music, new wave, and punk rock. Since achieving wide ...
, the Dirtbombs, the Detroit Cobras, and Rocket 455. Elsewhere, acts such as Billy Childish and the Buff Medways from Chatham, England, the (International) Noise Conspiracy from Umeå, Sweden, and Jay Reatard and the Oblivians from Memphis, enjoyed moderate underground success and appeal. A second wave of bands that gained international recognition as a result of the movement included the Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Death from Above 1979, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Killers,
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...
, Cage the Elephant, and Kings of Leon from the US, the Libertines,
Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. They comprise lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. The co-founder and original bassist Andy Nicholson ...
, Bloc Party, Editors, and Franz Ferdinand from the UK, Jet from Australia, and the Datsuns and the D4 from New Zealand. The mid-2000s saw several underground bands achieve mainstream prominence. Acts such as Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Black Lips and Jay Reatard, that initially released records on smaller garage punk labels such as In the Red Records, began signing to larger, better-known independent labels. Several bands followed them in signing to larger labels such as Rough Trade and Drag City.


Compilations

According to Peter Aaron, there are over a thousand garage rock compilations featuring work by various artists of the 1960s. The first major garage rock compilation, '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968'', was released by
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...
in 1972. ''Nuggets'' grew into a multi-volume series, when Rhino Records in the 1980s released fifteen installments that consisted of songs from the original album plus additional tracks. In 1998, Rhino released a four-CD box set version of ''Nuggets'', containing the original album and three additional discs of material, that included extensive liner notes by some of garage rock's most influential writers. The '' Pebbles'' series was begun by Greg Shaw and originally appeared on his Bomp label in 1978 and has been issued in successive installments on LP and CD. '' Back from the Grave'' is a series issued by Crypt Records that focuses on hard-driving and primitive examples of the genre. Big Beat Records' '' Uptight Tonight: The Ultimate 1960s Garage Punk Primer'' also features harder material. There are several notable anthologies devoted to female garage bands from the 1960s. '' Girls in the Garage'' was the first female garage rock series, and Ace Records' issued the more recent '' Girls with Guitars'' compilations. There are numerous collections featuring garage/beat music from outside of North America. Rhino's '' Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969'' 4-CD box set includes music from the United Kingdom and other countries in the British commonwealth. It is of particular interest to fans of freakbeat. The '' Trans World Punk Rave-Up'' series focuses on garage and
Nederbeat Nederbeat (also: Nederbiet) is a genre of rock music that began with the Netherlands, Dutch rock boom in the mid-1960s influenced by British Beat music, beat groups and rock bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Much like British frea ...
music from Continental Europe from the 1960s. '' Ugly Things'' was the first compilation series to highlight 1960s Australian garage bands. '' Down Under Nuggets: Original Australian Artyfacts 1965–1967'' is also devoted to Australian acts, while '' Do the Pop! The Australian Garage Rock Sound 1976-1987'' covers more recent bands. '' Los Nuggetz Volume Uno'' is devoted primarily to Latin American groups of the 1960s and is available in a single-CD edition, as well as an expanded 4-CD box set. '' GS I Love You: Japanese Garage Bands of the 1960s'' and its companion piece '' GS I Love You Too: Japanese Garage Bands of the 1960s'' Both sets feature GS acts from Japan. The '' Simla Beat 70/71'' compilation consists of recordings by garage rock acts from India that competed in the 1970 and 1971 Simla Beat contests. Though its tracks were recorded at the turn of the 1970s, most of them bear a striking resemblance to music made in the West several years earlier.


List of bands


See also

* American rock * List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States * List of garage rock bands *
Nederpop Nederpop () or Dutch pop music is pop music made by Netherlands, Dutch bands and artists. The name is a play on the country's name in Dutch ''(Nederland)''. An English translation could be ''Netherpop''. Nederpop is a Dutch language, Dutch term ...


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

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Websites

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Suggested reading


Books

* * * * * * * * * *Joynson, Vernon (2004) ''Fuzz, Acid and Flowers Revisited: A Comprehensive Guide to American Garage, Psychedelic and Hippie Rock (1964-1975). Borderline'' . * * * * * * * * * * * Reverendo Lys (2019). Born Losers - Pepite e lastre di selce. Italia. Arcana editore, ISBN 9788862316637


News

* * *


Websites

* * * *


External links

* – histories of local and regional bands of the 1960s
Beyond the Beat Generation
– interviews with former members of 1960s garage bands
Everett True's Australian Garage Rock Primer
– covers Australian garage rock bands of the 1960s and later
G45 Central
– website and blog which hosts discussions on various topics related to garage rock
Garage Hangover
– garage bands of the 1960s by state, province and country

– covers the group sounds ("G.S.") garage/beat boom in Japan
It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine
- articles, interviews, and reviews of 1960s psychedelic and garage acts
Start
– Website devoted to covering as many as 1400 Dutch Nederbeat bands of the 1960s (in both Dutch and English)
Ugly Things
– magazine that provides information on garage rock and vintage music from the 1960s and other eras {{DEFAULTSORT:Garage rock 20th-century music genres American styles of music Rock music genres 1980s neologisms