Airwaves

by Brian Goslow

Bill LeBeau will be "Rockin' All over the World -- '60s Style" on Wednesday, April 29 from 6 to 9 a.m. on New Traditions on WCUW (91.3 FM). "I'll be playing lots of garage, surf, rock, and pop from all over," says LeBeau, who began our preview in Tokyo, where the Beatles' 1966 appearance created a landslide. "I don't know where the Japanese bands got their American records from, but they created their own screaming fuzz guitars with skinny necks on them. Their Mosrite guitars had skinny necks and a guitarist's talents would double or triple using them. After the Beatles played there, hundreds of groups formed playing their own rhythm and blues fuzz stuff. They [the Beatles] had a huge influence on all the countries they played.

"Germany started earlier with lots of Mersey beat and surf stuff. In East Germany, where the government controlled the record companies, they weren't allowed to make those kind of records. I have one record where the group said they were banned from all stages because it [playing surf music] wasn't the right thing to do. They had to sneak the music through the wall." Along with their Czechoslovakian and Romanian counterparts, East German bands had to modify whatever old equipment and tubes they could get, resulting in some wild sounds.

LeBeau will also be playing garage music from Italy, France, and Switzerland, along with Australia's Throbs and Blizzards. "There wasn't much of a difference between them and their American counterparts. They were pretty wild. I don't know what they were listening to because England's radio stations weren't playing it [American '60s garage rock]. Group 1850 from Holland were like the Electras or Litter with that real, raw sound. It must have been something to see a band like that live."

North America will be represented by the Great Scotts and King Bees from Canada, along with "a bunch of Mexican stuff," including covers of songs by the Rolling Stones and Doors. "They were sung in Spanish. You've got to figure a lot of them didn't understand the English, and what they were saying, so they got some of the meanings of the songs screwed up."

The East Coast checks in with the Mauve from Acton, the Id from Saco, Maine, and the New Order from Connecticut. "They were pretty cool. They're real poppy high energy type of music. It's something that should have been a hit but wasn't. Nobody ever heard of them." And now you have, along with the Black Sacks of Texas, an all-black group who played cool instrumentals along the lines of the Ventures.

"I might also have some groups from Peru and Jamaica, some poppy French songs, and garage girls from the Netherlands."

During his regular shows, LeBeau has been featuring a lot of "insurgent country stuff." Insurgent? "It just doesn't have that commercial over-produced sound. I don't know why they call Clint Black and Garth Brooks's stuff country. They don't have any soul and can't sing a real sad song like Johnny Paycheck, songs about murder, `Excuse me, I've got someone to kill.'" He says it also has a real fast beat that makes you want to dance. "There's the stuff Bloodshot Records puts out, including Neko Case, Moonshine Willie, and the Waco Brothers, along with the Old '97's and the Derailers." He also plays modern surf sounds from the Bomboras, Fathoms, and Trashwomen and sci-spy tunes by the Omegamen.

THE FINAL LOCAL SHOW of the spring '98 session features Charlestown's punky Ducky Boys. The group will perform between 10 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday, April 29, on WCHC (88.1 FM).