Psychotic Reaction (album)

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Psychotic Reaction
Count five album.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 1966
Genre
Length24:50
Label Double Shot
Producer Hal Winn, Joseph Hooven
Count Five chronology
Psychotic Reaction
(1966)
Dynamite Incidents
(1983)
Singles from Psychotic Reaction
  1. "Psychotic Reaction"
    Released: July 1966
  2. "Peace of Mind"
    Released: November 1966

Psychotic Reaction is the only studio album by the American garage rock band Count Five, released in October 1966, through Double Shot Records.

Contents

It features the hit single "Psychotic Reaction", which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October 1966, and the Who covers, "My Generation" and "Out in the Street".

Background

Previously to recording sessions, Count Five was rejected by several record labels before they got signed to the Los Angeles-based Double Shot Records in 1965. Double Shot was an independent label (active 1965-1972) owned by Harold "Hal" Winn and Joseph "Joe" Hooven, who were also songwriters and record producers.

The song "Psychotic Reaction" was released as a single, peaking at number 5 in the U.S. charts in late 1966, after its release in July 1966. [2] To capitalize on the success of the single, Winn and Hooven at Double Shot immediately pressured the band to record a full-length album.

The songs' lyrics were written mostly by John "Sean" Byrne, and the music and vocals were recorded in a very short time, so deliberately included two covers of the Who band as filler songs, to complete a brief album of eleven tracks. Band members complained in later interviews that due to the hurried nature of the recording sessions, they never had the chance to shape the songs the way they wanted them to sound. [3] The style of the album is fairly basic but effective, set to the rhythms and ways of garage rock.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
New Musical Express 5/10 [5]

With a low budget production and insufficient marketing, Psychotic Reaction peaked at number 122 on the Billboard LPs chart. Other singles, released between 1966 and 1969, sold poorly and did not chart (some not included in the original LP). Count Five broke up in 1969 so its members could pursue college educations.

Track listing

All songs written by John Byrne, except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Double-Decker Bus" – 2:00
  2. "Pretty Big Mouth" (Byrne/Kenn Ellner/Roy Chaney/Craig Atkinson/Mouse Michalski) – 2:07
  3. "The World" – 2:12
  4. "My Generation" (Pete Townshend) – 2:27
  5. "She's Fine" – 2:12
  6. "Psychotic Reaction" (Ellner/Chaney/Atkinson/Byrne/Michalski) – 3:03

Side two

  1. "Peace of Mind" (Byrne/Chaney/Michalski) – 2:19
  2. "They're Gonna Get You" – 2:26
  3. "The Morning After" – 1:57
  4. "Can't Get Your Lovin'" - 1:47
  5. "Out in the Street" (Townshend) – 2:28

Personnel

Musicians

Technical

Charts

Albums

Chart (1966)Peak
position
US Top LPs (Billboard) [6] 122

Singles

YearSingle US Hot 100
1966"Psychotic Reaction" [7] 5
"Peace of Mind" [8] 125

References

  1. Fleming, Colin (June 3, 2016). "10 Wild LPs From Garage Rock's Greatest Year". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  2. Cost, Jud (1994). Count Five: liner notes to Psychotic Reaction CD. New Jersey, Performance Records.
  3. Kesteloo, Hans. "BEYOND THE BEAT GENERATION - THE COUNT FIVE Interview". Home.unet.nl. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  4. Stewart Mason. "Psychotic Reaction". AllMusic . Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  5. Quantick, David (November 7, 1987). "Count Five: Psychotic Reaction / Pretty Things: SF Sorrow". New Musical Express . p. 32.
  6. "Count Five Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  7. "Count Five Chart History: Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  8. "The Count Five Top Songs". Musicvf. Retrieved November 22, 2021.