Ugly Things

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Ugly Things
Ugly-things-26.jpg
Ugly Things No. 26 (2008)
EditorMike Stax
CategoriesMusic Magazine
FrequencyYearly
First issue1983
CountryUnited States
Based in La Mesa, CA
LanguageEnglish
Website ugly-things.com

Ugly Things (UT) is a music magazine established in 1983, based in La Mesa, California. The editor is Mike Stax (born 1962 in England). The magazine covers mainly 1960s Beat, garage rock, and psychedelic music ("Wild Sounds From Past Dimensions"). The name Ugly Things is a pun that refers to the band The Pretty Things.

Contents

History

Contributing writers include such names as Mick Farren, Alan Clayson, Richie Unterberger, Doug Sheppard, David Biasotti, Bill Wasserzieher, Michael Lynch, Miriam Linna, Phil X Milstein, Bill Shute, Gray Newell, Don Craine, Mark St John, Pete Innes, Lenny Helsing and Michael Lucas. San Diego City Beat reviewed Ugly Things in an article entitled "Mike Stax of Ugly Things: A local scenester's internationally known music magazine." [1] [2] [3]

The Lama Workshop editor Patrick Lundborg has stated about UT and editor Mike Stax: "1980s (music) zines have retired into the great recycling container in the sky (it's down to UT, Shindig!, and Misty Lane now), Mike Stax has managed not only to keep it alive, but expand his trip in various directions, and in the process become one of the very best -- perhaps THE very best -- 1960s-oriented writer out there." [4]

A review of Ugly Things in Head Press by David Kerekes sums up the publication: "When it comes to garage rock and everything associated with 'wild sounds from past dimensions', there is little to compare to the magnitude that is the mighty Ugly Things." . [5]

In "My Rock and Roll Magazine Rack", Mark Boudreau (of rockandrollreport.com) writes: "Absolutely encyclopedic in its knowledge of arcane rock and roll, Ugly Things is a rock and roll fan's delight.". [6]

The Mod-Sixties Webring says of Ugly Things, "For fans of '60s beat, punk, R&B, garage, psych and freakbeat Ugly Things magazine has been the place to go for over 15 years". [7]

UT Records

In 2002, Mike Stax started his own record label and released an album by The Misunderstood on UT Records that received international media coverage. [8] [9]

UT Publishing

Like, Misunderstood Like-novel.jpg
Like, Misunderstood

Currently Stax is working as co-writer (with Rick Brown) on a feature film about The Misunderstood. A novel based on the script, and entitled Like, Misunderstood, was published in October 2007. [10] [11]

Music

Mike Stax is also lead singer of his own band, The Loons.The Loons on MySpace [12] . [13]

Related Research Articles

Garage rock is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll 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.

Pretty Things English rock band

The Pretty Things were an English rock band, formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent. They took their name from Willie Dixon's 1955 song "Pretty Thing". A pure rhythm and blues band in their early years, with several singles charting in the United Kingdom, they later embraced other genres such as psychedelic rock in the late 1960s, hard rock in the early 1970s and new wave in the early 1980s. Despite this, they never managed to recapture the same level of commercial success of their early releases.

Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a popular music genre, influenced by rock and roll, skiffle, and traditional pop music, that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s.

The Misunderstood

The Misunderstood were an American psychedelic rock band originating from Riverside, California, United States in the mid-1960s. The band moved to London early in their career, and although they recorded only a handful of songs before being forced to disband, they are considered highly influential in the then-emerging genre.

Bomp! Records is a Los Angeles-based record label formed in 1974 by fanzine publisher and music historian Greg Shaw and Suzy Shaw.

Freakbeat is a loosely defined subgenre of rock and roll music developed mainly by harder-driving British groups, often those with a mod following, during the Swinging London period of the mid-to late 1960s. The genre bridges British Invasion R&B, beat and psychedelia.

Richard Shaw Brown Musical artist

Richard Shaw "Rick" Brown is an American musician and gemologist. He is perhaps best known for being the lead singer, harmonica player, and co-songwriter of psychedelic rock group The Misunderstood throughout the 1960s.

<i>Ear-Piercing Punk</i> 1979 compilation album

Ear-Piercing Punk is a compilation album issued in both LP and CD formats of obscure 1960s garage rock that was originally released on AIP Records in the late 1970s. As discussed on the AIP Records website and in reviews of the album during its initial release, the album was given the name "Ear-Piercing Punk" to try to market or turn this music, now often referred to as proto punk, on to kids just getting into punk rock for the first time as a result of the 1970s punk explosion. The purpose of the album was to show that punk had existed for quite a number of years prior to the generally accepted mainstream use of the term to define bands such as the Ramones, Sex Pistols and The Clash.

Glenn Ross Campbell Musical artist

Glenn Ross Campbell is a steel guitarist, most noted for being lead guitarist of cult band The Misunderstood.

I Can Take You to the Sun 1966 single by The Misunderstood

"I Can Take You To The Sun" is a song that was composed and recorded by The Misunderstood at Philips Studio in London in 1966. The song is considered a psychedelic music classic.

English Freakbeat series

The English Freakbeat Series is a group of five compilation albums, released in the late 1980s, that were issued by AIP Records. The LPs featured recordings that were released in the mid-1960s by English rock bands in the early punk, proto-punk, R&B, mod, and beat genres. The series served as a follow-up to the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP, itself subtitled The Roots of Mod, which was the only album in the Pebbles series that was devoted to English music. When the English Freakbeat series was reissued as CDs in the 1990s, the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP was adapted into the English Freakbeat, Volume 6 CD.

Back from the Grave is a series compilation albums of 1960s garage rock created and compiled by Tim Warren and released by Crypt Records. The series originally consisted of eight LP records released between 1983 and 1992. Volumes seven and eight were double albums. Starting in 1994, the series was reissued on compact disc. Due to the longer playing times offered by CDs, the first seven volumes were contained on four discs, save for a few tracks that were omitted. And, while all of the songs on the first four CDs are included on first seven vinyl albums, they do not necessarily correspond to the individual LPs bearing their same titles. However, the Volume 8 CD corresponds almost directly its LP double-LP counterpart, but with the addition of four bonus tracks not included on the LP. The eight vinyl albums are titled consecutively "Back from the Grave, Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8, Volume 9, and Voume 10". In similar fashion the five CDs are titled "Back from the Grave, Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 8, and Volumes 9 & 10". There are no volumes 5, 6, or 7 for the CDs. Two separate LPs for Volume 9 and 10 were released in 2015 as well one CD, released the same year, which combines Volumes 9 and 10 onto one double-length disc.

Patrick Lundborg was a writer on psychedelic culture and author of the books Psychedelia and The Acid Archives. Lundborg had a Bachelor of Science degree in applied systems science from Stockholm University, with additional studies in classic philosophy and the history of religion. Lundborg was an original member of the Lumber Island Acid Crew, a psychedelic artist collective which formed in Stockholm in the mid-1980s and remains active up to the present time.

Vive Le Rock is the worlds' only Rock N' Roll, Punk and New Wave magazine. It is an independent music magazine published in the United Kingdom which covers punk, new wave, glam, and garage through to mod and primal rock 'n' roll, and the darker side of alternative rock. It is circulated 10 times annually,

<i>Garage Beat 66 Volume 2: Chicks are for Kids!</i> 2004 compilation album

Garage Beat '66 Volume 2: Chicks are for Kids! is the second installment in the Garage Beat 66 series of garage rock compilations issued by Sundazed Records, which was released on April 27, 2004 and is available exclusively on compact disc. It features well-researched liner notes, written by Ugly Things publisher Mike Stax, which supply background information about each song and act, usually including photographs of the bands. Like all of the entries in the series it is noted for good sound quality, as all of the tracks are mastered from the original studio master sources.

The Bees was an American garage rock and psychedelic band from Covina, California, that was active in the mid-1960s, and was best known for the 1966 paranoiac anthem "Voices Green and Purple". The song has been mentioned as an innovative example of early protopunk and has become highly prized by various garage rock collectors and enthusiasts.

Voices Green and Purple 1966 single by The Bees

"Voices Green and Purple" is a song by the Bees, an American garage rock and psychedelic band from Covina, California who were active in the mid-1960s. It has been mentioned as an innovative example of early protopunk and has become highly prized by various garage rock collectors and enthusiasts.

The Sloths Musical artist

The Sloths are an American garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. Although short-lived, the band had a profound presence on the Sunset Strip's live scene, and their lone single, "Makin' Love", while not very commercially successful during its original release, has been heavily praised since its inclusion on the Back from the Grave series. The Sloths, after their re-discovery by music historians, are now considered to be one of the "great lost garage bands", and surviving band members have been conducting reunion tours since 2012.

Alan "Wally" Waller or Wally Allen is an English bassist and producer. He was a member of Pretty Things on their most famous records, S.F. Sorrow and Parachute.

References

  1. "Ref. San Diego Citybeat: UglyThings" . Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  2. "Ref. Midheaven: Ugly Things". Archived from the original on 2006-09-07. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  3. "Ref. RoJaRo - Music Magazine List: Ugly Things" . Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  4. "The Lama Workshop: UglyThings" . Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  5. "Head Press - Review by David Kerekes Weblink".
  6. "My Rock and Roll Magazine Rack - Review by Mark Boudreau Weblink".
  7. "The Mod-Sixties Webring Weblink".
  8. Entertainment-Reuters (Yahoo News) (June 18, 2004). "New Label Sheds Light on the Misunderstood". Billboard .
  9. Rolling Stone Magazine Issue 956 (September 2, 2004). "The Misunderstood - The Lost Acetates 1965-1966 by David Fricke".Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. "Like, Misunderstood web page" . Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  11. Stax, Mike (October 2007). Like, Misunderstood. UT Publications. ISBN   978-0-9778166-1-3.
  12. Record Collector Magazine Review. 2005.
  13. Shindig Magazine review. 2005.