Flamin’ Groovies

Flamin' Groovies is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic ('' Supersnazz'') and Kama Sutra (''Flamingo'' and '' Teenage Head''), Loney left the band in 1971. He was replaced as co-leader by Chris Wilson, and the band's emphasis shifted more toward British Invasion power pop.Power Pop: The ’70s, The Birth Of Uncool
Magnetmagazine.com (2002-09-07). Retrieved on 1 September 2013.

The band signed to United Artists Records in 1972, releasing just three more singles until 1976. The Groovies then signed to Sire Records and released three albums between 1976 and 1979, ''Shake Some Action'', '' Flamin' Groovies Now'' (both produced by Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studios in Wales) and '' Jumpin' in the Night''. The 1976 album's title track "Shake Some Action" (also released as a single) became a power pop anthem and is revered by many, including Greil Marcus in his book, ''The History of Rock and Roll in Ten Songs''. Wilson left the band in 1981, and the band continued in various forms, including the release of three more albums, before breaking up in 1991. After a couple of limited reunions with different lineups, the 1970s nucleus of Jordan, Wilson, and Alexander reformed the group in 2013, and the band's first post-reunion album, '' Fantastic Plastic'', was released in 2017. Alexander left the reformed band in 2017, and in 2019 Wilson went on hiatus.

In addition to the band's role in the advancement of power pop, the Flamin' Groovies have also been called one of the forerunners of punk rock.

Career

Beginnings

Roy Loney and Tim Lynch, who met in first grade, had put together a Kingston Trio-type folk band with guitars when they were in junior high and high school. Beginning in 1965, after adding their friend George Alexander (whom they told to learn bass), they became a Rolling Stones-influenced rock band with drummer Ron Greco. Greco knew a 15-year-old lead guitarist named Cyril Jordan, who quickly became a part of the group, although Greco then left and was replaced by Danny Mihm. After playing together for about three years under various group names and not getting any record company offers, they decided to put up their own money and make their own EP, which they could also use as a label demo. That EP, 1968's ''Sneakers'', was recorded on 4-track and mixed in about eight hours total and featured Jordan (guitar, vocals), Loney (vocals, guitar), Alexander (bass, harmonica, vocals), Lynch (guitar, harmonica, vocals) and Mihm (drums). As a result of its success, they were signed to a contract by Epic Records; at about the same time, their manager leased The Fillmore from Bill Graham, and they became managers of the venue, which introduced them to a much wider variety of music, including The Stooges and Alice Cooper.

During this period, they released 1969's '' Supersnazz''. In Loney's words, the album was "all over the map" and "kinda grasping at every possible straw"; it contained both re-creations of 1950s rock and roll and more melodic songs that anticipated the power pop movement of the 1970s—a genre to which the Flamin' Groovies would eventually contribute significant work. However, the album's low sales led to their release by Epic. They then started doing national tours, and their further exposure to Detroit's musical scene "hardened up our sound a whole lot", in Loney's words. At the instigation of Richard Robinson (a journalist and the Groovies' future producer), the Groovies then signed to Kama Sutra Records for their next two albums, 1970's ''Flamingo'' and 1971's '' Teenage Head''. ''Flamingo'' had the disadvantage of being recorded on 12-track, which used the same 1" tape as 8-track recording did, so the dynamic width had to be compressed; as Jordan later put it, "12-track sounds like shit." ''Teenage Head'', which was recorded on 16-track, is listed in the 2006 book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'', and Mick Jagger reportedly compared the album favorably to the Rolling Stones' contemporaneous ''Sticky Fingers''. Despite the critical plaudits, though, neither album sold well, which caused Loney and Lynch to lose interest and left the Groovies in limbo about their future. Loney (a rockabilly and blues aficionado) and Jordan (who leaned more to Beatle-style pop) also clashed over the band's direction, leading to a meme that "Roy is the Stones guy, Cyril is the Beatles guy". Jordan, however, felt the band was just evolving. Tim Lynch then left the band and was replaced by James Ferrell, shortly before the Groovies played a concert for the closing of the Fillmore West that was broadcast live on local San Francisco radio station KSAN.

Isolation and success

Not long after the KSAN concert, Loney also left the band and was replaced by 18-year-old singer and guitarist Chris Wilson, who, along with Jordan, began to move the group in a more overtly power pop direction. Alexander had become friends with British music executive Andrew Lauder, and in 1972, the band reached a deal to sign with Lauder's United Artists Records ("UA") and to record with British producer Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studios in Wales, even though the U.S. division of UA had already turned down the band. The Groovies moved to Britain, where they remained for the rest of 1972,Cyril Jordan, liner notes for ''Slow Death'' (2002). Retrieved 13 November 2017. but the UA deal was never expanded beyond two single releases, "Slow Death"/"Tallahassee Lassie" and "Married Woman"/"Get a Shot of Rhythm and Blues", which United Artists preferred to Edmunds and the band's choices "Shake Some Action" and "You Tore Me Down". However, "Slow Death", an anti-drug song that Jordan had written with Loney, was banned by the BBC
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