2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60's Garage And Psychedelia From USA And Destination Record

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 5, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sundazed Music Inc.
• ASIN: B001TKKAIM
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,367 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Lost Agency: One Girl Man

2. The Shady Daze: I'll Make You Pay

3. Oscar and the Majestics: Got to Have Your Lovin'

4. The Foggy Notions: Take Me Back and Hold Me

5. Lord and the Flies: Echoes

6. The Messengers: Midnight Hour

7. Ronnie Ross and the Good Guys: If You Ever Go

8. Oscar and the Majestics: Soul Finger

9. The Jokers: I'll Never Let You Go

10. The Sheffields: Do You Still Love Me

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Counts: Stop Cheating on Me

2. Trafalgar Square: Till the End of the Day

3. The Boyz: Hard Times All Over

4. Lord and the Flies: You Made a Fool of Me

5. The Ricochettes: I Don't Want You

6. The Messengers: Hard Hard Year

7. Oscar and the Majestics: No Chance Baby

8. The Jokers: What'cha Gonna' Do

9. Gary and the Knight Lites: I Don't Need Your Help

10. The Flock: Are You the Kind

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Though the '60s garage band explosion was felt in every corner of the country, the local uprising of talent in Chicago thrived unlike anywhere else. The Windy City had the perfect infrastructure in place; from a booming population of teenagers, to hip music stores in every suburb, a proliferation of teen clubs willing to take their money, and a powerhouse radio station (WLS) equally up to promoting local bands.

When it came to giving local groups a shot at 45 rpm fame, no Chicago label--not even the hallowed Dunwich Records--was more prolific than USA Records. USA's Jim Golden was such a strong supporter of Midwest talent that he started up a second label focused solely in this area, Destination Records.

A quarter century into the CD age, it's hard to believe these pivotal labels have never been properly anthologized. Until now, that is! Sundazed once again arrives to the rescue with an exhaustive dive into the pure, undiluted garage side of USA and Destination Records; tapping into everything from priceless artifacts from the Lost Agency, the Foggy Notions, and Park Avenue Playground to label hitmakers the Buckinghams, the Cryan' Shames, and the Flock at their most rockin'. There's so much impossibly great music on these labels, we had to expand this collection to 40 tracks available as both a 2-CD set and a 3-LP high-definition vinyl set.

The album artwork is stuffed with rare photos, band bios, and an interview with the legendary Jim Golden. For a full course of Chicago '66 garage at its finest, look no further than 2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60's Garage & Psychedelia from USA and Destination Records!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars essential obscurity, May 7, 2009

By 

Scott McWade "dubs" (NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60's Garage And Psychedelia From USA And Destination Record (Audio CD)

Bob Irwin and Sundazed (Coxsackie, NY) does their usual high quality restoration, they turn out some great sounding discs (Bob's 2006 remastering of The Worst of Jefferson Airplane is just stellar).

2 discs, 95 minutes, of prime mid-West garage scronk ! If you have enjoyed any of the Garage Beat '66 releases this one would easily rise to the top of that heap. For a real good time: have yourself a major kegger and turn this one up !

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chi-town boy admittedly a tad biased ..., September 11, 2009

By 

George Michael USA "ROCK!" (Seattle, Wa. USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: 2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60's Garage And Psychedelia From USA And Destination Record (Audio CD)

My band, The Park Ave Playground, is on this compilation. I saw quite a few of these acts live back in the day either because we were on the bill with them or they were at a venue in my area so my biases are evident but I've listened to many of these garage band collections and I think that this is among the best.

Lot's of excellent Chicago bred musicians in their early stages represented. The info on the pull out sleeve is well written and full of interesting facts about the acts included on these two CDs. The sound of the old recordings is amazingly crisp due no doubt to the amazing technical abilities we have available these days.

If you like these kind of retro sets, I think you'll really like this one.

(disclaimer: I receive no money from sale of this product)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great compilation of a underrated label, June 11, 2009

By 

Somewhere in Texas (Planet Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60's Garage And Psychedelia From USA And Destination Record (Audio CD)

Being a garage fan for years, I was dismayed to see the USA and Destination records labels still overlooked by compilers. Finally this label gets it due with a very classy compilation by Sundazed.

Despite being a tiny indie label, USA's president Jim Golden had a instinct for discovering local Chicago and regional garage bands with a gift for writing catchy pop-garage and pop-pysch songs and then crafting them for AM radio. Had USA-Destination had stronger promotion, many of these could have been national monsters like the Buckinghams "Kind Of A Drag" was.

Everything is first rate here from the packaging, mastering from original tapes, liner notes and a excellent track selection. My only gripe is both CD's run around 45 minutes - fine for vinyl, but a little disapointing for CD fans knowing there's other gems that could have been included as bonus cuts. And USA did cut some fine Soul-R&B and Girl Group tracks that could be included in future comps.

Otherwise this is a outstanding comp, and a very necessary buy for Chicago and Garage rock fans.