4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic upper mid-west garage rock from 1966, November 28, 2011
Though this mid-60s Michigan rock band managed five entries on the Billboard chart, they're known almost entirely for their first and biggest hit, "96 Tears." Originally released on the local Pa-Go-Go label, the single was reissued nationally by the Philadelphia-based Cameo and rode to the top of the chart. The song's success garnered a recording contract that led to five more singles and a pair of albums, none of which repeated the success of the group's debut. When Cameo-Parkway went out of business a couple of years later, its catalog was snapped up by Allen Klein's ABKCO Records, where it sat in the vault for decades. There were bootlegs and re-recordings, but no real reissue program until 2005's
Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 and
The Best of ? & The Mysterians returned the original recordings to print. The latter collection is a nearly complete rendering of the group's releases for Cameo, including both albums, their last single, and a pair of previously unreleased stereo alternates.
If the Best of is too much Question Mark for you, ABKCO's released each of the group's albums as individual digital downloads at a bargain price. This full-length debut album, originally released in 1966, includes the title hit (and its flipside, an original titled "Midnight Hour"), alongside their second single "I Need Somebody" (and its flip "8 Teen") and a cover of "Stormy Monday." All tracks feature the classic sound of Question Mark's Vox Continental organ, solid bass playing, and bluesy guitar riffs straight from the garage. This is a band that honed their act on stage, turning them into a tight unit with a danceable song list geared for club dates, teen dances at the VFW, and quite possibly (with the instrumental "Set Aside") strip-joints. All tracks are stereo except 1, 6, 7, 11 and 12. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]
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