Customer Reviews

Meet The Outcasts/The Mod Sound Of The Arkay IV (1966-68) [2 on1]

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When we were about 11 or 12 years old me and a friend of mine used to love to rummage through the old records at the local Goodwill store. We would grab anything that looked interesting. One day my friend really made out like a bandit, finding things left and right while I kept coming up dry. One of the records he walked out of the store with that day was a pink labled promo copy of "You'd Be Surprised"/"Set Me Free" by the Outcasts on Decca. When we first listened to it, I remember commenting on how the sound of "You'd Be Surprised" reminded me of a mix of Gerry and the Pacemakers (drums), the Byrds (guitars), and the Kinks (over all sound). He let me borrow the record but absolutely would not sell or trade it. I played it ALOT! I loved the generous use of chords, the drumming, the bass was nice and strong, and I thought the lyrics were pretty good.
About 4 or 5 years ago, I called my old buddy up and asked him about this record. He no longer had it, nor could he remember who did it. Since both of these songs kept creeping into my head from time to time over the years, and since I thought they were both really good songs, I eventually figured it was time to search out a copy of this single, never thinking it would be available on CD. The problem was, I remembered the song titles and the label, but for the life of me could not remember who the artists were. With only those two pieces of information, I called every phone number of every add in my record collector's books, which took me all over the US looking for this record. No success. I called the Library of Congress, no dice.
Finally, I called MCA since I knew that they had dissolved the Decca label and absorbed their catalogue. It took some persistance, but I finally got to talk to a helpful woman who got on her computer (a device I would have given my eye teeth for by this time), entered the information I had, and was not only able to give me the artists name, but also the record's number and release date (Oct. 17, 1966). Man, I felt like I had just conquered Mt. Everest at that point! But, I still had no record.
Eventually, one day at the Greengate Mall in Greensburg, I was talking to a guy who was working at the CD shop, and I mentioned the outcasts. He said that he seemed to remember running across the name in their computer. As I slogged through my saliva over to the checkout desk, I couldn't believe my ears as he told me that a CD was available! I immediately ordered the disc, but they were having trouble getting it in. I took it off order and contacted the company myself. Yes, they UPS'd a copy to me. A major hurdle had been jumped! BUT...
I wasted no time playing the disc. I really do believe I'm remembering correctly when I say that these guys were produced pretty well. My brain keeps remembering a full, rich bass with some really nice ping to the cymbals. But the signal on this disc is flat, and I DO mean FLAT! Don't mistake this for bad mouthing the Collectables label, no way! My hat is off to them for seeing fit to release ANYTHING by this band, let alone an entire albums worth of material. I'm truly grateful! I think there may not have been any master tapes available to work with, so as a result they probably were forced to master from the best available sources, which might have meant some pretty scratchy vinyl, which meant noise reduction, which meant loss of signal.
I'm also very excited over not just finally attaining these two songs, but also by some other really good discoveries here. A really GREAT one in particular is, "I Didn't Have to Love Her Anymore." Great song! "Groovy Feeling" reminds me alot of the Young Rascals, and it's a pretty good song, has a nice groove to it. I like their cover of "Walk on By" too, which again has the Rascal sound going on.
Some of the Arkay IV stuff is a little interesting too. My 11 year old daughter, who loves music almost as much as I do, really likes "I'll Keep on Trying" and "Another Way." "....Trying" is an odd instrumental with an unexpected trumpet section added here and there while "....Way" has an almost achy melody on the chorus. Achy is good.
I don't think that this disc is very well suited for the over all mainstream. It's more for collectors of rare '60's rock. There's some really enjoyable stuff, but some real yawners too. The presence of "You'd Be Surprised", "Set Me Free" and "I Didn't Have to Love Her Anymore" make this disc worth buying. They're really, really good! You'll be glad to have them.

Not to be confused with another group out of San Antonio, also called the Outcasts, these guys were your basic garage band circa 1968, doing covers of Louie Louie, Satisfaction, Hang On Sloopy and Love Potion #9, (or Love Potion 69, at least that's the way I remember it). Hailing from Manhasset, Long Island, (my hometown) I have vivid recollections of seeing The Outcasts at church dances, battle of the bands and their one big TV performance on Son Fox's Wonderama. Their only single, You'd Be Surprised/Set Me Free is included on this colection. The balance is culled together from live unreleased material.

Was amazed at just how much I dug this split CD by two lesser known 'garage rock' bands of many days gone by. First, you get twelve tracks by Long Island's own Outcasts - liked the catchy "I'm Back In Line", the toe-tapping "You'd Be Surprised", "Today's The Day", the hip "Groovy Feeling" and the beautifully played "Rain, Roses, Candlelight And Wine". Then there are fourteen cuts by the Arkay IV in which most do not appear on their sole CD release 'When We Was Younger... Than Yesterday' (see my review) - Arkay IV lures you in with the should-have-been a major hit "Little Girl", "Girl, You've Got A Lot Of Things To Learn" and "Another Way". Essential.

I really enjoy listening to the music of Arkay IV. I was surprised to learn that there have been a number of musical projects put together by the original members, including the Lakeland Rangers. I found the Arkay IV page on myspace and have found that all the bands are connected. I'm enjoying the music and look forward to being able to buy and download their mp3 versions.

This if I remember right was a battle of the bands album, and after hearing it I feel that Long Island's Outcasts won by a nose. I'm actually looking for the album "Meet The Outcasts" where it has 2 rather boss songs from 1965 when they were called "The Radiators" with "Nothing But Love", and "Something About You". The rest of this could sound like they were trying to imitate The Left Banke, or The Hassles take your pick. The Arkay 4 not one song was good. I probably wouldn't have liked it back in my late ***** early 20's neither. With 60's punk sometimes it's terrific others not so terrific. This is one of the not so's .