Tune Tag #100 with Flipped Out Phil: Beckies, Chris Stamey, Other Side, Micky Dolenz, Montage, Lemon Twigs, Bongos, Mark Eric

🎉Celebratin' the Century mark, y'all! It's #100, and we're pullin' out all the stops! Highlights? Ten...count'em, TEN+ BONUS TAGS! Meet TWO veteran musicians/recording artists who SUBSCRIBE to FR&B!✨

“If I Fits, I Sits!” It’s the Waggin’ Taggin’ Tune Tag Wagon!

Tune Tag reaches #100, with our special guest,

Flipped Out Phil

of

Painted Dayglo Smiles

!

“My name is

Flipped Out Phil

. I’m originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, although I've been living in Toronto, Ontario for the past 25 years. I’ve been involved in the garage rock scene since the mid-’80s, when I began hosting a local college radio show called The Subterranean Jungle. On it, I played raucous rock ‘n’ roll running the gamut from Eddie Cochran to The Cramps, by way of tons of mid-Sixties garage pounders. The show ran from 1985 to 1999.”

The Vinyl Phrontier: Flipped Out Phil has a Discogs page, and you don’t (presumably)! Of all the fabulous items in this pic, my wandering eye keeps being drawn to those incredible 45s carry-boxes at the top of his shelving unit! I believe I’m landing on that one between the blue one and that red swirl one as my fave! Found yours, yet? I had a metal one as a ‘60s kid: Red body with a white top; fairly mundane, but these are magniff!

“I moved to Toronto afterwards, where I was the frontman of the ‘60s punk-based band, The Whammies, for a few years.”

Phil, front and center (with shades)

“Before that, I had been the lead singer of Montreal’s Platon et les Caves (above), with Bobby Beaton (below) of the legendary Gruesomes on lead guitar.”

“I was also a fanzine writer and co-editor, namely for the Montreal zines, Lost Mynds (pictured below), and Popaganda.”

“Missing writing about music, I decided early this year to launch my Substack focusing on my Sixties pop/rock obsessions,

Painted Dayglo Smiles

!”

Last week,

NickS (WA)

of Earnestness is Underrated helped us wave goodbye to double-digits:

Tune Tag #99 with NickS (WA), Pt. 4: Mott the Hoople, Carla Thomas, Barenaked Ladies, Shaun Cassidy, Brian Wilson, Janis Ian, Willie Nelson, Otis Redding, Andrew Gold

Phil’s song #1 sent to Brad: The Other Side, “Walking Down the Road,” 1966

Phil’s rationale: I’m kicking off this Tune Tag with a 1966 obscurity by a San Francisco-area combo called The Other Side. It’s a folk-rock gem entitled, “Walking Down the Road.”

I’ve been familiar with this song since the early-‘90s, but it never gets old for me. Maybe that’s because it evokes one of my all-time favorite groups, The Byrds. “Walking Down the Road” certainly nails their sound down to a tee with its jangling guitars and vocal harmonies. But there’s also an additional rough ‘n’ ready garage-rock quality to the tune, as well as a melancholic, yet optimistic beauty that kinda takes my breath away!

Brad’s response: I’ve never heard of The Other Side, but, am also quite taken by their sound! By all accounts (namely, their Discogs page), the band recorded no albums, and only had this one 1966 single on tiny Brent Records, “Walking Down the Road” (written by George Kleinsinger and Joe Darion, both with songwriting careers that would otherwise belie this mid-’60s Byrdsian rock entry…for example, Kleinsinger wrote the 1945 children’s song, “Tubby the Tuba,” while Darion was a musical theatre lyricist) b/w “Streetcar.”

Brad’s song #1 sent to Phil: Micky Dolenz, “Ease on Down the Road,” 1994

Can we chalk? Micky, right on cue, poses with daughter, Ami, now-retired actress.

Phil’s response: Ah, let’s not just walk down the road, let’s ease on down it! Is it possible that Brad chose this song because its road theme reflected the Other Side number? And because Dolenz was in the Monkees, one of the most popular groups in America at the time The Other Side existed?

Despite being a diehard Monkees lover, I had never heard this song before! I’ve only seen Micky Dolenz onstage once, when he, the late, great Mike Nesmith, and their excellent backup musicians played my hometown of Toronto seven years ago this month.

At that concert, I thought to myself: “Micky still has a terrific set of pipes, but there are times when he’s belting it out as if he’s in a Broadway musical.” Well, “Ease On Down the Road” (written by Charlie Smalls for the 1974 The Wiz Broadway musical and 1978 film, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson) confirms that observation. It’s a catchy number with a soulful feel to it, showing that Dolenz is a versatile enough vocalist to work in different genres.

The production doesn’t sound dated like many ‘80s recordings do with the gated drums, etc. Harold Bronson, the co-producer, was co-founder (with Richard Foos) of Rhino Records, a label that put out top-notch reissues of Monkees material, and it seems that he was very capable of overseeing a recording that complemented Micky’s unique voice.

Brad’s rationale: Why “walk down the road” when one can ease? Dare I slip you another Micky? Many may have missed his Dolenz Sings R.E.M. 4-song tribute EP from two years ago.

💯BONUS: Celebrating #100!✨Here’s his “Shiny Happy People” take, with something even R.E.M. couldn’t manage on their original: Personal home movies of Micky, including some 2 minutes of the child actor’s home movies from his kidhood and teen years!

“The band R.E.M. came up,” Micky told UltimateClassicRock.com in 2023, about a recent conversation. “I went, ‘Wow, that’s very cool.’ I’m a big fan. I remember their stuff very well. And, I’ve heard through the grapevine that the band were fans of The Monkees. I found that incredibly flattering.”

R.E.M. lead singer, Michael Stipe, expressed his excitement for Dolenz's interpretation of the track to the magazine (the band had famously stopped playing the song in their shows): “Micky Dolenz covering R.E.M., Monkees-style, I have died and gone to heaven,” Stipe said via a statement.

“This is really something,” Stipe concluded. “‘Shiny Happy People’ sounds incredible (never thought you or I would hear me say that!!!). Give it a spin. It’s wild. And produced by Christian Nesmith (son of Michael Nesmith). I am finally complete!”

💯BONUS✨More roads? Gotta be more easin’! Matthew Morrison (of TV’s Glee) ft. Smokey Robinson, 2013:

Phil’s song #2: The Lemon Twigs, “They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place,” 2024

Clearly outstanding in their field, The Lemon Twigs are shown here, out sitting in their field.