? and the Mysterians-We Are Not Alone: Rarities 1968-1970

During the ‘60s, no one else was like ? and the Mysterians and no one else sounded like them. Their “96 Tears” surged all the way to #1 in October of 1966, eclipsing the Beatles and the Supremes in the process. Today “96 Tears” is recognized as an essential garage rock classic. 1966 & 1967 were whirlwind years for them as they released a slew of singles and two outstanding studio albums along with almost non-stop touring. 

Fortunately, their other songs were built on the glorious keyboard-driven Michigan Tex-Mex garage au-go-go soul foundation of “96 Tears.” Staying in their lane worked for both them and their listeners, until their record company (Cameo-Parkway) no longer worked and was bought out in fall 1967. Cameo-Parkway’s demise meant their last and one of their best singles didn’t get the push and promotion that it deserved. “Do Something to Me” features the hypnotic, swirling, incessant organ that made “96 Tears” the #1 song in America just a year earlier. Tommy James and the Shondells actually covered “Do Something To Me” and took it to the top 40 in 1968, although it’s a much inferior version in my perspective. The glorious and smile-inducing “Love Me Baby (Cherry July)” epitomises the best parts of summer for me and brings back memories of being at Bay City boat festivals where oldies-circuit acts like Mitch Ryder, Len Berry and Sonny Geracii would appear (out of a trailer).

Top Deck (South  Bend, IN) clipping courtesy of Rob Branigin

The band got lost in the monkey…I mean music business and was required to jump from label to label. This 1968-1970 period included singles released on the towering Capitol Records and Tangerine Records, which was owned by Ray Charles.  These four late-period singles stand up-even if they were considered passé in the chaotic late '60s/early ‘70s pop-rock period. Their Capitol 45 record “Make You Mine” has all the elements of a hit mid-sixties AM radio song, but it quickly stalled out in the heavy times of 1968. The flip “Love You Baby (Like Nobody’s Business)” seems inspired by “The In Crowd” by Ramsey Lewis Trio with its liveliness. You can actually hear the crackle 'n' pop of the “needle drop” on the digital transfer of both sides of this 45, which adds to the charm of being a singles collection. The band signed on to Super K and went straight up bubblegum with “Sha La La,” that is downright equal to the Equals. Hidden away on the b-side is “Hang In.” It’s a somewhat mysterious instrumental that first evokes the Yardbirds meeting the Chocolate Watchband, before later revealing itself as a stellar cover of “Going All the Way” by the Squires. 

The band got bluesier when they switched over to Ray Charles’ Tangerine label in 1969. However, it was not much of a stretch as the group had delved into the blues before with their cover of “Stormy Monday” on their debut album. Besides its bluesy-tinge, “Ain’t it a Shame,” was frequently requested by Rachel of the Detroit Cobras during live performances. The flipside "Turn Around Baby" has a Paul Revere & the Raiders kick to it. Further intrigue surrounds their Tangerine Records phase as they recorded their third album for Ray Charles’ label with the the Raelettes on backing vocals, but it has yet to see the light of day and is supposedly locked away in the vaults. 1970’s “Talk is Cheap” starts off with a bit of space-age organ that leads into the infectious “96 Tears” keyboard riff and overall feel that slants towards Sly Stone with a stomping glam-ish beat. The flip ”She Goes to Church on Sunday” is another impressive “lost in time” groove-edged pop number permeating with garage fumes and that percolating organ. As testament to their strength, most of these singles were included as part of their live repertoire when they returned to regularly playing shows and festivals in the late ‘90s and were among the highlights in their set.   

?, their flashy singer with many flashes of brilliance, could be the missing link between Little Richard, James Brown and Michael Jackson and Prince. It could be argued that ? had an especially strong influence on Prince as the purple one was also known by a symbol at one point in his career.  Returning the favor, ? covered Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” in 2007. To this day, ? claims Mars as his birth planet and waxes poetic about seeing a "? constellation" in the desert skies over Joshua Tree National Park.  When I look up to locate the Pleiades (aka Seven Sisters, aka Subaru), I often think of ? (aka Rudy Martinez). 

? live at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, MI 1997

They have never been equaled, and their songs still endure. Their sound went on to have a major influence on some of my favorite bands in subsequent decades including the Modern Lovers, the Original Sins, Lyres, Reigning Sound and Fortune & Maltese. Call these singles infectious. Call these singles hypnotic. Call these rare singles undeniably ? and the Mysterians.

? and the Mysterians at the Magic Bag in Ferndale, MI-1997
L to R: Frank Lugo (bass), Frank Rodriguez (keyboards), ? (vocals)

Human Switchboard-Who's Landing in My Hangar?

For some reason, Human Switchboard has eluded me in that I had not previously heard their music until 2024. Despite reading good things about them, I was somehow under the impression they were much more of a new wave synth rock outfit that played with a cold detachment...like a more arty Human League or a more melodic Human Sexual Response. I recently happened upon their first and only album Who's Landing in My Hangar? in a stack of donated records that actually included reissued White Light/White Heat by the Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart’s Safe As Milk. Their prominent use of the Fafisa struck me hard and fast like hearing live Modern Lovers for the first time on Precise Modern Lovers Order. Not only present were the Lou Reed-ish vocals that reminded me also of those of Brother JT from the Original Sins, but also the most welcomed counterbalancing female vocals in the realm between Maureen Tucker and Chrissie Hynde. I also thought they were born and bred in the skyscraper canyons of New York City and shared sidewalks with Warhol. While they made their waves on the live front both opening for the likes of Alex Chilton and headlining in the New York City area (e.g.., CBGB’s Danceteria, Hurrah, Maxwell’s, Max’s Kansas City, Peppermint Lounge) their time spent growing up and living in industrial Northeast Ohio and snowy Syracuse were just as much an integral influence upon their sound. In their case, they embodied a good type of scrappy Midwestern resourcefulness coupled with the fortitude to make it happen against the prevailing headwinds. Overall, they generated a record that both reflects and transcends their era and continues to endure.

Worth the Excitement

Who's Landing in My Hangar? displays not only their vast versatility, but also their command to cast moods across the record, along with expressing a spillway of emotions within the songs themselves.  While their sound touches upon street rock, art punk, soul, garage and power-pop, they are ultimately singular, complex and uncategorizable. In other words, despite the genre hopscotching, they retained their consistent character across their recordings.

From the Other Music documentary

Another View

Most of all, they drew from the depths of the Velvet Underground and made an exalted sound of their own that connected to the stripped down, yet not thin or threadbare essence that I frequently value in music. Behind the wall of guitars and brimming keyboards, their rhythm section also exhibited the push-and-pull of the early Talking Heads. 

Who Put the Bomp?

Additionally, Human Switchboard appeared on the 1979 Bomp compilation Waves (An Anthology Of New Music Vol.1) and reminded me of being on a similar wavelength of what the Last were doing on their second album Look Again when Vitus Matare’s Farfisa keyboards rose to the forefront. Perhaps only Seymour Stein could match Bomp’s Greg Shaw when it came to prospecting powerful and lasting pop during the ‘70s. 

Myrna Marcarian (keyboards) & Bob Pfeifer (guitar)

Complementary Contrasts

One of their innate abilities was their ability to make discontent flow seemingly. This particular ability could be said to be the highest fulfillment of the promise of the new wave movement. Behind this musical dichotomy are the dueling identities of Myrna Marcarian and Robert Pfeifer. Combinations of absence/presence, straightforwardness/circuitousness and clarity/dissonance are some of the dynamics at play. It works like the epiphany when an art teacher imparts the concept of negative space and the physical and spiritual world momentarily snaps into place.

Urban Core

Leading off is the majestic “(Say No to) Saturday’s Girl” that is almost a response song to Blondie’s “Sunday Girl” mixed in with some Lulu and Lesley Gore loveliness. The frantic “Who’s Landing In My Hangar?” features Marcarian’s pronounced organ stabbing in a good way as she takes it to the edge against the rush of Pfeifer’s “New York Subway” spiraling guitar. “In This Town” is their Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra moment, albeit with lyrics expressing the cold indifference of the city. Further, their songs retain their insurgency, while capturing the ominous feelings of an unraveling New York and the bleak drabness of Cleveland of the time. To start side 2, Marcarian steps back up to take lead vocals on “I Can Walk Alone.” The sweeping song is a personal manifesto and declaration of fortitude set to an indelible melody.

 

Despite all the Computations

In retrospect, the full focus should have been on Myrna Marcarian as she co-composed their two best standalone songs ”(Say No to) Saturday Girl” and “I Can Walk Alone.” However, to fully appreciate the light, one must obviously have contrast with the darkness. While “Don’t Follow Me Home” does hinge to the Doors a little too closely, it does resolve with sweetness and light courtesy of countervailing backing vocals from Marcarian. The jaunty “Book on Looks” tilts towards the superrock of the Fleshtones.  Pfeifer continues to deliver his confessionals and character studies with deadpan vocals that hover between art skronk, bursts of squalling sax and perpetual motion to where the light breaks.

Casting Their Spell

Live video footage shows their conviction and compassion for what they did as Myrna Marcarian is beyond convincing with her strident vocals and arresting keyboard playing. She is indeed a colorful focal point who brought in an advanced pop awareness and humane presence that clashed and converged with the street level sensibility of Bob and the sparks and shards flying off his guitar.  He certainly knew his way around the guitar and the interplay with Marcarian’s Farfisa organ is an essential element to their amalgamated sound. Live footage also reveals drummer Ron Metz played in a similar rangy fashion as John Dugan of Chisel.

Future Shock

Their sound did get glossier as the ‘80s ensued and 1983 Polydor demos revealed somebody (that is John Stainze) was trying to possibly shine them up to be an American answer to Culture Club. (For the record, I do enjoy Culture Club.) Still, “A Lot Of Things” is an all-around captivating pop song that benefits from the studio polish as well as being reminiscent of the Bangles at their best. On these later recordings, Pfifers’ quavering voice goes less Lou Reed and more in the direction of solo Mick Jagger or solo David Johansen. Your mileage may vary as some listeners do indeed enjoy this late phase in which Marcarian’s signature Farfisa sound is replaced by a Korg.

Ripple Effect

The 1981 album caught them at the peak of powers in a run that spanned from 1977 to 1984. Be sure to check out some of their compelling early garagey material that appeared on Who's Landing in My Hangar? Anthology 1977-1984 CD from 2011. The slinky “I Gotta Know” and “San Francisco Nights” deserve special mention as the former features Myrna on the glockenspiel and connects Girl Group pop to Paul Revere & the Raiders, while the latter is a Robert Pfeifer standout inspired by the Pickwick Poet Lou Reed.  

Making the Connection They were also the little band that got raved about by big acts like Lenny Kaye, Elvis Costello, the Beastie Boys, and Kurt Cobain (how did he hear so many records in his short 27 years?). Their sound would go on to influence not only the Feelies, Yo La Tengo and indie-popsters like Saturday Looks Good to Me and Lewsberg, but also the multitudes of garage bands now treated with indifference like the Kent 3. Living up to the promise of new wave is what sets this group and record apart from so many others. Consequently, Who's Landing in My Hangar? will reveal itself to the listener in its own time-even if it takes 42 years.

Ron Metz (drums), Myrna Marcarian (keyboards) & Bob Pfifer (guitar)