BLUES MAGOOS
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The BLUES MAGOOS: at one point one of the hippest bands in America, regarded as pioneers of a new musical direction. Coming out of New York City never hurt a band, and solid support from a major label shouldn't either. Or? The Magoos' first Mercury 45 hit Billboard's #5, and the debut LP, released in October 1966, was considered daring, even avantgarde in parts. |
| Yet only a few months into this brave new world, due to unpredictable shifts in the hip underground, the Blues Magoos came to be seen as psychedelic band-wagon jumpers, even though they existed before there were any band-wagons to jump, and called themselves "psychedelic" months before most westcoast bands would. By mid-1967 bands like the Doors and Procol Harum had usurped the Magoo power, and after two more minor hits they faded into the background, like so many great teen acts of '66 who just didn't have the "freak" controls set at the exact right position. |
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Of course, there were signs that Mercury weren't entirely on the ball with the Magoos: the "lollipop" part of their debut album title, various goofy PR stunts, and the supremely confused insert to the "Electric Comicbook" LP, which tried to be freaky hip and pre-teen fanclub fodder at the same time. Few bands display the watershed pop schizophrenia of the era as well as the Magoos; marketed as top 40 teen idols they delivered hip, challenging NYC benzedrine-punk on record. This wasn't merely a rift between the group and the label; among the Magoos themselves the ambitions ran in different directions. A choice had to be made, but before anyone had time to decipher the initials of "Albert Common Is Dead", the underground had already made its choice.
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Today the Blues Magoos legacy is in a bit of disarray, partly because of their supposed one-hit-wonder status, partly because they slip uncomfortably between any musical garage/folkrock/psych chairs people like to find comfort in. Their sound was modern and unusual, yet they ran up a massive hit, did lots of TV and teen mags, so they were obviously not an underground band...? Most 1960s fans seem to appreciate them, but unlike the Electric Prunes or the Chocolate Watchband there is no Magoo cult active today, and not many young retro-heads are aware of just how hip the Blues Magoos were for a few glorious months in early 1967. This recent quote from ex-Prune Mark Tulin in Misty Lane magazine provides a good clue: "...Blues Magoos was the band that showed that you can make money on albums." Ultimately, it's difficult to lament the fate of the Magoos. Check out Ralph Scala's euphorically beaming face on those old TV clips: it's the look of a Bronx kid who's been handed the world, if only for a year or so. |
Lama
Workshop special - Rare 1967 Interview!
Here are scans from a Blues Magoos interview just as the band was
peaking, made by none other than GREG SHAW from his legendary fanzine MOJO
NAVIGATOR. These scans are a rare treat as this particular issue (#1-1967)
for some reason is missing from the on-line Navigator archives. Both young
Greg and the band come off well in this historically significant piece,
plugged directly into the buzzing "now" of the psychedelic
explosion.
More Magoo Mania!
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| Cool photo ad from Billboard 1967, showing the band's busy schedule | Interview from Beat magazine, April 1967 | Join now! |
THE END
Thanks to Scott, Mike Somavilla and Mike Stax for
scans.