Anyway, this is another one of those songs which sounds absolutely brilliant every single time I hear it and never loses its status or appeal (which is the point of this series!) but in particular it takes me back to an exciting period when I was discovering new old music. As I was working in the record shop it was easier to order all sorts of obscure items from all sorts of obscure labels, plus get a staff discount - suffice to say it seemed I was bringing home a new album just about every week.
Up until that point I'd always most enjoyed music that was current at the time of listening, so it was quite an adventure to explore an unfamiliar genre from the past. I first heard this particular song around 1985 I think, by which time it was nearly 20 years old. To my 22-year old self, that meant it was bloody ancient. Now, of course if I spool back 20 years, a mere blink of an eyelid ago, I realise it's me who's bloody ancient.
But never mind all that, because this is timeless. My first awareness of its existence in the '80s was thanks to a brilliant compilation album: 'Perfumed Garden Vol 1' , put out by the Psycho label. It grabbed me right from the off with its dirty, grungy, overdriven guitar intro. The vocals are nicely rough too, and that insistent riff just keeps on going. I had no idea until then that anything in the sixties could sound quite this punk; I thought the Stones and the Kinks were about as hard as it gets, so it came as a revelation.
'You're Too Much' was originally put out as a B-side in May 1966 (the A-side, 'Man With Money' still sounds fine to my ears but is not a patch on this).
As for the band - I wrote a piece about them in a fanzine in 1986 (shocking to think that is now longer ago than the original gap between the record's release and my hearing it). So my research has already been done and I'll just reproduce it here...
The Eyes were a young band from Ealing who picked up a culty mod following in the mid sixties. They supported such bands as The Action, The Kinks and The Move. Their 'gimmick' was to wear colourful, amusing clothes - stripey Rugby shirts, bleached jeans, pink parkas with tyre tracks inked on the backs and red or yellow boots. (Also for added decoration - big eyes sewn onto their tops!)
After 4 singles (the last one of which was a flop), an EP, and a disguised album, the band split up, and vocalist Terry was the only member to pursue a serious musical career. He joined 'Andromeda' for a while but never recorded with them, then became vocalist for 'The Entire Sioux Nation' with Larry Wallis (who later became a Pink Fairy), Jim Taylor and Paul Nichols.
Anyway - onto the song. It would be an understatement to say I just fucking love it.
The Eyes: You're Too Much
(originally released May 1966)
The Eyes in rugby shirts and bleached jeans (1966)
The whole piece from the fanzine (1986)
(originally released May 1966)
Love it! I can hear Andy Ellison and John's Children in there - Smashed Blocked?
ReplyDeleteWest London must have been absolutely buzzing around that time. How buzzing? Read Bowie's handwritten notes (very similar to yours btw) on the back of The Pinups sleeve.
Glad you like too. Yes, I know what you mean about John's Children, a bit more on the anarchic side. Mustn't it have been a great place/time if you were the right age and demographic to appreciate it? I know the notes you mean and 'the Ricky-Tik scene circuit'... must've been really something.
DeleteExcellent. And that is a top band photo. Don't leave it 2 years till the next of these, C.
ReplyDeleteI like that band photo too, especially those bleached jeans. Honestly I can hardly believe where the time goes, but seems any time I decide to run a series we can expect to wait at least a year between instalments.
DeleteIf the Eyes had come from this side of the world they would have been discovered on the legendary Nuggets compilation. A perfect fit. Love it. As Rol said, More!
ReplyDeleteThat's so true. They would have fitted on Nuggets perfectly. I think you guys were way ahead of us there when it came to '60s garage punk!
DeleteThanks for the encouragement too. I forget what series I (try to) start!
Rugby shirts, bleached jeans and a magnificent noise - what's not to love? Don't keep us waiting so long for Part 6 C.
ReplyDeleteThat's it, what's not to love! I'll try to remember to keep this one going, there are plenty of songs that fit the bill but actually getting round to writing about and posting them is another matter....
DeleteNever heard of them before but excellent as everyone says. The photo of them could almost be contemporary as well - The '60s changed everything didn't it and bands have been borrowing from that era ever since.
ReplyDeleteLove your Fanzine as well - You've shared some pages from it before. So much work must have gone into it but beautifully done.
I know just what you mean and find that more and more with images from other eras and how styles come around. Many thanks for the kind words about that old fanzine. Many hours of painstaking work went into it (and I loved every minute!)
DeleteLove the photo of the band- had no idea bleached jeans were a 60s thing. Rugby shirts too.
ReplyDeleteMe neither. The bleached jeans just look so (later) skinhead/punk to me.
DeleteGreat post. Consequently I found myself driven to YouTube in search of 'Perfumed Garden Vol 1'. Found it! Along with 'Perfumed Garden Vol 2'. Thank you, C.
ReplyDeleteAh, brilliant, that's really nice to know. Hope you've enjoyed the selections on both Perfumed Gardens!
DeleteA lot of it was new to me, but the sounds took me back. Ta.
DeleteA fantastic song I just had the pleasure of hearing for the first time! And the lyrics are so relatable even today, as I think most of us have times when a partner/friend is "Too Much" :)
ReplyDeleteReally good to hear you like it Chris, thanks. It's tucked away on a few compilation albums I think but still remains quite obscure.
DeleteYes, some people really can be too much!