Sharpies were the terror teen cast of a Richard Allen novel that never was. Although largely synonymous with the early-to-mid 1970s, reports of their violent clashes with rival gangs of Mods are documented as early as 1966. Bored, working-class, suburban kids, their teenage rampage began in Melbourne, Australia, but soon there were Sharpie gangs forming in Sydney, Perth and beyond. For a while they were the untouchables, ruling dances, discos and public transport with their fists. Sharpies were fiercely territorial and divided into different chapters according to location. They would often wage aggressive wars within their tightly delineated sub-gangs, although Mods always remained their arch-enemy. Sharpies were the scourge of the railways. Although they would seldom attack members of the general public, if you gave them a second look you’d be lucky to escape with your wallet intact. Violence was their world, but always with a strict moral code. Sharpie boys and girls wore similar uniforms: a slim-fitting, ribbed and collared cardigan called a Conny, T-shirts, tight jeans (Lee or Levis) and big platform shoes. Girls’ shoes had 100% cork heels. Boys’ shoes were often two-coloured. Hair was worn short or shaved with long wisps at the back, influenced by the British ska, mod and skinhead subcultures.

Sharpie girls had their hair slightly longer and often with coloured streaks - Bowie-red was their colour of choice. Boys often bleached their hair. Tattoos were popular, although many were homemade and poorly executed. Their diet was anthemic glam-rock (Slade, Sweet, T.Rex, Bowie, Gary Glitter) kung-fu movies and A Clockwork Orange. The music of local heroes like Lobby Loyde and The Coloured Balls, AC/DC, Skyhooks and Hush provided their daily soundtrack. They even had their own tribal dance, a rhythmic sway with knees bent and fists clenched and pumping upwards across their chests. As the 1970s drew to a close, and new styles like punk and disco began to emerge, Sharpies started to fade. By 1979 they were all-but gone. Today they are recognised as an important part of Australian youth culture and social history. Enjoy their music...

Arriving to the world for the first time, really–beyond the ears of the deep–digging few–Dale Jenkins’ Undesirable Elements, issued privately in the Washington, D.C. area circa 1985, is a homespun effort deserving of the audience and attention it never received upon initial release. Undesirable Elements–here expanded as Undesirable Element with appended bonus tracks–is a desolate and deconstructed album which touches on the subtleties and extremes of the human condition, and the nuances in between, across gnarled bits of proto–punk via abrasive, fuzzed guitars, and refracted mutant strains of British post–punk through a distinctly American underbelly sensibility. Drum–led and in–the–red, Undesirable Elements is a loose concept album of sorts, from the sympathetic pen of an innately skilled commentator. The album displays polemical disdain for the behavior of humans, insular views, and blindly moving forward on simple suggestion, while carrying a keen eye into the many textures of the mindscape of man. While you may hear occasional tears at aiming at the trends of the times, Jenkins’ direct, intensely personal and lyrically sophisticated material, combined with his charged attack, is in a realm all its own. Jenkins’ lyrics are nearly cinematic, like bite–sized scripts, or character vignettes, filled with wizened, introspective and radicalized perspective.

The self–contained home–recording maverick was searching, sensitive, subversive, topical, yet several steps from the soapbox. Got Kinda Lost Records is over the moon to allow this unique, outsider singer–songwriter/psych–punk album another turn at its time in the shine...

Do not complain. The legion of Excitements fans DOES exist in places near and far in this world-gone-insane so if you are ready to be recruited you're in luck. Miraculously, these workaholics of rhythm, who conquered and claimed more than fifteen countries just for the sheer thrill of it during their last tour, found a break and the action of their troubled agenda.It seemed only logical to throw their road sharpened revue into the studio to commit to wax their finest album to date entitled "Breaking The Rule". After more than two years on the road and 200 sweat soaked performances since the release of their second LP "Sometimes Too Much Is Not Enough", this third LP certifies that the big combo from Barcelona can do whatever they please: either caress you or kick you in the stomach-or both. The steamroller rhythm section is one powerful structure pounding under searing guitars, roaring horns and all reigned over by the voice of Koko that claws at their hypnotic gyrations with wild abandon. This new Excitements bag, as expected, is THE satisfier with high voltage rhythm and soul floorshakers and lease breakers-"Everything is Better Since You're Gone","Fire", "Hold On Together"-ripping spear-hurling R & B - "Chicken Picking" "I'd Rather Feel The Pain", "Did I Let You Down", heartbreaking ballads and mid-tempos - "Breaking The Rule", and "Take It Back" and and a pair of rhythmical postcards- a tribute to what once were the noisy streets of New Orleans ("Mojo Train") and restless nights in a Havana boarding house ("Four Loves").

And do not, do not fear, inside this explosive cocktail of sonic chaos, a strange sweet harmony prevails through all and each of the grooves of the record. And as always, all wrapped up, signed, sealed and delivered with the elegantly filthy production of Mike Mariconda.

The contribution of Mickey Baker to 1950s music puts him next to titans like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. He is undoubtedly the king of 50s R&B guitar as well as an inventor of the sound called Rock and Roll. The difference between these two and Baker is that his career has been unfairly undervalued, if not almost unknown. And his recorded output is FIVE times more than Chuck and Bo combined. The most in-demand studio musician/session guitarist par excellence during the golden years of the R & B laid the foundation for Rock and Roll. This tireless hard working musician spent half his life in the studio and the other half on tour and left his mark on hundreds, thousands of recordings, among which are hits from artists like Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown or the Coasters. His incendiary riffs and solos were always aggressive, twisted but elegant sounding. He possessed creativity ahead of his time with excellent taste, and completely transformed the concept and role of the electric guitar into rock and roll forever. But don't panic. This is far from being an album for guitarists or academics. It is a selection of rare recordings that showcase him backing various singers and a few instrumentals easily moving through styles of R&B, Blues, Rock, Gospel and Folk done for different labels between 1953 and 1961.

We are happy to present this diverse compilation with stunning sound quality and much of the material never before reissued. And we hope you enjoy the experience of discovering or remembering the immeasurable Mickey Baker, the king of and most recorded guitarist in 1950s rhythm and blues.