#the count 5

[youth-racket]

Garage trash duo Teenage Cavegirl

[bayareabackstage]

The Count V Bay Area Backstage This flashback we land at the now demolished Avalon club. The Count V was on Location for a Benefit Concert. Garage Rock Anthem "Psychotic Reaction" is their claim to fame. The band was right out of High School and on Location with Dick Clark. Making That leap from Local KLIV radio to the Big Time. It's one hell of a story and Bay Area Music History. Their Appearance was pretty cool wearing Dracula Capes and doing a Photo Shoot in front of the Winchester Mystery House. Check out their performance. The Introduction was done by MC Mark Purdy a San Jose Mercury News reporter, who claims The Count V Invented Punk/Garage Rock. The band was founded in 1964 by John "Mouse" Michalski (born 1948, Cleveland, Ohio) (lead guitar) and Roy Chaney (born 1948, Indianapolis, Indiana) (bass guitar), two high school friends who had previously played in several short-lived bands. After going by the name The Squires for a short time, along with several line-up changes, the Count Five were born. John "Sean" Byrne (1947-2008, born Dublin, Ireland) played rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Kenn Ellner played tambourine and harmonica while sharing lead vocals and Craig "Butch" Atkinson (1947-1998, born San Jose, California) played drums. The Count Five gained distinction for their habit of wearing Count Dracula-style capes when playing live. "Psychotic Reaction", an acknowledged cornerstone of garage rock,[1] was initially devised by Byrne, with the group refining it and turning it into the highlight of their live sets. The song was influenced by the style of contemporary musicians such as The Standells and The Yardbirds.[citation needed] The band was rejected by several record labels before they got signed to the Los Angeles-based Double Shot Records. "Psychotic Reaction" was released as a single, peaking at #5 in the U.S. charts in late 1966. The band enjoyed limited success for a short time, dropping out of view altogether when their only hit had fallen from public memory. Another setback to a potential career in the music business was the decision of the five members (who were between the ages of 17 and 19) to pursue college degrees. By 1969, the Count Five had broken up, but their memory was immortalized in a 1972 essay by rock journalist Lester Bangs, entitled "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung." In the essay, Bangs credited the band for having released several later albums (after Psychotic Reaction): Carburetor Dung, Cartesian Jetstream, Ancient Lace and Wrought-Iron Railings, and Snowflakes Falling On the International Dateline — each displaying an increasing sense of artistry and refinement. However none of these subsequent albums actually existed except in Bangs' own imagination.