Added: 5 years ago
From: JOoOoDo
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  • Omg ! This was my grandpa's band (: George is my g-pa (bass) i didn't think I'd find him on here. Basically they started out playing as like a garage band, then i guess they just met the right people from what my mom told me. They played all around San Francisco and played in London alot . Basically what ended everything was the manager that they were talking to, didn't share their views on things, this was also a manager that delt with jimi hendrix.so that's why they are no more, and eventually

  • @recklessnrelentless3 Great bass player with some really good lines

  • crackers version is good

  • Oh yes!! They were a REAL band, they were, hugely underrated. Love this powerful version of one of the greatest rock'n'roll songs ever... I'm a middle-aged head now, but I still need to shake some action, it's not lost any of its meaning..

  • Cool,cool!!!!!!!!!

  • no but really... its still cool!

  • Well.... It Ain't LIVE...

    ....That takes Microphones and Guitar Cables and stuff like that!!!!

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  • In my top ten of all time...

  • This song is one of the best rock songs of all time!!!

  • someone's wearing a wig here ...

  • Love it, Check the Rubinoos cover in Madrid, killer version and keeping another SF band alive

  • How can 11 "people" NOT like this!?!

    

  • Tweetsy house dungston!!!!!!!!!!

  • this is NOT THE FLAMIN" GROOVIES!

  • pauls zahl is my dad :D

  • Why weren't this band massive ?

  • @walesfan1 Right sound at the wrong time, I'm afraid.

  • Hey are you sure this isn't Eddie Money? I always wonder who did Loui Loui

  • Hey are you sure this isn't Eddie Money?

  • @feaeRHCP

    Who`s Eddie Money? Just kidding. He`s not this band for sure. He wished he had the balls. Louie Louie. I wish I knew. It was like the song everybody played in the "battle of the bands" until "Gloria" came out. Like your humour though.

  • What a fantastic song! Bon Jovi sucks!

  • Nothing can beat classical rock' n' roll line up with drums, bass, and one (or two) guitar(s).. Period.

  • When I was a real 'teenage head' I often listened this song, 'buzzing' myself in that way while I was preparing for the night out hanging with my friends and constantly searching for 'some action' or fun... Huh..

  • @CROMarioVk

    these guys came from San Francisco and went to London to make it. My band got to open for them once. I was really impressed. Their name really passes to San Francisco. What a great "BAND".

  • @nogov4KB Yea, they were a great band at the wrong place wrong time. They started in 68/69 in San Francisco playing hard core rock and blues. The only thing people were interested at that time out of San Fran was psychedelic rock like Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead. It's kind of like what happened in London with The Jam, totally overshadowed by The Clash.

  • @tdjtx Isn`t it wierd how things work out like that? I have to give the Flamin`Groovies credit for staying together and having the guts to move across the world to London from San Francisco. At least the english were able to appreciate them just as they have many "yanks" that moved there to make their mark. The Flamin`Groovies should have made lots of money. But they were into making music and not into making money. That`s the fate of most true artists. What a great band.

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  • love!

  • The singer looks in this video a little bit like Dave Mustaine from Megadeth. But The Flamin' Grooveis got the better clothes!

  • BARRACUDAS!!!

  • In my Top 10 of all times! I had the honour to work with Chris Wilson when The Brracudas where on my label, Flicknife Records, and he joined the band. A true talent!

  • The Flaming Groovies got well known during the early 70's but most people don't know that they started in 1965. They came out of San Francisco the same time bands like Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service were getting noticed. The Flaming Groovies were totally different than the other bands at the time. They kept their hair short for a long time and they didn't play psychedelic music. They fit more with the punk and power pop bands.

  • @bobyoung53 God bless you,, Bon Jovi Suck out loud. Power Pop & Jangle Pop owe a debt tho.

  • This is kind of a cheesy 80s video for such a cool song. And any of you Bon Jovi peeps, this band created the whole sound/look/era for bands like BJ to even exist. So give them some respect.

  • flangetastic...unbeatable.

  • love this one

  • ilove this song

  • this mix could really use some more bass in it

  • perhaps they are a bit ordinary.

  • they looked better when they dressed like the beatles not that they dont look cool anyways great song great band love them!

  • this is my all time favorite!!!!!!!,song .the words make you think!the studio album contains some of the best groovies songs.

  • The most overlooked group in music history.

  • OTROS COJONUDOS QUE LAS DISCOGRAFICAS NO QUISIERON, JEJEJEJEJEJE

  • A great rendition of a classic tune.

  • Pretty goofy band name -- "Flamin' Groovies".

  • @wilsomi4 You gotta be kidding ! Pretty Groovy, if I say so myself .

  • @vintagezigg :) No offense meant -- rock on.

  • Who the hell are this lot? Not the Flamin' Groovies that's for sure.

  • @f12sysrq Original Groovies Cyril Jordan & George Alexander are in the band. The other guys are Jack Johnson (lead vox/guitar) and Paul Zahl on drums. That was the lineup circa 1986.

  • @pernicketty What had happened to the great Chris Wilson?!?

  • @crapple009 When the Groovies returned to San Francisco from Europe in 1980 drummer Dave Wright decided to quit. Chris Wilson had been getting more and more disillusioned with the way things were going and he too left in late '81, leaving only Cyril and George to keep the name alive. Drummer Paul Zahl, who came from the bands SVT and Yanks, joined in '83. Singer/guitarist Jack Johnson, also from the Yanks, joined in '84. There are lots of good clips of Chris's later efforts to be found on YT.

  • @pernicketty Thanks for that pertinent info. I really enjoyed the Sire years model-Groovies.

    So the Yanks were Jon Tivens band, right? There are still quite a lot of those bands that have evaded me over the years:Prix, Dodgers, Artful Dodger, etc.

  • @crapple009 Jon Tiven's band were The Yankees (NYC). Yanks were ex-SVT guys from Frisco. Sire era Groovies were the best lineup in my opinion but I love the Roy Loney stuff too. Prix were great - too bad they didn't record more songs. Some great Artful Dodger clips on YT now - definitely worth checking out!

  • @pernicketty That's right (duh!). SVT was Jack Casady's "new wave" band (good for him!). Like the Loney era Groovies as well, especially Supersnazz lp. Dodgers was Tom Evans' band after Badfinger officially split. Still trying to get my hands on Tommy Hoehn's Losing You To Sleep lp, though copies change hands very expensively. Meet The Scruffs (on CD!) is a great gem to have. Thanx for ther A.D. info- will definitely check 'em out!

  • @crapple009 I've never heard anything by Dodgers but I'm definitely interested. Ditto for the Tommy Hoehn LP. I had the Scruffs album for years - it was like The Raspberries go punk and very good at that. Definitely worth hearing.

  • Anit Folk Hero, you are right, but Bon Jovi is not the same thing. They have their talent but it is not like the Flamin Grovies. I first saw them at the Jump Club in Melbourne in 1986 and it was fantastic and remain great!

  • Back in the summer of 1976 the campus radio station I worked in received some new releasaes from GRT Reords on the Sire label. One was the Flamin' Groovies "Shake Some Action" lp; the other was the first Ramones lp. Took me a little while to get into the Ramones - thought all their songs sounded the same - but the Groovies quickly became one of my favourite bands. Saw them years later at the El Mocambo in Toronto - my all time best concert ever! Met them after the show as well!

  • Great clip! This may be lip-synched but I'm guessing at least they are lipping to a live track they'd recorded prior to air. Sounds great.

  • French stuff.

  • Amazing tune!

  • This is great but where are duh microphones? THe Hitmen did a great version at the East Brunswick Club a couple of weeks ago.

  • One of the Top !0 rock songs as far as I am concerned. I own many versions and all of them cook. I made my kids listen to this growing up and they still rock out when it comes on. An influential song for many rockers. The Groovies have got to be one of the best garage/crunch bands, along with the MC5, Plimsouls and Smithereens. Great drumming in this video.

  • la ostia que buenos que eran. La pena es que cambiaron las pintas para parecer un puto grupo jevi con el bajo rosa y todo lo demas...

  • ... Why is Justin Bieber famous?

  • Fcking love this song. Always have, always will!!

  • the 1976 lp has some of the greatest tunes ever !! "you tore me down" / "teenage confidential" & of course this masterpiece..."shake some action". it can bring tears to a 70"s teenage eyes !!!

  • This video is from 1986

  • Great song, I have the original on vinyl & it's one of the few I drag out repeatedly.

  • I don't like.

  • this is spinal tap.

  • Me gusta mucho cuando la voz se pone media rasposa como en este caso. Y de la cancion ni hablar... pura energía juvenil que te recuerda a los buenos tiempos del Rock.

    You tore me down es otra gema de ellos.

    Salute

  • @nacionstone58

    pues que quieres que te diga, yo prefiero la epoca de roy loney, el flamingo, el teenage head, el sneakers, el supersnazz.... aunque chris wilson tambien es muy grande, en mi cuenta tengo un video en el que tocan slow death, y chris se luce con la slide

  • This is one of the greatest rock & roll songs ever,but this version sounds like shit. It's all bass and drums. Whoever produced this ought to be shot. Or tied to a chair and forced to listen to Miley Cyrus for 48 straight hours.

  • @Salguine I agree. The guitars are what drives this song. Who mixed this version?

  • Arguably the greatest rock song of all time.

    This 1980s version doesn't really do it full justice.

    Shame the original recording has not been posted.

    Chris Wilson is now living in North London and still playing this song at his live gigs. His Youtube videos may not have the best sound quality but are closer in spirit to the track laid down by the Groovies with producer Dave Edmunds in 1976

  • i really like this version its awesome : )

  • I like Michael Monroe's cover too :-)

  • I would not have discovered this band had I not watched Private Lessons over the weekend...starring Sylvia Kristel...who was in a French flick...and these guys were on the soundtrack.

  • Le club de saut à Melbourne 1995 ! Vraie musique pas comme cette merde que nous entendons de nos jours

  • great ! thanks for sharing

  • asi es la de cracker es muy buena

  • Cracker has a good cover of this song.

  • This was the same band that released Teenage Head? I just don't believe it. This is almost as bizarre as Talk Talk going from 80's pop to post-rock.

  • The song is from the early 70s though, the album Shake Some Action... they definitely became a different band after Ron Loney left. Not for the better or worse in my opinion, at least where that album is concerned.

  • why has this song only got 80,000 vies it should have 80,000 million :)

  • @sabuecw1990 Awesome song..the song that made me wanna play guitar and not take my job seriously when I heard it by a Melbourne cover band. ..I only wish we had a recording of when they wrote it back in 1972. By the time they released it in the mid-70s the guitar sound was all that Rockpile affected phased out crap - not like when their guitar sound was raw and gritty. (ala Teenage Head era) Now this one

  • @sabuecw1990 Sir how right you are? I bought all my Flamin' Groovies albums in the late 70's out of "nice price" bargain bins and second hand stores. One man's trash is another man's treasure:0) Check out "Evolver" album by Magic Christian -Cyril Jordans current band-its very cool.

  • @sabuecw1990 so true oh wait that was my old account.. cheers everyone for the thumbs up .. i do love this song very much : )

  • @sabuecw1990

    absolutely

    

  • @sabuecw1990 I think it is because only 80,000 have seen it

  • @strummerocks What i meant though is it deserves more... No need to try and be a smartass.

  • @sabuecw1990 well it doesnt, does it..

  • great song...just heard for 1st time and I'm 39.

  • Any word on what happened to Jack Johnson?

  • yes i got the answer from the drummer! he moved back to seattle and got married. left the music business. they hated this vid because it was done for a local tv station in france and nothing was mic'd up, it was their drum kit and the whole thing had to be mimed to...what a handsome dude that jack.....

  • sorry it was NOT their drum kit - he said they were really unahppy about it and who ever thought the whole word could see it 25 years later!!

  • Thanks Deb...you're a peach...oh, and I totally agree about Jack!

  • those cheekbones, those lips...hmmmm....snakeskin print trousers,,,,slighly dodgy!!! dx

  • @DeborahS100 Actually this version (they're lip synching) was recorded in Australia, a live in the studio session.

  • I love this song!!

  • I found a copy of a book in the NY Public Research Library on the Groovies. I am trying to get it through inter-library loan. It is called "A Flamin' Saga" and is by a French author...and is in french. If it gives any clues, and if I can get my hands on it, I will post. Thanks for your response DeborahS100. Do you know...was he part of the Aussies who joined the group as another poster mentions? I am curious too.

  • No - he's American - apparently was in a band called The Loops and then Yanks and finished up with Cyril and Geo in this version. West Coast, San Fran /Sacramento.

  • @DeborahS100 He played with Roky Erickson too,(the album was called Don't Slander Me) they have a song on the soundtrack for My Own Private Idaho, (River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves). I remember he was also in a seattle band in the early 80's Called No Cheese Please saw em when I was a kid........

  • Great song...all the different versions I've heard. Courtney Love mentioned it the past wk on the Daily Beast. Who sings the lead vocal on this version?

  • It's Jack Johnson singing but no one seems to know what happened to him....

  • @DeborahS100 He's on Facebook but uses the name Robert Johnson.......

  • can't find him on facebook - too many robert johnsons!

  • this 'band' ain't the Flaming Groovies.

  • i don't understand, are they lip syncing? they are no mics, it doesn't look like the guitars have wires, and it doesn't look like they're even playing along with the song. yet this is defiantly a live version of the song

  • One of THE best rock songs EVER written! Hands down! Flaming fucking Groovies RULE!

  • one of the best 20 pop songs of all time

  • check out my recently uploaded Flamin' Groovies songs!

  • Yes, what became of Jack Johnson. I remember him in The Loops in Sacto with Richard McGrath (True West) before he moved to SF and started The Yanks.

  • Did you ever find out what happened to Jack?

  • @truewesterner Richard McGrath was in the Yanks?

  • You'd never have had Bon Jovi without these guys. On another note, fuck Bon Jovi. The Groovies were incredible.

  • @antifolkhero true  true

  • @antifolkhero Sort of bummed you would even mention Bon Jovi in the same sentence as The Groovies. Thanks for blowing it.

  • @Tasha6cat Thanks for blowing me. Oh wait, that was your Mom.

  • @antifolkhero Real clever, dude.

  • @Tasha6cat Thanks. 

  • In memory of the late Mark and Dean Mittlehauser. Two people who introduced me to the best music and tv in a small town dominated by bogans, Geelong.

  • what is a bogan?

  • White trash in Australia

  • Thanks for droppin the knowledge.

    Is it true they call Americans Seppo's?

  • No idea.  I left Australia 15 years ago with no regrets.

  • The Flamin' Groovies, absolutamente grandes.sentado sobre el marco de la ventana los paramecios de mi camisa estan bailando celebrando el solsticio de verano.esta cancion me recuerda a madrid y al barrio de ventas donde ensayaba con mi grupo de entonces.

    edu lüger

  • Great version of one of the best songs. I was lucky enough to see this line up in 86 in Sydney, they were great. They did themselves and all the catalogue full credit. Better this than nothing at all.

  • Of course this is the line up in 1986..all bamds change....clash,ramones who.everyone..still great version of their song.with the the line up of Cyril Jordan and George Alexander) recorded in Australia, for the album one night stand. and drummer Paul Zahl and guitarist Jack Johnson. who is singing

  • Jack Johnson - What ever became of you?

  • Charlie pickett and the Eggs did the best version of this

  • YESSS! I had the live lp back in '85. Great Florida band,great covers (You're a Better Man Than I',etc.). Wish I still had it...for proof!

  • Thanx for the site info :)

    Had been a big fan for years, but I left South Fla for England in '84. Brought with me a cassette of the album which my boyfriend loved.

    Imagine my surprise to find Bar Band Americanus in my local (Yorkshire, England) library! I just thought ??who ordered this??

  • anyone knows what happen to Jack Johnson?like were is he now ?how long was he in the band etc,etc

  • this is not THE flamin groovies.

    a complete rip-off.

    how can you compete with the rock n roll masters?

  • Doesn't give me chills like the studio version, but pretty cool anyway.  Thanks for the post, JooDoo

  • I remember a review of a Groovies album (Jumpin in the Night?) when they were accused of being retro and copying the Beatles/Stones/Byrds. Aaarghh. This is a classic track - not the Dave Edmunds version, but I think an earlier comment mentioning Oz is probably true.

    I have a CD recorded in OZ and will try to check and compare.

  • The best Groovies song.

  • Paul Zahl - can shake my action!

  • OK, it sounds just a bit like a '80s hair-band remake, but it's still 10 times better than most of the music for which that (mostly) horrible decade will be remembered. I can't really blame them for "updating" the sound a little; that was probably the only hope they had of getting it heard in those days. It can't compare to the original, but I kind of like that whooshing noise in the background; I can't tell if it was intentional or not.

  • The song is a classic, but who are the mystery guys? Is there a reason for dim lights?

  • The "TV" may have been "live" but they're not!

  • best song ever!

  • This is the version recorded in Australia for One night stand; maybe not as good as the original, but a great energetic clip.

    And what a cool wig Cyril has!

  • are these guys from england

  • nope USA

  • Paul Zahl - batterie (french for "drums")

    Jack Johnson - guitar

    Geo. Alexander - bass

    Cyril Jordan - guitar - genius....

  • This is not the Flaming Groovies. I don't care what anyone sasys.

  • They wnet through alot of transformations over the years. This technically is them...

  • The song remains the same.

    Saludos,

    brassneck

  • completely agree

  • Hey, Bongo, that's cool, Cyril is my bud.....the singers' name is Jack, pretty cool guy too. No Chris Wilson, by any means,...........but, I KNOW Chris Wilson...........lolol,

  • i stand corrected. very 80s indeed...

  • real cool!

  • This is not The Flamin Groovies. Good cover band. Are they Spanish or Norwegian?

  • This is the shitty eighties version of the Groovies!!!!!!!!!!! That is totally Cyril Jordan on guitar and George Alexander on bass. But, Hell, yeah, it is two members of the original Groovies, Look a little closer, DUH!

  • R u sure ? I can recognize Jordan (with a postiche !!) but as long as I remember, Alexander had already left the band at this time.

  • hard to go wrong w/this song, despite 80s drums and 80s anonymous singer. is cyril wearing a rug?

  • Great song, with such a catchy guitar line. Fabulous band! I have only one problem.... where did they hide the microphones? Afraid its not live...

  • irresistablejewel - you got it, must be an MTV promo video. Great tune, tho

  • @irresistablejewel Cyril's been wearing a topper for years....He plays in a band now called Magic Christian with Eddie Munoz from the Plimsouls....

  • OMG i cannot believe after years i saw for the first time that version from the lovely song thanks so much so anyone knows if its available a videoclip form that track? hgus to y'all

  • Amazing band!!! Thanx for this!

  • I can't believe this is the group which made up Flamingo's LP.

    Anyway, I like the song.

  • I agree.

    POWER POP!

  • This is THE most underrated band, no question about it. Five and a half stars.

  • Hey Marvel sure yaw're drunk when ya wrot'hat.

  • Yes, it's an 80's remake, but considering all the older songs that were brought back & butchered in that decade,it's not nearly as bad as many of you are saying it is. The talent-less Bananarama totally ruined the classic song 'Venus' by the wonderful Shocking Blue. Just be glad this is not Madonna trying to do a remake of the Beatles- It was bad enuf we had to be subjected to the crap she did. Need I say more?

  • who r these guys- ok they do a neat cover but they are mime'ing to their version of the flamin groovies-check the drummerz dummy snare skin(pillow blow effect) on 0:12s

  • My absolute fave by the Groovies!!! :)