The New Breed – Tim Schmidt on the right…
Listen – The New Breed – Want Ad Reader – MP3
Greetings all.
Welcome to another week at Iron Leg.
The tune I bring you today is – like so many other selections herein – something I’d known for years (decades) and only managed to get an original of relatively recently.
The HBR label (those initials standing for Hanna-Barbera Records, yes, the same folks that brought you the Flintstones) is one of the more interesting one for collectors. They released all kinds of stuff, from soul (the Packers, Scatman Crothers, Jean King) , to pop (Laurie Johnson Orchestra) to a surprising amount of hard edged garage punk (Guilloteens, Unrelated Segments, Five Americans, and the ultra-rare HBR issue of ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ by the Thirteenth Floor Elevators).
All the years I’ve been digging have proven one thing, that being that the more obvious titles turn up with a much greater frequency than the coolest stuff, which could probably be said about any record label. The good thing is, that even with that part of the equation in place, the HBR discography was so limited, and the label so distinctive and easy to spot, than even the run of the mill discovery tends to be fairly interesting.
This past summer, during one of the Asbury Lanes record/garage sale, while flipping through a box of one-dollar 45s, I happened upon the HBR label, and instead of yet another busted Tidal Waves 45 I pulled out a mint copy of the New Breed’s ‘Want Ad Reader’.
I can’t recall the exact comp I heard it on, but I can say without question that I first encountered this song back in the garage/mod days of the mid-80s. I always dug the nascent power pop cum garage vibe of the song, and my historian/digger instincts were fired up when I discovered that one of the members of the New Breed was none other than Timothy B. Schmidt, who went on to join both Poco and the Eagles.
The New Breed were a product of the greater Bay Area in California (actually hailing from Sacramento), and the ‘Want Ad Reader’ 45 was originally released locally on the World United label. I don’t know exactly how they were picked up by HBR, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was another one of those regional success stories that piqued the interest of a nationally distributed label.
‘Want Ad Reader’ is a dynamite bit of fast-moving, fuzzed out, yet bright pop. The flipside ‘One More For the Good Guys’ – which was included in Iron Leg Digital Trip #26 – is a really surprising stylistic switch, sounding more like something from the stage of a San Fran ballroom than anything remotely garagey.
I hope you dig the record, and I’ll be back later in the week with something groovy.
Peace
Larry
PS Head over to Funky16Corners for a soul jazz vibes mix.
you said it better than I could have (as usual). I was hoping you could solve something that’s bugged me since I first found this record, though and that’s the “Snack Bar” credit. ????
Great choice. I haven’t heard this in years. It’s faster than I recall. I hail from a town not far from Sacramento and thus we hung our hat on The New Breed as the local garage kings (no disrespect to the Oxford Circle). I have the disc on the World United label, and indeed, Porky, that has the Snack Bar credit as well. Curious. You don’t think that Timothy was influenced by Paperback Writer do you ? 😉
Re: the HBR label, they did have a nice eclectic catalog. Also look for The Hogs (aka, The Chocolate Watchband) on that label.
I’m always impressed with the changes in time signature, kind of explosive, particularly that drum/bass excerpt right after the rave-up – it seems so improbable.