Song 51: Moulty

Moulty -The Barbarians
It was a chap called Dennis Johnson who introduced me to 'Nuggets', a legendary compilation of 60s garage-rock minor hits. Dennis was one of the older guys in our Hall of Residence, captain of the football team, and a sharply dressed music nut. It was this kind of psychedelia and hard take-no-prisoners guitar music he particularly loved.

Then it was my friend John who gave me the treasured gift of the full 4 CD Nuggets compilation one summer, and as I look through it now, I'm amazed by how many of the tracks have seeped into my consciousness, from 'Psycho' by The Sonics, 'Lies' by the Knickerbockers, 'Can't Seem to Make You Mine' by the Seeds, to the deeply distasteful 'Spazz' by The Elastik Band (don't listen to it if you're easily offended).

You might think you don't know these songs, but you'll have heard them somewhere. They're always popping up on film soundtracks and being played by DJs at cool bars.

I was reminded of Nuggets by hearing a garage rock version of 'Like a Rolling Stone' on the radio yesterday, which reminded me of one of my favourite cuts, a spot-on Dylan pastiche called 'A Public Execution' by a band called Mouse. But my absolute favourite was 'Moulty' a very minor novelty record, but in its own way a little heartwarmer.

Victor 'Moulty' Moulton was the drummer with The Barbarians, who were a real band, but on this song, which he sings, he is backed by Levon and the Hawks, jobbing musicians at that point, who would become The Band, and they were one of the greatest bands of all time, so that's another reason to love this song.

What makes 'Moulty' so special - well, it's just one of those glorious 60s spoken word novelty songs - Moulty is a one-handed drummer, you see, who lost his hand in an explosion when he was a kid. He recounts his tale of how music saved him and how all he wants now to complete the picture is "a girl, a real girl" (brilliant) all with a rousing chanted chorus of his name. It's extremely silly, empowering and delightful.

Another classic 60s novelty hit, which we had as a record when we were kids, was 'I Want My Baby Back' by one Jimmy Cross. Slightly less heartwarming in his tale of lost body parts than 'Moulty' it nevertheless reminds me what a glorious and odd decade the 60s must have been.

Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that there is far greater breadth in modern culture than there used to be, but things like Nuggets are a reminder of just how much cool stuff there always has been bubbling under the surface which has been lost, or would have been lost but for certain diligent archivists and enthusiasts.