I went a little crazy with mid 60's garage compilations after reading the excellent history of Greg Shaw and Bomp Records, spending more than should've been alotted at the Bomp website. One fortunate purchase was a few volumes of the series Highs in the Mid Sixties, an anthology of all the best local garage/psychobilly/acid/psych/surf/punk rock bands you've never heard of. Pretty much every suburban region that was fertile with Stones and Animals rip-offs are given their own album or albums, the best being Wisconsin/Minnesota, Texas, and our fair state of Michigan. I made sure to show my mom this record when it first came in the mail, hoping she might recognize at least one band name or venue title with little sucess, leaving me saddened not only that I had missed such a great local scene but that she had as well.
The Wanted were not featured on these records but certainly would have been in good company. "Here to Stay" is a moody tune about lost teenage love and the regret this young man feels for being duped by some metro-Detroit Jezebel. I'm hard pressed to think of any other adjective than "cool" to describe the overall sound here, easily distinguishing itself from the excess of garage rock blues rave-ups a la The Yardbirds. Much more surf than soul. Hazy organ leads, melancholy vocal delivery, haunting chorus, and a perfectly placed fuzz guitar bridge add up to one helluva Detroit rock gem. On the B-side, the guys do a bang-up cover job on one of the biggest songs in the garage repetoire, "In the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett. Both were originally recorded at Detroit Sound, 12730 E. Warren in Detroit, date unknown.
9 out of 10 on the "Rep Ya' City" scale...
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