ERIE, CYRUS & THE QUICK - Get The Message/Southern Comfort

One of only a handful of North American garage acts to digest the maxim of the Whos maximum R&B and temper it with the dramatic teen pop appeal of the Easybeats and Small Faces, Cyrus Erie and the Quick mark GROUND ZERO not merely for Buckeye state Angophilia, but also for the greatest power pop band of the 1970s: The Raspberries. Long before Wally Bryson was a teen angel and Eric Carmen was all by himself, the future Lennon/McCartneys of Cleveland were devouring the British Beat scene mail-order, scouring the margins of imported copies of Melody Maker and Fab 208; copping looks, licks and hair-styles (dig the drummers perm!). Allotted just two stiff single shots on Epic in 1969, Cyrus Erie and the Quick were huge on their home turf, but could never go all the way outside their Midwestern enclave. Here now is both their end and their beginning. The post-Choir, pre-Berry harvest. Tin soldiers melted with Friday on my minds eye. As necessary for pop fans as life itself.