Thursday, February 11, 2016

The Barbarians

The Barbarians
Released 50 years ago...
The Barbarians - Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?
The Barbarians - Moulty

Garage rockers The Barbarians had a brief but memorable career in the 1960s. The group formed in 1964 and quickly gained a local and then national following. They appeared in the pioneering concert film The T.A.M.I. Show alongside such artists as The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, James Brown, and the Supremes, and released one album and four singles before breaking up in 1967. The group had a hard and rough sound, and had the looks and attitude to go along with it, including very long hair for the time. Adding to their dangerous aesthetic was their drummer Moulty who had prosthetic hook in place of his left hand. 

The Barbarians first and only album was released early in 1966 and contains one classic original track, "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl," and then is filled out with a handful of typical 1960s garage rock cover songs.  The song "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl" was a humorous take on all of the insults that were hurled at the band for the way they looked and was their biggest hit, peaking at No. 55 on the Billboard charts.  A few months after the release of their album they released their other classic song, the non-album single "Moulty," an autobiographical anthem about Moulty not giving up after the loss of his hand, which made it to No. 90 on Billboard.



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