Various - Northwest Battle of the Bands! - Vol 1 Various

Whoo boy, it's about time this story really got told! Volume One of the Northwest Battle Of The Bands is the tip of the iceberg, as Alec [Palao] tells me there are at least four more coming. This is the stuff that not only kept 60s teens dancing, but also the stuff that inspired so many Seattle, Olympia, Portland and other Pacific Northwest bands to pick up guitars and make noise, from the late 70s right into the 90s. There was a flourishing scene in the mid-60s built on raw rock'n'roll bands and independent labels like Jerden and Etiquette, and that's what happened again in the late 80s-early 90s - a regional, self-proficient approach that didn't really give a shit about what was happening in L.A. and New York. There's a direct line from the Sonics and Wailers and Ventures and Raiders and Frantics and Kingsmen to the Telepaths and Wipers and Moberlys and the Lewd to the U-Men to the Young Fresh Fellows to Girl Trouble to Beat Happening to Mudhoney to Soundgarden to friggin' Nirvana or whatever you want. It's the root of the Northwest sound, why fight it. And now Big Beat is digging out those roots for us...