Flamin' Groovies

Flamin' Groovies are a San Francisco rock band formed in 1965. Their music develops from garage rock and rock and roll, with later work linked to power pop and proto-punk. The group is associated with labels including Kama Sutra and A Snazz Recording, and its membership over time includes Cyril Jordan, Roy Loney, Chris Wilson, George Alexander, James Ferrell, David Wright, Jack Johnson, Tim Lynch, Danny Mihm and Mike Wilhelm.

Early years and first albums

The band forms in San Francisco and is founded by Cyril Jordan and Roy Loney. Their early recordings show an influence from the Lovin' Spoonful and other soulful rock acts. Their debut album, Supersnazz from 1969, combines 1950s rock and roll revivals with more melodic songs that point towards the power pop style they later help shape. It includes a version of Bobby Troup's “The Girl Can't Help It” and helps build them a cult audience despite limited commercial success.

The second album, Flamingo, appears in 1970 and continues to draw on 1950s rock and roll as well as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. It is the only album credited with an apostrophe in the group name and is the first of two releases they make for Kama Sutra. The following album, Teenage Head from 1971, is the last to feature Roy Loney. It receives strong critical attention, appears in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and is regarded as part of the proto-punk canon. Mick Jagger praises it as an excellent album.

Change in sound and later 1970s work

After Loney leaves, Chris Wilson joins on vocals and guitar and, together with Jordan, moves the band further towards power pop. Between 1971 and 1976 the group is largely quiet apart from the 1972 anti-drug song “Slow Death”. In 1976 they work with British producer and retro rock artist Dave Edmunds on Shake Some Action. By this point Cyril Jordan and George Alexander are the remaining long-term members, and the band adopts a more direct tribute to mid-1960s British Invasion rock, including a suit-and-tie image. Shake Some Action enters the Billboard 200, reaching number 142, and the title track becomes one of the group’s signature songs.

The 1978 album Now continues their deliberate revival of classic 1960s rock. Jordan later describes the approach as trying to capture a vanished period in a kind of capsule.

Later years and legacy

Through the early 1980s the band continues in the same style, then moves into a more sporadic on-and-off existence as new wave and alternative rock become more prominent. Their final album, Rock Juice from 1993, also draws attention as an underground release. In retrospect, the group is widely cited as one of the most influential cult bands in American rock, and their work influences later punk and power pop bands.