HIM OR ME (The Flamin’ Groovies)
In late 1974, Greg Shaw’s first release on his Bomp! Records record label were two tracks from 1972 album sessions by the Flamin’ Groovies that the band could not get anyone to release. The “A” side was “You Tore Me Down”, backed with a fine treatment of the old Paul Revere and the Raiders song “Him or Me”. As Shaw put it: “All I knew was that music this good had to come out. . . . And that’s as good a foot to start on as any, I reckon.”
(April 2010)
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The Flamin’ Groovies showed the way when their 1976 album, Shake Some Action (on Sire Records and Aim Records) moved a lot of vinyl by looking backwards to the 1960’s, vindicating Greg Shaw’s decision to step up and launch Bomp! Records by releasing their 1974 single, “You Tore Me Down” b/w “Him or Me”.
(January 2015/2)
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Greg Shaw launched Bomp! Records in December 1974 with the release of the Bomp 101 single, “You Tore Me Down” b/w “Him or Me” by the Flamin’ Groovies, with the latter song being the Paul Revere and the Raiders song. The first band signed by the new label was past UARB the Poppees, whose unabashed Beatlesque stylings were at odds with the established rock scene and the punk/new wave scene alike.
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In the liner notes for Destination: Bomp!, Greg Shaw says: “‘I Got a Right’ . . . remains one of Ig’s best songs ever, and one he still performs regularly.” Both “I Got a Right” and “Gimme Some Skin” are included on The Best of Bomp, Volume One (as is the flip side of the first Bomp single, “Him or Me” by the Flamin’ Groovies); that’s where I first heard them.
(December 2017)
