Biography
Spontaneous Corruption was a blues-rock 'power trio' that included Danny Sheridan on vocals and bass, guitarist Kenny Hamlin, and drummer Greg Giancola. They were formed in the late sixties after a series of very loud late night jams at Giancola’s Chagrin Falls, Ohio music store. The band was endorsed by New Jersey’s Guild Musical Instruments Corporation and playing through their large stacks of Guild amplifiers often got the two elder band members arrested for noise violations (Danny Sheridan was still under age).
The band recorded for Philips Records*, a Universal Music Group subsidiary. They were produced by Roger Karshner, whose studio credentials already included The Outsiders “Time Won’t Let Me”; the Human Beinz classic “Nobody But Me” and an odd collaboration between The James Gang and jazz artist Chuck Mangione.
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By way of musical description, in 2008, Buckeye Beat said: "Freaky Girl" was a band original and sounds like a bluesy snarl take off on Hendrix's "Purple Haze". The flip side "Looking Glass of Time" includes some deliberately outrageous non-sequiters like "Mrs Jones kidney stones on the ground....a crack is running through my seam....". Both singles were recently re-released. (See below)
The trio hit the road playing very loud, riff-based originals, through a cloud of strobe lights and fog machines, with Sheridan sometimes setting the drum kit on fire. They performed on a number of teen TV shows, including Cleveland’s legendary “Upbeat”.
The group split when Danny Sheridan, tired of SC’s theatrics, left to form the Eli Radish Band, now acknowledged as pioneers of the so called “outlaw country” genre, eventually finding David Allan Coe for their front vocalist. The group recorded in various incarnations throughout the seventies on several labels (Capitol Records and Olympia, with aSun Records release rumored for 2013) and toured with acts like The Who; The Doors and a long list of major rockers. Coe has gone on to massive C&W fame and respect, writing standards like “Take This Job An Shove It”; “Long Haired Redneck”; “You Never Call Me By My Name’”; the number one “Would You Lay With Me?” for Tanya Tucker and has recorded nearly 50 CDs of his timeless songs. Today he performs more than 250 concert dates each year.
Sheridan later managed MTV’s original VJ Nina Blackwood and then married legendary blues rock singer Bonnie Bramlett. The two formed LA’s Bandaloo Doctors and toured together into the 90s. Sheridan continues songwriting for many artists, TV and film projects. Today he produces Blackwood's national radio shows and manages her SiriusXM satellite shows and with Ibiza’s DJ Franco, co-produced “house/dance” re-mixes for RockStar SuperNova’s vocalist Dilana.
Greg Giancola changed his name to G.G. Greg and for over 30 years has run the GG Greg Entertainment Agency. He also played with country artist Deadly Earnest, who Sheridan produced for Michael Nesmith’s Pacific Arts label.
Kenny Hamlin went on to form Paper Train (Capitol Records) and released “Time Waits For No One”, a Hamlin/Sheridan composition in 1970. He became a record executive at a number of major labels in LA and NYC, including ABC and Polygram and eventually became the GM of Elektra-Asylum in Nashville.
Roger Karshner continued as a major label executive and eventually became a vice-president at Capitol Records. He became a published author, then a published playwright, a professional passion he pursues today. His plays are performed worldwide.
* Phillips played a major part in promoting the garage rock genre and the psyche rock genre in the mid to late 60s, with groups like Spontaneous Corruption and their most successful signing, Blue Cheer. Philips became the outlet for Sire Records in America and distributed a number of punk and new wave bands like Talking Heads and The Ramones. In 1998, Philips Records became part of the Universal Music Group.
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CONTACT: SpontaneousCorruption@gmail.com
RE-RELEASES:
June 21, 2005
Spontaneous Corruption
Freaky Girl
Gear Fab Records B0009Q0ERE
http://chocoreve.blogspot.com/2006/02/hopelessly-obscure-60s-psych.html
January 8 2008
Spontaneous Corruption
The Looking Glass of Time
Arcania UPC 767763902926
http://muzetunes.com/playback.asx?c=Rqo5nlJY9rkR3K_NLzTgT_57HAD4TVgW8h3Hj4dp4HU=&f=B
Aliens Psychos & Wild Things Vol. Fore, that's Vol.4 if you're counting. Either way it's the countdown to fun and frenzy. This is the latest and (maybe the greatest) in this mostly out of print series. You'll have fuzz fuzz fuzz, till her daddy takes the CD away. Then he'll be rockin' out too.
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/7580292/a/Aliens,+Psychos+&+Wild+Things+Aliens,+Psychos+&+Wild+Things+Volume+Fore.htm
Looking Glass Of Time (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFCKMoRK4kY Uploaded by psychedelatrip on Jul 28, 2009
Great song. This is one of the rarest releases on the Philips label. The other side of this 45 is killer too ! Found my copy in the early 80`s at a record convention. OhioRocks77 1 year ago
Excellent. Far out. 5/5. philipsmovies 2 years ago
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RECENT PRESS:
November 29, 2011 - PUREPOP: Spontaneous Corruption –Freaky Girl
Spontaneous Corruption –Freaky Girl/Looking Glass of Time –Philips 40528 (1968 US)
Released in ’68 this single is a miraculous obscurity by the wonderfully named Spontaneous Corruption. Trogg-like in its snarly sleazy heaviness, Freaky Girl is certainly one of the earliest examples of Pure Bonehead. It has it all from the fuzz to the Neanderthal He-Man lyrics and delivery. It’s amazing to think that Philips took a chance with this along with Blue Cheer the same year. Looking Glass of Time is also very memorable, rampant although not quite as intense as the A side, but with an added touch of Psychedelia. Spontaneous Corruption hailed from Ohio and featured Kenny Hamlin on guitar with Danny Sheridan on bass and Greg Giancola on Drums.
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:45 pm - Killed By Death Records » Blog Archive »
Pedro Carvalho says:
Adding more fuel to the fire, here are some even earlier examples of proto-hardcore: Spontaneous Corruption - Freaky Girl (1968). I put (it in) a “roots of hardcore” set on my podcast once.
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RECOMMENDED LINKS:
Danny Sheridan
http://www.DannySheridanMusic.com
G.G.Greg
http://www.gggreg.com
Roger Karshner
http://lysergia.blogspot.com/2007/10/national-gallery-performing-musical.html
The Outsiders
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4907
Human Beinz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Beinz
James Gang
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/JAMESGANG
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Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.