THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! The Barracudas, "I Wish It Could Be 1965 Again"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

THE BARRACUDAS: (I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again

Written by Robin Wills

Produced by Pat Moran and John David

Single from the album Drop Out With The Barracudas, Zonophone Records [UK], 1980

I love 1965. I regard '65 as pop music's best year ever: The best stuff was popular and the popular stuff was best. I don't actually wish it could be 1965 again--if nothing else, I'd rather consume hemlock or even Diet Pepsi than have to relive the random tsuris experienced over the course of six subsequent decades--but certainly the miserable state of current events feeds a longing for a return to better times.

Nostalgia is tricky. Still, as long as we're able to recognize that rose-colored glasses (and, I guess, rose-filtered headphones) can taint the accuracy of what we think we remember, recollections of cherished moments lend strength and conviction to steps we take on the path before us. Catch us if you can.

The Barracudas were a British group fronted by Jeremy Gluck and Robin Wills; Chris Wilson of the Flamin' Groovies joined the group for their second and third albums (1983's Mean Time and 1984's Endeavour To Persevere), and original drummer Nick Turner went on to join Stiv Bators, Brian James, and Dave Tregunna as the Lords of the New Church. 

The Barracudas scored a # 37 U.K. hit in 1980 with the Kenny Laguna-produced “Summer Fun.” Drop Out was picked up by Bomp! Records' Voxx imprint for Stateside release in 1981. Drop Out With The Barracudas offers non-stop aggressive pop with a death wish, and it remains my favorite album of the 1980s. I loved this record, all the way through, from the first moment I heard it, and my opinion has not changed with the passing of decades. This is pop with power, a non-stop barrage of aggressive hooks and adrenalin-charged choruses. The lyrics are a mix of downers and put-ons, but the cumulative effect is neither depressing nor smug; call it cathartic or call it late to dinner, but the effect of this surf 'n' sun with a death wish is an exuberant rush.

The album's own sense of nostalgia is tempered by snark and self-awareness, a fun-in-the-sun jaunt that understands mortality and impermanence yet chooses to barrel through anyway, whether by stubborn determination or death wish. The album closes with "(I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again," a full-throttle evocation of the legend (or myth) of my favorite year.

"(I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again" brings it all together, lamenting the sad state of pop music at the dawn of the Reagan era while celebrating in boundless exultation the divine inspiration of rock 'n' roll and surf 'n' soul from the peerless year of 1965. Shindig, Hullabaloo, Bandstand, and Where The Action Is, too! This is a powerful, triumphant expression of everything that was great about AM radio in the mid '60s, a track that gooses the flesh and prompts the raising of fists, the bopping of limbs, and the swelling, giddy satisfaction of pure pop incarnate. It hits what deserves hitting, pummels what merits pummeling, and vibrates right off the turntable into memory eternal.

From the dystopian POV of our far-future world of 2026, Drop Out With The Barracudas is considerably farther away in time than 1965 was from the album's release in 1981. The legend perseveres. Drop out? Fall in. Those who forget the past are condemned to the Orwellian all-of-this of all of...this. 

We can do better. Doing better starts with a wish.

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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

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