the DEVOLUTION of UBERBEAT
A Monks Discography & Videography
Or
Back to the water, boys, land sucks!

By Will Shade

The Torquays were a generic early 60s rock n roll band, comprised of five American soldiers stationed in Germany. Upon leaving the service, they decided to stay in Germany to earn their living playing music.

As The Torquays:

PERSONNEL --
Gary Burger: vocals, guitar; Larry Spangler: organ, vocals;
Dave Havlicek: guitar, vocals; Roger Johnston: drums, vocals; Eddie Shaw: bass, vocals.

The Torquays' live set consisted of many covers, including Johnny Kidd & the Pirates' " Shakin' All Over" and Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally." There were also a number of original vocal and instrumental songs that The Torquays played live. Some of these were "Boys Are Boys," "Mox-Nix Blues," "There She Walks," "Jumped Out The Window," "Love Came Tumblin' Down," and "Paradox."

In late 1964, The Torquays entered the studio to record and release a self-financed single. 500 copies were pressed and Larry Spangler would sell them at gigs, using the top of his organ to conduct business.

There She Walks
b/w Boys Are Boys (SP)
(Gary Burger/David Havlicek)
Produced by The Torquays
Recorded: Heidelberg, Germany (late 1964)
Released: independently

SOUND FILE: There She Walks

The two songs are interesting footnotes in beat music history, but barely hint at shapes of things to come. At this point, Gary Burger and Dave Havlicek handled most of the songwriting chores. Further, Havlicek was still playing rhythm guitar. Things were about to change, though.

As The Monks:

With the addition of a German management team, strange mutations began to occur, both musically and sartorially. As Gary Burger has pointed out, the process was painfully slow, taking over a year. To make the metamorphosis complete, Havlicek and Spangler adopted the stage names of Day and Clark. Dave Day dumped his guitar in favor of a six-string banjo. The band itself began to concentrate on aboriginal rhythms, dispensing of melody in the process. They were intent on altering rock n roll's basic DNA. Gary Burger's groundbreaking experimentation with feedback and fuzztone was another vital element in the progression from beat to uberbeat, which is a German-English bastardization meaning "overbeat." In long daytime rehearsals, The Torquays wrote Monk songs and practiced them, not playing them at nightly gigs, for almost a year before they were ready to be recorded. The most important part of the sound was the minimalistic music, simple lyrics and the uberbeat. Roger Johnston played only the drums with no cymbals. Dave Day thrashed away at a banjo (the Downliners Sect used a banjo around this time, but they used it in a conventional manner). Eddie Shaw nailed the beat to the floor with his bass and Larry Clark made the organ a rhythm instrument with his repetitive chords and then frantic solos. The Monks were, in affect, a five piece rhythm section. Last, but not least, all the members of the band now participated in the songwriting process.

Uberbeat was a distinctive sound and very difficult to record. Nevertheless, mid-1965 found The Monks trying to acheive just that. They entered a studio in Ludwigsburg, Germany and laid down ten original tracks. The sessions, which weren't released at the time, were used as a demo tape. Some new songs had been written while others had evolved. As an example, the instrumental "Paradox" was now a tune with a few lyrics, "Pretty Suzanne."

At this point, The Monks finally donned their beloved wardrobe, dispensing with the Beatle-style haircuts in favor of tonsures.

Meanwhile, The Monks' managers had been shopping the demo around to various record companies, including Phillips and Ariola. Finally in late 1965, Polydor agreed to take the band on. The Monks entered the studio with a young producer named Jimmy Bowien. What emerged, of course, is a timeless classic.

PERSONNEL --
Gary Burger: vocals guitar; Larry Clark: organ, vocals;
Dave Day: electric banjo, vocals; Roger Johnston: drums, vocals; Eddie Shaw: bass, vocals.

Black Monk Time (LP)
Monk Time; Shut Up; Boys Are Boys; Higgle-dy Piggle-dy;
I Hate You; Oh, How To Do Now; Complication; We Do Wie Du; Drunken Maria; Love Came Tumblin' Down; Blast Off!; That's My Girl.
All tracks written by Gary Burger/Larry Spangler/David Havlicek/Roger Johnston/Thomas Shaw
Produced by Jimmy Bowien
Recorded: Koln, Germany (November 1965)
Released: Polydor [Germany] album #249900 (March 1966)

SOUND FILE: Monk Time

The Monks also released two of the album tracks as a single.

PERSONNEL --
Gary Burger: vocals guitar; Larry Clark: organ, vocals;
Dave Day: electric banjo, vocals; Roger Johnston: drums, vocals; Eddie Shaw: bass, vocals.

Complication
b/w Oh, How To Do Now (SP)
(Gary Burger/Larry Spangler/David Havlicek/Roger Johnston/Thomas Shaw)
Produced by Jimmy Bowien
Recorded: Koln, Germany (November 1965)
Released: Polydor [Germany] single #52951 (March 1966)

SOUND FILE: Complication

Two final singles were released in late 1966 and early 1967. The four new recordings were more pop-oriented and showed that The Monks were losing direction. In fact, "He Went Down To The Sea" featured Clark on bells and piano, Burger on 12 string guitar, Day on rhythm guitar and Shaw playing bass and trumpet.

I Can't Get Over You
b/w Cuckoo (SP)
(Gary Burger/Larry Spangler/David Havlicek/Roger Johnston/Thomas Shaw)
Produced by Jimmy Bowien
Recorded: Koln, Germany
Released: Polydor [Germany] single #52957 (1966)

SOUND FILE: Cuckoo

Love Can Tame The Wild
b/w He Went Down To The Sea (SP)
(Gary Burger/Larry Spangler/David Havlicek/Roger Johnston/Thomas Shaw)
Produced by Jimmy Bowien
Recorded: Koln, Germany
Released: Polydor [Germany] single #52958 (1967)

Some final recording sessions were also attempted in Hamburg's Top Ten Club. They have never been released. Dave Day had apparently abandoned his banjo for good in favor of a guitar on these tunes. The songs included "Yellow Grass," "P.O. Box 3291" and "I Love You Schatzi." Only the instrumental track was recorded on the latter.

The Monks also appeared on several radio shows in the mid-60s. They made three appearances on Radio Luxembourg. These broadcasts reached behind the Iron Curtain, converting many East Germans to the band's music. Although these fans could not see the band play live, the Monks did receive postcards from their follwers behind the Berlin Wall. The Monks also did a radio show on Swedish radio during their ill-fated 1967 tour. Unfortunately, attempts to track down these shows have come to naught.

The Monks broke up in 1967. The rest of the story is included elsewhere on this website or one can read Eddie Shaw's book, "Black Monk Time," which is available from carsonst@sierra.com.

Black Monk Time has been re-released several times throughout the years, both on vinyl and CD. Some of the releases are official while others are outright bootlegs. Repertoire Records released a version of the album in 1994 on CD. It comprises the original album along with the two last singles. The original liner notes are included in both English and German. Horrendous new liner notes were written by Mark Brennan. This is still available, but it appears to be quasi-legal. Repertoire claims they licensed it from Polydor. Polydor's legal department insists they know nothing about it. The rumor is that an employee took it out of the archives, made a copy from the master before returning it to the archives. The Monks get no royalties from it because no one can track it, even though Repertoire openly sells it - illegally according to Polydor who does nothing to stop it. Repertoire's version has been reissued as recently as May, 2000. Unfortunately, The Monks don't make a penny off it. Avoid it if you can't find another copy.

The most comprehensive re-release was Infinite Zero's 1997 CD version. It included the entire album along with the two last singles, a mesmerizing live track and two demos. Along with the original English liner notes, Mike Stax's short history of the band rounded out a most satisfying introduction to The Monks for novitiates. Sadly, it is no longer in print.

The 1990s spurred a revival that left everyone, including The Monks, awed. A German filmmaker, Dietmar Post, began filming a documentary on the group. Called The Transatlantic Feedback, it is still in production (a trailer from the film may be viewed at www.playloud.org). An obligatory website was established, attracting converts from every continent, and Eddie Shaw's autobiography was optioned by a movie company.

Bootlegs

Numerous bootlegs of two 1966 appearances on German television also became easily available.

PERSONNEL --
Gary Burger: vocals guitar; Larry Clark: organ, vocals;
Dave Day: electric banjo, vocals; Roger Johnston: drums, vocals; Eddie Shaw: bass, vocals.

Beat Club (bootleg video)
Boys Are Boys; Monk Chant; Oh, How To Do Now.
All tracks written by Gary Burger/Larry Spangler/David Havlicek/Roger Johnston/Thomas Shaw
Recorded: Bremen 1966
Released: various

Beat Beat Beat (bootleg video)
Complication; I Can't Get Over You; Cuckoo.
All tracks written by Gary Burger/Larry Spangler/David Havlicek/Roger Johnston/Thomas Shaw
Recorded: Frankfurt 1966
Released: various

The videos are usually good quality, probably having been pirated from the masters. It is inexplicable why German television has not legally reissued these particular performances or other dynamic appearances by bands like The Move from the mid-60s.

The Monks apparently performed "Blast Off!" on a very futuristic set during a 1967 appearance on the Swedish television show, Drop In. Sadly, it is rumored to have been destroyed by SVT during an annual tape clean-up.

But new fans wanted the real thing, not a cyberspace or celluloid approximation. Their appetite was further whetted when Omplatten Records released the entire 1965 demo recordings in early November, 1999.

PERSONNEL --
Gary Burger: vocals guitar; Larry Clark: organ, vocals;
Dave Day: electric banjo, vocals; Roger Johnston: drums, vocals; Eddie Shaw: bass, vocals.

Five Upstart Americans (CD)
Monk Time; We Do Wie Du; Boys Are Boys; Pretty Suzanne; Higgle-dy Piggle-dy; Hushie Pushie; Love Came Tumblin' Down; Oh, How To Do Now; Space Age; I Hate You. Bonus tracks: The Torquays' single There She Walks and Boys Are Boys.
All tracks written by Gary Burger/Larry Spangler/David Havlicek/Roger Johnston/Thomas Shaw
Liner notes: Eddie Shaw and Gary Burger.
Executive producers: Johan Kugelberg and Jeff Gibson
Recorded: Ludwigsburg, Germany (mid-1965)
Released: Omplatten [American] Fjord 005 (November 1999)

Once again, note the lack of covers. Some of the songs, notably "I Hate You," are even more primitive than those that appeared on the original Black Monk Time album.

A few days after Five Upstart Americans release, the Monks arrived in New York for their inagural American gig. It was also the first time they had played together in 32 years. Expectations were dangerously high. There was nothing to fear, though. Well, that's not entirely true. There was one panic striken moment when Gary Burger announced he had bronchitis. His trademark brimstone-gargling vocals were intact, but he couldn't hit the glorious Four Freshmen falsettos he is notorious for. But hey, "I'm a monk! You're a monk! We're all monks!" proved to be prophetic. The Monks took the stage with a fan, one Mike Fornatale. He replicated Gary Burger's high vocal harmonies to a T as the band transported the entire audience to the Checkpoint Charlie circa 1966. An ice Cold War blast of Teutonic rock gripped the Big Apple's Cavestomp festival by the gonads. The band ground out most of their repertoire as well as a made-up-on-the-spot-brand-new-Monks-song. The Blues Explosion's Jon Spencer could only watch and wish. Two other garage legends at the festival, the Chocolate Watch Band and the Standells, didn't stand a chance. No mention was made of them in the Monday morning papers. Not so The Monks. "The New York Times" (who are never notably charitable to middle-aged rockers) sang hosannas, writing "Mr. Burger's lead guitar lines skidded and wailed; Mr. Clark's organ shifted between staccato chords and gusty dissonances. The music was a freshly unearthed relic and it was still sharp to the touch." Indeed. The Monks had come home to roost.

Then there was silence. In October, 2000, a CD of the live show was released. Entitled Let's Start A Beat, the album also embraced new technology by including three songs that could be viewed on a computer. Along with the German television bootlegs, this is the only document as to what uberbeat sounds and looks like live.

PERSONNEL --
Gary Burger: vocals guitar; Larry Clark: organ, vocals;
Dave Day: electric banjo, vocals; Roger Johnston: drums, vocals; Eddie Shaw: bass, vocals; Mike Fornatale: vocals.

LET'S START A BEAT (ECD)
Monk Time; Oh, How To Do Now; We Do Wie Du; Boys Are Boys; Pretty Suzanne; Hushie Pushie; Cuckoo*; Complication*; That's My Girl; Higgle-dy Piggle-dy; Shut Up*; I Hate You; I Can't Get Over You; Blast Off!; Monks Jam; Inspirational Message. *video enhanced
All tracks written by Gary Burger/Larry Spangler/David Havlicek/Roger Johnston/Thomas Shaw
Liner notes: Will Bedard, Mike Fornatale & Genesis P-Orridge.
Produced by Jon Weiss, David Mann, and Mike Fornatale
Recorded: New York City, United States (November 1999)
Released:Cavestomp!/Varese Sarabande [United States] album #302 066 193 2 (October 2000)

SOUND FILE: Shut Up

A year later, there's still no word from the band itself. Gary Burger recently received The Pretty Things 1999 comeback album, Rage Before Beauty. One could almost hear his mind whirring as he talked about its arrangements, perhaps wondering if The Monks could pull a magic cockatrice from a hat. What's next for these grizzled old rock n roll soldiers? Hopefully there won't be another three decade wait to find out!

All contents copyrighted by the Monks