Request: Gravedigger V - The Mirror Cracked (Superb Garagerock US 1984)

Size: 141 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included

Classic caveman garage rawk from San Diego. This CD combines their Voxx debut album with the live tracks, outtakes and demos from their later LP's "The Mirror Cracked", also on Voxx.

The Gravedigger Five was a garage rock revival band formed in 1984 in San Diego, California. The band was part of the Paisley Underground, a musical movement centered around Los Angeles, California, which referenced 1960s West Coast pop and garage rock. The band's lineup consisted of Leighton Koizumi on vocals and sound effects, Ted Friedman on lead guitar, John Hanrattie on rhythm guitar and backup vocals, Dave "The Animal" Anderson on drums and percussion, and originally Chris Gast, who was replaced on bass and backing vocals by Tom Ward. When the Gravedigger Five broke up, members of the band went on to form The Morlocks and Manual Scan.

The members of the Gravedigger Five began playing together around 1983, practicing under the name "The Shamen" in bassist Chris Gast's garage. The group began writing songs together while its members were still teenagers; lead singer Leighton Koizumi was only sixteen years old when the band began to perform. When the band eventually went on to play the Whiskey A Go Go, the band members had to wait outside between sets, as the members were too young to be in the club. The name "The Shamen" was abandoned after the group discovered that the name was already in use by another band, and so after a night of brainstorming, purportedly at a local Bob's Big Boy, the group renamed their band the Gravedigger Five, a take-off on the old "Monster Mash" backing group The Cryptkicker V. 

All Black and Hairy
After only a few performances the group caught the interest of Voxx Records owner Greg Shaw, who signed the band to his imprint in January, 1984. The band recorded their first LP the same year, sleeping together in a car in an alley adjacent to the studio while not recording. Their first LP, "All Black and Hairy," was released towards the end of 1984, but even before its release original bassist Chris Gast was ejected from the band as a result of his substance abuse problems. Shortly after Gast's dismissal the rest of the band fell apart and the group disbanded. The band released its entire catalogue posthumously. Following the breakup of the band, Voxx released the band's first LP, "All Black and Hairy," in 1984. 

The Mirror Cracked
In 1987, three years after the breakup of the band, Voxx Records released a second Gravedigger Five LP. Under the title "The Mirror Cracked," Voxx packaged a number of unreleased All Black and Hairy session tracks, backed with eight crudely-recorded live tracks recorded in 1984. The Gravedigger Five's second release contained a number of cover songs, including two Stoics songs, "Enough of What I Need" and "Be a Caveman." The LP also contained a version of "No Good Woman," with fellow Paisley Underground alum Paula Pierce of The Pandoras on backing vocals. Lead singer Koizumi took offense to the mediocre way the album was assembled. 

After the Gravedigger Five
After the Gravedigger Five disbanded, Koizumi and Friedman moved to the Bay Area where they founded The Morlocks, another Paisley Underground garage rock revival band which continued the Gravedigger Five sound. Dave Anderson and Tom Ward continued on together in the band Manual Scan, and afterwards Anderson went on to perform with The Trebles, The Answers, The Crawdaddies and Skid Roper. The band reunited for one final show in 1999, playing Cave Stomp at New York’s annual garage rockathon. This would be the last time a full reunion would be possible as bassist Chris Gast died in New York in 2000. 

01. All Black and Hairy  
02. Tomorrow Is Yesterday  
03. No Good Woman  
04. Do Like Me  
05. Hate  
06. She's a Cur  
07. Searching  
08. She's Gone  
09. Night of the Phantom  
10. Don't Tread on My  
11. One Ugly Child  
12. She Got  
13. Stoneage Stomp  
14. Mirror Cracked  
15. Enough of What I Need  
16. Be a Caveman  
17. No Good Woman - Gravedigger Five, Paula Pierce  
18. It's Spooky  
19. Drivin' Me Insane  
20. Stop It Baby  
21. Searchin' [Live]  
22. She's Gone [Live]  
23. Enough of What I Need [Live]  
24. Be a Caveman [Live]  
25. She's a Cur [Live]  
26. Mirror Cracked [Live]  
27. Night of the Phantom [Live]  
28. Tomorrow Is Yesterday [Live] 

+ Surprise Album (1984 Release)

Part 1. Gravedigger V
Part 2. Gravedigger V
or
Part 1. Gravedigger V
Part 2. Gravedigger V
or
Part 1. Gravedigger V
Part 2. Gravedigger V