Results: Costumed Bands of Yore

The Music Machine were one of the many US bands 1960's inspired by the British invasion of domestic pop radio mid-decade, molding it to their own expression. Arguably more influentrial than the Beatles on what would be later known as '60's punk, garage punk or garage rock (because many such bands started practising...you can guess where?!).were the more aggressive sounds of the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Animals the Kinks and the Who. It may not be much of a costume, but dressing only in black, including a glove on each member's right hand, was an effectively striking look for them, as they're seen performing their lone national top 40 hit, "Talk Talk," on Dick Clark's Where The Action Is TV show in the video with this question. How do you like their sound and look?

The Monks were another band comprised of American young men in the mid-'60's. But they were all members of the army stationed in Germany. Starting out in a more traditionally poppy rock 'n' roll sound as the Torquays, they refashioned their sound to include an electric banjo and their look to incorporate drawstring shirts and tonsure haircuts. Thus they became the Monks. They released one album, Black Monk Time, and a few singles, but to limited reception in the Fatherland. The US division of their record company refused to release their work because of their lyrics' cynicism about the Vietnam war. The Monks' ecstatic, caustic sound has proven influential on later punk, new wave and college/alternative rock acts, and their story's far more involved than what I'm sharing. With this question is a clip of them performing on a German TV show. How do their look and sound work for you?

Like the Monkess before them and the Partridge Family after them, the Banana Splits were created for a TV show. Though the costumed, anthropomorphic quartet were meant to appeal to kds wanting a Saturday morning cartoon fix in the late '60's, their one album includes songwriting contributions from talented adults, including orchestral disco maestro-to-be Barry White, '60's rocker Gene Pitney and Blood, Sweat & Tears and Blues Project founder Al Kooper. The Splits' theme song would become a top 10 hit in Great Britain after it was recorded by California punk band the Dickies in the late 1970's. Here's the original version of that number (their album is so musically varied, it's difficult to tell whether this track is representative). Do you enjoy the Banana Splits' look and sound?

Since the late 1980's, self-proclaimed kings of budget rock the Mummies have made '60's surf and proto-punk sounds even more primitive as they bang them out looking like bandaged up, reanimated corpses. And their website says they're looking for crowdfunding to make a movie! Former Bruce Springstten guitarist Little Steven Van Zant has played their "(You Must Fight To Live) On The Planet Of The Apes" on his syndicated Underground Garage radio show every Hallow'een for a while now, but here they are performing an instrumental called "The Fly" on a public access TV show in 1990. How do the Mummies look and sound grab you?

If you weren't already freaked out by any of the above, this last act may do it for you. The Knghts of the New Crusade plied unreconstituted garage punk from 2004 to 2011 (I've no idea whether they're still active), dressed as-you guessed?-knights and singing from a bold Christian perspective. Some have theorized that last element of their work was parody, but I'm pretty sure they were sincere. Regardless of whether they were really about the Lord's business, what do you think of them based on this clip of what looks to be a German TV show (the band originated in California)?