Link Wray & The Wraymen

Throughout the 1950s, the concept of the instrumental track was wrestled away from the cloying strings of MOR orchestras and into the hands of screwdriver-wielding guitarists, sleazy saxophonists, primal garage bands and dance craze creators. The teenage generation demanded music with everything and non-vocal versions of the hits sat next to specially created rabble-rousing gems that transcended genres and styles. This was music where words were just not enough.

Rock & roll exploded in the '50s onto a cultural landscape that was so uptight and repressed as to be unrecognizable today, even to those who lived through it. Everything – from the clothes young people wore to the music they listened to to the money they spent – was a hard-fought statement, because no youth group before those '50s teenagers ever had that kind of freedom and did something with it. Pop music was bland, bland, bland (just like it is now) and the bigger and badder and bolder rock & roll became, the more of a threat it was to the status-quo squares who banned it every chance they got. You couldn't listen to it, you couldn't dance to it at your school, concerts in public places were banned, and artists were often jailed for performing it in public.

UK collection. Distorted guitars, wailing saxophones, weird keyboard breaks, the sound of alien spacecraft, buzzsaws and revving engines all feature on this 26 track collection of instrumental masterpieces. From rare and obscure sounds spliced with screams and thunder through to classic grooves by Cozy Cole, Link Wray and Duane Eddy, this set celebrates the genius of Rock 'n' Roll as spun on Lux Interior's Purple Knife Show. Dueling guitars and one liners on switchblades and pick-ups add to the sleazy vibe that emanate on this hour long set. Featuring vintage, exotic riffs, ear-bending special effects and some of the twangiest guitars ever. Transport yourself to the jukebox at any early '60s Vegas dive

Most of us love to be scared and back in the 1950s, horror and the rock and roll beat was an irresistible combination. Bands took their names from the fiendish creatures up on the big screen and their inspiration from what was going on in the films themselves. Vampires, lycanthropes, zombies, demons had the kids literally jumping out of their seats in fear and were of course perfect subject matter for songs. Here is a selection of primal, raw, often humorous numbers from the first time around, now all consigned to rockabilly hell that deserve to be re-heard and rediscovered. They won't just have your toes a-tapping, they'll also make your knees go weak and send a tingle right down your backbone!

Glory Days Of Rock 'n' Roll: Instrumentals is a various artist compilation album. Released in 2000.

Halfway to Paradise is brand new on Crimson! 3CDs in a Slim Digipak Packed Full of Romantic Classics of the 50s and 60s Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Everly Brothers, Billy Fury, Marvelettes, Del Shannon.

Wagram Music Presents Surf Music, Vol. 1 album original hits and the original artists genre Rock.

Sealed With A Kiss features 3CDs of Teenage Classics of the Fifties & Sixties. Timeless tracks including: Brian Hyland – Sealed With A Kiss / Del Shannon – Runaway / The Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream / The Shirelles – Will You Love Me Tomorrow / The Crickets – Don’t Ever Change / Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode / Jerry Lee Lewis – Whole Lot Of Shakin’ Going On + more.