Indie Vinyl

Michael Hurley hung around and wrote songs for arguably the first pair of great "underground" bands, The Fugs and The Holy Modal Rounders, both having roots in (gasp) early sixties NYC. His rag-tag songs are endearing, and his record production can be a slap-dash affair at times, but his work from the early seventies has stood the test of time. Only problem was finding the records, and I certainly tried doing so in the Midwest for over the past ten years with no luck. Even Ed Sanders' (another NYC underground pioneer) records could be found at used record shops- check out his "Beer Cans on the Moon"LP - but I never stumbled across any of Hurley's LPs. I got to meet the man about seven years ago, he was cantankerous, yet willing to autograph a CD after I handed him some cash for the item's purchase. "Armchair Boogie", the LP recently reissued on Mississippi Records, is perhaps his best LP, right up there with "Snockgrass" & "Have Moicy!" This LP is a perfect mix of underground D.I.Y. attitude with down-home musical arrangement. Less polished than most early seventies singer-songwriter LPs by a longshot, it is a true original. Cat Power revently covered Hurley, now is your chance to check out the man himself.