In the early 1960's school students John "Mouse" Michalski and Roy Chaney had played guitar and bass respectively in a succession of local bands such as Johnny & the GTOs and the Renegades, specializing in surf instrumental music. They changed their name to The Squires and added Kenn Ellner as a singer, and tried picking up on the British Invasion sound, and in late 1964 they added Irish-born guitarist, singer, and songwriter Sean Byrne, and the band made a local name for themselves over the ensuing year. In 1965 organist Phil Evans quit for personal reasons and drummer Skip Cordell joined another group, and with the addition of his replacement, Butch Atkinson, the group changed their name to Count Five. It was around this time that Byrne was putting the finishing touches to a song he'd been outlining in his head, ultimately called 'Psychotic Reaction', and when it was finished it became a showcase for the band's abilities, especially guitarists Michalski and Byrne, and they began working it up into the crescendo of their stage act. At first it didn't seem to do much good, as the group was turned down by Capitol Records, Fantasy Records, and a handful of other California-based companies, but after working out a new arrangement of 'Psychotic Reaction' with the band, local DJ Brian Lord got the song and the group placed with Double Shot Records, a Los Angeles-based label.
When they released the song as the band's debut single it eventually made number five nationally and number one in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, they were never able to follow up the hit with anything even remotely as successful, and although an album was rushed out, featuring the hit plus some ill-conceived originals, nothing that the group did subsequently seemed to work. They tried reusing the same formula, working in a slightly more folk-rock vein, and even attempting some fresh guitar pyrotechnics (on 'The World' and 'Pretty Big Mouth' and, in a psychedelic vein, on 'Peace Of Mind'), plus a pair of pretty fair Who covers, but by 1967 it was clear that the group's days were numbered. They carried on releasing singles on Double Shot during 1967 and 1968, but the strain of maintaining music careers while attending college, which they had to do in order to keep their draft deferments, took its toll, as did the dwindling bookings, as memory of 'Psychotic Reaction' faded. In the end, after an attempt by the label to keep Byrne as the only active member, Count Five ceased to exist. Although they never managed to record another 'Psychotic Reaction', some of their later singles were not bad, and if we take those and add some previously unreleased recordings from the same timeframe then Double Shot could have put together a second album from the group some time in 1968. As the label never got round to it then it's up to me to do it for them.
Track listing
01 People Hear What I Say
02 Merry=Go-Round
03 Hold Me Close
04 Teeny Bopper, Teeny Bopper
05 Revelation In Slow Motion
06 Declaration Of Independence
07 You Can't Get Me
08 Contrast
09 Enchanted Flowers
10 Move It Up
11 So Much
12 God Alone (Above)
13 Mailman
14 You Must Believe Me
