Two of the Best One-Shot Albums You Never Heard Of

The Red Devils were a kick-ass scorching punk-infused Hollywood blues band. Their 1992 live session at King King, a Los Angeles Fairfax-area Chinese restaurant/punker hangout was put together by DefJam star producer Rick Rubin. The band consisted of Lester Butler on harmonica/vocals (think the harmonica version of Stevie Ray Vaughn --no shit); Paul "The Kid" Size on red hot guitar (he was 18 at the time); Bill Bateman on drums, and Gene Taylor on piano. Bateman and Taylor had once been part of the original (1979) "Blasters." In my opinion, this was one of the best live rock and roll albums ever recorded, and the group's only album.

In 1997, harmonica virtuoso Lester Butler recorded one other album, "13 Featuring Lester Butler"; an excellent band, but not up to the Red Devils. Unfortunately Lester Butler and his two album bands had a very short run. In 1998, Butler died of what some say was a suspicious "accidental drug overdose." Guitar wizard Paul Size went on to play with the Moeller Brothers and others.

Strangely Lester Butler is best remembered in Amsterdam, Holland. There's even a Lester Butler Tribute Band around.

For a taste of The Red Devils in action, I can thank YouTube for these live festival performances from 1993.

Touch

In 1968 the band Touch released their one and only album (of the same name). It was one of the ultimate studio-produced LSD trip albums filled with whacked-out and hallucinatory audio effects (without being cheeseball like, say, Strawberry Alarm Clock) and mixed with power vocals and tight instrumentals. Some say that this was the American forerunner album for all American progressive rock albums and the inspiration for legendary "prog" bands like "Yes", "King Crimson", and "Soft Machine." In Europe, only Pink Floyd was heading in a similar direction at the same time.

Touch consisted of John Bordonaro (percussion/vocals), Don Gallucci (keyboards/vocals), Bruce Hauser (bass/vocals), Jeff Hawks (vocals), and Joey Newman (guitar/vocals). Other than Don Gallucci, very little is known about band members and their whereabouts. Gallucci's prior claim to fame was as a member of the Kingsmen, creating the signature keyboard riff from the legendary hit version of "Louie Louie."

The band broke up after the studio session, feeling like they could never reproduce on tour what they created in the studio.

Thank you, MySpace, for the Touch fan page where you can hear a few of the album cuts. Headphones are recommended. Note that this album is available on CD only as an import rarity starting at $34 (used on Amazon).