Listen: Ecstasy / Johnny Kidd & The Pirates JohhnyKiddEcstasy.mp3

Seems theater played quite the part for a few big UK bands from ’62 – ’64. Like Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates had their schtick as well. But despite the gimmick accusations heaped on both, there was an alarming reality to it all – they were both a little believable and frightening, to a little kid at least. With his pirate eyepatch, Johnny Kidd carried the rock and roll torch right into the beat group era, keeping a very bluesy raw sound to his band, that years later would be deemed quite influential. During ’62 – ’63, Mick Green handled lead guitar duties, and it’s from this period that ‘Ecstasy’ comes. His signature playing style, very evident here, was later religiously coined by Wilko Johnson. He added a near lethal dose of amphetamine to the recipe and Dr. Feelgood was born.

Timely even at this moment, ‘Ecstasy’ being co-written by Phil Spector and Doc Pomus, I always enjoyed the absolutely coincidental double entendre of the lyrics. “take me by the hand and lead me to the land of ecstasy” or “the first time that I saw you, you showed me the door to ecstasy”. Rave on.