Well, the idea caught on, and soon everyone was doing their own '60s compilations. Pebbles, meanwhile, continued on for more volumes, until by the end of the '80s it had reached 30. There was also an affiliated series, Highs in the Mid-Sixties, which the music with reference to its regional origins. This series had 23 volumes. All the records came from Greg's own collection. Did we mention that he never stopped collecting records? By this time he had a million or more, including virtually everything released from the '50s through the '70s. He loved collecting; it gave him a secret thrill to have every release on certain cool labels like Philles and Sun. And it helped him compile all those discographies the magazine had been full of. Now the collection had found a new use.
One effect of all these reissues was a groundswell of interest in the period. New bands appeared, performing songs learned from Pebbles. Even such big-time acts as Echo & the Bunnymen were doing Pebbles covers! Greg had hoped that making the roots available would prove a positive influence on contemporary bands, but the results far surpassed his aspirations. Now he could devote himself to the role of producer, working with new bands like the Pandoras and the Miracle Workers to make the kind of records he'd always wished he'd been around to make in the '60s. He was having fun again!
For most of the '80s the garage revival occupied his attention. Together with studio wizard Gary Stern, he co-produced a series of bands whose legacy speaks for itself, from the Miracle Workers and Tell-Tale Hearts to the Gravedigger V, Pandoras, and countless others. In 1985, noticing that bands of this kind seemed out of place and were rarely booked in most existing clubs, he decided to open a small club where it would be the main attraction. Another person had started an underground club with a '60s theme called The Cavern Club, and Greg became his partner, then after awhile ran it on his own. The club lasted two years in a small venue overlooking Hollywood Blvd, featuring an array of bands, both well known and new, all doing '60s music in a roots-conscious form. The bands and the audience were mostly quite young, with Mod leanings. Bands from all over the country and even Europe played at the Cavern, and it was written up in People Magazine with a full-page photo of Greg and some of the regulars; TV crews from local stations as well as national shows like "20/20" did documentaries on the club, so apparently newsworthy was it that a hundred or so teenagers could possibly be into anything more esoteric than Madonna.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
What's really sad about this obit is in the coming years how rare the statement: "he/she made a real difference in music" will be.
But geez, 55? That's mortality looking you in the face.
There was an article in The Observer today about Iggy Pop who was a Bomp! veteran.
2 - Mike Kole
Eric- thanks for this post. I wouldn't have known about Greg Shaw's passing if it weren't for you putting it up here. (Nose deep into political grindstone.)
I'm eternally grateful to Shaw and Bomp! for the Stiv Bators solo LP "Disconnected" and for the Wierdos' ep "1977, 1978, 1979", and Shaw's contributions to the Nuggets and Pebbles comps.
Man, 55 is just too young.
3 - Julie Patchouli
Greg Shaw was and still is a pioneer in the Rock N Roll World. He introduced particular genre's to many generations that without his introduction probably would not have seen the light of day due to its rarity and obscurity. This is Julie Patchouli, bass player for the famed "Pandoras" signed to Greg's label Voxx.
Greg Shaw's inspiration and true enlightenment will be missed. Greg was always big hearted, eventhough we, (the"Pandoras") never recieved a salary per say, Greg paid us in merchandise, he would allow us to run wild in his warehouse and pick out whatever we wanted.... I felt like a kid in a candy store!! Thanks Greg !! We love you and miss you.....
Sincerely
Julie Patchouli
4 - Eric Olsen
thanks Julie, I saw you guys play a few times in LA and you rocked!
5 - Douglas Mays
Yes, BOMP was a label that made a difference in the modern world. Greg's work was a crucial cog in the wheel of modern independent music in the USA. The artwork alone on some of the albums were worth it (Calamari/Zincavage/Pettengill).
Anyway, good job Greg, maybe you can serve as A&R for the astral world. We could use it here on earth...
peacloveguidance
6 - Susan (Sutton) Crawford
I first got to know Greg through Phonograph Record Magazine, which I LOVED. I was 16 and had written to ask for a copy of the issue with a cover article he wrote on John Fogerty, saying how much I loved it. Imagine my surprise when it showed up in my mailbox with a really great letter from Greg himself. A few years later, I had become a big fan of Dave Edmunds et al, and started going to alot of club shows in L.A., just an hour from where I lived (Ventura), and had printed up a fanzine of two of my own (Top Of The Rockpile). Again, Greg helped me out. He had that wonderful little Bomp store where I could find so MANY cool things, where so MANY cool people hung out, spilling out onto the sidewalk in that cheesy L.A. neighborhood it was in. In my mind, it will always be there, a freeze-frame memory, circa 1977.
Thanks for being there, Greg, and...do they have mimeograph machines where you're at now??? I bet they do.