SHAZAM

One of the less-remembered Joe Meek-produced acts, the Puppets did a couple of singles for the famed British producer in 1963 and 1964. Originally called the Bob-Cats, they based their act on the Liverpool proto-power trio the Big Three, whom they had been mightily impressed by at an early-'60s show. When they signed with Meek, he changed their name to the Puppets. Their first A-side, issued in September 1963, was "Everybody's Talking," a fair Merseybeat-styled number backed by a cover of "Poison Ivy" that was more typical of their repertoire. Their second and final single matched the acceptable R&B/Merseybeat hybrids of "Baby Don't Cry" and "Shake With Me," the latter of which Meek also recorded with the Outlaws, with Ritchie Blackmore on guitar. Although the Puppets did record 15 to 20 more tracks with Meek, no other releases appeared. After working for a while as Gene Vincent's backing band, they split up in 1967. All four of the Puppets' officially released tracks appear on the compilation Joe Meek's Groups: Crawdaddy Simone. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi