THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
557) Q’65 — “Cry in the Night”
“Cry” is the B-side to Q’65’s explosive ’66 A-side “The Life I Live” (see #108). It is equally as explosive, and some consider it superior. High Times says that the song “is possibly the most powerful 45 ever . . . . Wim Bieler more than makes up for his crimes against the English language with an impassioned vocal . . . while the lead and rhythm guitars lock horns on the break, resulting in the greatest guitar battle of the ’60s. ” (https://hightimes.com/culture/dutch-punk-in-the-1960s/amp/) Tim Sandra says that it “is the group’s best, a snarling garage stomper with nasty guitar breaks and sneering vocals.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/beat-from-holland-vol-2-mw0000458895) Even apart from all that, it is very uplifting. Girlfriend treating you bad? “I put a rope around my neck. . . . Then I will rest in my coffin, and I don’t have to worry about ya. . . . I will never cry in the night.”
https://hightimes.com/culture/dutch-punk-in-the-1960s/amp/
Bruce Eder gives some history:
The Dutch quintet could have held their own with [the Pretty Things or the Yardbirds] or the Animals without breaking a sweat . . . . Q 65 have remained one of Europe’s best-kept star-caliber musical secrets for more than 30 years.. . . [They] first got together in 1965, in the Hague . . . “the Liverpool of the Netherlands,” with a music scene that had been thriving since the end of the ’50s. . . . The group’s professed influences were American soul acts . . . yet somehow, when they performed, what they played came out closer in form and spirit to the likes of the Pretty Things . . . and the Yardbirds than it did to any of those soul acts, at least at first. . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/q-65-mn0000379341
High Times calls them ugly, slobs, and less intelligible than a New York cab driver, and it means that as a compliment! —
Dutch punks from the ’60s [were] an entire generation of long-haired, kicks-crazed maniacs who invented “punk” . . . . One listen to [Q’65’s] lead vocalist is as good as a thousand when you’re talkin’ about comprehending Wim Bieler’s “command” of the English language. If articulation is your bag, you’d be better off hanging out with a New York cab driver! . . . [T]hese guys are damn ugly. . . . [and] are worshipped on a cult level worldwide largely due to their wild looks and pre-punk approach to playing R&B. In their heyday, they were in direct confrontation with the Outsiders [and there were] fist fights between their opposing fans at shows . . : . Q’65 were total slobs in their aggression; unintelligible forerunners of the Stooges. . . .
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