The Renegades — “Thirteen Women”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — October 18, 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

985) The Renegades — “Thirteen Women”

The Renegades “[s]avage[ly] maul[]” (https://www.nortonrecords.com/158-the-renegades-thirteen-women-cant-see-you-158/) Bill Haley and the Comets’ pondering of the age-old question: What happens when there are “Thirteen Woman” but “Only One Man in Town”?

The accompanying promotional video is “a brilliant maniacal clip featuring 4 lunatics having a great time”. (markblahwoof789, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu2pKXSIzr4) Oh, and singer “Kim Brown seems a mixture of Kurt Cobain and Jon Bon Jovi.” (nildonmarquesdasilva8686, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYsRpPImDS0). I want my MTV!

Rich Orlando tells us of the song’s rich history:

Haley’s was a “cleaned up” version of a song that had been released only two months earlier. The original was written and recorded by James Edward “Dickie” Thompson. Thompson was a jazz and R & B guitarist and singer who began working in New York City’s jazz clubs in the late forties. He appears to have had a couple of records released in 1946 and had nothing else released under his own name until Thirteen Women and One Man came out on the Herald label in 1954. . . . [It] appear[s] to have been a little too “forward” in terms of subject matter for [its] time and garnered little airplay. Legendary record producer/ label owner (Commodore) Milt Gabler, working for Decca Records, heard the song and had Haley and his band record it at their first session for the label, which also featured . . . “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock”. [For their first single, “Thirteen Women” was the A-side and “Rock” the B-side. “The single was reissued in 1955 with the sides reversed after the B-side was played over the titles of the movie Blackboard Jungle.”] Gabler changed the arrangement of Thompson’s song but more importantly, he bookended the number with verses indicating that the song was just a dream. . . .

https://smilingcorgipress.com/4-versions-of-thirteen-women/

The song reminds me of the classic exchange from Dr. Strangelove about cave life for the select few after a nuclear armageddon:

General “Buck” Turgidson:

Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn’t that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?

Dr. Strangelove:

Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious… service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.

https://www.quotes.net/mquote/26313

As to the Renegades, Discogs reveals that:

The Renegades was formed in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. They never succeeded in their home country, but had a successful career both in Finland and in Italy during the 1960s. Their first single “Cadillac” was released in Finland in January 1964 . . . . The song was credited to be written by the band itself, but it was actually a remake of “Brand New Cadillac” by Vince Taylor And His Playboys. The band performed in Finland for the first time in October 1964. They intended to tour for three weeks, but due to success and demand, they ended up touring for seven weeks. They released the total of four albums in Finland, the last one was released in 1966, after which the band relocated to Italy. The group was disbanded in 1971 . . .

https://www.discogs.com/artist/162749-The-Renegades-3

Orlando adds that: “they recorded a ‘unique’ arrangement of Franz Liszt’s ‘Hungarian Rhapsody’ (titled ‘Hungarian Mod’) for release on an LP sampler of local groups titled “Brum Beat” in 1964.” (https://smilingcorgipress.com/4-versions-of-thirteen-women/) And Vernon Joynson adds that “[i]n 1963 they turned professional and changed their stage outfit radically; they began to use the cavalry costumes of the American Civil War.” (The Tapestry of Delights Revisited) I guess Finlanders love that stuff! We should send them some F Troop DVDs!

Here are the Renegades with (only 5!) women dancing:

Here are Bill Haley and the Comets:

Here is Dickie Thompson (more risqué):

I have added a Facebook page for Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock! If you like what you read and hear and feel so inclined, please visit and “like” my Facebook page by clicking here.

Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise

Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).

The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.

All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.

When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.

Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.