Nobody on Wild asked me to do this. I’m simply a fan. I have a good batch of albums and 45s from the label. I got their logo tattooed on my body. I do sort of owe them a small debt. They got me back into rockabilly/rock n roll after I went through some hard times. And a lot of kind folks from the label shared one of Rockabilly Nerd’s first posts (WILD RECORDS! A Love Letter). Skyrocketing me to superblogdom (that is a lie). Also I own the award-winning documentary “LOS WILD ONES” digitally on Vudu. A great doc that is being featured on KCET a channel here is California (and maybe others, I haven’t left cali much in the last decade). Not only will they have it on air. But you can stream the doc on the KCET site for the next couple of weeks. Feel free to read about it HERE. Ok, are you done reading it? Good. In celebration I decided to make up a list of the 8 Wild Records albums you need to own. If you’re from outside the rockin scene or just new I encourage you to check out the Wild Records sites HERE if you reside in the US. And HERE for Europeans. Enjoy!
Dusty Chance and the All Nighters “Savage”
This is pure rockabilly. Probably the purest Wild has ever released. Toe tapping goodness through out the record. I mentioned this is a prior post but Dustyn’s voice has so much “bop” to it. He could read the telephone book and make it sound like you should be moving your feet. Not a slow song in sight. Its pure raw rockabilly from beginning to end.
The Downbeats “A Wild Night With”
This might be a wild card (no pun intended). This is one of the newest releases on this list. Only a couple of years old, I’m pretty sure none of the members of the band are over 21 just yet. As much as I don’t like using the term “Sun Records” to describe anything from the label, the best way to describe this is to say the band sounds like if Buddy Holly had joined Sun. Along with that sound, I’m happy that the next generation of rock n rollers are in good hands.
The Desperados “Won’t Be Broken”
I’ve done a review of this record here before on Rockin Album Reviews #2. I almost put their debut album “On The Rampage” here and it is worthy of so. But I loved “Won’t Be Broken”. Its one of THE best releases from any label in the last couple of years. And I can’t say it enough, you should already have this in your collection.
Chuy and the Bobcats “Losing my mind”
The only Chuy and the Bobcat full length record. It is so good that I’ve bought it twice. It was one of the 4 records I borrowed from an ex that totally blew my mind away. That is part of the reason I love it so much, it was my first time hearing this raw and insane sound. I mean, the covers on this record sound so good I though they were penned for this release because they meshed so well with the originals. The most rockabilly guitars recorded over the last decade. Hell, I love this album so much I was almost going to do an entire post dedicated to how much I loved it.
Alex Vargas “Smooth as Ice”
One of the most underrated albums to come from Wild. Not enough people own it. Alex Vargas voice is silky smooth. And does a style of rnb that is different from Gizzelles style (whom I have the most respect in the world for, in case this was read wrong). It is a more upbeat style. You could move your feet but you won’t be able to because you are impregnating someone.
Omar Romero “Hog Wild”
Raise your hand if you knew this was going to be one here? I remember looking at a copy of Car Kulture Deluxe at a 711. I hate cars but I love music. And the back always had reviews of a couple of albums. And one of them was for Omar Romero’s Hog Wild. I just loved the cover. It had an old timey look. It kind of reminded me of some of the Rollin Rock album covers. And I thought, one day I’m going to own that record, and it is going to blow my mind. And guess what? It did. Just imagine Johnny Burnette passing a torch over to this gentleman and that about sums it up.
The Delta Bombers self titled
Lets get this straight (Hi Christ, Hi Andrew) “Howlin” and “Wolk” are really good albums. The self titled record took me a little bit to get into. I admit I was almost scratching my head after the first couple of listens. But before you know it I was playing the hell out of this album. This isn’t rockabilly. This isn’t something for the guy with 6 inch cuffs. This is for whiskey drinkin men that have destroyed a tree stump in some fashion or another. That sounded a bit odd. But take my word for it. It is worth owning.
The Rhythm Shakers “Flipsville”
Same boat as Chuy and the Bobcats. This was the first of the batch that I put on and I’m definitely going to repeat myself. My eyes bugged out when I heard this. Such a fun record. Great covers. Great originals. Its even fun for males who are listening to Marlene basically talking about physically hurting a man that has done her wrong.
Honorable mentions: Anything by Hi Strung Ramblers and Carl & the Rhythm All Stars, Luis and the Wildfires “Heart Shaped Noose”, Gizzelle “Rhythm n Soul”, The Hi Boys “Shake”, Pat Capocci “Pantherburn Stomp”, Bebo and the Good Time Boys “Let the fun begin”, anything by Will and the Hi Rollers, Don Juan y Los Blanco “Poder Blanco, The Dragtones “Drag”, Rusty and the Dragstrip Trio “I ain’t ready” Jittery Jack “Gone Plum Crazy”. There are more, if you haven’t been mentioned, I either forgot or I never got around to listening to the record.
Like the list? Anything missing? Let me know in the comments. Feel free to share this on social media. While you are here feel free to LIKE the official Rockabilly Nerd Facebook page HERE.
And as always, stop talking about your car.
Rockabilly Nerd 
TJ Mayes needs to be on this list – he smokes!
LikeLike
Great list but for my money ‘Darrel Higham – Wild In Hollywood’ should definitely be on that list.
LikeLike
But the Stompin Riff Raffs are on WILD – surely you can’t overlook the Japanese foursome whose only aim in life is to make RN and the Cs’ “Scream!” last for the length of an EP, then an album, then a career?
LikeLike