New Release: Ray Columbus - Now You Shake

When Ray Columbus and the Invaders hit it big in their native New Zealand with "She's a Mod" there were riotous scenes - the sort usually associated with Beatlemania. Despite this, Columbus's music remains largely unknown outside of New Zealand, a wrong about to be righted by this excellent compilation from Grant Gillanders who has previously been responsible for similar comps by The Fourmyula (NZ's Beatles) and Larry's Rebels (NZ's Rolling Stones).

Covering Columbus's sixties recordings this progresses through his mod / R&B / beat period with the Invaders, through to his sojourn in happening San Francisco during the height of the flower power era, to his solo New Zealand recordings from the late sixties.

Includes the immortal garage punk nugget "Kick Me".

Extracts from the liner notes:

"They toured with some of the biggest names from the period. Roy Orbison thought that they were the loudest group that he had ever heard, The Rolling Stones would watch them from the stage door, Del Shannon wanted them as his permanent band, and The Yardbirds were desperate to get their hands on one of their songs.

By mid-1966, a solo Ray arrived in the USA to the headline ' AMERICA DISCOVERS COLUMBUS', where he became part of the happening scene in San Francisco.

For the first time you can hear 29 tracks that combine Ray's Invaders period with the best of his San Francisco and New Zealand solo recordings from the Sixties, presenting the definitive album of this legendary figure."

Available here (UK/EU), or here (US).

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