Music Explosion – A Little Bit Of Soul

I hope you are having a great Sunday!

This is a good song for a beginner on guitar plus it’s a cool 60s pop/rock song. I bought the single when I was a kid after I heard it on AM radio. The Music Explosion was an American garage rock band from Mansfield, Ohio. It’s one of those songs that will stick in your head all day…in a good way.

Their record company Laurie didn’t like the song and was reluctant to release it. They finally did and it became a local hit in Ohio. After that, they got some promotion in California and the song took off.

Songs like this were important to rock music. One-hit wonders gave the stage to many garage bands not named Stones, Beatles, and Who. Many times they played simple melodies with a variation of Louie Louie chord pattern like this one. After they were released…many unknown artists like the future Allman Brothers, Tom Petty, and others were playing these songs in clubs, parties, and well…garages.

The Music Explosion disbanded in 1969. Their only other hit on the Hot 100 was 1967’s “Sunshine Games,” which peaked at #63 on the Billboard 100. It was written by John Carter and Ken Lewis.

The song peaked at #1 in Canada and  #2 on the  Billboard 100 in 1967. I sometimes hear this song in shows…it was featured in The Wire in the 2004 episode “Middle Ground.”

Their other hit…Sunshine Games

Little Bit Of Soul

Now when you’re feelin’ low and the fish won’t bite
You need a little bit o’ soul to put you right
You gotta make like you wanna kneel and pray
And then a little bit of soul will come your way

Now when your girl is gone and you’re broke in two
You need a little bit o’ soul to see you through
And when you raise the roof with your rock’n’roll
You’ll get a lot more kicks with a little bit o’ soul

And when your party falls ’cause ain’t nobody groovin’
A little bit o’ soul and it really starts movin’, yeah

And when you’re in a mess and you feel like cryin’
Just remember this little song of mine
And as you go through life tryin’ to reach your goal
Just remember what I said about a little bit o’soul

A little bit o’ soul, yeah (a little bit o’ soul)

Unknown's avatar

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

40 thoughts on “Music Explosion – A Little Bit Of Soul”

    1. It is…this one is not as popular as I thought though…this is one I thought everyone knew. Thanks for the comparison…now I’m listening to Get Rhythm

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Yea the greatest hits thing was odd…they had one real hit and a very minor one. Anything to make a buck.
      I do love those old videos….some try hard to match…some try not to.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. Little Bit O’ Soul was originally recorded by The Little Darlings, a group from Liverpool, England, that included future members of the Merseybeats and The Swinging Blue Jeans. Nice choice. Max as this is classic garage rock.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  4. I couldn’t have told you the name of the band, but I heard Little Bit O’ Soul plenty of times. Sunshine Games doesn’t sound familiar at all. It’s cool that they were an American band. I would have guessed UK from their sound.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Phil you are more observant than me on this one…I didn’t notice that Teardrop bass…I never seen one before…I had to go back and watch it again. I had a Hofner copy (still have it) and it will feedback because it’s hollow…that Teardrop bass…I bet it he had the same problem.
      Looks like they didn’t have room for drums so they just set him up to mime it with a bongo?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Yeah, TV was weird back then. My band was on a local TV show lip synching to our record and our keyboardist had the flu and couldn’t get out of bed so our rhythm guitar player did the fake keyboard thing. It was stupid, we felt like idiots. I know a guy who has one of those Vox teardrop guitars, he wont part with it or allow anyone to hold the thing. He played it back in the days.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Now I want to look into them. I never honestly knew they exsisted. Yea you turn into basically an actor in a part. TV studios at that time weren’t equipped to handle live bands….I don’t guess? Or they didn’t trust younger bands.

        Hollow bass guitars have a distinctive sound…especially when you play them loud.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Our bass player and lead singer used an Epiphone Bass, 1960 model he called “Baby.” Had it since 1962. He also used it in our 2000 reincarnation up until 2019 when we stopped playing. He had a Silvertone (Sears ) and Fenders, but he preferred the Epi. None of the studios back then were equipped for a live band, too small and no equipment. We did a TV show called “Sumpin Else” and played live there, but it took half a day and numerous sound checks to sit up and get ready for the show.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I bet that bass sounds great.
        Yes that makes sense for the setup. The sound checks would have gotten old but at least you were not miming.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Same comments as some above this is good simplistic 45 fodder for the 15 year olds of the time- to my ear the group could have been any number of ‘here this morning and gone by night-time groups, Every Mothers Son, the Fifth Estate, The Cyrcle, whoever.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh the Cyrcle…Red Rubber Ball right? Yea The Kingsmen or any of those… Every Mothers Son…sorry obbverse but you are taking me down memory lane…I got that original single from someone… “Come On Down to My Boat”

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Yep, these groups were ten a penny back then, some band members stayed in the biz, some hit 20, got a job, cut their hair, joined Greene, Gray and Browne and started as a junior accountant or whatever. Actually ‘My Boat’ is better than throwaway, and EMS is a great band name. Beats something as banal as ‘Jay and the Americans’ for sure.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I loved the song growing up…you know you will probably be seeing that one soon lol….yea Jay and the Americans didn’t take much imagination!

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Brand new to me, don’t think I’ve heard either even on oldies radio…weird if it was #1 in Canada. Very valid point about One Hit Wonders. Collectively they compiled a huge proportion of good music from ’60s to ’80s

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That is odd Dave…I thought for sure you would have heard this one… It’s in the Louie Louie family…well that is what I call it. It’s like the song Hang on Sloopy…same kind of thing.
      One Hit Wonders were huge…and important.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. I love those two tunes, Max. I think it’s my first time listening to music by The Music Explosion. Pretty catchy stuff! Of course, in addition to the great guitar sound, one other thing I dig in particular is the organ, which I have a funny feeling is part of what attracted you to them!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I just emailed back dude…I just saw it! Yes that organ had a lot to do with it! I love these simple garage rock songs…like the ones that Graham features. I can’t remember if this is in Nuggets or not.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. Old Gold. Never heard the first one but blast to the past on the second one. Cool that they are from Mansfield. Never been there but one of my childhood friends’ sister and her family live there.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I literally just listened to this a couple days ago as I was doing some research. I remember the song and I think they did a great job on it. Sunshine Games on the other hand, never heard of it. There were so many garage bands as you mentioned and others brought up names that were a lot of fun for one song only. I agree with you they were an important part of rock and gave us something different.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. I can’t say I like this song. There is so much so bad about it. Except for one thing. I LOVE IT. I have loved it since I heard it on the radio back in the day. Yeah, it made the Top 40 stations in LA. Didn’t bother me that I never heard anything else by them. I know Psychotic Reaction by the Count Five but I don’t think I heard anything else from them. I know Incense and Peppermints by the Strawberry Alarm Clock and wish I never heard anything else from them. I’ve heard all of the In-Na-Gadda-Da-Vida record (Both sides) and could have happily lived my life without it. But then there is all the silliness and stupidity around Louie Louie and I still love it.

    Different Strokes for Different Folks.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment