Psychotic Reaction
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Psychotic Reaction" is an early psychedelic/garage rock song released by the band Count Five in 1966, and also the title of their only album. Guitarist Sean Byrne was sitting in a Health Education class in his freshman year at San Jose City College in California, learning about psychosis. His friend Ron Lamb leaned over and whispered: "You know what would be a great name for a song? Psychotic Reaction." Byrne had been writing a tune in his head that day, and used the title to finish it, with the entire band given writing credit. The song hit number five in the Billboard charts.
The song was modeled after the Yardbirds's song "I'm A Man" due to the repetitious rhythm beats until it changes to a faster beat, with the electric guitar playing a hypnotic melody, going up the scales, and the percussions playing in a similar style to the Yardbird's hit.
This song was popular in the Vietnam War era, and appears in the game Battlefield Vietnam. Probably the best known of the many obscure covers that were made in the 1960s is the one by Positively 13 O'Clock that was included on the original Pebbles compilation album. The song was covered by The Cramps on their 1983 live mini-album, Smell of Female, and by Nash the Slash on his album American Bandages. Television included this in their early sets, emphasizing the "rave-up" section. It was also recorded in more heavily psychedelic manner by the 60's studio only band The Leathercoated Minds in 1966 on their album A Trip Down the Sunset Strip.
This song is also played live by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on the Playback box set and seen in the currently out of print concert video, "Take the Highway".
See also
- Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung
