The Moving Sidewalks
99th Floor

What prerogatives Bill Gibbons' girl had during the Moving Sidewalks days, I don't know, but they must have been considerable to earn her a leading role in «99th Floor».

I only know that such luck has never come my way, and when I've woken up in a bad mood in the morning, I've had to endure the inevitable scolding for having gobbled down a tray of lasagna the previous evening ...

Then, whether the song is in praise of a flesh-and-blood maiden or a clever paraphrase to narrate the journey to an artificial paradise, I'm equally uncertain. But in the latter case, the Sidewalks would have done better to change dealers, seeing as the Beatles were going as high as the sky and the Byrds were soaring even higher, as if they were Baumgartner.

I only know that «99th Floor» is a cornerstone (my goodness, such a solid one) of garage music of all times and places, and that neither the Beatles nor the Byrds have ever excited me as much; so, however the story went, eternal glory to the Moving Sidewalks, to Bill Gibbons, to his girl, and even to the dealer.

Now, browsing DeBaser, the Moving Sidewalks don't seem to have much of a following and that's bad, very bad; so, I'm trying to improve their fortunes on these shores.

Let's start with the easy stuff and the neon signs that attract gullible folks: the Moving Sidewalks are the creature that Bill Gibbons kept alive for a couple of years; soon enough, in fact, Bill stopped shaving, bought a Tex Willer hat, and founded ZZ Top, just for the fun of dislodging Zappa Frank, Zevon Warren, and Zilli Nina from the last spots in every alphabetically ordered record collection.

You know ZZ Top, right, you damned gullible folks? Well, know that the Moving Sidewalks are waaaaay better than ZZ Top, and if I tell you that, you can bet your hand on it. So, rush out and buy the vinyl reissue of their only album, «Flash», and inside you'll also find «99th Floor» as a bonus.

Now, let's get into it ...

The fact is that ZZ Top are a bit like the AC/DC of hard blues: AC/DC wrote, more or less, the same song over and over, and until «Back In Black» everything went smoothly, but afterward, unless your name is Joey, Johnny, and Dee Dee, it's better not to overdo it; just like ZZ Top, until «Tres Hombres».

Now, the Moving Sidewalks also played heavily blues, but they had a garage (first) and then psychotic vein that made everything extremely exciting and engaging. Not by coincidence, Gibbons had earned on the field the honor of seeing his name deservingly associated with that of Jimi Hendrix, who wanted the band to join him on his Texas tour, and the recognition of one of his songs inspiring the fetishistic series dedicated to the garage sprouting seedlings of the Sidewalks («Texas Flashbacks»).

Even if it's often common to stumble upon comparisons between the Sidewalks and Hendrix, due to «Flash» and especially the bluesy «Joe Blues», the most fitting reference for «99th Floor» is with the illustrious fellow countrymen 19th Floor Elevators: only that Roky Erickson unleashed his mad talent in Tommy Hall's electric jug, while Billy Gibbons, more prosaically, smeared the score with the hefty physicality of his fuzz guitar and Tom Moore's screaming organ, placing «99th Floor» near that immense monolith that is «No Friends Of Mine». Then, whether «You’re Gonna Miss Me» or «99th Floor» is more garage-anthemic is a trivial issue ... and anyway, it's always about elevators.

This is where the story ends, also because «99th Floor» doesn't need many words.

At least, it’s right to remember the B-side «What Are You Going To Do» and the equally essential subsequent singles, although less devastating; but «Need Me / Every Night A New Surprise», «I Want To Hold Your Hand / Joe Blues» and «Flashback / No Good To Cry» still deserve a little spot in the history of the most eclectic garage ... and the version of «I Want To Hold Your Hand», in any case, surpasses the original.

I reiterate, the Beatles have never excited me as much as the Moving Sidewalks.

PS: If you follow my advice and get «Flash», you’ll find all the tracks of the four singles there too.