The Woggles

Cult heroes blending high-octane garage rock, surf, rockabilly, and classic R&B both onstage and on record, the Woggles ranked among the rare acts bridging the 1980s garage revival and the new millennium while retaining full force. Lead singer the Mighty Manfred—also called the Professor and born Manfred Jones—launched the band in 1987. They took their name from a lyric in Sticks McGhee’s “Wiggle Waggle Woo.” The group’s first release, the 1990 seven-inch EP Elvis Cadillac, preceded a string of singles; their debut LP, Teen Dance Party, appeared on the Northwest garage imprint Estrus Records in 1993. Estrus followed with The Zontar Sessions in 1994, a compilation drawn from those early singles.

Early lineup flux proved persistent, yet the core had settled by the 1997 Telstar album Get Tough!: the Mighty Manfred plus Montague (George Montague Holton III) on guitar, Buzz Hagstrom (Patrick O’Connor) on bass, and Dan Electro (Dan Hall) on drums. This quartet stayed together until 2003, when Montague succumbed to diabetes-related complications. Jeff Walls—previously of Guadalcanal Diary and Hillbilly Frankenstein and already a studio collaborator—replaced him on guitar under the alias Flesh Hammer. Frequent U.S. and international touring built their renown for incendiary performances, captured on the 2001 live set Live! At the Star Bar.

Radio host Steven Van Zandt, guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, became a key supporter after discovering the group’s records for his syndicated program Little Steven’s Underground Garage. He spun their tracks regularly, then signed them to his Wicked Cool label, which issued Rock and Roll Backlash in 2007. Tempo Tantrum arrived in 2009 and The Big Beat in 2013. Although the four members had scattered to separate cities, they reconvened for shows and sessions. In 2016 they gathered in Athens with producer Jim Diamond to cut Tally Ho!, released by Wicked Cool in August 2017.