Altered Zones

The Sea-ders were a 1960s four-piece from Beirut. Originally signed to Symbol, a minor subsidiary of New York's Sue Records, the band had an enormous hit in their home country in 1966 with "Thanks a Lot." The song later caught the ear of Decca, who eventually gave the band a short-lived record deal in 1968. "Thanks a Lot" features a high-end guitar style reminiscent of Chuck Berry, but the group (who eventually changed their name to the less clunky Cedars) were able to set themselves apart from their contemporaries by channeling the indigenous dabke and bouzouki melodies of their homeland through the more straight-ahead, populist sounds of the British Invasion. While their music is difficult to track down online, you can download "Thanks a Lot" below, and stream the more introspective "I Don't Know Why" here. (via The Road Goes Ever On)

MP3: The Sea-ders: "Thanks a Lot" (1966)

The Sea-ders is available on reissue from Groovie