The Witch

THE WITCH
 
 
"The Witch"  is a song by the American garage rock band the Sonics, written by vocalist Gerry Roslie, and first released as the group's debut single in November 1964.  It also appears on the Sonics' debut album Here Are the Sonics!!!.  Arguably among the most frantic and heaviest recordings of the era, "The Witch" is regarded as being a quintessential stepping stone in the development of punk rock despite the fact the tune never reached national success.  Since the song's original release, "The Witch" has appeared on numerous compilation albums, most notably the 1998 box set, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Following a series of searing 45’s, beginning with “The Witch” – a song originally about dancing, but rewritten about a treacherous woman – the Sonics released the seminal album Here Are the Sonics!!! in 1965; the album was reissued in mono on Norton Records in 1999. The band has never really broken up, having gone in and out of fashion as various musical waves ran through the Pacific Northwest. In May 2016, the Sonics announced that Larry Parypa and Gerry Roslie would no longer be part of the touring band, though they will remain involved with the group.
 
From Wikipedia: “The lyrics of the Sonics’ original material dealt with early 1960s teenage culture: cars, guitars, surfing, and girls (in songs like ‘The Hustler’, ‘Boss Hoss’ and ‘Maintaining My Cool’) alongside darker subject matter such as drinking strychnine for kicks, witches, psychopaths, and Satan (in the songs ‘Strychnine’, ‘The Witch’, ‘Psycho’, and ‘He’s Waitin’’, respectively).”  
(December 2016)