Freakbeat finds

I had a bit of luck at my regular car boot sale recently when I picked up several 'Freakbeat' singles by bands such as the Birds (with an I not a Y), the Creation and the Artwoods. They are all pretty collectable, as are many other original sixties 45s that fit into the Freakbeat genre. But what is Freakbeat exactly? According to Wikipedia it's 'a loosely defined subgenre of rock and roll music developed mainly by harder-driving British groups during the Swinging London period of the mid-to late 1960s. The genre bridges British Invasion R&B, beat and psychedelia.' The word was apparently invented by music journalist Phil Smee who compiled a series of 'Rubble' compilations in the eighties featuring the genre. Since then there have been other compilations but it seems quite hard to pin down. There are similarities to such bands as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds but it seems that to really qualify as a Freakbeat band your records have to be quite obscure and not very successful at the time they were made. Apart from the bands mentioned above other leading Freakbeat bands include the Sorrows, the Pretty Things and Brinsley Schwarz. There's a Joe Meek compilation that includes tracks by the Syndicats, the Buzz and Jason Eddie and the Centremen, all of whose singles go for big prices. A couple of the Birds singles that I picked up are covers of Motown songs by Eddie Holland ('Leaving Here') and Marvin Gaye ('No Good Without You Baby'), although the style is a long way from that of its Detroit original. As for quality, there's probably a reason why they didn't make it big in the sixties in many cases, but for record collectors it would appear to be a niche area that is both expensive and exclusive.