NULL & the Mysterians

It only took one song, the organ-driven number one smash "96 Tears," to make Null & The Mysterians into garage rock legends. Eccentric frontman Question Mark (actually spelled "Null," once he had his name legally changed) cultivated an aura of mystery by never appearing in public without a pair of wraparound sunglasses; he frequently claimed he had been born on Mars and lived among the dinosaurs in a past life, and that voices from the future had revealed he would be performing "96 Tears" in the year 10,000. On a more earthly level, The Mysterians' sound helped lay down an important part of the garage rock blueprint, namely the low-budget sci-fi feel of the Farfisa and Vox organs (most assumed that "96 Tears" had featured the former, but Null later remembered using the latter). What was more, they were one of the first Latino rock groups to have a major hit, and Null's sneering attitude made him one of the prime suspects in the evolution of garage rock into early punk.

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