PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Star Trek – The Man Trap

★★★1/2 September 8, 1966 Season 1 Episode 1

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.

This show was written by George Clayton Johnson

This was the first episode aired although it was the 6th one filmed. NBC thought this one had more action than the other 5 that were ready to go. The world got its first look at the crew of the Enterprise…and they didn’t fail to deliver here. It’s not one of the top episodes by any means but it is a good solid episode.

In this episode, we get the first peek at an alien monster (Salt Vampire) and what a handsome man he is! He was a shapeshifting alien who is the only one left of his kind that needs salt to survive and loves the human variety of salt.

The show does serve as a good introduction to the main characters. William Shatner as Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Mister Spock, DeForest Kelley as Doctor Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy, Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Rand, George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, and the beautiful Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. The main thing that is missing is the close friendship between Spock and Jim…of course since this was the 6th one made but the first to air…it hadn’t built up yet.

Dr. McCoy is the central character here for the most part, except when he’s being lectured by Captain Kirk for dropping the ball a few times. The characters are close to what they become but we will see growth from all of them coming up.

It’s interesting how they touch on real life with species that are on the brink of being extinct. Determining the creature’s right to continue existing, drawing parallels between the salt vampire and the now-extinct wild buffalo. Like the Twilight Zone…they manage to get a social comment across through science fiction. There will be more of that to come in the episodes.

As a debut, it is solid and good. I would say a little above average but they have better ones coming.

From IMDB Trivia

It was Gene Roddenberry’s idea to have the creature, in its illusory form, speak Swahili to Uhura. Kathy Fitzgibbon supplied him with the translation. In English, the illusory crewman says “How are you, friend. I think of you, beautiful lady. You should never know loneliness.”

Dr. McCoy’s handheld “medical scanners” were actually modified salt and pepper shakers purchased originally for use in “The Man Trap”, in which a character was seen using a salt shaker. They were of Scandinavian design, and on-screen was not recognizable as salt shakers; so a few generic salt shakers were borrowed from the studio commissary, and the “futuristic” looking shakers became McCoy’s medical instruments.

Summary

In the series premiere, the Enterprise visits planet M-113 where scientists Dr. Crater and his wife Nancy, an old girlfriend of Dr. McCoy, are studying the remains of an ancient civilization. When Enterprise crewmen begin turning up dead under mysterious circumstances, Kirk and Spock must unravel the clues to discover how, why, and who is responsible.

CAST

William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
Jeanne Bal … Nancy Crater
Alfred Ryder … Prof. Robert Crater
DeForest Kelley … Doctor Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy
Grace Lee Whitney … Yeoman Janice Rand
George Takei … Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu
Nichelle Nichols … Lieutenant Nyota Uhura
Bruce Watson … Green
Michael Zaslow … Darnell
Vince Howard … Crewman
Francine Pyne … Nancy III
Budd Albright … Barnhart (uncredited)
Tom Anfinsen … Crewman (uncredited)
John Arndt … Crewman Sturgeon (uncredited)
Bob Baker … … Beauregard (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci … Brent (uncredited)
James Doohan … Lieutenant Commander Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott
Sandra Lee Gimpel … M-113 Creature (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone … Yeoman (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Ryan (uncredited)
Anthony Larry Paul … Berkeley (uncredited)
Walter Soo Hoo … Crewman (uncredited)
Garrison True … Security Guard (uncredited)

Krokus – Midnite Maniac

Break out the spandex and striped pants because we are diving into the 1980s. It’s odd how some locations have songs that are played over and over and in other states or cities…hardly played at all. This was played in Nashville at the time like it was a top-ten hit so its chart placement surprised me…much lower than I thought it would be.

Growing up, I would go to my dad’s place in Nashville and hang out with my cousin Mark. He liked harder music and I learned a lot about the harder and heavy metal bands through him like Krokus. He loved this band and went to see them often, usually opening up for a bigger band. This song was played a lot here on our largest rock station and I went out and bought the single.

A funny story about Mark…he works as a cabinet maker and around 10 years ago or so he ended up working with the actual drummer (Jeff Klaven) of Krokus. He was the drummer they had at their peak and during this time. He had been out of the band for a long time but he would get Mark into concerts and take him backstage. Mark met the Scorpions on their tour bus through him. Krokus has released 18 studio albums so they have not been idle.

This song was released in 1984 along with another song off the album…a cover of The Sweet’s Ballroom Blitz. Midnite Maniac peaked at #71 on the Billboard Charts. The riff in this song is a winner. That is what attracted me to it because it keeps climbing and climbing and is incredibly catchy. The album peaked at #36 on the Billboard Album Charts and #83 in Canada.

Krokus was formed in 1974 in Switzerland and they started out as a progressive rock band but after seeing ACDC in the late seventies, they switched to more hard rock. Their breakthrough album was Headhunter released in 1983 which peaked at #25 on the Billboard Album Charts, #31 in Canada, and #35 in New Zealand.

Their name Krokus is German for crocus, a flower common throughout Europe.

One note about this album. Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance co-wrote “Boys Night Out” for The Blitz album (with lead singer Marc Storace and guitarist Fernando von Arb).

Midnite Maniac

Did you read it in the paper‘Bout the danger comin’ your wayShe’ll tear you up at midnightKiller on the loose get out of her way

Sex machine terrorizing’ dreamLock the door tonightShe’s got it all she can walk through a wallBetter run for your life

And in the light of dayIn hidin’ she will stayWatch out at midnightFeel her shadow on your face

Midnight maniac she’s a killer at largeMidnight maniac lock your doorA) Cause she can’t be farB) She knows where you are

Did you hear it on the radioCrimes of passion makin’ the newsIt happened after midnightIn your neighborhood could’ve been you

Star Trek – The Cage

★★★★★ October 4, 1988 PILOT

If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.

This episode was written by Gene Roddenberry

*** Before I start this review I want to tell everyone that I try not to give the ending away in any of these although they are over 50 years old…some people have not seen them. If you disagree with my stars (5 being excellent, 4 being very good, 3 being a good average show, 2 means below average, and 1 means downright bad)…please say something…change my mind. I usually get my summary from IMDB and add or subtract from them…there is no sense in reinventing the wheel***

I’m presenting Star Trek in order of air dates except for this one. It was only screened to NBC executives in 1965 and they are the last people to see it until October 4, 1988, when it was finally broadcast on television almost 20 years after Star Trek went off the air.

I love this pilot episode of Star Trek. A different cast almost completely except for Spock. He looks and acts a little different (see the smile) but still is Spock. One more cast member was recast. Actress Majel Barrett who played Number One was recast as Nurse Chapel in the TV series. She would go on to marry the show’s creator Gene Roddenberry. They would reuse much of the footage of the pilot for an excellent two-part episode called The Menagerie later on in season one.

Jeffrey Hunter was really good as Captain Pike but he didn’t want to commit to the series because he wanted to concentrate on movies. William Shatner has said in his book that the producers canned Hunter after his wife repeatedly stormed onto the set insisting on more flattering camera angles for her husband.

The original Star Trek pilot was rejected by NBC for being “too cerebral”, “too intellectual”, “too slow”, and with “not enough action”, so they commissioned a new pilot, which later became Where No Man Has Gone Before, starring a completely different captain… the one and only Captain James T. Kirk played by William Shatner.

What we learn from Captain Pike in this one is that he is questioning his life of being Captain of the Enterprise. He is tired of making life-and-death decisions for all of his crew. Of course, when he loses himself because of the Talosians, he snaps back and realizes that a quiet life is not for him. The real star to me was Susan Oliver as Vina. She was obviously beautiful and she did a great job acting in this part. You felt so bad for her when you see her true state.

This is an excellent show…NBC was wrong in its assessment of the show. I’m happy it turned out the way it did though because we would have never had the great original cast.

Summary

This is the pilot to the series that would star William Shatner. Only in this version, there is a different Captain, Christopher Pike, and with the exception of Mr. Spock, an entirely different crew. Now it begins when the Enterprise receives what appears to be a distress message. But when they get to the planet where the message was sent from, they discover that the supposed survivors were nothing more than illusions created by the inhabitants of the planet, for the purpose of capturing a mate for the one genuine surviving human, and Captain Pike is the lucky winner. While Captain Pike tries to cope with the experiments and tests that the aliens are conducting on him, his crew tries to find a way to rescue him. But the aliens’ illusions are too powerful and deceptive (at first).

CAST

Jeffrey Hunter – Captain Christopher Pike
Leonard Nimoy – Mr. Spock
Majel Barrett – Number One
John Hoyt – Dr. Philip Boyce
Susan Oliver – Vina
Meg Wyllie – The Keeper
Peter Duryea – Lieutenant José Tyler
Laurel Goodwin – Yeoman J. M. Colt
Clegg Hoyt – Transporter Chief Pitcairn
Malachi Throne – The Keeper (voice)
Michael Dugan – The Kaylar
Georgia Schmidt – First Talosian
Robert C. Johnson – First Talosian (voice)
Serena Sande – Second Talosian
Jon Lormer – Dr. Theodore Haskins
Adam Roarke – C.P.O. Garrison
Leonard Mudie – Second Survivor
Anthony Jochim – Third Survivor
Ed Madden – Enterprise Geologist
Robert Phillips – Space Officer (Orion)
Joseph Mell – Earth Trader
Janos Prohaska – Anthropoid Ape / Humanoid Bird

Blasters – Rock & Roll Will Stand

When I want to hear rockabilly and pure rock and roll I play the Blasters. No studio embellishments, no gimmicks, no tricks…just rock and roll. So sit back and blast The Blasters on this Saturday.

The Blasters never had mainstream success…but popular radio back in the 80s would have been greatly improved by these guys. The Blasters are a rock and roll band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman.

This song was on their 1985 album Hard Line. Dave Alvin, the main songwriter of the band left right after the release of this album. John Mellencamp wrote and produced one song called Colored Lights on the LP.

The band has a cult following and during the 80s they had critical acclaim and recorded for Warners, but no big hits. In February of 1985, the album was released and again the band toured extensively and gained more media attention than ever. The Blasters promoted the album heavily and did a bunch of radio concerts and TV appearances including their third appearance on American Bandstand, a taped concert for MTV, and Farm Aid. In the summer a full concert was taped while on their European tour for a show called Rockaplast. The concert was aired only in Europe and was an outstanding performance.

Still, no hits, and Warners was trying to make them into a pop band and The Blasters just didn’t fit that bill. The Blasters are still together without Dave Alvin. His brother Phil still sings and plays guitar with the band.

Dave Alvin: “The night that Gene Taylor (piano player) left the Blasters was this gig in Montreal (Nov. 1985) and it was maybe the worst gig that I ever played. It was obvious that this wasn’t working anymore. The Thunderbirds had opened up the show and Gene just walked off stage at the end of the night and went right out the back door and got on the Thunderbirds bus and left. That night I decided I’m quitting. Everybody was so pissed off at each other. I flew to New York the next morning to do a Knitters gig at Irving Plaza and when I got to the gig, John said, ‘Billy’s (Zoom of X) leaving the band, you want to join?’ I said ‘Yeah!!’ without hesitation. Once I became a member of X, the Knitters became X.”

Here is a complete show from Rockpaplast

Rock & Roll Will Stand

There was a little night spot
On the outskirts of town
Where the beer was cheap
And the lights turned down
There was a boy on stage
Who could sing a little bit
Doing his versions
Of everybody’s hits
He told himself someday he’d have a
Millions fans
Everybody knows, Rock and Roll will stand

A Hollywood agent
Finally caught the boy’s act
Gave him a contract
And slapped him on the back
“On the dotted line
Please sign your name
You’re gonna get a star
On the Walk of Fame
Soon you’ll have the biggest record
In the land,
Everybody knows, Rock and Roll will stand!

“We’ll clean up your act
Take some more photos
Everybody loves you
The night of the show.
Annie’s little baby has grown up
To be a man
Everybody knows, Rock and Roll will stand!

At the Hollywood club
He gave his premier show
Some kids saw it from
The very last row.
The businessman said
“This is where it’s at!”
The kids said “Man,
We can do better than that”
They got some guitars
And went out to start a band
Everybody knows, Rock and Roll will stand.

There was a little night spot
On the outskirts of town
Another short drop
On the long way down
There’s guy on stage
Who never knew when to quit
Tellin’ everybody
He almost had a hit
But now he’s got a day job
Working with his hands
Everybody knows, Rock and Roll will stand.

“We’ll clean up your act
Take some more photos
Everybody loves you
The night of the show.
Annie’s little baby has grown up
To be a man
Everybody knows, Rock and Roll will stand!
Annie’s little baby has grown up
To be a man
Everybody knows, Rock and Roll will stand!

Delbert McClinton – Giving It Up for Your Love

I remember hearing this song for the first time on the way to a baseball game that I was set to pitch. It was the best game I ever pitched. I didn’t have my best stuff at all but I pitched a one-hitter. There was one big problem…the other pitcher pitched a no-hitter and shut us out. I remember I walked someone and he was on second base. The ball was hit to left field and our left fielder Greg C****** dropped the ball and the run scored. We lost 1-0. I didn’t give Greg any grief but I can STILL see him drop that ball.

McClinton is an excellent singer and musician. He plays an eclectic mix of tough soul, blues, rock and roll, country, Tex-Mex, some reggae, and jazz. He is a guy that was never a huge star but should have been. I love his music because it’s so down-to-earth and rootsy.

The song was released in 1980 on Delbert’s album “The Jealous Kind.” Giving It Up for Your Love peaked at #8 on the Billboard 100.

Delbert has performed for years but this is his only Billboard top forty hit. He did reach #5 in the Country charts with Tanya Tucker with the song “Tell Me About It.” McClinton also won a Grammy in 1992 on a duet with Bonnie Raitt in a song called “Good Man, Good Woman.”

Some trivia about Delbert… he played the harmonica on Bruce Channel’s hit “Hey Baby.” Bruce Channel with Delbert had the Beatles supporting them during a few shows during the Love Me Do era. There was a rumor that Delbert gave John harmonica lessons…Delbert has said that John already knew how to play…he just gave him a few tips.

Delbert McClinton on showing John some tips: “These things are getting romanticized by everyone, They [The Beatles] were just another group of guys. They hadn’t yet changed the world. [But] we were all going to change the world, every one of us. And there was no doubt about it.”

Givin’ It Up For Your Love

Givin’ it up for your love – everything
Givin’ it up for your love right now
Givin’ it up for your love – I said everything
Givin’ it up for your love right now, right now

My heart is aching for you, I can’t stand it
I need your lovin’, am I so demanding?

I’m givin’ it up for your love – everything
I’m givin’ it up for your love right now
I’m givin’ it up for your love – everything
I’m givin’ it up for your love right now

Well, I thought about it
You know I’m not playing
You better listen to me
Every word I been saying

Hot is cold and cold is hot
I’m a little mixed up
But I’ll give it everything I’ve got

Don’t want your money, baby, don’t need your car
I’m doing all right, doing all right so far

I’m givin’ it up for your love – everything
I’m givin’ it up for your love right now
Givin’ it up for your love – everything
Givin’ it up for your love somehow

I know you told me
That you’d always love me
And I believed it was true
So I saved the best and I’m ready
My love only just for you

Come back here, come back real quick
My heart is aching and my body is feeling weak
I’ll be all right, yes, I’ll be OK
Come on now baby, listen to what I say

Don’t want your money, baby, don’t need your car
Been doing all right, doing all right so far

I’m givin’ it up for your love – everything
I’m givin’ it up for your love right now
I’m givin’ it up for your love – everything
I’m givin’ it up for your love somehow

I’m givin’ it up for your love – I said everything
I’m givin’ it up for your love right now
I’m givin’ it up for your love – everything
I’m givin’ it up for your love somehow

Box Tops – Soul Deep

I had a Box Tops greatest hits and I wore this one out. The Box Tops had quite a few good singles. This one only peaked at #18 but I like the intro and the guitar in this one.

I’ve told this story at some point but it was a long time ago. A bizarre personal story…a one-in-a-million mistake…Back in the 90s, I tried calling a recommended musician (Gary something) to play in our band but dialed the wrong number and talked to another Gary. After a while after being confused…he told me I think you want another Gary. He said my name is Gary Talley. He was the guitar player for the Box Tops and we talked for a good 45 minutes.

He laughed and told me that I had at least reached a guitar player named Gary… but in Nashville, my odds were good getting one with any number. He was really cool and we talked about guitars, Alex Chilton, his touring, etc… He was giving guitar lessons at the time. He told me that other people have called him looking for Garry Tallent the bass player for Bruce Springsteen. I sure wish I had taken lessons just to meet him. Where ever you are now Gary…thanks for being a super guy to a young foolish person who dialed the wrong number. He seemed surprised when I started to tell him my favorite Box Tops songs because I was in my early 20s.

A song by the Box Tops and their teenage lead singer Alex Chilton. This song peaked at #18 in 1969 on the Billboard 100, #9 in Canada, and #22 on the UK charts. This has always been my favorite song by them. It was not as big as “The Letter” or “Cry Like a Baby” but it was their last top twenty hit.

A couple of years after this Alex Chilton would be playing in Big Star. His voice in this compared to Big Star doesn’t compute…the song was written by Wayne Carson-Thompson. He was a country musician, songwriter, and producer. Below is the Eddy Arnold version a year after The Box Tops.

Soul Deep

Darlin’ I don’t know much
I know I love you so much
A lot depends on your touch
My love is a river running soul deep
A way down inside me it’s a soul deep
Too big to hide, can’t be denied
Love is a river running soul deep

I worked myself to euphoria
Just to show I adore ya
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for ya
Cause my love is a river running soul deep
A way down inside me it’s a soul deep
Too big to hide, can’t be denied
Love is a river running soul deep

All I ever, ever hoped to be
Depends on your love for me
If you believe me, if you should leave me
I’d be nothing but a jilted male
I know darned well, I could tell, but

I don’t know much
I know I love you so much
A lot depends on your touch
My love is a river running soul deep
A way down inside me it’s a soul deep
Too big to hide, can’t be denied
Love is a river running soul deep
My love is a river running soul deep
A way down inside me it’s a soul deep
My love is a river running soul deep
A way down inside me it’s a soul deep
My love is a river running soul deep
A way down inside me it’s a soul deep

J Geils Band – Must of Got Lost

This just may be my favorite J Geils Band song. It is probably the first song I heard by them. Their live music from this period is just off the charts. Peter Wolf is in the top tier of lead singers. I always held him in high regard…he was like a composite of the best lead singers all in one.

Must Have Got Lost was released in 1974 and it peaked at #12 on the Billboard 100 Charts and #27 in Canada in 1974. The song was on their 5th album called Nightmares…and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle. The album peaked at #26 on the Billboard Album Chart and #32 in Canada.

The band came out of the Boston club scene in the late sixties. I always thought they should have been bigger than they were in the 1970s. They didn’t hit their commercial peak until the early 80s with Love Stinks, Come Back, and then the hugely popular Freeze-Frame album in 1983.

While the band was experiencing the greatest commercial success of its career and preparing a follow-up to Freeze Frame…the two main songwriters Wolf and Justman were not getting along. The band refused to record material Wolf had written with other writing partners…so Wolf left in 1983.

The band wanted to go in a more pop direction while Wolf wanted to continue the blues/rock path they were going before that album. They continued without their charismatic lead singer but were not commercially successful. It would be almost impossible to replace Wolf.

“Must Have Got Lost” was never a huge hit but it was always a favorite of mine.

Peter Wolf: “I did not leave the band, but the majority of the band wanted to move in another direction. They wanted to continue in a pop-techno way, [and] it wasn’t my thing.”

Magic Dick (Richard Salwitz) Harmonica, Saxophone, and Trumpet: “This is very important to me. A lot of people, all they knew us for was ‘Freeze-Frame,’ ‘Centerfold’ and stuff like that, I don’t think they were aware of how blues and R&B; oriented the earlier stuff was. I really feel great about (the reunited band) because this is the music that inspired J. and myself when we first discovered our mutual interest in Chicago-style blues and classic jazz.

Must Have Got Lost

Never thought about tomorrow
Seemed like a long time to come
How could I be so blind, baby
Not to see you were the one

I let ya slip on from me baby
I let you walk on by,
Shoulda loved, you had told me
I refused to love, I let it die

I musta got lost, musta got lost, I musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, musta got lost
Give away the days you were mine

Don’t know why I let you leave me
Honey, I don’t know
Say its hard to see lovers comin’ babe
Honey I’ve a way to see them go

Musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, I got lost
Give away the days you were mine

Love can be a sweet thing
Girl I just don’t understand
Made a game outta lovin’ you
Now I hold the losin’ hand

Oh, I musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, I got lost, girl
Give away the days you were mine

I just don’t understand it
I just don’t understand it
I just don’t understand it

And I musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line, hey
Musta got lost, baby, I got lost girl
Give away them days you were mine

Musta got lost, I got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, oh I got lost girl
Give away them days you were mine

C’mon
Oh, I got lost, babe, double-crossed
Your lovin’, give it to me all night long

I said your love got me higher,
than I ever been lifted before

I said your love has got me higher,
than I ever been lifted before

Somewhere down the line… yeah

Impressions – It’s Alright

You got soul and everybody knows
That it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

I never get tired of this song and it never fails to put me in a good mood…just as “I Can See Clearly Now” does. It’s a great sixties soul/pop feel-good song. I’m a Curtis Mayfield fan from The Impressions to Superfly. A great songwriter and singer…and a pretty good guitar player.

The song was written by singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer Curtis Mayfield. In 1963, the song peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100,#1 on the R&B Charts, and #1 in New Zealand… I looked for the Canadian charts but since it was before 1964 it was hard to find. My friend Dave did find that it at least reached #25 on the Chum Toronto chart in November of 1963.

The song started with a conversation between lead singer Curtis Mayfield, baritone Sam Gooden, and tenor Fred Cash between Nashville performances. The trio had recently teamed up with producer Johnny Pate and were excitedly talking about future possibilities for The Impressions when Fred Cash exclaimed that “it’s all right!” Mayfield ran with it after hearing that phrase.

This song was on their self-titled debut album released in 1963. It peaked at #43 on the Billboard Album Charts. They would have more successful albums but It’s Alright was their highest-peaking song on the Billboard 100.

Mayfield was getting ready to perform at Windgate Field in Brooklyn, N.Y. on August 13, 1990, when a gust of wind from a fast-moving storm sent a lighting rig tumbling down onto him, breaking his neck and paralyzing him from the neck down. He received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 1995, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Impressions in 1991 and as a solo artist in 1999. He died at age 57 in 1999.

It’s Alright

Say it’s all right, it’s all right
Say it’s all right, it’s all right
It’s all right, have a good time
‘Cause it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

We’re gonna move it slow
When lights are low
When you move it slow, it sounds like more
And it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Now listen to the beat
Kinda pat your feet
You’ve got soul and everybody knows
That it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

When you wake up early in the morning
Feelin’ sad like so many of us do
Hum a little soul, make life your goal
And surely something’s got to come to you

And say it’s all right
Say it’s all right
It’s all right, have a good time
‘Cause it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Now everybody clap your hands
Give yourself a chance
You got soul and everybody knows
That it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Someday I’ll find me a woman
Who will love and treat me real nice
Then my woe’s got to go
And my love, she will know
From morning, noon and night

And she’s got to say it’s alright
Say it’s all right
It’s all right, have a good time
‘Cause it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right

Everybody clap your hands
Now give yourselves a chance
You’ve got soul

Creeps – She’s Gone

I’ve posted one other song by them called Down At The Night Club which is fantastic and still on my playlist.

The Creeps sound like they came from random garages in the sixties but it was the 1980s. I love the sound they got on this record. Like many of these bands in the 1980s…they sounded straight out of the late 60s…bless them! Who led with an organ in the 80s? Even for people who don’t like organs…the guitar is just as good.

This song is off of their debut album Enjoy The Creeps that was released in 1986. Critics have said that they never did translate the excitement of their live show to records but this one is good. They released it on a small label named Tracks on Wax which was a Swedish Garage Rock-label in the 80s.

They formed in Sweden in 1985. They were influenced heavily by the Animals and Yardbirds, Robert Jelinek (vocals, guitar), Hans Ingemansson (Hammond organ), Anders Olsson (bass), and Patrick Olson (drums). Whenever I think of music from Sweden I think of Abba…this is not Abba by any stretch of the imagination.

There was another band called The Creeps from Brno, Czech Republic. They were founded in 2005…this is not them.

I’m going to also add Down At The Night Club here. I would have bought that record if I would have heard it in 1986 over anything else in the charts here.

She’s Gone

She’s gone,
Out of my life.
I was wrong,
I’m to blame,
I was so untrue.
I can’t live without her love.
In my life
There’s just an empty s***e.
All my dreams are lost,
I’m wasting away.
Forgive me, girl.

(Chorus)

Lady, won’t you save me?
My heart belongs to you.
Lady, can you forgive me?
For all I’ve done to you.
Lady, oh, lady.

She’s gone,
Out of my life.
Oh, she’s gone.
I find it so hard to go on.
I really miss that girl, my love.
Come back into my arms.
I’m so alone,
I’m begging you,
I’m down on my knees.
Forgive me, girl.

(Chorus x2)

Lady, oh, lady.
My heart belongs to you.
Lady, can you forgive me?
For all I’ve done to you.

…

Tonio K – Life In The Foodchain

Watching the shadows for anything moving
And hoping they don’t come around

My friend CB (Cincinnati BabyHead) introduced me to Tonio K a few weeks ago and I’ve been listening to him heavily. I liked him right away because he mixes it up in his songs. His songs all have a great groove to them… and will roll you like wholesale carpet. What intrigued me the most though were the witty lyrics he throws out plus some out of the box arrangements…that work.

The album I listened to is called Life In The Foodchain released in 1978. Click on that link and it should take you to the complete album. There are a lot of good songs on this album. The title track alone should have made the charts.

Who is Tonio K? He was born Steve Krikorian on July 4, 1950, in California. He is a singer/songwriter, whose songs have been recorded by Charlie Sexton, Bette Midler, Peter Case, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Vanessa Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Brian McKnight, and others. His most successful song is “Love Is”… a #1 hit for Vanessa Willams with Brian McNight.

Krikorian and Alan Shapazian (rhythm guitar) formed a band called The Raik’s Progress which recorded one single for Liberty Records, released in 1967. In 1973, he appeared as a member of the former Buddy Holly backing band the Crickets on their album “Remnants”.

By 1978, Krikorian went solo, adopting the name of Tonio K, possibly a reference to the Thomas Mann novel Tonio Kröger, with Life In The Foodchain.

In 2004, he reunited with the Crickets for a track on their album, The Crickets and Their Buddies, singing lead on the Holly song, “Not Fade Away.”

The record was produced by Rob Fraboni ( who produced The Band, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker) and featured a cast that included Earl Slick, Garth Hudson, Dick Dale, and Albert Lee. What a cast that is! It was also the first Pop/Rock record to feature the percussive sounds of an AK-47 firing live ammunition. The album garnered much critical acclaim.

The track list is

Life In The Foodchain
The Funky Western Civilization
Willie And The Pigman
Ballad Of The Night The Clocks All Quit (And The Government Failed)
American Love Affair
How Come I Can’t See You In My Mirror
Better Late Than Never
A Lover’s Plea
H-A-T-R-E-D

I picked just 3 songs below…click the link in the article to check the album out.

Tonio K: I lived at Shangri-La for much of 1978, and we recorded Life In The Food Chain there. Shangri-La is The Band’s studio out there, the studio that’s in The Last Waltz. The place, I think it was built by Kaiser Aluminum in the ’40s. Real cool California ranch style house. I think Kaiser used it to entertain corporate guests, which is to say they used it basically as a brothel. They would send guys out there and send women out there with them, way north of Malibu, at Zuma Beach.

But, anyway, Garth was my neighbor there. He and Molly, his wife, would spend a lot of nights there. They had a farm somewhere further up in Decker Canyon or somewhere. But I got to know him and he played on my first two records, Garth did. And he’s pretty trippy.

Life In The Foodchain

Well your mother was there to protect you
Your papa was there to provide
So how in the world did the excellent baby
Wind up in this hotel so broken inside
You lie on your bed in the midnight darkly
Listening to every sound
Watching the shadows for anything moving
And hoping they don’t come around

‘Cause it’s dog eat dog
And it’s cat and mouse
It’s watch your step and cross yourself
And get back in the house
And it’s do or die
It’s push and shove
Because everybody’s hungry
And there isn’t quite enough

That’s right, we’re talkin’ about the good life
In the foodchain
Love among the ruins
I guess that you’ve finally got to accept
That there’s nothing you can do about it
It’s kind of like carving the turkey
It’s kind of like mowing the lawn
Everything gets to this certain dimension
Winds up on a customer’s plate and then gone

‘Cause it’s dog eat dog
And it’s the cat and mouse
You know it’s cut the cake and grab a plate
And hope it goes around
I said it’s a do or die
It’s push and shove
It’s because everybody’s hungry
And there just isn’t quite enough

Well it’s dog eat dog
And it’s the cat and mouse
You know it’s cut the cake and grab a plate
And hope it goes around
And it’s do or die
It’s push and shove
That’s because everybody’s hungry
And there just isn’t quite enough

U2 – Love Rescue Me

I bought the Rattle and Hum album when it came out in 1988. This song became one of my favorites on the album. It wasn’t a hit or even a single but the song stood out and Bono’s voice cut through with the lyrics.

The song was written by Bono and Bob Dylan. This album made me a fan of U2. I started to get into their earlier music after this. The band had changed their sound with this album. They released a fantastic single Angel of Harlem and that immediately made me a fan.

On their Joshua Tree tour when Bono woke up with the song in his head. He thought for sure it was a Dylan song that he was remembering. He drove out to Dylan’s place and asked if it belonged to him. Dylan told him wasn’t, and he helped Bono finish the song. Dylan had two writer credits on Rattle And Hum because U2 also covered All Along The Watchtower.

The song was recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis Tennessee in 1987. Bob Dylan sings backup vocals on this track. There is one morbid fact about this song. Bono was staying with the Edge in a Beverly Hills mansion where he started the song. That mansion would be where the Menendez brothers would later kill their parents.

Bono: “Part of the rock star disease is stewing in your own juices. All writers think their feelings are important but a great writer realizes that though his feelings may be important, they’re not all important enough to share. ‘The palace of your shame’ describes how people build their lives into a monument of self-pity. Irish people love the melancholy. It’s that bitter sweetness that we do better than anyone else. I always reckon it’s the rain.”

“Love Rescue Me”
Love rescue me
Come forth and speak to me
Raise me up and don’t let me fall
No man is my enemy
My own hands imprison me
Love rescue me

Many strangers have I met
On the road to my regret
Many lost who seek to find themselves in me
They ask me to reveal
The very thoughts they would conceal
Love rescue me

And the sun in the sky
Makes a shadow of you and I
Stretching out as the sun sinks in the sea
I’m here without a name
In the palace of my shame
Said, love rescue me

In the cold mirror of a glass
I see my reflection pass
See the dark shades of what I used to be
See the purple of her eyes
The scarlet of my lies
Love rescue me

Yea, though I walk
In the valley of shadow
Yea, I will fear no evil
I have cursed thy rod and staff
They no longer comfort me
Love rescue me

Sha la la…sha la la la
Sha la la la…ha la la…
Sha la la la…sha la la la
Sha la la la…sha la la
Sha la la la…sha la la la
Sha la la…
I said love, love rescue me

I said love
Climb up the mountains, said love
I said love, oh my love
On the hill of the son
I’m on the eve of a storm
And my word you must believe in
Oh, I said love, rescue me
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah…

Yeah I’m here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said love rescue me

I’ve conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance
To a new world I can see
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me
Love rescue me

Star Trek …coming soon

I’ve been a fan of Star Trek since I was 13 and I saw a 24-hour marathon of the original Star Trek. I did watch some of the Next Generation, the movies, and some of the newer ones but I’ve always liked the original the best. The cast was great and Spock has to be one of the best TV characters ever written.

I enjoyed covering The Twilight Zone so I want to do that again with a classic TV show. It’s hard to pick them out. It would be hard covering a sitcom episode by episode but The Twilight Zone and Star Trek are so different in every episode (especially TZ) that I thought I would give this one a shot.

The show was only on for 3 seasons… that is hard to believe since we know it so well. The show inspired many inventors at the time and after. Either Gene Roddenberry (the show’s creator) knew about inventions that were being developed or inventors took his cue to make things real…probably both. Here is a list of things that were made popular after Star Trek.

Tablet computers
Tractor beams
Tricorders (there’s also an X Prize for that)
Flip communicators (and wearable badge communicators)
Hyposprays
Replicators
Cloaking devices
Voice interface computers (hello Siri)
Transparent aluminum
Bluetooth headsets (Uhura had one first)
Google Glass
Portable memory (from floppy disks to USB sticks)
Focused ultrasound technology
Biometric data tracking for health and verifying identity
GPS
Automatic doors
Big screen displays
Real-time universal translators
Teleconferencing
VISOR bionic eyes for the blind
Diagnostic beds

Anyway, next week I hope to start posting Star Trek episodes. My target is Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. 79 episodes in all which should take around 26-27 weeks if there are no interruptions. I hope Star Trek fans will visit…if not I will still be posting music on most days as well.

Thank you as always.

…

John Mellencamp – Hurts So Good

The first song I remember from “John Cougar” was Ain’t Even Done With The Night and then John kicked the door down with this song.

This was on American Fool and after that album he was known as John Cougar Mellencamp. The main thing is he was known all over after this album. He had four singles off of that album but two singles were huge. Hurt So Good and Jack and Diane. This song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #39 in New Zealand in 1982. MTV probably helped out a little but they were really good pop/rock songs. John kept his productions more timeless than some other artists. When you listen to many of them now…you don’t say…hey that’s so 80s. It could have been recorded in any era.

Mellencamp would start changing a little with his next album Uh Huh. He would become more of a “Heartland Rocker” and I started to think of him more like Springsteen and Petty. His peak to me came with the album Scarecrow. That is not saying he didn’t have more great albums because he did…but it’s hard to beat Scarecrow. His next six albums after that all went platinum.

Mellencamp’s friend was George Green, who received a composer credit on this song and went on to co-write many of Mellencamp’s hits, including Human Wheels, Crumblin’ Down, and Rain On The Scarecrow.

One thing I never knew…John Mellencamp at one time owned a tattoo parlor. This led to many family members getting tattoos that normally would not have them….like the “Hurts So Good” tattoo on his aunt.

Mellencamp won his first Grammy with this song: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance of 1982. In his acceptance speech he said, “I don’t know what to say, I’m just an idiot.”

John Mellencamp: “My friend George said, why didn’t I write a song with the title ‘Hurt So Good’? We thought of it as like a Shel Silverstein thing. I wrote it in three minutes, scrawled the first line in soap on the glass door in the shower. It was really just a joke. I think all good things probably started as jokes. Wasn’t God having a laugh when he made this whole place?”

John Mellencamp: “When I first started playing in rock bands, I didn’t realize how crude and mean other fellas could be. How crude they were with women and how crude women were. That led me to write a song called ‘Hurts So Good’ because I was playing in these bars and I just could not believe the lows people would go to with each other. The thing that surprised me is that it fit my personality perfectly. I fit right in with all that.”

Hurts So Good

When I was a young boy
Said put away those young boy ways
Now that I’m gettin’ older, so much older
I long for those young boy days
With a girl like you
With a girl like you
Lord knows there are things we can do, baby
Just me and you
Come on and make it a

Hurt so good
Come on baby, make it hurt so good
Sometimes love don’t feel like it should
You make it hurt so good

Don’t have to be so exciting
Just trying to give myself a little bit of fun, yeah
You always look so inviting
You ain’t as green as you are young
Hey baby, it’s you
Come on girl, now it’s you
Sink your teeth right through my bones, baby
Let’s see what we can do
Come on and make it a

Hurt so good
Come on baby, make it hurt so good
Sometimes love don’t feel like it should
You make it hurt so good

I ain’t talking no big deals
I ain’t made no plans myself
I ain’t talking no high heels
Maybe we could walk around, all day long
Walk around, all day long

Hurt so good
Come on baby, make it hurt so good
Sometimes love don’t feel like it should
You make it hurt so good
Hurt so good
Come on baby, now
Come on baby, make it hurt so good
Sometimes love don’t feel like it should
You make it hurt so good

Hey, hey

Cynics – I Need More …. Power Pop Friday

I’ve posted a song by the Cynics before and now they remain in my playlist. They had a great recording engineer…they always capture the guitar wonderfully.

There was quite a big garage band scene in the 80s from all over the world. These bands stuck close to their ancestors but with a little more punch in the modern recording. They avoided the dated sound unlike some of their more popular peers.

The Cynics were from Pittsburgh and along with the Chesterfield Kings, the Milkshakes, and the Fuzztones were early founders of the 1980s garage rock revival movement. They pick up where the garage bands from the 60s left off.

This band is not limited to garage rock. I’ve heard everything from power pop to folk from them in songs.

Gregg Kostelich started the Cynics in 1983. The other members were drummer Bill Von Hagen, vocalist Michael Kastelic who joined in 1985, bass player Steve Magee, and keyboardist Becky Smith who debuted with their first album, Blue Train Station in 1986.

This song is not from the 80s but from 2011. It’s off of their album Spinning Wheel Motel. The guitar walk-down in this song is great…you can hear it right after each chorus. It could have been made in 1968. My favorite part of the song? The intense feedback at the end!

I Need More

I hope this letter finds you wellThere’s not too much for me to tell

I mailed it from another highwayAnd I don’t know what I’m looking forI don’t know who I am so I’m taking it door to doorI try to understand, but I just can’t take it no more

It doesn’t matter what you sayPeople only pay to hear you play

I mailed it from another highwayAnd I don’t know what I’m looking forI don’t know who I am so I’m taking it door to doorI try to understand, but I just can’t take it no more

I’ve had as much as I can takeWhy does everybody have to break?

I mailed it from another highwayAnd I don’t know what I’m looking forI don’t know who I am so I’m taking it door to doorI try to understand, but I just can’t take it no more

Can’t take it no moreHey, what’s the scoreYou’re such a boreAnd I need more

…

Little Richard – Jenny Jenny

When I think of Little Richard I think of that voice. When Little Richard passed in 2020 he was one of the last fifties pioneers left. His influence passed through generations from Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, to Lemmy from Motorhead.

He released this song in 1957 and it peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100, #2 on the Billboard R&B, and #11 in the UK. The song was written by Little Richard and Enotris Johnson.

Jenny, Jenny featured the great New Orleans sidemen Lee Allen and Alvin “Red” Tyler on horns, plus Earl Palmer, later described by Richard as “probably the greatest session drummer of all time.” Production was by Otis “Bumps” Blackwell.

The guy knew how to put on a show. Richard’s producer Bumps Blackwell said that he saw him break piano strings on multiple occasions by hitting the keys so hard.

In the US, he had four chart singles and six chart songs, because two of them had flipsides that qualified in their own right. As rock’n’roll spread on the other side of the Atlantic, Richard was successful there too.

He worked with some of the best musicians and also met the Beatles in Hamburg and they opened up for him in Liverpool. One of the last times they opened for anyone. Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, and Billy Preston were all backing musicians for Little Richard early in their careers.

In 1957, at the height of his career… he left the music business to pursue a life as a minister. As a child, he wanted to be part of the church, so as an adult he enrolled in Oakwood Theological College in Huntsville, Alabama. During his studies there, the British Invasion took over the musical landscape and Little Richard returned to rock ‘n roll. In 1970, he earned a BA in Theological Studies at Oakwood and became an ordained minister in the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

An ordained minister, Richard officiated weddings for Stevie Van Zandt (1982), Demi Moore and Bruce Willis (1987), Cyndi Lauper (1991), and Tom Petty (2001). He also showed up on the soap operas One Life To Live and The Young and The Restless to preside over weddings.

Mick Jagger: “I had heard so much about the audience reaction that I thought there must be some exaggeration. But it was all true. He drove the whole house into a complete frenzy. There’s no single phrase to describe his hold on the audience. I couldn’t believe the power of Little Richard on stage. He was amazing. Chuck Berry is my favorite, along with Bo (Diddley), but nobody could beat Little Richard’s stage act. Little Richard is the originator and my first idol.”

Bob Dylan: He was my shining star and guiding light back when I was only a little boy. His was the original spirit that moved me to do everything I would do.

Jenny, Jenny

Jenny Jenny Jenny, won’t you come along with me,
Jenny Jenny, ooh, Jenny Jenny,
Jenny Jenny Jenny, won’t you come along with me,
Jenny Jenny, ooh, Jenny Jenny,
You know that I love, we could live so happily,
Jenny Jenny, ooh, Jenny Jenny.

Spinnin’ spinnin’ spinnin’, spinnin’ like a spinnin’ top,
Spinnin’ spinnin’, ooh, spinnin’ spinnin’,
Spinnin’ spinnin’ spinnin’, spinnin’ like a spinnin’ top,
Spinnin’ spinnin’, ooh, spinnin’ spinnin’,
Crazy little partner, you ought to see us reel and rock,
Jenny Jenny, ooh, Jenny Jenny.

Jenny Jenny Jenny, you know that you’re my girl,
Jenny Jenny, ooh, Jenny Jenny,
Jenny Jenny Jenny, you know that you’re my girl,
Jenny Jenny, ooh, Jenny Jenny,
You know that I’ll need, I’ll buy you diamond rings and pearl,
Jenny Jenny, ooh, Jenny Jenny.

…