September 2021 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Someday Never Comes

This one is a sad song. It reminds me a little of Cat’s in the Cradle…except more painful. This one was inspired by Fogerty’s parents getting a divorce when he was younger.

This song was on their last studio album Mardis Gras. To put it bluntly…a bad album. The only bad album in their original catalog. The band was coming apart at this time and John’s brother Tom had already quit after the last album. They made the album as a trio. John Fogerty, Stu Cook, and Doug Clifford. The others wanted to be able to have more of a say on the direction of the band.

John had heard this for a while so he basically told them…you two are responsible for a 1/3 of the album so go write. The other two were not ready for this as they had to write songs and sing also. The album was a disaster and was known as “Fogerty’s Revenge” and after the album they did a tour and the band was over after that.

The song peaked at #25 in the Billboard Album Charts and #29 in Canada in 1972. The album peaked at #11 in the Billboard 100 and #12 in Canada on the strength of Sweet Hitch Hiker and Someday Never Comes.

John Fogerty:

“Someday Never Comes” is simply a song about my parents undergoing a divorce when I was a child and me not knowing many things. When my dad left me, he told me to be a man and someday I would understand everything. Now, I’m here basically repeating the same thing really. I had a son in 1966 and I went away when he was five years old or so and again told him “someday” he would understand everything. Really, all kids ask questions like “Daddy, when are we going fishing?” and parents always answer with “someday”, but in reality someday never comes and kids never learn what they’re supposed to learn. –

When I wrote this song, my life was pretty chaotic. I knew my marriage was going to break up. My band was falling apart. I was beginning to sense the darkness that was Fantasy Records. This song was inspired by my parents’ divorce when I was a young boy and the effect it had on me. At the time, they told me, “Someday, you’ll understand.” The truth of this is that you never do and I found myself facing this as a parent. The irony was painful and inescapable

Someday Never Comes

First thing I remember was asking papa, why,
For there were many things I didn’t know.
And daddy always smiled and took me by the hand,
Saying, someday you’ll understand.

Well, I’m here to tell you now, each and every mother’s son,
That you better learn it fast, you better learn it young,
‘Cause someday never comes.

Well, time and tears went by and I collected dust.
For there were many things I didn’t know.
When daddy went away, he said, try to be a man,
And someday you’ll understand.

Well, I’m here to tell you now, each and every mother’s son,
That you better learn it fast, you better learn it young,
‘Cause someday never comes.

And then one day in April, I wasn’t even there,
For there were many things I didn’t know.
A son was born to me. Mama held his hand,
Sayin’ someday you’ll understand.

Well, I’m here to tell you now, each and every mother’s son,
That you better learn it fast, you better learn it young,
‘Cause someday never comes
Ooo someday never comes.

Think it was September, the year I went away,
For there were many things I didn’t know.
And still I see him standing, tryin’ to be a man,
I said, someday you’ll understand.

Well, I’m here to tell you now, each and every mother’s son,
That you better learn it fast, you better learn it young,
‘Cause someday never comes
Ooo someday never comes.

Twilight Zone – The Midnight Sun

★★★★★ November 03, 1961 Season 3 Episode 10

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This is a great episode with a wonderful twist. The third season was uneven but it did have some remembered episodes. During the first season, Serling had explored the end of the world in Time Enough at Last. In The Midnight Sun he returned to that theme, but with mother nature as the culprit. Lois Nettleton plays Norma who is a painter living in an apartment and looking after her neighbor Mrs. Bronson as the earth is hurdling toward the sun.

The Twilight Zone can make you feel the discomfort of the characters more than most shows. In this one… extreme heat. The episode plays on our fears of the stability of our natural environment. Something we cannot control takes over and we are left for it… to decide our fate.

Tony Leader Director: In those days, they had no air conditioning on the set and we shot in summer, so it was hot enough to give you the initial feeling. I remember that there were a couple of scenes in which I asked the electrical grip to add heat, not so much heat that it would show on the film, but heat that we would feel on the set. It made us distinctly uncomfortable, but I think it helped us develop the feeling that we had of heat. I didn’t do that throughout, because its effect would have been lost eventually. We would have just been plain simply miserable and angry with each other for being involved in this thing.

To create the melting painting effect, the painting was reproduced in wax and mounted to a hotplate.

This show was written by Rod Serling

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:

The word that Mrs. Bronson is unable to put into the hot, still, sodden air is ‘doomed,’ because the people you’ve just seen have been handed a death sentence. One month ago, the Earth suddenly changed its elliptical orbit and in doing so began to follow a path which gradually, moment by moment, day by day, took it closer to the sun. And all of man’s little devices to stir up the air are now no longer luxuries—they happen to be pitiful and panicky keys to survival. The time is five minutes to twelve, midnight. There is no more darkness. The place is New York City and this is the eve of the end, because even at midnight it’s high noon, the hottest day in history, and you’re about to spend it in the Twilight Zone.

Summary

In a world that is getting ever nearer to the sun, people are trying to find ways to deal with the extreme heat. Most people have gone north with Norma and Mrs. Bronson the only two people left in their apartment building. There is little or no infrastructure remaining and water is one commodity that is very much in demand. They panic when an intruder breaks into Norma’s apartment and holds them, at least for a few moments, at gunpoint. All is not as it seems however.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

The poles of fear, the extremes of how the Earth might conceivably be doomed. Minor exercise in the care and feeding of a nightmare, respectfully submitted by all the thermometer-watchers in the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling…Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Lois Nettleton…Norma
Betty Garde…Mrs. Bronson
Tom Reese…Intruder
Jason Wingreen…Mr. Shuster
Juney Ellis…Mrs. Shuster (as June Ellis)
William Keene…Doctor
Ned Glass…Fridge Repairman (uncredited)
John McLiam…Cop (uncredited)
Robert Stevenson…Radio Announcer (uncredited)

Otis Redding – Cigarettes And Coffee

Otis could sing soul, rock, R&B, and anything he wanted. The sound of his voice alternating between smooth and rough is breath taking.

The music isn’t bad either. Otis was backed by the great Stax house band Booker T and the MG’s. Eddie Thomas, Jay Walker and Jerry Butler, a popular singer who had hits with “Make It Easy on Yourself” and “Are You Happy,” wrote this song but didn’t record it.

The song was on The Soul Album released in 1966. The song wasn’t released as a single but it’s one of my favorites by Otis. The album peaked at #54 in the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in the R&B Charts, and #22 in the UK.

Steve Cropper…guitarist for Booker T and The MG’s: The first time I heard him sing, he did “These Arms of Mine,” and the thing about Otis is, we had 17 hits in a row – R&B hits. Some of them went to #1, some of them didn’t, but they still generated income – that was good enough for us to do another record.

So, the hidden gem in his catalog, I’d have to really think about that. There’s so many, but there are two songs he did that I really loved. One was “A Change Is Gonna Come” and the other one is “Cigarettes and Coffee.” His version of “Shake” that we did – the Sam Cooke song – wow.

Otis sessions were a lot of fun. He was the only artist I remember recording at Stax that the band could not wait for him to come back. And they never did that with anybody – it was work, it was a job, and that’s what they did. We all had fun making music – we had a good time – but they could not wait for Otis to come back to record because we had so much fun.

Cigarettes And Coffee

It’s early in the morning
About a quarter till three
I’m sittin’ here talkin’ with my baby
Over cigarettes and coffee, now
And to tell you that
Darling I’ve been so satisfied
Honey since I met you
Baby since I met you, ooh

All the places that I’ve been around
And all the good looking girls I’ve met
They just don’t seem to fit in
Knowing this particularly sad, yeah

But it seemed so natural, darling
That you and I are here
Just talking over cigarettes and drinking coffee, ooh now

And whole my heart cries out
Love at last I’ve found you, ooh now
And honey won’t you let me
Just be my whole life around you
And while I complete, I complete my whole life would be, yeah
If you would take things under consideration
And walk down this hour with me
And I would love it, yeah

People I say it’s so early in the morning
Oh, it’s a quarter till three
We’re sittin’ here talkin’
Over cigarettes and drinking coffee, now, lord
And I’ll like to show you, well
I’ve known nothing but good old joy
Since I met you, darling
Honey since I’ve met you, baby yeah

I would love to have another drink of coffee, now
And please, darling, help me smoke this one more cigarette, now
I don’t want no cream and sugar
Cause I’ve got you, now darling
But just let me enjoy
Help me to enjoy
This good time that we’ll have, baby
It’s so early, so early in the morning
So early, so early in the morning
And I’ve got you
And you’ve got me
And we’ll have each other
And we don’t, we don’t want nothing but joy, y’all
Nothing but joy

Traffic – Dear Mr. Fantasy

This is my seventh song pick for Hanspostcard’s song draft. Traffic Dear Mr. Fantasy.

I first heard this song after a band practice. We were in the guitarists garage when I was around 19-20. The guys in that band smoked pot…I didn’t…not because I was an angel…I just cannot smoke anything. That was my second contact high I ever got (my first was at a concert) and this one was much stronger. Someone played this song and the world was a lovely place. I saw right then why they did what they did.

This one would rank in my top twenty favorite songs. I could listen to this song on a tape loop forever and ever. It came out in 1967 on the Traffic album “Mr. Fantasy.” It was written by Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood and Chris Wood.

The song is made for long solos. Normally I like a solo and then move on but certain songs lend themselves to longer solos and this would be one.

The song also transports me to a time that I wasn’t a part of and I wish I would have been. This one and Can’t Find My Way Back Home does the same thing to me. It’s nothing like jazz but it affects me like jazz…I just sit back and let the song take me away to the incents and patchouli oil.

I’ll let Jim Capaldi tell you about the creation of the song:

“It was the summer of 1967, and we were all living in this
cottage in Berkshire. We were one of the first English bands to live
together like that. We thought we’d try it and see if anything came of
it. I remember the day very clearly: A bunch of friends came over early
in the day and we had quite a party. It was sunny and the corn was
coming up nicely around the cottage, and we were quite enjoying
ourselves if you know what I mean. As things finally wound down in the
evening, I was sitting around just doodling, as I would often do,
drawing this character. It was this little fellow with a spiked sun
hat. He was holding some puppeteer’s strings, and the puppet hands on
the end of the strings were playing a guitar. Under that, I just
scribbled some words: ‘Dear Mr. Fantasy,’ play us a tune,
something to make us all happy’ and on a bit. It was nice, but I didn’t
think much of it; certainly, it wasn’t intended to be a song.

“I crashed out eventually, but I remember hearing Steve and
Chris playing around after. The next day, I woke up and found that
they’d written a song around the words and drawing I’d done. I was
completely knocked out by it. Chris wrote that great bass line. We
added some more words later and worked out a bigger arrangement, too.
Those were very happy days for Traffic.”

Monkees – Papa Gene’s Blues

80s Underground Mondays will be back next week…

Papa Gene’s Blues was written by Mike Nesmith with The Monkees in 1966 and was on their debut album. Nesmith also produced and sang the lead vocals on the track. The great James Burton and Glen Campbell are playing guitar on this track. The song reminds me of Ricky Nelson.

Nesmith was allowed two songs on the album. This one and Sweet Young Thing…which to me were two of the highlights of the album. Nesmith didn’t write pop songs…he wrote more country rock. Halfway into the guitar solo, Nesmith calls out “Aw, Pick It, Luther!”. Which is a shout out to Johnny Cash and his guitar player, Luther Perkin

I have to add this every time I do a Monkees post. They should be in the Hall of Fame, if only with their influence on three generations of listeners. The show debuted in the 60s, it was in reruns in the 70s (that was when I found them), and a complete revival in the 80s plus a tour. MTV promoted them heavily and they a hot item again. I saw them in 1986 and they were great.

Michael Nesmith: “I liked the Monkees songs quite a bit, I wasn’t much of a pop writer. I tended, and still do, toward country blues, and lyrics with little moments in them – all pretty far off the pop songs of the ’60s. No resentment at all.”

Papa Gene’s Blues

No heartaches felt no longer lonely
Nights of waiting finally won me
Happiness that’s all rolled up in you

And now with you as inspiration
I look toward a destination
Sunny bright that once before was blue

I have no more than I did before
But now I’ve got all that I need
For I love you and I know you love me

So take my hand I’ll start my journey
Free from all the helpless worry
That besets a man when he’s alone

For strength is mine when we’re together
And with you I know I’ll never
Have to pass the high road for the low

I have no more than I did before
But now I’ve got all that I need
For I love you and I know you love me

[Spoken:]
Play, magic fingers!
Yee haw! Oh, pick it, Luther!

I have no more than I did before
But now I’ve got all that I need
For I love you and I know you love me

Yes, I love you and I know you love me

Twilight Zone – Deaths-Head Revisited

★★★★★ November 10, 1961 Season 3 Episode 9

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

In the previous episode we met a young monster named Anthony. In this episode we meet a realistic monster named Gunther Lutze…in the past… known as SS Captain Gunther Lutze who wants to relive his glory days. This is a powerful episode made less than twenty years after WWII. Oscar Beregi Jr plays the Captain in all of his infamous glory. Joseph Schildkraut plays Afred Becker, a figure from Luntz’s past, a figure he knows all too well.

We last saw Oscar Beregi Jr in the The Rip Van Winkle Caper but in this one he takes it up a level. He is so convincing as Lutze that you hate this character and everything he represents. The set is very impressive and realistic. CBS had made a pilot for a western, and they had built a four-sided frontier fort. This set cost around $200,000 and it was standing out on Lot 3 at MGM. The crew downgraded it for this episode and it works well.

This episode is chilling for what it represents. Serling did an excellent job with this story. It was satisfying to see the tables turned, and the sadist finds himself on trial with Alfred Becker in charge.

From IMDB

The title refers to the “Totenkopf” or Death’s Head symbol used by the SS during World War II depicting a skull and crossbones. It is distinguished from similar traditions of the skull and crossbones and the Jolly Roger by the positioning of the bones directly behind the skull.

Beregi and Schildkraut both hailed from distinguished Yiddish stage families, and had lost most of their European relatives in the Holocaust.

This show was written by Rod Serling

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:

Mr. Schmidt, recently arrived in a small Bavarian village which lies eight miles northwest of Munich… a picturesque, delightful little spot one-time known for its scenery, but more recently related to other events having to do with some of the less positive pursuits of man: human slaughter, torture, misery and anguish. Mr. Schmidt, as we will soon perceive, has a vested interest in the ruins of a concentration camp—for once, some seventeen years ago, his name was Gunther Lutze. He held the rank of a captain in the SS. He was a black-uniformed strutting animal whose function in life was to give pain, and like his colleagues of the time, he shared the one affliction most common amongst that breed known as Nazis… he walked the Earth without a heart. And now former SS Captain Lutze will revisit his old haunts, satisfied perhaps that all that is awaiting him in the ruins on the hill is an element of nostalgia. What he does not know, of course, is that a place like Dachau cannot exist only in Bavaria. By its nature, by its very nature, it must be one of the populated areas… of the Twilight Zone.

Summary

Gunther Lutze, a former captain in Hitler’s SS, decides to return to the area that contains the remnants of Dachau concentration camp. As he revels in the memories of the days when he had tortured prisoners, prisoner Alfred Becker appears before his eyes. What he does not realize is Becker is an ghostly apparition, and plans to put Lutze on “trial” for crimes against humanity for the torture and killing of the prisoners that were held in the camp. It is one trial Lutze may regret.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

There is an answer to the doctor’s question. All the Dachaus must remain standing. The Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes – all of them. They must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all, their conscience. And the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers. Something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God’s Earth.

CAST

Rod Serling…Narrator
Joseph Schildkraut…Alfred Becker
Oscar Beregi Jr…SS Capt. Gunther Lutze (as Oscar Beregi)
Kaaren Verne… Innkeeper (as Karen Verne)
Robert Boon… Taxi Driver
Ben Wright… Doctor
Gene Coogan… Victim (uncredited)
Chuck Fox… Victim (uncredited)
Jimmie Horan… Victim (uncredited)
David O. McCall…Victim (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey…Victim (uncredited)

Birtha – Too Much Woman (For a Henpecked Man)

Birtha was an all female rock/soul band from the seventies…and they didn’t mess about. They were really aggressive in their sound. Birtha was formed in 1968 by singer-bassist Rosemary Butler and guitarist-singer Shele Pinizzotto. The band consisted of Shele Pinizzotto, Rosemary Butler, Sherry Hagler, and drummer Olivia “Liver” Favela. All of them sang and provided backup vocals.

In the early seventies there were not loads of all female rock bands around. Fanny was probably the most successful one during that time. The other band I found was Isis… they were more of a horn rock band. Birtha was straight ahead rock and roll with some soul leanings.

The group immediately started playing the club circuit and toured from California to Alaska. From 1968 to 1971 Birtha worked to tighten and refine their rock sound and in 1971 they started writing their own material. Birtha signed a record contract with Dunhill Records in 1972 and recorded their first album, Birtha with record producer Gabriel Mckler and Engineers, David Hassinger and Val Caray.

Birtha released their self-titled debut album in 1972. It features nine songs, six of them written by the band. Too Much Woman (For a Henpecked Man) was written by Ike Turner. It was on Ike and Tina’s album Come Together released in 1970.

Birtha worked hard and toured constantly. They opened up for such acts as Fleetwood Mac, Alice Cooper, Poco, Black Oak Arkansas, Cheech and Chong, B.B. King, Three Dog Night, and The James Gang.

Birtha disbanded in 1975. The only member to continue in music was Rosemary Butler, who did backing vocals for James Taylor, The Doobie Brothers, Nicolette Larson, Neil Diamond, the Charlie Daniels Band, and numerous other artists. She also released a solo album in 1983.

I’m including two songs to give more of a selection of their music. As with Fanny…this band should have been heard…they were super talented.

Too Much Woman (For a Henpecked Man)

I wanna be loved, not teased
I don’t want no man on his knees
A henpecked man I can’t respect
‘Cause I’m a hard woman to handle, and I know that

He’s gotta be staid
Use his head to turn me on
Not give it all

My Mama was mean, my Papa was cruel
I never got the chance to do like the other girls
But now I’m a woman, sweet twenty-one
I wanna find myself a man and have myself some fun

He’s gotta be staid
Use his head to turn me on
Not give it all
Get it on, y’all

Pullin’ cotton sacks is all I’ve ever known
The man I find has got to be strong
‘Cause a weak man I can’t stand
Because I’m too much of a woman to have a henpecked man

He’s gotta be staid
Use his head to turn me on
Not give it all
So get it on

Twilight Zone – It’s A Good Life

★★★★★ November 03, 1961 Season 3 Episode 8

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

Meet the monster…it won’t look like a real monster but yes it is real…just ask relatives, friends, and neighbors stuck in the cornfield. This is one of the best known episodes of The Twilight Zone and a 5 star classic. It also is the start of a 5 star classic 3 episode run. The brightest part of the 3rd season.

Keep happy thoughts and whatever you do…be nice to Anthony.

Lets look at the cast. Cloris Leachman plays Agnes Freemont and would appear in many movies and play the role of Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Bill Mumy would portray Anthony and would later be best known for the role of Will Robinson in Lost In Space. Most of the others are faces that you have have seen in movies and tv shows as character actors during that time.

This episode was remade in the 80s as part of The Twilight Zone movie but it doesn’t match this. Bill Mumy does make a brief appearance in the movie.

The episode caught on with the stagehands and the crew. Around the set, when somebody would goof, people would say, Well, that’s a good thing you did, which they would always say to Billy Mumy when he killed a cow or what not That’s a good thing you did.

The first Serling script to be produced this season was an adaptation of Jerome Bixbys classic short story, Its a Good Life, which originally appeared in 1953 and was reprinted in Science Fiction Hall of Fame (Doubleday, 1971). Telling the story of a monstrous, conscienceless child with enormous powers and no restraints, it is truly a horrifying story.

I remember I showed this to my dad…he downright hated Anthony…”I would sneak up behind the little ****** and crack his head.”

Bill Mumy: I’ve always liked Anthony, and I’ve kept Anthony with me. Ill send people to the cornfield when I’m really pissed at them. I mean, Ill do it. Not that it works, but its a release for me.

This show was written by Rod Serling and Jerome Bixby

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:

Tonight’s story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a map of the United States, and there’s a little town there called Peaksville. On a given morning not too long ago, the rest of the world disappeared and Peaksville was left all alone. Its inhabitants were never sure whether the world was destroyed and only Peaksville left untouched or whether the village had somehow been taken away. They were, on the other hand, sure of one thing: the cause. A monster had arrived in the village. Just by using his mind, he took away the automobiles, the electricity, the machines—because they displeased him—and he moved an entire community back into the dark ages—just by using his mind. Now I’d like to introduce you to some of the people in Peaksville, Ohio. This is Mr. Fremont. It’s in his farmhouse that the monster resides. This is Mrs. Fremont. And this is Aunt Amy, who probably had more control over the monster in the beginning than almost anyone. But one day she forgot. She began to sing aloud. Now, the monster doesn’t like singing, so his mind snapped at her, turned her into the smiling, vacant thing you’re looking at now. She sings no more. And you’ll note that the people in Peaksville, Ohio have to smile. They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because, once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror. This particular monster can read minds, you see. He knows every thought, he can feel every emotion. Oh yes, I did forget something, didn’t I? I forgot to introduce you to the monster. This is the monster. His name is Anthony Fremont. He’s six years old, with a cute little-boy face and blue, guileless eyes. But when those eyes look at you, you’d better start thinking happy thoughts, because the mind behind them is absolutely in charge. This is the Twilight Zone.

Summary

In a small farming community in Ohio, a young boy by the name of Anthony Fremont terrorizes those around him. Anthony has the ability to command anything he wants simply by thought. The community is cut off from the outside world and the boy insists that those around him think only pleasant thoughts, and if they don’t, he eliminates them. Everyone walks in fear of the lad who ably demonstrates what he’s prepared to do at a small party in his home.

This is the best I could find…someone tried to colorize the Twilight Zone…NO NO NO…it doesn’t work as well in color.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

No comment here, no comment at all. We only wanted to introduce you to one of our very special citizens, little Anthony Fremont, age six, who lives in a village called Peaksville, in a place that used to be Ohio. And, if by some strange chance, you should run across him, you had best think only good thoughts. Anything less than that is handled at your own risk, because if you do meet Anthony, you can be sure of one thing: you have entered The Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling…Narrator
Bill Mumy…Anthony Freemont
Cloris Leachman…Agnes Freemont
Liliana Mumy…Audrey Freemont
Chilton Crane…Lorna
Robert Moloney…Joe
Kerry Sandomirsky…Cynthia
Samuel Patrick…Timmy
Paul McGillion…Chu George
Kirsten Kilburn…Timmy’s mother

Runaways – American Nights

I’ve always liked the Runaways. They were punk, rock, and some pop thrown in together. Their best known song is Cherry Bomb and it has gained popularity in the last decade because of the 2010 movie about them and the song included on the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack.

This song was written by Mark Anthony and Kim Fowley. It was on their self-titled debut album released in 1976.

The Runaways were formed in 1975 by producer Kim Fowley after guitarist Joan Jett and drummer Sandy West introduced themselves to him in hopes of starting a group. They eventually went on to recruit Lita Ford, Jackie Fox, and Cherie Currie. Lead singer, Currie, went into her audition with a rendition of Peggy Lee’s “Fever.”

Robert Plant played a joke on them and told them it was fun to collect (steal) hotel keys in England. The keys were big and ornate, and somewhat valuable, so when the band tried to enter France, they were detained by Customs. They had to cancel their show.

Joan Jett on her one arrest: “It was in England, on the first Runaways tour, about to catch the ferry to France. I blame Robert Plant, because we once asked him what souvenirs we should get on the road; he said he took hotel room keys. In England, the keys were big, ornate, metal things. I had four. At customs, the guy said, ‘Hmm, sticky fingers, you’re under arrest’, and put me in a jail cell.”

American NIghts

Clean rock n roll
Makes the midnight flow tonight now
It’s hot tonight
Come on let’s have a good time
In the dark of the night
We hunt for fun
Chasing after the moonlight
Hiding from the sun

American nights
You kids are so strange
American nights
You’re never gonna change

Our magic is young
Cause we just begun
We light up the sky
Always on the run
We live in the streets
In the alleys of screams
Cause we’re the queens of noise
The answer to your dreams

American nights
You kids are so strange
American nights
You’re never gonna change

Hey boy you’re my good time
Dance close ya feel so fine
Hold tight we’re on fire
All night you’re my desire

Everybody
Wanna party
Everybody
Wanna party

American nights
You kids are so strange
American nights
You’re never gonna change

Fanny – Special Care

I posted a different song from this band a while ago. I’ve been listening to them recently and they were a special (see David Bowie quote below) band. The musicianship of Fanny was outstanding.

Their name was Wild Honey but…according to Wiki… The band was then renamed Fanny, not with a sexual connotation but to denote a female spirit

These women rocked…not pop rock but blues rock. They were pioneers before the Runaways, Bangles and the Go Go’s…and those bands all cited Fanny as an influence. Fanny was different than those bands… They had a blues edge about them.

Fanny was formed in the late sixties in Sacramento by two Filipina sisters, Jean and June Millington. June Millington was the lead guitar player and her sister Jean was the bass player. June could play circles around many rock guitarists. Fanny would be the first all-female band to release an album on a major label (their self-titled debut, on Reprise, 1970) and land four singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and two in the top 40. The band played blues, rock, and some pop.

Fanny toured worldwide, opening for Slade, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, and Humble Pie. They were praised by David Bowie, John Lennon, George Harrison, Lowell George, Sly Stone, and Bonnie Raitt but yet vanished without much fan fair. They were touring and releasing records between 1970 – 1975.

This song was on their Charity Ball album. The album peaked at #140 in the Billboard Album Charts. The title song charted at #40.

The worked with producers such as Vini Poncia, Geoff Emerick, and Richard Perry. They also worked with

June was described by Guitar Player as the hottest female guitar player in the music industry in the 70s. She made a career as a producer for artists including Holly Near, Cris Williamson and Bitch and Animal. June also operates a music camp for young girls. Jean has done studio work for many artists, including Keith Moon, David Bowie, and Roderick Taylor. Jean also married Bowie’s guitarist Earl Slick and is presently an herbalist. The Millingtons continued to record together after Fanny as well, most recently on the 2011 album Play Like a Girl on June’s label Fabulous Records.

They also worked with Barbra Streisand. Jean commented that they heard horror stories about her from other musicians but she treated the band with nothing but respect.

These ladies need to be heard and remembered.

David Bowie:

“They were one of the finest fucking rock bands of their time,” “They were extraordinary: They wrote everything, they played like motherfuckers, they were just colossal and wonderful, and nobody’s ever mentioned them. They’re as important as anybody else who’s ever been, ever; it just wasn’t their time.”

This is a trailer for documentary about Fanny…it’s short and interesting.

Special Care

You there in the corner
Staring at me
Do you think I’m blowing my cool
Playing the fool?

You there in the window
Staring at me
Do you think I’m trouble?
Would you like to shoot me down?
(Shoot me down, down, down, down)

Now, now, now, special care
(Special care)
Has been taken
To make you aware
(Special Care)
You’re forsaken
If you don’t care
(Special Care)

They’re gonna come burn your house down
(Burn it down, down, down, down)

Woaaaaa. Wooooaaaaaa
(Guitar Magic)
Ooaaaa
(Special Care)
Oo-hoo-hoo
(has been taken to make you aware)
Oo-hooooo
(You’re forsaken. If you don’t care)

Ohh-huh, they’re gonna come and burn it down
Down, oh, yeah, oh yeah, oh, do it, do it, do it

(Special Care)
(Special Care)
(Special Care)
(Special Care)
(Special Care)

Jimi Hendrix – 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)

I have a confession…every time I look at this song my mind wants to read “Morman” not Merman. It’s an interesting song by Hendrix. Anything he did I will listen to…even songs still coming out to this day. The guy must have lived permanently hooked up to a recording console.

This song is basically a scifi story. A merman is a male version of a mermaid. In this song, Hendrix sings about how he wants to escape the war-torn world and all the horrible things going on.

This song was recorded in 1968 for the Electric Ladyland album and it featured Chris Wood of the band Traffic.

Sometimes Hendrix would play bass himself and he had many guests such as drummer Buddy Miles of The Electric Flag, Traffic’s Dave Mason, Steve Winwood, Al Kooper and Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady amongst others into the mix.

The went into the studio in February 1968 and the album was released on October 16th of that year. The final complete studio album ever recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and their only one to top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Electric Ladyland is Hendrix’s most experimental album and most musically varied.

Jimi Hendrix on going into the studio for Electric Ladyland: “We’ve been doing new tracks that are really fantastic and we’ve just been getting into them…“You have these songs in your mind. You want to hurry up and get back to the things you were doing in the studio, because that’s the way you gear your mind….We wanted to play [the Fillmore], quite naturally, but you’re thinking about all these tracks, which is completely different from what you’re doing now.”

Jimi Hendrix – 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)

Hurrah i awake from yesterday
alive but the war is here to stay
so my love catherina and me
decide to take our last walk
through the noise to the sea
not to die but to be re-born
away from a life so battered and torn….
forever…
oh say can you see its really such a mess
every inch of earth is a fighting nest
giant pencil and lip-stick tube shaped things
continue to rain and cause screaming pain
and the arctic stains
from silver blue to bloody red
as our feet find the sand
and the sea is strait ahead..
strait ahead…..
well its too bad
that our friends
cant be with us today
well thats too bad
“the machine
that we built
would never save us”
thats what they say
(thats why they aint coming with us today)
and they also said
“its impossible for man
to live and breath underwater..
forever” was their main complaint
(yeah)
and they also threw this in my face:
they said
anyway
you know good well
it would be beyond the will of God
and the grace of the King
(grace of the King yeah yeah)

so my darling and I
make love in the sand
to salute the last moment
ever on dry land
our machine has done its work
played its part well
without a scratch on our bodies
and we bid it farewell

starfish and giant foams
greet us with a smile
before our heads go under
we take a last look
at the killing noise
of the out of style…
the out of style, out of style

Twilight Zone – The Grave

★★★★1/2 October 27, 1961 Season 3 Episode 7

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This one is chock full of good actors. Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, and my personal favorite Strother (what we have here is failure to communicate) Martin. It also features recognizable actor James Best and with the risk of sounding like a broken record…great casting! It’s set in the old West in a dried up dusty little town with bored towns people.

Lee Marvin…as always, is great as the tough guy. He plays Conny Miller who was paid to hunt down a man named Pinto Sykes. The towns people ambushed Sykes and killed him. Sykes with his last breath…claimed that Miller was a coward and avoided him. Miller comes into town and the action starts there. This is a creepy Twilight Zone and I’ve always enjoyed it…an incredible cast.

Lee Marvin, Strother Martin and Lee Van Cleef all appeared in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, which was released six months after this episode was broadcast.

This show was written by Montgomery Pittman and Rod Serling

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:

Normally, the old man would be correct: this would be the end of the story. We’ve had the traditional shoot-out on the street and the badman will soon be dead. But some men of legend and folk tale have been known to continue having their way even after death. The outlaw and killer Pinto Sykes was such a person, and shortly we’ll see how he introduces the town, and a man named Conny Miller in particular, to the Twilight Zone.

Summary

Lawman Conny Miller rides into a small dusty town not long after the townsfolk have gunned down the man he’s been tracking for four months. He feels like he’s wasted that four months and someone bets him $20 he hasn’t the nerve to visit the dead man’s grave. He takes that bet and has little difficulty going to the grave. Leaving it however proves to be another matter.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

Final comment: you take this with a grain of salt or a shovelful of earth, as shadow or substance, we leave it up to you. And for any further research, check under ‘G’ for ‘ghost’ in the Twilight Zone.

CAST

Rod Serling…Narrator
Lee Marvin…Conny Miller
James Best…Johnny Rob
Lee Van Cleef…Steinhart
Strother Martin…Mothershed
Stafford Repp…Ira Broadly
Elen Willard…Ione Sykes
Dick Geary…Pinto Sykes
William Challee…Jason
Larry Johns…Townsman

…

Nikki and the Corvettes – He’s A Mover

Great way to start a morning listening to this 60s influenced guitar riff. It’s a pure joy power pop song.

Nikki was influenced by The Stooges and the MC5 in her teen years, before a friend pushed her on stage in the Detroit punk scene in 1978. Nikki and The Corvettes formed and recorded their self-titled and only studio album in the late ‘70s in Detroit. It was released in 1980 by Bomp! Bomp! records. This song was on that self-titled album.

The album they released influenced many starting bands in the years to follow. Nikki didn’t realize this until it was reissued in 2000. The band was short lived. They were only together from 1978-1981. Nikki returned to music in 2003 with Nikki and the Stingrays. They released an album called Back to Detroit.

In 2009 she formed a band called Gorevette and they opened up for Blondie and the Donna’s at a few shows.

Sorry I couldn’t find the lyrics…Just enjoy the song!

Game Theory – Erica’ s Word…. 80’s Underground Mondays

Game Theory was a power pop band founded by Scott Miller in 1982. I remember they got some MTV airplay. Miller was the only constant member of the band which changed members frequently. Game Theory got a lot of college play in the 80s.

Mitch Easter, who produced R.E.M. produced Game Theory. This song was on their album The Big Shot Chronicles which was praised when it was released and now. In the 2007 book Shake Some Action the album was #16 in the top 200 power pop albums of all time.

Scott Miller was a special songwriter. He influenced artists such as The New Pornographers, Jellyfish, Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet, Ben Folds, Guided by Voices, and more.

Miller committed suicide in 2013. After Miller’s death, it emerged that he’d been planning a new Game Theory album with the working title, Supercalifragile. Miller’s widow enlisted The Posies’ Ken Stringfellow, along with some Game Theory bandmates, to finish the L.P. It was released in 2017.

There are many that compare him to Alex Chilton musically…and also in terms of being a really good songwriter that doesn’t beyond a cult following.

Alex Chilton and Scott Miller

Erika’s Word

Erica’s gone shy
Some unknown X behind the why
All is some less today
Mass not conserving in the old way

Checking out with Brother Jay
I’ll miss your half of me
Girl are you leaving something
You might later need?

Erica’s word, taking me clear and leaving me blurred
Erica’s news, singing the praise and playing the blues
Pulling the rug out under my shoes

Twelve years ago
Shorthand allegiance to the long throw
Make believe and pretend
I remember when they served the same end

You always liked the photo of us
Sitting in our car
Just like we’re driving
Girl it’s not looking like we’ll go all that far

Erica’s word, taking me clear and leaving me blurred
Erica’s find, blowing my hair and tearing my mind
Throwing for grabs and leaving behind

Maybe you’ll find that promised love
The tingle to the touch
Girl and I hope it comes through for you in a clutch
But I wouldn’t bet much

Erica’s word, taking me clear and leaving me blurred
Erica’s news, singing the praise and playing the blues
Pulling the rug out under my shoes

Erica’s find, blowing my hair and tearing my mind
Erica’s word, taking me clear and leaving me blurred
Knocking me down from second to third

Twilight Zone – The Mirror

★★★1/2 October 20, 1961 Season 3 Episode 6

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

Peter Falk, later of Columbo, is in this episode of the Twilight Zone. He plays a caricature of Fidel Castro. The episode plays heavily on paranoia…especially in the situation of one Ramos Clemente (Peter Falk)…where he questions who to trust. He overtakes a small Latin nation and the former General De Cruz (Will Kuluva) tells him of a certain mirror that will show Clemente his future assassins.

One of the highlights to me was the dialog between De Cruz and Clemente. De Cruz has seen this all before. He knows what’s going to happen and what is going through Clemente’s mind because he has been there. Once Clemente gets power he starts turning into what he was fighting against. All of his loyal comrades are seeing it and try warn him.

The Bay of Pigs happened around 6 months before this episode aired.

This show was written by Rod Serling

Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:

“This is the face of Ramos Clemente, a year ago a beardless, nameless worker of the dirt, who plodded behind a mule furrowing someone else’s land. And he looked up at a hot Central American sun, and he pledged the impossible. He made a vow that he would lead an avenging army against the tyranny that put the ache in his back and the anguish in his eyes. And now one year later, the dream of the impossible has become a fact. In just a moment, we will look deep into this mirror and see the aftermath of a rebellion – in The Twilight Zone.”

Summary

When the peasant Ramos Clemente leads a successful revolution in his undefined country, the former dictator General De Cruz advises that his mirror is magic and can anticipate who will murder him. Clement becomes paranoid and kills each one of his revolutionary comrades believing that they want to murder him.

Sorry I could find no video preview of this episode.

Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:

“Ramos Clemente, a would-be god in dungarees, strangled by an illusion, that will-o’-the-wisp mirage that dangles from the sky in front of the eyes of all ambitious men, all tyrants – and any resemblance to tyrants living or dead is hardly coincidental, whether it be here or in the Twilight Zone.”

CAST

Rod Serling…Narrator
Peter Falk…Ramos Clemente
Will Kuluva…De Cruz
Richard Karlan…D’Alessandro
Vladimir Sokoloff…Father Tomas
Antony Carbone…Cristo
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr….Garcia
Arthur Batanides…Tabal