Nazareth – Holiday

*** This week is the last round of the TV draft. I won’t be posting a music post after today until July 4th. Hope you all have a great week! Enjoy the TV Draft!***

I liked this song when it was released… MTV played the video in a heavy rotation for a while. I saw them in 1982 opening up for a popular Billy Squier at the time. Squier was good but I was looking forward to Nazareth a bit more because of a childhood full of Hair of the Dog. 

Dan McCafferty has such a recognizable voice. When I saw them the volume on his voice was at 11. On top of being very loud he would scream as he talked… it looked like it was just natural for him but when the songs started…he sounded great. There was no way the instruments were drowning him out.

Holiday was co-written by all five members of Nazareth for their Malice in Wonderland album in 1980. They toned down their heavy sound for this album and made it more radio-friendly. That paid off with this minor hit in the US. I always liked the cover of this album.

NAZARETH - MALICE IN WONDERLAND - 1980 1st press LP + INNER superb NM | eBay

They will forever be remembered for the album Hair of the Dog released in 1975 with the hit single Love Hurts. Holiday peaked at #87 on the Billboard 100 and #21 in Canada in 1980. The album Malice in Wonderland peaked at #41 on the Billboard Album Charts and #19 in Canada.

In 1968 this Scottish band was named The Shadettes…they changed their name to Nazareth. This was not inspired by the Biblical birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. It was inspired by a line in a song called The Weight by The Band. The lyrics were “I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin’ about half past dead…”

In this case, Nazareth referred to Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Robbie Robertson chose to place the lyrics in Nazareth because it was the home of Martin Guitars. Robertson wrote the song on a 1951 Martin D-28 guitar.

The band is still touring. In 2013, lead singer Dan McCafferty retired from touring with Nazareth. In 2018 Nazareth released their 24th studio album, Tattooed on My Brain. The current lineup has Carl Sentence on lead vocals, Pete Agnew on bass guitar, Jimmy Murrison on lead guitar, and Lee Agnew on drums.

Some trivia about the video. The video game the teen is playing is Super Road Champions, made by Model Racing in 1978.

Holiday

Drinkin’ my wine, makes me feel fine,
Gonna have me a holiday
Poorman’s party, rich man’s daughter,
Gettin’ hotter and hotter.

She’s pushin’ way too hard
I don’t want any part of her way
Drinkin’ my wine, makes me feel fine,
Gonna have me a holiday.

It’s a holiday, it’s a holiday

Mama, mama, please no more jaguars
I don’t want to be a pop star
Mama, mama, please no more deckhands
I don’t want to be a sailor man
Mama, mama, please no more facelifts
I just don’t know which one you is
Mama, mama, please no more husbands

Drinkin’ my wine, wastin’ my time
Hidin’ out in my rented dream
Lookin’ for attention
A cover story mention in
Life magazine
Ask the chauffeur who he knows
Numbers he’s got, lots of those.

Drinkin’ my wine, spendin’ my time
Tryin’ to run from this halloween.

It’s a holiday, it’s a holiday

Mama, mama, please no more jaguars
I don’t want to be a pop star
Mama, mama, please no more deckhands
I don’t wanna be a sailor man
Mama, mama, please no more facelifts
I just don’t know which one you is
Mama, mama, please no more husbands
I don’t know who my daddy is.

It’s a holiday, it’s a holiday

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

23 thoughts on “Nazareth – Holiday”

  1. Nazareth were / are a terrific band – especially so in the early days. I never got to see the ‘live’ but would love to have done so. Their cover of ‘This Flight Tonight’ is brilliant. And songs like Broken Down Angel and Bad, bad Boy are classic rock numbers.

    For a while they also boasted former Sensational Alex Harvey Band guitarist Zal Cleminson who I love, being an SAHB fan. Then when he left, I think not longk before you’d have seen them (?) Billy Rankin took his place …. and in 1984 had a #52 ‘hit’ in USA with ‘Baby Come Back.’ I used to speak online with Billy quite a lot when he had his Rock Radio show and my Loud Horizon blog was more active. Good guy, is our Billy! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Funny you mentioned Zal Cleminson…I was going to include that. He was on this album and then split.
      Oh I know “Baby Come Back”! Cool.
      I’ve liked what I’ve heard from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band…

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  2. (OOPS! I was signed in under another of my Blogs when posted earlier)

    Nazareth were / are a terrific band – especially so in the early days. I never got to see the ‘live’ but would love to have done so. Their cover of ‘This Flight Tonight’ is brilliant. And songs like Broken Down Angel and Bad, bad Boy are classic rock numbers.

    For a while they also boasted former Sensational Alex Harvey Band guitarist Zal Cleminson who I love, being an SAHB fan. Then when he left, I think not longk before you’d have seen them (?) Billy Rankin took his place …. and in 1984 had a #52 ‘hit’ in USA with ‘Baby Come Back.’ I used to speak online with Billy quite a lot when he had his Rock Radio show and my Loud Horizon blog was more active. Good guy, is our Billy! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Great track and post Max. My favourite album by these guys is It’s Snaz which is a live album recorded in Vancouver back in 81. Dan has a great voice as it sounds like he swallowed a bunch of razor blades lol. Great band

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. I’ve heard of Snaz…man he does have a great voice. His voice is just LOUD also…even when he would talk people would cover their ears lol. He sounded great.

      Liked by 2 people

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  4. Pretty good song. Based on the “polished” sound, I never would have guessed this is Nazareth! That being said, I really only know a handful of their songs from the “Hair of the Dog” album.

    “Love Hurts” is their “With a Little Help From My Friends.” It’s really much more of a remake than a cover. I also like the original by The Everly Brothers, but Nazareth really kicked it up a few notches.

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  5. the great ‘forgotten’ Nazareth tune. I like it quite well. As Deke suggests and the numbers on this song, they were exceptionally popular in Canada compared to States or even their own homeland from what I can see.

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    1. Thank you Jeff…I know what you mean. I’m only taking 7 days but I might do more of these. To borrow a worn out phrase…I need my batteries recharged. It will feel good not to worry about all of that. I’ve written enough for July 4th through July 10th… so I can relax.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. “Drinking my wine makes me feel fine”…not exactly Shakespeare but I love the meaning!

      Yea all I have to do is let other people come up with these TV shows…so I’ll have a good time.

      Liked by 1 person

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