I really like this band. Their career was split into two different sounds. In the early seventies, they were more like the Stones with blues/rock. After their singer (Roy Loney) left…they got another (Chris Wilson) and switched to power pop. They have songs that are power pop, grungy blues rock, and some great rock and roll.
The band was started in 1965 by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. By the end of the sixties, they clashed over where to go. Loney was more Stones and Jordon leaned toward the Beatles.
Loney left in 1971 and they got an 18-year-old lead singer named Chris Wilson. They moved to London and started to work with Dave Edmunds. With Chris, they did more power pop and that is when Shake Some Action came about with Wilson and Jordon writing it.
They would go on to be a great power pop band and also be known as an early proto-punk band…they pretty much covered the gamut. Yes It’s True was written by Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson. It has a Beatle vibe to it and was on their 1976 album, Shake Some Action. The album peaked at #142 in the Billboard Album Charts.
The band broke up in the 80s but some of them continued with the name touring off and on. They did release an album in 2017 called Fantastic Plastic.
Yes It’s True
Every time you see me smile
I’m really blue
Because I’m wondering all the while
If you’re really true
Cause girl you know I’ve tried and tried
Everything to see your side
But I can’t forget the tears I’ve cried
Yes, it’s true
When you got a girl who thinks she’s smart
That’s not so fine
Cause they’re the kind who’ll break your heart
And leave you crying
And lovin’ them is not so nice
You better think about it twice
Or I else she’ll make you pay the price
Yes, it’s true
Well, she’s the kind of girl
Who knows what she wants to be
She knows what she wants
And she knows how to get it from me and you
I saw the smile upon your face
I felt so sure
Although there never was a place
For me and you
Every few years I will watch Maximum Overdrive for a laugh and this is the best thing about it. That movie was directed by a very high Stephen King and it showed.
Stephen King was a huge fan of AC/DC, and when he got to meet them he asked them if they would provide music for this movie. He also offered the band a role in the film, but AC/DC declined, stating they were not actors. The band agreed to do the soundtrack after Stephen King sang “Ain’t No Fun (Waiting Round to Be a Millionaire)” from their 1976 album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. King sang the entire song from start to finish and the band laughingly agreed that if he was such a fan they would do it for him.
AC/DC performs all but two songs featured in the film, including two unreleased mixes of previously recorded songs, and the entire 1987 album Who Made Who is the soundtrack to this movie. AC/DC wrote this song and various instrumentals, only two of which appear on the album.
The rest of the songs are from previous AC/DC albums. At the time of the release many music stores had no idea the album Who Made Who was a compilation soundtrack for this movie, and many mislabeled the album as an AC/DC greatest hits. Limited pressings of the album did feature the movie’s logo, stating it was the soundtrack to Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive, but this was later removed from future pressings.
The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard 100 and #16 in the UK and #35 in New Zealand in 1986. The album peaked at #33 on the Billboard Album Charts, #12 in Canada, #11 in the UK, and #24 in New Zealand.
Who Made Who
The video games say, “Play me”
Face it on a level, but it take you every time on a one-on-one
Feelin’ running down your spine
Nothin’ gonna save your one last dime ’cause it own you
Through and through
The databank know my number
Says I got to pay ’cause I made the grade last year
Feel it when I turn the screw
Kick you ’round the world
There ain’t a thing that it can’t do
Do to you, yeah
Who made who, who made you?
Who made who, ain’t nobody told you?
Who made who, who made you?
If you made them and they made you
Who picked up the bill and who made who?
Who made who, who turned the screw?
Satellites send me picture
Get it in the aisle
Take it to the wall
Spinnin’ like a dynamo
Feel it goin’ round and round
Running outta chips, you got no line in an 8-bit town
So don’t look down, no
Who made who, who made you?
Who made who, ain’t nobody told you?
Who made who, who made you?
If you made them and they made you
Who picked up the bill and who made who?
Ain’t nobody told you?
Who made who?
Who made you?
Who made who?
And who made who?
Yeah
Nobody told you?
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 Gene Roddenberry, David P. Harmon, and Gene L. Coon
This is more of a comedy episode but I love the plot. It’s almost as if they made a parody of Star Trek…but it works and works well. I’ve given it 4 stars…not because of the sci-fi plot…but because it’s very entertaining. You just have to watch it with that in mind.
A society of people who imitate whatever they are exposed to. Someone on a ship 100 years before left a book about Chicago mobsters of the 1920s. When the Enterprise arrived.. that is what they found. A society of mobsters and submachine guns of the twenties and thirties.
This is one of those episodes which could quite easily have turned out to be an embarrassing disaster but instead, it is an amusing triumph. Seeing Kirk talking like a cliché gangster was priceless as was the reaction of a rather confused Scotty as he tried to understand him.
William Shatner was clearly enjoying himself in these scenes. Guest stars Anthony Caruso and Vic Tayback do fine jobs as the rival bosses, the delightfully named Bela Oxmyx and Jojo Krako, taking the roles just seriously enough to make this episode as good as it is. There are plenty of hilarious moments such as Kirk inventing the convoluted card game ‘fizzbin’ and later demonstrating that the ability to captain a starship doesn’t qualify him to drive a car. Overall this is a great comedy episode…definitely a lot of fun to watch.
It’s also funny watching Spock try to act/talk like the mobsters. Scotty pretty much didn’t try. My favorite scene is when, like I mentioned before, Kirk is driving a car with Spock as an unwilling passenger. They jerk, stop, and weave down the road. This conversation starts the second time Kirk asks Spock to ride with him.
Spock:[balking at the prospect of another ride in a car with Kirk at the wheel] Captain, must we?
Kirk:It’s faster than walking.
Spock:But not as safe.
Kirk:Are you afraid of cars?
Spock:Not at all, Captain. It’s your DRIVING that alarms me.
And
Spock:Captain… you are an excellent starship commander. But as a taxi driver, you leave much to be desired.
Kirk:It was that bad?
From IMDB:
This is the only time in TOS in which the Enterprise’s phasers are used to stun, and not to kill, destroy or damage. It is also the only time the Enterprise’s phasers are used for a wide proximity shot, as in this case when they are set to blanket a one city block area around a central point in order to stun a dispersed group of people.
After filming wrapped, the studio received a letter from Anthony Caruso, who played Bela Oxmyx. It was a letter from “Oxmyx” thanking the crew of the Enterprise for creating the “syndicate” and things were proceeding nicely on Sigma Iotia II. As he goes on in the letter, it is now the 1950s and he is sporting a crew-cut. He also mentioned wanting to visit Las Vegas, remarking “It seems like my kind of town”.
James Doohan provided the voice of the radio announcer.
Marvel Comics published a sequel story to this as part of their ‘Star Trek: Unlimited series’. The story, “A Piece of the Reaction”, featured the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E (from Star Trek: First Contact (1996)) returning to the planet to discover that its society had gone on to model itself after 23rd Century Starfleet, thanks to the communicator that McCoy left behind. The planet is now led by the tough kid Kirk and Spock met in the street, who wishes to hijack the Enterprise-E and finally gain command of a starship, just like his idol, James T. Kirk.
The car that Kirk drove to “put the bag on Krako” had a V-12 engine, as a V-12 emblem is seen on the radiator. It was a Cadillac, probably a 1931 model. Note the winged radiator cap, which Cadillacs of that vintage had. It is a nod to Chicago crime boss, Al Capone, who had a 1928 V-12 Cadillac. It also represents the only time that a member of the Enterprise crew is seen operating any kind of land vehicle within the original series.
Kirk makes up the rules of the card game “fizz bin” as he goes along. William Shatner ad-libbed the rules, so his pauses to think and the other actors’ confusion are all genuine. In Diane Duane’s novel “The Empty Chair”, McCoy invents a new version, Tournament Fizzbin, with the help of Kirk, Sulu, Scotty, and a great deal of Romulan ale.
In Star Trek: Enterprise: Horizon (2003), a hard-bound copy of a book beginning with the title ‘Chicago Gangs’ can be briefly glimpsed on a bookshelf in Travis Mayweather’s quarters on board the ECS Horizon, suggesting that Mayweather had some connection to the group which contaminated Iotian culture.
Gene Roddenberry, in his original 1964 Star Trek pitch, included a one-sentence idea for an episode titled “President Capone,” in which the Enterprise crew land on a planet which is a parallel version of 1920s Chicago where Al Capone is president. George Clayton Johnson later developed the idea into an outline titled “The Syndicate” which later became a treatment titled “Chicago II”. The concept was abandoned until producer Gene L. Coon found the treatment and worked on a script with David P. Harmon titled “Mission Into Chaos”.
This is the only episode of TOS that ends with a freeze-frame.
One of several “parallel Earth” plots in the series, contrived in part to save money, by avoiding the necessity for “alien” sets, costumes, and makeup.
The last script is credited to series writer-producer Gene L. Coon. He would, however, contribute two more scripts to the third season, but these were under the pseudonym of Lee Cronin.
John Harmon (Tepo, one of the lesser bosses) previously appeared in Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever (1967) as the bum Rodent. He had also appeared 20 years earlier in Fear in the Night (1946), which starred DeForest Kelley.
Ronald D. Moore wanted Deep Space 9’s tribute episode to involve returning to Iotia to see that the planet was now imitating the 23rd-century era Federation as a form of commentary on how the show became a global phenomenon in the intervening decades. Instead, the tribute episode was produced as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Trials and Tribble-ations (1996), sequel to Star Trek: The Trouble with Tribbles (1967).
This is the only episode in which Kirk calls McCoy “Sawbones” instead of “Bones”.
The script originally featured Romulans with whom Kirk has to compete in making a deal with the Iotians.
The street set is on the Paramount lot and can be seen in many television series. The steps leading up to Oxmyx’ headquarters were used in Dear John (1988).
This episode contains Chekov’s smallest speaking part in TOS, with only one line of dialogue, “Approaching Sigma Iotia II, Captain.”
The exterior street set used for Krako’s office is the same exterior of the Washington Square portion of the Paramount backlot used for Laverne & Shirley (1976) (1976). The Pizza Bowl exterior can also be seen as the Billiard Hall outside Oxmyx’ window. These exteriors were destroyed or severely damaged during the 1983 backlot fire.
Bill Blackburn’s character, Hadley, is given his name in this episode. It is also the only episode in which Hadley is referred to by name.
In the remastered version, the planet Sigma Iotia II was given a CGI-makeover, now a more Earth-like planet. Aside from orbital establishing shots, new phaser effects were created’ depicting the block-wide stun implemented from the Enterprise, replacing the more cartoonish aspects of the original.
The scene when Kirk puts his feet up on Krako’s table and declares that now the Federation is “taking over the whole ball of wax” is reminiscent of a similar scene in the classic gangster film Little Caesar (1931).
This is listed as one of the “Ten Essential Episodes” of TOS in the 2008 reference book “Star Trek 101” by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann.
In the 1990s, British science fiction authors Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman wrote a series of stories entitled “Back in the USSA,” imagining a world where Al Capone became the US President, as in Gene Roddenberry’s original TV proposal. The stories are jammed full of TV and film spoofs, including a humorous Russian soldier who closely resembles Pavel Chekov.
The ‘Star Trek Encyclopedia’ confirms that the Horizon was a Daedalus-class ship. It is later seen as a model on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) in Sisko’s office.
“Chicago Mobs of the Twenties” was published in 1992.
This is the first episode in which a site-to-site transport is performed – although due to the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), it is not the first time from a historical perspective.
This was one of a few times in TOS where any character is depicted using ground transportation. Another was in Star Trek: Assignment: Earth (1968), when Gary Seven hitched a ride in the trunk of a 1966 Dodge Coronet.
That big gun all the men carried was the Thompson Submachine Gun invented in 1918. It became a favorite of both gangsters and Feds during Prohibition. The big metal cans under the barrels are magazines holding 100 rounds of .45 ACP ammo, enough firepower to cut a Cadillac in half.
No stardate is logged in the episode. Stardate 4598.0 appeared in Bjo Trimble’s ‘Star Trek Concordance’, apparently using an earlier script version, and the fotonovel provides a closing stardate 4598.7.
Summary
The Enterprise visits the planet Sigma Iotia II, the first time in 100 years a Federation ship has called there. The U.S.S. Horizon was the first to visit but was soon thereafter destroyed. Their message, sent by regular radio, was only recently received. Little is known about the Iotians other than they are fast learners and very imitative. The Horizon’s visit also predated the Prime Directive, so it’s wondered to what extent cultural contamination has taken place. What they find on arrival is that the entire planet has patterned itself along the lines of violent Chicago mobs of the 1920’s, with two bosses in particular, Bela Oxmyx and Jojo Krako, both out to take control.
CAST
William Shatner as Capt. Kirk Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Anthony Caruso as Bela Vic Tayback as Krako Lee Delano as Kalo James Doohan as Scott Nichelle Nichols as Uhura Walter Koenig as Chekov John Harmon as Tepo Sheldon Collins as Tough Kid Dyanne Thorne as First Girl Sharyn Hillyer as Second Girl Buddy Garion as Hood Steven Marlo as Zabo
More than any other song to that time…this one seemed so different and I knew music was changing in the 80s. I still liked it and I bought the single. Just like with Bonnie Tyler and It’s A Heartache…my first thought when hearing this was Rod Stewart. I really like Carne’s raspy voice more than the pop singers at the time…and now. Now I’d love to hear a duet with Kim Carnes and Bonnie Tyler.
“Bette Davis Eyes” was originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon on her 1975 album New Arrangement. DeShannon wrote the song with the songwriter Donna Weiss. According to DeShannon, she got the idea after watching the 1942 Bette Davis movie Now Voyager. It was Donna Weiss who submitted the demo to Carnes, who along with her band and producer Val Garay, came up with the hit arrangement for the song.
With Bette Davis Eyes a major hit in 1981, the then 73-year-old Bette Davis wrote to Carnes, DeShannon, and Weiss to thank them for making her cool in the eyes of her granddaughter. She also thanked them for making her part of modern history. Carnes later performed the song for Davis live as part of a tribute to the actress. The two remained friends until Davis’ death in 1989. Joan Crawford was long gone by this time…I have to wonder what she would have thought or said?
The producer told the drummer to go out and buy the cheapest drum set he could buy (and you can tell). They ran the drums through a synthesizer called a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and it gave a thin-sounding drum sound. At the time it was different but it would soon become commonplace to replace drum sets altogether with electronic drums…which to me… went way too far. That is why some recordings from that period sound so dated…but that is just me. Keyboardist Bill Cuomo made significant contributions to the chord changes and arrangement, as well as coming up with that synth riff.
Kim Carnes’ version of Bette Davis Eyes came out in 1981. It was the lead single from her sixth studio album, Mistaken Identity. And despite being released at the start of the decade, it was a song that would be played throughout the 80s on radios everywhere.
DeShannon is a Kentucky-born singer-songwriter who’s been on the music scene for most of her life. She started singing regularly on the radio at the age of six and some of her biggest hits include What the World Needs Now is Love and Put a Little Love in Your Heart.
The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, #2 in New Zealand, and #10 in the UK in 1981.
Jackie DeShannon:Donna Weiss and I were writing quite a bit at the time, and we both liked black-and-white movies. Donna had written many pages, and I was fooling around with the melody, and we pieced together ‘Bette Davis Eyes.
We made a demo with a much more rock-and-roll feel. That’s what I thought we were going to do, but the producer had another concept. It turned out OK. I don’t dislike it, but it was not my concept. It had been out a long time, and Donna gave it to Kim Carnes with something else on the tape. Kim liked it and that was that. Her version was much closer to the demo version.
Bette Davis Eyes
Her hair is Harlow gold
Her lips are sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll turn the music on you
You won’t have to think twice
She’s pure as New York snow
She got Bette Davis eyes
And she’ll tease you, she’ll unease you
All the better just to please you
She’s precocious, and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
She got Greta Garbo’s standoff sighs, she’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll let you take her home
It whets her appetite
She’ll lay you on the throne
She got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll take a tumble on you
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come out blue
She’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll expose you, when she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you
She’s ferocious and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she’s a spy, she’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll tease you, she’ll unease you
All the better just to please you
She’s precocious, and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she’s a spy, she’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll tease you
She’ll unease you
Just to please you
She’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll expose you
When she snows you
‘Cause she knows you, she’s got Bette Davis Eyes
I remember this song on some Yardbirds album I had back in the day. The guitar riff is outstanding. This band had no shortage of guitarists. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and then Jimmy Page.
This is the first Yardbirds song that Beck and Page played together. The bass player on this song, Led Zeppelin fans will know right away. John Paul Jones played bass on this song. Jones also played bass on the Yardbird’s tracks “No Excess Baggage” and “Goodnight Sweet Josephine.” The reason Jones, who was a studio musician at that point, played on these songs was that the regular bass player Paul Samwell-Smith was pursuing record production full-time.
Paul Samwell-Smith went on to be a successful producer with credits such Cat Stevens’ albums Tea for the Tillerman, Teaser and the Firecat, and Catch Bull at Four. He also produced Jethro Tull, Carly Simon, and others. A couple of years later…John Paul Jones would be part of the New Yardbirds before they morphed into Led Zeppelin. Page wisely kept the rights to the name and the band played their first shows under that name.
This song was released in 1966 as a single with the B-side Psycho Daisies. The song peaked at #43 in the UK. As the title of the B side suggests…music was going into a psychedelic period that would peak the following year with The Beatles Sgt Peppers album.
The song was credited to the band… Keith Relf, Jim McCarty, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page except for rhythm guitar player Chris Dreja and bass player Paul Samwell-Smith.
Jim McCarty: “On ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago,’ Keith (Relf) and I were trying to write a song about reincarnation. We’d seen everything before, and it was all happening again. That was quite an interesting viewpoint, really. Meeting people along our way that we’d seen from another day. Sort of bringing in that situation that we’d been there before.”
Jimmy Page: We rehearsed hard on all sorts of riffs to things like “Over Under Sideways Down” which we were doing in harmonies and we worked out where we’d play rehearsed phrases together. It was the sort of thing that people like Wishbone Ash and Quiver [later] perfected, that dual-lead-guitar idea.
Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
Meeting people along my way
Seemingly I’ve known one day
Familiarity of things
That my dreaming always brings
Happenings ten years time ago
Situations we really know
But the knowing is in the mind
Sinking deep into the well of time
Sinking deep into the well of time
Walking in the room, I see
Things that mean a lot to me
Why they do I never know
Memories don’t strike me so
Memories don’t strike me so
It seems to me I’ve been here before
The sounds I heard and the sights I saw
Was it real? Was it in my dreams?
I need to know what it all means
Happenings ten years time ago
Situations we really know
But the knowing is in the mind
Sinking deep into the well of time
Sinking deep into the well of time
This extended from my last chat with CB… we had Graham Parker last week and Paul Kelly was brought up. I ran out of time last week to write this one up. I really like great storytellers…and Paul Kelly is one of them. His music touches on many styles. Country, rock, folk, reggae, bluegrass, and touches of many more styles. He has been described as the poet laureate of Australian music. He writes about everyday life that many people can relate to. I’ve seen this stated about him… Paul Kelly’s songs dig deep into Australia: how it feels, looks, tastes, sounds.
Today I’m going to give you a small sample platter of this great artist.
Here is a very short bio of Paul Kelly.
Paul Kelly was born in 1955 is from Adelaide, Australia. Debuted in Hobart, Australia, 1974; moved to Melbourne and performed in pubs, 1976; formed band the Dots, released albums Talk, 1981, and Manila, 1982; moved to Sydney, 1984; released Post with Steve Connolly and Ian Rilen, 1985; formed as Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, released Gossip, 1986; regrouped as Paul Kelly and the Messengers, released Gossip in the U.S., followed by Under the Sun, 1987; published collected writings volume Lyrics, 1993; formed new lineup with Shane O’Mara, Bruce Haymes, Peter Luscombe, Stephen Hadley, and Spencer Jones. Kelly is still releasing albums. His last album was Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train released in 2021. Altogether he had 28 studio albums, 6 live albums, 8 compilation albums, and an incredible 64 singles.
He also comments on important social and historical events and their significance to Australian identity and life. Several of his songs highlight the plight of Australia’s Indigenous people including ‘Maralinga (Rainy Land)’, a song about atomic testing by the British in Australia’s outback and its effects on the Indigenous people of that area. He and Midnight Oil were some of the artists who contributed to the album Building Bridges – Australia Has A Black History. All sales proceeds were donated to the National Coalition of Aboriginal Organisations.
The first song I listened to by Paul Kelly was “To Her Door.” It reminded me of Steve Earle or Springsteen. Not because of his voice but because of the songwriting. The story…the way lyrics flow and ebb and fit together like a puzzle. All the while this is going on the music has great dynamics that rise up to meet the lyrics head-on and punctuates it. The song was released in 1987 and was on the album Under The Sun that peaked at #14 in Australia.
That album also produced the single Dumb Things. This song has a shuffle that jumps. It starts off with a cool harmonica blasting and invites you in. This character-driven song stuck with me for days. This one peaked at #36 in Australia and #17 on the Billboard Alternative Charts in 1987.
Now it’s time for a pure rock song by Kelly called Darling It Hurts. This song was off of the album Gossip released in 1986. The song peaked at #25 in Australia and #19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts.
This one is called Bradman and it’s off of Gossip as well. It has a sports connection. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know much about Cricket but the song is great. It’s about Sir Donald Bradman, arguably…. the greatest ever cricketer (and definitely the greatest ever Australian cricketer). This one peaked at #51 in Australia and was part of a double A-sided single along with the song Leaps and Bounds.
I’m going to close this on this song or I could go on for pages. This song is called Careless. It was released in 1989 on the album So Much Water So Close to Home. It’s an incredibly catchy song but a song that means something. Like a mixture in a bottle, like a frozen over lake, Like a long-time, painted smile I got so hard I had to crack, You were there, you held the line, you’re the one that brought me back
If you liked what you have heard…do some homework and look this artist up…you won’t be sorry. He will now remain on my playlist. I’ve given you a few samples but it’s so much more to explore.
Rock Critic David Fricke: “I have had the pleasure and privilege of seeing Paul Kelly in performance more times than I can count – although it’s still not enough. I’ve seen him in performance in the Northeast and Southwest Hemispheres, unplug and plugged in, solo, with his band and, on one memorable evening in New York, on stage exchanging songs, quips and composing tips with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Michelle Shocked and Allen Toussaint. If memory serves me right, Paul actually sang a few bars of Fats Domino’s‘Blueberry Hill’ one thanksgivings back in the mid 80s at my apartment in Manhattan as he pored over a road atlas- his forefinger on the city of New Orleans – and excitedly pointed out the route he was taking on a car trip through the southern United States”
Now here is one for the road…this song’s title appealed me right away… “How to Make Gravy.”
How To Make Gravy
Hello Dan, it’s Joe here I hope you’re keeping well It’s the 21st of December And now they’re ringing the last bells If I get good behaviour I’ll be out of here by July Won’t you kiss my kids on Christmas Day? Please don’t let ’em cry for me
I guess the brothers are driving down from Queensland And Stella’s flying in from the coast They say it’s gonna be a hundred degrees, even more maybe But that won’t stop the roast Who’s gonna make the gravy now? I bet it won’t taste the same Just add flour, salt, a little red wine And don’t forget a dollop of tomato sauce For sweetness and that extra tang
And give my love to Angus, and to Frank and Dolly Tell ’em all I’m sorry, I screwed up this time And look after Rita, I’ll be thinking of her Early Christmas morning when I’m standing in line
I hear Mary’s got a new boyfriend I hope he can hold his own Do you remember the last one? What was his name again? Ahh, just a little too much cologne And Roger, you know I’m even gonna miss Roger ‘Cause there’s sure as hell no one in here I want to fight
Oh, praise the Baby Jesus, have a Merry Christmas I’m really gonna miss it, all the treasure and the trash And later in the evening, I can just imagine You’ll put on Junior Murvin and push the tables back
And you’ll dance with Rita, I know you really like her Just don’t hold her too close Oh, brother, please don’t stab me in the back I didn’t mean to say that, it’s just my mind it plays up Multiplies each matter, turns imagination into fact
You know I love her badly, she’s the one to save me I’m gonna make some gravy, I’m gonna taste the fat Ahh, tell her that I’m sorry, yeah, I love her badly Tell ’em all I’m sorry, and kiss the sleepy children for me You know one of these days, I’ll be making gravy I’ll be making plenty, I’m gonna pay ’em all back
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 Gene Roddenberry and Margaret Armen
My favorite line out of this one? You’re Out of your Vulcan Mind, Spock! It was said by McCoy and you could imagine “Vulcan” was in place of something they could not say.
Angelique Pettyjohn played Shahna in this episode. Pettyjohn later became an adult film actress which is rare for that time because not many made the jump from movies/tv shows to adult films. Is it just me or does she favor Lady GaGa?
This episode was not one of the great ones, to say the least. It’s not a terrible episode though…because it is fun. When the episode begins, Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are being beamed by the Enterprise’s transporter.
However, instead of “sparkling” from the transporter, they disappear and are transported by a fantastic force well across the galaxy. The Enterprise looks for them but doesn’t realize that the seemingly impossible has occurred and only later does Spock play a hunch and begin searching well beyond the transporter’s range…to other star systems.
They have no idea where they are but the planet’s three suns mean they are many light years from where they intended to be. They soon learn that they are to be trained as Thralls on the planet Triskelion. Thralls are gladiators trained to fight for whichever of the unseen Providers buys them.
In this episode, we see Kirk again being a Cassanova and trying to win their freedom.
From IMDB:
The look of the character Galt was modeled after Ming the Merciless, the archenemy from the Flash Gordon comic strip.
During an interview, Angelique Pettyjohn said that when she first auditioned for the role of Shahna, she admitted to the producers that she didn’t think she fit the character. When they asked why, she said the script describes her as an Amazon, but at 5’6″, Pettyjohn said she’s hardly an Amazon. The producers all laughed and said “Look, honey, next to Shatner, you’ll look like an Amazon.”
A triskelion is an ancient symbol used in Greek, Roman and Celtic cultures. It was originally three spiral but evolved into three legs, as seen in the flag of the Isle of Man. The symbol shown on the planet is a geometric version of this design.
When Joseph Ruskin saw that his costume consisted of a long black floor-length robe, he came up with the idea of walking in an extremely fluid way (known as “glide stepping” by marching bands). He thought that combined with the robe, it might make the viewer wonder if he was even a biped humanoid, or perhaps had some other means of movement.
In the remastered version, one piece of new footage was added to this episode. The establishing shot of the planet Triskelion, shown during the opening credits, now included the system’s trinary suns.
The producers interrupted filming of this episode to tell the cast and crew that the show had been cancelled. Everyone was depressed throughout the rest of production. But then fans started protesting and writing letters until NBC decided to keep it on for another season.
Joseph Ruskin (Galt) also played Tumek in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The House of Quark (1994) & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Looking for Par’Mach in All the Wrong Places (1996), Cardassian Informant in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Improbable Cause (1995), a Son’a officer in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), a Vulcan master in Star Trek: Voyager: Gravity (1999) and a Suliban doctor in Star Trek: Enterprise: Broken Bow, Part 1 (2001). He has thus appeared in every Star Trek television series except Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), although Insurrection features the TNG crew. With the exception of Majel Barrett, who has appeared in every Star Trek series, he was the only actor to appear in all four of the series in question. Furthermore, given that Barrett only provided the computer voice in Voyager and Enterprise, Ruskin was the only actor to appear on screen in all four series mentioned above. Along with Barrett, Clint Howard, Jack Donner, and Vince Deadrick, Ruskin was one of only five actors to appear in both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Enterprise. He, Barrett and Howard also appeared in Deep Space Nine. Ruskin also worked on two Star Trek video games, lending his voice to Master Si’tann in Star Trek: Hidden Evil (1999) and to Admiral Nolotai and Vulcan Master N’Kal in Star Trek: Away Team (2001).
Angelique Pettyjohn (Shahna), real name Dorothy Lee Perrins, found that her movie career never really took off. By the early 1980s, she had developed a substance abuse and alcohol addiction. These resulted in her descent into softcore, then hard core pornographic films and striptease. Fortunately she was able to clean herself up to a degree and distance herself from porn thanks to the growing Star Trek and Sci Fi convention industry. She realized that she could make a living appearing at sci-fi conventions after the popularity of the Star Trek franchise grew, due to the release of the films. As part of her appearances, she posed for and sold two versions of a poster as her Shahna character (one in her silver costume and one where she was totally nude) as well as signing autographs and photos. However, the years of alcoholism and drug addiction finally caught up with her and probably contributed to her early death at the age of 48 (from cancer) in 1992.
The top of Lazarus’ ship from Star Trek: The Alternative Factor (1967) was recycled as the glass bubble that encases the Providers.
The original script featured Sulu. However, George Takei was unavailable due to his commitment to the movie The Green Berets (1968). The script was rewritten with Chekov taking the place of Sulu.
The original version of the script featured Kirk, Sulu, and Uhura being taken captive while traveling in a shuttlecraft. However, the production staff thought it was too similar to the Teaser of Star Trek: Metamorphosis (1967), and changed it to feature them being detained while transporting down instead.
The story of “The Gamesters of Triskelion”, relates to the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, slaves and other captive were trained as gladiators (strictly, meaning sword-fighters but the word is used for all fighters in the arenas). They fought each other to the death in spectacles of violence and death, for the amusement and entertainment of the Roman citizens. In this episode, Kirk, Uhura, Chekov, and other alien lifeforms from across the galaxy, have been abducted and brought to Triskelion, are enslaved and trained as gladiators, and were forced to fight each other for the amusement of the Providers.
The ruins that Kirk and Shahna encounter while jogging were recycled from the planet surface in Star Trek: The Man Trap (1966).
The red stand-up collar of Galt’s costume appears to be constructed from a popular 1960s table placemat, made of tiny plastic discs embedded in a plastic sheet.
Although the unaired first pilot had shown Number One at the helm, Ensign Haines is the first woman seen at that position during Kirk’s command.
The backdrop for the Gamesters’ underground lair is a reused matte painting previously appearing in Star Trek: The Devil in the Dark (1967).
The knives are reused from Star Trek: Mirror, Mirror (1967).
The original title of this episode was “The Gamesters of Pentathalon”.
Parodied in The Simpsons: Deep Space Homer (1994).
A rare television appearance for Angelique Pettyjohn, a burlesque and hardcore adult film performer.
The “collars of obedience” are very similar to the control device placed around Dr. Zachary Smith’s neck in Lost in Space: Invaders from the Fifth Dimension (1965), aired 3 November 1965.
Scriptwriter Margaret Amen came up with the idea after having seen a re-release of Spartacus (1960) a few weeks before and used the gladiator training school scenes as inspiration.
Aside from the standard CGI replacement footage of the Enterprise, the remastered version most notably featured new effects shots of the planets Gamma II and Triskelion.
A persistent rumor is that Bea Arthur guest-starred here, using the name Jane Ross, but Arthur tried to end the confusion in 2001 when she told Television Academy Interviews that she has never guest-starred on “Star Trek” or used the name Jane Ross. But the rumor still persists, because of the physical similarities between Arthur and Ross.
This takes place in 2268.
Kirk’s conversation with Shahna is parodied in South Park: Hooked on Monkey Fonics (1999) when Kyle explains love to Rebecca in her father’s garden.
The thrall with blue makeup is identical to one of the prisoners in the season #3, “Whom Gods Destroy”.
Cameo Bob Johnson: Johnson, voice of one of the Providers, was one of America’s most famous voices for a few years: he was the tape recorded voice that gave the Impossible Missions Force its assignments at the beginning of most episodes of Mission: Impossible (1966). Mission was filmed next door to the Star Trek set, and actors from the series would often wander over to see what was happening on the Enterprise. Johnson previously did voice work on the first Star Trek pilot, Star Trek: The Cage (1966).
Dick Crockett: stunt coordinator appears as the Andorian thrall.
Summary
Kirk, Uhura and Chekov find themselves suddenly transported light years across the galaxy to the planet Triskelion. There, they are trained as thralls, slaves who engage in gladiatorial combat for the pleasure of the Providers, three faceless beings who amuse themselves by wagering on the outcomes. Outfitted with collars that inflict pain for disobedience, the thralls are submissive and pliant. Kirk eventually challenges the Providers to a wager that will either result in freedom for all or a lifetime of slavery.
CAST
William Shatner…James T. Kirk Leonard Nimoy…Mr. Spock DeForest Kelley…Dr. McCoy Joseph Ruskin…Galt Angelique Pettyjohn…Shahna Nichelle Nichols…Uhura James Doohan…Scott Steve Sandor…Lars Walter Koenig…Chekov Jane Ross…Tamoon Victoria George…Ensign Jana Haines Dick Crockett…Andorian thrall Mickey Morton…Kloog
This was a non-album single released in 1972. It was released between Who’s Next (1971) and Quadrophenia (1973).
Pete Townshend wrote this… it was part of his “Lifehouse” project, which was a film script featuring The Who in a future world where rock ‘n’ roll saves the masses. The Who scrapped plans for the concept double album and released most of the songs on Who’s Next…pretty much agreed their best album and one of the best in rock period.
Townshend’s use of the ARP synthesizer on Who’s Next was groundbreaking. He didn’t just add texture to it but the ARP became part of the structure of the songs. This was not like today’s synthesizer where you just took it out of the box. It had to be programmed and connected together…and not many people knew how to do it. He took a risk using it because technology in general always moving ahead, Who’s Next could have sounded dated a few years afterward but it still sounds fresh and interesting today…unlike some other synth music.
They played this song on the Russell Harty Show and Harty looked terrified of The Who. Harty was a gay man which was secret in the 1970s… Keith knew this and you could tell he thought Keith Moon was going to say something out loud in an interview but of course Keith didn’t. He was messing with Harty and the interview is both funny and demented to watch. I keep thinking….an interview like this would not happen today. What makes the interview funnier is how Daltrey and Entwistle just chill in the background while Moon and Townshend torment Harty.
They were joking around with Harty and you could see Harty tense up a bit when Moon stripped down to his underwear. Moon and Townshend then preceded to rip and tear each other’s shirt off.
Harty asked them some questions and if they were all married. That was when Moon started to talk about messing with Harty’s sleeves (as Pete and Keith did to each other) he said to Harty “You leave his sleeves alone… personal them ay…Can’t touch the interviewer can we?Hey he is in command isn’t he? You can make everyone else look like a right twit as long as you don’t have a go at him. How long have you been happily married? ” You have to wonder by the look on Harty’s face if he thought Moon was going to say something out loud…he did know Harty was gay…but of course, Moon didn’t…he was just having fun with him.
Someone put all the Rusell Harty short interview segments together from the documentary The Kids Are Alright…I have it below.
Anyway…a good song and it peaked at #21 in the UK, #50 in Canada, and #39 on the Billboard 100 in 1972.
Relay
You can hear it in the street, see it in the dragging feet
The word is gettin’ out about control
Spies they’ve come and gone, the story travels on
The only quiet place is inside your soul
From tree to tree, from you to me
Travelin’ twice as fast as on any freeway
Every single dream, wrapped up in the scheme
They all get carried on the relay
Relay, things are brewin’
Relay, something’s doin’
Relay, there’s a revolution
Relay, relay
(Hand me down a solution, yeah)
Pass it on, come on, a relay
Someone disapproves, what you say and do
I was asked to see what I could really learn you
Don’t believe your eyes, they’re tellin’ only lies
What is done in the first place don’t concern you
From tree to tree, from you to me
Travelin’ twice as fast as on any freeway
Every single dream wrapped up in the scheme
They all get carried on the relay
Relay, things are brewin’
Relay, something’s doin’
Relay, there’s a revolution
Relay, relay
(Hand me down a solution, yeah)
Pass it on, pass it on, pass it on, hey you, pass it on
We’re on the relay, get a movin’
Get on a movin’ on
The relay, the relay
The relay, the relay
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 Gene Roddenberry and David Gerrold
This could be the most famous episode of Star Trek…the one most known. A well-earned 5 Star episode for this one. They did something that the Twilight Zone never managed to do…to make a classic episode funny…and this one is.
The Enterprise responds to a priority one distress call on a space station but Kirk is far from impressed when he learns that the call was signaled by The Under Secretary for Agriculture Baris to guard some storage compartments of a new wheat hybrid. Reluctantly, Kirk agrees but only assigns two guards, giving his other available staff shore leave on the station.
The importance of the grain is brought home to him though when Starfleet commands him into action and the Klingons turn up on the station for “shore leave”. With all these pressures on him, peddler Cyrano Jones selling a strangely enchanting creature called a Tribble doesn’t even show up on his radar. Stanley Adams does a great job playing Cyrano Jones.
These Tribbles are adorable. There is only one problem with these furry creatures. They are born pregnant so you will never have just one. They soon fill the space station and soon The Enterprise. Everyone who sees them likes them…except for one race…and that would be The Klingons.
I have one request…WATCH the episode. I don’t want to write anymore and give anything else away. Some Star Trek fans say the episode is too lightweight…I disagree…it’s very entertaining and it’s nothing wrong with having an entertaining light episode. If I had to rank episodes…I would rank this 2nd behind The City On The Edge Of Tomorrow.
Deep Space 9 did an episode built around this episode. They go back in time and see Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the Enterprise when this happens. Check that one out…the effects are great…they put this crew with the Enterprise crew and it looks great.
From IMDB:
The scene in which Kirk is buried in an avalanche of tribbles took eight takes to get right. The tribbles were thrown into the hatch by members of the production crew. The crew members were not sure when to stop because they were unable to see the scene. This is why additional tribbles keep falling on Kirk one by one. William Shatner can be seen looking perplexed as to why more tribbles keep falling on him.
To create the one tribble moving on its own, the prop supervisor bought a battery powered toy dog and stripped it down to the mechanical works. Once recovered with fur including the toy legs, the prop moved on camera along the railing on the Enterprise bridge without wires or external assistance. The toy was so noisy all the dialogue in the scene had to be looped with ADR (re-recorded after shooting).
Tribbles have made subsequent appearances in numerous different versions of Star Trek, including important plot focuses in Star Trek: The Animated Series: More Tribbles, More Troubles (1973) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Trials and Tribble-ations (1996), and cameo appearances in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and even Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) and Star Trek: Discovery (2017).
The noises that the tribbles make were a combination of dove coos, screech owl cries and air escaping from balloons.
During the famous “bar fight”, careful observers will note that while tables are broken, all the chairs remain intact. The tables were studio property: the chairs were rented, and if damaged would have to be paid for.
William Shatner recalled the great enjoyment all the cast had filming this episode. He noted, “The trouble we had with ‘Tribbles’ was [to] keep your straight face. It was just a lot of fun.”
Writer David Gerrold tried to pitch a sequel to this episode during the third season. But producer Fred Freiberger rejected it because he did not like the comedic tone of this episode. Gerrold’s idea eventually became an animated spin-off, Star Trek: The Animated Series: More Tribbles, More Troubles (1973).
When Dr. McCoy figures out that the Tribbles are in a perpetual state of being pregnant, this marks one of the very first instances on American TV of the use of that word. Just 15 years earlier, Desilu Productions, the original company behind “Star Trek”, was forbidden from using that word during I Love Lucy: Lucy Is Enceinte (1952), so the word “expecting” was used instead.
The pile of Tribbles near the end was actually created by gluing Tribble props around a large wire frame which William Shatner then stood in the middle of to give the illusion of mass numbers. In reality, there were only five hundred Tribbles made. This is obvious when you look at how the Tribbles are piled up, and none have landed on the floor at Spock’s feet.
James Doohan insisted on doing his own stunts in the barroom brawl.
In some scenes (and if you watch in high definition), a coffee stain is clearly visible on Spock’s velour shirt. Leonard Nimoy spilled his cup of coffee during lunch and there were no other costumes available for him.
William Campbell (Koloth) recalled that, after this episode was aired, his neighbour’s son consequently addressed his wife as “Mrs. Klingon”.
George Takei does not appear in this episode. For much of the second season, he was filming The Green Berets (1968). Many scenes written for Sulu were switched over to Chekov.
According to David Gerrold’s ‘The World of Star Trek’, Tribbles would be around the set for some time afterward, allowing for occurrences such as what was mentioned earlier or popping up in various other places as well for some months after the production of the episode.
This episode was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation at the 1968 Science Fiction Convention.
According to Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda’s text commentary on this episode for the second season DVD set, the last fresh footage of the Enterprise was done for this episode. In every episode to follow, the shots of the ship were all stock footage.
The inspiration for the design of the tribbles came from a fluffy keyring.
At 37:10, you can get a rare glimpse of James Doohan’s missing finger as Scotty brings in an armful of Tribbies. Doohan lost it when he was wounded fighting with the Canadian forces on D-Day June 6, 1944.
The line in which Spock says that Kirk heard what Baris said, but could not believe his ears, was lifted directly from a Mad Magazine spoof of Star Trek (titled Star Blecch) that had just been published.
Captain Koloth pronounces his race, “Clingans”. As in Wilbur Clingan, Gene Roddenberry’s inspiration for the Klingons.
William Schallert appeared at one of the earliest Star Trek conventions, finding it rewarding and also confusing. Schallert recalled encountering many fans in person, who would react by calling and addressing him as Nilz Barris, and at the time he had completely forgotten the name of the character he played.
This is the first time in the series the Klingon language is mentioned. It is called “Klingonese” in the script and the DVD-subtitles. However, because actor Michael Pataki began to laugh at the end of the word, and cut himself off before finishing his consonants, the word is heard as “Klingonee”. It is spelled “Klingoni” in the Netflix subtitles.
In his first meeting with the Klingon commander, Koloth cites authority to shore leave rights as authorized by the Organian Treaty. This occurred in Star Trek: Errand of Mercy (1967) when the Organians prevented a war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The Treaty of Organia dictates interactions between the two sides to prevent another chance of war.
The bar set, including the bartender’s costume, is recycled from Star Trek: Court Martial (1967), with slight modifications, mostly in decoration.
Writer David Gerrold intended to play the crewman who is with Scott and Chekov when the barroom brawl breaks out, but the role went to stuntman Paul Baxley instead.
Despite this episode’s popularity, producer Robert H. Justman wrote in his book “Inside Star Trek: The Real Story” that he never liked this episode. Justman felt that the humor was too over-the-top and the show became a parody of itself.
Initially Leonard Nimoy was not a fan of the episode as he felt it to be frivolous. Its deepening reputation as one of the classics of The Original Series as the years went on helped him change his mind.
In David Gerrold’s book “The Trouble with Tribbles”, he quoted a memo he wrote when the show was being prepared suggesting that the character of Cyrano Jones be changed from an unscrupulous trader to an old man who was too befuddled to realize what he was doing by importing Tribbles into a space station and on a star ship. “What a role for Boris Karloff,” Gerrold wrote in his memo. In the book, Gerrold expressed regret he didn’t pursue this idea further because it would have gotten the legendary Karloff onto Star Trek.
William Campbell makes his second appearance as an alien. His first was as Trelane in “The Squire of Gothos”, and this role as the Klingon Captain Koloth. The role of Koloth was intended as a recurring character, but the next time a Klingon was needed, Campbell was unavailable and a different character and actor was cast.
The storyline greatly resembles one subplot in ‘The Rolling Stones’, a 1952 novel by Robert A. Heinlein. Gene Roddenberry and Heinlein made an undisclosed copyright agreement before The Trouble With Tribbles aired. Heinlein conceded to David Gerrold that both he and Gerrold possibly “owed something to Ellis Parker Butler”, author of the short story ‘Pigs is Pigs’ (According to Bjo Trimble, this episode is based upon said short story, ‘Pigs Is Pigs’, although Gerrold’s first-hand account only acknowledges the similarities but does not specifically cite the short story as “the basis” for this episode, and, as the author, he should know). See also Star Trek: Charlie X (1966) and Star Trek: Operation — Annihilate! (1967), which have strong Heinlein similarities.
This is listed as one of the “Ten Essential Episodes” of TOS in the 2008 reference book “Star Trek 101” by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann.
The producers of the Remastered Edition insist to everyone that all shots of the station and ships are brand-new and not reused from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Trials and Tribble-ations (1996) as had been rumored. Comparisons reveal that no space shots were reused.
William Campbell returned to the role of Koloth 27 years later in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Blood Oath (1994).
Spock’s estimate of the tribble population (1,771,561) is mathematically accurate, given the explanation: “That’s assuming one tribble, multiplying with an average litter of 10, producing a new generation every 12 hours over a period of three days.” The population growth, counting by 12-hour intervals, would go from 1 tribble to 11; 121; 1,331; 14,641; 161,051; 1,771,561. It also assumes that tribbles have a life expectancy of at least 3 days, which is possible but not certain; a relatively short life expectancy would tally with their high metabolism, growth rate, and “multiplicative proclivities.”
On the DVD commentary for Star Trek: The Animated Series: More Tribbles, More Troubles (1973), David Gerrold, shares a story of meeting a fan visiting the Filmation Associates facility who strongly urged him to write a sequel to the original Trouble with Tribbles. He said despite telling the fan three times he had already done so and it “was in production,” the fan continued to pitch his ideas for the sequel. After the animated sequel aired, he got a letter forwarded by NBC, from that same fan, saying he wasn’t asking for money only “asking for some of the credit.” Gerrold wrote back to him, telling him “asking for half the credit is asking for half the money,” and telling the fan that he didn’t hear him say he had already written it. He explained further to the fan that this is the reason why people in the industry, especially writers, try to avoid talking to fans and amateurs because if anything even just similar is later produced, it would be deemed as “stolen.”
In the bar set, recycled from Star Trek: Court Martial (1967), many tribbles were made out of carpet as background. Most visible versions were made from off-cuts from fur garments, as revealed in the book to accompany episode. The tribbles that move had mechanical toys placed inside them.
When Kirk remarks to both Uhura and Chekov that they didn’t waste any time taking shore leave, Uhura replies, “And how often do I take shore leave?” Star Trek: Shore Leave (1966), another episode with a comedic tone, premiered exactly one year earlier. Although Uhura was in that episode, she spent it, at least onscreen, aboard the Enterprise instead of the amusement planet where some of the other crewmembers were taking shore leave.
Summary
Having received a Priority One distress call from an outlying space station, the Enterprise arrives to find they have been summoned there by a Federation commissioner merely to protect a shipment of seeds meant to sow wheat on Sherman’s planet. The planet is also coveted by the Klingons, who are taking shore leave at the station. The trouble arises with tribbles – small furry creatures that seem to multiply without end. However, their fortuitous presence reveals both a problem with the wheat and a traitor on the space station.
CAST
William Shatner…James T. Kirk Leonard Nimoy…Mr. Spock DeForest Kelley…Dr. McCoy William Schallert…Nilz Baris William Campbell…Koloth Stanley Adams…Cyrano Jones Whit Bissell…Lurry James Doohan…Scott Nichelle Nichols…Uhura Michael Pataki…Korax Ed Reimers…Admiral Fitzpatrick Walter Koenig…Chekov Charlie Brill…Arne Darvin Paul Baxley…Freeman David L. Ross…Guard Guy Raymond…K-7 Bartender
Happy Friday to you all! Today and Saturday I will be out of town but I will keep checking when I can.
This song could fit into different categories…country, country-rock, and power pop. It has a touch of the Byrds in this because of the 12-string Rickenbacker sound. Its melody is the reason that I like this one so much. This one (and a Sloan song) was going to go in Canadian Week but I ran out of days.
Blue Rodeo is a Canadian country rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto. Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, have been friends since high school, having both attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute.
Their record company did try to break into America because they hired Danny Goldberg as their US manager. Danny Goldberg was involved in some giant bands. He got his start in the 1970s with Led Zeppelin and later on, went to The Allman Brothers and then to Nirvana. Unfortunately, Goldberg left after the Casino album was released. He didn’t end up having much to do with the band according to Jim Cuddy.
This song was on their album Casino and it was released in 1990. The song peaked at #3 in Canada, #1 in the Canadian Country Charts, and #2 in the Canadian Adult Contemporary Charts. The song was on the Casino album released in 1991. The album peaked at #6 in Canada. The song was written by Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor. Cuddy and Keelor are the two main singer/songwriters in the band.
They got Pete Anderson to produce the album. Anderson produced Dwight Yoakam, Roy Orbison, Jackson Browne, Buck Owens, K.D. Lang, and Lucinda Williams. He took the approach to Blue Rodeo as if they were recording 10 singles. He said their songs were entirely too long at that point and the band worked to tidy the songs up to under 4 minutes as you can see in the quote below.
Pete Anderson: “They loved to jam, but the songs were way too long. They were ahead of bands like Phish and The String Cheese Incident. They were not a jam band per say, but they were on the front-end of that jam-band world. Those bands are not on the radio. A programmer looks at the back of the record and sees songs that are over four minutes and they will not play those songs unless it is hippy radio. We were going for a three-minute and 20-second consciousness for this record.
Jim Cuddy: “That was a very tumultuous time. Our manager [Danny Goldberg] quit right when we had finished recording; he really never had anything to do with us. That was a lesson learned. We did not make that record to break into the U.S. market or cater it for radio. That idea was imposed on us. We thought all our records would be accessible in the States. We made Casino based on records we liked such as Dwight Yoakam’s Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc. That was a guy Anderson worked with. We wanted to sound like that sonically and artistically. Pete came up before we went to L.A., made extensive notes, and shared them with us. We did some demos on an eight-track machine in our studio on Sorauren Avenue. Those demos are interesting to go back and listen to now. For example, ‘What Am I Doing Here.’ I remember Pete cut out one of the bridges in that song. I thought that was a great suggestion. We never were good with self-editing.
Bass Player Bazil Donovan: “That’s one of Jim (Cuddy’s) songs that came out of the time when we first toured the States and we were gone so long, that we became disconnected with reality. We spent so much time on a bus, in a plane or going to a gig somewhere, and we were new to all of that. It took its toll on us, we weren’t taking care of ourselves and we were probably drinking too much, and on the long road depression sets in. The song captures that, about how you can lose your spirit. We had spent like a whole year on the road. It’s funny how a dark experience can result in a great song. People dance to it like it’s a happy rocker, but the lyrics remind me of that dark time.”
Bazil Donovan: “Pete had a concept. I remember one night we went to eat at El Pollo Loco and he said to us, ‘I want to make a record with you guys that has 10 singles on it. I don’t want to make stuff that is not going to get played. I don’t care if you have one arty tune that is an album track. My idea is to make hit songs.’ Listen to that record today and you can hear that. They are all three-minute pop-rock hits, which Pete was very good at. Some of our biggest songs came out of that record. I learned a lot from him. Before that, I didn’t know a lot about arranging. After I watched Pete work with arrangements it opened up the door for me and I thought about arranging myself. A lot of the stuff I learned there I have applied to stuff I’ve done since.”
Til I Am Myself Again
I want to know where
my confidence went
one day it all disappeared
and I’m lying in a hotel room
miles away
voices next door in my ear
Daytime’s a drag
nighttime’s worse
hope that I can get home soon
but the half-finished bottles of inspiration
lie like ghosts in my room
I wanna go
I know I can’t stay
but I don’t want to run
feeling this way
til I am myself
til I am myself
til I am myself again
There’s a seat on the corner
I keep every night
wait til the evening begins
I feel like a stranger
from another world
but at least I’m living again
There are nights
full of anger
words that are thrown
tempers that are shattered and thin
but the moments of magic
are just too short
they’re over before they begin
I know it’s time
one big step
I can’t go
I’m not ready yet
til I am myself
til I am myself
til I am myself again
I had a dream
that my house was on fire
people laughed while it burned
I tried to run but my legs were numb
I had to wait til the feeling returned
I don’t need a doctor
to figure it out
I know what’s passing me by
when I look in the mirror
sometimes I see
traces of some other guy
I wanna go
I know I can’t stay
but I don’t want to run
feeling this way
til I am myself
til I am myself
til I am myself again
When my times up, I’ll hold my own You won’t find me in an old folks home
A great duet between Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines on the album Street Survivors. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in Canada, #13 in the UK, and #36 in New Zealand in 1977-78.
In 1975 Ed King quit the band in Pittsburgh after he couldn’t take the madness anymore. That tour was called the Torture Tour because they hardly had any breaks at all. In that band alcohol and drugs were very prevalent. It’s difficult to tell what Lynyrd Skynyrd enjoyed more… consuming dangerous amounts of alcohol and drugs… or writing rock songs warning about consuming dangerous amounts of alcohol and drugs. This song isn’t about drugs but many were.
Gaines replaced Ed King as the band’s guitarist in 1976 but died in the 1977 plane crash that also claimed the lives of lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and Gaines’ sister Cassie, who was a backup singer for the group. This song provides a glimpse of songwriting and guitar talent.
Steve Gaines was a special talent. He wasn’t into drinking, drugs, or fighting like the other guys were. I personally believe he would have gone far in music outside of that band. There is guitar playing on Street Survivors which you never heard with that band before. Very sophisticated chord patterns and riffs with songs like “I Never Dreamed.”
Steve joined the band as a guitarist in 1976. Gaines had an immediate impact, writing or co-writing four of the eight songs on Street Survivors, which was released three days before the group’s plane crashed in Mississippi, killing Gaines, his sister Cassie (a backup singer with the group), and Van Zant.
On Street Survivors two songs had another person singing lead vocals…and that would be Steve Gaines. Van Zant let him sing one by himself (Ain’t No Good Life) and he shared vocals with this song for a duet. It would be the only album during the classic period that Van Zant didn’t sing lead.
You Got That Right peaked at #63 on the Billboard 100 and #69 in Canada after the crash. What’s Your Name was the first single and reached the top twenty in America and #6 in Canada.
You Got That Right
Well I’ve heard lots of people say
They’re gonna settle down
You don’t see their faces
And they don’t come around
Well I’m not that way
I got to move along
I like to drink and to dance all night
Comes to a fix not afraid to fight
You got that right
Said, you got that right
Sure got that right
Seems so long I been out on my own
Travel light and I’m always alone
Guess I was born with a travelin’ bone
When my times up, I’ll hold my own
You won’t find me in an old folks home
You got that right
Well you got that right
Said, you got that right
Sure got that right
I tried everything in my life
Things I like I try ’em twice
You got that right
Sure got that right
Travelin’ around the world, just singing my song
I got to go, Lord I can’t stay long
Here comes that ol’ travelin’ jones once again
I like to drink and to dance all night
Comes to a fix not afraid to fight
You got that right
Said, you got that right
Well you got that right
Sure got that right
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