Brownsville Station – Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room ….One Hit Wonder Week

I have always liked the sound of this song. I have heard covers of this but none compares to it for me. I grew up with the single that had the logo of Big Tree Records that was spinning constantly.

In 1985 Mötley Crüe covered this song. It peaked at #16 on the Billboard 100. Their version stayed true to the song and was a little heavier but didn’t have that groove that Brownsville Station had. John from 2 LOUD 2 OLD MUSIC did a fun competition between the two versions with people commenting.

This song peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #27 in the UK. The band did have another top 40 hit with “King Of The Party” which peaked at #31 on the Billboard 100. They also released 8 albums in the ’70s through the ’90s. Koda passed away in 2000 and the band reunited and released their 9th album in 2012 called Still Smokin’. 

Brownsville Station

Brownsville Station was formed in Ann Arbor Michigan in 1969 and they dressed up in glam outfits and put on loud rock shows. They were a hard-working band…playing between 200 – 300 shows a year.

Michael “Cub” Koda and Michael Lutz wrote the song and Cub sang it. After Brownsville Station disbanded in 1979 he went on to be a DJ and a writer. He wrote the All Music Guide to the Blues, and Blues for Dummies, and some liner notes for other artists.

It took Koda and Lutz just a half hour to write the song and an hour for the band to record it. They didn’t think much of it, but the song became far and away their biggest hit. The owner of the record company hated the song and refused to release it as a single until so many requests came in from radio stations. He then relented and released it as a single.

Mike Lutz (Guitarist): “The funny thing is, when we got done with the album, Smokin’ is the last cut on the second side because nobody was really sure about it. But there was a radio station in Bangor, Maine and they started spinning it, and the phones just lit up.”

Mike Lutz: “Back in those days the whole thing was about being out on the road and pushing your product, developing a fan base, so with us it was still about doing that. It’s just that Smokin’ blew things wide open. We were making our reputation of being an energetic rock band. But after Smokin’ became a pop hit, people started to look at us as sorta bubblegum. It changed our career in that we became instantly popular to a lot of people, but it didn’t change the direction of the band.” 

“We still did 320 one-nighters that year,” says Wreck. “And we drove ourselves to every gig.” 

Smokin In The Boy’s Room

How you doin’ out there? Ya ever seem to have one of those days
Where it just seems like everybody’s gettin’ on your case?
From your teacher all the way down to your best girlfriend?
Well, ya know, I used to have ’em just about all the time
But I found a way to get out of ’em
Let me tell you about it!

Sitting in the classroom, thinking it’s a drag
Listening to the teacher rap, just ain’t my bag
The noon bells rings, you know that’s my cue
I’m gonna meet the boys on floor number two!

Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Now, teacher, don’t you fill me up with your rules
But everybody knows that smokin’ ain’t allowed in school

Checkin’ out the halls, makin’ sure the coast is clear
Lookin’ in the stalls, “No, there ain’t nobody here!”
Oh, my buddy Fang, and me and Paul
To get caught would surely be the death of us all

Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Now, teacher, don’t you fill me up with your rules
But everybody knows that smokin’ ain’t allowed in school

All right!
Oh, put me to work, in the school book store
Check out counter and I got bored
Teacher was lookin’ for me all around
Two hours later, you know where I was found

Smokin’ in the boys’ room (Yes indeed, I was)
Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Now, teacher, don’t you fill me up with your rules
But everybody knows that smokin’ ain’t allowed in school

One mo’!
Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Oh, smokin’ in the boys’ room
Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Now, teacher, I am fully aware of the rules
And everybody knows that smokin’ ain’t allowed in school!

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

33 thoughts on “Brownsville Station – Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room ….One Hit Wonder Week”

    1. My sister’s boyfriend at the time loved it…as a kid I just loved the way it sounded. Again we had that single and they were on Big Tree Records….I can’t remember yesterday but I can remember some record label in 1974 lol.

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  3. A great seventies none-hitter. I always liked the fact it mentioned my name in the lyrics.

    Have you noticed the sleeve above credits them as “Browsville Station”? I remember about twenty years ago, I had an old 45 rpm single credited to “Jethro Toe”, called Sunshine Day. Apparently it was really rare. I sold it for £100 back then. It now has a value of $1000.

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    1. No I never noticed that.
      I had a Led Zeppelin single that I bought at a yard sale. Dy’er Mak’er and The Crunge. The labels were reversed…I thought for years that the real Dy’er Mak’er was called The Crunge. It wasn’t until I got Houses of the Holy did I find out…and thought it was wrong.
      Jethro Toe…that is great! You still turned a profit.

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      1. Thinking of songs that mention one’s name in the lyrics, there is one that mentions both mine and my wife’s – Rock ‘n’ Roll I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life by Kevin Johnson. It’s a great song too!

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    1. Yea I didn’t know that either about the glam part. I played this single so much as a kid…it’s a wonder I didn’t wear it out.

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  11. Fun song and another example where I needed to hear the music first before realizing that I know it. I think a video showing a smoking monkey wouldn’t fly nowadays! 🙂

    Mötley Crüe didn’t do a bad job with their cover, which also sounds familiar, but I would also go with the original by Brownsville Station.

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  14. I missed this post… I love this song, and admit that for years I only knew the Crue version. I got into Brownsville Station later, and have their ‘No BS’ album on vinyl. It’s a good rock n roll covers LP.

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