1970s – Page 73 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Led Zeppelin – Tangerine

This song and Hey Hey What Can I Do are my top two favorite Zeppelin songs.

Jimmy Page wrote this and first recorded it when he was still with The Yardbirds. I’ve read where Yardbirds singer Keith Relf wrote some of the lyrics originally and was given some of the credit but the record company turned it down for release. Later on, Jimmy would use it on the 3rd Zeppelin album with his lyrics.

This was the last Zeppelin song Page wrote without any input from Robert Plant. It’s also the only track on Led Zeppelin III for which Plant didn’t write the lyrics.

At the time the album got mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. Many fans wanted the same heavy albums as the first two. This album had a mix and they perfected it on their next album.

This was used at the end of the 2000 movie Almost Famous in a scene where a bus drives away…I thought the song was brilliant in that scene in the movie.

From Songfacts

Robert Plant would sometimes introduce this at concerts by saying: “This song is for our families and friends and people we’ve been close to. It’s a song of love at its most innocent stages.”

Jimmy Page played a pedal steel guitar on this track. He told Guitar Player magazine in 1977: “On the first LP there’s a pedal steel. I had never played steel before, but I just picked it up. There’s a lot of things I do first time around that I haven’t done before. In fact, I hadn’t touched a pedal steel from the first album to the third. It’s a bit of a pinch really from the things that Chuck Berry did. Nevertheless, it fits. I use pedal steel in ‘Your Time Is Gonna Come.’ It sounds like a slide or something. It’s more out of tune on the first album because I hadn’t got a kit to put it together.”

Why does this song fade to silence a few seconds in? Jimmy Page explained when previewing the song for Melody Maker in 1970: “That’s commonly known as a false start. It was a tempo guide, and it seemed like a good idea to leave it in – at the time. I was trying to keep the tempo down a bit. I’m not so sure now it was a good idea. Everybody asks what the hell is going on.”

Led Zeppelin played this during acoustic sets on their early tours.

This was the second Zeppelin song named after a fruit. “The Lemon Song” was the first.

According to Jimmy Page, this song was dedicated to Jackie DeShannon, who was his girlfriend when he wrote the song. DeShannon, a member of the Songwriting Hall of Fame, had hits as a singer with “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.”

This was recorded on April 4, 1968 at one of the last studio sessions for The Yardbirds, under the title “Knowing That I’m Losing You.” This first version performed by The Yardbirds, featured music almost identical to “Tangerine” by Led Zeppelin, but with different lyrics (vocals by Keith Relf), and was never officially released. It was supposed to be included on the Cumular Limit compilation (which was released in 2000), together with other materials from the same sessions, but interestingly enough, Page vetoed the release of the song. Since then, the version from The Yardbirds has leaked onto the internet, and Page has been accused of ripping off a Yardbirds composition, simply changing the majority of the lyrics (probably initially written by Keith Relf) in order to avoid any problem with the other members of his previous group. This would explain his veto against the release of the original song. It is not easy to ascertain the above, as the remaining members of The Yardbirds haven’t spoken about the subject so far.

Tangerine

Measuring a summer’s day, I only finds it slips away to grey
The hours, they bring me pain

Tangerine, Tangerine, living reflection from a dream
I was her love, she was my queen, and now a thousand years between

Thinking how it used to be
Does she still remember times like these?
To think of us again?
And I do

Tangerine, Tangerine, living reflection from a dream
I was her love, she was my queen, and now a thousand years between

Cat Stevens – Moonshadow

I bought Teaser and the Firecat because I enjoyed Steven’s album Tea For The Tillerman so much. I wasn’t disappointed…this was the first song I connected with on the album.

The song peaked at #30 in the Billboard 100 in 1971. The album peaked at #2 the same year.

Cat Stevens on the song: ” “I was on a holiday in Spain. I was a kid from the West End (of London) – bright lights, et cetera. I never got to see the moon on its own in the dark, there were always streetlamps. So there I was on the edge of the water on a beautiful night with the moon glowing, and suddenly I looked down and saw my shadow. I thought that was so cool, I’d never seen it before.”

He wrote part of the story of an animated short film that featured this very song. It was shown at the Fantastic Animation Festival in 1977. It begins with a still of the two characters from the “Teaser and the Firecat” album cover who then come to life.

From Songfacts

Stevens wrote this about finding hope in any situation. Be present and joyful. See life as it is, right now, and don’t compare it to others’ lives, or other times in your life. Every moment in life is rich and unique; whether we are aware of it or not, we are always leaping and hopping on a moonshadow – the inescapable present moment. If we are wrapped up in our whirlpools of worry and concern about what could be, or what has been, we are missing the richness of life as it is.

In the bridge of the song, Stevens seems to be speaking of faith, indicating clearly that, although he is experiencing this ecstasy in the present, despite all the losses and suffering of existence, it is the light that has found him, and not the other way around. He is surrendering to a power greater than himself – the “faithful light.”

Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, considers this his favorite of his old songs. It’s one of the songs that convinced him to release a Greatest Hits record of his work as Cat Stevens. He felt its uplifting message could help people.

Director John Landis wanted to use this song in his 1981 horror comedy An American Werewolf in London. The film featured a number of songs with “moon” in the title (“Moon Dance”, “Blue Moon”, etc.) but Stevens, who had recently converted to Islam, refused permission because he did not like the subject matter of the film.

Stevens has in recent years called this song the “Optimist’s anthem.”

This song was used for a “Teaser And The Firecat” animation. The cover of the album came to life as the boy and cat ride on the moon while this song plays. It can be found on the Cat Stevens – Majikat (Earth Tour 1976) DVD.

Artists to record this song include LaBelle, Roger Whittaker and Mandy Moore.

Moonshadow

Oh, I’m bein’ followed by a moonshadow, moon shadow, moonshadow
Leapin and hoppin’ on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my hands, lose my plough, lose my land
Oh if I ever lose my hands, Oh if I won’t have to work no more

And if I ever lose my eyes, if my colours all run dry
Yes if I ever lose my eyes, Oh if I won’t have to cry no more

Oh, I’m bein’ followed by a moonshadow, moon shadow, moonshadow
Leapin and hoppin’ on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow

And if I ever lose my legs, I won’t moan, and I won’t beg
Yes if I ever lose my legs, Oh if I won’t have to walk no more

And if I ever lose my mouth, all my teeth, north and south
Yes if I ever lose my mouth, Oh if I won’t have to talk

Did it take long to find me? I asked the faithful light
Did it take long to find me? And are you gonna stay the night

Moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow

Bruce Springsteen – Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Well, tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance, Because a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance… That is a liberating lyric and sold the song to me.

After appearing on the covers of Time and Newsweek in October 1975, Springsteen sometimes changed the words to “Tell your papa I ain’t no freak, ’cause I got my picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek” when he performed it live.

I’ve seen Bruce do this song live and it is special. It’s one of the best live songs I’ve ever heard along with The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again. The song is exciting as he pleads with Rosie and calls out the nicknames of their friends.

The song was his second album The Wild, The Innocent And The E Street Shuffle peaked at #59 in the Billboard Album charts in 1975.

From Songfacts

This is Springsteen’s musical autobiography. After touring relentlessly around the Jersey Shore, he finally signed a record deal and got some money. Springsteen called the song, “A kiss-off to everybody who counted you out, put you down, or decided you weren’t good enough.”

Springsteen considers this the best love song he ever wrote, which he would often declare before performing it. It’s proof that a love song does not have to be slow or sappy.

This is one of Springsteen’s most popular live songs, and a dependable capper. It was the last song before the encore at most of his shows from 1973-1984; in 1999 during his E Street Band reunion tour, Springsteen played 15 sold out shows at the Continental Airlines Arena (later known as the Izod centre) and he used this song to close out the final show of the stand. This became very popular in England when British TV aired a clip of Springsteen performing this at a concert in Phoenix in 1978.

The live film clip of this is the closest thing Springsteen had to a music video until he started making them in 1984, starting with “Dancing In The Dark.”

The first time Springsteen performed this song was at a concert at Joe’s Place in Boston on January 5, 1974.

This was one of the first songs to showcase Clarence Clemons on sax. With his bright suits and imposing size, he quickly became the most popular member of the E Street Band.

The audience always went crazy when Springsteen sang: “The record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance.” He got a $25,000 advance from Columbia Records when he signed his first record deal, proving to his father and others who doubted him that he did have a real job.

Springsteen never liked his nickname “The Boss,” and sometimes sang: “You can call me Lieutenant, Rosie, but don’t ever call me Boss.”

Springsteen wrote this to be a live show-stopper. He was inspired by the soul revues in the ’60s where the artists would pour all their energy into their final song, and just when it seemed to be over, keep playing. He knew his audience would remember this when he played it.

According to Diane Lozito, who was Springsteen’s girlfriend around the time he was writing this song, he got the title from the name of her grandmother, Rose (“Rose Lozito” “Rosalita”).

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Spread out now Rosie, doctor come cut loose her mama’s reins
You know playin’ blind man’s bluff is a little baby’s game
You pick up little dynamite, I’ll pick up little gun
And together we’re gonna go out tonight and make that highway run
You don’t have to call me lieutenant, Rosie, and I don’t want to be your son
The only lover I’m ever gonna need’s your soft, sweet, little girl’s tongue
And Rosie, you’re the one

Dynamite’s in the belfry, baby, playin’ with the bats
Little gun’s downtown in front of Woolworth’s tryin’ out his attitude on all the cats
Papa’s on the corner, waitin’ for the bus
Mama, she’s home in the window, waitin’ up for us
She’ll be there in that chair when they wrestle her upstairs, ’cause you know we ain’t gonna come
I ain’t here on business, baby, I’m only here for fun
And Rosie, you’re the one

Rosalita, jump a little higher
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain’t no liar
Rosalita, you’re my stone desire

Jack the Rabbit and Weak Knee Willie, don’t you know they’re gonna be there
Ah Sloppy Sue and Big Bone Billy, they’ll be coming up for air
We’re gonna play some pool, skip some school
Act real cool, stay out all night, it’s gonna feel alright
So Rosie, come out tonight, little baby, come out tonight
Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor
Oh, closets are for hangers, winners use the door
So use it, Rosie, that’s what it’s there for

Rosalita, jump a little higher
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain’t no liar
Rosalita, you’re my stone desire, alright

Now, I know your mama, she don’t like me, ’cause I play in a rock and roll band
And I know your daddy, he don’t dig me, but he never did understand
Your papa lowered the boom, he locked you in your room, I’m comin’ to lend a hand
I’m comin’ to liberate you, confiscate you, I want to be your man
Someday we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny
But now you’re sad, your mama’s mad
And your papa says he knows that I don’t have any money
Oh, your papa says he knows that I don’t have any money
Oh, so your daddy says he knows that I don’t have any money
Well, tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
Because a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance

And my tires were slashed and I almost crashed, but the Lord had mercy
And my machine, she’s a dud, out stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Well, hold on tight, stay up all night, ’cause Rosie, I’m comin’ on strong
By the time we meet the morning light, I will hold you in my arms
I know a pretty little place in Southern California, down San Diego way
There’s a little cafe, where they play guitars all night and all day
You can hear them in the back room strummin’
So hold tight, baby, ’cause don’t you know daddy’s comin’
Everybody sing

Rosalita, jump a little higher
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain’t no liar
Rosalita, you’re my stone desire

Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey

Super Friends

This was a must on Saturday morning. I wouldn’t find out till later but…Ted Knight did some of the dialogue such as “Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice…” I think the first year (16 episodes) was the best. Altogether the show was on and off during its 13-year run and they ended up with 109 episodes.

Super Friends was produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1973. The show brought all the DC superheroes together and it told their stories. The first season was comprised of only 16 episodes, which were re-run through August 1974. The show was then canceled. Presumably from less than anticipated ratings.

The success of the Wonder Woman TV show in 1975, and probably the early development interest in the Superman movie led ABC to reconsider Super Friends. The original 16 episodes were re-run beginning in early 1976, while production began on a new series. To help promote the new series, DC also began publishing a Super Friends comic. While the stories there were independent of the show, they followed much the same style of the original series.

Beginning in mid-1977, E. Nelson Bridwell, writer of the Super Friends comic, learned of some of the cast changes (notably, the replacement of Wendy and Marvin with Zan and Jayna) after working on the book for several months and wrote the change into his stories, so by the time the new season of the show began in September 1977, the comic had already made the transition to the new characters.

The comic only survived until mid-1981, while the show continued into 1982. However, the show was only re-runs for the 1982-83 season and was canceled outright in the fall of ’83. The show was brought back again in 1984 and ran until September 1986.

The below link will give much more history to the show.

http://www.kleefeldoncomics.com/2016/12/on-history-super-friends.html

Paul McCartney & Wings – Medicine Jar

This was the first song recorded by Paul McCartney’s group Wings to feature another member on all lead vocals. It is an anti-drug song sung by lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (ex-Thunderclap Newman). Colin Allen, who was the drummer in the band Stone The Crows with McCulloch, wrote the lyrics, and McCulloch wrote the music.

Jimmy McCulloch was a guitar prodigy… He was playing in a band called The Jaygars when he was 11. He was in the band One In A Million supporting The Who when he was 14 and in the band Thunderclap Newman in 1969 when he was 16. He went on to play with John Mayall (Mayall knew how to pick guitar players) and Stone the Crows… He then went to play with Paul McCartney and Wings in 1974. He gave Paul’s songs an edge and I wish he would have stayed in Wings longer.

He left Wings to play with the reformed Small Faces in 1977. In 1979 he sadly died of heart failure due to morphine and alcohol poisoning. You have to wonder how much more Jimmy could have achieved if he would have lived.

The version I’m most familiar with is the live version from Wings Over America. The song was originally on the Venus and Mars album. Venus and Mars peaked at #1 in 1975 in the Billboard Album Charts and Wings Over America peaked at #1 in 1977.

Medicine Jar

What’s wrong with you?
I wish, I knew
You say, time will tell
I hope that’s true

There’s more to life than blues and reds
I say, I know how you feel
Now your friends are dead

Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar

Now don’t give up
Whatever you do
You say, time will tell
I hope that’s true

If you go down and lose your head
I say, I know how you feel
Now your friends are dead

Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar

I said, “Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar”

Check it

What can I do?
I can’t let go
You say, time will heal
But very slow

So don’t forget the things you said
I say, I know how you feel
Now your friends are dead

Dead on your feet, you won’t get far
If you keep on sticking your hand
In the medicine jar

Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar

Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar
Medicine jar

Classic TV Episodes: Taxi – Reverend Jim: A Space Odyssey

One of the funniest scenes in any sitcom is when Reverend Jim is taking his driver’s test. Taxi is smartly written and they use the ensemble much like The Mary Tyler Moore Show did. Reverend Jim played by Christopher Lloyd is my favorite character and one of my favorite characters of all time.

“Have you ever experienced loss of consciousness, hallucinations, dizzy spells, convulsive disorders, fainting, or periods of loss of memory?” “Hasn’t Everyone?”

“Psst. What does a yellow light mean?”

“Slow Down”

“OK. Wwwwhhhaaaat dooeesss aaaa yyyeeeellllowwww lllliiiight mmmmeeeannn?” “SLOW DOWN”

TAXI – Reverend Jim: A Space Odyssey

This is my favorite Taxi episode of all time. Jim is a child of the drug culture of the sixties and still feeling the effects. Taking something as simple as a drivers test and turning it into this, Characters: Alex Reiger, Elaine DeNardo, Latka Gravas, Louie De Palmer, Bobby Wheeler, Tony Banta, Reverend Jim Ignatowski, Tommy Jeffries, Jeff Bennett,

The cab drivers are hanging out at Mario’s when Christopher Lloyd as Reverend Jim Ignatowski wanders in. They recognize him but he doesn’t recognize them, even though they remind him he performed a wedding for Latka 8 months earlier. But when Latka started talking to him in his gibberish language, Jim remembered.

The cabbies want to get Jim to have a job, make something of himself, but what can he do with no skills and no education? Drive a cab. At first Louie will not hear of it, until Rev Jim slips a tranquilizer into Louie’s coffee. Louie becomes mellow, starts singing show tunes in the garage, and gladly accepts Jim.

The big hurdle, of course, was to have Jim pass the driver’s test. They go down to the DPS office with him, help him fill out forms, his name, his weight, height, and color of eyes. Finally Bobby says, “OK, Jim, now you are ready to take the test.” “What?”, says Jim, “I thought that was the test.”

He then takes the test and the below is what transpires…You can see Tony Danza and Marilu Henner trying unsuccessfully not to laugh.

The complete driving test scene

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0718525/

Kinks – Victoria

I asked my son Friday night…What are you listening to? He told me Victoria by the Kinks… so Victoria it will be.

Victoria was written for Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire), a soundtrack to a British TV play on which Ray Davies collaborated with dramatist and screenwriter Julian Mitchell. The program was canceled at the last minute when the producer was unable to secure financial backing and has never been produced. However, Davies’ music was still recorded by the Kinks and released as a concept album.

The album peaked at #105 in the Billboard 100 in 1969. The song Victoria peaked at #62 in the Billboard 100 and #33 in the UK in 1970. It was the band’s first release to reach the chart since their Top 20 hit “Sunny Afternoon” in 1966.

From Songfacts

“Victoria” is a typically satirical Ray Davies song, containing many of his themes from his late ’60s material such as English nostalgia and the little people. It finds him fusing the image of the historical 19th Century UK queen and the grim realities of her downtrodden subjects’ life during her reign with the British rule of its Empire, which had reached its peak in Queen Victoria’s reign.

Musically, “Victoria” finds Ray Davies balancing the nostalgic music hall and rock sides of his songwriting. While the track is centered on a thumping rock electric blues guitar riff, the triumphant “Land of hope and gloria” bridge enhances the remainder of the song.

Commercially, “Victoria” represented a relative return of form for The Kinks. In the US, the song was chosen as the lead single from Arthur. It peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Victoria” was released as the album’s third single in the UK, and was the only one to chart, reaching #33.

A cover version by The Fall was the Manchester band’s second UK Top 40 hit in 1988 peaking at #35.

Victoria

Long ago life was clean
Sex was bad, called obscene
And the rich were so mean
Stately homes for the Lords
Croquet lawns, village greens
Victoria was my queen
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, ‘toria

I was born, lucky me
In a land that I love
Though I am poor, I am free
When I grow I shall fight
For this land I shall die
Let her sun never set
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, ‘toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, ‘toria

Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Land of hope and gloria
Land of my Victoria
Victoria, ‘toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, ‘toria

Canada to India
Australia to Cornwall
Singapore to Hong Kong
From the West to the East
From to the rich to the poor
Victoria loved them all

Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, ‘toria
Victoria, Victoria, Victoria

Badfinger – Take It All —-Powerpop Friday

This song is an example that Badfinger was more than just their hits. Pete Ham’s ability to write memorable pop songs never wavered. Take It All was inspired by the band’s work on George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh project. Some of the band members were a little miffed on why Pete Ham got to play with George Harrison in the spotlight and they didn’t.

Take It All was on the album “Straight Up” This is my favorite album by them. It has Baby Blue and Day after Day but a host of other good songs. Money, Name of the Game, Suitcase, Sweet Tuesday Morning, and I’d Die Babe.

The album peaked at #31 in 1972 in the Billboard 100.

Take It All

In a way the sun has shone on me
Makes it easy to make it hard
Take an inch, take a yard, take it all
I don’t need it at all

Any day the sun could shine on you
Makes it silly to make it bad
Take it good, take it glad, take it all

Don’t you know there’s a stronger thing
Keeping us together
Don’t you know there’s a song to sing
Sing on, let the feeling take you high

Any day the sun will shine on you
Makes it silly to take it bad
Make it good, take it glad, take it all
I don’t need it at all, I don’t want it at all
No, no, no

Alice Cooper – Welcome To My Nightmare

My last Halloween post…hope you enjoy the day and especially the night!

This song peaked at #45 in the Billboard 100 in 1975. The album of the same name peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1975. Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier) parted with The Alice Cooper Band to make this album solo.

When Alice Cooper released Welcome To My Nightmare in February 1975, he was already one of the most famous rock celebrities on the planet. Between 1971 and 1974, the Alice Cooper Band, which consisted of Cooper himself (born Vincent Furnier), guitarists Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith, had notched up an impressive run hit albums.

Alice Cooper: “People would come and see us play and just assume that as I was the lead singer then I must be Alice Cooper,” he explains today. “But originally the band was simply called the Alice Cooper Band. But because everyone thought I was Alice I decided it would be easier and better for the band to simply start calling myself Alice. Of course, later, when I would go solo for Welcome To My Nightmare, I’d really become Alice Cooper.”

From Songfacts

This was the centerpiece to Cooper’s 1975 tour, which opened with this song and set the stage for the macabre scenes that followed. Cooper approached the song as a production number, and that’s how he performed it. For the tour, the musicians were hidden in the back of the stage while Alice performed with various dancers and props. He would emerge in a haze of smoke, singing this song on a bed; the rest of the show was based on the idea that we were seeing his nightmares brought to life.

Any meaning in the song is up to the listener, as Alice explained, “I project images to the audience and they make up their own story to fit it. I have no message at all. I never did.”

In 1975, Cooper turned the stage show built around this song into a concert movie called Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare, and a TV movie called The Nightmare. The famous horror movie actor Vincent Price played “The Spirit of the Nightmare,” narrating the show. The movie was a precursor to long-form music videos, as it was a theatrical production set to music. The most famous long-form video arrived in 1984 with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” also featuring narration from Vincent Price.

Welcome To My Nightmare

Welcome to my nightmare
I think you’re gonna like it
I think you’re gonna feel like you belong
A nocturnal vacation
Unnecessary sedation
You want to feel at home ’cause you belong

Welcome to my nightmare
Welcome to my breakdown
I hope I didn’t scare you
That’s just the way we are when we come down
We sweat and laugh and scream here
‘Cause life is just a dream here
You know inside you feel right at home here

Welcome to my breakdown
Whoa
You’re welcome to my nightmare
Yeah

Welcome to my nightmare
I think you’re gonna like it
I think you’re gonna feel that you belong
We sweat laugh and scream here
‘Cause life is just a dream here
You know inside you feel right at home here
Welcome to my nightmare
Welcome to my breakdown
Yeah

Blue Öyster Cult – Don’t Fear The Reaper

More Cowbell?

Although this song has been played to death on the radio…I still will not turn the dial if I hear it come on.

Blue Öyster Cult’s first hit, this song was written by lead guitarist Donald Roeser, also known as Buck Dharma. He contributed his vocals to this track and also wrote their other Top 40 hit, “Burnin’ For You.” This song peaked at #12 in the Billboard 100 and #16 in the UK in 1976.

The album Don’t Fear The Reaper was on was Agents of Fortune. It peaked at #29 in the Billboard 100 in 1976.

The album features vocals and songwriting from Patti Smith. She was keyboardist Allen Lanier’s girlfriend at the time and had also contributed to one of BOC’s previous albums, Secret Treaties.

The song is played quite a bit on the radio but it is Halloween week so it fits.

From Songfacts

This was rumored to be about suicide, but it actually deals with the inevitability of death and the belief that we should not fear it. When Dharma wrote it, he was thinking about what would happen if he died at a young age and if he would be reunited with loved ones in the afterlife. Dharma explained in a 1995 interview with College Music Journal: “I felt that I had just achieved some kind of resonance with the psychology of people when I came up with that, I was actually kind of appalled when I first realized that some people were seeing it as an advertisement for suicide or something that was not my intention at all. It is, like, not to be afraid of it (as opposed to actively bring it about). It’s basically a love song where the love transcends the actual physical existence of the partners.”

Blue Öyster Cult was considered a “cult” band, somewhere in the realm of heavy metal with complex and often baffling lyrics dealing with the supernatural. Those inside the cult took the time to understand that like Black Sabbath, BOC combined outstanding musicianship with fantasy lyrics, and they weren’t for everyone. “Don’t Fear The Reaper” exposed them to a wider audience, which was good for business but bad for art. Buck Dharma said in a 1980 interview with NME: “Ever since ‘The Reaper’ was a hit we’ve been under pressure to duplicate that success; the body of our work failed. Even on (1977 album) Spectres everyone tried to write a hit single and that’s a bad mistake. The Cult is never destined to be successful at a format. To be a singles band you have to win the casual buyer.”

Some of the lyrics were inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet. In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo swallows poison when he believes Juliet is dead. Juliet responds by taking her own life. This led many people to believe the song was about suicide, but Dharma was using Romeo and Juliet as an example of a couple who had faith that they would be together after their death.

For the lyrics that begin, “40,000 men and women,” Dharma was guessing at the number of people who died every day.

An April 8, 2000 Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken made fun of the extremely loud cowbell in this song. In the skit, the band would get upset when Will Ferrell would play the bell too loud, but Walken kept calling for “More Cowbell.” In the skit, Walken plays a super-producer named Bruce Dickinson, who the band respects enough to put up with his cowbell antics. There really is a Bruce Dickinson (besides the Iron Maiden lead singer), but he didn’t produce “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” – that was David Lucas, who also brought us the General Electric “we bring good things to life” and the AT&T “reach out and touch someone” jingles. Dickinson is an archivist who works on album reissues, which means gathering master tapes to ensure the best sound quality. He is credited as the reissue producer on a later version of the album, which apparently is how he was named in the sketch.

Lucas and Dickinson both appeared on the Just My Show podcast, and Lucas explained that the cowbell was his idea, as the song “needed some momentum.” He grabbed a cowbell from a nearby recording studio and “just played four on the floor… not hard to do.” He found out about the SNL skit when a friend instant messaged him as it was airing.

Dickinson says he’s always felt a little funny about getting the producer role in the famous skit, but it has made life more interesting. Said Dickinson, “I work with Iggy Pop on a lot of stuff and a lot of times when he calls and I pick up the phone, he goes ‘More cowbell!'”

Blue Öyster Cult released their last album in 2001, but continued touring with core members Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom. When we spoke with Bloom in 2016, he said he still enjoyed performing this song, but he’s a little more ambivalent about the “More Cowbell” skit. “I saw it live on my TV in my house, and did not know it was going to be on, so I was more shocked than amused when it was on,” he said. “I certainly see the humor after it was on. It certainly has legs – it has become part of Americana at this point. Somebody brings it up to me on a regular basis.”

This has been used in several horror movies, including Halloween, The Frighteners and Scream (the version used in Scream is an acoustic cover by Gus Black). It was also used in a very non-horror capacity in the party scene of the Disney movie Miracle, which is about the US Hockey team beating the USSR at the 1980 Olympic Games.

This wasn’t released as a single in the UK until 1978, where it became their only hit in England.

Stephen King quoted the lyrics to this song in his novel The Stand, in which 99.9% of the US population is killed by a manmade disease called “Superflu.” It is also used in King’s miniseries of the same name during a montage showing the corpses of those who had been killed by the disease. King often quotes songs in the beginning of his books.

Don’t Fear The Reaper

All our times have come
Here but now they’re gone
Seasons don’t fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain, we can be like they are

Come on baby, don’t fear the reaper
Baby take my hand, don’t fear the reaper
We’ll be able to fly, don’t fear the reaper
Baby I’m your man

La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la

Valentine is done
Here but now they’re gone
Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity, Romeo and Juliet
40,000 men and women everyday, like Romeo and Juliet
40,000 men and women everyday, Redefine happiness
Another 40,000 coming everyday, We can be like they are

Come on baby, don’t fear the reaper
Baby take my hand, don’t fear the reaper
We’ll be able to fly, don’t fear the reaper
Baby I’m your man

La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la

Love of two is one
Here but now they’re gone
Came the last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn’t go on

Then the door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don’t be afraid

Come on baby, and she had no fear
And she ran to him, then they started to fly
They looked backward and said goodby, she had become like they are
She had taken his hand, she had become like they are
Come on baby, don’t fear the reaper

My Top 10 Favorite Live Albums

I’m more of a studio guy when it comes to listening to bands but there are a few live albums I really like. This is my top 10 and a few honorable mentions at the bottom. Very few artists can improve on the studio version but sometimes some manage to pull it off.

10. Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won – After the disappointing live album The Song Remains The Same, this album released in 2003 contained Led Zeppelin live in 1972 from two shows in top form.

9: Simon And Garfunkel – The Concert In Central Park – This was big for me when it was released. I had by this time worn a groove out in their greatest hits. The band was great and their harmonies were as good as ever.

8: George Harrison – The Concert For Bangladesh – Fun to listen to George freed from the Beatles and he sounds great with Dylan, Billy Preston, Ringo, and other friends.

7: The Band: The Last Waltz – One of the best live albums ever. The Band’s last concert with Robbie with a host of talented famous friends. I still don’t get the Neil Diamond selection…nothing against Neil…he didn’t fit in with this atmosphere.

6: The Allman Brothers Band “At Fillmore East” – This album floats up and down this list depending on my mood. It was at number 2 when I first made this list a couple of weeks ago. This band was probably one of the most talented bands in the seventies. I didn’t start heavily listening to them until around 5-10 years ago. They are better live than in the studio. There was not a weak link in this 6 piece band…especially in the Duane version but later incarnations were almost as strong.

5: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, ‘Live/1975-85’ – I listened to this so much in the 80s that I knew the stories Bruce would tell by heart. Later when listening to the studio version of a song I would expect the story that went with it.

4: Paul McCartney Wings Over America – This triple album set was a live greatest hits. The songs had some edge to them thanks to Jimmy McCulloch the young prodigy guitar player. Paul even broke his silence on the Beatles and included five Beatle songs. Blackbird, I’ve Just Seen a Face, Yesterday, The Long and Winding Road, and Lady Madonna. Unlike the other 3 albums ahead of this on in the list, Paul didn’t mess with the songs too much from the original studio recordings.

3: The Rolling Stones – ‘”Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!” – This tour and the 1972 tour were the Stones at their live peak.

2: Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert – I have seen Dylan 8 times but if I could pick a tour to see him on…I would go back and this would be the one. With The Band backing him up…minus Levon Helm but Mickey Jones on drums is very powerful.

1: The Who – ‘Live at Leeds’ This album highlights The Who at their best. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a rock band so tight. The power of the performance is huge. Pete Townshend told his soundman Bob Pridden to erase all other shows on this tour at the time…Bob did… much to Pete’s regret later on.

Honorable Mentions

Beatles Live At The Star-Club in Hamburg Germany – The quality of the recording is pretty bad but it’s exciting to hear the punkish Beatles before Beatlemania hit.

The Kinks – One For The Road

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Live Rust

Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison

The Band – Rock of Ages

Cheap Trick – At Budokan

Elvis (68 Comeback Special)

Runaways – Cherry Bomb

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.” When the band refused to play the song, Jett and Fowley wrote the chorus of “Cherry Bomb”.

The album peaked at only #194 on the Billboard 100 in 1976. The Runaways materialized out of the Sunset Strip rock-club scene in the mid-1970s, enjoying a few years of fame. Their first gig was in 1975 and they broke up in 1979. The Runaways remain best remembered as the first band of both Joan Jett and Lita Ford.

From Songfacts

A “Cherry Bomb” is a small explosive device popular with kids, but in the context of this song, it means an underage girl who is lots of trouble – in this case taunting her parents and other adults with suggestions of promiscuity and bad behavior.

This was all by design, as Fowley was out to shock with The Runaways and generate a great deal of hype. The band earned a lot of press and a fair amount of rock credibility, since they played their own instruments and for the most part were genuinely talented. In many ways, however, Currie was the weak link – it was hard to take a band seriously when their lead singer wore lingerie on stage and presented herself as jailbait. Currie left the group in 1977 after their third album, and when asked why The Runaways were having a hard time being taken seriously, Joan Jett said, “It was that whole ‘Cherry Bomb With The Corset’ thing with Cherie.”

Joan Jett became the biggest star to come out of The Runaways, and her story was the focus of their 2010 movie, where she was portrayed by the fetching Kristen Stewart. When the group dissolved in 1979, she didn’t have a lot of offers, but the producer Kenny Laguna partnered with her, forming Blackheart Records and creating many classic songs, including the famous cover of the Arrows song “I Love Rock And Roll.” When we spoke with Laguna, he told us: “The record companies could care less about Joan Jett, they were busy signing every other Runaway. They thought Joan was the loser and they signed the other girls, who we’re all friends with, but I looked at the band and thought she was the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the band.”

To give you a hint as to how central this song is to The Runaways’ legacy, the poster of the 2010 Runaways movie features a juicy dripping cherry whose stem is lit and sparking like a bomb. Bevis and Butthead took one look at it and spontaneously combusted.

That’s Cherie Currie growling the vocals here, which were performed by Jett when she left the band. You know what else is on her resumé? Chainsaw artist. That is, she carves wood sculptures using a chainsaw. No, really, she’s good. Check her personal site here. How’s that for machisma? If you don’t see how carving art with a chainsaw is a metaphor for punk rock, we obviously haven’t been explaining this stuff clearly enough to you.

By the way, modern audiences might easily get Joan Jett and Lita Ford confused – their styles are very similar. They were both in The Runaways at the same time and basically wrote the book on all-girl punk bands in the ’70s – but really, they’re a continuation of the lineage first started by Suzi Quatro, whom Jett cites as an influence. You can hear the go-to-hell delinquent rebel in the style of all three, right?

Speaking at Kim Fowley’s memorial service, Joan Jett said that they wrote the song for Cherie Currie’s audition – the collaboration marked the first time Jett had written a song with someone else.

Joan Jett’s version was featured on the 1992 “Free Fall” episode of the TV series Highlander, which starred Jett as an immortal. The song can also be heard on a 2012 episode of True Blood and in the 1993 movie Dazed and Confused.

The song was featured in Marvel Studios’ 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy. Director James Gunn explained how some of the music was used during the filming: “Where possible, the songs were played live on set,” he said. “When you see the gang walking down the hall to ‘Cherry Bomb,’ they were actually walking down the hall to ‘Cherry Bomb.'”

Accompanied by Dave Grohl, Joan Jett performed this song at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when she was inducted in 2015.

Cherry Bomb

Can’t stay at home, can’t stay at school.
Old folks say ‘You poor little fool’.
Down the streets I’m the girl next door.
I’m the fox you’ve been waiting for.

Hello, daddy. Hello, mom.
I’m your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!
Hello world! I’m your wild girl.
I’m your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!

Stone age love and strange sounds too.
Come on, baby, let me get to you.
Bad nights causing teenage blues.
Get down ladies, you’ve got nothin’ to lose.

Hello, daddy. Hello, mom.
I’m your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!
Hello world! I’m your wild girl.
I’m your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!

Hey, street boy, want some style?
Your dead end dreams don’t make you smile.
I’ll give you something to live for.
Have you and grab you until you’re sore.

Hello, daddy. Hello, mom.
I’m your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!
Hello world! I’m your wild girl.
I’m your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!
Cherry bomb!
Cherry bomb!
Cherry bomb!
Cherry bomb!

Raspberries – Tonight —-Powerpop Friday

I saw this quote by a critic about this song: “Take one part Small Faces, one part Who, one part Beatles, mix, cook to a boil and let rock!”

I found this song on their greatest hits. I would highly recommend one of their greatest hits to anyone.

A powerpop group from Cleveland Ohio in the early to mid-70s. They were influenced by the Beatles, Small Faces, The Who and The Beach Boys. They had some of the same problems as Badfinger, being too hard for pop and too soft for rock. Badfinger was overall more successful but the Raspberries had some top 40 hits.

This song peaked at #69 on the Billboard 100 in 1973. Tonight was originally on their 3rd album called Side 3 that peaked at 128 in the Billboard Album Chart in 1973. Eric Carmen would go on to greater success as a solo performer but I never thought he topped what he did with the Raspberries.

Tonight

One, two, three, four
When you smiled at me
And I saw your eyes
All I ever wanted to be
Was in your arms tonight
You looked too young to know about romance
Oh, yes you did
But when you smiled, I had to take a chance
I had to take a chance and be with you

Tonight
I’ll be with you tonight
Tonight
You’ll love me too tonight
Woh baby, tonight

I’m making love to you
Woh, tonight
Bop-om-doo-doh-woh-mop-shoo
Woh, tonight
You’re gonna love me too
Tonight
Woh, tonight

I don’t know myself
If it’s wrong or right
All I know is what I can feel
So be my love tonight
You looked too young to know about romance
Oh, you know what I mean
But when you smiled, I had to take a chance
I had to take a chance and be with you

Woh, tonight
Won’t you let me sleep with you, baby
Woh, tonight
I just wanna make you feel good inside, baby
Woh, tonight
Let me feel the love that’s in you
Woh, tonight
Come on, come on, come on, come on
And let me
Come on, baby
Woh, tonight

Classic TV Episodes: WKRP In Cincinnati – Turkeys Away

Some tv episodes are classic and will live on. When you tell someone you like a certain show, there is always that certain episode that many people will bring up that represents that show. I’ll go through a few random shows in the next few weeks and pick the one that I remember the most. They will be in no particular order.

” Those can’t be skydivers. I can’t tell just yet what they are but… Oh my God! They’re turkeys! Oh no! Johnny can you get this?”

” The Pinedale Shopping Mall has just been bombed with live turkeys. Film at eleven”

“I really don’t know how to describe it. It was like the turkeys mounted a counter-attack. It was almost as if they were… organized!”

“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly”

WKRP IN CINCINNATI – Turkeys Away

When I talk to people about this show. This episode always comes to mind. The Characters are Bailey Quarters, Les Nessman, Mr. Carlson, Venus Flytrap, Dr. Johnny Fever, Herb Tarlek, Jennifer Marlowe and Andy Travis

Les’s play by play of the promotion is great. The complete episode is great but when Mr. Carlson says the closing line it turns into a classic episode.

It starts off with the big guy Mr. Carlson trying to act busy driving everyone crazy trying to be useful and probing the office to see what everyone was up to. He decided he would plan a promotion. He told the salesman Herb to get 20 turkeys ready for a Thanksgiving radio promotion.

Les is at the shopping center and Mr Carlson and Herb are up in a helicopter. He then notices a dark object being dropped from the helicopter, then a second one. Believing them to be skydivers, his tone becomes increasingly cautious when he sees no parachutes are opening. After a few more moments he realizes in horror that the objects are live turkeys. Continuing his broadcast (which bears a strong resemblance to the Hindenberg disaster) he says that the turkeys are hitting the ground and that the crowd has begun running away in panic. One turkey hits a parked car. Les continues, saying the turkeys are hitting the ground like “sacks of wet cement”. He tries to retreat to the store behind him but realizes he can’t after annoying the owner.

At the studio, the gang are listening, horrified themselves, when the broadcast is suddenly cut off. Johnny calmly tries to re-establish contact with Les, but hears only silence. Johnny thanks Les, telling his listeners that the shopping mall was just “bombed by live turkeys” and ends the broadcast.

At the end, Mr. Carlson says the phrase that elevates the episode to a classic. “As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly”

The play by play by Les.

As God As My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0742671/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl

Lynyrd Skynyrd – 42 Years Ago Today

It’s been 42 years since Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashed in a swamp in Gillsburg, Mississippi. The band had just released the album “Street Survivors” and it was probably their best well-rounded album. With new guitarist Steve Gaines, they were primed for commercial success but on October 20, 1977, they lost singer-songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. The plane crash also claimed the lives of pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray Jr.

A year earlier Steve Gaines joined the band and he was pushing them in directions they never had gone. Listening to “Street Survivors” you can hear his influence with songs I Never Dreamed and I Know A Little. Steve was a super talented guitarist, songwriter, and singer and I have to wonder where his career would have gone.

On this tour, they were headlining and moving up in status after years of touring as mostly an opening band.

Below is a good Rolling Stone article on the crash. The song below that is “I Never Dreamed,” a song heavily influenced by Gaines.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/remembering-lynyrd-skynyrds-deadly-1977-plane-crash-2-195371/