1980s – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Honeydrippers – Rockin’ At Midnight

Back in the ’80s, I remember seeing this band on SNL. Of course, the big thing at the time was that Page and Plant were working together again, although not with Zeppelin. I loved their sound, and I went out and bought the single Sea Of Love.

You know what I liked most about these recordings by the Honeydrippers? Rather than modernizing the song, they kept the arrangement close to the spirit of the original. The horns, piano, and guitar all feel like a small-club sound. It doesn’t have a huge, polished studio production.

This song was first written and recorded by Roy Brown in 1949. Brown’s version had that jump-blues energy that helped bridge swing music into early rock and roll. Roy’s original version peaked at #13 on the US R&B charts. Little Richard has mentioned Roy Brown as a huge influence.

I first really found out about Plant and his love of rockabilly through The Concert of Kampuchea. He sang the Elvis song Little Sister with Rockpile. Great performance of that song. So, when I heard the Honeydrippers, it sounded totally in place. Robert Plant had been talking for years about his love of early R&B and jump blues, the records he grew up with before Led Zeppelin. The Honeydrippers project gave him a way to step outside Zeppelin’s shadow and record the kind of songs that first got him interested in music.

The band’s floating members were incredible. Robbie Blunt was one, and he did a lot of great work on Plant’s solo music. To me, his guitar playing was just as identifiable as Plant’s voice; it was that important in Plant’s music. I would say the same thing about James Wisely, whose guitar playing was just as important to Chris Isaak. Other members included Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Nile Rodgers, Brian Setzer, Paul Shaffer, and many more. Talent was not an issue for this band.

Their album The Honeydrippers: Volume One peaked at #4 on the Billboard Album Charts, #40 in Canada, and #56 in the UK in 1984. The song peaked at #25 on the Billboard 100 and #18 in Canada.

A concert by The Honeydrippers

Rockin’ At Midnight

Have you heard the news?
There’s good rockin’ at midnight
Oh, I’m gonna hold my baby
With all my might
What a wonderful time we had that night
Hey, hey, there’s good rockin’ at midnight

Have you heard the news?
There’s good rockin’ at midnight
Oh, I’m gonna hold my baby
With all my might
What a wonderful time we had that night
Hey, hey, there’s good rockin’ at midnight

Now, sweet Charlie Brown and sweet Lorraine
They got caught on Caledonia’s land
Sioux City Sue, she told it all
Those fellas got drunk and they had a ball
Crying hey, hey
Good rockin’ at midnight

Well, two times

Well, I tell y’all about now Deacon John
He got so high they had to take him home
Hear the news about Ella Brown
He stole a chicken and he ran out of town
Hey, hey, there’s good rockin’ at midnight

Caledonia got drunk and grinning like a pig
She fell down and she lost her wig
Charlie Brown she laughed and she got sick
Caledonia got mad and grabbed a brick
Crying hey, hey, there’s good rockin’ at midnight

Oh now let’s go two times

Oh yeah

Oh yeah, wanna tell you all about now Deacon John
He got so high they had to take him home
Here’s the news about Ella Brown
He stole a lot of chickens and he ran out of town
Crying hey, hey there’s good rockin’ at midnight

Now, now, now Caledonia got drunk and grinning like a pig
She fell down and lost her wig
Charlie Brown she laughed and she got sick
Caledonia got mad and grabbed a brick
Crying hey, hey there’s good rockin’ at midnight

Uh, mm, rock
Gonna rock
Gonna rock
Gonna rock
Gonna rock
Gonna rock
Gonna rock

Well yeah I’m gonna rock
Gonna rock
We gonna rock
Ooh-hoo yeah we’re gonna rock
We’re gonna rock
There’s still rockin’ at midnight, midnight, midnight, midnight, yeah oh

Let’s go out ah

Now sweet Charlie Brown and sweet Lorraine
They got caught on Caledonia’s land
Soon pretty soon they told it all
Those girls got drunk and they had a ball
Crying hey, hey there’s good rockin’ at midnight

We gonna rock
We gonna rock
Yeah-es we gonna rock
Now, now, now we gonna rock
We gonna rock
Ooh-ah-yeah
Ooh yeah
Ooh yeah

Paul Kelly – Darling It Hurts

Thought I would cover Paul Kelly today with this rock song Darling It Hurts. I’m starting to know his music more and more now. His Christmas song How To Make Gravy has been on my list since 2022. With this song, yes, I love that guitar, but that organ is what hooked me on this one. He kept the organ right below the surface, and it fits. Below is a quick rundown of Paul.

Paul Kelly was born in Adelaide, Australia, and began performing in Hobart in 1974. By 1976, he had relocated to Melbourne, working the pub circuit before forming the Dots, who released Talk (1981) and Manila (1982). He moved to Sydney in 1984 and, alongside Steve Connolly and Ian Rilen, released Post in 1985. The following year, he formed Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls and released Gossip (1986). The band later regrouped as Paul Kelly and the Messengers, issuing Gossip in the United States and following it with Under the Sun in 1987.

In 1993, Kelly published Lyrics, a collection of his songwriting, and continued evolving his sound with a new lineup that included Shane O’Mara, Bruce Haymes, Peter Luscombe, Stephen Hadley, and Spencer Jones. He has remained consistently active, continuing to record and release new material. His most recent album, Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train, arrived in 2021. Over the course of his career, Kelly has released 28 studio albums, along with 6 live albums, 8 compilations, and 64 singles.

This song was off his album Gossip, released in 1986. The song peaked at #19 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. The album peaked at #15 in Australia and #34 in New Zealand. The album was in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.

This link will take you to a live version that YouTube would not let me embed.

Darling It Hurts

I see you standing on the corner with your dress so highAnd all the cars slow down as they go driving byThought you said you had some place to goWhat you doing up here putting it all on show?Darling it hurts to see you down Darlinghurst tonight

Do you remember Darling how we laughed and criedWe said we’d be together till the day we dieHow could something so good turn so bad?I’d do it all again ‘coz you’re the best I’ve ever hadDarling it hurts to see you down Darlinghurst tonight

See that man with the glad handsI want to kill him but it wouldn’t be rightNow here comes another man with the glad bagsI want to break him but it’s not my fightIn one hand and out the otherBaby I don’t even know why you botherDarling it hurts to see you down Darlinghurst tonight

I see you standing on the corner with your dress so highAnd all the cars slow down as they go driving byIn one hand and out the otherBaby I don’t even know why you botherDarling it hurts to see you down Darlinghurst tonightDarling it hurts to see you down Darlinghurst tonightDarling it hurts to see you down Darlinghurst tonight

Los Lobos – Set Me Free (Rosa Lee)

This song has the effect on me that an Otis Redding song would. It makes me feel good, and it has a 50s – 60s R&B sound to it, at least to me. Also, the groove is infectious. They kept the structure simple and let the groove carry it. César Rosas handles the vocals, and the band keeps everything locked in behind him like a machine.

This song appeared in 1987 on By the Light of the Moon, the album they released in the same year as the success of La Bamba. That put the band in a different spot. They suddenly had a wider audience, but instead of repeating that sound, they went back to something closer to their roots, mixing rock and roll with R&B and older influences they grew up on in East L.A.

Los Lobos (Spanish for “The Wolves”) started in the early 1970s in East Los Angeles. High school friends David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez, Cesar Rosas, and Conrad Lozano started playing together. The guy who brought them together was Francisco González. He left the band before fame and became the musical director of El Teatro Campesino and went on to start Guadalupe Custom Strings. They started off by playing top 40 music, but soon tired of that. They drew inspiration from the Mexican folk music they heard as kids. They didn’t fit into the typical rock band mold… instead, they experimented with acoustic instruments like the jarana, requinto, and bajo sexto.

They opened for such artists as The Clash and The Blasters. Steve Berlin, who was born in Philadelphia, played saxophone for the Blasters and then left the group to join Los Lobos. To his delight, he found the other members of Los Lobos shared a love for country artists such as Hank Williams and George Jones. The band mixed so many styles…Mexican folk music, country, and rock all in the same bag.

This song peaked at #21 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, #45 in New Zealand, and #99 in the UK in 1987.

Set Me Free (Rosa Lee)

When love’s in vain, love can be so strangeThere ain’t nothing I can take to kill this painSet me freeWhy don’t you, Rosa Lee?

She is a dream, but she’s so hard to pleaseShe moves around like an Egyptian queenSet me freeWhy don’t you, Rosa Lee?

I’m so afraid of losing youBut there’s only so much that a man can doFor Rosa LeeWhy don’t you set me free?

When I hit the road the time goes slowThinking about the places I used to goWith Rosa LeeWhy won’t you set me free?

They’re trying to close the Tu y YoThe Latin playboy and the sky room showsRosa LeeWhy don’t they let them be?

I can’t get used to losing youBut there’s only so much that a man can doFor Rosa LeeWhy don’t you set me free?

People say that you were made for meI knocked my head [?]But they’ll never know the hurt it takes to beRosa Lee

When love’s in vain, love can be so strangeBut I never thought I’d wear a ball and chainSet me freeWhy don’t you, Rosa Lee?

Set me freeWhy don’t you, Rosa Lee?Why don’t you set me freeWhy don’t you Rosa Lee, yeah

Why don’t you set free, why don’t you set freeYou got to set me freeYou got to, you got to, you got to set free, baby, ah, yeah, ooh

Replacements – Hold My Life

There is a reason I like SNL’s first 5 seasons the best, and to me, they never came near that again. Were some of the later seasons just as funny or funnier? Yes, they were, but more rigidly controlled. Why am I bringing this up on a Replacements post? One word…Risk. I like it when actors, comedians, and musicians are on the edge. You know good and well it could break apart at any moment, but somehow they manage to pull it back together at the last minute. Artists who take chances and run the risk of running off the road are exciting. Sometimes a chaos grenade needs to be pitched in to liven things up. No bigger chaos grenade than the Replacements musically.

One thing that took me a while to learn when I played in various bands, it’s alright to mess up (I don’t mean stupid mental mistakes). As long as you were trying to push the song forward, take chances. I’ve been on stage when a song falls apart. Not a good feeling, but you learn from those things. I noticed the crowd always loved it when you tried different things on the edge.

The crowd was not musicians, but they could feel a car wreck coming, but more often than not, it didn’t come and was pulled back between the lines…but it was the thought of watching a train/car wreck. In other words, the phrase “playing with fire” came into play, but it paid off so many times. After a while, you can control the chaos when you conquer your fear of making mistakes. Then it becomes second nature, and you know how to progress, and the mistakes stop, but the thought/energy doesn’t…so we learned to risk it from time to time. I guess that is why I love the Replacements so much…they perfected that energy. I first learned it from The Who.

The Replacements are famous for that mentality. Everything sounds like it could fall apart, and that’s exactly the point. This song is the opening track from the album Tim from 1985. The Replacements had already built a reputation for mixing chaos with something close to truth. It doesn’t ease you in; it drops you right into the middle of the chaos.

The recording came during sessions with producer Tommy Erdelyi, better known as Tommy Ramone. The Ramones drummer pushed the band toward to something tighter, but you can still hear and feel the sharp edges. I always liked the line “Hold my life until I’m ready to use it.” It sounds like a throwaway at first, but it stuck with me. Back then, it sounded like an attitude. Now it sounds more like a question. There’s frustration in it, maybe a sense of being stuck between wanting control and not knowing what to do with it.

This album was their first major label release on Sire Records in 1984. This would be the last album by the original band because Bob Stinson would be kicked out a couple of years later. Tim was placed 136th on Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 137th in a 2012 revised list. The album peaked at #186 on the Billboard Album Chart in 1986.

Hold My Life

Oooo well, well, wellI bought itDown on all foursLet me crawlIf I want ICould dieOh byMy handTime for decisions to be madeCrack up in the sunLose it in the shade

Razzle dazzle razzle drollTime for this one to come homeRazzle dazzle razzle dieTime for this one to come aliveAnd hold my lifeUntil I’m ready to use itHold my lifeBecause I just might lose itBecause I just might lose itBecause I just might lose it

Well, well, wellAnyone could tellClassic aweA lucky shotOoo-leh-doHate ’emSomeday soonFace ’emTime for decisions to be madeCrack up in the sunLose it in the shade

Just my, just my, just myWe might crack up in the sunBut we’ll lose it in the shade

Razzle dazzle razzle drollTime for this one to come homeRazzle dazze razzle dieTime for this one to come aliveAnd hold my lifeUntil I’m ready to use itHold my lifeBecause I just might lose itBecause I just might lose itHold my lifeHold my lifeHold my, hold my, hold my, hold my, hold

Godfathers – She Gives Me Love

There’s no easing into She Gives Me Love. It hits fast and stays there. Released in 1986 on Hit by Hit, the track shows what The Godfathers were about in their early run: tight playing, sharp edges, and no interest in slowing down.

I listened to their first real album Birth, School, Work, Death, and it was fantastic. I then skipped around and listened to some songs throughout their career. Super band… they have a tough, rough Katie bar the door… no-holds-barred sound. I hear some Who, Kinks, Small Faces, Sloan, and other bands in them.

The main reason I like them…the hooks. They know how to develop and use great hooks in the right places. While you have the hooks and melodies, you also have the super-aggressive anger riding on top of everything. They mix it perfectly. In short… abrasive in-your-face rock.

The band, led by Peter Coyne and Chris Coyne, came out of the UK scene with a sound that pulled from R&B and stripped-down rock. You can hear that here. The guitars are direct, and the whole thing feels built for a small room turned up too loud. It doesn’t try to expand beyond that.

This is one I came across later, digging past the usual tracks people mention. It felt like finding something still wired tight after all these years. No buildup, no release, just straight through. Sometimes that’s all you need.

She Gives Me Love

Don’t claim to understand herI wonder what she’s doing with meDon’t know what she does with the rest of her timeBut she gives it to me for free

She gives me loveShe gives me love

She never takes my moneyBut she always steals my timeShe’s the kind of a girl that if you gave her the worldShe’d say it wasn’t worth a dime

She gives me loveShe gives me love

It’s not easy to explain itThe effect she has on meMake a dumb man talk and a blind man seeThat sweet little mystery

She gives me loveShe gives me love

Formerly Brothers – The Return of the Formerly Brothers …album review

A while back, I really started to get into Doug Sahm because the guy was quality, period. Everything I’ve heard from him I’ve liked. Thanks to halffastcyclingclub for more information about Doug. He was born in 1941 and had singles out when he was 14 in 1955. He was a child prodigy and a proud Texan.

The Formerly Brothers brought together three players who already had long histories: Amos Garrett, Doug Sahm, and Gene Taylor. I’m grateful they did, and the reason I first listened was because of Doug Sahm, but he is far from the only one on this album. When three artists of this caliber get together, sometimes it can feel forced, but this one doesn’t. The album was released in 1987.

They got their name from the press always introducing them individually as “formerly of” different bands. They started this album after appearing at the 1986 Edmonton Folk Festival. The project came together as a collaboration between these artists who had crossed paths for years.

Doug Sahm founded, with Augie Meyers, The Sir Douglas Quintet. He would go on to have a solo career and also play with The Texas Tornados, among many others. The American-Canadian Amos Garrett became known for session work, including his time with Paul Butterfield and his guitar on Maria Muldaur’s Midnight at the Oasis. Gene Taylor worked with many artists, including Canned Heat and, later, The Blasters, but he was always in demand for his piano playing.

By all accounts, they got along well, and the music shows this. It sounds like very talented musicians having fun at a party, but the music stays precise, yet not rigid. What makes the record work is that it doesn’t try to give us any new style of music. It sticks with styles like blues structures, R&B grooves, barroom riffs, and pure country. Sometimes bundled all together for our listening pleasure.

The music slips easily into different styles like changing socks. The first song that got my attention on this album is the song Teardrops On Your Letter for its soulful sound and that tremelo guitar to open it. Sahm knocks that vocal out of the park. They cover Dylan with Just Like A Woman and it is a version I will go back to.

Louis Riel is another song that caught me right away. Again, it was the soulful voice of Sahm. The opener Smack Dab In The Middle is somewhere in the middle of R&B and Country. Big Mamou is pure old school country. Probably my favorite on the album is Queen of the Okanagan.

The record blends blues, R&B, country, and Texas roots music while blurring the lines between them. Sahm’s voice carries a lot of it while Garrett’s guitar fills the spaces with that clean tone and bending style. Gene Taylor’s piano is a big part of this album as well.

There’s a loose feel across the album, but it’s not sloppy. It’s the kind of looseness that comes from experience. If you’ve spent time with Sahm’s solo records or the Texas Tornados, this sits right alongside that world, just scaled down a bit.

The album won the Juno Award for Best Roots & Traditional Album at the Juno Awards of 1989. Also, here is a 15-minute interview with Doug Sahm. He tells a lot about his history in this one.

Joe Cocker – When The Night Comes

In 1989, I remember riding around in my Celica and hearing this song a lot on our then-local radio station, 103 WKDF. Later on in 2000, I got to see Joe Cocker open up for Tina Turner. Great concert with two huge talents. He hadn’t lost a step at all in 2000. The last time I posted a Cocker song, Christian reminded me about a later hit for him. It was either this one or Keep Your Hat On… but either way it’s excellent.

When this song opened the album One Night of Sin in 1989 and marked a strong return for Cocker. The track was written by Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, and Diane Warren, and you can hear that late 80s style in the structure, built for radio but still rooted in R&B and rock.

The guitar entrance is what caught my ear. Over that, Cocker’s voice carries the song. He doesn’t overplay it; he lets the quality of his voice do the work. It is controlled, but still has that edge he was known for, and what I love about him. The track became one of his bigger late-career hits and helped reintroduce him to a wider audience at the end of the decade. I’ve heard the album, and it’s good, and they avoided overproduction.

It felt current for the time, but still like Joe Cocker. The groove pulls you in, but it is the vocal that keeps you there. It is a comeback song that doesn’t try to go overboard; it just works. The song peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100, #23 in Canada, and #65 in the UK in 1989. The album peaked at #52 on the Billboard Album Charts, #60 in Canada, and #20 in New Zealand.

When The Night Comes

Hold onI’ll be back for youIt won’t be longBut for now there’s something elseThat’s calling meSo take me down a lonesome roadPoint me east and let me goThat suitcase weighs me downWith memories

I just want to be the one you run toI just want to be the one you come toI just want to be there for someoneWhen the night comesLet’s put all the cares behind usAnd go where they’ll never find usI just want to be there beside youWhen the night comesWhen the night comes

Two spirits in the nightThat can leave before the morning lightWhen there’s nothing left to loseAnd nothing left to fearSo meet me on the edge of townWon’t keep you waiting I’ll be ’roundThen you and IWe’ll just roll right out of here

I know there’ll be a time for you and IJust take my hand and run awayThink of all the pieces of the shattered dreamWe’re gonna make it out some dayWe’ll be coming backComing back to stayWhen the night comes

I want to be the one you run toWhen the night comesTo be the one you’d come toI want to be the one you run toOohI just want to be the one you run towant to be the one you come toI just want to be there for someoneWhen the night comesLet’s put all the cares behind usAnd go where they’ll never find usI just want to be there beside youWhen the night comesWhen the night comesAh ah when the night comesWhen the night rolls downAh ah when the night comesI want to be with youAh ah when the night comesOh ah when the night comes inAh ah ohAh ah when the night comesWhen the night comesAh ah when the night comesI want to be right by your sideAh ah when the night comesYes babyAh ah ohDon’t do that to me womanAh ah ohEver stayed when the night time gets in hereAh ah when the night comesI want to rise and up in theWhen the night comesAh ah when the night comesAh ah ohLove me

Mink DeVille – Love and Emotion

I love this sound they had. It reminds me of old Springsteen and a Southside Johnny New Jersey sound. They changed through the years, but Willy DeVille kept his own personal sound. The intro is what hooked me on this. It sounds huge starting off, and that sax is just wonderful. I feel like I’m in a smoky bar listening to a great band around midnight. Been there, done that, and it’s awesome.

Mink DeVille was formed in 1974 in San Francisco, but they are known for their association with punk bands at the New York club CBGB. They would go on to record six albums, and Willy DeVille made 10 albums solo. The band lasted until 1986.

His songs seem to sound like the songs that came from street corners instead of studios. I mean that as a huge compliment. They feel grounded and tangible. This song is from the 1981 album Coup de Grâce, which keeps that feeling going. By this point, Willy DeVille had a mixture of soul, Latin rhythm, and rock and roll that set the band apart.

By the time Mink DeVille got to Coup de Grâce in 1981, things had shifted. The early CBGB-era lineup was mostly gone, and Willy DeVille was steering the band on his own terms. The sound moved a little further away from the rawer New York street feel of the first records. It was something more controlled, but it was still rooted in soul and R&B.

The album was produced by Jack Nitzsche (Jack Nitzsche said that DeVille was the best singer he had ever worked with), which matters here. Nitzsche had worked with everyone from Phil Spector to the Rolling Stones, and he understood how to build atmosphere. On this song, that approach shows. It’s a smoother album, but it never loses that club feel that Willy DeVille was good at.

The title suggests something soft, but the delivery has an edge. That contrast was always part of Mink DeVille’s sound. The music sounds older but without sounding like a revival act. The album peaked at #161 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1981.

Love And Emotion

We walk the street, and I hold your hand
And as we stroll along, I can’t understand
How a love can live
In this desolate land

Broken windows and broken hearts
And you are cheated before you start
Was there ever a chance?
No, there was never a chance

But then your love, love and emotion
Oh, your love, love and emotion
Oh, how your love, love and emotion
Oh, your love sets me free

So everyday at five o’clock
I run down your street to your block
And up five flights of
Up five flights of stairs

And in your laughter, there’s mission bells
Colored lanterns and carousels
And in this hallway is home
No, I’m not so alone

Because your love, love and emotion
Oh, your love, love and emotion
Oh, how your love, love and emotion
Oh, your love sets me free

Oh, how your love, love and emotion
Oh, your love, love and emotion
Oh, how your love, love and emotion
Oh, your love sets me free

Squeeze – Piccadilly

I owned the album East Side Story, the fourth album by Squeeze, and this song caught my attention right off. It drew comparisons to the Beatles, especially in Rolling Stone Magazine at the time. That’s usually the kiss of death, and so unfair to any artist to start comparing to Dylan or anyone else. This album was hyped, but it paid off. This song wasn’t a hit, but it was a hit in my car and at home because I wore it out. So, #1 on Max’s chart.

One of the strengths of Squeeze was always their ability to shift gears within an album. On East Side Story, you get upbeat pop, soul influences, and a few slower pieces. In my opinion, they were one of the best pop bands of the 1980s, but didn’t get played here as much, except for a few big hit singles. Their songs were quality and good, and they didn’t sound thrown together to get a hit.

It was written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, and the song shows their usual approach with sharp observations about what is around them. Like Tempted, they use adjectives SO well in this, and it puts you in the song. You can see what they are talking about. As in a purple hairdryer, begging folk singer, the neon club lights of adult films and Trini Lopez, and just visuals, you can see. Tilbrook’s vocal keeps things straightforward, which fits the tone of the lyrics.

By 1981, Squeeze had become one of the most reliable songwriting bands of the British new wave era. After the success of Argybargy, the group wanted to try something broader for their next record. Instead of using one producer, the band worked with a couple, Elvis Costello and Roger Bechirian, which helped give the album its varied sound.

When the album was released in 1981, it became one of Squeeze’s most respected records. Songs like Tempted, Labelled With Love, Messed Around, Is That Love, and In Quintessence were the singles, but deeper cuts like this song show another side of the band, just as well-crafted.

The album peaked at #44 on the Billboard 100 and #19 in the UK in 1981.

Piccadilly

She’s not a picture above somebody’s fireShe sits in a towel with a purple hair dryer,She waits to get even with me.She hooks up her cupcakes and puts on her jumperExplains that she’ll be late to a worrying mother,She meets me in Piccadilly.A begging folk singer stands tall by the entranceHis song relays worlds of most good intentions,A fiver a ten p in his hat for collection.She talks about office she talks about dressesShe’s seen one she fancies her smile is impressing,So maybe I’ll treat her someday.We queue among strangers and strange conversationLove’s on the lips of all forms of engagements,All queuing to see tonight’s play.A man behind me talks to his young ladyHe’s happy that she is expecting his baby,His wife won’t be pleased but she’s not been round lately.The girl was so dreadful we left in a hurryWe escaped in the rain for an Indian curry,At the candle lit Taj Mahal.My lips to a napkin I called for a taxiThe invite of eyes made it tense but relaxed me,My mind took a devious role.The cab took us home through a night I’d not noticedThe neon club lights of adult films and Trini Lopez,My arm around love but my acting was hopeless.

We crept like two thieves from the kettle to the fireWe kissed to the sound of the silence that we’d hired,Now captured, your love in my arms.A door opened slightly a voice spoke in worryMum went to bed without wind of the curry,Our secret love made its advance.Like Adam and Eve we took bite on the appleLoose change in my pocket it started to rattle,Heart like a gun was just half of the battle.

Madness – One Step Beyond

In the 1980s, I was watching MTV, and I came across this band playing a song called Our House and I loved it. Not only did I like the song, but the bands irrevelant humor wore off on me. They didn’t take themselves seriously at all, and I respect that.

When this song came out in 1979, it sounded like a party breaking out in the middle of the British charts. Madness was part of the late-1970s ska revival that grew out of London clubs. Their version of this was actually a remake of a 1964 instrumental by Jamaican artist Prince Buster. Madness kept the structure but turned it into something louder and more chaotic. The song begins with Chas Smash shouting “Don’t watch that, watch this!” before the band launches into the riff. From that moment, it feels like a call to the dance.

It’s a fast ska rhythm, brass sounds, and a repeating organ line. Unlike many pop songs of the time, there is very little singing. Instead, the horns carry the melody while the band pushes the tempo forward. It captures the mix of Jamaican ska and British pub-rock attitude that defined the early Madness sound. The record was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who helped give the band a tight but lively sound.

The video, with the group dancing and marching through London streets, helped define their image. Madness were not trying to be serious rock stars. They looked like a gang of friends who started a band and brought the party with them. This was the title cut off of their debut album, released in 1979. The album peaked at #2 on the UK Album Charts and #27 in New Zealand that year. The song peaked at #7 in the UK.

Here is a later live version. The crowd was ready!

One Step Beyond

(Hey you, don’t watch that,
Watch this!
This is the heavy heavy monster sound
The nutsiest sound around
So if you’ve come in off the street
And you’re beginning to feel the heat
Well listen buster
You’d better to start to move your feet
To the rockin’est, rock-steady beat
Of Madness
One step beyond!)

(One step beyond!…)

Pixies – Gouge Away

I started following this band in the 1990s after hearing the song “Here Comes Your Man,” which caught my power-pop ear. It was on their 1989 album, Doolittle. I love the dynamics in this one and the harder style.

By 1989, Pixies were no longer an underground surprise. After Surfer Rosa, they went into the studio to make a tighter, more direct record. That record became Doolittle. The sessions took place in late 1988 in Boston, with Gil Norton producing. Norton pushed the band toward precision. He said he focused on structure and dynamics. Gouge Away benefited from that approach.

Black Francis brought the song in with its biblical reference; he drew from the story of Samson and Delilah. But in the studio, the band worked on feeling more than sticking strictly to that concept. The verses were kept restrained on purpose, so the chorus would hit harder. That is where the dynamics came into play. I like the sound of Kim Deal’s driving bass in this one. Also, I have to mention, the guitar solo is very unique to me. I love the way they fit that solo in with the sustain.

Unlike some of the raw edges on Surfer Rosa, Doolittle was built with layering in mind. Multiple vocal takes were tracked to get Francis’s half-whisper right before the explosion of the refrain. The final mix keeps plenty of space in the verses, then opens up when the band surges. As the closing track, Gouge Away was put there to leave a mark. It ends the album the way the Pixies often worked in the studio at that point, controlled and sharp.

The album peaked at #98 in the Billboard Album Charts, #8 in the UK, and #18 in New Zealand in 1989.

Gouge Away

Gouge awayYou can gouge awayStay all dayIf you want to

Missy aggravationSome sacred questionsYou stroke my locksSome marijuanaIf you got some

Gouge awayYou can gouge awayStay all dayIf you want to

Sleeping on your bellyYou break my armsYou spoon my eyesBeen rubbing a bad charmWith holy fingers

Gouge awayYou can gouge awayStay all dayIf you want to

Chained to the pillarsA three day partyI break the wallsAnd kill us allWith holy fingers

Gouge awayYou can gouge awayStay all dayIf you want to

Style Council – Shout To The Top

I am a Paul Weller fan, and it’s nice to see what he did after he left The Jam in 1982. Some really good soul pop songs and excellent songwriting, as you would expect from Weller. I mostly know his Jam songs but I’m learning more about him.

Paul Weller and Mick Talbot built the song around a bright keyboard riff and a gospel-type groove that is more Curtis Mayfield than punk. It was a stand-alone single. It was later added to the 1984 album Our Favourite Shop CD release, and it became one of their biggest hits in the UK and a club favorite. It was on the US album Internationalists, a version of this album.

This song is a great example of a perfect blend of soul history and modern pop. It’s built for radios and dance floors…and anyone needing a push through their day. Instead of stacking layers of guitars, the band focused on the rhythm and let the groove carry everything.

The song peaked at #7 in the UK and #6 in New Zealand in 1984-85. The album peaked at #1 in the UK, #6 in New Zealand, #123 in the Billboard Album Charts, and #53 in Canada.

Should It To The Top

I was half in mind, I was half in needAnd as the rain came downI dropped to my knees and I prayedI said, “Oh heavenly thing, please cleanse my soulI’ve seen all on offer and I’m not impressed at all”

I was halfway home, I was half insaneAnd every shop window I looked in just looked the sameI said, “Now send me a sign to save my life‘Cause at this moment in time there is nothing certain inThese days of mine”

You see it’s a frightening thing when it dawns upon youThat I know as much as the day I was bornAnd though I wasn’t asked, I might as well stayAnd promise myself each and every day

That when you’re knocked on your back and your life’s a flopAnd when you’re down on the bottom there’s nothing elseBut to shout to the topWell we’re gonna shout to the topWe’re gonna shout to the topWe’re gonna shout to the topHey, we’re gonna shout to the top

You see it’s a frightening thing when it dawns upon youThat I know as much as the day I was bornAnd though I wasn’t asked, I might as well stayAnd promise myself each and every day

We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)

So when you’re knocked on your back and your life’s a flopAnd when you’re down on the bottom there’s nothing elseBut to shout to the top (shout)Well, we’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)

And when you’re knocked on your back and your life’s a flopAnd when you’re down on the bottom there’s nothing elseBut to shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)

Hey, yeah, shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)Shout to the top (shout)Shout to the top (shout)

We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)Shout to the top (shout)Shout to the top (shout)

We’re gonna shout to the top (shout)Shout to the top (shout)Shout to the top (shout)Shout to the top (shout)Shout to the top (shout)

Desert Rose Band – She Don’t Love Nobody

A few months ago, around September, I met Arthur when he was commenting on my blog. He is better known as purplegoatee2684b071ed. We have had some wonderful conversations, and I told him if you ever want to post a music post…I would be honored to do it. He took me up on my offer, and he wrote up a post about The Desert Rose Band. I do appreciate Arthur writing this up. Here is Arthur!

I am Purplesomething or other. My name is Art Schaak. I have no idea where WordPress got the name for me. When I found this incredible blog I signed up for WordPress and they told me my e-mail, which is fairly unique, was already assigned to this Purple guy. purplegoatee2684b071ed, that’s what they call me. For years I had a full beard, now I am clean shaven (when I shave) and I’ve never sported a goatee. I have been called an old goat, and old other things, and I honestly find it hard to deny.

I have been reading and commenting on this blog since September of 2025, a relative newcomer. I am much more impressed with the community and its individual members than you should be of me.

I am 72 years old. I have been a big music fan as long as I can remember. I skirted the peripheries of the music industry in the mid 70s until I realized I was not a follower of fashion, dedicated or not. I know a little about this stuff, am horribly opinionated, and have very eclectic tastes.

The Desert Rose Band was Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, John Jorgenson, Bill Bryson, Jay Dee Maness, and Steve Duncan. This song, written by John Hiatt, reached #3 on Billboard’s US Hot Country Songs and was awarded the 1989 Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group Grammy. It wasn’t their biggest hit, but it is my favorite.

The magic lies in the music. Give it a listen. It is the energy. The harmonies are tight. The performance is together. It might be too perfect, considering some of the opinions offered elsewhere on this blog, but I can’t call that a problem. This tune just delightfully pops along.

Hiatt’s lyrics are a lot of fun. Yes, I am a fan and have been since his Hanging Around The Observatory debut on Epic way back in the 70’s. By the way, Hiatt did two songs on the second White Duck album on Uni that I was amazed I found at a 25-cent parking lot sale at Rhino Records; I played it once, and that was more than it deserved.

Jorgeson continues to play, but his recent performances in the Los Angeles area have been with his bluegrass ensemble and his hot jazz ensemble. A long way from the Desert Rose Band or his tenure with the Elton John band. He is a great guitar player with an even greater sense of the overall music he is producing, kind of like Ry Cooder, where one can groove on his expertise or just be amazed at the incredible music he is putting out.

By the way, the web says the last performance of the Desert Rose Band, Live at the Country Music Hall of Fame CMA Theater, October 2, 2022, is due to be released in March of 2026.

And Chris Hillman seems extremely active (considering his age and such), according to his website, chrishillman.com.

Like I said, give it a listen.

She Don’t Love Nobody

From my humble point of view
She don’t love nobody
Nothin’ borrowed, nothin’ blue
She don’t love nobody

Behind the green eyes I detect
She don’t love nobody
Her heart no kiss could resurrect
She don’t love nobody

All of her life
She’s been told to hang on tight
There’s a man who’d make her his wife
But she’s not interested in anything mama said

She throws passion to the wind
She don’t love nobody
She don’t give out but she don’t give in
She don’t love nobody

And if I could I’d make her mine
But she don’t love nobody
And she would never walk that line
She don’t love nobody

All of my life
I’ve been told to hang on tight
There’s a girl who’d be my wife
But I’m not interested in anything mama said

I want the girl who does not need
She don’t love nobody

She’s the one my heart receives
She don’t love nobody

She don’t love nobody
She don’t love nobody

Peter Case – I Shook His Hand

Each tongue is a world, each eye is an ocean
Of every child, woman, man here in living motion
Now who’ll protect us, who’ll pеrfect us
Who’ll live to see the day whеn love connects us

I just started to listen to Peter Case recently, although I like the Plimsouls, I never knew much about Case. This song and its history intrigued me. First of all, it’s a great song, but Case started this song by reminiscing about when he was a kid and shook hands with John Kennedy at a county fair that Kennedy had appeared at. So by total coincidence, this again fits into the book I’m reading. I had a playlist of his songs, and I heard this one, and I thought…what hand did he shake? I then read his quote about shaking hands with JFK.

He first broke out with The Nerves, a tight power pop band that was popular on the early LA power-pop scene. Though they never found major commercial success, they did have the song Hanging on the Telephone, later covered by Blondie. The Nerves showed Case’s gift for melodic songwriting and short three-minute power pop songs.

After that came The Plimsouls, who blended power pop with roots rock and harder edges. Tracks like A Million Miles Away made them cult favorites and briefly pushed them into the mainstream. The band toured constantly, but music industry pressure and burnout pulled them apart just as they were gaining traction.

This song is off of Peter’s self-titled debut album, released in 1986. The musicians he gathered, I’m a huge fan of. Roger McGuinn on his 12-string Rickenbacker, Jim Keltner on drums, Van Dyke Parks on keyboards, T-Bone Burnett producing, and acoustic guitar and more. He was on Geffen Records at the time and also released a UK EP called Steel Strings that contained many of these songs. He also released another EP called Selections from Peter Case. That one had two different versions of the song Steel Strings on it.

The album was largely recorded live in the room, with players reacting to each other instead of building tracks layer by layer. I say this a lot in my reviews, but it’s true in this case as well. The band played to each other, and there were minimal overdubs. He kept small imperfections that made the performances feel real. The goal wasn’t to overproduce the album; it was to capture the way these songs worked when he played them alone or in small rooms.

He has been productive as a solo artist. 14 studio albums, 4 EPs, 3 compilations, and 11 singles. A tribute album was also released in 2006, A Case for Case, with various artists.

Peter Case: I wrote this one in 1984, on the Amtrak train down to San Antonio, where I was meeting the rest of the Plimsouls to start a tour. It’s about meeting JFK on his trip to the Erie County Fair, when I was five, though I was also thinking about MLK and RFK.

I Shook His Hand

I was a kid out behind the fair
His words were like lightning in the summer air
His eyes were wild with the truth he told
Holding back the rain while the thunder rolled

I was too young to understand
I was proud to say I shook his hand

He took command on a winter’s day
All across the land, spring was on its way
He struck fear into the hearts of fools
Breaking up the gangs, breaking all their rules

Too young not to understand
I was proud to say I shook his hand

Each tongue is a world, each eye is an ocean
Of every child, woman, man here in living motion
Now who’ll protect us, who’ll pеrfect us
Who’ll live to see the day whеn love connects us
Who’ll take a step out in this land
I’ll be proud to say I shook his hand
I shook his hand, well I shook his hand

For years they tried to kill him, he finally died
I still remember how I felt when my mama cried
I grew up with a bullet in my breast
If you knew it or not, so did all the rest

Robert Cray – Smoking Gun

Robert Cray was a delight to hear in the 1980s. SRV, Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and a few others received significant radio play in that decade. It was great hearing the guitar-dominant songs.

The song was recorded for Strong Persuader, the album that changed Robert Cray’s career. The sessions focused on sound clarity and guitar, not excess. Producers Bruce Bromberg and Dennis Walker kept the arrangements tight, making sure the rhythm section stayed locked in.

The song’s success was helped by radio and MTV, which was unusual for a blues artist at the time. The video, simple and story-driven, fit the song’s mood and helped it cross formats. That exposure turned this song into a breakout hit and pushed Strong Persuader into success. This song helped him get to a wider audience, and he didn’t lose who he was.

His guitar tone is remarkably clean and controlled in this song. Sometimes, it’s not what you put into a song, but what you leave out. Silent spaces let songs breathe, and I think that is a big part of this. The song peaked at #22 on the Billboard 100 in 1986. The album peaked at #13 on the Billboard Album Charts, #34 in Canada, #5 in New Zealand, and #34 in the UK.

Smoking Gun

I get a constant busy signal
When I call you on the phone
I get a strong, uneasy feeling
You’re not sitting there alone

I’m having nasty, nasty visions
And baby you’re in every one, yeah
And I’m so afraid I’m gonna find you with
A so-called smoking gun

Maybe you wanna end it
You’ve had your fill with my kind of fun
But you don’t know how to tell me
And you know that I’m not that dumb

I put two and one together
And you know that’s not an even sum
And I know just where to catch you with
That well-known smoking gun

I’m standing here, bewildered
I can’t remember just what I’ve done
I can hear the sirens whining
My eyes blinded by the sun

I know that I should be running
My heart’s beating just like a drum
Now they’ve knocked me down and taken it
That still-hot smoking gun

Yeah, yeah, still-hot smoking gun
They’ve taken it, the still-hot smoking gun
Oh, they’ve taken it, still-hot smoking gun
They’ve knocked me down
And taken it
Oh