1980s – Page 10 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Tommy Tutone – 867-5309 / Jenny

I never knew this in the 1980s but the singer is not Tommy Tutone…that is the band’s name. They were led by Tommy Heath and Jim Keller and originally called themselves Tommy and the Two-Tones.

If you were listening to the radio in the eighties you remember this song. A great little power pop song that gave you a phone number you could not forget. The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100 and #2 in Canada in 1982. After it became a hit I started to think about the poor souls who had that number under different area codes. It changed their lives…

Mrs. Lorene Burns, an Alabama householder formerly at +1-205-867-5309; she changed her number in 1982: When we’d first get calls at 2 or 3 in the morning, my husband would answer the phone. He can’t hear too well. They’d ask for Jenny, and he’d say “Jimmy doesn’t live here anymore.” … Tommy Tutone was the one who had the record. I’d like to get hold of his neck and choke him.

The song, released in late 1981, initially gained popularity on the American West Coast in January 1982… many who had the number soon abandoned it because of unwanted calls.

Asking telephone companies to trace the calls was of no use, as Charles and Maurine Shambarger (then in West Akron, Ohio at +1-216-867-5309) learned when Ohio Bell explained “We don’t know what to make of this. The calls are coming from all over the place.” A little over a month later, they disconnected the number and the phone became silent.

Jim Keller, the lead guitarist of the band, claims that Jenny was a girl he knew and that some friends wrote her number on the wall of a men’s room as a prank. Keller says he called her and they dated for some time. Yet Alex Call, who co-wrote the song with Jim Keller, claims there was never any Jenny and that 867-5309 came to him “out of the ether.” They are lucky no one got to them and…get hold of his neck and choke him.

Alex Call: “Despite all the mythology to the contrary, I actually just came up with the ‘Jenny,’ and the telephone number and the music and all that just sitting in my backyard. There was no Jenny. I don’t know where the number came from, I was just trying to write a 4-chord rock song and it just kind of came out.

This was back in 1981 when I wrote it, and I had at the time a little squirrel-powered 4-track in this industrial yard in California, and I went up there and made a tape of it. I had the guitar lick, I had the name and number, but I didn’t know what the song was about. This buddy of mine, Jim Keller, who’s the co-writer, was the lead guitar player in Tommy Tutone. He stopped by that afternoon and he said, ‘Al, it’s a girl’s number on a bathroom wall,’ and we had a good laugh. I said, ‘That’s exactly right, that’s exactly what it is.’

I had the thing recorded. I had the name and number, and they were in the same spots, ‘Jenny… 867-5309.’ I had all that going, but I had a blind spot in the creative process, I didn’t realize it would be a girl’s number on a bathroom wall. When Jim showed up, we wrote the verses in 15 or 20 minutes, they were just obvious. It was just a fun thing, we never thought it would get cut. In fact, even after Tommy Tutone made the record and ‘867-5309’ got on the air, it really didn’t have a lot of promotion to begin with, but it was one of those songs that got a lot of requests and stayed on the charts. It was on the charts for 40 weeks.”

867-5309 / Jenny

Jenny Jenny who can I turn to
You give me something I can hold on to
I know you’ll think I’m like the others before
Who saw your name and number on the wall

Jenny I’ve got your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny don’t change your number

Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Jenny jenny you’re the girl for me
You don’t know me but you make me so happy
I tried to call you before but I lost my nerve
I tried my imagination but I was disturbed

Jenny I’ve got your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny don’t change your number
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine

I got it (i got it) I got it
I got your number on the wall
I got it (i got it) I got it
For a good time, for a good time call

Jenny don’t change your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny I’ve called your number

Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine

Jenny Jenny who can I turn to (eight six seven five three oh nine)
For the price of a dime I can always turn to you (eight six seven five three oh nine)

Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine (five three oh nine)
Eight six seven five three oh nine
Eight six seven five three oh nine (five three oh nine)
Eight six seven five three oh nine (five three oh nine)

Rockpile – Fool Too Long

Happy April Fools Day!

Fool Too Long is a song from the 1980 album Seconds of Pleasure. The song was written by Nick Lowe, who was one of the key songwriters and vocalists in Rockpile. It’s a catchy rock tune with elements of power pop and new wave with the underlying old rock sound.

Nick Lowe (lead vocals, bass), Dave Edmunds (lead vocals, guitar), Billy Bremner (backing vocals, guitar), and Terry Williams (drums)— had been writing, recording, and playing live together for years before they released just one album at least under the Rockpile name.

One of the reasons they only recorded one album is record label issues. Rockpile was signed to different labels in different regions, with Dave Edmunds signed to Swan Song Records (co-owned by Led Zeppelin) in the United States and Nick Lowe signed to Columbia Records in the UK. These label differences complicated the band’s recording and promotional efforts. They actually recorded more but on other people’s records. They were the backing band for Dave Edmunds’s Tracks On Wax 4, side one of a Mickey Jupp album, and more.

Before the band recorded Seconds of Pleasure, the name “Rockpile” had already been used as the title of an album by Dave Edmunds that he released in 1970. Edmunds subsequently toured as “Dave Edmunds and Rockpile,” with a band that included Williams on drums. However, the group became known as Rockpile didn’t form until Lowe and Edmunds began recording together in the mid-1970s.

The album peaked at #27 on the Billboard 100, #29 in Canada, and #34 in the UK in 1980.

Fool Too Long

I should have realised babe a long time ago
When you told me that you loved me but you didn′t any more
You ran around with anyone all behind my back
You asked me to forgive you I went and took you back

Well I thought you learned your lesson then
But now I see it happen again
And I’ve been a fool too long
I had you figured out all wrong
I′ve been a fool too long
And I ain’t gonna be a fool no more

I should have seen the signs babe the writing on the wall
When all those other guys started coming round to call
You told me that you changed but that was just a lie
When you said I was your only I was just another guy

Well if I’m the one who pays the rent
I gotta have one hundred percent
Cos I′ve been a fool too long
I had you figured out all wrong
I′ve been a fool too long
And I ain’t gonna be a fool no more

…

Roy Orbison – You Got It

Roy was making a great comeback in the late eighties. He was a member of the hottest band at the time…The Traveling Wilburys. He had just finished a new album called Mystery Girl in November of 1988. He confided in Johnny Cash that he was having chest pains and he would have to have it looked at…he never did. It was so nice hearing Roy on the radio again with You Got It.

The Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 was rising in the charts and he flew to Europe to do a show and came back and did a few more in America. On December 6, 1988, he flew model planes with his kids and after dinner passed away at the age of 52.

It was written during the Christmas season of 1987 and recorded in April of 1988 with Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, and Phil Jones providing the backing track. The song is credited to Orbison, Lynne, and Petty. It’s pretty obvious it was produced by Jeff Lynne. Jeff was a busy man during this time. He would produce George Harrison’s Cloud Nine, Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever, and Orbison’s Mystery Girl.

The track is quite significant to the career of Jeff Lynne as it was his first entry into the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and his only Top 10 Country hit, peaking at #7 in 1989. Jeff’s only other Billboard Hot Country chart entry was the following Roy Orbison single, California Blue, which peaked at #51 later that year.

I remember watching the Traveling Wilburys video “End of the Line”. They made the video after Roy passed away… when his part came up they showed an empty rocking chair with Roy’s picture beside it.

You Got It featured Jeff Lynn, Tom Petty, and Phil Jones.

You Got It was released in 1989 and it peaked at #9 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, #3 in the UK, #7 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1989.

You Got It

Every time I look into your loving eyesI see a love that money just can’t buy

One look from you, I drift awayI pray that you are here to stay

Anything you want, you got itAnything you need, you got itAnything at all, you got it, baby

Every time I hold you I begin to understandEverything about you tells me I’m your man

I live (I live)My life (my life)To be (To be)With you (with you)No one (no one)Can do (can do)The things (the things)You do (you do)

Anything you want, you got itAnything you need, you got itAnything at all, you got it, baby

Anything you want (you got it)Anything you need (you got it)Anything at all

Do-do-do-do-doo (oh)Do-do-do-do-doo (oh, yeah)Do-do-do-do-doo (yeah, yeah, yeah)(You got it)

I’m glad to give my love to youI know you feel the way I do

Anything you want, you got itAnything you need, you got itAnything at all, you got it, baby

Anything at all (you got it)BabyYou got it

Clash – Brand New Cadillac

This was a great cover by The Clash. It was on the London Calling album released in 1979. They started off as a punk band but The Clash, unlike some other Punk bands, could really play and sing well…, especially Mick Jones. He was probably the best pure musician in the band.

The song was originally by Vince Taylor and released in 1959. It was the B side to a song called Pledging My Love. Taylor wrote the song but Tony Sheridan is credited with the cool guitar riff running through the song. The song’s riff reminds me of the original Batman riff…or really the other way around.

The Clash’s version of the song is the best-known. They did it in one take. It was the B side to the single London Calling. The single peaked at #46 in the UK in 1988 re-release. It also peaked at #64 with another UK re-release in 1991.

Rolling Stone magazine named London Calling the best album of the ’80s. It should be noted that it was first released in the UK in December 1979. In the US, it was released two weeks into January 1980, meaning that from a US perspective, it’s a 1980s album.

I like Vince’s version just as well… a good rock song through and through.

Brand New Cadillac

DriveDrive

My baby drove up in a brand new CadillacYes, she didMy baby drove up in a brand new CadillacShe said, “Hey, come here, daddy”I ain’t never comin’ back

Baby, baby, won’t you hear my plea?Yeah, come on, sugar, just come on back to meShe said, “Balls to you, big daddy”

Baby, baby, won’t you hear my plea?Oh, oh, come on, just hear my pleaShe said, “Balls to you, daddy”She ain’t comin’ back to me

Oh GodBaby, baby, drove up in a CadillacI said, “Jesus Christ, where’d you get that Cadillac?”She said, “Balls to you, daddy”She ain’t never comin’ backShe ain’t, she ain’t comin’ backShe ain’t never comin’ backShe ain’t never comin’ backShe ain’t never comin’ back

…

Car Songs…Part 1

In my Fred Eaglesmith post on Saturday, two comments caught my attention. One was Keith telling me when he was a DJ they would play car songs at certain times. Then Obbverse mentioned… that would be a good post for someone…and indeed he was right.

When I was a teenager…a car wasn’t just a car…it was freedom. It was a key to an adult world we wanted eagerly to jump into. Ok…I’ll have songs with either the word “car” in them or with a model of a car in the title only. If not I would have 80 percent of Springsteen songs…not a bad thing at all but I will play by those rules.

Janis Joplin – Mercedes Benz

Let’s start with Janis Joplin. This is based on a song called C’mon, God, and buy me a Mercedes Benz by the Los Angeles beat poet Michael McClure. Joplin saw McClure perform it, and on August 8, 1970, she reworked it into her own song, which she performed about an hour later.

There are three credited songwriters on this track: Joplin, Michael McClure, and Bob Neuwirth. McClure says he never earned a cent from his poetry, but “Mercedes Benz” paid for his house in the Butters Canyon section of Oakland, California.

Janis Joplin never got a Mercedes Benz, but she did have a 1965 Porsche that was painted to become a piece of hippie art.

Wilco – Bull Black Nova

Many thanks to Obbverse for recommending this one. This song is a dark one…very dark. It’s somewhat cryptic and open to interpretation but one thing it does show… guilt, betrayal, and the consequences of one’s actions…and the narrator possibly killing his girlfriend. This song was released in 2009 on the album Wilco (The Album). The song was written by Wilco… Glenn Kotchie, Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Mikael Jorgensen, Nels Cline, and Pat Sansone.

If I am the one, blood on the sofa
Blood in the sink, blood in the trunk
High at the wheel of a bull black Nova
And I’m sorry as a setting sun
This can’t be undone, can’t be outrun

Bruce Springsteen – Cadillac Ranch

I could probably do a post just on Cadillac songs.

This song is a great little rocker off of The River. This is one of many early Springsteen songs featuring cars. Some others were “Thunder Road,” “Backstreets,” and “Racing In The Street.” Bruce used the Cadillac image again in 1984 on “Pink Cadillac.”

Springsteen used Cadillac Ranch as a metaphor for the coming of death.

There is a real Cadillac Ranch.

In 1974 along Route 66 west of Amarillo, Texas, Cadillac Ranch was invented and built by a group of art-hippies from San Francisco. They called themselves The Ant Farm, and their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. He wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the locals, and the hippies came up with a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. Ten Caddies were driven into one of Stanley Marsh 3’s fields, then half-buried, nose-down, in the dirt

T Rex – Jeepster

This song was on the 1972 album Electric Warrior. The music was supposedly based off of the Willie Dixon song You’ll Be Mine.

Jeepster was recorded live in the studio. The recording happened entirely organically and was not overdubbed. Marc Bolan, amid a performance, jumped up and down as he played his guitar, shaking the microphone stands. The sound of those stands was kept in the song. Producer Tony Visconti saw them as important features of the overall mood of the track and chose to include them.

K.C. Douglas-Mercury Blues

Mercury Blues was written by the Blues musicians K.C. Douglas and Robert Geddins in 1949. It was originally titled “Mercury Boogie.” The song was made famous 44 years later by Alan Jackson, whose 1993 cover peaked at #2 on the Billboard Country charts. The song has also been covered by Steve Miller, David Lindley, and Meat Loaf.

Herman Brood – Saturday Night

A while back CB sent me Herman Brood’s name and a few links but we had talked about other bands and Brood got lost in the shuffle. I started to listen and the guy has some seriously good songs. He was a musician, singer-songwriter, an artist, and an actor. He was in five movies with the last one released in 2000. His voice got me right away…it’s different and unique. This guy was a true artist.

I hear rock, blues, and some pub rock in there also. Most of his songs are radio-friendly and they rock. Probably the biggest reason he didn’t hit more was his hedonistic lifestyle which grew worse as the years went by.

Herman Brood was born in Zwolie in the Netherlands. After finishing art school he started off as a keyboard player in a band called The Moans in the early sixties. At the end of the sixties, Brood was part of the blues band Cuby + Blizzards. When he took a break from music… he got into trouble. Brood quickly slipped into crime. Burglary and drug trafficking and, as a consequence, a small stint in jail.

He released his first album in 1977 called Street and followed it up with 1978’s Shpritsz and Cha Cha. In 1979 he released Herman Brood & His Wild Romance. This album was released in America only. It contained tracks from Shpritsz also. The album peaked at #122 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1979. The song Saturday Night peaked at #35 on the Billboard 100.

The classic line-up of The Wild Romance was formed in November of 1977: Dany Lademacher (guitar), Freddie Cavalli (bass) Cees “Ani” Meerman (drums) supplemented with The Bombitas (background vocals). This album’s songs were recorded quickly and mostly cut live in the studio. That is why this album sounds so alive when you hear it. The album featured 15 short-driven songs.

He continued making music through the 80s releasing 8 albums in that decade and 4 in the 90s. He also started to paint and do pop art with screen prints.

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

During the end of his life, he tried to refrain from taking drugs but just couldn’t quit. He died in 2000. Like with the Beat Farmers, it was hard to pick one song out but I will be doing more so I will get to him again soon.

Saturday Night

he neon light, of the Open all night
Was just in time replaced by the magic appearance of a new day-while
A melancholic Reno was crawling on his back just in
Front of the supermarket door-way child

Hey girl, on a cold summer night
As we stood on the corner
As a man passed by and asked us
What we were doing what we need
As he pointed his big fat finger
To the people hangin’ round at the corner of the – other side of street
Oh well

Doin’ nothing, just hanging around
What do you mean doin’ nothing Sir
So we had to hit him to the ground
Doin’ nothing just hanging around
His head all busted lookin’ just a little to wise child

I just can’t wait
I just can’t wait for Saturday night
For Saturday night
For Saturday night
Saturday night

Saturday night
Saturday night
Saturday night

I just can’t wait
I just can’t wait

…

Beat Farmers – Happy Boy

My little dog spot got hit by a carHubba hubba hubba hubba hubbaPut his guts in a box and put him in a drawerHubba hubba hubba hubba hubba

This past weekend I posted a Beat Farmers song…well actually two and the album. If you would have scrolled down to the last track on that album…this is it. On Nashville’s station WKDF a disc jockey would play this song quite a lot in the mornings and afternoons.

My best friend growing up is named Ron. Ron played guitar in our band and we absolutely loved this song. We would go around and just break out singing this song over and over again. I even had a Kazoo I would take around with me.

If you are feeling low…this should pick you right up or send you even further down! The song is on the Tales Of The New West album.

Happy Boy

I was walkin’ down the street on a sunny dayHubba hubba hubba hubba hubbaA feeling in my bones that I’ll have my wayHubba hubba hubba hubba hubba

Well I’m a happy boy (happy boy)Well I’m a happy boy (happy boy)

Oh ain’t it good when things are going your way, hey heyMy little dog spot got hit by a carHubba hubba hubba hubba hubbaPut his guts in a box and put him in a drawerHubba hubba hubba hubba hubba

Well I’m a happy boy (happy boy)Well I’m a happy boy (happy boy)

I forgot all about it for a month and a halfHubba hubba hubba hubba hubbaI looked in the drawer and started to laughHubba hubba hubba hubba hubba

Well I’m a happy boy (happy boy)Well I’m a happy boy (happy boy)

…

Rodney Crowell – She Loves The Jerk

John Hiatt released this song in 1983 on the album Riding With The King which was his sixth album. Like all his other efforts at this time, the album was a critical success but little heard or bought by the public. They both are great versions of the song.

In 1986 Rodney Crowell released his album Street Language which was on Columbia Records for his first release on that label. He left Warner Brothers at the time and brought in Booker T. Jones to produce this album. He had some heavy hitters on this album. Vince Gill, David Lindley, Dave Loggins, and Anton Fig just to name a few.

The album peaked at #38 on the Billboard Country Charts and #177 on the Billboard Album Charts. The song peaked at #71 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1986. This was the album before Diamonds and Dust that soared to number 1 in the Country Charts with 5 number 1 Country hits.

John Hiatt said it was written in 1982 while he was living in Los Angeles at the time. The inspiration came from earlier in his life… the first girl he ever thought he was in love with. He was 15 and she was 18 and it was unrequited love. Another artist who covered this song was Elvis Costello. He released the demo version of it.

She Loves The Jerk

We’ve talked it to death, cryin’ on the telephone
Nights when he drinks at home
She has to whisper throught her tears
“Johnny,” she says, “You’d never do these things to me”
But I can never make her see he’s wasted such precious years
Well, “You married the wrong guy” is all I ever say

He’s a no good so and so, but she’ll never let him go
Though she knows it will never work, she loves the jerk
She loves the jerk

He was the guy always out on the make
I guess he had what it takes to turn the heads of pretty girls
She thought he would change; the worst of us will settle down
But he couldn’t stay out of town, not even with this precious pearl
Now she lives with the lies and the bumps and the bruises

He’s a no good so and so, but she’ll never let him go
Though she knows it will never work, she loves the jerk
She loves the jerk

Well, I hang up the phone and I pretend she’s in my arms
What I wouldn’t give for just one-tenth of what she gives Mister Charming

He’s a no good so and so, but she’ll never let him go
Though she knows it will never work, she loves the jerk
She loves the jerk

…

Beat Farmers – Goldmine

CB sent me a link to The Beat Farmers. I knew heard of them but at first, I was thinking hard punk. I then realized and I remembered. I first heard of the Beat Farmers in the 1980s. WKDF in Nashville was at one time the premiere rock station in Nashville. Anyway, during some spots they would play a song by the Beat Farmers that was both strange, dark, and fun. I’ll get to that one on the next Beat Farmers post-Wednesday.

I’ve listened to this album at least 5-6 times this week. The hardest part was picking one song to post on…so I’m going to pick one but include two. The one I picked has a rockabilly feel to it but that is not necessarily the sound of the entire album.

The Beat Farmers formed in San Diego California in 1983. They went to a studio with a $4000 budget, and they recorded Tales Of The New West. The album was released in 1985. The members were Country Dick Montana, Jerry Raney on guitar, Rolle Dexter on bass, Buddy Blue on guitar, and Joey Harris on guitar. They did a tour opening up for the Blasters and then signed a 7 Record Deal with CURB Records…which turned out to be a mistake…they fought for years to get away from them.

They also had several solo projects like Country Dick’s Petting Zoo, Country Dick’s Garage, Jerry and Joey acoustic, Jerry and Buddy jam nights, and the Pleasure Barons. Country Dick was recording a solo effort. Dick also worked with Mojo Nixon.

Together they released 6 albums and 15 singles + EPs. The band came to a halt on November 8, 1995, when Country Dick Montana died on stage. They have occasionally got together since then.

Below is the album Tales Of The New West… Give it a listen. They have a great base sound and their songs vary.

A cover of The Velvet Underground There She Goes Again

Goldmine

Well you can’t say that you are mine no moreWe’re history, I’m walking right out the doorWell you can have your men and your liquor tooBut without me baby whatcha gonna doBaby you lost a goldmine when you lost me

I was faithful and I shared everything that I ownI was always there when you cried babe I’m feeling aloneBut I ain’t no chump and you’re gonna findThat those men that you’ve been seeing are the hurting kindAnd I don’t need you running on back to me

Well the smile that you’re wearing gonna disappearWhen you see that I was rightWell you’ll rue the day that you pushed me tillI walked right out of your life

Well there’s plenty of women that can keep me satisfiedAnd I don’t need your cheating or your foolish liesWell I ain’t gonna miss none of your embraceSo go shake that thing in someone else’s faceBaby you lost a goldmine when you lost me

Well folks have got to reap just what they sowAnd you got some things-a coming to you don’t you knowYou’ll get no more loving or sympathyFrom the lonesome fool that you thought was meBaby you lost a goldmine when you lost me

…

Chris Stamey – From The Word Go

Chris Stamey formed the power pop band The dB’s with Peter Holsapple in 1978. A band that admired Big Star and followed their footsteps in releasing some critically acclaimed albums that did not sell. Chris Stamey even played bass for Alex Chilton in 1977.

The dB’s were a great unknown power pop band…who would influence many bands but not sell many records. They were from Winston-Salem, North Carolina but the group was formed in New York City in 1978. The members were Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby, and Gene Holder.

Stamey left the dB’s for a while in the 80s to pursue a solo career. He formed a record company in New York in 1978 called Cars Records and managed to release Chris Bell’s (Big Star guitarist, singer, and songwriter) single I Am The Cosmos.

From The Word Go was on Stamey’s second solo album It’s Alright. It was released in 1987 and is the only solo album of his to be released on a major label A&M/Universal. He has released 8 solo albums over a career that is still going now. The dB’s released an album in 2012.

Chris Stamey on Big Star:“They were my favorite, and as far as I knew they were popular all the way across America. At least for that moment, I forgot about Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.”

Sorry…I could not find the lyrics

X – Burning House Of Love

This song was released in 1985 from their album Ain’t Love Grand. They had made a change in the producer spot. They replaced former Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek with Michael Wagner. Manzarek had produced all of their albums up to this point. The band wanted a more accessible sound.

X was formed in Los Angeles in 1977 and comprised of founding members singer John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom, drummer D.J. Bonebrake, and singer Exene Cervenka. With their first album in 1981, their album Los Angeles was critically praised and considered a great one of that period.

The band was founded by Doe (real name John Nommensen Duchac) and Zoom. Soon Doe would bring his girlfriend Exene Cervenka to band practice, she was a poet and the band liked her work so she joined permanently. When trying to think of a name…Doe looked around the band members and focused on Exene Cervenka. Her unusual first name was shortened to X…Exene to X…

After Manzarek saw them live…he really connected to the lyrics. He was instantly struck by the lyrics to X’s song Johny Hit And Run Paulene: ‘He got a sterilized hypo, to shoot a sex machine drug/He got 24 hours, to shoot Paulene between the legs.’ Manzarek thought to himself…those are not lyrics…those are poetry.

The song peaked at #27 on the Billboard Mainstream Charts and the album Ain’t Love Grand peaked at #89 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1985.

Tensions were rising in the band and Zoom left and would be replaced for a bit by Dave Alvin of The Blasters. X announced they were breaking up in 1998 but would do a last tour. They did a farewell tour with Zoom back on guitar.

They reunited and from 2004 onward, X has continued to perform frequently around North America.

Billy Zoom: “I think it’s the best songs we’ve ever done, and the best-produced record, and the best-engineered, and the best-sounding record we’ve made. It’s the first one I’m really happy with. The others were always kind of hit-and-miss.” Doe said, “Sonically, it’s designed to fit into radio airplay. We’re waving a typical… somewhat typical sounding carrot under radio listeners’ noses. Then they’ve got the opportunity to see that there’s more going on.

Burning House Of Love

Drive by my house late at night
You can see from the freeway above
No silhouette, but a light left on
Burning there for love
Burning there for love

Smoke is rising from the fire
Coming out my back door
I’m inside, sound asleep
Cigarette on the floor
Burning there for love
Burning there for love

Well, I can still remember
A couple of years ago
When the smoke and flame called my name
It was a burning house of love
Yeah, a burning house of love
A burning house of love

Burning house of love
Burning house of love

Oh, I can still remember
A couple of years ago
When the smoke and flame called my name
Was a burning house of love
Yeah, a burning house of love
A burning house of love

The rusty nail over our front door
Is where I hung our tears in the rain
I threw that horseshoe into the weeds
I’ll see what luck can bring
I’ll see what luck can bring

Now, you’re in your bed and I’m in mine
On either side of town
I think I might take a ride
And burn your love house down
Like a burning house of love
Burning house of love

I can still remember
A couple of years ago
When the smoke and flame called my name
Was a burning house of love
Yeah, a burning house of love
A burning house of love

Burning house of love
Burning house of love
Burning house of love
Burning house of love

…

John Hiatt – Memphis In The Meantime

Underneath a pork pie hatUntil hell freezes overMaybe you can wait that longBut I don’t think Ronnie Milsap’s gonna everRecord this song

I somehow missed this Hiatt song. I absolutely love the guitar on this track. Come to find out there is a reason I like it. Ry Cooder is on guitar, Nick Lowe on bass, Jim Keltner on drums, and Paul Carrack on keyboards and backing vocals. Later on, B.B. King and Eric Clapton covered this song.

Hiatt had only four days to make an album and this song kicked off his 1987 album Bring The Family. The song has a cool groove and shuffle to it. Hiatt was in Nashville at the time when he took a trip with his family to Memphis which of course inspired this song.

He mentions Ronnie Milsap in this song. At the time Nashville was known to make slick country songs. They would produce the soul out of a song. Milsap was listening though. On his next album, he recorded a John Hiatt song called Old Habits Are Hard To Break and yes… he inserted some Memphis funk in the song. Probably more than Hiatt could have thought at the time. Another thing that was happening at this time was Dwight Yoakam and Steve Earle were shaking Nashville out of its rut.

Hiatt found himself drawn to the city’s renowned musical history and culture. I’m not sure how it was in the 1980s as much but now on Beale Street, there is always something interesting going on.

John Hiatt: “It sounds like a car with four bald tires, it’s like a four-man groove sputtering down the road, and I really like the record for that.”

John Hiatt: “It’s a day trip, only three hours, and it’s a terrific city, I’d been there before and there is truly something in the air, although there’s nothing going on musically speaking, they say. It’s just a great town and one of the only truly integrated cities in America, it seemed to me, where black people and white people actually live together in the neighborhoods and not only that, seem to get along I was real impressed by that.”

John Hiatt and The Goners…featuring Sonny Landreth…I really like this live cut. They add another dimension to the song.

Memphis in the Meantime

I got some’n’ to say little girlYou might not like my styleBut we been hangin’ around this townJust a little too long a whileYou say you’re gonna get your act togetherGonna take it out on the roadBut if I don’t get out o’ here pretty soonMy head’s going to explodeSure I like country musicAnd I like mandolinsBut right now I need a TelecasterThrough a Vibrolux turned up to 10

Let’s go to Memphis in the meantime babyAhw, Memphis in the meantime girlLet’s go to Memphis in the meantime babyMemphis in the meantime girl

I need a little shot of that rhythm babyMixed up with these country bluesI wanna trade in these ol’ cowboy bootsFor some fine Italian shoesForget the mousse and the hairspray sugarWe don’t need none of thatJust a little dab’ll do ya girlUnderneath a pork pie hatUntil hell freezes overMaybe you can wait that longBut I don’t think Ronnie Milsap’s gonna everRecord this song

Lets go to Memphis in the meantime babyLet’s go to Memphis in the meantime girlLets go to Memphis in the meantime babyLet’s go to Memphis in the meantime girl

Maybe there’s nothin’ happenin’ thereBut maybe there’s somethin’ in the airBefore our upper lips get stiffMaybe we need us a big ol’ whiff

If we could just get off-a that beat little girlMaybe we could find the grooveAt least we can get ourselves a decent mealDown at the Rendezvous‘Cause one more heartfelt steel guitar chordGirl, it’s gonna do me inI need to hear some trumpet and saxophoneYou know sound as sweet as sinAnd after we get good and greasyBaby we can come on homePut the cow horns back on the CadillacAnd change the message on the CordaphoneBut

Lets go to Memphis in the meantime babyLet’s go to Memphis in the meantime girlLets go to Memphis in the meantime babyLet’s go to Memphis in the meantime girl

I’m a talking about MemphisI’m talkin’ ’bout MemphisMemphis

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Power Pop Friday – Nils Lofgren – Across The Tracks

This one is an excellent power pop song. This is what power pop is all about. It’s a radio-friendly catchy song with some power behind it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at listening to his solo works and his 70’s band Grin.

Across The Tracks was on the 1983 album Wonderland. The album is very accessible with catchy songs and his vocals are strong.

Most people know Nils Lofgren from The E-Street Band. He joined them in 1984 to replace Steven Van Zandt. When Van Zandt came back, Bruce made the correct decision to keep both guitar players. Nils also played for Neil Young in the seventies. Lofgren joined Neil Young’s band in 1968 at age 17, playing piano on the album After the Gold Rush. Lofgren would maintain a close relationship with Young, appearing on his Tonight’s the Night album and tour among others. He was also briefly a member of Crazy Horse, appearing on their 1971 LP and contributing songs to their catalog.

He was born in Chicago and he moved to the Washington, D.C., area as a teenager. His first instrument was the accordion. He was also a competitive gymnast in high school, a skill that popped up later in his career. I remember seeing him with the E Street Band and he would do a flip from a trampoline. You can also see it in this video.

From 1971 to 1974 Lofgren was in a band he founded in 1969, a band named Grin. After landing a record deal in ’71 the band released 4 critically-acclaimed albums but met with little commercial success. He followed that band up with some solo albums that weren’t huge commercial successes but he earned the respect of his peers as an excellent guitarist and singer-songwriter.

Across The Tracks

Across the tracks there’s a girl who loves meJust as much as I love herWe are unified still crucifiedJust because we live across the tracks, yeah

White or black, day or nightWhat’s the difference when you’ve hurt someone?You can walk tall, you can act smallAny fool can fire a gun

Across the tracks there’s a girl who loves meJust as much as I love herWe are unified still crucifiedJust because we live across the tracks, yeah alright yeah

So we slip away and pretend to playAnd it said how families make you runIf my daddy ever caught me kissing herI believe he would shoot his son

But we’re growin’ up and there’ll come a dayWhen the real world makes us run awayNow we live in shame and play their silly gameSoon we’ll be gone and I don’t have to say, yeah

Across the tracks there’s a girl who loves meJust as much as I love herWe are unified still we’re crucifiedJust because we live across the tracks, yeah

Across the tracks, across the tracksWe won’t stand forever across the tracksAcross the tracks, across the tracks, oh

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Pogues – Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

This song is a little different from their prior music before this one. I love the soul/rock feel of this song. MacGowan’s vocals are spot on also. The video is really cool as you see them progressing from a beat group to a psychedelic one.

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah” was the title track to the band’s 1988 EP, which featured rock and R&B rather than Irish folk. This track adds a touch of blue-eyed soul with its Memphis-style horn section. It became the Pogues’ first single to chart in the U.S. The song peaked at #17 on the Billboard Alternative Charts, #43 in the UK, #19 in New Zealand, and #1 in Ireland. Sorry, my Canadian friends…I could not find that chart position.

Despite seemingly being a hit material single, “Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah” stalled in the U.K. In America, it was the first Pogues song to make any charts at all, making it all the way to #17 on the rock charts and #36 on the club charts. Since it wasn’t on any of their studio albums and has only intermittently shown up on their best-ofs… I’m curious how many Pogues fans forgot this song even existed.

The Pogues were formed in Ireland in 1982 by Shane MacGowan. They reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left because of drinking problems and was replaced for a time with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before breaking up in 1996.

They reformed with MacGowan in 2001 and were still together and playing. The band was awarded the lifetime achievement award at the annual Meteor Ireland Music Awards in February 2006. On November 30, 2023, Shane MacGowan passed away.

The video is a lot of fun. It was based on the Top of the Pops and Ready, Steady, Go pop shows of the 1960s.

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

I loved you baby since we were at schoolI didn’t show it, I was a foolWhen you were burning I was cold as iceAnd baby now I realiseOh, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Woo-ooh-ooh-oohWoo-ooh-ooh-ooh

I gave you misery, I gave you liesAnd if I hurt you, I apologizeAs long as I look into those deep green eyesSwear I’d put my finger to the eyesOh, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Woo-ooh-ooh-oohWoo-ooh-ooh-ooh

Now all that I can do is hope and prayThat you’ll forgive me before it’s too lateThere’s only one thing I can say to youYou know I’ll fuck you, you know it’s trueOh, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Woo-ooh-ooh-oohWoo-ooh-ooh-ooh

When I talk to GodHe know I understandHe says, “Stick by me and I’ll be your body now”Gonna tell you what I think of youI might not give the antidote you want me toOh well, oh well, oh well, oh well

I’ve got a big machine with plenty magazinesI’ve got a new machine now with plenty magazinesI’ve got a big machine now with plenty magazinesI’ve got a new machine with plenty magazines

So, stick it up, stick it up, stick it up, stick it upStick it up, stick it up, stick it up, stick it up, stick it up, stick it up, stick it up

And she saidYeah, yeah, yeah, yeahAnd we saidYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

And we saidYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)And we saidYeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

When I talk to GodHe know I understandHe says, “Stick by me and I’ll be your body now”Gonna tell you what I think of youI might not give the antidote you want me to

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

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Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper – I Ain’t Gonna Piss in No Jar

For those of you who offend easily…this post is probably not for you…because a lot of things by Mojo Nixon offend…and I love him for it. Well, this is a record…my second “piss” post in a week!

I’ve heard about this collaboration called “The American Psycolbilly Duo” and it fits! Mojo Nixon made some peculiar songs and some were a little deeper once you followed the lyrics. Mojo Nixon was born Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. in 1957 and he recently passed away on February 7, 2024.

This one was about threatening to personally deliver his marijuana-contaminated urine straight to First Lady Nancy Reagan. This was an answer to a bill that Reagan had to have mandatory drug tests for federal workers in the 80s. Of course, Nancy was big on “The War On Drugs.”

I’ve had a few posts about Mojo before…over his songs “Elvis Is Everywhere,” “Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child,” and “Don Henley Must Die.”

It’s probably been since the 1980s that I heard this song. A popular Nashville rock station WKDF in the 80s would play “Elvis Is Everywhere” and a few more by Mojo. I don’t think they would have played this one but a friend had the album and it was funny.

Mojo Nixon started in the early eighties and he teamed up with Skid Roper (Richard Banke). Mojo and Skip Roper wrote this song. It was released in 1987 and it was on his album Bo-Day-Shus!!!. Mojo has some fun music. I forgot about his songs until a blogger named Paul pointed me toward him again a few years ago.

I Ain’t Going To Piss In No Jar

Well I ain’t gonna pee pee in no cupMiss Nancy Reagan’s gonna drink it upSaid yo Nancy, we just say, no, no, no no no no noWell go ahead and fire me from my jobThere’s one little thing you ain’t gonna robThat’s my freedom, and my liberty

Well I ain’t gonna piss in no jarThem evil peckerheads they done gone too farI wouldn’t pee in their mouths if they were dying of thirstYeah we got to get rid of this evil curseI’m alive and I’m fighting this jive

Everybody should go to WashingtonWe can have ourselves a little funYou know, they want our piss, I think we ought to give it to themSurround the White House with a urinary moatSo Ronnie and Nancy will have to float on a boatGet across the stinky, steaming yellow pee pee sea, oh

You know Thomas Jefferson is gonna be mighty pissedWhen he finds out about this, I saidCome back from the dead, Tom, sock ’em in the head

Why is everybody so afraid of drugsMan they afraid of what the drugs gonna do to us

Well I ain’t gonna pee pee in no cupMiss Nancy Reagan’s gonna drink it upSaid yo Nancy, we just say, no, no, no no no no noWell go ahead and throw me in jailRam hot spikes up my tailBut you’re not gonna get a drop of no peepee out of me

I ain’t gonna piss in no jar

You know Foghorn Leghorn wouldn’t pee in no jar. You know Patrick Henrydidn’t “Giveme liberty or give me a urine sample” now did he? Aw we sure enoughrockin’ out, Skid.Huey Long wouldn’t piss in no jar! What’s gonna be next, the doo doopolice? (Fade out)

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