Category: 1980s

Squeeze – Black Coffee In Bed

A cousin of mine sent me a link to this song and I haven’t heard it in a long time. Black Coffee in Bed was released in 1982 and it surprises me that this did not chart in the Billboard 100 but it did peak at #26 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts. It also peaked at #51 on the UK Charts.

Black Coffee In Bed was released in 1982 as the first single from Squeeze’s fifth album, Sweets from a Stranger. Glenn Tilbrook sang lead and wrote the music to accompany Chris Difford’s lyrics. Elvis Costello and Paul Young sang backup.

The first article I read about Squeeze in Rolling Stone gave them a “New Beatles” label. That is not a good label to have and usually is the kiss of death. The band did have a hit the year before with Tempted. This song was played a lot on MTV. When MTV launched in 1981 they were on the hunt for videos and many of the British bands of that time had been making videos so this was in the rotation.

Sweets from a Stranger peaked at #20 on the UK Charts, #26 in Canada, and #32 on the Billboard Album Charts. This album was their follow-up to East Side Story. Like Crowded House a little later, they made some great pop albums that still sound good today.

John, a fellow blogger from 2 Loud 2 Old Music reviewed this song.

Chris Difford:  “The lyric was inspired by my picking up my notebook one day and seeing a coffee stain on it, which inspired the first line. It was a very vivid image for me and inspired this song of loss and regret. Lyrically it was attractive to a country kind of meter. The fact that Glenn put a soul melody to it shows the unique quality of our writing.”

Black Coffee In Bead

There’s a stain on my notebook
Where your coffee cup was
And there’s ash in the pages
Now I’ve got myself lost
I was writing to tell you
That my feelings tonight
Are a stain on my notebook
That rings your goodbye
With the way that you left me
I can hardly contain
The hurt and the anger
And the joy of the pain
Now knowing I am single
They’ll be fire in my eyes
And a stain on my notebook
For a new love tonight
From the lips without passion
To the lips with a kiss
There’s nothing of your love
That I’ll ever miss
The stain on my notebook
Remain all that’s left
Of the memory of late nights
And coffee in bed
Now she’s gone
And I’m back on the beat
A stain on my notebook
Says nothing to me
Now she’s gone
And I’m out with a friend
With lips full of passion
And coffee in bed

Van Morrison – Cleaning Windows

I went home and listened to Jimmie Rodgers in my lunch-break
Bought five Woodbines at the shop on the corner
And went straight back to work.

On my Max Picks I always notice when it’s too late that I missed a song that I wanted to include. I was telling halffastcyclingclub that I forgot this one in 1982. I didn’t find the song until around 1985 or 86 when I bought Tower Records out of any album with Van Morrison.

This song was on the Beautiful Vision album. Some Van songs grew on me but this one I liked the first time I heard it. This one has an autobiographic feel to it for a good reason. Van did have a job cleaning windows for a while in east Belfast. He captures a specific moment in his life and invites us to join him in reflecting on our own memories.

This was the early sixties when he was still a part-time musician. Not only does he touch on his job but tells us his early influences like Brownie McGhee and Jimmie Rodgers.

Van Morrison - Cleaning Windows 2

Leslie Holmes played with a band with Van called The Monarchs. Holmes helped Van finish the windows so they would make the gig that particular night. As I’ve said before…if you get a chance to see this man live…don’t miss it. He is the only performer where I can say his voice sounds better live than on record.

The album peaked at #44 on the Billboard 100, #22 in Canada, #31 in the UK, and #13 in New Zealand in 1982.

Leslie Holmes: “I played with The Monarchs for two years when the showband scene was at its peak, I enjoyed my time with Van who was a very talented musician and a lot of fun. In addition to the band, Van had a window-cleaning business in east Belfast, and one day I helped him to clean windows so that we could make our gig that night. So I have a special sense of identity with his song about cleaning windows.

“We travelled much of the country and the memorable places included the Orpheus Ballroom, the old Co-Op in York Street, the Flamingo in Ballymena, Moira Town Hall, the Floral Hall, and many others. After I left The Monarchs I did some fill-ins with the Witness Showband.”

Cleaning Windows

Oh, the smell of the bakery from across the street
Got in my nose
As we carried our ladders down the street
With the wrought-iron gate rows
I went home and listened to Jimmie Rodgers in my lunch-break
Bought five Woodbines at the shop on the corner
And went straight back to work.

Oh, Sam was up on top
And I was on the bottom with the v
We went for lemonade and Paris buns
At the shop and broke for tea
I collected from the lady
And I cleaned the fanlight inside-out
I was blowing saxophone on the weekend
In that down joint.

What’s my line?
I’m happy cleaning windows
Take my time
I’ll see you when my love grows
Baby don’t let it slide
I’m a working man in my prime
Cleaning windows (number a hundred and thirty-six)

I heard Leadbelly and Blind Lemon
On the street where I was born
Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee,
Muddy Waters singin’ “I’m A Rolling Stone”
I went home and read my Christmas Humphreys’ book on Zen
Curiosity killed the cat
Kerouac’s “Dharma Bums” and “On The Road”

What’s my line?
I’m happy cleaning windows
Take my time
I’ll see you when my love grows
Baby don’t let it slide
I’m a working man in my prime
Cleaning windows…

…

Lone Justice – Ways to Be Wicked

First time I heard this song I loved it. It was by a group called Lone Justice with lead singer Maria McKee. The song was Ways to Be Wicked, written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell. When I am asked my favorite female singer of the 1980s…Maria Mckee is my answer by a wide margin.

In 1985 the song peaked at #29 in the Mainstream Rock Charts and #77 in the UK. This surprised me because I heard the song quite a bit and thought it charted higher. They had two more songs that come to mind. “I Found Love” and “Shelter“. They should have made it further than they did. Maria did have a number 1 in the UK with “Show Me Heaven” in 1990.

Lone Justice was formed in 1982 and played rockabilly and country music as part of the cowpunk scene. After signing with Geffen, the band recorded their debut album, and hit the road, opening for U2. The hype was in overdrive and the pressure was on.

In 2022 Lisa let me ramble and go on about my undying love for Maria McKee at her site.

Ways To Be Wicked

Honey, why you always smile
When you see me hurt so bad?
Tell me what I did to you, babe
That would make you act like that?

Well, I’ve been your fool before, honey
Yeah, and I probably will again
‘Cuz you ain’t afraid to let me have it
No, you ain’t afraid to stick it in

Well, you know so many
Ways to be wicked
Ooh, but you don’t know one little thing
About love

Well, I can take a little pain
Yeah, I can hold it pretty well
I can watch your little eyes light up
While you’re walkin’ me through Hell

Well, I’ve been your fool before, honey
Yeah, and I probably will again
‘Cuz you ain’t afraid to let me have it
No, you ain’t afraid to stick it in

Well, you know so many
Ways to be wicked
But you don’t know one little thing
About love

Those cobra eyes
Lie with a smile
Baby you take pride
In the devil down inside, yeah

Well, I can take a little pain
Yeah, I can hold it pretty well
I can watch your little eyes light up
While you’re walkin’ me through Hell

Well, I’ve been your fool before
Yeah, and I probably will again
You ain’t afraid to let me have it
No, you ain’t afraid to stick it in

Well, you know so many
Ways to be wicked
Ooh, but you don’t know one little thing
About love

Well, you know so many
Ways to be wicked
Yeah, but you don’t know one little, one little thing
About love

Yeah you know so many
Ways to be wicked
But you don’t know one little, one little

Modern English – Melt With You

This was a 1983 New Wave song from the band Modern English. I wasn’t a big New Wave fan but I liked this song. I did like some of the songs I heard but music at the time began to miss something. It seemed to be either New Wave, Pop, or Heavy Metal…rock and roll wasn’t heard hardly at all on mainstream radio.

This song is dark but people and advertisers don’t care. The lead singer Robbie Grey said it was about a couple making love as an atom bomb drops and they melt together. At that time in the 80s the Cold War was going on and we would talk about it as teens. The single was released around the same time as other Cold War songs like Nena’s “99 Luftballons,” Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Two Tribes,” Time Zone’s “World Destruction,” Men at Work’s “It’s a Mistake,” Prince’s “1999,” and Culture Club’s “The War Song.” As long we are naming songs… let’s name some movies that touched on the subject. War Games, Red Dawn, and the frightening TV movie The Day After. The Day After was the most-viewed TV movie of all time with over 100 million viewers in 1983. It was truly frightening.

It peaked at #78 on the Billboard 100 which surprises me that it didn’t get higher. It recharted again in 1990 at #76. Again, I’m surprised at how low some of the songs of my youth charted. The song was first popularized when it was featured in the 1983 Nicolas Cage teen rom-com Valley Girl.

They were essentially a one-hit wonder in the US but not back in the UK where they had a few top twenty hits. They did have one other song in the Billboard 100 with Hands Across The Sea which peaked at #57 but it’s not remembered like this one.

During Covid, Modern English re-recorded a “From Quarantine” rendition by guitarist Gary McDowell, bassist Michael Conroy, keyboardist Stephen Walker, and drummer Roy Martin—from their respective homes during lockdown. Only drummer Roy Martin is not from the original band. The original drummer was Richard Brown and he couldn’t make it.

They have been reunited since 2010 and did a tour in 2022. Blogger Jim Everett Table Toss suggested checking out Nouvelle Vague’s cover of this song. I really like it…it’s really smooth and sleek.

Robbie Grey: “The amount of times we get told people got married to our song, made love to that song for the first time… whatever, it’s lovely. But literally, the lyrics are about a couple making love as the atom bomb drops and sort of melting together, but that’s quite good. I like the fact that it’s got layers to it — that people can get what they want from it. … I like the fact that it’s like a love song, but with a dark lyric.”

Robbie Grey: “I was definitely stoned when I wrote it, It was during the day, I remember it really well. I sat down on the floor of my flat in London, a cheap place in the housing association, and wrote the verse just straight off in about 10 minutes.”

Robbie Grey: “I’d always been shouting on songs before, I’d never really sung on a song. And there’s not really any singing on this either, it’s more spoken, but Hugh Jones the producer said, ‘Don’t shout into the microphone, just talk into it.’ I’d never done that before – I was a punk rocker. And so, I did. I just kind of stood back and mouthed the words. And I think that’s a lot of the attraction of the verses on ‘I Melt With You’ is that almost spoken quality.”

Nouvelle Vague – Melt With You

Melt With You

Moving forward using all my breath
Making love to you was never second best
I saw the world crashing all around your face
Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time
There’s nothing you and I won’t do
I’ll stop the world and melt with you

Dream of better lives the kind which never hates
(You should see why)
Trapped in the state of imaginary grace
(You should know better)
I made a pilgrimage to save this humans race
(You should see why)
Never comprehending the race has long gone bye

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all
the time
(Let’s stop the world) There’s nothing you and I won’t do
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you

The future’s open wide

**The future’s open wide

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) I’ve seen some changes but it’s getting better all the
time
(Let’s stop the world) There’s nothing you and I won’t do
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you

The future’s open wide

hmmm hmmm hmmm
hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm
hmmm hmmm hmmm
hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm

I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)
You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time (Let’s stop the
world)
There’s nothing you and I won’t do (Let’s stop the world)
I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)

I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)
I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)

I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)
I’ll stop the world and melt with you (Let’s stop the world)

Robert Earl Keen – The Road Goes On Forever

The road goes on forever and the party never ends

This is the kind of song that a songwriter dreams of writing and very few ever do. The Road Never Ends was released in 1989 on his second album West Textures. It has become Keen’s signature song. It’s a Bonnie and Clyde type of song framed by that chorus. I heard this song way back in the early nineties but was reminded of it in a comedy song of all things. Todd Snider with Beer Run .

Keen was born in Houston, Texas, and performed some concerts with the likes of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. The song has been covered by Joe Ely, The Highwaymen, and Jack Ingram.

Keen grew up listening to Bob Wills’ Western swing, so he asked his parents for a fiddle. His frustration at trying to master it found him giving that up and trying an acoustic guitar…which worked out much better. He moved to Austin in 1978 and launched his professional career playing folk and bluegrass at night spots around town and other venues such as Gruene Hall in nearby New Braunfels.

Keen won the 1983 New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival which encouraged him to record his first album, No Kinda Dancer. In 1986 he headed for Nashville but less than two years he was back in Texas landscaping and trying to make a living. He kept playing and released a live album in 1988 and then this one in 1989. His popularity and influence grew after that.

He had a top 10 country album in 2001 called Gravitational Forces and his five next albums were in the top 21 in Country music and his last one called Happy Prisoner number 10 in 2015. Keen decided to retire and spend time with his family now.

This song has spawned a lot of tattoos.

Tattoo REK

The Road Goes On Forever

Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in townShe had a reputation as a girl who’d been aroundDown Main Street after midnight with a brand new pack of cigsA fresh one hangin’ from her lips and a beer between her legsShe’d ride down to the river and meet with all her friendsThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

Sonny was a loner he was older than the restHe was going into the Navy but he couldn’t pass the testSo he hung around town he sold a little potThe law caught wind of Sonny and one day he got caughtBut he was back in business when they set him free againThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

Sonny’s playin’ 8-ball at the joint where Sherry worksWhen some drunken outta towner put his hand up Sherry’s skirtSonny took his pool cue laid the drunk out on the floorStuffed a dollar in her tip jar and walked on out the doorShe’s runnin’ right behind him reachin’ for his handThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

They jumped into his pickup Sonny jammed her down in gearSonny looked at Sherry and said lets get on outta hereThe stars were high above them and the moon was in the eastThe sun was settin’ on them when they reached Miami BeachThey got a hotel by the water and a quart of Bombay ginThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

They soon ran out of money but Sonny knew a manWho knew some Cuban refugees that delt in contrabandSonny met the Cubans in a house just off the routeWith a briefcase full of money and a pistol in his bootThe cards were on the table when the law came bustin’ inThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

The Cubans grabbed the goodies and Sonny grabbed the JackHe broke a bathroom window and climbed on out the backSherry drove the pickup through the alley on the sideWhere a lawman tackled Sonny and was reading him his rightsShe stepped into the alley with a single shot .410The road goes on forever and the party never ends

They left the lawman lyin’ and they made their getawayThey got back to the motel just before the break of daySonny gave her all the money and he blew her a little kissIf they ask you how this happened say I forced you into thisShe watched him as his taillights disappeared around the bendThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

Its Main Street after midnight just like it was before21 months later at the local grocery storeSherry buys a paper and a cold 6-pack of beerThe headlines read that Sonny is goin’ to the chairShe pulls back onto Main Street in her new Mercedes BenzThe road goes on forever and the party never ends

Keith Richards – Take It So Hard

When my Max Picks come up for 88…this will probably be in it. That year we had Keith Richards release Talk Is Cheap and a few weeks later The Traveling Wilburys released their debut album. The year before that George Harrison released his Cloud 9 album. I started to listen to mainstream radio a little more because of those three albums.

When I heard this song with the opening riff coming from that 5-string G turning that he is known for… it was love. I bought the album Talk is Cheap which some reviews half-jokingly called the best Rolling Stones album in years. The song got plenty of play on rock stations at the time. It peaked at #3 in the Mainstream Rock Tracks.

The album was recorded when Mick and Keith were feuding about the direction of the Stones. The Stones were not recording or playing live. “You Don’t Move Me Anymore” off the album points right at Mick.

Personally, I’ve always liked Keith Richards voice. Happy, Salt of the Earth, You Got the Silver, Before They Make Me Run rank among my favorite Stones songs. This song would fit on any Stones album.

The band Keith put together was great.
Keith Richards: lead and background vocal, guitar
Waddy Wachtel: guitar
Steve Jordan: drums (he is now drummer for the Stones)
Charley Drayton: background vocal, bass
Ivan Neville: piano and keyboards

Waddy Wachtel: We went up to Canada and did the whole of the first record, Talk Is Cheap, there. I think the second track we cut was “Take It So Hard,” which is a magnificent composition. And I just thought, I get to play on this? Let’s go. And we played it a few times. I guess you could call it rehearsing. And there’s one take that is just a great pass. It’s just ridiculously good. It was the second tune of the night, and it was this killer fucking take of our strongest tune. I went back to the house going, we’ve conquered Everest already? These other mountains we can climb easily if we’ve got the big one down. And Keith didn’t want to believe it; he was going, I don’t want these guys thinking they’re that good. He made us do a retake. I don’t know why. The take was shouting, hey, dude, I’m the take. I think Keith just did it to make sure people stayed in focus. But it never sounded as good as that first take. When you’ve got it, you’ve got it. When we were putting the sequence of the album together, I insisted “Big Enough” should be the first song. Because the first time you hear Keith sing on that, that first line is amazing, his voice sounds so beautiful. He delivers it effortlessly. I said, people when they hear this, they’re not going to believe it’s fucking Keith Richards singing. And then we’ll hit ’em with “Take It So Hard.”

Keith Richards: Steve and I thought we ought to make a record and started to put together the core of the X-Pensive Winos–so named later on when I noticed a bottle of Chateau Lafite introduced as light refreshment in the studio. Well, nothing was too good for this amazing band of brothers. Steve asked me who I wanted to play with, and first up, on guitar I said Waddy Wachtel. And Steve said, you took the words, brother. I had known Waddy since the ’70s and I’d always wanted to play with him, one of the most tasteful, simpatico players I know. And he’s completely musical. Understanding of it, empathetic, nothing ever needing to be explained. He’s also got the most uncanny ultrasonic ear, still tuned high after years of bandstands. He was playing with Linda Ronstadt and he was playing with Stevie Nicks– chick bands–but I knew my man wanted to rock. So I called him and said simply, “I’m putting a band together, and you’re in it.” Steve agreed that Charley Drayton should be the bass player, and I think it was just a general consensus that Ivan Neville, from Aaron Neville’s family from New Orleans, should be the piano player. There was no audition process whatsoever.

Take It So Hard

Giving up lovin’, easy to do
People so pitiful they never come through
Honey, honey, honey, I ain’t that way
(You want a little bit) once in a while, come on and get a bit
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah) you shouldn’t take it (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)

Take a look around you, tell me, what do you see?
People with little bits try, tryin’ to smile
Most of what you’ve gotten is free (yeah)
(Yeah) you shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)

You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah) you shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)

Yank it up baby or go get yourself a new name
You want a little bit once in a while, yeah you got a taste for it
You shouldn’t take it (yeah) you shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
(Yeah)

You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)
You shouldn’t take it so hard (yeah)

Max Picks …songs from 1984

1984

We have some mega hits this year and some alternative hits.

Prince – Purple Rain – This is the song that really made me a Prince fan. I will always say that I liked his Around the World in a Day the best but the title song of Purple Rain is great.

Prince and his peers such as Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and Michael Jackson were the artists who defined the decade of the 1980s in the top 40. In the late 70s my sister had a single that I would listen to. It was called “I Wanna Be Your Lover” and I didn’t pay attention to the artist. Later on, around the time Purple Rain came out…I looked at the single again and was surprised to see it was Prince. He had chart success before this but this album and movie broke him out internationally.

R.E.M – So. Central Rain – The song was on their Reckoning album released in 1984. REM. avoided the sophomore slump with Reckoning. It’s hard to beat this song as the first single off the album. I always thought So. Central Rain stands as one of the group’s most melodic songs.

The band chose to work with Murmur producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter. They recorded the album in just a few weeks. Peter Buck told Rolling Stone magazine:  “We were going through this streak where we were writing two good songs a week, We just wanted to do it; whenever we had a new batch of songs, it was time to record!”

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Voodoo Child (Slight Return) – Around this time is when I noticed SRV. I heard his guitar playing in songs and then watched him later on Austin City Limits. His guitar playing was on another level. I’d never seen anyone that aggressive on guitar. I was never a huge fan of many of his songs but I was of his guitar playing. He did an excellent cover of this song.

He covers a Jimi Hendrix song here. This song is like an atom bomb going off. From the first words “Well, I stand up next to a mountain and I chop it down with the edge of my hand” you know Stevie means business.

The song was on his second album Couldn’t Stand The Weather.

The Replacements – I Will Dare -I Will Dare was released in 1984 as an independent single and then included on their Let It Be album. I loved this song in the 80s and after hearing it in the past weeks…it was like the first time I listened to it. Peter Buck from REM is playing the intro to this song.  Paul Westerberg wrote the song and plays mandolin. The Replacements were my top band of the 80s bar none.

Let It Be was the third full album by the band’s original lineup: lead singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars.

This song should have cracked the top 40 but it didn’t…mostly because they were on a small  Minneapolis record label named Twin/Tone.

Bruce Springsteen – Born In The USA – Springsteen wrote this about the problems Vietnam veterans encountered when they returned to America. Vietnam was the first war the US didn’t officially win, and while veterans of other wars received a hero’s welcome, those who fought in Vietnam were mostly ignored when they returned to their homeland.

The other song that has someone really ripping the vocals is “Twist and Shout” sung by John Lennon with the Beatles. I remember back in the 80s Chrysler offered Springsteen $12 million to use this in an ad campaign with Bruce… Springsteen turned them down so they used “The Pride Is Back” by Kenny Rogers instead. Springsteen never let his music be used to sell products at that time.

I knew a couple of Springsteen fanatics before this album came out. They loved everything Bruce but after this album…they wanted nothing to do with him. Why? Because he wasn’t their secret anymore. For me, I guess it would be like if Big Star had hit huge…but I would love it!

…

The Inmates

CB and I were emailing each other and he sent me a few links to this band. They were a great British pub band that formed in 1977. They got together after the split of another band named The Flying Tigers. As CB and I have done these…I usually give you a “sample platter” of them and later on I’ll concentrate on one song at a time in a later post. This should introduce you to them.

The first thing I noticed was how good their songs sound. Many pub bands I’ve heard have a muddy sound to them but this band sounded clear and great. I do remember one of their songs…it was a cover of the Standells Dirty Water. Their producer until 1989 was a guy named Vic Maile who helped shape their overall sound. He was a winner…he worked with artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, The Pirates,  Hawkwind, Motörhead, The Godfathers, The Kinks, Small Faces, Dr. Feelgood, Girlschool, and the Deep Fix. Most of those bands I’ve covered.

They released nine studio albums and three live ones between 1979 and 2008. They were considered a Pub band but you also hear a lot of that great 1960s garage sound in lead singer Bill Hurly’s voice. They remind me of pre-Godfathers…they take no prisoners and come right at you. Their songs are rough and raw but their melodic and catchy at the same time. Their choice of covers is quite interesting. They pick many songs you wouldn’t think.

They also made a tribute live album to the Beatles called The Inmates Meet The Beatles: Live In Paris. They did it in their style and made the songs their own which is a great way of doing it. They even managed to take one of the very few Beatles songs I don’t like and turned it on its head. I like their version of it…Little Child.

Enough of me babbling on…let’s listen to the Inmates. I’ll start off with one that you should know. I do remember this song and this version. Their first album First Offence peaked at #40 on the Billboard Album Charts. The song Dirty Water peaked at #51. I’ve included songs from their first three albums.

The next song is a cover of a song called The Walk by Jimmy McCracklin and His Band originally released in 1958.

This song is Sweet Rain off of their  2nd album Shot in the Dark released in 1980. I can hear a lot of Them in this one. The guitar in this has an older sixties feel. This was the B-Side to the song below.

This song is the A-Side to Sweet Rain called Stop, It Baby off of their  2nd album Shot in the Dark released in 1980. It jumps and moves…very catchy.

This one called She’s Gone Rockin’ was off of their third album Heatwave in Alaska It was released in 1982.

 

John Fogerty – Old Man Down The Road

One thing that Max Picks has taught me is that I haven’t posted as many hits as I truly like. I usually concentrate on the album cuts but songs like this I really like. This one is a good example. I thought for sure I did it before but never have. Well, I guess I’ve given away one Pick…

It was one of the very very very very…yes that is bad English…but what I mean to say is a VERY rare new song that our band played. See…I even liked older songs much more in the mid-eighties. We were already playing many CCR songs so this just fit right in perfectly. It seemed weird playing a song in the top 10 back then. It’s a fun easy riff to play on guitar. Something a beginner could do. 

It was one of those songs in the mid-eighties that I could not get enough of. Real drums and real guitar riffs. Fogerty had been out of the spotlight since 1975…this single was released in December 1984 right before his great album Centerfield. I didn’t buy this single…I knew it was Fogerty so I just bought the album. It was Creedence in the 80s to me. His next album I won’t talk about as much but this was an instant classic. The album had Big Train From Memphis, I Saw It On TV, Centerield,  and Rock and Roll Girls plus more very good songs. This is the song that signaled his comeback.

After it was released John had said the song was supposedly about “the devil” and that would be Saul Zaentz who owned all of Fogerty’s publishing from the CCR days. To top it off and make the song pretty much true…Saul Zaentz sued Fogerty for sounding like himself in this song. He claimed this song sounded like Run Through The Jungle…one that Fogerty wrote with Creedence. John has since said that Saul probably jumped into his mind after the lawsuit…and he developed that riff and just wrote around it. 

The B-Side to this single was Big Train From Memphis (Below) which I loved. It’s one of my favorite Train songs. The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard 100, #12 in Canada, #11 in New Zealand, and #90 in the UK. Wow…I don’t guess the UK were Fogerty fans.

John Fogerty was in court playing the song on guitar to show how he wrote it and said this later: “Yeah, it’s the same interval. What am I supposed to do, get an inoculation? I proved that, no, I didn’t copy myself, I invented something new that really sounds a lot like me. Do you find fault with Elvis for sounding like Elvis? When McCartney sounds like McCartney or Dylan sounds like Dylan? No one else ever had to go through that.”

John DID win the court case. If he had lost that case…all hell would have broken loose on solo artists who left bands for a solo career that sounded like themselves.

Big Train From Memphis

Old Man Down The Road

He take the thunder from the mountain, he take the lightning from the sky,
He bring the strong man to his begging knee, he make the young girl’s mama cry.

You got to hidey-hide, you got to jump and run;
You got to hidey-hidey-hide, the Old Man is down the road.

He got the voices speak in riddles, he got the eye as black as coal,
He got a suitcase covered with rattlesnake hide, and he stands right in the road.

You got to hidey-hide, you got to jump up run away;
You got to hidey-hidey-hide, the Old Man is down the road.

Ah!

He make the river call your lover, he make the barking of the hound,
Put a shadow ‘cross the window, when the Old Man comes around.

You got to hidey-hide, you got to jump and run again;
You got to hidey-hidey-hide, the Old Man is down the road.
The Old Man is down the road.

Ah!
You got ta, you got ta, you got ta, hidey-hidey-hide!

Godfathers – Birth, School, Work, Death

I made a post about these guys in April 2023 and gave you all a sample platter of their songs. This one was included but let’s look closer and listen to this song. This band doesn’t mess about…they hit you head-on.

The lyrics were written by the lead vocalist and songwriter of The Godfathers, Peter Coyne. He did a good job of reflecting the emotions and sentiments associated with each stage of life portrayed in the song released in 1988.

Peter and Chris Coyne started the band in 1982 calling it the Side Presley Experience. By 1985 they had removed some members and brought in some more. They also made a name change to The Godfathers.

They wanted to record so they found a producer in Vic Maile who had worked with The Kinks, Who, and Motorhead. They released some singles in the UK and finally after seeing import sales they put together an album made up of singles and B sides plus they did a cover of John Lennon’s Cold Turkey and called it Hit By Hit (#3 in the UK).

Then came the call every band wants…Epic Records signed them to a contract. They released the single Birth, School, Work, Death in 1987. The following year they released an album with the same name. Birth, School, Work, Death peaked at #38 in the US Modern Rock Charts.

Birth, School, Work, Death

Been turned around till I’m upside downBeen all at sea until I’ve drownedAnd I’ve felt torture, I’ve felt painJust like that film with Michael CaineI’ve been abused and I’ve been confusedAnd I’ve kissed Margaret Thatcher’s shoesAnd I been high and I been lowAnd I don’t know where to goBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathAnd heroin was the love you gaveFrom the cradle to the graveBoys and girls don’t understandThe devil makes work for idle handsI cut myself but I don’t bleed‘Cause I don’t get what I needDoesn’t matter what I sayTomorrow’s still another dayBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathYeah I been high and I been lowAnd I don’t know where to goI’m living on the never never neverThis time it’s gonna be foreverI’ll live and die don’t ask me whyI want to go to paradiseAnd I don’t need your sympathyThere’s nothing in this world for meBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, deathBirth, school, work, death

…

Leon Redbone – I Ain’t Got Nobody

In the seventies, I would sometimes sneak a peek at SNL when I was a kid. I wasn’t old enough to get the jokes but I liked the music. This was back when Lorne Michaels would actually take a chance and let someone play that wasn’t on the charts or “hot.” He was so different then. The way he looked, sounded and presented himself. You would expect Mark Twain to pop out at any moment.

This guy I could never forget. In the middle of disco and punk, he was a throwback from the 1920s or so. Leon Redbone’s musical style was shaped by his deep love for early jazz, blues, and country music. He spent countless hours studying the recordings of legendary artists from the 1920s and 1930s, seeking to recreate the sound and feel of that era. This dedication, coupled with his exceptional talent and passion for music, allowed him to develop a truly unique style that set him apart from his contemporaries.

Redbone and Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan himself said that if he owned a record company, he would sign Leon Redbone. Soon thereafter, Leon Redbone did sign with a major label, Warner Brothers.

Redbone was one of the best vocalists of his time. He basically gave  1970’s audiences vintage music at a time when nobody was asking for it. He mixed blues of various dialects and included them in his musical performances along with early country, ragtime, tin pan alley favorites, and songs from America. He played music that was so far out of the mainstream he was labeled an eccentric. The truth of the matter was that it was beautiful music played brilliantly.

This song was off on his 1994 album Whistling in the Wind. If you want something different find some Leon Redbone, sip on a Mint Julep, and enjoy life. I wish I would have caught him live in concert. He passed away on May 30, 2019, at the age of 69.

I Ain’t Got Nobody

I ain’t got nobody and nobody cares for me
I got the blues, the weary blues

There’s a saying going ’round and I begin to think it’s true
It’s awful hard to love someone, when they don’t care ’bout you
Once I had a lovin’ man, as good as many in this town
But now I’m sad and lonely, for he’s gone and turned me down, now

I ain’t got nobody and nobody cares for me
I got the blues, the weary blues

And I’m sad and lonely, won’t somebody come and take a chance with me?
I’ll sing sweet love songs honey, all the time
If you’ll come and be my sweet baby mine
‘Cause I ain’t got nobody, and nobody cares for me

Won’t somebody go and find my man and bring him back to me
It’s awful hard to be alone and without sympathy
Once I was a loving gal, as good as any in this town
But since my daddy left me, I’m a gal with her heart bowed down

Seymour Swine And The Squealers – Blue Christmas

You might regret listening to this one. Some people absolutely hate this song with an undying passion. They say it ruins her favorite Elvis Presley Christmas song. With that in mind, I keep it in heavy rotation at Christmas!!!! Just to see their face light up! WARNING…once you hear this…you cannot un-hear it. I haven’t heard Elvis’s version of Blue Christmas the same again since I heard this.

“Seymour Swine” is voice actor Denny Brownlee. He recorded this parody in 1985 for the John Boy and Billy radio show. Brownlee channels his inner Porky Pig by singing Blue Christmas sticking to the Elvis version. I was starting my work career at the time mixed in with college and I remember this taking off. I’ve heard it every year since then. I have to say…the kazoo in the middle was a nice touch.

The song Blue Christmas was written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson… but I bet they didn’t count on this cover. There have been many who have covered this song…such as Ringo Starr, Celine Dion, The Beach Boys, Sheryl Crow, Smash Mouth, Brooks and Dunn, Vince Gill, Face to Face, Bette Midler, Harry Connick Jr., Shakin’ Stevens, Bill Haley, and the Comets, Eilert Pilarm, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Misfits, Freddy Fender, Collective Soul, and many more.

This version is either loved or hated it seems. It can make you laugh and get on people’s nerves at the same time…win win! Merry Christmas!

Blue Christmas

I’ll have a blue Christmas
Without you
I’ll be so blue just thinkin’
About you
Decorations of red
On a green Christmas tree
Won’t be the same, dear
If you’re not here with me

And when those blue snowflakes
Start fallin’
That’s when those blue mem’ries
Start callin’
You’ll be doin’ all right
With your Christmas of white
But I’ll have a blue
Blue
Blue
Blue Christmas

The Pretenders – 2000 Miles

I hope all of you are having a good week! This song gets me in the mood for Christmas; I can listen to it anytime, not just Christmas. It’s a wonderful song and Chrissie Hyde sounds great in it.

The guitar in this song is haunting…and for good reason. The song has an incredible depth and meaning.

2000 Miles is actually Hynde’s tribute to guitarist and founding band member James Honeyman-Scott, who died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the age of 25. In 1982, two days after lead singer Chrissie Hynde fired bassist Pete Farndon for drug abuse, the guitarist died of cocaine-induced heart failure. He was only 25 years old. Farndon himself passed away the following year.

“2000 Miles” was released as a single in December of 1983 and appeared as the 10th track of The Pretenders’ Learning to Crawl album. The single was popular in the UK, peaking at #15 on the UK Singles Chart. Learning to Crawl peaked at #5 in the  Billboard 200 albums chart.

In 2014, while finishing up her album Stockholm, Hynde collaborated with Bjorn Yttling on an updated version of “2000 Miles. It was released as a Christmas single in the UK in December.

Lisa covered this one last year on Tao Talk. She also added it to her current Christmas playlist.

2000 Miles

He’s gone two thousand miles
It’s very far
The snow is falling down
Gets colder day by day
I miss you The children will sing
He’ll be back at Christmas timeIn these frozen and silent nights
Sometimes in a dream you appear
Outside under the purple sky
Diamonds in the snow sparkle
Our hearts were singing
It felt like Christmas timeTwo thousand miles
Is very far through the snow
I’ll think of you
Wherever you go

He’s gone two thousand miles
It’s very far
The snow is falling down
Gets colder day by day
I miss you

I can hear people singing
It must be Christmas time
I hear people singing
It must be Christmas time

Bruce Springsteen – Merry Christmas Baby

We are getting close to Christmas. I hope everyone is ready…and most, if not all, of your shopping is done. There have been many versions of this song but this one is the one I listen to the most. The dynamics in this version are great.

This Dec 31st, 1980 performance of Merry Christmas Baby was recorded at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY, during The River Tour. The song was played in its E Street Band arrangement. It was released in November 1986 as the B-side to WAR. This was the lead single from the Live/1975-85 box set.

Although Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley covered “Merry Christmas Baby” before Bruce did, it sounds like he based  his version on Otis Redding’s 1968 version.

Lou Baxter wrote this song but it was called “Merry Christmas Blues” and Charles Brown took it home to work it out. He rewrote it with the new title. Baxter wanted Charles Brown to record it the way Charles rewrote it and it became a big hit with Brown singing with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers.

Then the music business struck again…The company promised Charles he would have a co-writer credit but of course, it didn’t happen and Johnny Moore had his name listed on the song instead. Charles never got paid royalties for the song. It was originally released in 1947 and peaked at #3 in the Charts.

Moore died, largely unknown, in the 1960s. Brown, meanwhile, became renowned as a pioneer of the laid-back, piano-driven style of West Coast blues and was recognized as an early influence on Ray Charles; he had a renaissance in the 1990s, touring with Bonnie Raitt.

Charles Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 but died before the induction.

It was also on a complication album A Very Special Christmas of various artists released in 1987.

Merry Christmas Baby

Bring it down, band!

Now, I just came here tonight to say…
I just wanna say…
I just wanna say…

Merry Christmas baby, you surely treat me nice
Come on, merry Christmas baby, you surely treat me nice
I feel just like I’m living, living in paradise

Now listen
Now you see, I feel real good tonight
And I got music on the radio
And I feel real good tonight
And I got music on the radio
And the boys in the band are playing pretty good!
Now, I feel just like I wanna kiss you
Underneath my mistletoe

But now listen
Santa came down chimney, half past three
With lots of nice little presents for my baby and me
Merry Christmas baby, you surely treat me nice
And I feel like I’m living, just living in paradise
Come on boys!

Well now, Santa came down chimney, half past three
With lots of nice little presents for my baby and me
Merry Christmas baby, you surely treat me nice
I feel like I’m living, I’m living in paradise

And I just came down to say
Merry Christmas baby
I just wanna say, merry Christmas baby
I just wanna say, merry Christmas baby
I just wanna say, merry Christmas baby
And happy New Year, too!
Oh yeah!
Play it boys, go!
Merry Christmas
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-happy New Year
Ohhhh!

Oh yeah!
Merry Christmas baby!

Outlaws – Ghost Riders in the Sky

I could have picked many artists who have covered this song but this is the one I heard first. The song is a standard and it was originally written and recorded in 1948 by Stan Jones. Jones based the melody on Johnny Comes Marching Home.

Jones said the song came from a story he heard when he was young. The story was told to him by an old Indian man from Arizona. When someone dies, their spirit leaves the body and goes to the sky. They stay up in the sky and become ghost riders. Jones was a kid when he first heard the story, he never forgot it.

This was written and originally recorded by Stan Jones in 1948. Jones was a forest ranger who wrote songs on the side. After recording his version of the song, artists like Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Lorne Greene, Gene Autry, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and too many more to list covered it.  all recorded it.

The Outlaws released this song in 1980. It was on the album Ghost Riders. The album peaked at #25 on the Billboard Album Charts and the song peaked at #31 on the Billboard 100.

The band was formed in Tampa Florida in 1967. In 1974 The Outlaws were the first act signed to Arista Records under Clive Davis. They were helped out by Ronnie Van Zant. In Columbus Georgia, The Outlaws were opening up for Lynyrd Skynyrd with Clive Davis in the audience which wasn’t a secret to the bands. Van Zant said from the stage to Clive Davis…“If you don’t sign Outlaws, you’re the dumbest music person I’ve ever met—and I know you’re not.” They were signed.

Ghost Riders in the Sky

An old cowboy went ridin’ out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed steers he saw
A ploughin’ through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw

Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
He saw the riders coming hard… and he heard their mournful cry

Yippie i ay Yippie i oh
Ghost riders in
Ghost riders in the sky

Yippie i ay (Yippie i ay) Yippie i oh (Yippie i oh)
Ghost riders in the sky

Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat
They’re ridin’ hard to catch that herd but they ain’t caught ’em yet
‘Cause they’ve got to ride forever in the range up in the sky
On horses snorting fire as they ride hard, hear them cry

Yippie i ay Yippie i oh
Ghost riders in
Ghost riders in the sky

Ghost riders in the sky