1980s – Page 12 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Neil Young – Wonderin’

I heard this song in the 80s and really liked the video. When I first saw the 80s time lapsed video…I thought Young looked a little like Stephen King around this time…looking at it again…I still do. I want to thank Dave for the post that jarred my memory about After The Gold Rush.

It’s a song that was left off of After The Gold Rush back in 1970. He played it live with Crazy Horse but it would be 1983 when it finally appeared on the album Everybody’s Rockin’. It was re-cut into a 1950s style to fit the rest of the album. He made the album as Neil Young and the Shocking Pinks. There is a story in that as well.

In the early eighties, David Geffen signed Neil Young to a huge contract with Geffen Records. Neil Young who will do his own thing no matter what or when…released an album called “Trans” which was his foray into electronic music. Geffen wanted another “Harvest” with another Heart of Gold or Old Man…instead, he got “Computer Age” and “We R in Control” with Neil singing through a Vocoder.

After that album Neil was asked to do more rock and roll by a Geffen record company executive…the record company was thinking more along the lines of the harder rock Rust Never Sleeps…so Neil gave them rock and roll all right… “Everybody’s Rockin” is an album full of early fifties Doo-wop and rockabilly-sounding songs in the middle of the 80s (thank you, Neil!). The record company was not amused…he then released an album full of country music… In his contract, Neil had full artistic freedom.

Geffen had claimed the new albums were “unrepresentative” of Neil’s music. He sued Neil for 3.3 million dollars but the case was settled and Geffen lost and had to apologize to Neil. That shows you…sometimes life is fair.

If you look at Neil’s career…it was all about change and evolving so I don’t know what Geffen expected. Neil rarely repeats himself. Geffen was expecting early seventies Neil and that wasn’t happening. Young is not an artist that you mess with.

After hearing the original version…I like both.. and I do enjoy the early rock and roll feel of it in the 80s version. The album peaked at #46 on the Billboard Album Charts, #22 in Canada, #21 in New Zealand, and #50 in the UK.

Wonderin’

I’ve been walking all night long
My footsteps made me crazy
Baby, you’ve been gone so long
I’m wonderin’ if you’ll come home
I’m hopin’ that you’ll be my baby
I’m wonderin’ if I’ll be alone
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.

I’ve been talking all day long
To keep my heart from sadness
Baby, you’ve been gone so long
I’m wonderin’ if you’ll come home
I’m hopin’ that you’ll be my baby
I’m wonderin’ if I’ll be alone
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.

I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’,
I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’,
I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’,
I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’.

Well, I’m knowin’
that I need you to save me
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.
Knowin’ that I need you to save me.
I’m wonderin’, I’m wonderin’.

December 8, 1980…John Lennon

As I’ve told people before…I rarely do anniversaries. Skylab, Duane Allman, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and a few others but this one I will post as long as I blog.

I grew up in the seventies and became a teen in the 1980s. The Beatles were not popular where I lived to say the least. One concerned mother of a friend actually called my mom warning her that I was headed toward destruction because I was listening to the Beatles at around 11 years old. No, I’m not kidding. My mom, bless her heart, told the lady that “Max knows right from wrong. You worry about your child and I’ll worry about about mine.” Ok back to December of 1980.

Damn this date. Every Dec 8th I can’t help but think of where I was when I heard. This year’s release of Now and Then only heightened the anger, sadness, and confusion over what happened. I post this post every year on this date and will continue. I have updated it each year and I’ve almost rewritten it since I posted it first back in 2018…and if it’s too long now I apologize. I still feel what I felt on that date. Although to be accurate it was on December 9th that I found out…the next morning getting ready for school.

When I watched the news clips at the time I felt like an interloper because all of these fans who were sobbing grew up with Lennon in real time…I was this 13-year-old kid who was late to the party…a decade late.

It’s odd to think the Beatles had only been broken up for 10 years when this happened…to a 13-year-old at the time…that was a lifetime but in reality, it’s nothing. To put it in perspective… it’s now 2023 and 10 years ago was 2013…that doesn’t seem that long ago does it? I was only 3 years old when the Beatles broke up so I had no clue.

Since second grade (1975), I’ve been listening to the Beatles. While a lot of kids I knew listened and talked about modern music …I just couldn’t relate as much. By the time I was ten, I had read every book about The Beatles I could get my hands on. In a small middle TN town…it wasn’t too many. I was after their generation but I knew the importance of what they did…plus just great music. The more I got into them the more I learned about the Who, Stones, and the Kinks. I wanted to get my hands on every book about the music of the 1960s. Just listening to the music wasn’t enough…I wanted to know the history.

I spent that Monday night playing albums in my room. Monday night I didn’t turn the radio on…I’m glad I didn’t…The next morning I got up to go to school and the CBS morning news was on. The sound was turned down but the news was showing Beatle video clips. I was wondering why they were showing them but didn’t think much of it.

Curious, I turned the volume up and found out that John Lennon had been shot and killed. I was very angry and shocked. The bus ride to school was quiet… at school, it was quiet as well. Some teachers were affected because John was their generation. Some of my friends were shocked but some didn’t get the significance at the time and some didn’t care.

I went out and bought the White Album, Abbey Road, and Double Fantasy in late December of 1980…I can’t believe I didn’t have those two Beatles albums already…now whenever I hear any song from those albums they remind me of the winter of 80-81. I remember the call-in shows on the radio then…pre-internet… people calling to share their feelings for John or hatred for the killer.

The next few weeks I saw footage of the Beatles on specials that I had never seen before. Famous and non-famous people pouring their hearts out over the grief. Planned tributes from bands and everyone asking the same question…why?

My young mind could not process why a person would want to do this to a musician. A politician yea…I could see that…not that it’s right but this? A musician? Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, and JFK were before my time. By the mid-1970s John had pretty much dropped out of sight…John and Yoko released Double Fantasy on November 17, 1980, and suddenly they were everywhere…Less than a month later John was murdered. The catchwords were Catcher in the Rye, Hawaii, handgun, and insane. The next day we were duly informed who killed John in the First, Middle, and Last name format they assign to murderers. I won’t mention his name.

I didn’t want to know his name, his career, his wife’s name, his childhood…I just wanted to know why… he says now…” attention”

I noticed a change happened after that Monday night. John Lennon was instantly turned into a saint, something he would have said was preposterous. Paul suddenly became the square and the uncool one and George and Ringo turned into just mere sidemen. Death has a way of elevating you in life. After the Anthology came out in the 90s that started to change back a little.

I called my dad a few days after it happened and he said that people were more concerned that The Beatles would never play again than the fact a man, father, and husband was shot and killed. He was right and I was among those people until he said that. Dad was never a fan…he was more Elvis, Little Richard, and country music… but he made his point. When my father passed in 2005 I thought about this conversation and knew he was teaching me again.

It was odd being into the Beatles at such a young age and after their time so to speak. While my peers were talking about all the contemporary artists at the time…all I talked about was John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I would end up comparing all the new music I heard to theirs…and that wasn’t fair at all to new music. I would think to myself…well this song (any new song at the time) wasn’t as good as Strawberry Fields and so on. I, fortunately, grew out of that but it took a while.

Below is a video of James Taylor telling how he met the killer a day before Lennon was murdered. Also, Howard Sterns broadcast the day after.

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Bob Dylan – Neighborhood Bully

He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in

He’s the neighborhood bully.

Welcome to Bob the Punk in this song. He does away with traditional choruses…and just gets down to business. I’ve been wanting to post this for years and it’s been languishing in my draft folder. My friend Matt posted it a little while back.

I bought Infidels back in the 80s and it remains my favorite Dylan album of that decade. It had quite a few songs that made it to our radio stations in Nashville. Jokerman, Sweetheart Like You, and Union Sundown. This is the one is the one that I focused on. Ex Rolling Stone member Mick Taylor played guitar on this and the song is a rocker.

It also was the most controversial song on the album. It drew criticism from some people and others loved it. The song is clearly a pro Israel song and he sings the song with passion. It was banned from YouTube and other platforms in 2020 for “hate speech.” After articles came out in defense of the song…youtube reversed its decision. It was also recalled from the record company for a while. Hard to believe a 37-year-old song could cause so much trouble when it’s been out there since 1983.

People say Bob’s voice is this or that…but it’s made for songs like this. It fits this song perfectly. I’ve seen where some Dylan fans hate it but it’s been a favorite of mine. It’s not Masters of War or Like A Rolling Stone and it’s repetitive but I like it. The lyrics flow great in this one.

The album peaked at #20 in the Billboard Album Charts, #14 in Canada, #4 in New Zealand, and #9 in the UK in 1983.

Bob Dylan: “I’m not a political songwriter. “‘Neighborhood Bully,’ to me, is not a political song, because if it were, it would fall into a certain political party. If you’re talkin’ about it as an Israeli political song—in Israel alone, there’s maybe 20 political parties. I don’t know where that would fall, what party.”

Neighborhood Bully

Well, the neighborhood bully, he’s just one man
His enemies say he’s on their land
They got him outnumbered about a million to one
He got no place to escape to, no place to run
He’s the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully he just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully.

The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land
He’s wandered the earth an exiled man
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn
He’s always on trial for just being born
He’s the neighborhood bully.

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized
Old women condemned him, said he could apologize
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad
The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad
He’s the neighborhood bully.

Well, the chances are against it, and the odds are slim
That he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him
‘Cause there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a licence to kill him is given out to every maniac
He’s the neighborhood bully.

Well, he got no allies to really speak of
What he gets he must pay for, he don’t get it out of love
He buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side
He’s the neighborhood bully.

Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease
Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep
He’s the neighborhood bully.
Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon
He’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand
In bed with nobody, under no one’s command
He’s the neighborhood bully.

Now his holiest books have been trampled upon
No contract that he signed was worth that what it was written on
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health
He’s the neighborhood bully.

What’s anybody indebted to him for?
Nothing, they say. He just likes to cause war
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed
He’s the neighborhood bully.

What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers? Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill
Running out the clock, time standing still
Neighborhood bully

Rolling Stones Question

Dave posted this on November 16 in his Turntable Talk series. Dave wanted to know… So, talk about the Stones. Do they matter? Or what was their best song, or album? Or should they just disappear like 1960s cigarette ads featuring doctors?

I’ll answer Dave’s questions near the end.

If I ever meet an alien and he/she/it wanted to know what rock and roll looked and sounded like…I would give them a picture of Keith Richards in 1972 and a copy of “Brown Sugar”.

I found out about The Rolling Stones by reading about The Beatles. That is the same way I found out about The Who, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, and other British bands.

While growing up and playing in bands, I played with a drummer who was a huge Stones fan. He turned me onto their album cuts which I love. We had playful banter about the Beatles vs Stones, but it was all very good-natured. He liked The Beatles as well and I turned him on to their album cuts.

Are the Stones relevant today? Sure, they are… you can’t stay together since the early sixties selling out stadiums without being relevant. In today’s time though, no bands are relevant anymore in the way they were at one time, including the Stones. Musicians once influenced what was going on in the world. Now they are more of a disposable product – which I truly hate.

The Stones’ peak probably was 1968 – 1973 from Beggars Banquet to Goats Head Soup but there is another period I would like to talk about briefly.

To me, their most underrated period was 1965-1967. They had a string of singles starting with “Satisfaction”, “Get Off My Cloud”, “As Tears Go By”, “19^th Nervous Breakdown”, “Paint It Black”, “Ruby Tuesday”, etc.

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger would write these wonderful songs and Brian Jones would color the songs with sitar, harpsichord, flute, marimba, and even saxophone. He was the best musician of the band along with being its founder. When they lost Brian, they lost a key piece. Yes, they found the rock/blues groove which they still have but I liked that underappreciated era and what Brian gave them.

They started as a blues cover band and didn’t worry about writing their own songs. They realized they had to because other bands such as The Beatles, Kinks, and The Who were writing their own songs, and you couldn’t keep on covering blues artists or Chuck Berry and sustain that.

They contributed some great pop songs in the mid-sixties. These songs are sometimes overlooked (except “Satisfaction”) in favor of their late-sixties and early-seventies material. I like these songs because they give a variety of sounds. As much as I love the Mick Taylor period, they lost this part of them and never really went back and it’s a shame.

I wasn’t sure they would continue when I read that Charlie Watts died. Keith always says how important Watts was to the Rolling Stones. If they wouldn’t have had a tour planned who knows if they would have. Watts was indeed important to their sound, but they did continue and I’m glad they did, especially for the fans.

Now I want to answer Dave’s questions. Should they retire? No, why should they do that? Many people say that, but hell no (I also hear this about other artists). If they are happy doing what they are doing, then go ahead. I seriously doubt if they are doing it because of the money at this point. Just like everything else if people don’t want to see them…don’t go to the concerts. I don’t believe people should decide what is good for other people. If I don’t want to hear the Stones, I will turn them off, but I have no plans to do that. To answer Dave’s question… my favorite (to me the best) album is Beggars Banquet. My favorite song is “Memory Motel”.

If I had to describe the Stones, I would describe them as The World’s Greatest Bar Band. That is not a put down…that is a compliment. I think Mr. Richards would approve of that title because I’ve heard him use it. Both times I’ve seen them I heard bum notes and that made them more human to me and made me like them more. If you want your music perfect, they are not for you…but rock and roll wasn’t made to be perfect.

…

54-40 – I Go Blind

Deke brought this band up the other day and I started to listen to their songs. Deke likes a lot of harder bands so I was expecting screaming guitars but this band is close to Sloan to me or power pop…which yea…I kinda like!

The band was formed in the small border town of Tsawwassen, BC. Musically they were influenced by British invasion and post-punk and American roots and punk rock. They got their name from a reference to a US political slogan from the 1840s (“Fifty-four forty or Fight!”) that called for the American annexation of what is now British Columbia.

The band started in 1978 when Neil Osborne and Brad Merritt met in Sought Delta High School in Tsawwassen, British Columbia. They released their first album in 1984 called Set The Fire and their second album in 1986 was a self-titled album also called The Green Album. That is the album this song is on.

The album 54-40 peaked at #91 on the Canadian Album Charts in 1986.

The song was covered by Hootie and the Blowfish and did well on the charts in 1996-97. It peaked at #13 in Canada, #2 on the US Adult Top 40, and #22 on the US Adult Contemporary in 1996-97.

I Go Blind

Every time I look at you I go blind
Every time I look at you I go blind
Every time I look at you I go blind
Every time I look at you I go blind

In the morning, I get up
And I try to feel alive but I can’t
Every time I look at you I go blind
I don’t know what it is
Something in me just won’t give it a chance

I think it’s that I feel more confused by the deal
Love has shown me
Little child, did you know that there’s a light
And it’s gonna shine right through your eyes
What do you think that life is like?
Every time I look at you I go blind
I go blind

Somewhere over there
There’s a purpose, there’s a care for free
In me there’s nobody
No one planned, no one stand to be free
I think it’s that because I have seen all the fuss
And it’s no big deal
No big deal

Hold me, hold me
‘Cause I wanna get higher and higher
Higher than
Hold me hold me
‘Cause I wanna get higher and higher
Higher than

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

It’s 7:25 on Thanksgiving night and I just started this movie again. After looking at John Candy’s movies on IMDB I can’t help but think that a lot his movies were not up to his talent level. This one is a great one though.

This is my go-to Thanksgiving movie, along with The Last Waltz. Steve Martin and John Candy are a great team in this comedy. Personally, I think this is John Candy’s greatest movie. I watch it every year and always look forward to it. The heartwarming ending never fails to get to me.

The movie is full of great scenes and some good lines from Candy and Martin. John Candy can make me laugh with just a look on his face. The guy was a great comedian and a really good actor.

John Hughes is the Director and writer. He shot over 3 hours and had to edit it down. Below is a short plot. For those who haven’t seen it…you are missing a funny movie. It was rated R because of a one-minute scene with the F-Bomb used 18 times by mostly Martin. The movie was released in 1987.

John Hughes was the 1980s. I was expecting a credit that read: 1980’s – Directed by John Hughes. Hughes had a certain style that you can see in his movies. A lot of delayed timing routines from The Breakfast Club to Uncle Buck.

I do wish Candy and Martin would have done another movie together.

By the way….there is a new extended version of the movie that has been released that has over 75 minutes of extra footage.

Some great quotes:

Neal: Del… Why did you kiss my ear?
Del: Why are you holding my hand?
Neal: [frowns] Where’s your other hand?
Del: Between two pillows…
Neal: Those aren’t pillows!

Del: You play with your balls a lot.
Neal: I do NOT play with my balls.
Del: Larry Bird doesn’t do as much ball-handling in one night as you do in an hour!
Neal: Are you trying to start a fight?
Del: No. I’m simply stating a fact. That’s all. You fidget with your nuts a lot.
Neal: You know what’d make me happy?
Del: Another couple of balls, and an extra set of fingers?

For those who know the movie…

YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!

Short Plot

In New York, a marketing executive Neal Page wants to travel home to Chicago for Thanksgiving. He has difficulties getting a taxi and his flight is canceled. He meets in the airport the clumsy and talkative shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith who has taken his cab and they travel side-by-side to Chicago. However the bad weather shuts down O’Hare Airport and they land at Wichita, Kansas. They both want to go to Chicago and they decide to travel together. Neal is cursed/blessed with the presence of Del Griffith, shower curtain ring salesman and all-around blabbermouth who is never short of advice, conversation, bad jokes, or company.

Along their journey, Neal changes his viewpoint about Del Griffith and his own behavior.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093748/

Katrina and the Waves – Walking on Sunshine

I had just graduated high school in 1985 and I was on CoCo Beach with some of my friends and this song takes me back there. Four guys in a Toyota Celica driving 15 hours to a place called Coco Beach. We picked it because of the name…not for the easy driving. We could have picked Pensacola and it would have been a 6 1/2 hour drive plus a better beach with the gulf…but live and learn.

This is one upbeat and positive song! I was about to graduate when I heard this song and I felt like the world was open and anything could happen. I wasn’t jaded yet but it felt good while it lasted.

The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard 100, #8 on the UK Charts, and #3 in Canada in 1985… hard to believe this song is 38 years old. This song has been a staple on pop stations and any supermarket near you.

The members were Katrina Leskanich, Kimberley Rew, Vince de la Cruz, and Alex Cooper. This song has been in almost 70 movies and television series.

Guitarist Kimberley Rew wrote the song and he also wrote “Going Down To Liverpool” which was covered by the Bangles. When that song was covered in 1984 it brought attention to Katrina and the Waves because Going Down To Liverpool was on their debut album Walking On Sunshine in 1983. One of the songs on there was of course...Walking on Sunshine but it was reworked with horns for their 1985 album Katrina And The Waves. That is the version we all know.

The band went on to release eight more albums, concluding with 1997’s Walk on Water. The album featured the lead single “Love Shine a Light,” which hit No. 3 in the UK and won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest. The band later disbanded in 1999 after struggling to replace Leskanich, who left the year prior. But they will always be remembered because of this song that will never go away.

Katrina and the Waves were dropped by Capitol Records one year later. Katrina Leskanich: “They thought we were the new Monkees, The Beach Boys,” but we weren’t even that kind of band. We were cooler. I thought I was Nico from The Velvet Underground. Black turtlenecks, eyeliner, no smiling in photographs …”

Original Version

Walking On Sunshine

Mm, yeah
I used to think maybe you loved me, now, baby, I’m sure
And I just can’t wait till the day when you knock on my door
Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down
‘Cause I just can’t wait till you write me you’re coming around

I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
And don’t it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don’t it feel good
Hey, yeah

I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it’s true
And I don’t want to spend my whole life just a-waiting for you
Now, I don’t want you back for the weekend, not back for a day, no, no, no
I said, baby, I just want you back, and I want you to stay

Oh, yeah, now I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
And don’t it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don’t it feel good
Yeah, oh, yeah, now
And don’t it feel good

Walking on sunshine
Walking on sunshine

I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that’s really real
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that’s really real
I’m on sunshine, baby, oh
Oh, yeah, I’m on sunshine, baby

Oh, I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
I’m walking on sunshine, whoa
And don’t it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don’t it feel good
I’ll say it, I’ll say it, I’ll say it again now
And don’t it feel good
Hey, yeah now
And don’t it feel good
Now don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it
And don’t it feel good
I’ll say it, I’ll say it, I’ll say it again now
And don’t it feel good
Now don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it
And don’t it feel good
Now tell me, tell me, tell me again now
And don’t it feel good
Oh, yeah, now
And don’t it feel good
Oh, don’t it feel good, don’t it feel good
Now don’t it feel good
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, yeah
And don’t it feel good
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, yeah
And don’t it feel good

Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session

You don’t get more rockabilly than Carl Perkins. This concert was a show built around the man. The guests that showed their support were Dave Edmunds, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and Roassane Cash. Plus you had Stray Cats Slim Jim Phantom on drums and Lee Rocker on bass.

It’s pretty cool to see these other legends openly admiring Carl Perkins. Most grew up with his songs and they show their appreciation.

Dave from A Sound Day featured the Roy Orbison concert in the eighties which was a little later on than this one. I remember both of them and this one I watched at a friend’s house at the time on VHS.

Everyone takes a turn singing Carl Perkin’s classic songs in this one. It was filmed at London’s Limehouse Studios in front of a live audience on October 21, 1985. It’s a great show and Carl Perkins hadn’t lost a thing on guitar. Perkins was around 53 at the time.

They had Johnny Cash, Rob Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis do a quick intro for Perkins at the beginning. It’s the bottom video on this post. They also played at The Capitol Theater in New Jersey on September 9, 1985. You can find that one on YouTube also.

Carl Perkins: “Nothing in the music business has even come close to this for me. At times I felt I was going to break down crying.”

Here are the guest Musicians:

Carl Perkins (guitar, vocals)
George Harrison (guitar, vocals)
Ringo Starr (drums, tambourine, vocals)
Eric Clapton (guitar, vocals)
Dave Edmunds (guitar, vocals, musical director)
Rosanne Cash (vocals, maracas)
Phantom, Rocker & Slick {Slim Jim Phantom (drums), Lee Rocker (double bass), Earl Slick (guitar)}

Backing Musicians

Mickey Gee (guitar)
Geraint Watkins (piano)
John David (bass guitar)
Dave Charles (drums)
Greg Perkins (bass guitar)

…

Colin Linden – When The Spirit Comes

CB sent me a link to this song and I liked it on the first listen. It didn’t need to grow on me or take time to gel…first off I liked it. I started to listen to more of the album and again…first time I heard it was great.

Colin Linden is a great Canadian guitarist who has played with many artists. To name a few Bruce Cockburn, Lucinda Williams, T-Bone Burnett, Kevin Gordon, Colin James, Emmylou Harris, Leon Redbone, Rita Chiarelli, Chris Thomas King, The Band, Keb’ Mo’, Charles Esten, and last but not least Bob Dylan. He now makes his home near me…in Nashville.

Colin fulfilled a dream with this recording. He was always a huge fan of The Band. Garth Hudson and Rick Danko are on this song with him. If you listen to near the last verse you can hear Danko’s unmistakable harmony voice that he was so great at. Danko sings the last verse right before the solo. Along with that, you can hear Garth Hudson playing like only Hudson can…not many keyboard players have a certain sound…but Garth sure does. Danko and Linden met each other in 1985 in Toronto at the Diamond Club. Linden was opening up for The Band at the time. They got along well musically and personally.

As soon as you hear Rick Danko sing near the end he turns the song into Americana by just opening his mouth. The end of the song has a cool music breakdown of Linden’s guitar and Hudson’s organ taking the song in a really cool direction. Every song should have an ending like this one.

This song was the title cut to the album released in 1988. Danko, Hudson, and Levon Helm contributed to it. Along with his solo career he played with many artists on the way. He has released 14 albums in all beginning in 1980 and the last one called bLOW in 2021. He has also won multiple Juno awards for his contributions.

Colin joined Tom Wilson and Stephen Fearing in Hamilton, Ontario to form Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. I’ll be covering something by them soon.

The lyrics were nowhere to be found. After transcribing them I got an assist from CB on them…a thanks to him on that.

Colin Linden: “Rick’s way of looking at things is very much in keeping with what I feel about priorities, he’s a very Zen guy and he has a very positive aura about him. He looks at the world in a truly unjaded way–and he sees a lot of shit. The prospect of playing with him was so appealing to me because he treats life with a lot of respect, and that’s a perfect vibe for playing music and playing it well.”

When The Spirit Comes

When the spirit comes, electrons will charge through your veins
It won’t take any money, it won’t give you a name
When the spirit comes, you’re going to ride the fastest rail
And whatever you may try, no way you can fail
You will feel like superwoman, like you just discovered electricity
Here ye I’ll wait and I’m ready when the spirit comes

When the spirit comes, it will catch you mostly off guard
It will make things seem so easy, the same things that once seemed so hard
But you can’t force the spirit inside you, like you can’t force the dead to rise
And you can’t be on 10, and be ready when the spirit comes

When the spirit comes, sit down by your plough and be ready
When the spirit comes, throw away your crutches and be ready
When the spirit comes, put away your sheep suit and be ready
Be ready
Be ready
Be ready
When the spirit comes

When the spirit comes, you are gonna jump straight up in the air
And you will see the world from great heights, and you won’t have to travel anywhere
And there will be no tears or no funerals, and no preachers on TV
Just an intermittent spark that will let you know when the spirit’s come

Here ye I wait and I’m ready when the spirit comes

Joe Ely – Musta Notta Gotta Lotta

Randy had a post a few days ago about Rock and Roll Revivalists and I started to search a little bit and ran across a live version of this song. I love roots music and this Texan delivers every single time. When I saw the live clip of this one I heard so much of Jerry Lee Lewis in it. The title alone gets my attention really quick.

This song was released in 1981 on an album with the same name…OK, I want to type it again… Musta Notta Gotta Lotta. Now I feel better. You could see something happening in the eighties out of the top 40. You have Joe Ely opening the door along with The Blasters and then Steve Earle came on through along with the alt-country bands like Uncle Tupelo.

Ely has 16 studio albums and 20 singles in his career so far. This album charted at #135 in the Billboard Album Charts. He has charted quite a few in the Country Charts.

Ely’s first album was released in 1977. He met The Clash the year after in London and both liked each other. They both toured together a bit after that. Ely sang backups on the Clash hit Should I Stay or Should I Go.

He also co-wrote a play called Chippy about a Texas prostitute who counted around 6,000 customers. She died in the 1960s and had a quote that I will never forget. “Texas had the bread and I had the butter.”

The man is known through the music industry. In 1990 he was part of a band for the house party for the premiere of Buddy that played some songs. That band included The E Street band members Max Weinberg and Gary Tallent along with The Crickets, Dave Edmunds, Steve Forbert, and Paul McCartney. Joe and Paul traded vocals on three Holly songs.

Musta Notta Gotta Lotta

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

I was high flyin’ down the riverside driveRockin’ to the radio man aliveStopped into a joint bought a round of boozeHot dog I got a buzz in my shoe

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

Writin’ you a letter it’s late in the nightSittin’ in a caffe honey eatin’ a biteI’m telln’ you about where all I’ve beenHot dog I’m gone again

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

Now there’s two kind of people in this big ‘ol townThere’s the early to rise and the late to go downI guess I better find a better way to stop the clockHot dog I like it a lot

Hot dog I like it a lot

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night, yeah, hot dog

Please understand me everything’s all rightI just musta notta gotta lotta sleep last night

Blasters – Trouble Bound

This song has a cool groove to it. A little gospel touch at first and then Dave Alvin’s guitar lifts it up and is quite loud in the mix which is fantastic.

The Blasters never had mainstream success…but popular radio back in the 80s would have been greatly improved by these guys. The band has a cult following and during the 80s they had critical acclaim and recorded for Warners, but no big hits.

The Blasters are a rock and roll band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman.

This song was on their fourth album which was Hard Line which was released in 1985. This is it was written by Phil Alvin who was the guitarist, singer, and main songwriter for the band. The band produced a range of “rockabilly, country, blues, and New Orleans roadhouse R&B.” This album peaked at #86 on the Billboard Album Charts.

I’ve said this before but some rockabilly bands, or roots rock bands, sound like they came in on a nostalgia wave from the 1950s. There is nothing wrong with that but…not the Blasters. They sounded contemporary in the 80s even in the middle of an era where production was at its height and overkill. Their music still sounds timeless now…years after it was released and you can’t peg it to a decade.

The Blasters promoted the album heavily and did a bunch of radio concerts and TV appearances including their third appearance on American Bandstand, a taped concert for MTV, and Farm Aid. In the summer a full concert was taped while on their European tour for a show called Rockaplast. The concert was aired only in Europe and was an outstanding performance.

Dave Alvin left right after the release of this album.

Dave Alvin: “The night that Gene Taylor (piano player) left the Blasters was this gig in Montreal (Nov. 1985) and it was maybe the worst gig that I ever played. It was obvious that this wasn’t working anymore. The Thunderbirds had opened up the show and Gene just walked off stage at the end of the night and went right out the back door and got on the Thunderbirds bus and left. That night I decided I’m quitting. Everybody was so pissed off at each other. I flew to New York the next morning to do a Knitters gig at Irving Plaza and when I got to the gig, John said, ‘Billy’s (Zoom of X) leaving the band, you want to join?’ I said ‘Yeah!!’ without hesitation. Once I became a member of X, the Knitters became X.”

Trouble Bound

I’m old enough to know the score
But I’m young enough to want more more more
They say it means nothing all said and done
But that’s alright, I’m just here for the fun

And I don’t think twice
When the sun goes down
I’m trouble bound

There’s a demon deep inside of me
Sometimes I let the old boy run free
Trying to make a living during the day
Deep in the night I throw it all away

But I don’t think twice
When the sun goes down
I’m trouble bound

You see that girl lookin’ fine fine fine
I’m gonna throw her a good time line
If she bitеs I’ll reel her in
But if she don’t I’ll throw my line again

I’m old еnough to know the score
But I’m young enough to want more more more

And I don’t think twice
When the sun goes down
I’m trouble bound

You see that girl lookin’ fine fine fine
I’m gonna throw her a good time line
If she bites I’ll reel her in
But if she don’t I’ll throw my line again

This old world is a tired place
The same sad story on every face
Trying to make a living during the day
Deep in the night I throw it all away

And I don’t think twice
When the sun goes down
I’m trouble bound

…

Tom Petty – Spike

Boys, we got a man with a dog collar on
Maybe we ought to throw old Spike a bone?

This song is not the best song that Petty ever recorded… but it’s fun and I like it. He has a little of a Booker T. and the MG’s vibe going on in the intro.

In the mid-eighties, we would cruise around in my Toyota Celica with a massive sound system and this is one of the songs we would play. The song was on Petty’s Southern Accents album. Tom Petty said it was about: “a really kind of ignorant redneck guy who is kind of shaken up when he sees a punk rocker.”

Southern Accents was his sixth studio album and it was released in 1985. He damaged his hand while making this album. He was frustrated with the song Rebels and listened to the song that the band and he were working on and realized…the demo he made was better. In a fit of frustration, Petty hit the wall a little too hard and severely damaged his bones and tendons. He said: “all of a sudden, I got Mickey Mouse’s hand. I get to the hospital, and it’s so bad that other doctors are being called in like, ‘hey, get a load of this’. I had to be given electro-shock therapy. The electrodes would force my hand to shut because the hand didn’t want to close because it hurt so bad.”

The album was not easy to make. When guitarist Mike Campbell came and played him his progression for a song…Petty scrapped it for something else. Later on, he would regret that decision because the progression turned out to be Boys of Summer which would become a massive hit for Don Henley.

Petty had wanted to make an album about the South because he was from Florida. That went out the window when he got to the studio but still did incorporate some into the songs. The album didn’t end up like Petty intended but he became really proud of the album because of all the hardships involved in making it.

The album peaked at #7 in the Billboard Album Charts, #16 in Canada (from what I found), #23 in the UK, and #25 in New Zealand in 1985.

Spike

Look out, another one, just like the other ones
Another bad-ass, another troublemaker
I’m scared, ain’t you boys scared?
I wonder if he’s gonna show us what bad is?
Boys, we got a man with a dog collar on
Maybe we ought to throw old Spike a bone?

Make me say

Here’s another misfit, another Jimmy Dean
Bet he’s got a motorbike, what do y’all think?
Bet if we be good we get a ride on it
If he ain’t too mad about the future
Maybe we ought to help him see
The future ain’t what it used to be

Listen
Hey Spike, what do you like?
Hey Spike, what do you like?

Oh, I say

Hey Spike, what do you like?
Hey Spike, you’re scaring my wife
Hey Spike, tell us about life
Could you tell me about life?
I might need need a dog collar too, boy
He might make me say say
I might say, might say

Graham Parker – Wake Up (Next to You)

I’ve been listening to a lot of Graham Parker since last May when I posted his debut album Howlin’ Wind. If I had to compare him with someone…it would be Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson but with a touch of Van Morrison and The Band sprinkled in here and there.

In an interview, Parker revealed that the inspiration for the song came from his own personal experience. He was deeply in love with his wife at the time and wanted to express his love for her through his music. The song was written in just 20 minutes. He said he wanted to emulate Smokey Robinson on this song.

The song was released in 1985 and is the only Parker song to get into the Billboard Top 40. The song was on the album Steady Nerves. Parker wanted William Whittman as producer but his record company Electra did not like that choice. They went into the studio just to do a few tracks as a test and they sent Electra this track…and they approved Whittman.

Whittman was no slouch… As a producer and engineer his credits include Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne, The Hooters, and The Outfield. He also played bass in the Cyndi Lauper Band, recording and touring internationally, and also serves as the Musical Director.

The song has a nice feel to it. It’s been covered by David Bowie and Elvis Costello just to name a few.

The song peaked at #39 on the Billboard 100 and #94 in Canada in 1985. Graham Parker didn’t use Rumour as his backing band on this one. His backing band on this album included Brinsley Schwarz, George Small, Kevin Jenkins, Mike Braun, and Huw Gower.

Wake Up (Next To You)

I can’t have no objection to the world outside
I don’t have no complaints against life’s one way ride
I know I’m sleeping with an angel and this devil’s in luck
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up

I’ve been dreaming for too long
I guess something’s always wrong unless I
Wake up next to you
I wanna wake up next to you

The summer’s left a spell on us, magic and gold
The tarmac’s cracked and shimmering up on the road
I know I’m walking with an angel down a hot avenue
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up

I’ve been dreaming for too long
I guess something’s always wrong unless I
Wake up next to you, I wanna wake up
Wake up next to you

You know what I’m gonna do
I’m gonna pick up the telephone right now
And I’m gonna call Information
And I’ll say to them

“Where is she right now?
‘Cause I want her and I need her”
And I wanna hear her say
“Hey, baby, wake up”

Wake up next to you, I’m wanna wake up
Wake up next to you

Where is she right now?
‘Cause I want her and I need her
And I wanna hear her say

Wake up, wake up, wake up
Gonna wake up, wake up, wake up
Gonna wake up, wake up, wake up
Gonna wake up, wake up, wake up

Red Rider – Lunatic Fringe

When I first heard the song the first thing I thought of…love that guitar tone! Some people have falsely said it was about Lennon’s murder but it was already written by then.

Red Rider was a Canadian band that had a lot of success in Canada but this song is their best-known song in the United States. They were known as Red Rider and later Tom Cochrane and Red Rider. They lasted until 1990 and reformed in 2002 and are still together with three original members including Cochrane.

This song was released in 1981. It starts off very ominous until a great-sounding guitar comes in and plays the main riff. The demo of this song was recorded on the night John Lennon was murdered.

Cochrane said the record company stated it wasn’t commercial enough but Lennon’s death made him want to release it all the more because Lennon echoed the song’s meaning. “It just hit me like a ton of bricks and I thought, here’s a guy that always wore his heart on his sleeve. For better, for worse, these lyrics are going to stand. I didn’t think the song would see the light of day because it was just so different, so unique. I’m very proud of this song. It’s probably one of the more unique pieces of music I’ve ever written.”

Tom Cochrane said he wrote this song about the oppression of people. He was inspired by a book about Raoul Wallenberg who rescued Jewish people from the Holocaust during the Second World War.

The song peaked at #11 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1981.

Tom Cochrane: “Everybody was saying, ‘What are these lyrics? These are way too heavy for rock and roll. Why don’t you just get down to writing a pop song? Just write some pop lyrics and let’s get on with it.’ And I thought, ‘No, this is important to say.’ The song speaks out against racism, it speaks out against a number of things, and it topically is current today, I suppose, as it was back then in some ways. It’s about being vigilant, about our freedom.”

“Lunatic Fringe”

Lunatic fringe
I know you’re out there
You’re in hiding
And you hold your meetings
I can hear you coming
I know what you’re after
We’re wise to you this time (wise to you this time)
We won’t let you kill the laughterOh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

Lunatic fringe
In the twilight’s last gleaming
But this is open season
But you won’t get too far
‘Cause you’ve got to blame someone
For your own confusion
We’re on guard this time (on guard this time)
Against your final solution

Oh no

Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

We can hear you coming (we can hear you coming)
No, you’re not going to win this time (not gonna win)
We can hear the footsteps (we can hear the footsteps)
Hey, out along the walkway (out along the walkway)

Lunatic fringe
We all know you’re out there
Can you feel the resistance
Can you feel the thunder

Oh no

Hey!

John Mellencamp – Paper in Fire

After Mellencamp hit with the song Hurt So Good and Jack and Diane…the rest of the 80s he took advantage of the opportunity that he got. The radio constantly played him and to be truthful…I took him for granted. Next album…more hits…it just seemed natural. He is one of the very few artists I liked in the 80s that was constantly in the top 20. This song grew on me as time went by.

John Mellencamp was releasing quality songs in the eighties that were timeless. This song was on his album The Lonesome Jubilee which was released in 1987. When he wrote this he was tremendously popular but he had some downs in his personal life. His uncle and grandfather had recently died, and many of his friends were getting divorced. He made the statement “It’s horrible to think you’ve gotta be a miserable son of a bitch to write a good song, but I guess that’s kind of the way it works sometimes.”

The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, #16 in New Zealand, and #86 in the UK….the heartland rockers didn’t translate as well in the UK at the time. That includes Petty, Mellencamp, and even Springsteen.

The video was shot outside of a house on a dirt road in Savannah, Georgia. Mellencamp wanted to show poverty in America to go along with the social commentary in the song, and also explore racism – the extras in the video are black. His next video – for “Hard Times For An Honest Man” – was also shot in Savannah.

Paper In Fire

She had a dream
And boy it was a good one
So she chased after her dream
With much desire
But when she get too close
To her expectations
Well the dream burned up
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

He wanted love
With no involvement
So he chased the wind
That’s all his silly life required
And the days of vanity
Went on forever
And he saw his days burn up
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

There’s a good life
Right across the green fields
And each generation
Stares at it from afar
But we keep no check
On our appetites
So the green fields turn to brown
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire