Livin’ with my back against the wall nowhere but forward to fall
The song reminds me of something Ronnie Lane of the Faces would write…in the vein of Oh La La. A loose song that could be played on a back porch somewhere in the south. This was an album cut that I first found on their greatest hits. It’s slowly became my favorite song by this Georgia band.
I remember being a senior in high school and watching one of my buddies band play in a talent show right before us. They played “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” and it sounded great. That song was made for a rock band…any rock band and I asked him if they wrote it. He said no they had an advance copy of the song or bootleg. I’ve liked this band ever since. They were a no frills raw rock band in the middle of the sometimes over produced 80s…a band I followed until they broke up.
The song was released on the album In the Land of Salvation and Sin but wasn’t released as a single and it probably should have been. Their popularity was down at this point and the album didn’t do well. They broke up in 1990 and reformed in 1993 but without lead singer Dan Baird.
Another Chance
Livin’ with my back against the wall nowhere but forward to fall well I close my eyes, somebody will catch my breath oh my lord let’s get on board the rides gonna scare me to death
I don’t wanna leave before my time is done don’t wanna stick around when my race is run I don’t wanna go before they call my dance don’t wanna die asking for another chance
come help me Poor Richard and won’t you help me raise the glass here’s to me and here’s to you may our dreams all come to pass cruel trick of time, is played in the wink of an eye well heaven’s above you don’t need no shove the years go sailing bye, oh
I don’t wanna leave before my time is done don’t wanna stick around when my race is run I don’t wanna go before they call my dance don’t wanna die asking for another chance
another game of chance a lifetime come and gone I guess it’s up to me if I don’t want to sing another man’s song I wanna say what Grandma said, lying on her dying bed I ain’t been cheated, no mistreated, and I don’t have to say that yet, oh
I don’t wanna leave before my time is done don’t wanna stick around when my race is run I don’t wanna go before they call my dance don’t wanna die asking for another chance another chance no not another chance no no another chance
How young are you? How old am I? Let’s count the rings around my eyes
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 on this song. Paul Westerberg wrote the song and plays mandolin.
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.
The song has been included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Paul Westerberg:”I Will Dare” [From Let It Be] might have been an answer to ”I Will Follow” [by U2]. Part of it has to do with the band. We’ll dare to flop, we’ll dare to do anything. ”I Will Dare” was a good slogan for a Replacements single. Every song title, if it doesn’t apply to the band in some way, we cannot use it. On the other hand, it was a kind of love song. ”Ditch the creep and I’ll meet you later. I don’t care, I will dare.”
I Will Dare
How young are you? How old am I? Let’s count the rings around my eyes
How smart are you? How dumb am I? Don’t count any of my advice
Oh, meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now I don’t care, meet me tonight If you will dare, I might dare
Call me on Thursday, if you will Or call me on Wednesday, better still Ain’t lost yet, so I gotta be a winner Fingernails and a cigarette’s a lousy dinner Young, are you? Wo oo
C’mon meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight If you will dare, I will dare Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now, I don’t care, meet me tonight If you will dare, I will dare
How young are you? How old am I? Let’s count the rings around my eyes
How smart are you? How smart are you? How dumb am I? Dumb am I
Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now I don’t care, meet me tonight If you would dare, I would dare Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime Now I don’t care, meet me tonight If you will dare, I will dare
I had a friend who raved about Robbie’s new album in the 80s. He said he liked it better than the Bands music…I would never…ever go that far but… I did like it. Listening to this song, it took me a few listens to like it. In fact the first time I heard it I thought…this is repetitive…but after that I could not get enough of it. The back up vocal is great.
It reminds me of a narration for a movie and then Robbie goes into the chorus and the song clicks then.
Robertson enlisted fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois as co-producer of the album. The self titled album Robbie Robertson was a decent comeback for Robbie.
Robertson also brought in The BoDeans to provide group vocals for some of the tracks on the album
The song peaked at #24 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, #91 in Canada, and #15 in the UK in 1988.
The Robbie Robertson album won the 1989 Juno Award for Album of the Year. Lanois and Robertson jointly won the Producer of the Year Juno award at the same ceremony.
From Songfacts
A single from Robbie Robertson’s eponymous debut album, the song finds the former Band’s guitarist singing of the levee life in the Deep South.
RLanois told Exclaim! magazine that the song started with the “Somewhere Down the Crazy River,” title. It was a line that Robertson came up with when he was telling the producer about hanging out with former Band colleague Levon Helm in his old Arkansas neighborhood. “He was telling me about the hot nights and fishing with dynamite,” he recalled. “I was curious about his stories because I wanted them to be on that record… It’s kind of like a guy with a deep voice telling you about steaming nights in Arkansas.”
Robbie Robertson wrote the song with Martin Page (“These Dreams,” “We Built This City”). He recalled the time spent with Robertson in an interview with us. “With Robbie, you were really dealing with a song craftsman who would take as long as it took to piece a great piece of music together with great, great atmosphere,” he said. Obviously, his time with Bob Dylan had influenced him.”
“My period with Robbie Robertson was very, very long,” Page added. “I’d bring in ideas and he’d mull over it and we’d experiment and experiment and experiment. But he would encourage me in the way I would sing these demos for him and I would guide him with the demo, then leave him alone.”
Somewhere Down The Crazy River
Yeah, I can see it now The distant red neon shivered in the heat I was feeling like a stranger in a strange land You know, where people play games with the night God, it was too hot to sleep
I followed the sound of a jukebox coming from up the levee All of a sudden, I could hear somebody whistling from right behind me I turned around, and she said “Why do you always end up down at Nick’s Cafe?” I said, “Uh, I don’t know, the wind just kinda pushed me this way” She said, “Hang the rich”
Catch the blue train Places never been before Look for me Somewhere down the crazy river (Somewhere down the crazy river) Ooh, catch the blue train All the way to Kokomo You can find me Somewhere down the crazy river (Somewhere down the crazy river)
Take a picture of this The fields are empty, abandoned ’59 Chevy Laying in the back seat listening to Little Willie John Yeah, that’s when time stood still You know, I think I’m gonna go down to Madam X And let her read my mind She said, “That voodoo stuff don’t do nothing for me”
I’m a man with a clear destination I’m a man with a broad imagination You fog the mind, you stir the soul I can’t find no control
Catch the blue train Places never been before Look for me Somewhere down the crazy river (Somewhere down the crazy river) Ooh, catch the blue train All the way to Kokomo You can find me Somewhere down the crazy river (Somewhere down the crazy river)
Wait, did you hear that? Oh, this is sure stirring up some ghosts for me She said, “There’s one thing you gotta learn Is not to be afraid of it” I said, “No, I like it, I like it, it’s good” She said, “You like it now But you’ll learn to love it later”
I been spellbound Falling in trances I been spellbound Falling in trances You give me the shivers Chills and fever You give me the shivers You give me the shivers I been spellbound I been spellbound I been spellbound (Somewhere down the crazy river) Somewhere down the crazy river
This is song by the one and only AC/DC called Hells Bells.
AC/DC recorded this a few months after lead singer Bon Scott died of acute alcohol poisoning after a night of heavy drinking. The album is a tribute to him, with new singer, Brian Johnson, on vocals.
This is the first track on Back In Black, AC/DC’s biggest album. In tribute to Bon Scott, it starts off with the bell tolling four times before the guitar riff comes in. The bell rings another nine times, gradually fading out. When played live, Brian Johnson would strike the bell.
Back In Black peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada and The UK in 1980.
Brian Johnson on writing the song:“I don’t believe in God or Heaven or Hell. But something happened. We had these little rooms like cells with a bed and a toilet, no TVs. I had this big sheet of paper and I had to write some words. I was going, ‘oh f–k.’ and I’ll never forget, I just went (scribbles frantically as if his hand is possessed). I started writing and never stopped. And that was it, hells Bells. I had a bottle of whisky and I went (generous gulps). I kept the light on all night, man.”
From Songfacts
You don’t honor Bon Scott’s memory with a bell from a sound effects reel, so the band needed a real bell, and a big one. The first attempt to record the bell took place in Leicestershire, England at the Carillon and War Memorial Museum. This proved insufficient, so the band commissioned a one-ton bronze bell from a local foundry that they would also use on stage.
The bell wasn’t ready in time for recording, however, so the manufacturer (John Taylor Bellfounders) arranged for them to record a similar bell at a nearby church. According to engineer Tony Platt, that didn’t go well, as there were birds living in the bell, so when they rang it they also got the fluttering of wings (the birds would retreat back inside the bell after the toll).
They decided to use the bell that was in production, so they borrowed a mobile recording unit owned by Ronnie Laine and wheeled it into the foundry. The bell was hung on a block and tackle and struck by the man who built it.
Because of the harmonics, bells are not easy to record, so Platt placed about 15 microphones with various dynamics in different locations around the foundry to record the sounds. Once it was on tape, Platt brought the recordings to Electric Lady Studios in New York, where he and producer Mutt Lange chose the right combination of bell sounds, put a mix together, and slowed it down to half speed so the one-ton bell would sound like a more ominous two-ton bell. This was integrated into the mix, and the song was completed. Listeners with very sharp ears will notice that the bell when chimed live is an octave higher than than it is on the recording.
This was one of the first songs regularly played as entrance music for a Major League Baseball relief pitcher. In the ’90s, the bells signaled the entrance of San Diego Padres relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman. This bit of home team intimidation was copied throughout the league, most famously by the New York Yankees, who appropriated Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” as Mariano Rivera’s entrance music.
The concept of relief pitcher entrance music was introduced in the 1989 movie Major League, where Charlie Sheen’s character comes in to “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. A few years later, The Philadelphia Phillies played that song when their pitcher Mitch Williams would come in from the bullpen.
There is an all-female AC/DC tribute band in Seattle called Hell’s Belles.
The term “Hell’s Bells” is an exclamation of surprise, although in the context of this song, it is used to conjure up images of the underworld and the feeling of raising hell – something Bon Scott was known for.
The album was produced by John “Mutt” Lange, who also helmed the previous AC/DC album, Highway to Hell. Lange went on quite a run after Back In Black, producing the Foreigner album 4 (1981) and the Def Leppard albums High ‘N’ Dry (1981) and Pyromania (1983).
At University of North Carolina football games, this song is played at the start of the fourth quarter.
Johnson told Q magazine how this song played a part in rescuing imprisoned Black Hawk Down pilot Michael Durant following the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993. He recalled: “That was the best one. He was shoved in prison, his back was broken. They were kicking him, shooting bullets into him and he was terrified. His pals knew that AC/DC was his favorite band so they hooked up a speaker to the skid of one of the Black Hawks and they were playing ‘Hells Bells’ over the rooftops. He took his shirt off and- cos his legs were broken- he crawled up to the windows and waved his shirt. That’s how they got him out. Ain’t that amazing!”
Since this song specifically is a tribute to the late Bon Scott, it’s probably a good idea to mention that a statue of him was unveiled in 2008 in Fremantle, Western Australia. Here’s a little video tour of the statue.
At the same time, as soon as the first lyric is heard, it is unmistakable that the band could not have found a better replacement than Brian Johnson. Johnson puts a manic rage into every syllable and an unearthly howl on the chorus, making a song with scarily sacrilegious lyrics even scarier. By the way, that hat he wears onstage was his brother’s idea, to help Brian Johnson keep the sweat out of his eyes. His brother loaned it to him and never got it back.
Four years after this song, Metallica released “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” which also opens with a bell. Theirs came from a sound effects library.
Hells Bells
I’m a rolling thunder, a pouring rain I’m comin’ on like a hurricane My lightning’s flashing across the sky You’re only young but you’re gonna die
I won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives Nobody’s putting up a fight I got my bell, I’m gonna take you to hell I’m gonna get you, Satan get you
Hell’s bells Yeah, hell’s bells You got me ringing hell’s bells My temperature’s high, hell’s bells
I’ll give you black sensations up and down your spine If you’re into evil you’re a friend of mine See my white light flashing as I split the night Cause if good’s on the left, Then I’m stickin’ to the right
I won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives Nobody’s puttin’ up a fight I got my bell, I’m gonna take you to hell I’m gonna get you, Satan get you
Hell’s bells Yeah, hell’s bells You got me ringing hell’s bells My temperature’s high, hell’s bells
Yeow
Hell’s bells, Satan’s comin’ to you Hell’s bells, he’s ringing them now Hell’s bells, the temperature’s high Hell’s bells, across the sky Hell’s bells, they’re takin’ you down Hell’s bells, they’re draggin’ you around Hell’s bells, gonna split the night Hell’s bells, there’s no way to fight, yeah
Bruce Hornsby is an excellent musician. I remember him breaking out in the mid eighties. He also played keyboards for the Grateful Dead off and on in the early nineties after the Dead’s keyboardist Brent Mydland. died.
It’s a strange song to become a #1 because it doesn’t have a big catchy chorus…instead it has a jazz feel that carries the song. When I heard it a couple of times I loved it.
Bruce Hornsby said this song deals with the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. The line in the lyrics that mentions “The law passed in ’64” is the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law was supposed to prohibit discrimination in public places, the government and employment.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, in Canada, #15 in the UK, and #23 in New Zealand in 1986. The song came off the album of the same name and it peaked at #3 in the Billboard Album Charts. the album produced 3 songs in the top twenty.
Bruce Hornsby on growing up in Virginia: “My mother came from the New England area, and she was a little more enlightened about racial subjects than a lot of people in the South. So I had a different attitude to a lot of my friends whose parents were more conservative.”
When I was brought up, the vibe I got of Martin Luther King in my town was that he was a real evil man – just the vibe in the air, that he was terrible. And if you grow up in that environment you can’t help but be affected by it a little bit. Luckily, I came from a family that guarded us against that conservatism, but sure, I grew up in the thick of all that bad feeling.”
From Songfacts
The lyrics in this song deal with the need to resist complacency and never resign yourself to racial injustice as the status quo.
With a consistent tempo and a jazz-inflected sound, it appealed to a more adult audience and added a welcome diversity to Top 40 playlists that were dominated by uptempo, synth-driven songs. It was a song grown-ups loved and their kids could tolerate, reaching the top of both the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts.
Hornsby had been working as a staff songwriter for years with no luck getting a record deal. With his attempts to appeal to popular taste falling short, he decided to make a demo of songs in his own style – ECM jazz – and included this track. He sent the demo to a new label called Windham Hill, which specialized in vocal groups. They offered him a deal, but so did some major labels that also got a hold of it. Hornsby signed with RCA because they offered him creative freedom. They were rewarded when this song and the album became huge hits.
The conservative radio host Sean Hannity used an instrumental portion of this song as his show’s theme for many years. Hornsby, a liberal democrat, had vastly different political views, but there was nothing he could do about Hannity using the song as long as royalties were paid.
The Way It is
Standing in line, marking time Waiting for the welfare dime ‘Cause they can’t buy a job The man in the silk suit hurries by As he catches the poor old ladies’ eyes Just for fun he says, “get a job”
That’s just the way it is Some things will never change That’s just the way it is Ah, but don’t you believe them
Said, hey little boy you can’t go where the others go ‘Cause you don’t look like they do Said, hey old man how can you stand To think that way Did you really think about it Before you made the rules?
He said, “son That’s just the way it is Some things will never change That’s just the way it is Ah, but don’t you believe them”
Oh yeah
(That’s just the way it is)
(That’s just the way it is) well, they passed a law in ’64 To give those who ain’t got a little more But it only goes so far Because the law don’t change another’s mind When all it sees at the hiring time Is the line on the color bar, no, no
That’s just the way it is And some things will never change That’s just the way it is That’s just the way it is, it is, it is, it is
I heard this song in Jr High and couldn’t help but like it. It has a very good melody and is a really good pop song.
The song was written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson and was on the album Famous Last Words in 1982. The album peaked at #5 in the Billboard album charts, #1 in Canada, and #6 in the UK in 1982.
The song peaked at #11 in the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, and #26 in the UK
At the end of the song they repeat a nursery rhyme called “It’s Raining, It’s Pouring”.
Roger Hodgson: I wrote It’s Raining Again on a day when I was feeling sad because I’d lost a friend. I was in England looking outside the window and it was pouring rain and literally, the song came to me. I started playing these chords on this pump organ and I just started singing It’s Raining Again.
The first version of it was much slower and more melancholy and then when I recorded it with Supertramp I decided to increase the tempo and it was more upbeat.So it’s another of my songs witha sad lyric set to up upbeat melody.
The five members of Supertramp all appear in the video. At the beginning, John Helliwell is a street musician playing an alto saxophone. Before the first chorus, Dougie Thomson appears as the bus driver (this was the last filmed video where Thomson would appear with his then trademark moustache and beard). Hodgson plays the guitar-playing bus passenger. Lastly, Rick Davies and Bob Siebenberg play the two pickup truck rednecks.
It’s Raining Again
It’s raining again Oh no, my love’s at an end. Oh no, it’s raining again and you know it’s hard to pretend. Oh no, it’s raining again Too bad I’m losing a friend. Oh no, it’s raining again Oh will my heart ever mend. Oh no, it’s raining again You’re old enough some people say To read the signs and walk away It’s only time that heals the pain And makes the sun come out again It’s raining again Oh no, my love’s at an end. Oh no, it’s raining again Too bad I’m losing a friend.
C’mon you little fighter No need to get uptighter C’mon you little fighter And get back up again Oh get back up again Fill your heart again…
I like original people…Andy was that completely. This post is a little long…for me.
He covered the bases…Mighty Mouse, Foreign Man, wrestling women, Elvis Impersonator (I think the best), Tony Clifton, bongo player, Great Gatsby reader and generally pissing people off, boring them or making them laugh. He was a performance artist – a comedian who sometimes was uncomfortable to watch but great as well. He was not a joke comedian…not remotely close.
I remember seeing him on a clip from the Tonight Show… as the very innocent childlike foreign man talking for a while and doing terrible celebrity impersonations and then suddenly shedding that character like a used coat and did Elvis impersonation…no, he WAS Elvis… I’ve read where Elvis said that Andy was his favorite impersonator but whether that is true or not I don’t know.
His first SNL performance… All he did was to get on stage with a record player playing the “Mighty Mouse” theme and mime along in certain spots. He made it work. He was only doing what he did growing up alone in his room as a child…he translated that to a national audience.
He loved to be the bad guy… At his performances, he would sometimes threaten to read the Great Gatsby…the complete book…just to piss everyone off…He would read a chapter or so and then ask the crowd if they wanted to hear some music from his record player….the audience, thinking of Mighty Mouse would applaud and he then would start playing a record of him reading The Great Gatsby from where he left off right before.
Andy grew up loving wrestling. After he achieved his fame he started to wrestle…wrestle women. I’m sure many people at the time were baffled.
That led to the infamous guest shot on The David Letterman Show with wrestler Jerry Lawler in 1982. Jerry slapped Andy off a chair who had a neck brace on already…at the time people really bought into it. Lawler says he still gets hate mail to this day from people who think he caused Andy’s death. Of course, both planned this and they were friends.
A couple of years before his death he made a film with Fred Blassie… a wrestler Andy admired. He filmed it at a restaurant and called it “Breakfast with Blassie.”
Andy once played Carnegie Hall and took the entire audience out afterward for milk and cookies. Being Andy, some probably didn’t believe it but he had 20 buses waiting outside for them and they all went to have milk and cookies.
He will be remembered best for Taxi and his character Latka Gravas. It amazes me that he was on Taxi…that he was on any normal show…though Taxi was great…It worked out well that they found a place for Andy’s foreign man character…but Andy wasn’t always happy being on the show.
He also had an alter ego character he played called Tony Clifton. Tony was a loud, obnoxious. sleazy lounge singer that would rip the audience. Usually, the person getting ripped was Andy’s writing partner and friend Bob Zmuda. Later on, to really mess with people’s minds…Andy had Bob to play Tony Clifton and they would appear together. “Tony Clifton” even got himself thrown off of the Taxi set.
Some people loved Andy, some hated him, some thought he was irritating and some all three. I just appreciated the fact he was different.
Andy died in 1984…or did he? Bob Zmuda has said that Andy did say he was going to fake his death and said that he actually helped Andy plan it. More people have come forward saying the same thing. Every few years we get an Andy sighting in Albuquerque or somewhere else. No, I don’t believe he did fake it…but hey I would love if he popped up well and alive anytime in the future. The world needs original people. You know he would be loving the rumors about him being alive…if he is alive or not.
REM had a song that was based on Andy called Man on the Moon. It was about questioning everything like the Moon landing, Elvis dying, religion, Andy dying and etc… from REM’s bassist Mike Mills “He’s the perfect ghost to lead you through this tour of questioning things. Did the moon landing really happen? Is Elvis really dead? He was kind of an ephemeral figure at that point so he was the perfect guy to tie all this stuff together as you journey through childhood and touchstones of life.”
In 1999 a movie called Man on the Moon starring Jim Carrey was released about Andy’s life. I went to see it when it came out and enjoyed it. I’m not sure how close Carrey got to Andy’s non-public side because of course, I didn’t know him. Marilu Henner said that he was a warmer person than the movie portrayed and Judd Hirsch said that while not performing, Andy was a very normal, quiet guy but Judd admits he really didn’t know him. I do think Carrey did a good job portraying him.
I like one of a kind people like Andy Kaufman and Keith Moon. Expect the unexpected…it keeps life interesting.
I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
This song is super likable…when I hear it..it makes me want to see Vacation…again. It’s hard to believe this wasn’t a larger hit.
This is a great road song, Lindsey Buckingham wrote “Holiday Road” for the 1983 Chevy Chase movie National Lampoon’s Vacation, where it plays over the opening credits.
This song was used in all of the Vacation sequels… National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), Vegas Vacation (1997) and Vacation (2015). In 2015 movie, three different versions are used: the original, and a cover by Matt Pond, and a version by The Zac Brown Band.
The song peaked at #82 in the Billboard 100 in 1983.
Lindsey Buckingham:Obviously, I knew it had to be somewhat uplifting and a little bit funny, which it is, but somehow we nailed it beyond his expectations certainly. He was like, “Holy crap.” A lot of that was just luck. Then when I got asked to do the title song for Ghostbusters, I said, “Nah, you know, I did this really well once. It’s not something I want to get into as a repetitive part of my identity.”
From Songfacts
National Lampoon’s Vacation follows the misadventures of the Griswold family as they set out from Illinois to California in the trusty station wagon en route to Wally World. The film did very well, helping to popularize this song.
In his work with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, Buckingham wrote songs of depth and meaning. “Holiday Road” allowed him to step outside of these constraints to compose a simple, jaunty song with no relation to his other work. He kept it simple; the chorus is simply the words “holiday road” repeated four times, and the verses are very basic:
I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Take a ride on the West Coast kick
I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
Buckingham could come off as serene (as he was portrayed on Saturday Night Live), but this song showed he had a healthy sense of humor.
Fleetwood Mac was on hiatus when Buckingham released this song. He had already released one solo album, Law and Order (1981), which contains the #9 hit “Trouble.” His next album, Go Insane, was released in 1984 with a title track that reached #23. But ask just about anyone to name one of his solo songs, and they will likely recall “Holiday Road,” which thanks to the Vacation movies became his most popular song.
In 2015, this was used in a commercial for the Infinity QX60 that spoofs a scene where Chevy Chase ogles Christie Brinkley who drives past him in a convertible. In the spot, Brinkley is a passenger in the family car, and she chastises her husband for checking out a girl who drives past him. “Honey, a blonde in a convertible, seriously?,” she says.
Holiday Road
I found out long ago It’s a long way down the holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Take a ride on the West Coast kick Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
I found out long ago It’s a long way down the holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
Many Steve Miller songs I have heard too many times. This one hasn’t been worn out…at least not to me. Heart Like a Wheel came out in 1981 on the Circle of Love album. A great thin guitar sound on this song. The guitar makes the song to me.
Steve started his career more blues-oriented but with “The Joker” in 1973 started in a more pop/rock direction. If you listen to his music in the late sixties and early seventies it sounds completely different than this.
This song peaked at #24 on the Billboard 100 and #17 in Canada in 1981. Steve’s lyrics won’t ever be confused with Bob Dylan’s but the man can write a catchy pop/rock hook.
“Heart Like A Wheel”
I’ve got a heart like a wheel Feel like I got to roll Ooohh
Heart like a wheel I told you so And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
Well, I can give what I take And you know I want to give you my love Babe I ain’t faking You know I want to give you my love
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so Come on and roll
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
It takes two to make love It takes love to make a family real I got to know what you need I got to know what you really feel
And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so Come on and roll
You know it’s such a pity If you’re going to get the summertime blues Lovers everywhere are pairing off two by twos
And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
I hope everyone is having a happy Monday…at least as happy as it can be.
I heard early REM albums from friends. They really made an impact with college kids and built a following. Then they released The One I Love and the dam burst. This song took it a step higher.
Peter Buck has commented that after this song’s success that the bands popularity soared. He mentioned that R.E.M. went from a respected band with a cult following to one of the biggest bands in the world.
This song was released in 1991 and on their Out of Time album. The song did very well. It peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, #19, and #16 in New Zealand in 1991.
The title is based on the Southern expression “lost my religion,” meaning something has challenged your faith to such a degree you might lose your religion or cool.
REM was surprised when their record label chose this song as the first single from Out Of Time. Running 4:28 with no chorus and a mandolin for a lead instrument, it didn’t seem like hit material, but it ended up being the biggest hit of their career.
Michael Stipe revealed the lyrics about obsessional love were heavily influenced by The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” which he called “the most beautiful, kind of creepy song.”
This won the Grammy in 1991 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
Peter Buck:“The music was written in five minutes. The first time the band played it, it fell into place perfectly. Michael had the lyrics within the hour, and while playing the song for the third or fourth time, I found my self incredibly moved to hear the vocals in conjunction with the music. To me, ‘Losing My Religion’ feels like some kind archetype that was floating around in space that we managed to lasso. If only all songwriting was this easy.”
From Songfacts
R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe wrote the lyrics, which he has said are about “obsession” and “unrequited love,” which is powerful and dangerous combination. Throughout the song, he is baring his soul, searching for hidden meaning and hopeful signs, but driving himself mad in the process.
“I love the idea of writing a song about unrequited love,” he told Top 2000 a gogo. “About holding back, reaching forward, and then pulling back again. The thing for me that is most thrilling is you don’t know if the person I’m reaching out for is aware of me. If they even know I exist. It’s this really tearful, heartfelt thing that found its way into one of the best pieces of music the band ever gave me.”
This song has its origins in guitarist Peter Buck’s efforts to try learn to play the mandolin. When he played back recordings of his first attempts, he heard the riff and thought it might make a good basis for a song. Explaining how the song came together musically, Buck told Guitar School in 1991: “I started it on mandolin and came up with the riff and chorus. The verses are the kinds of things R.E.M. uses a lot, going from one minor to another, kind of like those ‘Driver 8’ chords. You can’t really say anything bad about E minor, A minor, D, and G – I mean, they’re just good chords.
We then worked it up in the studio – it was written with electric bass, drums, and mandolin. So it had a hollow feel to it. There’s absolutely no midrange on it, just low end and high end, because Mike usually stayed pretty low on the bass. This was when we decided we’d get Peter (Holsapple) to record with us, and he played live acoustic guitar on this one. It was really cool: Peter and I would be in our little booth, sweating away, and Bill and Mike would be out there in the other room going at it. It just had a really magical feel.
And I’m proud to say every bit of mandolin on the record was recorded live – I did no overdubbing. If you listen closely, on one of the verses there’s a place where I muffled it, and I thought, well, I can’t go back and punch it up, because it’s supposed to be a live track. That was the whole idea.”
The video was directed by Tarsem Singh, who also did En Vogue’s “Hold On” and the Jennifer Lopez movie The Cell. It’s a very ambitious video filled with striking, vivid, biblical imagery.
The concept is based in part on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. The novel tells the story of an angel who falls down from heaven and is displayed for profit as a “freak show.” Michael Stipe is a big Marquez fan and the whole idea of obsession and unrequited love is the central theme of the author’s masterpiece, Love in the Time of Cholera. The first line of that novel is: “It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”
Michael Stipe’s dancing ties the video together as he moves like he is in the throes of revelation, a contrast to all the other characters who are barely moving. He wasn’t supposed to dance: The treatment had him singing lines from various poses, but when they shot it that way, it didn’t work at all. This put director Tarsem Singh’s grand production in jeopardy; he was so upset, he went to the bathroom and threw up. When he emerged, Stipe said, “Let me try to dance.”
There was no choreography – Stipe just let the spirit move him, and the results were sublime. He says his dancing is a mashup of Sinead O’Connor’s moves in her “The Emperor’s New Clothes” video and David Byrne’s gyrations in his “Once In A Lifetime” performances.
Stipe remembers being hot and bothered when recording his vocal. His heartfelt lyric needed a certain feel that was hard to achieve in the studio, so he recorded a lot of takes. He wasn’t happy with the engineer, who seemed out of it. “I was very upset,” he told Top 2000 a gogo. “I also got really hot because I was all worked up, so I took my clothes off and recorded the song almost naked.”
This was given the working title of “Sugar Cane” when the band demoed it in July 1990 at a studio in Athens.
A common misinterpretation of this song is that it was about John Lennon’s death, with the lyrics, “What if all these fantasies come flailing around” being a reference to Lennon’s last album Double Fantasy.
Michael Stipe took a laid-back approach with this song: “I remember that I sang this in one go with my shirt off. I don’t think any of us had any idea it would ever be … anything,” he noted in Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011. Peter Buck added that Warner Bros. didn’t even want the song as a single, and everyone was surprised when it took off. “It changed our world. We went from selling a few million worldwide with Green to over 10 million. It was in that area where we had never been before which isn’t bad,” he said.
Peter Buck recalled to Uncut: “I bought a mandolin on tour in ’87, I think. It became a good songwriting tool. It never occurred to me to play mandolin in a bluegrass style. For me it was a rock instrument.”
Producer Scott Litt recalled his contribution to Mojo: “I remember mixing ‘Losing My Religion’ at Paisley Park. I had Bill (Berry, drums) nudging up to me and saying, ‘You know, I think the drums could be louder’, and he was spot on. The strings and the vocals are maybe more memorable, but the drums are really important. He’s even doubling the mandolin figure at the beginning. The last mix on that song was ‘drums boosted’ and that became the track.”
When introducing the song during an appearance on MTV Unplugged, Stipe pointed to the audience and said, “This is about you.” Mojo asked him what he meant. He replied shrugging, “No idea. It’s something I said on a night in 1991. I have no idea why I said it. Of course we attach the narrative in a song to the person with the voice, which is me. And so I get that. But it was not autobiographic.”
Artists to cover this song include Tori Amos, Lacuna Coil, Trivium and Swandive. Two versions have charted in America: the Glee Cast took it to #60 in 2010, and Dia Frampton’s version went to #54 in 2011.
The video was the big winner at the MTV Video Music Awards, winning six moonmen, including Video of the Year and Breakthrough Video.
Losing My Religion
(One, two, three, four, one, two)
Oh, life is bigger It’s bigger Than you and you are not me The lengths that I will go to The distance in your eyes Oh no, I’ve said too much I set it up
That’s me in the corner That’s me in the spotlight Losing my religion Trying to keep up with you And I don’t know if I can do it Oh no, I’ve said too much I haven’t said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try
Every whisper Of every waking hour I’m choosing my confessions Trying to keep an eye on you Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool Oh no, I’ve said too much I set it up
Consider this Consider this The hint of the century Consider this The slip That brought me to my knees Failed What if all these fantasies Come flailing around Now I’ve said too much
I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try
But that was just a dream That was just a dream
That’s me in the corner That’s me in the spotlight Losing my religion Trying to keep up with you And I don’t know if I can do it Oh no, I’ve said too much I haven’t said enough
I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try
But that was just a dream Try, cry Fly, try That was just a dream, just a dream, just a dream
I bought this single in 1981 and I still have it somewhere. After the opening chord (Abm) is strummed Gary US Bonds kicks into a very good Springsteen penned song. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100, #15 in Canada, #43 in the UK, and #11 in New Zealand. It came off the album Dedication.
This song was one of my favorite early 80’s hits. You could easily hear Springsteen singing this as well.
Bruce Springsteen, a big fan of Bonds, played his songs at many of his concerts in the ’70s before and after his rise to stardom. Gary had a #1 hit in 1961 with the song Quarter To Three.
. This was a comeback for Bonds and he was backed by members of the E Street Band and The Asbury Jukes. Bonds influenced Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt musically growing up.
I liked this song the first time I heard it…This bouncy song fit’s Gary’s voice and style perfectly.
“This Little Girl (Is Mine)”
Here she comes Walkin’ down the street You know she’s walkin’ just like She’s walkin’ to come and see me Oh, she’s so young and she’s so fine
I know what’s on your mind Know what you want to do But if you mess with her I’m gonna mess with you You better watch your step You better stay in line
This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Well, if the world was mine to do with What I want to do, sir Well I’d wrap it up in a bow And give it all to her, yeah And all my love All of the time You know I’d hold her tight I’d never let her go And late at night You know I’d love her so Yeah, I’d treat her right So she’d never mind
This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine Mine, mine, mine
[Instrumental Interlude]
Hey, you better watch out I’m telling you the score Are you going to be sweepin’ your Broken heart up off the floor Oh, and that ain’t all I’m telling you my friend I know what’s on your mind Know what you wanna do But if you mess with her I’m gonna mess with you You like the way she moves You like to watch her walk You better listen up ‘Cause man this ain’t just talk You better watch yourself You better stay in line
Now, mister I said This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine This little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl
This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine
Yeah, yeah, yeah This little girl is mine Oh-oh, this little girl is mine Oh-oh this little girl This little girl This little girl She’s mine all mine
Now, this little girl is mine Oh-oh this little girl is mine Oh-oh this little girl This little girl This little girl is mine, mine, mine, mine
I’ve been listening to the Replacement recently after I read a post on them by Aphoristical. I listened to them quite a bit in the eighties but lost touch at the end of the decade…
This song is on the band’s 1987 album Pleased To Meet Me. The band was formed in band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979. Skyways are one of Minneapolis’s signature features. They are second-story pedestrian bridges between buildings that are called skywalks or skybridges.
The album peaked at #131 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1987. It’s a gorgeous song…
Paul Westerberg: It’s our own little private song for Minneapolis. They’re basically the sidewalks above the streets, because it’s too cold in the winter to walk, and the businesses, y’know, feel they won’t get people to come downtown. It’s like you can walk for miles and not ever go outside. You can walk around the whole city through the skyway system. And it’s generally the people who are shoppers and [who] work. And so this song was sort of written from the point of a guy who’s like myself who — I don’t go up in the skyways, y’know. [laughs] What do I have to do up there? I never go shopping or anything. So I sit down there and watch the people walk by.
Skyway
You take the skyway, high above the busy little one-way In my stupid hat and gloves, at night I lie awake Wonderin’ if I’ll sleep Wonderin’ if we’ll meet out in the street
But you take the skyway It don’t move at all like a subway It’s got bums when it’s cold like any other place It’s warm up inside Sittin’ down and waitin’ for a ride Beneath the skyway
Oh, then one day, I saw you walkin’ down that little one-way Where, the place I’d catch my ride most everyday There wasn’t a damn thing I could do or say Up in the skyway
Yesterday was John’s birthday 80th birthday…that just doesn’t seem right. He has been gone for 40 years…the same amount that he lived.
I’m Losing You is on the Double Fantasy album released in 1980.
There are two versions of this song that are well known. Co-producer Tom Douglas brought Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos of the band Cheap Trick to play on this song, but it was eventually re-recorded with the studio musicians. That is the version that ended up on the album.
The Rick Nielsen and Ben E. Carlos version was included years later on the John Lennon Anthology Collection released in 1998.
Some say the edgier track with Nielsen and Carlos wasn’t used because Yoko didn’t like the version, the recording didn’t fit in with the rest of the album, or it sounded a little too much like Cold Turkey…a previous song by Lennon. If I had to guess I would say it was because the track would have stood out against the others. Personally I would have went with the Nielsen and Carlos version anyway.
While on vacation in Bermuda during the summer of 1980, Lennon tried to call Yoko Ono but couldn’t get through to her and wrote this song based on his frustration.
Double Fantasy peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, Canada, and The UK in 1981.
From Songfacts
This is a track from Double Fantasy, Lennon’s final album during his lifetime, released only three weeks before his murder. The song resulted from John’s inability to get Yoko on the phone at a time when he feared for their relationship.
Yoko Ono told Q November 2010 that this is one of her favorite Lennon songs. She said: “I’m Losing You is an incredible song. I think as a songwriter, that tops it all. Some of the songs I’m in. But it’s almost like Picasso drawing a lot of his wife because his wife was around. And I was very lucky I was his wife.”
Director Jay Dubin, whose work at the time included commercials for Crazy Eddie’s, was called in to shoot a music video to promote the Double Fantasy album. On August 10, 1980, he brought his team to the Hit Factory studio and captured Lennon performing this song, along with “I’m Moving On” and some cover tunes. The video was abandoned after Lennon’s death a few months later and the footage has never materialized.
Here are the two versions
I’m Losing You
Here in some stranger’s room Late in the afternoon What am I doing here at all? Ain’t no doubt about it I’m losing you I’m losing you
Somehow the wires have crossed Communication’s lost Can’t even get you on the telephone Just got to shout about it I’m losing you I’m losing you
Well, here in the valley of indecision I don’t know what to do I feel you slipping away I feel you slipping away I’m losing you I’m losing you
Well now you say you’re not getting enough But I remind you of all that bad, bad, bad stuff So what the hell am I supposed to do? Just put a band-aid on it? And stop the bleeding now Stop the bleeding now Well…
I’m losing you I’m losing you
Well, well, well I know I hurt you then But hell, that was way back when Well, do you still have to carry that cross? (Drop it!) Don’t wanna hear about it I’m losing you I’m losing you
This is a duet with blues legend B.B. King. American blues musicians were a big influence on U2, and the group had a great admiration for King. I bought Rattle and Hum when it came out and thoroughly enjoyed it. This song and Angel of Harlem sold it enough for me to get it.
In 1987, King played a show in Dublin and found out U2 would be in the audience. U2 had just released The Joshua Tree and were very popular, especially in their native Ireland. After the show, King was honored to meet the band and humbled to find out they were big fans. He asked Bono to think of him sometime when he was writing a song, and later on this was the result.
King performed “When Love Comes to Town” with the band for the first time during their Joshua Tree tour at a concert in Fort Worth, Texas on November 24, 1987. Parts of this show as well as the soundcheck were included in the U2 concert documentary Rattle And Hum, which contains a scene where Bono is rehearsing this with King.
The song peaked at #68 in the Billboard 100, #41 in Canada, and #6 in the UK, and #4 in New Zealand in 1989.
After King died on May 14, 2015, U2 paid tribute to him during a show in Vancouver the following night during the Innocence + Experience Tour by playing “When Love Comes to Town” for the first time in 23 years.
From Songfacts
B.B. King opened for U2 on their 1989 “Lovetown” tour, which went through New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, Germany, and Holland. King joined U2 when they played this, which usually occurred near the end of their set.
The version used on Rattle And Hum was recorded with B.B. King at Sun Studios in Memphis, where King is royalty. This was one of several new songs on the album, which was a combination of live cuts from their 1987 tour and studio recordings.
This was a huge career boost for B.B. King. Although he was revered in the blues community, he wasn’t well known in the world of rock or pop. His association with U2 brought him a huge number of new fans and changed the dynamic of his audience, which became split between blues purists and rock fans who learned about him through U2. Many of King’s older fans did not appreciate the newcomers.
Admiration between King and Bono on this song was mutual; King was amazed that Bono could write such mature lyrics at such a young age, and Bono was blown away by King’s vocal. “I gave it my absolute everything I had in that howl at the start of the song,” Bono said. “Then B.B. opened his mouth, and I felt like a girl.”
This won the MTV Video Music Award for best video from a film in 1989. The video provided B.B. King with his first exposure to the MTV audience.
Near the beginning of their 1989 tour with B.B. King, U2 threw him a surprise birthday party. They invited King on a boat for what he thought was a fishing trip, but as soon as they left shore, they released balloons and sang Happy Birthday. That night, they had a fireworks display in his honor.
This was B.B. King’s biggest hit in the UK.
B.B. King got another career boost when he teamed up with Eric Clapton in 2000 to record an album called Riding With The King. Many blues legends remain in rock obscurity, but his collaborations with U2 and Clapton gave King a higher profile than any blues musician has achieved. After his recording with Clapton, King opened a series of nightclubs under his name. It helped that King remained a skilled guitarist and powerful vocalist into his 60s.
This was included on U2’s compilation, The Best Of 1980-1990.
BB King played his Gibson “Lucille” guitar probably through a Lab Series amp on this song.
Adam Clayton: “We discovered a common bond between us and some of these older artists like B.B. King. When we met him there was a whole world of understanding and nothing needed to be said. That has been the payoff of working ten years to get into this position. We no longer have to prove ourselves. It’s in the music and people can hear it.”
When Love Comes To Town
I was a sailor, I was lost at sea I was under the waves Before love rescued me I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread Now I stand accused of the things I’ve said
Love comes to town I’m gonna jump that train When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town
I used to make love under a red sunset I was making promises I was soon to forget She was pale as the lace of her wedding gown But I left her standing before love came to town
I ran into a juke joint when I heard a guitar scream The notes were turning blue, I was dazing in a dream As the music played I saw my life turn around That was the day before love came to town
When love comes to town I’m gonna jump that train When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town
When love comes to town I’m gonna jump that train When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town
I was there when they crucified my Lord I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword I threw the dice when they pierced his side But I’ve seen love conquer the great divide
When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that train When love comes to town I’m gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town
You May Be Right was released on the Glass Houses album in 1980. I liked this song…it was more of a rock song from Joel.
Glass Houses was more of a rock album than his previous albums. He did that on purpose because he wanted something different than his previous albums The Stranger and 52 Street.
The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #9 in the UK and #6 in New Zealand.
This is the opening track to Billy Joel’s album Glass Houses. Right before the song, there is the sound of shattered glass, to match the cover picture of Joel throwing a rock into the window of an all-glass house…it was a parody of the saying “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” This was Joel’s statement to his critics.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: “It may not be punk — then again, it may be his concept of punk — but Glass Houses is the closest Joel ever got to a pure rock album.”
You May Be Right was the first single released from Glass Houses…The song peaked at #7 in the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, and #23 in New Zealand in 1980.
Billy Joel: “I could have come out with a record that would have guaranteed a certain amount of sales – just by repeating either The Stranger album or the 52nd Street album, by doing something similar,” Frankly, I would have been bored to do that. I would have been a dead duck, career-wise. You have to discard an audience to pick up another one.”
“It’s a definite temptation to repeat a successful formula. But I have never done the same thing twice. I don’t care what anybody says,” “After Stranger, I could have done Son of Stranger, but I’ve never done that. To keep me interested, there always has to be something new, something different.”
From Songfacts
In this song, Joel takes the persona of a guy who is told he is reckless. Joel confirms the suspicion, admitting that he is crazy and extolling the virtues of a more carefree, but dangerous existence.
This was used as the theme song to the TV show Dave’s World, which ran from 1993-1997 on CBS. Like Joel’s “My Life,” Billy didn’t sing the version used on the show. The version of “You May Be Right” on Dave’s World was sung by Southside Johnny.
The Chipmunks covered this song on their 1980 album Chipmunk Punk. Joel says he thought it was great.
Joel tends to prefer his more obscure songs over his hits, but “You May Be Right” is one of his favorites. Speaking with Stephen Colbert in 2017, he listed it as one of his Top 5.
In The Office episode “WUPHF.com” (2010), Michael sings this after Pam tells him Ryan is taking advantage of him. It was also used on Glee (“Movin’ Out” – 2013) and in the movies Girl Most Likely and The Edge Of Seventeen (2016).
You May Be Right
Friday night I crashed your party Saturday I said I’m sorry Sunday came and trashed me out again I was only having fun Wasn’t hurting any one And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change
I’ve been stranded in the combat zone I walked through Bedford Stuy alone Even rode my motorcycle in the rain And you told me not to drive But I made it home alive So you said that only proves that I’m insane
You may be right I may be crazy But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for Turn out the light Don’t try to save me You may be wrong for all I know But you may be right
Remember how I found you there Alone in your electric chair I told you dirty jokes until you smiled You were lonely for a man I said take me as I am ‘Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while
Now think of all the years you tried to Find someone to satisfy you I might be as crazy as you say If I’m crazy then it’s true That it’s all because of you And you wouldn’t want me any other way
You may be right I may be crazy But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for It’s too late to fight It’s too late to change me You may be wrong for all I know But you may be right
You may be right I may be crazy But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for Turn out the light Don’t try to save me You may be wrong for all I know You may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right You may be wrong but you may be right
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 