1980s – Page 36 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

The Clash – Rock The Casbah

When this came out it took me a while to warm up to it… but after a few listens I liked it. They were all over MTV then when they were opening up for the Who’s “farewell” tour.

Clash drummer Topper Headon wrote the music and the original lyrics. After he wrote it he was fired from the band because of drug problems… In the meantime, the song became an enormous hit in the US. In the music video for the song, its original Clash drummer Terry Chimes at the kit (he had returned to replace Headon temporarily).

Joe Strummer decided to take Headon’s lyrics in a different direction. According to former Clash co-manager Kosmo Vinyl, Headon’s original words were a filthy ode to his girlfriend. Joe Strummer wrote the lyrics with a more political bent.

This was The Clash’s biggest US hit, and along with “Train In Vain,” one of only two that reached the Top 40. They had several Top 40 hits in England.

The song peaked at #8 in 1983 in the Billboard 100. The album Combat Rock peaked at #7 in the Billboard Album Charts.

Dave from A Sound Day did a post on this song in January that you can read here.

From Songfacts
The first line of Strummer’s re-written lyrics had a specific genesis: manager Bernie Rhodes was frustrated in the early Combat Rock sessions with every track ending up being really long (stuff like “Straight To Hell” and “Sean Flynn”) and in one session shouted, “Does everything have to be as long as raga?!” Strummer told Rolling Stone shortly before he died in 2002: “I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, ‘The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop.’ I looked at it and for some reason I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in Iran.” This served as inspiration for the rest of the lyrics, about the people defying the Arab ruler (Shareef)’s ban on disco music and “Rocking the Casbah.”

“Casbah” (also spelled “Qasbah” or “Kasbah”) refers to walled areas in many North African towns, especially the one in Algiers. The lyrics use many different terms in humorous context from Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish and Sanskrit language and culture – along with Casbah, there are also Sharifs, Bedouins, Sheikh, kosher, raga and minerets in the song.

In the UK this single was backed on the B-side by “Long Time Jerk,” a song mostly written by bassist Paul Simonon about his then-girlfriend Pearl Harbour. “Jerk” wasn’t available anywhere else until it was included on the expanded Super Black Market Clash rarities compilation in 1993.

The US military used this as a rallying cry when they invaded Iraq in 1991. During Operation Desert Storm, Joe Strummer was irate over the song being one of the most requested on US radio because of the misunderstanding that it was an anti-Iraq in sentiment (a similar fate befell The Cure’s “Killing An Arab”).

With electronic sound effects and an intriguing video, this appealed to Americans more than any other Clash song, but it wasn’t a good representation of the band. For many young people in the US, The Clash were known as a British import with a catchy song, similar to MTV darlings like Thomas Dolby and A Flock of Seagulls. In England they were revered for breaking new ground as rock rebels.

When this became a hit, Joe Strummer considered leaving The Clash. He couldn’t justify singing rebellious songs when the band was rich and successful. In their early years, when they were struggling, their music was sincere, but he felt they were becoming a joke.

When the band broke up in 1985, it was speculated that their plan all along was to break up once they had conquered America, a feat that was achieved by “Rock the Casbah” becoming such a huge hit along with “Should I Stay or Should I Go?.”

The music video features an Arab and an orthodox Jewish person skanking, to go with the Middle Eastern theme. The parts of the Arab and Jew were played by Titos Menchaca (the sheik), and local theater director Dennis Razze (the Jew). Titos told us the story:

“We shot it in 1981 in and around Austin, Texas. This was a few months before MTV was even launched. At the time, I was a young film acting student (I had stage experience/training, but working in front of the camera is a different beast). My teacher was a guy named Loren Bivens. One day after class he mentioned that some guys were in from out of town to do some sort of film shoot. He didn’t know much about it but thought it’d be a good opportunity to work in front of a camera.

I chatted with them at their hotel room later. There was Don Letts, a rastah from London who would direct, John Hazard, ace camera man from New York, and some guy named Barry, who I later learned was their DP (director of photography). They explained that they were with the Clash and working in a brand new medium called “music videos” that bands were going to be using to pitch songs to record companies and other powers-that-be. It was such a foreign concept at the time that I didn’t think much about it after the interview until they called later and said they wanted me for the part of the sheik, they liked the contrast between my height (6’3″) and Dennis’, and the gig would pay $350 for one day’s work. NOW they had my attention.

This was Don’s directorial debut, so he was a bit unsure how to handle actors. But, he was extremely creative and we soon learned to glean from his instructions what he wanted from us in each scene.

A few quick notes about the shoot: The rock quarry scene near the beginning where I’m running – we shot that about 6 times because Don wanted to see dust flying off my shoulders à la Indiana Jones when he’s running from the natives at the beginning of the original Raiders movie which had just come out and was all the rage. He kept heaping more and more dirt on me and we kept doing takes until, mercifully, John and Barry told him it simply couldn’t be seen from that distance.

The scene where we’re jamming down the highway with the Austin skyline in the background – John was shooting out an open panel van door and there was lots of honking traffic behind us. That was real beer we were drinking all day.

For the final scene where we’re dancing in the crowd at the concert – some punk kept trying to worm his way into the shot and Don had to physically block him out (like a basketball player) so we could get the shot. (that venue has since been torn down to make a park).

We got to hang out with the band for a bit before the show. They struck me as quiet, serious. Sober, too. Joe Ely was there, also. That night, I hung out at a local reggae joint in Austin called Liberty Lunch (now torn down also) with Bivens, Barry, and these two brothers from New York who were former students of Bivens’ – in town to scout locations for their first feature, which Barry was going to DP for them.

I enjoyed some notoriety from the video when it became an MTV (and later VH1) mainstay, but that all kind of quieted down after a few years except for rabid fans of the band (of which there are many). I find it interesting that it has such social relevance now, as it did then. Maybe more. Also, kids today are rediscovering the Clash and when I do guest artist gigs at colleges my ‘cool factor’ shoots up immediately. Heh heh! Oh, by the way… Barry’s last name? Sonnenfeld. And the two brothers scouting locations? Joel and Ethan Coen. The movie? Blood Simple.

Dennis Razze, who played The Rabbi, told us:
“A casting agent friend of mine suggested I audition for this video shoot, so on a lark I went down to the Sheraton Hotel that night to audition. At 8pm or so was a long line around the block of guys auditioning, and finally around 11pm I was ushered into the hotel room to meet three guys who were doing the shoot. Titos, who was a friend of mine, was next in line so we went in together. They had a boom box on which they played this song I had never heard (“Rock the Casbah”) and asked us to improv to it. We danced around a bit and did some interaction as the two characters they wanted – the Sheik and the Rabbi. When we were done they told us on the spot we got the job. We were told to be back there at 5am for makeup and costume!

I had to wear three layers of dark heavy wool and also fake “locks” that were glued to my sideburns. The day of the shoot was ungodly hot as Austin can be in the summer. Close to 100 degrees. They drove us around in a van from location to location and by mid day we had also met the band who didn’t have much to do with us (and I didn’t have a clue who they were). They had rented an expensive film camera to do the shoot (most people don’t realize that music videos were shot on film) The director loved the little bits I added like the “Fiddler on the Roof” dance and spitting beer in the pool. He encouraged me to have fun and I had no trouble being silly. As the day went by, I began to really like the song that they played over and over again at each location. The coolest thing was doing the scene with the armadillo – what a cool creature, bigger than I thought one might be.

We didn’t end the very long day till around midnight after the concert shoot which was absolutely crazy because they just worked us into the audience in front of the stage and shot us and the band in real time during the concert. I was drenched in sweat by that time, exhausted, and just wanted to go home to bed.

I never thought I would hear another thing about the video, but six months later, friends of mine form the East Coast would call and say they saw me on HBO and later MTV. (I never saw the video myself till almost two years after it was shot) We were paid a few hundred dollars for our work, and because there were no residuals in the early days of music videos, we never made another cent off of our success. Given the number of times over so many years the video has been aired, Titos and I would have made a sizable sum I think if the video had been shot a year later when it was determined that music videos would work the same way as commercials.

Combat Rock was recorded at the Electric Ladyland studio in New York. Topper Headon recalled to Mojo magazine November 2008: “I loved New York, the 24-hour city. (But) we’d lost that unity and had stopped hanging out together as friends, and would all turn up at the studio at different times, writing stuff as and when it came up. The sessions were supposed to start at two in the afternoon, though by the time everyone turned up it was seven. I got there early, and what else was I going to do except put down an idea?” That idea was the drum pattern and tune for this song.

Live performances of this song often took a different direction, since by this time the band had given up on taking a keyboard player on tour. This meant the piano part couldn’t be played live, and the song took on a heavier, more all-out rock feel in a live setting.

It was a live staple from its introduction in 1982 through to the band’s breakup in 1985. Joe Strummer was so proud of the song that it was one of the Clash songs that he performed live with his solo band, The Mescaleros (who did indeed have a keyboard player!).

Rock The Casbah

Now the king told the boogie men
You have to let that raga drop
The oil down the desert way
Has been shakin’ to the top
The Sheik he drove his Cadillac
He went a-cruisin’ down the ville
The muezzin was a-standing
On the radiator grille

Shareef don’t like it
Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don’t like it
Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that craazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum
The local guitar picker got his guitar-picking thumb
As soon as the Shareef had cleared the square
They began to wail

Shareef don’t like it
Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don’t like it
Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah

Now, over at the temple
Oh, they really pack ’em in
The in-crowd say it’s cool
To dig this chanting thing
But as the wind changed direction
Then the temple band took five
The crowd caught a wiff
Of that crazy Casbah jive

Shareef don’t like it
Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don’t like it
Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah

The king called up his jet fighters
He said you better earn your pay
Drop your bombs between the minarets
Down the Casbah way

As soon as the Shareef was chauffeured outta there
The jet pilots tuned to the cockpit radio blare
As soon as the Shareef was outta their hair
The jet pilots wailed

Shareef don’t like it
Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don’t like it
Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah

Shareef don’t like it, he thinks it’s not kosher
Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don’t like it, fundementally can’t take it
Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah

Shareef don’t like it, you know he really hates it
Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Shareef don’t like it, really, really hates it

David Bowie – Modern Love

This was my favorite song off of the Lets Dance album released in 1983.

Stevie Ray Vaughan played guitar on this song. Bowie asked him to play on the Let’s Dance album after seeing him perform at a music festival.

David Bowie and Nile Rodgers wrote this song. Modern Love peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, #2 in the UK, and #6 in New Zealand in 1983. The album was also produced by Bowie and Rodgers.

Nile Rodgers said that Bowie came into his apartment one day and showed him a photograph of Little Richard in a red suit getting into a bright red Cadillac, saying “Nile, darling, that’s what I want my album to sound like.”

How cool is that?

From Songfacts

This is about the struggle to find solace in love and religion. It has also been suggested this song contemplates the old adage “The more things change the more they stay the same.” Explaining how he remained a force in pop music for so many years, Bowie sings, “It’s not really work it’s just a power to charm.”

Bowie said this song’s call-and-response vocal arrangement “all comes from Little Richard.” A defining moment in Bowie’s childhood was when his dad came home with a copy of “Tutti Frutti.”

This sounds very similar to Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing.” They were both recorded around the same time and Bowie nor John were aware of each other’s song.

In 1987, Bowie re-recorded this with Tina Turner for a Pepsi commercial where he plays a scientist who creates the perfect woman (Turner), with a little help from Pepsi. The storyline is cribbed from the 1985 movie Weird Science.

Modern Love

I know when to go out
Know when to stay in
Get things done

I catch a paper boy
But things don’t really change
I’m standing in the wind
But I never wave bye-bye
But I try, I try
There’s no sign of life
It’s just the power to charm
I’m lying in the rain
But I never wave bye-bye
But I try, I try
Never gonna fall for

(Modern love) walks beside me
(Modern love) walks on by
(Modern love) gets me to the church on time
(Church on time) terrifies me
(Church on time) makes me party
(Church on time) puts my trust in God and man
(God and man) no confession
(God and man) no religion
(God and man) don’t believe in modern love

It’s not really work
It’s just the power to charm
I’m still standing in the wind
But I never wave bye bye
But I try, I try
Never gonna fall for

Modern love (modern love)
Modern love (modern love)
Modern love (modern love)
Modern love (modern love)
Modern love (modern love)
Modern love (modern love)
Modern love (modern love)
Modern love (modern love)
(Modern love)
(Modern love)
(Modern love)
(Modern love)
Modern love, walks beside me
(Modern love)
Modern love, walks on by
(Modern love)
Modern love, walks beside me
Modern love
Modern love, walks on by
Modern love
Never gonna fall for
Modern love
Modern love

37 Years Ago Today

Where were you on February 28, 1983? It’s very possible you were watching the final M*A*S*H episode. I was one of the 106 million that tuned in.

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen – The last episode of Mash. The show was so strongly anticipated that commercial blocks were sold higher than for the Superbowl that year… from Wiki… It still stands as the most-watched finale of any television series, as well as the most scripted watched TV show.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/28/106-million-people-watched-mash-finale-35-years-ago-no-scripted-show-has-come-close-since/

The Cars – Drive 1984

I always favored the Cars first two albums and those string of hits…but I did like their later output as well. Cars frontman Ric Ocasek wrote this song, but he didn’t sing the lead vocal…their bass player Ben Orr did.

The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 and #5 (1984) #4 (1985) in the UK

This was the Cars’ highest-charting US single and their second-highest charting UK single, the highest being “My Best Friend’s Girl.” In the UK, this hit #5 on its initial release. It was reissued one year later and reached #4. The royalties from its reissue were donated to the Band-Aid Trust.

The song was on the album Heartbreak City released in 1984 and peaked at #3 in the Billboard Album Charts.

From Songfacts

A very melancholy song by The Cars, this is written from the perspective of a guy who’s watching a woman (whom he presumably used to date) “going down the tubes,” trying to get her to take a hard look at what’s going on in her life.

Orr died of Pancreatic cancer in 2000. When he died, “Drive” was played in his honor at a memorial service at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Orr also sang lead on the first Cars hit: “Just What I Needed.”

The Cars resisted the urge to use automotive imagery in their songs; “Drive” is a rare instance where they did.

At the Live Aid concert, this was used as background music to film clips of famine stricken Africa. The group performed on the Philadelphia stage and included “Drive” in their set.

The video was directed by a 23-year-old Timothy Hutton, who had won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the movie Ordinary People. Hutton aspired to direct, so when Ric Ocasek of The Cars suggested he do it, Hutton jumped at the chance.

Hutton cast the Czechoslovakian model Paulina Porizkova as the female lead in the clip. Auditioning for the role was the first time she met Ocasek, whom she married in 1989.

The Cars performed this on Saturday Night Live on May 12, 1984.

This was used in two 2019 episodes of the TV series Arrested Development: “Saving for Arraignment Day,” and “Check Mates.” It was also used in the movies Midnight Heat (2007), Transformers (2007) and The Squid and the Whale (2005).

After the death of Princess Diana, the UK radio station XFM banned certain songs that might upset people. Their list of barred songs included “Drive.”

The song was covered by Sixx: A.M. on their 2014 album, Modern Vintage. Regarding the decision to record their own version, Nikki Sixx said: “We had started going down the street of [the Elvin Bishop hit] ‘Fooled Around And Fell In Love.’ One day I called [vocalist James Michael] up and just sang the opening line to ‘Drive’, and [he] said, ‘That’s a Sixx: A.M. song!’ I think it was an opportunity to cover a song that is so defined that you have to be very careful not to wreck it. That song is so loved by so many people, including us, that we really wanted to pay a real tribute to it, and I believe we have.”

“It’s such a simple song – the original version was so simple, but that’s what was exciting about it,” Michael added. “In a way, it’s a blank canvas, but you need to respect the simplicity … that’s what was so fun about the version we did, especially when [DJ Ashba] started doing his guitar solo. Even that had to be carefully structured around what the original song was.”

Drive

Who’s gonna tell you when
It’s too late
Who’s gonna tell you things
Aren’t so great
You can’t go on
Thinking nothing’s wrong
Who’s gonna drive you home tonight

Who’s gonna pick you up
When you fall
Who’s gonna hang it up
When you call
Who’s gonna pay attention
To your dreams
Who’s gonna plug their ears
When you scream

You can’t go on
Thinking nothing’s wrong
Who’s gonna drive you home tonight

Who’s gonna hold you down
When you shake
Who’s gonna come around
When you break

You can’t go on
Thinking nothing’s wrong
Who’s gonna drive you home tonight

Bob Marley – Three Little Birds

A super positive song that I could listen to at any time. The song peaked at #17 in the UK in 1980 and re-charted at 76 in 1985.

The source of Marley’s inspiration for the lyrics of “Three Little Birds” remains disputed. They are partly inspired by birds that Marley was fond of that used to fly and sit next to his home. A friend of Marley, Tony Gilbert, was present at the time he was writing the song and said that Bob was inspired by things around him as he observed life.

Gilbert said he remembered pretty birds, canaries, who would come by the windowsill at Marley’s home. However, some say the three female singers in ” I Threes” were the “birds” Marley was talking about. Sometimes he would ask them ‘What are my Three Little Birds saying?”

Either way, it’s a fantastic song.

From Songfacts

This uplifting tune from Bob Marley & The Wailers’ ninth studio album, Exodus, is famous for its reassuring refrain, “Don’t worry ’bout a thing, ’cause every little thing is gonna be alright” – a message Marley received from the birds that frequented his porch stoop in Kingston, Jamaica. “That really happened,” he told Sounds magazine. “That’s where I get my inspiration.”

Despite the troubles Marley faced in Jamaica – in 1976, he survived a politically motivated assassination attempt connected to his support of Prime Minister Michael Manley – the singer still viewed the island as sacred place. “JA is one of the heaviest places in the West spiritually, regardless of what a go on,” he explained.

Marley’s friend Tony “Gilly” Gilbert was present when the singer wrote the song and confirmed Marley had several feathered friends. “It was just amazing how he put the words for ‘Three Little Birds’ together in a flow,” Gilbert told Vivien Goldman, author of The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Album of the Century. “Bob got inspired by a lot of things around him, he observed life. I remember the three little birds. They were pretty birds, canaries, who would come by the windowsill at Hope Road.”

The I Threes, Marley’s vocal backing trio, insist the song is actually about them. Group member Marcia Griffiths (who taught us the Electric Slide) explained: “After the song was written, Bob would always refer to us as the Three Little Birds. After a show, there would be an encore, sometimes people even wanted us to go back onstage four times. Bob would still want to go back and he would say, ‘What is my Three Little Birds saying?'”

She continued: “‘Three Little Birds’ was our song, officially for I-Three. It was more or less expressing how we all came together, when he says, ‘Rise up this morning, smile with the rising sun.’ We loved it. Even when we were recording it, we knew that it was our song.”

Marley’s son Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul recorded this for the animated films Shark Tale (2004) and Surf’s Up (2007). Several other artists have covered the song, including Robbie Williams, Karen David, Gilberto Gil, Billy Ocean, Monty Alexander, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Britain’s Got Talent alumna Connie Talbot recorded a popular version for her 2008 album, Over The Rainbow. The single went to #3 on the UK Independent Singles Chart and #1 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart in the US.

In 2013, Hyundai used a version remixed by Marley’s son Stephen Marley and DJ Jason Bentley (from the Legend: Remixed album) in its All-New Assurance Connected Care Campaign to reflect the automobile manufacturer’s new safety standards. In 2018, the company revisited the tune, this time enlisting Maroon 5 to record it in the Hyundai Santa Fe promotion for the FIFA World Cup. Maroon 5 also released a music video for their version.

Marley’s eldest daughter, Cedella Marley, adapted this into the children’s book Every Little Thing in 2012 and, two years later, the off-Broadway musical Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. The story follows a shy little boy who is coaxed by three little birds to go outside and play.

This was used on the TV shows Boston Legal (“Helping Hand,” 2006), 90210 (“Another, Another Chance,” 2010), Smash (“The Coup,” 2012), and The Handmaid’s Tale (“Birth Day,” 2017).

This was also featured in the movies Club Paradise (1986), Strange Days (1995), In Her Shoes (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Funny People (2009), Ramona and Beezus (2010), and Strange Magic (2015).

Three Little Birds

“Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright
Singing’ “Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright!”

Rise up this mornin’
Smiled with the risin’ sun
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true
Saying’, (“This is my message to you”)

Singing’ “Don’t worry ’bout a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright.”
Singing’ “Don’t worry (don’t worry) ’bout a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright!”

Rise up this mornin’
Smiled with the risin’ sun
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true
Sayin’, “This is my message to you”

Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh!
Every little thing gonna be alright. Don’t worry!”
Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing” I won’t worry!
“‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright.”

Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright” I won’t worry!
Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing
Cause every little thing gonna be alright.”
Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing, oh no!
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright!

Judas Priest – Living After Midnight

Anyone who follows my posts knows I don’t follow heavy metal but a cool riff is a cool riff. I liked this one the first time I heard it.

John Lennon has a distant connection to this song. Judas Priest was renting Tittenhurst Park (John Lennon’s former home) in 1980 to record their album British Steel. As they were watching television…guitarist Glenn Tipton said they saw John Lennon’s Imagine video and were in the very same room where it was filmed… he said they could imagine the piano and the white walls…and how surreal it was…

Rob Halford actually got the inspiration for the lyrics for Living After Midnight as his bandmates kept him awake by blasting out riffs and drum beats in the studio below.

He came downstairs to complain and said, Hey, guys, come on. It’s gone midnight…and they wrote the song.

Living After Midnight

Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn
Lovin’ ’til the morning, then I’m gone, I’m gone

I took the city ’bout one A.M, loaded, loaded
I’m all geared up to score again, loaded, loaded
I come alive in the neon light
That’s when I make my moves right

Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn
Lovin’ ’til the morning, then I’m gone, I’m gone

Got gleaming chrome, reflecting steel, loaded, loaded
Ready to take on every deal, loaded, loaded
My pulse is racing, I’m hot to take
This motor’s revved up, fit to break

Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn
Lovin’ ’til the morning, then I’m gone, I’m gone

I’m aiming for ya
I’m gonna floor ya
My body’s coming
All night long

The air’s electric, sparkin’ power, loaded, loaded
I’m getting hotter by the hour, loaded, loaded
I set my sights and then home in
The joint starts flying when I begin

Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn
Lovin’ ’til the morning, then I’m gone, I’m gone
[repeat and fade]

Elvis Costello – Everyday I Write The Book

This was Costello’s first American hit. He was a regular on the UK charts since his first release in 1977, but American singles never hit. Despite support in America from independent record stores, college radio and music journalists, his only chart showings to this point were two singles that bubbled under on the Hot 100: “Watching The Detectives” #108 and “Accidents Will Happen #101.

This song peaked at #36 in the Billboard 100 and #28 in the UK in 1983.

I do remember that MTV pushed the video pretty hard. The push helped the single. It wasn’t until 1989 that he managed another Top 40 hit, “Veronica,” which was helped by MTV.

Elvis Costello: “I wrote it just for a joke,” “But that’s often the way to write a hit record (laughs). We had a group on the road with us that was trying to write these very self-conscious pop jangly kind of songs and that was their trip. So I thought I’d tease them by writing something that was like what they did, only sort of better than them. I wrote it in ten minutes.”

From Songfacts

In this song, Elvis Costello is a novelist who tells his girlfriend that everything that happens in their relationship is source material for his book. On one hand, it’s very sweet that he’s taking the time to chronicle their relationship, but something about it is also kind of creepy, as he’s documented her transgressions and is now willing to use her own words against her in their arguments.

Esquire magazine once called this “the most intellectually satisfying pop song ever written.”

When Costello wrote this song, he envisioned it with a retro Merseybeat popularized by Liverpool groups of the ’60s (think Gerry and the Pacemakers and very early Beatles recordings). His producer, Clive Langer, heard hit potential in the song and convinced Costello to do a more contemporary arrangement, which they modeled on Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.” The result was a modern R&B sound that served the song well.

“Everyday I Write The Book” got a push from MTV, which gave the video some spins and helped introduce Costello to younger audience. Radio stations in the US remained lukewarm on Costello, as he didn’t fit in on the Contemporary Hits or Rock playlists. Not that he was concerned; Costello’s indifference to popular taste earned him even more respect from his American fans.

The video was directed by Don Letts, who did a lot of work with The Clash and The Pretenders. In the clip, Elvis and his band (The Attractions) play in a studio stetting, wearing muted colors in stark contrast to the two backup singers, Caron Wheeler and Claudia Fontaine, who sport colorful dresses and head wraps. Old movie clips and random images like a man typing with boxing gloves are intercut throughout. These rather random videos did very well on early MTV, as they gave viewers a good look at the artist and provided some memorable visuals.

This was used in the films The Wedding Singer (1998) and Brooklyn Rules (2007). It is also heard in the 2001 Gilmore Girls episode, “The Breakup: Part 2.”

Elvis Costello told Uncut that he’s wanted “to write songs as good as Nick Lowe,” since he was 17. He added: “‘Everyday I Write the Book’ is a knockoff of Nick’s ‘When I Write the Book’ with a little Rodgers and Hart thrown in.'”

Everyday I Write The Book

Don’t tell me you don’t know what love is
When you’re old enough to know better
When you find strange hands in your sweater
When your dreamboat turns out to be a footnote
I’m a man with a mission in two or three editions

And I’m giving you a longing look
Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the book

Chapter one we didn’t really get along
Chapter two I think I fell in love with you
You said you’d stand by me in the middle of chapter three
But you were up to your old tricks in chapters four, five and six

The way you walk
The way you talk, and try to kiss me, and laugh
In four or five paragraphs
All your compliments and your cutting remarks
Are captured here in my quotation marks

Don’t tell me you don’t know the difference
Between a lover and a fighter
With my pen and my electric typewriter
Even in a perfect world where everyone was equal
I’d still own the film rights and be working on the sequel

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Willie The Wimp

In 1984 Willie M. ”Wimp” Stokes Jr., described as a Chicago underworld figure who was gunned down on the steps of Roberts Motel at 79th Street and Vincennes Avenue. Such a violent death was not unheard of in Willie the Wimp`s social circles-but the style of his funeral was.

Willie’s dad, Willie Morris “Flukey” Stokes gave his son an extravagant goodbye. He was in the same line of work as his son.

If you want to see the coffin with Mr. Stokes inside… you can go to here “Willie The Wimp and Cadillac Coffin.” I didn’t really want to post that.

Bill Carter and Ruth Ellsworth wrote the song after seeing a newspaper column about the story. Bill Carter released his version on his 1985 album Stompin’ Grounds. Stevie Ray Vaughn started to play the song in concert and it was released on his live album Live Alive in 1986.

Stevie was in the upper echelon of guitar players…right along with Hendrix and Clapton.

Willie The Wimp

Willie the Wimp was buried today,
They laid him to rest in a special way.
Sent him off in the finest style
That casket-mobile really drove ’em wild
Southside Chicago will think of him often
Talkin’ ’bout Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac coffin,
Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac coffin

That casket, it looked like a fine Seville
He had a vanity license and a Cadillac grille
Willie was propped up in the driver’s seat
He had diamonds on his fingers and a smile sweet
Fine red suit had the whole town talkin’
Talkin’ ’bout Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac coffin
Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac coffin

Oh, Cadillac to Heaven he was wavin’ the banner
He left like he lived, in a lively manner
With a-hundred dollar bills in his fingers tight
He had flowers for wheels and a-flashin’ headlights
He been wishin’ for wings, no way he was walkin’
Talkin’ ’bout Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac coffin
Yeah, Willie the Wimp and his Cadillac coffin

John Fogerty – Centerfield

Spring training has started and baseball will be returning soon. It’s a good day to listen to John Fogerty’s Centerfield. This was John Fogerty’s comeback after being away from the charts since 1975.

The song peaked at #44 in the Billboard 100 in 1985. The album Centerfield peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1985.

Along with “Talkin’ Baseball” and “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” this quickly became one of the most popular baseball songs ever. It’s a fixture at ballparks between innings of games and plays at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

John Fogerty: “I’d hear about Ruth and DiMaggio, and as my dad and older brothers talked about the Babe’s exploits, their eyes would get so big. When I was a little kid, there were no teams on the West Coast, so the idea of a Major League team was really mythical to me. The players were heroes to me as long as I can remember.”

“It is about baseball, but it is also a metaphor about getting yourself motivated, about facing the challenge of one thing or another at least at the beginning of an endeavor. About getting yourself all ready, whatever is necessary for the job.”

From Songfacts

This song was inspired by Fogerty’s childhood memories of baseball, and although he didn’t play the game, he loved watching it and hearing the stories his father would tell about the legendary New York Yankees centerfielder Joe DiMaggio, who like Fogerty was from San Francisco.

Fogerty left Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1972 and released solo albums in 1973 and 1975 that sold poorly. For the next 10 years, Fogerty refused to record because of legal battles with his record company, but when Centerfield was finally released in 1985, it hit the mark thanks to this title track. A song about baseball was a risk, as the sport isn’t exactly rock-worthy. In the MLB.com interview, Fogerty said: “Over the years it seemed like sports songs just didn’t qualify into the rock-and-roll lexicon. There was that unwritten distinction. It was never considered rock-and-roll. And I realized creating this song would very much put baseball in a rock-and-roll setting. I expected to be roundly thrashed by owners of the flame.”

One of Fogerty’s idols – Chuck Berry – inspired the lyrics, “Rounding third he was heading for home, it was a brown eyed handsome man,” which is lifted from Berry’s song “Brown Eyed Handsome Man.”

Baseball legends mentioned in this song: Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, and Ty Cobb.

The second verse refers to the legendary Mighty Casey from the epic poem Casey At The Bat. At the end of the story, Casey strikes out. >>

The line, “It’s a-gone and you can tell that one good-bye” comes from the catchphrase of baseball announcer Lon Simmons, who called games for the San Francisco Giants. He would often say, “Tell it goodbye” when the Giants hit a home run.

Fogerty produced this track and played all the instruments.

On July 25, 2010, in honor of the 25th anniversary of “Centerfield”‘s release, Fogerty played the song at the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, where he became the first musician honored by the Hall of Fame – at least the baseball one. Fogerty is in both the Songwriters and Rock and Roll Hall of Fames.

At the ceremony, Fogerty donated a custom-made baseball-bat-shaped guitar to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held at Candlestick Park in Fogerty’s hometown of San Francisco. This led to erroneous reports that he watched the game from the center field bleachers, leading to this song. Among the publications to report this was Billboard Publications Rock Movers & Shakers.

When George W. Bush was campaigning for president of the US in 2000, he told a reporter this was his favorite song. Bush used to own part of the Texas Rangers baseball team, and liked the line “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play.”

Brad Paisely played “Centerfield” at an outdoor festival when he was 13 years old, something he told Fogerty about many years later. After the conversation, Fogerty hit him up for his 2013 album Wrote a Song for Everyone, where he performed his songs with contemporary musicians. Paisely picked a deep cut: “Hot Rod Heart” from Fogerty’s 1997 solo album Blue Moon Swamp.

Fogerty has always been a huge baseball fan; the first book he ever read was Lou Gehrig: Boy of the Sandlot.

When his boys played Little League, Fogerty always got a kick out of listening to this song when it was played during warm-ups.

Centerfield

Well, I beat the drum and hold the phone
The sun came out today
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field
A-roundin’ third and headed for home
It’s a brown-eyed handsome man
Anyone can understand the way I feel

Oh, put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today
Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield

Well, I spent some time in the Mudville Nine
Watching it from the bench
You know I took some lumps, when the mighty Case struck out
So say hey, Willie, tell the Cobb
And Joe DiMaggio
Don’t say it ain’t so, you know the time is now

Oh, put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today
Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield

Yeah, got it, I got it

Got a beat-up glove, a home-made bat
And a brand new pair of shoes
You know I think it’s time to give this game a ride
Just to hit the ball and touch ’em all
A moment in the sun
It’s a-gone and you can tell that one good-bye

Oh, put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today
Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today
Look at me (yeah), I can be centerfield

Oh, put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today
Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play today
Look at me, gotta be, centerfield
Yeah

John Mellencamp – Rain On The Scarecrow

This song was from what I think was John Mellencamp’s best album Scarecrow and the peak of his career.

This song is about the financial difficulties farmers in the Midwest US face… difficulties that can go as far as having their farms repossessed by banks. Mellencamp wrote the song with George Green, who he worked with on many tracks, including “Hurts So Good.”

He has taken an active role in helping American farmers. Along with Neil Young and Willie Nelson, he regularly plays at the Farm-Aid concerts to help raise money.

The song peaked at #21 in the Billboard 100 in 1986. The album peaked at #2 in 1985.

From Songfacts

“Our songs always came about the same way: talk around the kitchen table,” Mellencamp told Rolling Stone. “I had just played ‘Small Town’ for him. He said, “I don’t know why these towns are going out of business” – towns like Freetown and Dudleytown, Indiana. We couldn’t figure out why they were disappearing. We did our research and wrote this song – Reagan had been using grain against the Soviet Union and all sorts of other things. Talking to people was heartbreaking. Nobody wanted to lose their farm.”

When the banker forecloses on the farm in this song, Mellencamp introduces himself into it:

He said, “John it’s just my job and I hope you understand”
Hey, calling it your job ol’ Hoss sure don’t make it right

This bit was culled from the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke, where the boss man puts Paul Newman’s character, Luke, in “the box” (solitary confinement), telling him, “Sorry, Luke. I’m just doing my job. You gotta appreciate that.”

Luke replies: “Nah, calling it your job don’t make it right, Boss.”

Another track on the album, “Lonely Ol’ Night,” also uses dialogue from a Paul Newman movie: the 1963 film Hud. In that one, a character asks, “It’s a lonesome ol’ night, isn’t it?”

Rain On The Scarecrow

Scarecrow on a wooden cross blackbird in the barn
Four hundred empty acres that used to be my farm
I grew up like my daddy did my grandpa cleared this land
When I was five I walked the fence while grandpa held my hand

[Chorus]
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
This land fed a nation this land made me proud
And son I’m just sorry theres no legacy for you now
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow

The crops we grew last summer weren’t enough to pay the loans
Couldn’t buy the seed to plant this spring and the farmers bank foreclosed
Called my old friend schepman up to auction off the land
He said john its just my job and I hope you understand
Hey calling it your job ol hoss sure dont make it right
But if you want me to Ill say a prayer for your soul tonight
And grandmas on the front porch swing with a
Bible in her hand Sometimes I hear her singing take me to the promised land
When you take away a mans dignity he cant work his fields and cows

There’ll be blood on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Blood on the scarecrow blood on the plow

Well there’s ninety-seven crosses planted in the courthouse yard
Ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms
I think about my grandpa and my neighbors and my name and some nights
I feel like dying like that scarecrow in the rain

[Chorus]

Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
This land fed a nation this land made me so proud
And son I’m just sorry they’re just memories for you now
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow
Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow

Babys – Back On My Feet Again

The Baby’s were formed in 1976 and they broke up in 1981. They had 8 songs in the Billboard 100 and two songs in the top 2.

Back On My Feet Again peaked at #33 in the Billboard 100 in 1980. The song was on the album Union Jacks released in 1980. It peaked at #42 in 1980. The band’s first two singles from the album failed until this one hit.

This is the song I remember the most by them. It was written by Dominic Bugatti, Frank Musker, and John Waite.

Lead singer John Waite on how the Babys got their name: “The name was meant to be a joke. We took the name simply because the record companies wouldn’t listen to any bands they thought were rock & roll. I mean, they wanted sure-fire teen bands, pre-teen bands. We couldn’t get anybody down to hear us to get a record deal, so we called ourselves The Babys. We thought we’d keep the name just for two weeks. Then, the word got around in London that there was a band playing rock & roll called The Babys and it seemed so off the wall, so completely crazy, that it was worth taking a shot with. It really appealed to everyone’s sense of humor.”

Back On My Feet Again

I was so lonely until I met you
Told myself I’d get by without love
Drownin’ my sorrows, avoiding tomorrows
Kind of felt that I just had enough

You light up my face with your jokes and your smiles
And the way that you came every night
Don’t know what you got, but I’m sure glad I found you
Could be wrong but it sure feels right

And here I am
I’m back on my feet again
Here I am
I’m back on my feet again

Surprised at myself for the way that I feel
So happy that you’re here with me
Some women I’ve known, have left me with nothing
But I guess that was just meant to be

And here I am
I’m back on my feet again
Here I am
I’m back on my feet again

I was down for the count
I was down, I was beat, I was cryin’
I was cornered and hurt
I was hidin’ my face, sick of tryin’

I was so lonely until I met you
Told myself I’d get by without love
Drowning my sorrows, avoiding tomorrows
Kind of felt that I just had enough

And here I am
I’m back on my feet again
Here I am
I’m back on my feet again

Yeah, here I am
I’m back on my feet again
Here I am
I’m back on my feet again

Ooh yeah, here I am
I’m back on my feet again
Here I am
I’m back on my feet again

Here I am, yeah
I’m back on my feet again
Here I am
I’m back on my feet again

Led Zeppelin – Traveling Riverside Blues

This was on their last album Coda after John Bonham died in 1980. Coda was released in 1982 and peaked at #6 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1983.

Led Zeppelin first played this for a BBC session in 1969, but the song was never released on an album. It was placed on the Box Set in 1990, and it was also made a bonus track on the Coda album for the Complete Studio Recordings.

This was written and originally recorded by blues great Robert Johnson. Led Zeppelin borrowed heavily from American blues music…some would say “borrowed” is too kind of word… but they did introduce some of that music to new fans.

From Songfacts

Jimmy Page used a 12-string acoustic guitar to play this song.

In the third verse, it sounds like Robert Plant mistakenly sings “My baby geen bone” instead of ‘My baby been gone.”

The lyric, “I’ve had no lovin’ since my baby been gone” came from B.B. King’s “Woke Up This Morning (My Baby Was Gone).”

To get the fast bass beats, John Bonham used “triplets” on the bass drum – he would use the tip of his toe.

Traveling Riverside Blues

Asked sweet mama, Let me be her kid
She said, “You might get hurt if you don’t keep it hid”

Well I know my baby, If I see her in the dark
I said I know my rider, If I see her in the dark

Now, I goin’ to Rosedale, Take my rider by my side
Still barrelhouse, If it’s on the riverside, yeah
I know my baby, Lord, I said, “is really sloppy drunk”
I know my mama, Lord, a brownskin, but she ain’t no plum

See my baby, tell her, Tell her hurry home
Had no lovin’, since my baby been gone
See my baby, Tell hurry on home
I ain’t had, Lord, my right mind, Since my rider’s been gone

Hey, she promises, She’s my rider
I wanna tell you, She’s my rider
I know you’re mine, She’s my rider
She ain’t but sixteen, But she’s my rider

I’m goin’ to Rosedale, Take my rider by side
Anybody argue with me man, I’ll keep them satisfied
Well, see my baby, tell her, Tell her the shape I’m in
Ain’t had no lovin’, Lord, since you know when

Spoken: Why don’t you come into my kitchen

She’s a kindhearted lady. She studies evil all the time
She’s a kindhearted woman. She studies evil all the time

Squeeze my lemon ’til the juice runs down my leg
Squeeze it so hard, I’ll fall right out of bed
Squeeze my lemon, ’til the juice runs down my leg

Spoken: I wonder if you know what I’m talkin’ about

Oh, but the way that you squeeze it girl
I swear I’m gonna fall right out of bed

She’s a good rider
She’s my kindhearted lady
I’m gonna take my rider by my side
I said her front teeth are lined with gold
She’s gotta mortgage on my body, got a lien on my soul
She’s my brownskin sugar plum…

AC/DC – Back In Black

GOOD MORNING everyone. Play this song really LOUD and get on with your day!

The riff of this song is outstanding. It’s a riff that like Louie Louie and Wild Thing is learned by beginning guitar players.

This was released five months after lead singer Bon Scott died. ACDC asked Nobby Holder (lead singer of Slade) to join after Scott had died. Nobby has said that his loyalty was to Slade and turned them down. His voice really would have fit nicely.

The song is a tribute to Scott, and the lyrics, “Forget the hearse ’cause I never die” imply that he will live on forever through his music. With Brian Johnson on lead vocals, the Back In Black album proved that AC/DC could indeed carry on without Scott.

The song peaked at #37 in the Billboard 100 in 1981. The song was written by Brian Johnson, Angus Young, and Malcolm Young

From Songfacts

Brian Johnson made quite a statement with this song, quickly endearing himself to AC/DC fans and leaving little doubt that the band made the right pick to replace Bon Scott. Johnson had been in a group called Geordie, which Scott saw in 1973. After that show, Scott talked up the Geordie lead singer to his bandmates, and in 1980 when they were looking for a replacement, AC/DC’s producer Mutt Lange suggested him. At the time, Johnson was working as a windshield fitter and had recently reunited Geordie.

The band got the idea for the title before writing any of the song, although Malcolm Young had the main guitar riff for years and used to play it frequently as a warm-up tune. After Bon Scott’s death, Angus Young decided that their first album without him should be called Back In Black in tribute, and they wrote this song around that phrase.

The album had a black cover with the band’s logo on it, which was a tribute to Bon Scott. They didn’t want it to feel mournful, however, and needed a title track that captured the essence of their fallen friend. They were certainly not going to do a ballad, so it fell on Brian Johnson to write a lyric that would rock, but also celebrate Scott without being morbid or literal.

Johnson says he wrote “Whatever came into my head,” which at the time he thought was nonsense. To the contrary, lines about abusing his nine lives and beating the rap summed up Scott perfectly, and his new bandmates loved it.

Bon Scott had several lyrical ideas for the album, but those were abandoned by the band in favor of new lyrics by Brian, Malcolm and Angus. Former AC/DC manager Ian Jeffrey claims to still have a folder that contains lyrics of 15 songs written for Back In Black by Bon, but Angus insists that all of Bon’s notebooks were given to his family.

This song was recorded in The Bahamas and produced in New York by Mutt Lange. Back In Black was one of the first big albums Lange produced. He went on to work with Def Leppard, Celine Dion, and Shania Twain (who he married in 1993). In the late-’70s, he produced two albums for the band Clover, which featured Huey Lewis on harmonica and Alex Call on lead vocals. Call explains Lange’s production style:

“Mutt is a real studio rat. He is Mr. Endurance in the studio. When we were making the records with him, he’d start working at 10:30, 11 in the morning and go until 3 at night, night after night. He is one of the guys that really developed that whole multi-multi-multi track recording. We’d do 8 tracks of background vocals going, “Oooooh” and bounce those down to one track and then do another 8, he was doing a lot of that. A lot of the things you hear on Def Leppard and that kind of stuff, he was developing that when he worked with us. We were the last record he did that wasn’t enormous, and that’s not his fault, he did a really good job with us. Mutt is famous for working long hours. The story I heard about one of the Shania sessions, he had Rob Hajakos, who’s one of the famous fiddle session men down here (Nashville). Rob was playing violin parts for like seven or eight hours and finally he said, ‘Can I take a break,’ and Mutt says, ‘What do you mean take a break?’ Rob goes, ‘Have you ever held one of these for eight hours under your chin?’ Mutt really loves to record, he loves music and he’s a real perfectionist and an innovator. An unbelievable commercial hook writer.” (Check out our full interview with Alex Call.)

This was the title track to AC/DC’s most popular album. It has sold over 19 million copies in the US, the 6th highest ever. Worldwide, it has sold over 40 million.

The Beastie Boys sampled this on their 1985 single “Rock Hard,” a single released in 1985 on Def Jam Records. They sampled it without AC/DC’s permission, so AC/DC refused to allow the Beastie Boys to include the song on their 1999 compilation album Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science. >>

A remastered version is included on the 1997 Bon Scott tribute album, Bonfire.

The Atlanta Falcons football team used this as their theme song for a while. The Falcons also went through an MC Hammer phase, when they used “2 Legit 2 Quit” and let the rapper roam their sidelines.

This plays in the opening scene of the 2008 film Iron Man, providing an agressive intro to the Marvel Comic Universe movies. Other films to use the song include:

Grudge Match (2013)
The Muppets (2011)
Megamind (2010)
The Karate Kid (2010)
Brüno (2009)
School of Rock (2003)

It was also used on episodes of

The Sopranos (“Cold Stones” – 2006) and Family Guy (“Peter Problems” – 2014).

This was used as the backing track to a bootleg version of Eminem’s 1999 hit “My Name Is” The song fits surprisingly well under Eminem’s rap.

Missy Elliott did a remix of this song called “Get Your Freak On (AC/DC remix)” that is played in the beginning of the movie The Rundown, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Sean William Scott.

The Appalachian State Mountaineers football team use this song before and during their games, where it is a crowd favorite. The team colors are gold and black. >>

This features in a commercial for the 2015 Chevy Colorado pickup truck, where a mundane guy in a generic sedan is soundtracked with “Rainy Days And Mondays,” which becomes “Back In Black” when a much more exciting fellow comes into the shot and drives off in his black Colorado.

Kurt Cobain was given his first guitar for his 14th birthday, and this was the first song that he learned to play.

Back In Black

Back in black
I hit the sack
I’ve been too long I’m glad to be back
Yes, I’m let loose
From the noose
That’s kept me hanging about
I’ve been looking at the sky
‘Cause it’s gettin’ me high
Forget the hearse ’cause I never die
I got nine lives
Cat’s eyes
Abusin’ every one of them and running wild

‘Cause I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I’m back, back
Well, I’m back in black
Yes, I’m back in black

Back in the back
Of a Cadillac
Number one with a bullet, I’m a power pack
Yes, I’m in a bang
With a gang
They’ve got to catch me if they want me to hang
‘Cause I’m back on the track
And I’m beatin’ the flack
Nobody’s gonna get me on another rap
So look at me now
I’m just makin’ my play
Don’t try to push your luck, just get out of my way

‘Cause I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I’m back, back
Well, I’m back in black
Yes, I’m back in black

Well, I’m back, yes I’m back
Well, I’m back, yes I’m back
Well, I’m back, back
Well I’m back in black
Yes I’m back in black

Ho yeah
Oh yeah
Yes I am
Oh yeah, yeah oh yeah
Back in now
Well I’m back, I’m back
Back, (I’m back)
Back, (I’m back)
Back, (I’m back)
Back, (I’m back)
Back
Back in black
Yes I’m back in black
Out of the sight

The Simpsons

I could write pages on this show but I’ll keep it short.

I’ve covered a lot of cartoons but this one is special. This Simpsons is probably my favorite of all time. It has influenced countless TV shows. This show appealed to young and older audiences alike.

The Simpsons was created by Matt Groening, who thought of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks’s office. He named the characters after his own family members, substituting “Bart” for his own name. The family debuted as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. In 1989, the shorts were spun off into the series The Simpsons which debuted on December 17, 1989.

The family members’ animated bodies have changed shape a bit since, but they have not aged much, aside from shows that looked into characters’ futures. In fact, most people would agree that Matt Groening’s goofy humor hasn’t gotten old either.

The town of Springfield has a cast of characters that really made the show. You get to know them weekly from Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Disco Stu, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Moe Szyslak, Marge, Lisa, and the list goes on.

Other shows such as Family Guy, American Dad, and South Park were influenced by The Simpsons but they are cruder and use more shock value. Nothing wrong with that but I always thought the Simpsons was more clever. The two cartoons that I have really liked since the Simpsons started are King of the Hill and Futurama, the later also created by Groening.

In the early stages, the show revolved around the young Bart Simpson’s trouble-causing antics, making it appeal to a younger crowd. Over the years, however, the writers, which have included Conan O’Brien, found viewers responded more to the father figure Homer Simpson, and he became the show’s main character.

In 2007, the family finally made its way to theaters in the Simpsons Movie.

The Simpsons have ran for 31 seasons and nearly 700 episodes (676 as of this writing). The show is the longest-running scripted series in TV history.

A few of the Catchphrases that have worked into our everyday life.

Don’t Have a Cow, Man

Eat My Shorts

Mmm, donuts

Release The Hounds

Hidely Ho…Okily Dokily

D’oh!

Woo Hoo!

Eeeeeeexcellent

Rosanne Cash/ Johnny Cash – Tennessee Flat Top Box

This is my favorite song that Roseanne Cash made. The song was written by her dad Johnny Cash and he released it in 1961 and it peaked at #11 on the Country Charts and #84 in the Billboard 100.

Rosanne released it in 1987 on her album King’s Record Shop. The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard Country Charts. The first time I heard it I liked it right away.

This is the only video I could find of them singing it together. It wasn’t professionally recorded. It was in 1989 after the song was a hit for Rosanne… it was videotaped at John & June’s house to celebrate June’s latest book about Mother Mabel Carter.

Tennessee Flat Box

In a little cabaret
In a south Texas border town
Sat a boy and his guitar
And the people came from all around
And all the girls
From there to Austin
Were slippin’ away from home
And puttin’ jewelry in hock to take the trip
To go and listen
To the little dark-haired boy who played the
Tennessee flat top box
And he would play

Well he couldn’t ride or wrangle
And he never cared to make a dime
But give him his guitar
And he’d be happy all the time
And all the girls
From nine to ninety
Were snappin’ fingers
Tappin’ toes
And beggin’ him don’t stop
And hypnotized
And fascinated
By the little dark-haired boy who played the
Tennessee flat top box
And he would play

Then one day he was gone
And no one ever saw him ’round
He vanished like the breeze
They forgot him in the little town
But all the girls
Still dreamed about him
And hung around
The cabaret until the doors were locked
And then one day
On the hit parade
Was the little dark-haired boy who played the
Tennessee flat top box
And he would play