1980s – Page 39 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Rolling Stones – Time Is On My Side

I remember back in 1981 when the Stones were touring across America. This song was released from the tour with a great version of Twenty Flight Rock. I bought the singles Going to a Go-Go and this one, the live album (Still Life) and then I saw the video Let’s Spend The Night Together. It was going to be the LAST tour of the Stones…uh yeah

The song was written by Jerry Ragovoy (using the pseudonym “Norman Meade”). The song was originally released by the Stones in 1964 and it peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100. This is one of the very few songs that I prefer the live version to the studio version in 1964.

Keith Richards said of this song: “In America we were basically known for heavy, slowish kind of ballads. ‘Time Is On My Side,’ ‘Tell Me,’ ‘Heart of Stone,’ that was what we were known for. Strangely enough that was our thing. Every single was a slow song. Who would believe it? You’d think they’d be clamoring for out-and-out rock and roll, but no, it was the soul ballads that happened for us in America.”

From Songfacts

This song was originally recorded by the jazz trombonist Kai Winding and his Orchestra on the Verve Records label in October 1963. His version was mostly instrumental with just the lyric “time is on my side” sung by the background trio of Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick.

The first fully vocal version was recorded by the New Orleans soul singer Irma Thomas; her version was released as the B-side of “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” in June 1964. The Rolling Stones released their version of the song in the US on September 26, 1964, and it became their first Top 10 hit in America. Thomas’ version contains a spoken part in the middle that the Stones left out.

The lyrics were most likely written by Jimmy Norman, who was a member of The Coasters. The songwriting credit is unclear, and usually lists Jerry Ragovoy, who wrote “Piece Of My Heart” and “Try” for Janis Joplin, as the only writer, sometimes as “Norman Meade,” which he used as a pseudonym. Thomas’ original single lists the credit as “J. Norman – N. Meade.” Ragovoy, who also produced the song for Thomas, died in 2011 at age 80.

In this song, Mick Jagger has lost his girl, but he knows it’s just a matter of time until he returns. After all, he’s got “the real love, the kind that you need.”

This was one of two songs The Stones performed on their first Ed Sullivan Show appearance, October 25, 1964. The other was “Around And Around,” a Chuck Berry cover.

That February, The Beatles made their historic debut on Sullivan to crowd hysteria. The Stones hadn’t yet developed a fan base in America, but the teenage girls in the audience still went crazy. The appearance earned them lots of attention and helped send “Time Is On My Side” up the chart – it reached #6 on December 5.

The Stones returned to the show five more times, always earning a wildly enthusiastic greeting from the crowd. On their fifth appearance, they capitulated to Sullivan by changing “Let’s Spend The Night Together” to “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.”

The Rolling Stones released two versions of this song. The US single was recorded in England and is slower, with a gospel organ. The British version was recorded at Chess studios in Chicago.

This song played a key role in the suspense thriller Fallen with Denzel Washington and John Goodman.

Time Is On My Side

Time is on my side, yes it is.
Time is on my side, yes it is.
Now you all were saying that you want to be free
But you’ll come runnin’ back (I said you would baby),
You’ll come runnin’ back (like I told you so many times before),
You’ll come runnin’ back to me.

Time is on my side, yes it is.
Time is on my side, yes it is.
You’re searching for good times but just wait and see,
You’ll come runnin’ back (I said you would darling),
You’ll come runnin back (Spent the rest of life with ya baby),
You’ll come runnin’ back to me.

Go ahead baby, go ahead, go ahead and light up the town!
And baby, do anything your heart desires
Remember, I’ll always be around.
And I know, I know like I told you so many times before
You’re gonna come back,
Yeah you’re going to come back baby
Knockin’, knockin’ right on my door.

Time is on my side, yes it is.
Time is on my side, yes it is.
‘Cause I got the real love, the kind that you need.
You’ll come runnin’ back (I knew you would one day),
You’ll come runnin’ back (Baby I told you before),
You’ll come runnin’ back to me.

Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is.
Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is.
Time, time, time is on my side

The Wedding Singer

I was a teenager through the eighties and this movie brought it all back, good and bad. I liked this movie. Adam Sandler is not overboard crazy in this film and Drew Barrymore is perfect in her part. The movie was released in 1998.

The first time I watched this movie I started to get nostalgic over the 80s…something I don’t do a lot.

Adam Sandler can go overboard in a lot of his movies…more than I personally like but like I said, in the beginning, he acts more like a regular person in this. Drew Barrymore…is just Drew Barrymore and a higher compliment cannot be given by me. Adam and Drew work well together in this movie and they do have chemistry.

Adam plays Robbie Hart, a down and out Wedding singer who only wanted to be married. His fiance just left him and Drew plays Julia Sullivan who is herself engaged and wants the depressed Robbie to help her plan her wedding.

This movie is not great…it’s no classic film but if you want a fun romp through the 80s this will bring a lot back for you…if you remember that decade. It’s a great movie to watch on a rainy afternoon.

The Soundtrack to this film has the 80s covered quite well.

Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
Culture Club

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
The Police

How Soon Is Now?
The Smiths

Love My Way
The Psychedelic Furs

Hold Me Now
The Thompson Twins

Everyday I Write The Book
Elvis Costello

White Wedding
Billy Idol

China Girl
David Bowie

Blue Monday
New Order

Pass The Dutchie
Musical Youth

Somebody Kill Me [Explicit]
Adam Sandler

Rappers Delight
Sugarhill Gang With Ellen Dow

Video Killed The Radio Star
The Presidents of the United States of America

99 Luftballons
Nena

Merle Haggard – Are The Good Times Really Over ——— Songs that reference The Beatles

Back before Elvis, before Vietnam war came along, Before the Beatles and Yesterday

I’m wrapping up the songs that reference the Beatles today…I thought Merle Haggard and Frank Zappa would be a good stopping point. Hope you enjoyed the posts.

This song has staying power because every generation longs for the culture of the ones before it. One could easily insert 21st-century phrasing into his classic hit, interchanging microwaves with iPhones, etc. Every single generation looks for a Golden Age, a time where they could pinpoint that everything was right in the world.

This song peaked at #2 in the Billboard Hot Country Song Charts and #1 in Canada in 1982.

Merle had 38 number one hits, 71 top ten hits, and 101 songs in the top 100 in the country charts. It’s hard to wrap my head around 38 number one songs on any chart.

Are The Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck Was Still Silver)

I wish a buck was still silver
It was back when the country was strong
Back before Elvis, before Vietnam war came along
Before the Beatles and yesterday
When a man could still work and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now
And are the good times really over for good?And are we rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell
With no kinda chance for the flag or the liberty bell?
Wish a Ford and a Chevy
Would still last ten years like they should
Is the best of the free life behind us now
And are the good times really over for good?

I wish coke was still cola
And a joint was a bad place to be
It was back before Nixon lied to us all on T.V
Before microwave ovens when a girl could still cook, and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now
Are the good times really over for good?Are we rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell
With no kinda chance for the flag or the liberty bell
Wish a Ford and a Chevy
Would still last ten years like they should
Is the best of the free life behind us now
And are the good times really over for good?Stop rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell
Stand up for the flag and let’s all ring the liberty bell
Let’s make a Ford and a Chevy
That would still last ten years like they should
‘Cause the best of the free life is still yet to come
And the good times ain’t over for good

Max Headroom Hijack Airwaves in Chicago

Someone in 1987 hijacked the airwaves in Chicago and to this day no one has been identified.

On Sunday, Nov. 22, 1987, Chicago sportscaster Dan Roan was covering the sports highlights of the day like normal. This night would be different. At 9:14, Dan Roan disappeared from the screen. In fact, everything disappeared from the screen as it flickered into darkness. Then, 15 seconds later, a new figure appeared.

Someone with a rubber Max Headroom mask with just static…started bobbing his or her head on the screen. It only lasted around 20 seconds and Dan laughed and blamed it on the computer. The employees of the station thought it was an inside job but it wasn’t…they searched everywhere in the building but it did not come from inside the station. It was creepy but harmless…but whoever did it wasn’t finished yet.

Later on, viewers watching “Doctor Who” on WTTW-TV in Chicago got a big surprise. A 90-second hijacking of the airwaves, featuring the same person dressed as Max Headroom. This time it was a little more action. Headroom bobbed his head again and said a few things. The audio was hard to make out on one viewing. He held up a can of Pepsi while reciting the Coca-Cola slogan “catch the wave.” Max Headroom was, at the time, being used as a spokesperson for Coke. Near the end, he turned around and was spanked by a woman…There was more to it and both videos are below in the post.

Most of Chicago found this hilarious but…The FCC did NOT see the humor at all. They used all of their resources to see who hijacked the airwaves. They offered a reward for anyone knowing the people responsible. They released this message:

“I would like to inform anybody involved in this kinda thing, that there’s a maximum penalty of $100,000, one year in jail, or both,” Phil Bradford, an FCC spokesman, told a reporter the following day.

“All in all, there are some who may view this as comical,” WTTW spokesman Anders Yocom said. “But it is a very serious matter because illegal interference of a broadcast signal is a violation of federal law. ”

The hijacker was never found and to this day people still wonder who it was and why they did it. The FCC worked out how it could have been accomplished without expensive equipment…by placing his or her own dish antenna between the transmitter tower, the hacker could have effectively interrupted the original signal by good timing and positioning.

1st incident.

2nd incident

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_intrusion

Ramones – Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio? ——— Songs that reference The Beatles

Will you remember Jerry Lee, John Lennon, T. Rex and old Moulty?
It’s the end, the end of the seventies, It’s the end, the end of the century

Phil Spector produced the End of the Century album. This track was fitting, as Spector worked on a lot of the music that influenced The Ramones. Spector changed their sound to a more radio-friendly pop/rock record.

The voice that opens this song with the words, “Come on, let’s rock and roll with the Ramones” is Sean Donahue, a disc jockey who worked at radio stations in San Francisco (KSAN) and San Jose (KOME, KSJP).

The album peaked at #44 in the Billboard 100 in 1980. Different band members had problems with Spector. The Ramones worked fast live and in the studio but Spector was methodical about his work.

Dee Dee Ramone on Phil Spector:

He levelled his gun at my heart and then motioned for me and the rest of the band to get back in the piano room … He only holstered his pistol when he felt secure that his bodyguards could take over. Then he sat down at his black concert piano and made us listen to him play and sing “Baby, I Love You” until well after 4:30 in the morning.

Marky Ramone denied this…

From Songfacts

This song is a tribute to the music of the ’50s and ’60 that influenced The Ramones. Here’s a breakdown of the lyrical references:

“Hullabaloo” – A UK TV show featuring music and dancing that aired 1965-1966.

“Upbeat” – The Upbeat Show, which was a Cleveland TV show (also with music and dancing) that aired 1964-1971.

“Shindig” – The first prime time Rock music show, many top acts performed on the program. It aired 1964-1966.

“Ed Sullivan” – Host of The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular variety show that lasted more than 20 years. Many famous musicians appeared on the show, including The Beatles, The Doors and The Rolling Stones.

“Murray The K” – Murray “The K” Kaufman, a legendary disc jockey who helped promote rock n’ roll in the States on his radio show and through concerts he helped organize. He championed The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

“Alan Freed” – Another very influential disc jockey, Freed is credited with coining the term “Rock And Roll.”

“Jerry Lee” – Jerry Lee Lewis was a rock originator known for his electrifying performances.

“John Lennon” – Most punk bands wouldn’t claim Lennon and The Beatles as an influence, but The Ramones were a nuanced group that shared an appreciation of his work.

“T. Rex” – Glam Rock originators known for their outrageous costumes and stage presence.

“Ol’ Moulty” – Victor Moulton, who was the drummer in a group called The Barbarians.

Under Spector’s control, he took The Ramones in a new direction, giving the songs on the album a pop sheen and radio-friendly sound. There is a prominent saxophone on the track, which was played by Steve Douglas, who was a member of Spector’s “Wrecking Crew” and played on many of his famous productions.

Spector developed a reputation as being a bit of a maniac, which in part can be attributed to statements Dee Dee Ramone made about working with him. Dee Dee claimed the Spector pulled a gun on him at one point, and was a tyrant in the studio. Spector did some work with Yoko Ono the following year, but became very reclusive until the ’00s, when he produced an album for the English band Starsailor that was released in 2003. In February 2003, Spector was accused of shooting and killing a nightclub hostess at his home.

The closing lyrics, “It’s the end of the ’70s, it’s the end of the century” imply that the musical century was essentially over. The line provided the album title.

In our interview with drummer Marky Ramone, he said that one the band put down their tracks, Phil Spector threw the works (horns, strings, percussion) at the songs on End of the Century, especially this one. “It’s mountainous the way that song is,” he said. “He had a lot of great studio musicians playing on that album just to create a wall of sound, which he was known for. That song took a while. There’s a lot of parts in it.”

Marky adds that the story about Spector pulling a gun in the studio is overblown. He says that while Spector did carry a gun and would sometimes take it off to work, he never threatened anyone with it.

The Ramones made a music video for this song that was directed by Mark Robinson, who also did their clip for “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School.” It was one of the few videos available to MTV when the network launched in 1981, but they gave it very little airplay. MTV tried to program a rock format at the time, and were desperate for videos by American bands in that genre. The Ramones fit the bill, but their videos didn’t have the production value to match what was coming out of Europe.

The intro is meant to elicit the sound of a DJ enthusiastically talking up the song at a radio station.

Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?

(This is Rock ‘n’ roll radio, come on, let’s rock ‘n’ roll with the Ramones)

Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go

Do you remember Hullabaloo
Upbeat, Shindig and Ed Sullivan, too?
Do you remember rock ‘n’ roll radio?
Do you remember rock ‘n’ roll radio?

Do you remember Murray the K
Alan Freed, and High Energy?
It’s the end, the end of the seventies
It’s the end, the end of the century

Do you remember lying in bed
With the covers pulled up over your head
Radio playin’ so no one can see?
We need change, and we need it fast
Before rock’s just part of the past
‘Cause lately, it all sounds the same to me
Whoah-whoah, oh

Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go

Will you remember Jerry Lee
John Lennon, T. Rex and old Moulty?
It’s the end, the end of the seventies
It’s the end, the end of the century

Do you remember lying in bed
With the covers pulled up over your head
Radio playin’ so no one can see?
We need change, and we need it fast
Before Rock’s just part of the past
‘Cause lately, it all sounds the same to me
Whoah-whoah, oh

Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go
Rock’n, rock ‘n’ roll radio, let’s go

(This is rock ‘N’ roll radio, stay tuned for more rock ‘n’ roll)

Paul Simon – The Late Great Johnny Ace ——— Songs that reference The Beatles

I was living in London, With the girl from the summer before, It was the year of the Beatles, It was the year of the Stones

On a cold December evening, I was walking through the Christmas tide, When a stranger came up and asked me If I’d heard John Lennon had died

This song referenced both Johnny Ace the R&B Artist who supposedly have shot himself in a game of Russian roulette in 1954, JFK and John Lennon who was killed on December 8, 1980.

I remember the song on the Simon & Garfunkel reunion concert in Central Park video. When Paul started the part about Lennon a man rushed the stage, shocking Paul especially since it was under a year since Lennon’s murder.

“The Late Great Johnny Ace” is a song by Paul Simon, which is on the 1983 Hearts and Bones album.

The Late Great Johnny Ace

I was reading a magazine
And thinking of a rock and roll song
The year was 1954
And I hadn’t been playing that long
When a man came on the radio
And this is what he said
He said I hate to break it
To his fans
But Johnny Ace is dead
Well, I really wasn’t
Such a Johnny Ace fan
But I felt bad all the same
So I sent away for his photograph
And I waited till it came
It came all the way from Texas
With a sad and simple face
And they signed it on the bottom
From the Late Great Johnny Ace
It was the year of the Beatles
It was the year of the Stones
It was 1964
I was living in London
With the girl from the summer before
It was the year of the Beatles
It was the year of the Stones
A year after J.F.K.
We were staying up all night
And giving the days away
And the music was flowing
Amazing
And blowing my way
On a cold December evening
I was walking through the Christmas tide
When a stranger came up and asked me
If I’d heard John Lennon had died
And the two of us
Went to this bar
And we stayed to close the place
And every song we played
Was for the Late Great Johnny Ace

Movie Quotes Part 2

A few days ago I had a Movie Quotes post and received suggestions from people and have included some. Thanks to you all including msjadeli, hanspostcard, and The Hinoeuma.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Just a flesh wound.

at 1:10

Cool Hand Luke – “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”

Tombstone – I’m your Huckleberry, why Johnny Ringo looks like somebody just walked over your grave.

Pulp Fiction (deleted scene) “There are only two kinds of people in the world, Beatles people and Elvis people. Now Beatles people can like Elvis and Elvis people can like the Beatles, but nobody likes them both equally. Somewhere you have to make a choice. And that choice, tells you who you are.”

at 1:21

Dirty Harry – You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?

at :49

Spinal Tap – “But these go to 11”

A League of Their Own – “There’s no crying in baseball!”

at :35

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it’

Planet of the Apes – “Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”

at 1:58

Good Morning Vietnam – No, Phil, he’s not all right. A man does not refer to Pat Boone as a beautiful genius if things are all right.

Platoon

I remember seeing this movie in the 80s. My girlfriend was working so Paul… a friend of mine and I went to see it. We saw a lot of bad and good movies during this time because we had time to kill and he knew the owner or the manager of the movie theater and we would get in free. We bought popcorn and coke so I didn’t feel so bad.

This is the first movie I remember leaving afterward and us not saying a word to each other for a good 30 minutes. Not the usual laughter and carrying on. This was one of those movies that really affected me. The village scene was brutal and it took a while to process it all. I just saw it again a couple of nights ago and it still works.

I’ve seen Vietnam Vets interviewed who have said this film brought a lot of it back…good and mostly bad. This is not a feel-good film but its a superb movie.

You see Tom Berenger as Sergeant Bob Barnes as he snaps and Charlie Sheen’s character Chris Taylor tries to hold it together at the end.

Oliver Stone put these actors through hell. Two weeks of intense basic training in the jungle with a Marine trainer. They dug their own holes and lived off of rations over the shoot.

From Wiki the cast

Charlie Sheen as Chris Taylor
Tom Berenger as Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes
Willem Dafoe as Sergeant Elias
Keith David as King
Forest Whitaker as Big Harold
Francesco Quinn as Rhah
Kevin Dillon as Bunny
John C. McGinley as Sergeant O’Neill
Reggie Johnson as Junior
Mark Moses as Lieutenant Wolfe
Corey Glover as Francis
Johnny Depp as Lerner
Chris Pedersen as Crawford
Bob Orwig as Gardner
Corkey Ford as Manny
David Neidorf as Tex
Richard Edson as Sal
Tony Todd as Sergeant Warren
Dale Dye as Captain Harris

Paul McCartney – Take It Away

That simple bass guitar riff hooks me when it comes in during the drum intro.

A good pop song from Paul McCartney in the 1980s. This was on an album called Tug of War which peaked at #1 in the Billboard album charts. The highlight to me is another McCartney bass line. The song peaked at #10 in the Billboard 100 in 1982.

Paul played bass, Ringo played drums, and George Martin played electric piano. Eric Stewart from 10cc influenced the layered backup vocals.

Paul McCartney:

“Well, there were a couple of songs that we ended up recording which Ringo asked me to write at a certain period. I was writing some songs for Ringo and “Take It Away” was in amongst those songs. I thought it would suit me better the way it went into the chorus and stuff; I didn’t think it was very Ringo.”

“I mean, the chorus I think, was Ringo, the other bits… but that’s how that comes to be that kind of track I think, I was right in that sort of direction with Ringo in mind actually.”

Take It Away

Take it away
Want to hear you play
Till the lights go down
Take it away
Don’t you want to stay
Till there’s no one else around?

Lonely driver
Out on the road
With a hundred miles to go
Sole survivor
Carrying the load
Switches on his radio

Take it away
Want to hear you play
Till the lights go down (down down)
Take it away
Don’t you want to stay
Till there’s no one else around?

In the audience
Watching the show
With a paper in his hand
(In his hand, in his hand)
Some important impresario
Has a message for the band

Oh
Take it away
Want to hear you play
Till the lights go down (down down)
Take it away
Don’t you want to stay
Till there’s no one else around?

You never know who may be
Listening to you
Never know who may be
Listening to you
You never know who may be
Listening to you
Take it away, take it away

After hours
Late in the bar
By a darkened corner seat
Faded flowers wait in the jar
Till the evening is complete

Ah
Ah
Ah
Ah

Led Zeppelin – Ozone Baby

This was on the album Coda it was released two years after John Bonham’s death and features outtakes from sessions throughout their career. I heard this one more than the others on the album.

Recorded in 1978 at a studio in Sweden owned by Abba, this song was intended for the Led Zeppelin album In Through the Out Door, but it didn’t make the cut. Ozone Baby peaked at #14 in the Mainstream Rock Songs Charts in 1982. Coda was released in 1982 and peaked at #6 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1983.

Coda is by no means a great album but it does have some enjoyable tracks like Wearing and Tearing and Darlene. It’s not like they set out to record an album… it was released to honor contractual commitments to Atlantic Records.

From Songfacts

The entire band’s instrumentals come in right at the opening with Robert Plant’s vocals starting in soon after. This was Zeppelin’s typical style, a straightforward “get it done” 12-bar-blues attitude without very much pretension. It shows something of their character that they were consistent in doing this on one of the last songs done by the classic lineup.

Another telling sign of Zeppelin’s character: How many drummers do most bands go through? Next to the bass, the drummer is usually the most-rotated spot. Not Zeppelin! Lose the drummer, and that’s it, the band calls it quits – but to be fair, growing tensions within the band could have broken them up anyway.

A bit of rock history trivia: Led Zeppelin today is remembered as practically having walked on water. One easily forgets that back when these albums were coming out, while they had a huge fan base, rock critics panned them almost unanimously. Rolling Stone raspberried every single Zep album.

Ozone Baby

I hear ya knock on my door
I ain’t been saving this scene for ya honey
Don’t wantcha ringin’ my bell
It’s too late for you to be my honey

Oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love

Don’t want you wasting my time
Tired of ya doing the things that you do
It’s no use standing in line
Follow the line, you better follow queue

I say, oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love

Oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love, my my own

I could sail a river run dead, but I know it’s dead
I could I wish for a million, yeah but I know it’s dead
I could cry within the darkness, I sail away
I save a lifetime forever?
But you know, you know, you know what I say

And I say oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love

Oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love, my my own

Oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love

Oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love, my own true love
My own true love, my own true love
My own true love
I said Oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love
Oh, it’s my love
Oh, it’s my own true love, my own

My 5 Favorite Baseball Announcers of All Time

This list will be different for every baseball fan. Many times it’s your team’s announcer and other times it’s a network announcer you grew up with. I tend to like announcers who are not complete homers although some I like… like Harry Caray. He made it fun even though he openly rooted for the Cubs…and Budweiser.

There are many more that could be on this list.

5: Harry Caray – He injected fun into the game. It was like a fan announcing the game. He wasn’t technically the best baseball announcer but he was enjoyable.

4: Mel Allen – I remember Mel when I was a kid on “This Week in Baseball.” That voice was a part of my childhood.

3: Bob Uecker – “Just a bit outside” the more I listen to him the more I appreciate him.

2: Jack Buck – NOT Joe… You could hear his excitement for the game in his voice. For me, the best is between Jack and…

1: Vin Scully – Being a Dodgers fan I was spoiled by Vin Scully… my number 1 favorite. If you tuned into a Dodger game you would not know who employed Mr. Scully. He would not root for the Dodgers and he knew when not to say anything and let the action speak for itself.

Vin

Jack

Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

The guitar on this is so simple yet so powerful. Some Clash songs take me a couple of listens to really like…this one was instant. The song peaked at #45 in the Billboard 100, #17 in the UK and #40 in Canada in 1982 and #1 in the UK in 1992.

The song was off of Combat Rock (Dave at “A Sound Day” has a writeup about the album) released in 1982. This was when I was watching MTV and every few minutes that year you knew The Who was supposedly on their last tour (They are in Nashville Thursday Night) and The Clash was opening up for them.

Mick Jones wrote this about his girlfriend Ellen Foley, who acted on the TV series Night Court and sang with Meat Loaf on “Paradise By the Dashboard Light.”

From Songfacts

One of the more popular songs by The Clash, this one uses a very unusual technique: Spanish lyrics echoing the English words.

Singing the Spanish parts with Joe Strummer was Joe Ely, a Texas singer whose 1978 album Honky Tonk Masquerade got the attention of The Clash when they heard it in England. When Ely and his band performed in London, The Clash went to a show and took them around town after the performance. They became good friends, and when The Clash came to Texas in 1979, they played some shows together. They stayed in touch, and when The Clash returned to America in 1982, they played more shows together and Ely joined them in the studio when they were recording Combat Rock at Electric Ladyland Studio in New York.

In our 2012 interview with Joe Ely, he explained: “I’m singing all the Spanish verses on that, and I even helped translate them. I translated them into Tex-Mex and Strummer kind of knew Castilian Spanish, because he grew up in Spain in his early life. And a Puerto Rican engineer (Eddie Garcia) kind of added a little flavor to it. So it’s taking the verse and then repeating it in Spanish.”

When we asked Ely whose idea the Spanish part was, he said, “I came in to the studio while they were working out the parts. They’d been working on the song for a few hours already, they had it sketched out pretty good. But I think it was Strummer’s idea, because he just immediately, when it came to that part, he immediately went, ‘You know Spanish, help me translate these things.’ (Laughs) My Spanish was pretty much Tex-Mex, so it was not an accurate translation. But I guess it was meant to be sort of whimsical, because we didn’t really translate verbatim.”

According to Strummer, Eddie Garcia, the sound engineer, called his mother in Brooklyn Heights and got her to translate some of the lyrics over the phone. Eddie’s mother is Ecuadorian, so Joe Strummer and Joe Ely ended up singing in Ecuadorian Spanish.

About two minutes in, you can hear Mick Jones say, “Split!” While it sounds like it could be some kind of statement related to the song, Joe Ely tells us that it had a much more quotidian meaning. Said Ely: “Me and Joe were yelling this translation back while Mick Jones sang the lead on it, and we were doing the echo part. And there was one time when the song kind of breaks down into just the drums right before a guitar part. And you hear Mick Jones saying, ‘Split!’ Just really loud, kind of angry. Me and Joe had snuck around in the studio, came up in the back of his booth where he was all partitioned off, and we snuck in and jumped and scared the hell out of him right in the middle of recording the song, and he just looked at us and says, ‘Split!’ So we ran back to our vocal booth and they never stopped the recording.”

The line, “If you want me off your back” was originally the sexually charged line “On your front or on your back.” In April 1982, the famed ’60s producer Glyn Johns was brought in to slash the album down and make it into a mainstream-friendly single-LP. In addition to cutting parts of songs out, he insisted that Mick Jones re-record this line, fearing that US radio stations would not touch a record with such a sexually suggestive line.

These sessions as a whole were in bad blood, with Jones furious that his original mixes of his songs were being massacred against his will, and it was this combined with other factors (such as the return of controversial manager Bernie Rhodes) which resulted in the breakdown of the band and Jones’ sacking in 1983.

Mick Jones in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh said, “Should I Stay Or Should I Go? wasn’t about anything specific and it wasn’t pre-empting my leaving The Clash. It was just a good rocking song, our attempt at writing a classic.”

It was speculated that the song was also a comment on Jones’ position in the band, pre-empting his sacking in 1983 by over a year and a half. Strummer pondered this in interviews, as did Jones. “Maybe it was pre-empting my leaving” he noted in 1991, although he did conclude that it was more likely about a “personal situation” – presumably his relationship with Foley.

Psychobilly is the punk version of rockabilly; it’s a fusion genre which also gets a nice sound out of elements of everything from doo-wop to blues, but with that punk edge to it. “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” resembles early punk, almost retro style, and so could be called rockabilly. More than anything, it compares very nicely with The Cramps.

“Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” is possibly one of the most covered Clash songs by dint of being one of the most popular. Just some of the groups to cover this song include Living Colour, Skin, MxPx, Weezer, ZZ Top, and The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Anti-Flag covered the song at various festival dates in 2012, and more memorable versions exist by Die Toten Hosen and Australian pop star Kyle Minogue. It even shows up in “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Polkas On 45” medley – a takeoff on the “Stars On 45 Medley.”

As a UK #1 single, what song did it replace as #1 on the UK charts? “Do the Bartman” by The Simpsons. Speaking of charts, while this song was their only #1 in the UK, The Clash got even less respect in the US; their highest chart on the Billboard was #8 for “Rock the Casbah”. That’s amazing when you consider how much airplay they get on the radio.

Introduced into The Clash’s live set in Paris in September 1984, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” sat awkwardly in the set after Jones was fired – it was a hugely popular song so fans expected it to be played, but its author and singer was no longer in the band.

For a while in 1984 it was performed with new guitarist Nick Sheppard singing lead vocals, with the song developing into an aggressive Metal thrash with bellowed Punk-style vocals. In the end The Clash Mark II dropped the song altogether, although not before they also added some nasty lyrics about Jones (as was common in the post-Jones Clash, sadly). Two much more representative versions are the version of the song filmed at Shea Stadium in 1982 (supporting The Who) for the music video, and the version from Boston in 1982 that features on the From Here To Eternity live compilation.

Ice Cube and Mack 10 did a rap remake of this song for the 1998 Clash tribute album Burning London.

This was re-released as a single in February 1991 after it was used in a Levi’s jeans television ad. It went to #1 in the UK, but didn’t chart in the US.

Cheekily, Mick Jones used a vocal sample from this track on one of his post-Clash projects, Big Audio Dynamite. You can hear it on their song “The Globe.”

This is a key song in the ’80s-themed Netflix series Stranger Things. It was first used in the second episode (2016), where the character Jonathan Byers introduces it to his younger brother, Will to distract him when their parents fight, telling him it will change his life. When Will gets abducted into an alternate universe, the song becomes a way for him to communicate, and a source of comfort. The song is used several times throughout the series.

To secure the rights, music supervisor Nora Felder had to explain to the band how it would be used. Through scene descriptions, she convinced them they would honor the song.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Darling you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I’ll be here till the end of time
So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?

It’s always tease tease tease
You’re happy when I’m on my knees
One day is fine, and next is black
So if you want me off your back
Well come on and let me know
Should I Stay or should I go?

Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know

This indecision’s bugging me
Esta indecision me molesta
If you don’t want me, set me free
Si no me quieres, librame
Exactly whom I’m supposed to be
Digame quien tengo ser

Don’t you know which clothes even fit me?
Sabes que ropas me queda?
Come on and let me know
Me tienes que decir
Should I cool it or should I blow?
Me debo ir o quedarme?

Split

Should I stay or should I go now?
Me entra frio por los ojos
Should I stay or should I go now?
Me entra frio por los ojos
If I go there will be trouble
Si me voy va a haber peligro
And if I stay it will be double
Si me quedo va a ser doble
So you gotta let me know
Me tienes que decir
Should I cool it or should I blow?

Should I stay or should I go now?
Me entra frio por los ojos
If I go there will be trouble
Si me voy va a haber peligro
And if I stay it will be double
Si me quedo va a ser doble
So you gotta let me know
Should I stay or should I go

REM – Fall On Me

The song peaked at #94 in the Billboard 100 in 1986. The song was on Lifes Rich Pageant which peaked at 21 in 1986. A musician friend of mine invited me over to listen to this album. We must have played it 5 times through by night time.

Bill Berry (drummer) said the song was specifically about Acid Rain, which occurs when the burning of fossil fuels releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, causing rain to be acidic and threatening the environment.

Michael Stipe said about the song: “I was reading an article in Boston when I was on tour with the Golden Palominos, and Chris Stamey showed me this article about this guy that did an experiment from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, whereby he dropped a pound of feathers and a pound of iron to prove that there was… a difference in the… density? What did he prove? I don’t even know. They fall just as fast.”

From Songfacts

The video was filmed upside down in a rock quarry, and snippets of the environmentally concerned words flash on-screen throughout: “Buy” the sky, “Sell” the sky, etc.

Before it ended up on the Lifes Rich Pageant album, R.E.M. performed a variation of this song on tour promoting their previous album, Fables of the Reconstruction. Peter Buck remembered in the liner notes for Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011: “And pretty much every day Michael had different lyrics or a different melody; we changed the bridge a hundred times. On the Lifes Rich Pageant anniversary box set, there is a version that is kind of what we used to do on stage. Michael wrote new words and melodies during the making of the record, which all took a bit of getting used to since we were so used to the previous versions. But no question, the one on the record is so superior.”

We didn’t forget to add that possessive apostrophe to the album title. The band intentionally left it out, or so the story goes. “We all hate apostrophes,” Peter Buck proclaimed. “There’s never been a good rock album that had an apostrophe in the title.” Beatles fans may disagree – A Hard Day’s Night and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band both employ the punctuation mark. Maybe Buck’s oft-quoted comment is meant to be taken with a dose of irony, or maybe he’s just a Stones fan (that band shunned the apostrophe for Their Satanic Majesties Request).

Fall On Me

There’s a problem feathers iron
Bargain buildings, weights and pulleys
Feathers hit the ground before the weight can leave the air
Buy the sky and sell the sky and tell the sky and tell the sky

Don’t fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it’s gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it’s there for long) (it’s gonna fall)
Fall on me (it’s over, it’s over me) (it’s gonna fall)

There’s the progress we have found (when the rain)
A way to talk around the problem (when the children reign)
Building towered foresight (keep your conscience in the dark)
Isn’t anything at all (melt the statues in the park)
Buy the sky and sell the sky and bleed the sky and tell the sky

Don’t fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it’s gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it’s there for long) (it’s gonna fall)
Fall on me (it’s over, it’s over me) (it’s gonna fall)

Don’t fall on me

Well, I could keep it above
But then it wouldn’t be sky anymore
So if I send it to you, you’ve got to promise to keep it whole

Buy the sky and sell the sky and lift your arms up to the sky
And ask the sky and ask the sky

Don’t fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it’s gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it’s there for long) (it’s gonna fall)
Fall on me (it’s over, it’s over me) (it’s gonna fall)

Fall on me, don’t fall on me (what is it up in the air for?) (it’s gonna fall)
Fall on me (if it’s there for long) (it’s gonna fall)
Fall on me (it’s over, it’s over me) (it’s gonna fall)

Fall on me, don’t fall on me

Bruce Springsteen – No Surrender

This song was on the album “Born In The USA.” released in 1984. I was a Jr in high school and this song hit like a blast. Bruce had been huge when Born To Run was released in 1975 but since then he had been popular but this album placed him in the stratosphere. He was reluctant to release the album because Bruce had a clue on how big this album was going to be and he didn’t know how comfortable he would be with that.

When you are 17 years old and waiting for your life to start… then hear the lyrics Well, we busted out of class, Had to get away from those fools, We learned more from a three-minute record, baby Than we ever learned in school… it gets your attention.

I think every song on the album could have been released as a single. This one did not chart but remains a strong song. Steven Van Zandt convinced Springsteen to include this song on the album because Bruce was going to leave it off.

From Songfacts

Springsteen wrote this about the inspirational power of rock music. It came to represent his friendship with members of his band.

This was the last song chosen for the album. E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt had to convince Springsteen to put it on. Van Zandt had left the band, but remained close to Springsteen and would eventually play with him again.

The original title was “Brothers Under The Bridges.”

Part of the chorus provided the title for Jean-Claude Van Damme’s first movie, No Retreat, No Surrender.

Springsteen often performed a slower version of this at concerts. The version on the box set Live 1975-1985 is a slower, solo performance.

No Surrender

Well, we busted out of class
Had to get away from those fools
We learned more from a three-minute record, baby
Than we ever learned in school
Tonight I hear the neighborhood drummer sound
I can feel my heart begin to pound
You say you’re tired and you just want to close your eyes
And follow your dreams down

Well, we made a promise we swore we’d always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter’s night
With a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender

Well, now young faces grow sad and old
And hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind
Now I’m ready to grow young again
And hear your sister’s voice calling us home
Across the open yards
Well maybe we’ll cut someplace of our own
With these drums and these guitars

‘Cause we made a promise we swore we’d always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night
With a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender

Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim
The walls of my room are closing in
There’s a war outside still raging
You say it ain’t ours anymore to win
I want to sleep beneath
Peaceful skies in my lover’s bed
With a wide open country in my eyes
And these romantic dreams in my head

Once we made a promise we swore we’d always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in a stormy night
With a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender
No retreat, baby, no surrender

Ohh ohh ohh
Ohh ohh ohh
Ohh ohh ohh
Ohh ohh ohh

Elton John – Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)

This song was one of my favorite Lennon tribute songs.

This song is a tribute to John Lennon, who was murdered in 1980. Elton John’s songwriting partner Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics, but Elton certainly felt a connection to the song, as he was good friends with Lennon and is the Godfather of Lennon’s second son, Sean. Elton appeared onstage with John at his final concert in 1974.

Empty Garden peaked at #13 in the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, #14 in New Zealand, and #51 in the UK in1982

Some of the other songs that are tributes to John are Queen – Life Is Real, George Harrison – All Those Years Ago, Paul McCartney – Here Today, Bob Dylan – Roll On John, and Paul Simon – The Late Great Johnny Ace.

From Songfacts

In the John/Taupin songwriting partnership, Bernie writes the lyrics first and Elton then puts them to music. When writing for the Jump Up album, Elton had some melodies handy and asked Taupin to write words to those, which he did. Taupin has described those songs as “awful” and said, “it’s a very messy album.” “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny),” however, was written their traditional way with the lyrics first, and Taupin has said that it’s the only good song on the album.

When he performed this at a sold-out Madison Square Garden show in August 1982, Elton was joined onstage by Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon.

Empty Garden

What happened here
As the New York sunset disappeared
I found an empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And now it all looks strange
It’s funny how one insect can damage so much grain

And what’s it for
This little empty garden by the brownstone door
And in the cracks along the sidewalk nothing grows no more
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And we are so amazed, we’re crippled and we’re dazed
A gardener like that one no one can replace

And I’ve been knocking but no one answers
And I’ve been knocking most of the day
Oh and I’ve been calling, oh hey hey Johnny
Can’t you come out to play

And through their tears
Some say he farmed his best in younger years
But he’d have said that roots grow stronger, if only he could hear
Who lived there
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
Now we pray for rain, and with every drop that falls
We hear, we hear your name

And I’ve been knocking but no one answers
And I’ve been knocking most of the day
Oh and I’ve been calling, oh hey hey Johnny
Can’t you come out to play

And I’ve been knocking but no one answers
And I’ve been knocking most all the day
Oh and I’ve been calling, oh hey hey Johnny
Can’t you come out, can you come out to play, Johnny
Can’t you come out to play in your empty garden, Johnny
Can’t you come out to play in your empty garden, Johnny
Can’t you come out to play in your empty garden, Johnny
Can’t you come out to play in your empty garden, Johnny
Can’t you come out to play in your empty garden, Johnny
Can’t you come out to play in your empty garden, Johnny