Music – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Cynics – Baby What’s Wrong

There was quite a big garage band scene in the 80s from all over the world. These bands stuck close to their ancestors so to speak but with a little more punch in the modern recording. They avoided the dated sound unlike some of their more popular peers.

The Cynics were from Pittsburgh and along with the Chesterfield Kings, the Milkshakes, and the Fuzztones were early founders of the 1980s garage rock revival movement. The picked up from where the garage bands from the 60’s garage bands.

This band is not limited to garage rock. I’ve heard everything from power pop to folk from them in songs.

Gregg Kostelich started the Cynics in 1983. The other members were drummer Bill Von Hagen, vocalist Michael Kastelic who joined in 1985, bass player Steve Magee, and keyboardist Becky Smith who debuted with their first album, Blue Train Station in 1986.

Baby What’s Wrong was on their Rock and Roll album released in 1990.

Their first two 45s were released by the Californian Dionysus label, but soon after Gregg had established his own Pittsburgh-based Get Hip Recordings who would release all of The Cynics albums and singles. The label also releases records by fellow garage bands, power pop, and punk bands around the world.

The band is still togehter with members Gregg Kostelich, Michael Kastelic, Pablo González “Pibli”, and Angel Kaplan.

The band released 8 albums between 1986 to 2011 with the Spinning Wheel Motel album.

Gregg Kostelich: “I was maybe 4 or 5 when I started collecting Garage records, and I’ve been listening to that type of music ever since. And I was lucky enough to see a couple of shows I was a little kid…my parents would bring to see bands like THE SONICS and THE BLUE MAGOOS and THE WHO, when I was about 7 or 8! I didn’t know what was going on really, but it was really exciting. I was kinda embarrassed in a way because I was with my parents.” “Yeah, maybe I got brain damage from all the noise!”

I got a lot of info off of their record company’s website…check them out and their music.

THE CYNICS

Baby What’s Wrong

You didn’t hear me when I tried to tell you
You didn’t see me when I looked so lonely
You didn’t answer when I said, “Where you going?”

You didn’t see the way you drive me crazy

Baby what’s wrong with me
I can’t seem to turn your head
Baby what’s wrong with me
I’m always going home to an empty bed

You got my number, you never use it
You got my choice, but you never choose it
You got those brown eyes, they’re hiding something
If I could open up, I’d let you in

Baby what’s wrong with me
I can’t seem to turn your head
Baby what’s wrong with me
I’m always going home to an empty bed

Maybe some day, there will be a full moon
We’ll be together, in the same room
Open our eyes, see what we’re missing
My hard time is maybe they’re dissing

Baby what’s wrong with me
I can’t seem to turn your head
Baby what’s wrong with me
I’m always going home

Baby what’s wrong

…

Miracle Legion – The Backyard ….80’s Underground Mondays

I took an instant liking to this song…a song about reminiscing about childhood. I started to explore their other music and found out that this 80’s alternative band was really good.

The lead singer Mark Mulcahy reminds me of Dan Stuart of Green on Red with a little Lou Reed thrown in…not a bad combination. They were on college radio in the 80s but were more popular in the north east and in the UK where NME and Melody Maker wrote about them.

Miracle Legion were formed in 1983 in New Haven, Connecticut. Their lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Mark Mulcahy, lead guitarist Ray Neal, drummer Jeff Wiederschall, and bassist Joel Potocsky.

This song was on The Backyard that was the second release (6 song EP) by the band in 1984 on Rough Trade Records. After two more releases, their debut album, Surprise Surprise Surprise, from 1987 and 1988’s seven song EP, Glad, Mulcahy and Neal found themselves as the only two members remaining in the band.

Miracle Legion carried on as a duo, and they released their second full length album, Me And Mr. Ray in 1989. The band didn’t remain a duo for long, as drummer Scott Boutier and bassist Dave McCaffrey joined. With Boutier and McCaffrey on board, the band released their third album, 1992’s Drenched, but legal problems with their record company caused Neal to throw in the towel and leave the band. Miracle Legion, at least temporarily was broken up.

In 1996 their legal issues were resolved, the band released their album Portrait Of A Damaged Family until they regrouped in 2017 and released Annulment.

The Backyard was praised when it was released…from Melody Maker to the Trouser Press.

From Wiki: Drawing comparison to R.E.M., the record received much acclaim. Music critic Robert Christgau writing positively on Mulcahy’s lyrics says that they are of “dazzled childhood and yearning adolescence,” and likens the vocals to Loudon Wainwright III. The album has been called a “landmark” by Trouser Press, and calls the title track “sheer brilliance.”

My Backyard

Think it was the hottest day of the year
Even still we started fires with the embers
Sweetest man held on at the top of the hill
Sweetest lady held on to her memories

The world was so big and I was so small
And your voice was always the loudest of all

Yesterday we cut down the apple tree
Cracking wood made my little heart tremble
I wish I didn’t have to try so hard
But little boys got a lot to remember

The world was so big and I was so small
And your voice was always the loudest of all

I loved the days I spent with you
And I still have all you could offer
The backyard looks so empty now
Then I think of her, I think of her

The world was so big and I was so small
And your voice was always the loudest

The world was so big and I was so small
Your voice was always

The world was so big and I was so small
Your voice was always the loudest of all

Freedy Johnston – Seventies Girl

This song has everything I like in a good pop song. Good melody, lyrics, and a voice that carries it perfectly. I also like the steel guitar in the background that sets the tone for the song.

When you can use “chartreuse green” in a lyric you are doing alright.

Clothes from a case you’d thrown at me
Orange, yellow, red and chartreuse green

Freedy Johnston was an artist that I found in the late 90s. I first heard him on an alternative radio station I would listen to. They would play cuts off of his Never Home album. When I heard this song I bought the album.

Johnston has never burned up the charts but he did have a minor his in 1994 with the song Bad Reputation which peaked at #54 in the Billboard 100.

Later on I would like his version of Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) off of his Right Between the Promises album.

Seventies Girl

Down from the attic in your old things
My new girlfriend has a curious streak
Half lit, in the hall
She’s like you
Twenty years ago

Clothes from a case you’d thrown at me
Orange, yellow, red and chartreuse green
Way back in the day
I lost you
Don’t tell me here we go again

Seventies girl
Don’t come any closer
There’s gonna be trouble tonight
You’re not staying over

Hey there seventies girl
Never should have showed her
You want to be older
Than you were

She was transcendental then
Her beautiful eyes through your rose specs
Way back, in the day
I loved you
Or something like it anyway

Seventies girl
You’ve been taken over
You never had a cradle to rock
Now you want to go there

Hey there seventies girl
Never should have told her
You want to be older
Than you were

We fell apart
Just like that dress
Then taught ourselves unhappiness
I don’t recall much, I confess
But wonder where she’s gone

Seventies girl
Don’t come any closer
There’s gonna be trouble tonight
You’re not staying over

Hey there, seventies girl
Never should’ve showed her
You want to be older
Than you were

…

Raspberries – Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)

This is my second song pick for Hanspostcard’s song draft. The Raspberries Overnight Sensation (Hit Record).

Bruce Springsteen: “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record) should go down as one of the great mini-rock-opera masterpieces of all time”

In the nineties I bought the Raspberries greatest hits. I listened with headphones to each song until I heard this one. I stopped and listened to it repeatedly. It’s one of those songs that goes beyond other songs…It is truly a pop-rock symphony. I was amazed that I never heard this before.

Overnight Sensation (Hit Record) is an epic, ambitious, grand, lofty, extravagant, and brilliant song from the Raspberries. They were swinging for the fences when they made this song and they hit it out of the park. It’s on the album Starting Over released in 1974.

Put some headphones on and listen to this completely to the very end… When I hear it, I think this is what it would sound like if The Who, Beach Boys, and Beatles made a song together…this would be it. Musically you have a little of everything. Sliding bass lines, tasteful guitar licks, great vocals, a sax solo that gives way to more lyrics as the song morphs into an AM radio sound… and then comes a solo piano.

Stay until the very end because they dupe you into a fake ending and the drums will come in as if the world is going to end. Then… a Beach Boys final huge crescendo wave will wash over you like a warm summer moonlit night. It’s a wall of sound of ecstasy that you wish would go on forever.

The song is about trying to make it in the music business. It’s Eric Carmen singing with desperation wanting a hit record on the radio. After this album, the Raspberries were no more. This was Eric Carmen at his absolute best before he went solo and became an ordinary pop singer. He would never try anything this ambitious again.

Certain songs we all know are timeless. In a perfect world this one deserves to be on that list. I don’t use the word masterpiece a lot but I would consider this song one. The musical arrangement is second to none in terms of arrangement, production, and harmonies.

Although “Go All The Way” was their big hit of their career…this one is in a different league and they never equaled it. Most people don’t know this song and it’s a musical injustice. I only hope more people discover it.

The three best power pop bands of the early to mid-seventies were Big Star, Badfinger, and The Raspberries. Badfinger were the most successful (and they paid dearly for it), Big Star wasn’t even known, and The Raspberries had one top ten hit with few very good minor ones. All three of these bands were too rock for pop radio and too pop for rock radio…in varying degrees they fell into the cracks of history… none of them had long careers.

John Lennon was said to be a fan of the group. He was producing Nilsson’s Pussycats at the same time The Raspberries were making this album at the Record Plant. John supposedly was blown away by Overnight Sensation.

The song peaked at #18 in the Billboard 100 and #22 in Canada in 1974.

Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)
Well I know it sounds funny
But I’m not in it for the money, no
I don’t need no reputation
And I’m not in it for the show

I just want a hit record, yeah
Wanna hear it on the radio
Want a big hit record, yeah
One that everybody’s got to know

Well if the program director don’t pull it
It’s time to get back the bullet
So bring the group down to the station
You’re gonna be an overnight sensation

I’ve been tryin’ to write the lyric
Non-offensive but satiric too
And if you put it in the A-slot
It’s just got to make a mint for you

I fit those words to a good melody
Amazing how success has been ignoring me
So long
I use my bread making demos all day
Writing in the night while in my head I hear
The record play
Hear it play

Hit record, yeah
Wanna hit record, yeah
Wanna hit record, yeah (number one)

Bachman Turner Overdrive – Let It Ride

Canadian Bachman Turner Overdrive was one of those bands in the early to mid seventies that just kept pumping out hits.

Randy Bachman and Fred Turner of Bachman-Turner Overdrive got the idea for this song when they were driving to a gig in New Orleans.

They were driving on a highway when a few truckers decided to have some fun with the musicians, who were riding in the little van from Canada. The truckers boxed them in and slowed down to a crawl. When they finally turned into a truck stop, Randy and Fred followed them with the intent of giving them a good talking to…but when they met up with the trucker Randy said “The trucker looked like a Volkswagen with a head.” The truckers had a good laugh and told the band that they needed to learn to “Let it ride.”

Bachman and Turner had never heard that expression before, but they liked the sound of it: it meant to just relax and not let things upset you. When they got to New Orleans, they wrote the song in their dressing room.

The song was on their album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II released in 1973. The album peaked at #6 in Canada and #3 in the Billboard Album Chart.

The song peaked at #2 in Canada and #23 in the Billboard 100.

Songfacts

The distinctive guitar riff in this song is something Randy Bachman came up with after listening to a classical piece by Antonin Dvorak called “Piano Concerto in D.” He transposed a chord progression he heard in the piece to guitar, which sounded great.

Bachman believes that pretty much any piece of modern music is based on something that came before. When we spoke with him in 2014, he said: “You’ve got to get them, reshape them, and hopefully they are reshaped enough that you can call it original.”

All of the background vocals were sung by Fred Turner, which caused a flanging effect that Randy Bachman liked.

Does this song’s intro sound similar to that of “Long Train Runnin'” by the Doobie Brothers? Randy Bachman thinks so. He says that the Doobie Brothers were sharing a dressing room with him and Fred Turner the night they came up with “Let It Ride,” and the Doobies nicked the riff for their song.

Let It Ride

Good bye, hard life
Don’t cry would you let it ride?
Good bye, hard life
Don’t cry would you let it ride?

You can’t see the mornin’, but I can see the light
Try, try, try let it ride
While you’ve been out runnin’ I’ve been waitin’ half the night
Try, try, try let it ride

And would you cry if I told you that I lied and would you say goodbye or
Would you let it ride?
And would you cry if I told you that I lied
And would you say goodbye or would you let it ride?

Seems my life is not complete I never see you smile
Try, try, try let it ride
Baby you want the forgivin’ kind and that’s just not my style
Try, try, try let it ride

And would you cry if I told you that I lied and would you say goodbye or
Would you let it ride?
And would you cry if I told you that I lied
And would you say goodbye or would you let it ride?

I’ve been doin’ things worthwhile, you’ve been bookin’ time
Try, try, try let it ride

And would you cry if I told you that I lied and would you say goodbye or
Would you let it ride?
And would you cry if I told you that I lied
And would you say goodbye or would you let it ride?

Would you let it ride
Would you let it ride
Would you let it ride
Would you let it ride

Try, try, try let it ride
Try, try, try let it ride
Try, try, try let it ride
Try, try, try let it ride

Try, try, try let it ride
Would you let it ride?
Would you let it ride?
Would you let it ride?
Would you let it ride?

…

Delbert McClinton – Shaky Ground

This song slips into a groove and stays there. Ever since I heard Giving It Up For Your Love I’ve liked Delbert McClinton.

He is from Lubbock, Texas…and he witnessed, and even influenced, some of the most pivotal moments in modern music history. He was around at the birth of rock & roll, saw firsthand the raw beginnings of the British Invasion, and helped establish Austin as a music mecca in the 1970s, all before turning 40.

He became great on harmonica, and that proved McClinton’s ticket to success. He played the lead on Bruce Channel’s 1962 pop single “Hey! Baby. It went to number one. He then befriended a young John Lennon when the Beatles were opening for Channel and gave him some pointers on the instrument.

He led the house bands for bluesmen Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, and others in desegregated Texas clubs that served as a big influence in his career. He is respected by pretty much everyone in the music business.

In the seventies he started to play in Austin and helped establish Austin’s blues scene. This song was on his album The Jealous Kind released in 1980. It was written by Jeffrey Bowen, Alphonso Boyd, and Eddie Hazel for the Temptations in 1975.

From Wiki: McClinton has earned four Grammy Awards; 1992 Rock Performance by a Duo with Bonnie Raitt for “Good Man, Good Woman”; 2002 Contemporary Blues Album for Nothing Personal; 2006 Best Contemporary Blues Album for Cost of Living, and 2020 Best Traditional Blues Album for Tall, Dark, & Handsome. He has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards as of 2020.

Delbert McClinton: In the mid-1970s, Austin was happening. I was playing down there a lot, and we were tired of Nashville. We packed up and moved. Austin had this scene going that worked for us. People wanted to hear original music. Hippies and cowboys came out to hear the same bands. And everyone got along.

Shaky Ground

Lady Luck and four leaf clovers
Won’t ease this hurt I feel all over
My life was one special occasion
‘Til your leavin’ left me this situation

I’m standin’ on Shaky Ground
Ever since you put me down
I’m standin’ on Shaky Ground
Ever since you put me down

My car got repossessed this morning
Harder times I haven’t seen in years
Girl, you better throw me a life preserver
‘Cause I’m about to drown in my own tears

I’m standin’ on Shaky Ground
Ever since you put me down
I’m standin’ on Shaky Ground
Ever since you put me down

…

Feelies – Let’s Go ….80’s Underground Mondays

The Feelies were an inspiration to REM and many alternative bands in the 80s. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008, and most recently released albums in 2011 and 2017.

The band’s name is taken from a fictional entertainment device described in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

The song was released in 1986 on the album The Good Earth with REM’s Peter Buck producing. It was written by members Glenn Mercer and Bill Million. The band toured in support of the album as an opening band for Lou Reed as well as REM that year. The album was one of their most successful albums.

It certainly doesn’t have earth shaking lyrics but it’s a gorgeous over all sound and atmosphere they produce. It reminds me of something that would be on a movie soundtrack…it’s over with before you know it.

Let’s Go

Well alright
Well alright
Let’s go
Let’s go
Let’s go
Let’s go
All night long
All night long
(spoken?)

Why don’t we ? I know you?
Why don’t we ? I know you?
Go low (?)
Low low (?)
Go slow
Slow
All night long
All night long

All night long

The Chesterfield Kings – She Told Me Lies

I love how this song starts off like I Want To Hold Your Hand and then turns into a 60s mild psychedelia that sounds familiar to ? and the Mysterians the 60s American garage rock band.

They were formed in 1979 in Rochester, New York by the former singer of the Distorted Levels, Greg Provost, an underground music journalist, with Andy Babiuk and keyboardist Orest Guran, the Chesterfield Kings offered their own version of psychedelia.

This song was released in 1984 with the B side I’ve Gotta Way With Girls. She Told Me Lies was written by Andy Babiuk, Cedrick Cona, Doug Meech, Greg Prevost, and Orest Guran.

The band, named after a defunct brand of unfiltered cigarette, was instrumental in sparking the 1980s garage band revival that launched many bands with a heavy 60’s influence that ignored the current trends.

The band was active from 1979 to 2009.

In 2000 they made a movie! From IMDB here is the description:

Its Ed Wood meets A Hard Days Night when Greg, Andy, Mike, Ted, and Jeff, together The Chesterfield Kings take on the evil Andro, a maniacal extraterrestrial bent on world domination. The cosmic showdown sends The Kings racing around the globe, from London to Rome, Las Vegas, and Honolulu in a desperate attempt to reclaim drummer Mike whose held hostage by the deranged alien. Can The Chesterfield Kings find their drummer, halt Andro’s master plan, and save the world, all in a brisk seventy minutes? You’ll have to see it to know for sure, but you can count on some killer tunes along the way including The Chesterfield Kings’ new single “Yes I Understand” and “Where Do We Go From Here” featuring lead vocals by Mark Lindsay formerly of Paul Revere and the Raiders in a cameo appearance.

I really want to see that movie.

Greg Provost: “Even when we were doing the garage stuff, we ended up sounding like the Stones. I love bands like the Sweet or Queen, but we could never sound like them. I can’t sing that good! So, we’re just going to capitalize on the kind of stuff we can sound like.”

She Told Me Lies

She told me lies
She left me on my own
She told me lies
I’ll drive away and hide
Yeah she cheated, she lied

She told me lies
She hurt my pride
She told me lies
I’ve got tears in my eyes
She told me lies
I ain’t got nothing to say
Yeah she left me today

She went walking to the door
I won’t ever see her face no more
I don’t know why she treated me bad
She’s the only true love I ever had
But now she’s gone

She told me lies
But now she’s gone
She left me on my own
I’ll drive away and hide
Yeah she cheat, she lied

Joe Walsh – I Can Play That Rock and Roll

Yes Joe you can…When I first heard this in the early 80s on MTV it was such a relief to hear a guitar playing a rock and roll riff. It’s a simple comedic Joe Walsh song… and sometimes that is just what we need.

This is not Joe’s finest work but it’s fun and brings back memories. . After being restrained somewhat with the Eagles it was good to see him let go. This song was on the album You Bought It You Name It. The album has varied styles from reggae, new wave, and rock and roll. The song peaked at #13 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay list.

The video of Joe trying to kill a fly in a hotel room was burned into my brain as this was on heavy rotation on MTV for a little while. Joe had a deadly aim with the Fender Strat to the television…years of practice I would guess.

In the middle of then current songs such as Safety Dance, Mickey, and Mr. Roboto this minor hit was a welcomed relief to me on MTV and the radio.

I Can Play That Rock and Roll

Well that disco thing can sure get funky
All them pretty songs seem too slow
I like to sit and pick with them good old boys
Maybe New Wave’s in, I just don’t know
When the critics try to analyse the current trend
I just sit back and watch ’em come and go
Cos I can play that rock and roll
Oh, now I can play that rock and roll
Hey now, I can play that rocking rock and roll

If you, if you wanna party at the next election
Only one way to go
Put on a rocking rock and roll selection
Turn up and vote
And you can check out anytime you want
Just call me Joe
And I can play that rock and roll for ya…
Yeah yeah yeah yeah I can play that rock and roll
Yeah, now now, I, I, I, well I can play that rock and roll
Well I can play that rock and roll
I can play that rock and roll

Cheap Trick – Come On, Come On …. Power Pop Friday

It’s been a while since we covered Cheap Trick and the time has come now. This is a power pop gem from the In Color album released in 1977. Cheap Trick is one of those bands that can cross genres with rock, pop, and heavy metal fans liking them.

This album was released the year before their Cheap Trick at Budokan album that would break their career open. This album has the studio version of I Want You To Want Me that would be a hit off of that live album

This album is a great album as well. It has Southern Girl, Hello There, and The Clock Strikes Ten just to name a few.

In Color peaked at #73 in the Billboard Album Chart in 1977 (I found no Canadian chart for this)…and #30 in Japan…a country which would be important in their career. The song was written by Rick Nielsen.

This song reminds me of a warm seventies evening around twilight cruising with your friends…with a Cheap Trick T-Shirt on of course.

Come On, Come On

Ooo I’m feelin’ good
Oh so good
Don’t you ruin it tonight, tonight
It’s been so long since I don’t know when
Ooo treat me, treat me, treat me right
Don’t be like sheep and follow the flock
Show me you really want to be mine

Come on, come on
I know you can do it
Come on, come on
There ain’t nothing to it
Come on, come on
I know you believe me
Come on, come on
You can see the real me
Every day, every day
I need you, I want you
Come a little closer to my face
Oh little girl
I need you now

ACDC – Let There Be Rock

The song was co-written by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, and lyricist Bon Scott. The title track of and the third track on the band’s fourth album, it was released as a single in October 1977 backed by “Problem Child.”

George Young (Angus and Malcolm’s brother), acted as producer alongside partner and former bandmate Harry Vanda. In a familiar writing and recording process that was fast, furious and inspired, the entire album was completed in a matter of weeks.

The music video for “Let There Be Rock” was filmed in July 1977. It was recorded in the Kirk Gallery church in Surry Hills, New South Wales and featured Bon Scott, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Phil Rudd, and Cliff Williams, who replaced Mark Evans as the band’s bassist shortly after the Let There Be Rock album was released.

Angus Young: “I remember the amp literally exploded during the recording session. My brother watched it with crazed eyes, and he told me ‘Come on! Keep on playing!’ while the stuff was steaming.”

From Songfacts

Running to a shade over 6 minutes, it was produced by Harry Vanda and George Young.

In spite of its appearing to be nothing more than a typically mindless rock anthem, this is actually quite a sophisticated track:

In the beginning
Back in 1955
The white man had the schmaltz
The black man had the blues

is an allusion to the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. The genre developed from boogie woogie; the first rock ‘n’ roll song is generally acknowledged to be “Rocket 88,” to which Ike Turner was a very unlikely contributor considering the way his music was to develop, but then the two men who gave rock ‘n’ roll to the world in the first instance were if anything even more unlikely. There was the white man – who had performed as Yodelling Bill Haley – and the black man, a qualified beautician named Chuck Berry. Both Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock” and Berry’s “Maybellene” were released in 1955, and as they say, the rest is history.

An anthem for the band, AC/DC has played this song at every concert since 1978. They often play it very fast and the solo can be extended all the way to 20 minutes as Angus rises above the stage and does the “spasm.”

Let There Be Rock

In the beginning
Back in nineteen fifty five
Man didn’t know about a rock ‘n’ roll show
And all that jive
The white man had the smoltz
The black man had the blues
No one knew what they was gonna do
But Tchaikovsky had the news
He said

Let there be sound, and there was sound
Let there be light, and there was light
Let there be drums, and there was drums
Let there be guitar, and there was guitar
Let there be rock

And it came to pass
That rock ‘n’ roll was born
All across the land every rockin’ band
Was blowing up a storm
An the guitar man got famous
The businessman got rich
And in every bar there was a super star
With a seven year itch
There were fifteen million fingers
Learning how to play
And you could hear the fingers picking
And this is what they had to say

Let there be light
Sound
Drums
Guitar
Let there be rock

One night in a club called the shaking hand
There was a ninety two decibel rocking band
The music was good and the music was loud
And the singer turned and he said to the crowd

Let there be rock

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_There_Be_Rock_(song)

…

Marshall Tucker Band – Heard It In A Love Song

A song that takes me back to being a kid riding in my sister’s Vega…she kept a case of oil in the hatchback because it used it daily…but the AM radio worked great.

A great song written by the super talented Toy Caldwell. This is the Marshall Tucker Band’s biggest hit on the Pop charts, and remains their best-remembered song.

The song peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100 and #5 in Canada in 1977. It was on their album Carolina Dreams. The album peaked at #23 in the Billboard Album Charts and #7 in Canada.

Toy Caldwell was the soul of that band. He was a Marine in the 60s and served in Vietnam. After getting injured he was able to go home and started to play music with his high school friends. Toy and his brother helped start Marshall Tucker.

Toy stayed with Marshall Tucker until he left in 1984. Contributing to him leaving was the fact that his brother… co-founder of the band and bass guitarist Tommy Caldwell, was killed at age 30 in an automobile accident on April 28, 1980. Toy’s other brother Tim Caldwell, who on March 28, 1980, one month prior to Tommy’s death, was killed at age 25 in a collision in South Carolina.

Toy Caldwell died February 25, 1993.

From Songfacts

In spite of its up tempo, it’s rather sad. Written by Toy Caldwell, the song is about a man who has lived on the road from town to town and affair to affair. Here, he’s been with a woman who’s been good to him and who he actually loves, but he can’t stay with her because the call of the road is too strong.

Toy Caldwell, who died of heart failure in 1993, was the band’s guitarist and wrote most of their songs. His wife Abbie Caldwell told us: “He didn’t read music, and played by ear. He jotted down words on any piece of paper available.”

Mark Chesnutt recorded this as the title track of his 2006 album Heard It in a Love Song.

Heard It In A Love Song

I ain’t never been with a woman long enough for my boots to get old
But we’ve been together so long now, they both need re-soled
If I ever settle down, you’d be my kind
And it’s a good time for me to head on down the line

(Heard it in a love song, heard it in a love song)
(Heard it in a love song) can’t be wrong

I’m the kind of man who likes to get away
Who likes to start dreamin’ about tomorrow today
Never said that I loved you, even though it’s so
Where’s that duffle bag of mine, it’s time to go

(Heard it in a love song, heard it in a love song)
(Heard it in a love song) can’t be wrong

I’m gonna be leavin’ at the break of dawn
Wish you could come but I don’t need no woman taggin’ along
Gonna sneak out that door, couldn’t stand to see you cry
I’d stay another year if I saw a teardrop in your eye

(Heard it in a love song, heard it in a love song)
(Heard it in a love song) can’t be wrong

I never had a damn thing but what I had, I had to leave it behind
You’re the hardest thing I ever tried to get off my mind
Always something greener on the other side of that hill
I was born a wrangler and a rounder and I guess I always will

(Heard it in a love song, heard it in a love song)
(Heard it in a love song) can’t be wrong

Jayhawks – Waiting For The Sun…. 80’s Underground Mondays

Ever since I heard this band on our alternative radio station in Nashville…Lightning 100 I’ve liked them. The Jayhawk’s writing and voices won me over with songs like Blue and I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.

This song opens up their Hollywood Town Hall album. The album peaked at #192 in the Billboard Album Charts and #11 in the Top Heatseekers Charts.

Benmont Tench, Charley Drayton, and Nicky Hopkins plays on the album with the Jayhawks.

The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul music scene in the mid 80s. Minneapolis had a strong scene for bands in the 80s. The Replacements, Husker Du, Soul Asylum, and of course the big one…Prince.

The song, like most of The Jawhawks early cuts, is credited to the band’s guitarist Gary Louris and frontman Mark Olson.

Gary Louris: I didn’t know there was a song called “Waiting for the Sun,” I was not a Doors fan. I like them now, but I didn’t know there was a song called that. Maybe in my subconscious I did.

From Songfacts

According to Mark Derning of Allmusic.com, the song details, “a man who has lost his love under unpleasant circumstances and has hit the road, looking for something better from life and hoping a fair deal from the fates.”

Waiting For The Sun

I was waiting for the sun
Then I walked on home alone
What I didn’t know
Was he was waiting for you to fall

So I never made amends
For the sake of no one else
For the simple reason
That he was waiting for you to fall

It was not lost on me
It was not lost on me
Walkin’ on down the road
Looking for a friend to handout
Somethin’ might ease my soul

So I kept my spirits high
Entertaining passers-by
Wrapped in my confusion
While he was waiting for you to fall

It was not lost on me
It was not lost on me
Walkin’ on down the road
Looking for a friend to handout
Somethin’ might ease my soul

It was not lost on me
It was not lost on me
Walkin’ on down the road
Walkin’ on down the road
Walkin’ on down the road
Walkin’ on down the road

…

Bessie Smith – Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out

This is my first song pick for Hanspostcard’s song draft. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out.

I got into Bessie Smith from listening to Janis Joplin and reading about her. Bessie’s voice sends chills up my spine…that is my litmus test. This particular song grabs me because of Smith’s voice and vibe of the recording. She sings it, means it, and she lived it. The sound of the record and her voice is just unbeatable. Yes we have digital now but digital could not give you this sound.

If you are not familiar with her…do yourself a favor and check her out.

I can imagine Dorothy Parker, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Clara Bow all listening to this in the 20s and 30s.

This song was written by Jimmy Cox in 1923 just as the roaring twenties were taking off. There are many versions but Bessie Smith recorded hers in 1929 with a small trumpet section. It was released right before the stock market crashed and the start of the Great Depression.

Many artists (Peter, Paul and Mary, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Dave Van Ronk, Otis Redding, Popa Chubby, The Allman Brothers Band, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, B.B. King, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack, Katie Melua, Dutch Tilders, Steve Winwood with The Spencer Davis Group, Emmy Rossum, Leslie Odom Jr.) have covered this song but Bessie’s is my go to version.

She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on April 15, 1894. She lost her dad while she was an infant and her mom when she was 7-8 years old. She was raised by her tough older sister. To help support her orphaned siblings, Bessie began her career as a Chattanooga street musician, singing in a duo with her brother Andrew to earn money to support their poor family.

She is credited with recording more than 160 songs between 1923 and 1933. Smith performed on stage throughout the southern United States and recorded with such jazz greats as Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and Coleman Hawkins.

Before the Great Depression, Bessie was the highest paid black entertainer in the world, collecting as much as two thousand dollars a week to perform. She was accompanied by great musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, and Benny Goodman.

This song was recorded New York City, May 15, 1929.

Mahalia Jackson, Janis Joplin and Norah Jones who have all given her credit as their inspiration.

On September 26, 1937, Smith was severely injured in a car accident while traveling from a concert in Memphis to Clarksdale, Mississippi, with her companion Richard Morgan. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.

By the time of her death, Bessie was known around the world appear with the best players of the day at theaters coast to coast. Bessie’s voice and showmanship drove her from poverty to international fame as a singer of blues tunes, many of which she wrote and co-wrote.

Bessie Smith has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, winning posthumous awards for her 1923 single “Downhearted Blues,” 1925 single “St. Louis Blues” with Louis Armstrong, and a 1928 single “Empty Bed Blues.” Smith has also been honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, and the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

Janis Joplin: “Back in Port Arthur, I’d heard some Lead Belly records, and, well, if the blues syndrome is true, I guess it’s true about me…So I began listening to blues and folk music. I bought Bessie Smith and Odetta records, and one night, I was at this party and I did an imitation of Odetta. I’d never sung before, and I came out with this huge voice.”

Nobody Knows You’re When You’re Down and Out

Once I lived the life of a millionaire
Spending my money, I didn’t care
I carried my friends out for a good time
Bying bootleg liquor, champagne and wine

Then I began to fall so low
I didn’t have a friend, and no place to go
So if I ever get my hand on a dollar again
I’m gonna hold on to it till them eagle’s green

Nobody knows you when you down and out
In my pocket not one penny
And my friends I haven’t any
But If I ever get on my feet again
Then I’ll meet my long lost friend
It’s mighty strange, without a doubt
Nobody knows you when you down and out
I mean when you down and out

Mmmmmmmm…. when you’re down and out
Mmmmmmmm… not one penny
And my friends I haven’t any
Mmmmmmmm… Well I felt so low
Nobody wants me round their door
Mmmmmmmm… Without a doubt,
No man can use you wen you down and out
I mean when you down and out

…

Paladins – Keep On Lovin Me Baby

Here is some 1980’s roots rockabilly. What caught my attention is that relentless guitar on this track plus the groove. The guitar player is Dave Gonzalez and the tone reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughn. This song was written by blues guitarist and songwriter Otis Rush.

The Paladins are from San Diego and were into rockabilly. They billed their music as Western Bop. They played a combination of rockabilly and vintage country together with a blues groove. They were founded in 1980 by guitarist Dave Gonzalez and bass player Thomas Yearsley.

Dave Gonzalez’s initial influences came from his mother, who listened to Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and the Rolling Stones. He mixed this with his father’s love of country singers Buck Owens and Merle Haggard who also made a strong impression on him. As he got older he got into blues artists like B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Johnny Winter.

Put that all together and you come up with a varied roots style.

They did some tours with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Los Lobos, The Blasters and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. This song was on the Lets Buzz! album released in 1990. They were nominated for the 1990 Entertainer Music Awards but lost out to the Beat Farmers…but they won two years later.

Dave Gonzalez and bass player Thomas Yearsley along with drummer Brian Fahey are still a top attraction at clubs at the present time. They have recorded five singles, nine full length studio records, and three live albums to date.

Keep On Lovin Me Baby

I want you to love me (repeat) woh yeah.
Oh baby i’m so glad youre mine…
I want you to kiss me…
Woh baby i’m so glad you’re mine…

Early every morning, sometimes late at night i can
Feel your tender lips they make me feel alright.

Keep on loving me baby…
Woh baby i’m so glad you’re mine…