This song has a pop sound that is really catchy. Al Mine would have fit the top 40 at the time perfectly. The more I’ve listened to this band the more I’ve become a fan. This song was the B side to the single with Summer Song as the A side.
Fanny played hard rock, soul, some Motown-ish music (like this one), and just rock and roll. I did get a comment from someone who saw them live in the 1970s. The comment was LOUD and very good as they opened for bands such Procol Harum, Humble Pie, Deep Purple, and David Bowie.
When you are an all female band opening up for these bands…you are not a novelty…you are the real deal. They were more successful in the UK and Europe, where audiences appreciated their music and respected their work.
Did the public ignore them because they were all female? If so, the public missed out.
They fit in with different genres and they deserved more attention. This song was written by the sisters June and Jean Millington. It was on their Mother’s Pride album.
Fanny released a studio album in 2018 called Fanny Walked the Earth. Their last album before that one was Rock and Roll Survivors released in 1974.
June Millington:“We knew we had to prove we could play and deliver live. Otherwise, no one would believe it.”
All Mine
Oh, when you’re looking for someone to love It isn’t easy to live without love And when you’re lonely, it’s harder to laugh You made it easy, that’s all in the past
Oh baby, I love when you give to me; you’re all mine, all mine
It’s hard live when you’re by yourself We need to give to somebody else You need a lover to rock you to sleep And lend a shoulder when you’re dead on your feet
Oh baby, I love when you give to me; you’re all mine, all mine Oh baby, I love when you give to me; you’re all mine, all mine
It’s hard live when you’re by yourself (by yourself) We need to give to somebody else (somebody else) You need a lover to rock you to sleep (rock you to sleep) And lend a shoulder when you’re dead on your feet
Oh baby, I love when you give to me; you’re all mine, all mine All mine (mine, all mine) I’m in love with you, say you love me, too etc
There is guitar feedback at the beginning and end. The followed The Beatles as the Beatles had used it for I Feel Fine before this one. This was also the first Stones song that used a horn section, which was arranged by Mike Leander. He also did the horns on The Stones As Tears Go By and wrote the score for the Beatles She’s Leaving Home when McCartney didn’t want to wait for George Martin.
The Stones performed this on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966. Lead guitarist Brian Jones wore a cast on his hand. It was rumored that he got the injury when he punched a wall in a dressing room.
This was the first Stones song released in the US and England at the same time. The Beatles and Stones sometimes would work together on album and single releases. They didn’t want to release something each at the same time so they would make sure to stagger the releases.
This song peaked at #9 in the Billboard 100, #5 in the UK, and #8 in Canada in 1966. The song was credited to Jagger/Richards.
Keith Richards: “I liked the track, I hated the mix. Mainly because there was a fantastic mix of the thing, which was just right. But because they were in a rush and they needed to edit it down for the Ed Sullivan Show, the mix was rushed and the essential qualities of it, for me, disappeared. Just because of the lack of time. It needed another couple weeks. The rhythm section is almost lost completely.”
From Songfacts
This song is shadowy indeed. “Mother” could be code for “girlfriend,” or something else entirely. Keith Richards asks that we don’t read too much into it. “You must listen to it and place your own interpretation on the lyric,” he said. “There is no attempt to present a controversial ‘Mother’ theme.”
The American single has a picture of The Stones in women’s clothes on the sleeve. According to legend, after the photo session, they kept their costumes on and went to a bar in New York.
Footage of the band dressed as women for the single photo shoot was compiled into a promotional film for the song that was distributed to various broadcast outlets. This was an early example of a music video, although they were still using film back then. The Beatles made them for some of their songs as well.
The B-side of the single was Who’s “Driving Your Plane?” Both sides of the single are questions.
Glyn Johns, who engineered the “As Tears Go By” session in 1965, engineered this song as well. This led to more work with The Stones, recording the live album Got Live If You Want It! in the fall of 1966 and then engineering the London Between The Buttons sessions in November of that year. He was used as chief engineer for the producer-less Their Satanic Majesties Request in 1967, after which he suggested to the Rolling Stones that they use Jimmy Miller as their next producer.
Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadow?
Have you seen your mother, baby, standing in the shadow? Have you had another, baby, standing in the shadow? I’m glad I opened your eyes The have-nots would have tried to freeze you in ice
Have you seen your brother, baby, standing in the shadow? Have you had another baby, standing in the shadow? Well I was just passing the time I’m all alone, won’t you give all your sympathy to mine?
Tell me a story about how you adore me Live through the shadow, see through the shadow, Live through the shadow, tear at the shadow Hate in the shadow, love in the shadow life
Have you seen your lover, baby, standing in the shadow? Have they had another baby, standing in the shadow? Where have you been all your life? Talking about all the people who would try anything twice
Have you seen your mother, baby, standing in the shadow? Has she had another baby, standing in the shadow? You take your choice at this time The brave old world or the slide to the depths of decline
This song wasn’t released during the lifetime of the original band. It was -released on the album Skynyrd’s First and…Last in 1978 a year after the plane crash.
The album was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama in 1971-1972. It was originally intended to be their debut album but it was shelved, making (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) their actual debut.
There are some really good songs on this posthumous album . Personally I wished this song would have made the debut album. The song is about being out on the road touring and finally making it back home. It was written by Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins. The song doesn’t have the crisp production of the debut album Prounounced but it’s a good song.
Ronnie Van Zant was a great and sometimes under rated songwriter. The band members have said that he never wrote lyrics down on paper. The band would be practicing and he would hear a riff or a chord progression he liked and would tell them to keep going through it over and over. After thinking about it he would start singing what he came up with.
A year or so before the crash Ronnie thought venturing into country music. One of his musical influences was Merle Haggard.
Comin’ Home
It’s been so long since I’ve been gone Another day might be too long for me Traveling around I’ve had my fill Of broken dreams and dirty deals A concrete jungle surrounding me Many nights I’ve slept out in the streets I paid my dues and I changed my style Seen hard times, all over now
I want to come home. It’s been so long since I’ve been away And please, don’t blame me ’cause I’ve tried I’ll be coming home soon to your love, to stay
I miss old friends that I once had Times ain’t changed and I’ll be glad when I go home I don’t know why the thought came to me But why I’m here I really can’t see, and now
I want to come home. It’s been so long since I’ve been away And please, don’t blame me ’cause I’ve tried I’ll be coming home soon to your love, to stay Coming home to stay Coming home to your love, mama I’ve seen better days
I miss old friends that I once had Times ain’t changed and I’ll be glad when I go home I don’t know why the thought came to me But why I’m here I really can’t see, and now
I want to come home. it’s been so long since I’ve been away And please, don’t blame me ’cause I’ve tried I’ll be coming home soon to your love, to stay Coming home to stay Coming home to your love, mama I’ve seen better days
This song is referring to Saul Zaentz, Fogerty’s former boss at Fantasy Records. Both took turns suing each other as Zaentz sued Fogerty for plagiarizing himself on The Old Man Down the Road and also for defamation for the song Vanz Kant Danz, which was originally titled Zanz Kant Danz, but was altered as part of the settlement. Fogerty counter-sued for reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and in a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, he won…sometimes there IS justice in the world.
Saul Zaentz took CCR’s money and built an empire with it. He owned the worldwide film, stage, and merchandise rights to J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He financed the Lord of the Rings animation in 1978 and many other films.
The contract CCR signed with Zaentz was one sided. Zaentz promised the band he would renegotiate when the band had a hit…he refused of course when that day happened. Fogerty has said that he brought in the ultimate crooked band manager Allen Klein to break the contract. Klein who could famously manipulate contracts told Fogerty that the contract was iron clad.
The video for this was the first ever filmed entirely in “Claymation.” It was produced at Will Vinton Studio, named for the inventor of the clay animation technique. The video didn’t garner a lot of attention at the time because the song wasn’t a hit…it did get some airplay on MTV at the time.
From Songfacts
The song is about an unnamed street dancer and his sidekick, a pig trained to pick people’s pockets as they watch the dancer do his stuff. The pig, originally named Zanz as a dig at Saul Zaentz, “Can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money – watch him or he’ll rob you blind.” When Zaentz threatened Fogerty with yet another lawsuit, Fogerty changed the pig’s name to Vanz.
Another song from the Centerfield album, “Mr. Greed,” is also thought to be a musical salvo by Fogerty in his long-running feud with Zaentz, which lasted until 2004 when Fantasy Records was bought out by Concord Records, who restored Fogerty’s rights to his CCR material.
Vanz Kant Danz
Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind
Out in the street the crowd is gatherin’ Pushed down by the heat of the building, they’re wantin’ to dance Makin’ their way up the street, a boy with a pig and a radio Little Billy can work on the crowd, put ’em into a trance For the little pig Vanz
Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind
You’re watchin’ ’em dance, not a care in the world So Billy and Vanz get busy, they’re makin’ their move The little pig knows what to do He’s silent and quick, just like Oliver Twist Before it’s over, your pocket is clean A four-legged thief paid a visit on you
Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind
Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind
Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind Vanz can’t dance, but he’ll steal your money Watch him or he’ll rob you blind
The holy trinity of power pop for me are…Badfinger, Big Star, and The Raspberries…those were the 70s pioneers. Badfinger was the most successful out of the three…hit wise anyway. You can hear later bands like Cheap Trick, The Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, and even KISS get something from each three.
My love for this song is so over the top. Baby Blue, to these ears, is the perfect power pop song. It has the right combination of the hard British crunch and pop with an irresistible guitar riff. Lets talk about that guitar riff. I know there are other good rock riffs but the perfection in this one is sensational. He plays a variant of it through the song always changing plus a walk down or two. Nothing is purely defined and that is just pure brilliance. The solo is simple but fits perfectly. No nuance in this song is wasted…it was in there for the good of the song…not meant to be flashy.
It’s a hook here, a hook there, and a hook everywhere…and…I’ve been hooked since I first heard it. Everything blends. Even the ending is perfect. On top of that it was produced by a power pop guy Todd Rundgren.
You can hear a young Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick listening and learning from this.
I had gone through Han’s entire album draft without mentioning my name sake…Badfinger…I’m here to rectify that now. I learned about Badfinger as a wee young kid who thought “Come and Get It” was a long lost Beatle song. I found out more about them and bought the album Straight Up. I liked many of their album cuts more than their hits.
As they went along they started to move away from the power pop genre because of the too close Beatle connection. During live performances they sorta became a jam band. Later on they made some excellent albums that no one heard because of a manager who would make Allen Klein (Satan, snake, etc) look good. Arguably the most tragic story in rock and roll…but that is for another day. We are looking now at Badfinger in 1972 before the rug got pulled out from underneath them.
A year ago or so I posted a ranking of my favorite power pop songs. This one was at the top of my list before I wrote it, during the process of writing it, and is still at the top. The others have changed places depending on my mood but not this one.
The song peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100 in 1972. The “Dixie” in the song was Pete Ham’s ex-girlfriend, Dixie Armstrong whom he’d met during the band’s US tour of 1971. Dixie was from Wichita Kansas (thanks run-sew-read).
The song was revitalized again in the great show Breaking Bad. I’m happy that Breaking Bad showcased this song so that another generation knows the song and hopefully that will lead more people to learn about Badfinger. After the show’s finale with this song…the song entered the charts again.
*** Here is the clip from Breaking Bad…but warning…it has a major spoiler for those who haven’t watched it.
Or you can watch them below that with an awkwardly cool Kenny Rogers introducing them. The music is not live but the vocals are…they are playing to a backing track…but listen to those live voices….although they are mic’d up so they are probably playing low along with the backing track.
Baby Blue
Guess I got what I deserved Kept you waiting there too long, my love All that time without a word Didn’t know you’d think that I’d forget or I’d regret The special love I had for you, my baby blue
All the days became so long Did you really think, I’d do you wrong? Dixie, when I let you go Thought you’d realize that I would know I would show the special love I have for you, my baby blue
What can I do, what can I say Except I want you by my side How can I show you, show me the way Don’t you know the times I’ve tried?
guitar solo
Guess that’s all I have to say Except the feeling just grows stronger every day Just one thing before I go Take good care, baby, let me know, let it grow The special love you have for me, my Dixie, dear.
This music is about Summer, fun, fun…and did I mention fun? Musically I loved the surf drummers and musicians. They were good and very fast.
I first found out about Jan and Dean when I was a kid. There was a TV movie in 1978 about them.
Jan and Dean were William Jan Berry, and Dean Ormsby Torrence, who formed in Los Angeles and 1958. They helped to shape the California Sound and vocal surf music. Jan and Dean had over 20 charting songs and going strong until Jan Berry was in a horrendous car crash that left him brain damaged and severely handicapped for the rest of his life in 1966.
After numerous brain operations, Jan spent six weeks in coma and awoke severely brain damaged, unable to speak, and completely paralyzed on his right side. He fought back and was able…although tremendously handicapped to return to the recording studio the next year to work on material for an unreleased Jan & Dean project that was not to be released until 2010 called Carnival of Sound. He still could not sing well enough to perform.
Dean would go on to be a graphic artist and make album covers for Harry Nilsson, Steve Martin, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dennis Wilson, Bruce Johnston, the Beach Boys, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Linda Ronstadt, Canned Heat and more.
Jan and Dean performed again in 1976…10 years after the accident. Jan and Dean continued to tour through the 80’s to the 2000’s. Jan died in 2004.
This song was released in 1964 and it peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100.
For those who have time…below is the 1978 movie in its entirety.
It’s the little old lady from Pasadena
It’s the little old lady from Pasadena…
The little old lady from Pasadena (Go granny, go granny, go granny, go) Has a pretty little flowerbed of white gardenias (Go granny, go granny, go granny, go) But parked in a rickety old garage Is a brand-new, shiny red, super-stock Dodge
And everybody’s sayin’ that there’s nobody meaner Than the little old lady from Pasadena She drives real fast and she drives real hard She’s the terror of Colorado Boulevard
It’s the little old lady from Pasadena…
If you see her on the street, don’t try to choose her (Go granny, go granny, go granny, go) You might drive a goer, but you’ll never lose her (Go granny, go granny, go granny, go!) Well, she’s gonna get a ticket now, sooner or later ‘Cause she can’t keep her foot off the accelerator
And everybody’s sayin’ that there’s nobody meaner Than the little old lady from Pasadena She drives real fast and she drives real hard She’s the terror of Colorado Boulevard
It’s the little old lady from Pasadena…
Go granny, go granny, go granny, go Go granny, go granny, go granny, go
The guys come to race her from miles around But she’ll give ’em a length, then she’ll shut ’em down
And everybody’s sayin’ that there’s nobody meaner Than the little old lady from Pasadena She drives real fast and she drives real hard She’s the terror of Colorado Boulevard
It’s the little old lady from Pasadena… Go granny, go granny, go granny, go (repeat until end and fade)
The Walrus was Paul! I never knew that John. This song was written by John and Paul but mostly a John song. The song was about people trying to analyze the lyrics to Beatle songs.
Lennon mentioned other Beatles songs in the lyrics: “Strawberry Fields,” “I am the Walrus,” “Lady Madonna,” “The Fool on the Hill,” and “Fixing a Hole.” One phrase in the song is “cast iron shore,” which is actually a nickname for a coastal area of south Liverpool also known by the locals as “The Cazzy.”
John had started the song during their spring 1968 visit to Rishikesh, India to study Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi. Most of the songs written in India ended up on the terrific White Album. The most eclectic album The Beatles ever did.
A new name was needed for a newly signed Apple band called The Iveys. John suggested Glass Onion…this was rejected, along with another Lennon suggestion “Prix.” The band went with the working title for the Beatles song With A Little Help From My Friends… Bandfinger Boogie. They shortened it and became the great power pop band Badfinger.
John Lennon: “I was having a laugh because there had been so much gobbledegook about ‘Pepper,’ play it backwards and you stand on your head and all that.”
Paul McCartney:“He and Yoko came round to Cavendish Avenue and John and I went out into the garden for half an hour, because there were a couple of things he needed me to finish up, but it was his song, his idea…It was a nice song of John’s. We had a fun moment when we were working on the bit, ‘I’ve got news for you all, the walrus was Paul.’ Because, although we’d never planned it, people read into our songs and little legends grew up about every item of so-called significance, so on this occasion we decided to plant one. What John meant was that in ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ when we came to do the costumes on ‘I Am The Walrus,’ it happened to be me in the walrus costume. It was not significant at all, but it was a nice little twist to the legend that we threw in. But it was John’s song. I’d guess I had minor input or something as we finished it up together…We still worked together, even on a song like ‘Glass Onion’ where many people think there wouldn’t be any collaboration.”
From Songfacts
John Lennon used meaningless lyrics to confuse people who were reading too much into his songs. He got a kick out of people trying to analyze his lyrics.
A glass onion is a coffin with a see-through lid. Because of this, it became a big part of the “Paul is Dead” hoax. Another clue for those who believed the hoax: Lennon sang, “The Walrus is Paul.” In many European countries, a walrus represents death.
Lennon wanted to name one of the bands they signed to Apple Records “Glass Onion.” They chose “Badfinger” instead.
One theory is that “Glass Onion” refers to Lennon’s opinion of the yogic concept of the lotus with its layered petals (layers of consciousness to be stripped away, much like an onion, through meditation) as a bunch of transparent bull used by the Maharishi to manipulate and seduce. He’s also saying the Maharishi’s whole shtick stinks and is a crying shame.
When Lennon sings about the “Cast Iron Shore,” he’s referring to what was an area of beach at Liverpool, that is now partly built over. This area of Liverpool is called Otterspool.
According to Mojo magazine, the Beatles recorded 34 takes of the song’s basic rhythm track on Wednesday September 11, 1968, then returned the next day to overdub Lennon’s vocal and again on Friday and the following Monday for further overdubs. On October 10th George Martin, after returning from holiday, added the string section.
Lennon explained to Rolling Stone in a 1971 interview why he said “The Walrus is Paul.” Said Lennon: “‘I Am The Walrus’ was originally the B side of ‘Hello Goodbye.’ I was still in my love cloud with Yoko and I thought, well, I’ll just say something nice to Paul: ‘It’s all right, you did a good job over these few years, holding us together.’ He was trying to organize the group, and organize the music, and be an individual and all that, so I wanted to thank him. I said ‘the Walrus is Paul’ for that reason. I felt, ‘Well, he can have it. I’ve got Yoko, and thank you, you can have the credit.'”
Glass Onion
I told you about strawberry fields You know the place where nothing is real Well here’s another place you can go Where everything flows.
Looking through the bent-backed tulips To see how the other half live Looking through a glass onion.
I told you about the walrus and me, man You know we’re as close as can be, man Well here’s another clue for you all The walrus was Paul.
Standing on the cast iron shore, yeah Lady Madonna trying to make ends meet, yeah Looking through the glass onion
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah Looking through the glass onion.
I told you about the fool on the hill I tell you man he’s living there still Well here’s another place you can be Listen to me.
Fixing a hole in the ocean Trying to make a dove-tail joint, yeah Looking through a glass onion.
As with the Buzzcocks…I had friends with Jam albums and that is how I found out about them.
This was their first single and introduction to the Jam and singer/guitarist and Jam songwriter Paul Weller. Weller wrote this song and borrowed the title from a Who single I’m A Boy with the B side In The City.
It was released in 1977 and peaked at #40 inn the UK Charts. This was their first Top 40 single and the beginning of their streak of 18 consecutive Top 40 singles. The single came off the album of the same name. The album peaked at #20 in 1977.
The song’s opening bassline re-appeared a few months later on the Sex Pistols’ single “Holidays in The Sun.” Weller had a fight with Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious in the Speakeasy Club over stealing the riff.
Paul Weller:“We had a different sort of birth to a lot of the bands, our contemporaries of that time. Because we’d been playing for five years – pubs and working men’s clubs and anywhere that would have us really. I’d been plating since I was 14, sort of semi-pro if you like. So I never got the thing about not turning your guitar.”
“I wrote this after I’d seen the Pistols and The Clash and I was obviously into my Who phrase. I just wanted to capture some of that excitement.” “It was a big tune for us. We’d open our set with it, we’d probably play it at the end and if we could get an encore, we’d play it again. The reaction it got from the audience, we knew it was a big tune.”
“I’m not sure about some of the lyrics in … I was 17, 18 man. But it was a good youth anthem, I thought.”
From Songfacts
While only a minor hit on the charts, this mod/punk number is well remembered for serving as England’s first introduction to singer/guitarist and Jam songwriter Paul Weller. The song’s #40 chart position when the song was first released marked the beginning of his band’s streak of 18 consecutive Top 40 singles. After their breakup in 1982, Weller would continue to notch up chart entries well into the 21st century firstly with Style Council, then under his own name.
Weller was only 18 when he penned this celebration of youth in the big city. He recalled writing this song to Q magazine April 2011: “It was the sound of young Woking, if not London, a song about trying to break out of suburbia. As far as we were concerned, the city was where it was all happening; the clubs, the gigs, the music, the music. I was probably 18, so it was a young man’s song, a suburbanite dreaming of the delights of London and the excitement of the city. It was an exciting time to be alive. London was coming out of its post-hippy days and there was a new generation taking over. The song captured that wide-eyed innocence of coming out of a very small community and entering a wider world, seeing all the bands, meeting people, going to the clubs, and the freedom that it held.”
The single has the particular distinction of reaching the UK Top 50 on four different occasions. The song originally peaked at #40, then when “Going Underground” became the group’s first #1 single three years later, Polydor decided to re-issue all nine of the group’s prior singles and “City” was the only one to make the Top 40 again, peaking at #40 for a second time. After the group’s breakup at the end of 1982, the record company re-issued every single of the band’s career in early 1983 and this time “City” peaked at #47. Finally, in May 2002, Polydor decided to commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Jam by re-releasing their debut single in its original packaging, in its original 7″ vinyl record format, and at its original price of 75 pence. The limited pressing sold out immediately, this time peaking at #36, higher than it ever did in its original release and two subsequent reissues.
In The City
In the city there’s a thousand things I want to say to you But whenever I approach you, you make me look a fool I want to say, I want to tell you About the young ideas But you turn them into fears
In the city there’s a thousand faces all shining bright And those golden faces are under 25 They want to say, they gonna tell ya About the young idea You better listen now you’ve said your bit-a
And I know what you’re thinking You still think I am crap But you’d better listen man Because the kids know where it’s at
In the city there’s a thousand men in uniforms And I’ve heard they now have the right to kill a man We want to say, we gonna tell ya About the young idea And if it don’t work, at least we said we’ve tried
In the city, in the city In the city there’s a thousand things I want to say to you
This is one of the first songs I remember hearing from R.E.M. A buddy of mine had the Reckoning album and wore it out. It is up in the top ten of my favorite REM songs.
This song is about Ingrid Schorr, a girl the band knew at the University of Georgia whose hometown was Rockville, Maryland. She got a lot of attention on campus as classmates lamented her departure.
Don’t Go Back To Rockville is a R.E.M. song that bass player Mike Mills wrote most of the lyrics but as always with R.E.M. credited to the entire band. Mills exaggerated in the song and he wasn’t a boyfriend to Ingrid…only good friends but he saw a good song in the story.
The orginal version of the song was really fast like a Ramones kind of punk rock song. They slowed it down to a country tinged feel as a nod to their manager Bertis Downs, who really loved the song.
This was the second single from the album Reckoning released in 1984. The song didn’t chart but the album peaked at #27 in the Billboard Album Charts, #23 in New Zealand, and #91 in the UK.
Mike Mills:“There was a girl Ingrid Schorr. We were seeing each other and we really liked each other, but we were not boyfriend and girlfriend. She was going back to Rockville for the summer. And I thought that ‘going back to Rockville’ just screamed song, right there. As I wrote it, it turned into what if we were in love and she was leaving and never coming back. And that’s how it turned into ‘(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville.’ It just morphed as it went along.”
Mike Mills:“I remember sitting at the kitchen table on Little Oconee Street in Athens, (Georgia),” Mills explains. “There’s a turnaround in the song that’s inspired by part of a Simon & Garfunkel song (“Mrs. Robinson”) that I heard, and I started building the song around that. Sometimes the first line is the hardest line and once I got that first line (‘Looking at your watch a third time/Waiting in the station for a bus’), the rest of it flowed naturally.”
From Songfacts
The band had already been playing this song in a much faster, punk-like style for a long time and didn’t even consider it for the Reckoning album until their legal advisor, Bertis Downs, begged them to “at least do one take of it for me … please!?!?”
Drummer Bill Berry remembers tweaking the song to mess with Downs: “To playfully suggest to him that the song wasn’t in contention, we recorded a much slower version than he was accustomed to hearing and we sprinkled it with a Nashville twang to drive the point home. It started out silly, but when Mike added piano, the tune took on new light. Thanks, Bert!”
Don’t Go Back To Rockville
Looking at your watch a third time Waiting in the station for the bus Going to a place that’s far So far away and if that’s not enough Going where nobody says hello They don’t talk to anybody they don’t know
You’ll wind up in some factory That’s full time filth and nowhere left to go Walk home to an empty house Sit around all by yourself I know it might sound strange but I believe You’ll be coming back before too long
Don’t go back to Rockville Don’t go back to Rockville Don’t go back to Rockville And waste another year
At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don’t care if you’re not here with me ‘Cause it’s so much easier to handle All my problems if I’m too far out to sea But something better happen soon Or it’s gonna be too late to bring you back
Don’t go back to Rockville Don’t go back to Rockville Don’t go back to Rockville And waste another year
It’s not as though I really need you If you were here I’d only bleed you But everybody else in town only wants to bring you down and That’s not how it ought to be I know it might sound strange, but I believe You’ll be coming back before too long
Don’t go back to Rockville Don’t go back to Rockville Don’t go back to Rockville And waste another year
Don’t go back to Rockville Don’t go back to Rockville Don’t go back to Rockville And waste another year
I had this single when I was a kid that was passed down from a cousin. Joe South was a great songwriter. He wrote songs such as Hush, Rose Garden, Walk A Mile In My Shoes, and Down in the Boondocks.
Joe South did not record any more hits, but he did write and record the original version of Rose Garden, which three years later became a hit for the country artist Lynn Anderson.
He was originally a session man, and among the hits he played the guitar on are Aretha Franklin’s “Chain Of Fools,” Tommy Roe’s “Sheila” and Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound Of Silence.” He also played on Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde album.
The Games People Play album was one of the first to be multitracked. Joe South performed all the vocal and instrumental parts himself, and some consider it the first ever Country-Soul album.
South won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Contemporary Song for this.
From Songfacts
Written by Joe South, this song is about how people can go through life preoccupied with negative thoughts. Instead of living lives of service and accomplishment, they deceive others in an effort to get ahead, which ultimately leads to unhappiness.
It was originally released in 1968 as Introspect before being reissued as Games People Play when the title track became a hit.
Mel Tormé recorded a notable cover version of this song later in 1969 which appeared on his A Time for Us album. The prominent bass in his version was performed by Carol Kaye, who was one of the studio musicians behind hits for The Monkees, The Beach Boys, Joe Cocker and many others. In a Songfacts interview with Carol Kaye, she talked about this session: “There was one time when I overplayed on bass to try to wake up a drummer. The drummer was in on tour and he was sleeping. You could tell that. And it was a big band. He was slowing down in the parts and the part that I was playing was slow according to the tune. The tune required just a few notes on my part, so somebody in the band said, ‘Do something, Carol.’ So I played a lot of notes and it woke up the drummer. And I walked in the booth after the take, and I said, ‘Now we can do a take.’ And they looked at me and laughed and said, ‘That was the take.’ I said, ‘Oh, no, that’s a bass solo.’
The bass part that I invented is a test now at schools around the world. And he’s just going, ‘La di da’ and here’s all this bass and stuff coming in. I thought, That’ll never be a hit. And it was a big smash hit for him.”
Now look here People walkin’ up to you Singin’ glory hallelujah, ha-ha And they try and to sock it to you In the name of the Lord
They’re gonna teach you how to meditate Read your horoscope, cheat your fate And furthermore to hell with hate Come on, get on board Whoa-ah
La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da La-da-da, da-da da, da-dee Talkin’ ’bout you and me And the games people play
Now, wait a minute Look around tell me what you see? What’s happenin’ to you and me? God grant me the serenity To just remember who I am Whoa-ah
‘Cause you’ve given up your sanity For your pride and your vanity Turn you back on humanity Oh, and you don’t give a Da, da, da, da, da
La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da La-da-da, da-da da, da-dee I’ll keep a-talkin’ ’bout you and me, brother And the games people play now, now
La-da-da, da-da-da, da-da La-da-da, da-da da, da-dee Gonna talk ’bout you and me Oh, and the games people play I wonder can you come out and play? Early in the mornin’, whoa yes Talkin’ ’bout you and me And the games people play now
These guys were in the Paisley Underground movement in the 1980s. They should be a classic band but they never broke through to the masses.
The Paisley Underground Scene had many different types of bands. The sound they all had was not united. Bands like Green on Red more of a country-ish/stones rock and roll, Rain Parade more of a Beatles type, The Bangles were more of a pop/rock band. The scene had about any thing you would want except major hits…The Bangles are the ones that really broke through.
Death and Angels
In the event (In the event) Of sudden disaster (sudden disaster) Just look into a face (look into a face) That matters
Death and angels (death and angels) On the ground (on the ground) Death and angels (death and angels) I swear Fly around (fly around)
(ahh ahh) In the case of a sudden (ahh ahh) Point of view (ahh ahh) (ahh ahh) Just listen to your heart (ahh ahh) I swear (ahh ahh) That’s what’s true (ahh ahh)
Death and angels (ahh ahh) On the ground (ahh ahh) I swear Death and angels (death and angels) Flying (fly around)
Seems so dark and lonely Seems … Feels so cool Oh no — The lack of compassion (in the world) in our world
This is garage rock/punk and hits you right between the eyes. The Lime Spiders formed in 1979 in the Liverpool area (not that Liverpool) of Western Sydney Australia around a core of vocalist Mick Blood and guitarist Darryl Mather.
They played a mixture of blend of power pop, psychedelia and 60s garage punk and they won a lot of fans in Australia.
Allmusic has this to say… Lime Spiders were an Australian post-punk unit resurrecting the trashier elements of ’60s garage and psychedelic rock with willful abandon. Bless them for that! And more power to them for doing it in the middle of the 80s. Rolling Stone magazine once described them at times as The Sex Pistols on acid…that about sums it up.
In 1988 they released the Weirdo Libido single, which appeared on the soundtrack to an Australian film called Young Einstein but after that they broke up. They did reunite in 1992 and again in 1997…they were together in some form or another until 2009. They last released an album in 2007.
They released 12 LP’s and EP’s all together with several singles. This one was released in 1984 as a single only at the time.
Slave Girl
Let me tell you ’bout a girl I know I drag her around wherever I go This little woman drives me insane She’s tied to my ankle with a ball and chain
For sixteen years she’s been hangin’ around Try’n’ to bury me in a hole in the ground Well I think it’s time that I even the score There’s only room for one in this cage of yours
Don’t save me when I’m startin’ to drown Don’t use me when you don’t want me around Just be my slave girl ’cause that’s all I need So take a little step back to the stone age with me. Go!
Well I hear a strange noise as I lie in my bed I feel a lotta water drippin’ on my head I look around tried to see through my hair You left me alone, but do you think I care?
‘Cause you moved me when I was takin’ my time You abused me when I’m outta line You tried to warn me of the danger sign So watch out, go
Well, you got me in the bondage of another age You drive me to distraction in a primitive way I can’t control my instincts when I hear her say “Just come around and see me if you lose your way”
So join my chain gang play along with me I’ll be your caveman, it’s basic as can be I’m not insane, man, I’m just outta my dream
The rock opera Tommy tells the story of a “deaf, dumb, and blind” kid who becomes a Pinball Wizard and then a spiritual leader. The double album was The Who’s break though album. They performed the album in concert halls and opera theaters.
On their second album A Quick One, they were short of material, Kit Lambert (manager) encouraged Pete to create a mini-opera called A Quick One, While He’s Away by combining a suite of song snippets. By 1968 he was developing a full-album concept called Deaf, Dumb And Blind Boy, inspired by Indian spiritual mentor Meher Baba.
When the album was released to the world it was a huge hit… It was their first album to get into the top ten or the top forty for that matter in America. It wasn’t for the lack of trying. They released some great albums that only the UK enjoyed..they also had singles that rivaled the Kinks, Beatles, and Stones but were not heard here until the compilation album Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy was released in 1971.
I like the Tommy album although it’s not my favorite Who album…that would be Who’s Next. I always thought the album sounded thin compared to the live version they played in 1969 and 70.
Unlike other bands such as the Stones…Townshend encouraged the others to write because he carried most of the burden. Entwistle was the most prolific writer next to Townshend. Daltrey and Moon only wrote occasionally.
All of them contributed vocals to this one.
From Songfacts
“Tommy Can You Hear Me?” is the sixth track on the first side of the second album (third side overall) and acts as a transition between two narratively important songs, “Go To The Mirror!” and “Smash the Mirror.”
In “Go to the Mirror!” a doctor (played by Jack Nicholson in the film version) tells Tommy’s parents that their son’s lifelong handicap is entirely psychosomatic, basically meaning it’s all in his head. That song leads into “Tommy Can You Hear Me?” In this track, the lyrics are meant to be the words of Tommy’s mother, who is extra frustrated by Tommy’s inability to hear her now that she knows it’s all in his head.
“Tommy Can You Hear Me” leads into “Smash the Mirror,” in which Tommy can indeed see his own reflection, but still doesn’t register seeing his mother, which enrages her so much, she shoves Tommy through a mirror. This scene leads to Tommy’s eventual awakening as a spiritual figure..
Bob Dylan references this song in “Murder Most Foul” with the lyric, “Tommy, can you hear me? I’m the Acid Queen.” That line also mentions “The Acid Queen,” which is another track on Tommy.
Tommy Can You Hear Me
Tommy can you hear me? Can you feel me near you? Tommy can you see me? Can I help to cheer you? Ooooh Tommy Tommy Tommy Tommy
Tommy can you hear me? Can you feel me near you? Tommy can you see me? Can I help to cheer you? Ooooh Tommy Tommy Tommy Tommy
Tommy can you hear me? Can you feel me near you? Tommy can you see me? Can I help to cheer you? Ooooh Tommy
The vocals on this song won me over when I heard it. Keyboard player Nickey Barclay nails the vocals on this song. She goes from 0 to 100 and she turns into a Janis Joplin. It builds up slowly and then Barclay wails the vocal while June Millington breaks out on the slide guitar at the end to a huge crescendo. The drummer Alice de Buhr does a really cool rhythm pattern for this song…
There have been a few all female rock bands (not enough) but this one…to me is the most talented one I’ve heard. They were not a “girl group”…they were a full fledged rock band. They didn’t have the pop song to take them over the top but for what they did…they didn’t need it.
The live version I have on the Midnight Special is much better than the studio cut. This song was written by Randy Newman and it has such wonderful lines in it.
I saw a vampire, I saw a ghost Everybody scared me, but you scared me the most In the dream I had last night
From all the clips I’ve seen of Fanny live…their live sound just wasn’t caught in the studio and they were much better live. BTW…love the eye-shadow or glam-shadow (thanks Vic)…what ever it is…another reason to love the seventies.
Last Night I Had A Dream
Last night I had a dream You were in it, and I was in it with you And everyone that I know And everyone that you know was in my dream I saw a vampire, I saw a ghost Everybody scared me, but you scared me the most In the dream I had last night In the dream I had last night
In my dream
Last night I had a dream Scared me before you know I woke up screaming Saw all of my in-laws and whole lot of outlaws In my dream I saw the wolfman Jack and saw the mummy too
In the dream I had last night In the dream I had last night In that dream
It started out in a barnyard at sundown And everyone was laughing And you were lying on the ground
You said, “honey, can you tell me what your name is?” “Honey, can you tell me what your name is?” I said, “damn damn what your game is”
You know what my game is
In the dream I had last night In the dream I had last night
I saw a vampire, I saw a ghost Everybody scared me, but you scared me the most In the dream I had last night In the dream I had last night
In the dream I had last night, in my dream In the dream I had last night, in my dream
Last night I had a dream You were in it, and I was in it with you And everyone that I know And everyone that you know was in my dream I saw a vampire, I saw a ghost Everybody scared me, but you scared me the most In the dream I had last night In the dream I had last night, in my dream
Happy Monday everyone! Everything that I’ve heard by them is loud, catchy, aggressive, and with a power pop hook. I listened to the Buzzcocks in the 80s with some friends that owned some imports. I hoped they would break in America but never did.
The Buzzcocks crossed pop with punk. The Go-Go’s have said they were a huge influence. Jane Wiedlin said: “our favorite band, the band that we always tried to emulate was the Buzzcocks, who had that great pop song done in a punky style.”
Grunge bands admired the Buzzcocks also. Pearl Jam invited the band to open US shows for them in 2003, including the Buzzcocks’ first ever appearance at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Nirvana invited them to open dates on their last ever European tour, in early 1994.
Steve Diggle wrote this song and did the lead vocals on it. He said the “harmony” in the song is the sound of the crowd when they played.
To get the right sound for the song, Diggle smoked 20 cigarettes to get the gruff sound of the vocals. The song peaked at #32 in the UK charts in 1979. The song was just released as a single not an album.
They released 3 albums, 6 non-album singles, and broke up in 1981 after a dispute with their record company. They reunited in 1989 and released 6 more albums. Pete Shelley continued to play with the band until his death of a heart attack in 2018. The band still continues to tour with Diggle.
Steve Diggle: “I was reading James Joyce’s Ulysses, which is a heavy book but it had a lot of cinematic imagery – so ‘Harmony’ wasn’t a linear story like pop songs are. The Arndale Centre had just been built and it gave me a real sense of alienation. I wanted to walk down the street and hear the percolation of the crowds – that was the ‘harmony.’ Life was never going to be sweet and nice and it’s not always doom and gloom. The ‘Harmony In My Head’ was the sound of the crowd. That’s how real life is.”
From Songfacts
When Buzzcocks played their first concert, Steve Diggle was their bassist, but founding frontman Howard Devoto’s departure prompted the band to reshuffle, with Pete Shelley becoming lead vocalist/guitarist and Diggle moving from bass to guitar and co-vocalist.
Diggle also had a few early co-writing credits and contributed chords and choruses to “Promises” shortly after Pete Shelley’s “Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve).” “Harmony In My Head,” which reached #32 in the UK, is probably Diggle’s best known song.
Engineer Alan Winstanley recalled to Uncut: “‘Harmony’ is interesting as it’s the only one Steve Diggle sings – it doesn’t have that Pete Shelley sweetness – but when he comes in on the chorus it really changes it. Then off Steve goes again with his growly voice.”
Released as a standalone single on July 13, 1979, the song spent six weeks on the UK singles chart, peaking at #32.
Harmony In My Head
Whenever I’m in doubt about things I do I listen to the high street wailing sounds in a queue Go out for my walking sailing social news Don’t let it get me down I’m long in the tooth
When I’m out in the open clattering shoppers around Neon signs that take your eyes to town Your thoughts are chosen your world is advertising now And extravagance matters to worshipers of the pound
But it’s a harmony in my head It’s a harmony in my head
The tortured faces expression out aloud And life’s little ironies seem so obvious now Your cashed in cheques have placed the payments down And there’s a line of buses all wait to take you out
But it’s a harmony in my head It’s a harmony in my head It’s a
It’s a harmony in my head It’s a harmony in my head It’s a harmony in my head It’s a harmony in my head
Whenever I’m in doubt about things I do I listen to the high street wailing sounds in a queue I go out for my walking sailing social news Don’t let it get me down I’m long in the tooth
‘Cause it’s a harmony in my head It’s a harmony in my head It’s a harmony in my head It’s a harmony in my head
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