I started this post and it’s still hard to believe Ric Okasek is gone…him and The Cars left behind some great songs and history.
The band’s guitarist Elliot Easton was one of the most underrated guitarists of his generation. The guy played perfect pop/rock/country guitar fills and solos.
This song like many other of their best known songs was on their debut album The Cars. To these ears it hast to be one of the best debut albums by a pop/rock band. The album was released on June 6, 1978.
The album featured 3 charting songs Let The Good Times Roll, My Best Friend’s Girl, and Just What I Needed. It also contained songs that would remain staples on rock radio such as Bye, Bye, Love and You’re All I’ve Got Tonight.
The Cars sold one million copies by the end of 1978 and remained on the charts for nearly three years. It only peaked at number 18, Billboard ranked it number 4 on their “Top Albums of the Year” countdown. Critically, the album has been labeled “a genuine rock masterpiece”.
In the next decade the Cars would climb higher in the charts with singles and albums before they disbanded in the late eighties.
You’re All I’ve Got Tonight
I don’t care if you hurt me some more I don’t care if you even the score You can knock me and I don’t care You can mock me and I don’t care You can rock me just about anywhere It’s alright
‘Cause you’re all I’ve got tonight You’re all I’ve got tonight You’re all I’ve got tonight I need you tonight I need you tonight
I don’t care if you use me again I don’t care if you abuse me again You can make me I don’t care You can fake me I don’t care You can love me just about anywhere It’s alright
Cause you’re all I’ve got tonight You’re all I’ve got tonight You’re all I’ve got tonight I need you tonight Said I need you tonight
I don’t want to feel sorry for you You don’t have to make believe it’s you You can pump me I don’t care You can bump me I don’t care You can love me just about anywhere It’s alright
You’re all I’ve got tonight You’re all I’ve got tonight You’re all I’ve got tonight I need you tonight Said I need you tonight
You’re all I’ve got tonight You’re all I’ve got tonight You’re all I’ve got tonight I need you tonight I need you tonight I need you tonight
Lime and limpid green, a second scene Now fights between the blue you once knew
I’m loving this early Pink Floyd music.
This was the opening song on The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn…which was Pink Floyd’s first album; the title came from a chapter heading in The Wind In The Willows, a children’s book written by Kenneth Grahame and published in 1908.
The song was written by founding member and original band leader Syd Barrett. The song starts with some Morse Code and it turns out to be a catchy pop tune. You can hear the future of Pink Floyd in parts of this song.
In the UK, the album was a hit, reaching #6 in 1967. Pink Floyd got some attention when they toured with Jimi Hendrix in 1967.
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason: “This is such a great drum track in an interesting time signature. It’s a fantastic bit of ’60s philosophy mixed with a sort of psychedelic lyric.”
From Songfacts
“Astronomy” is the study of celestial bodies, and to “domineer” is to control something in an arrogant way. So “Astronomy Domine” means to control space for personal needs. This probably represents the space race between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War era.
This was written by Syd Barrett, who was the group’s primary songwriter at the time. A founding member of Pink Floyd, his mental health started deteriorating a short time after this was released, and by 1972 he was out of the band, doing gardening instead of leading one of the foremost bands in Britain. Pink Floyd went on to far greater success without him, but the songs he wrote represent some of the more adventurous music of the era and show sparks of the genius many believe he could have become.
Oberon, Miranda and Titania” are all moons of Uranus and are also characters in Shakespeare’s plays (Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Miranda, daughter of Prospero in The Tempest). “Titan” is the largest moon of Saturn.
Regarding the lyrics, “Stairway scare, Dan Dare, who’s there?” Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero created by illustrator Frank Hampson, and is referenced in this song with obvious references to Space, planets, and their moons. Syd Barrett’s guitar is also suggestive of the brass motif from “Mars, the Bringer of War” in Gustav Holst’s The Planets.
There is some Morse code at the beginning of this song, which was a way to transmit messages using a series of long and short tones. Plenty of people tried to decipher the code in this song, only to realize it was just a random series of tones with no meaning.
Astronomy Domine
Lime and limpid green, a second scene Now fights between the blue you once knew Floating down, the sound resounds Around the icy waters underground Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda and Titania Neptune, Titan, stars can frighten
We wrapped up Hanspostcard’s album draft…100 albums in 100 days. We are going into extra innings and extending three more picks from these categories… favorite Soundtracks, Greatest Hits, and a music related movie. This is my pick for sountrack…Help! by the Beatles.
To avoid confusion I’m reviewing the UK version of Help! because that is the one that I own.
The movie Help! was an enjoyable movie. It was not nearly as good as A Hard Days Night but it had it’s moments. I love black and white movies but the color made Help! stand out. The Beatles knew it wasn’t as good as their first…John had a quote about it: “it was like being a frog in a movie about clams.” Nevertheless it was a fun movie and a pleasure to watch today.
They shot the movie in five different locations…London, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Austria, and the Bahamas.
It was the first Beatle movie I ever saw…I rented it from a video store in the mid-eighties. The Help! movie was the only Beatle movie they had at the time. With no internet, it was my only window to see the Beatles other than the documentary The Compleat Beatles.
The soundtrack is a great album on it’s own.
I picked this album/soundtrack because I always thought this was the transitional album between Beatlemania and The Beatles middle period. After this album would come Rubber Soul and the swinging sixties would officially be kicked off. Help! shows them making strides into the future. You can hear a some of their earlier work and get a hint of what was coming.
Here are a few songs…I’ll leave the big hits off of the preview.
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away is a good song with a noticeable Dylan influence.
One of my favorite songs on the album is The Night Before…I first heard it on the Beatles Rock and Roll Music compilation album. It’s another song that would have been a single for another band.
As soon as I heard I’ve Just Seen A Face…I learned it on guitar and have been playing it ever since. This is a song that you can see the change starting to take place…from the bouncy numbers to this folk influenced one. This song would be on the American version of Rubber Soul.
You’re Going to Lose That Girl has a catchy call and response chorus. The backup vocals are superb.
The title track is brilliant with John calling out for Help after being battered by Beatlemania. They also dipped into their club roots with a cover of the Larry Williams song Dizzy Miss Lizzy. The album had the hits of course…Help!, Yesterday, and Ticket To Ride…all #1 in the Billboard 100.
I’m ready to watch Help! now…can I smuggle a Blu-ray player on the island?
Help! The Night Before You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away I Need You Another Girl You’re Going to Lose That Girl Ticket to Ride Act Naturally It’s Only Love You Like Me Too Much Tell Me What You See I’ve Just Seen a Face Yesterday Dizzy Miss Lizzy
You better stop, look around Here it comes Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
I like this period in Rolling Stones history. Between 1964-67 they released some great music. Brian Jones added a lot of texture to this period.
The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards during their 1965 tour of the United States. The song was recorded during the Aftermath sessions. They got the title from Mick Jagger in the middle of the tour.
During the song Brian Jones is playing a lick that he got from Diddley Daddy…an old Bo Diddley song.
This song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #9 in Canada, and #2 in the UK in 1966.
Mick Jagger:“We had just done five weeks hectic work in the States and I said, ‘Dunno about you blokes, but I feel about ready for my nineteenth nervous breakdown.’ We seized on it at once as a likely song title. Then Keith and I worked on the number at intervals during the rest of the tour. Brian, Charlie and Bill egged us on – especially as they liked having the first two words starting with the same letter.”
Mick Jagger:“Things that are happening around me – everyday life as I see it. People say I’m always singing about pills and breakdowns, therefore I must be an addict – this is ridiculous. Some people are so narrow-minded they won’t admit to themselves that this really does happen to other people besides pop stars.”
From Songfacts
There are some drug references in this song:
On our first trip I tried so hard to rearrange your mind
But after awhile I realized you were disarranging mine
Many turned on listeners picked up on this, but most didn’t, especially since the lines are mixed low into the background. Over the next few years, the Stones drug use became more apparent, and it was reflected in their songs. British authorities took note, leading to a series of arrests and run-ins among band members and their associates.
Mick Jagger: “That’s a very Los Angeles period, I remember being in the West Coast a lot then. 19th Nervous Breakdown is a bit of a joke song, really. I mean, the idea that anyone could be offended by it really is funny. But I remember some people were. It’s very hard to put yourself back in that period now – popular songs didn’t really address anything very much. Bob Dylan was addressing it, but he wasn’t thought of as a mainstream Pop act. And anyway, no one knew what he was talking about. Basically his songs were too dense for most people. And so to write about anything other than the normal run-of-the-mill love clichés was considered very outre and it was never touched. Anything outside that would shock people. So songs like “19th Nervous Breakdown” were slightly jarring to people. But I guess they soon got used to it. A couple years after that, things took a sort of turn and then saw an even more dark direction. But those were very innocent days, I think.”
This was one of three songs The Stones performed on their Ed Sullivan Show appearance on February 13, 1966, the first time they were broadcast in color on US television.
Mick Jagger had been dating an English model named Chrissie Shripton when he wrote this song. Theirs was a tumultuous relationship that began in 1963 and ended three years later amid allegation of Mick’s philandering (he began seeing Marianne Faithfull). According to Philip Norman’s biography of Mick Jagger, Shrimpton overdosed on sleeping pills in December 1966 after Jagger stood her up when they were supposed to go on vacation together. While Jagger didn’t write this song about Shrimpton, her overdose drew parallels to the pill-popping character in the song. It was rumored that the line “On our first trip” is a reference to the first time Jagger dropped acid with Shrimpton.
19th Nervous Breakdown
You’re the kind of person you meet at certain dismal, dull affairs Center of a crowd, talking much too loud, running up and down the stairs Well, it seems to me that you have seen too much in too few years And though you’ve tried you just can’t hide your eyes are edged with tears
You better stop, look around Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
When you were a child you were treated kind But you were never brought up right You were always spoiled with a thousand toys but still you cried all night Your mother who neglected you owes a million dollars tax And your father’s still perfecting ways of making sealing wax
You better stop, look around Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
Oh, who’s to blame, that girl’s just insane Well nothing I do don’t seem to work It only seems to make matters worse, oh please
You were still in school when you had that fool who really messed your mind And after that you turned your back on treating people kind On our first trip I tried so hard to rearrange your mind But after a while I realized you were disarranging mine
You better stop, look around Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
Oh, who’s to blame, that girl’s just insane Well nothing I do don’t seem to work It only seems to make matters worse, oh please
When you were a child you were treated kind But you were never brought up right You were always spoiled with a thousand toys but still you cried all night Your mother who neglected you owes a million dollars tax And your father’s still perfecting ways of making sealing wax
You better stop, look around Here it comes Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown Here comes your nineteenth nervous breakdown
I love to feature a Byrd’s song because it’s time to break out the Rickenbacker 12 string guitar and hear the magical jangle and ringing tone.
This was written by Pete Seeger, an influential folk singer and activist. He recorded a demo of the song around 1961, and included a live version on his 1962 album The Bitter And The Sweet with just voice and guitar.
The lyrics were taken from a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes (3:1-8) in The Bible. They were rearranged and paired with Seeger’s music to make the song.
When The Byrds started working on this song, McGuinn and David Crosby devised a new arrangement of Seeger’s original, but it took the band over 50 tries to get the sound right. The song was released on the Turn, Turn, Turn album in 1965. The album peaked at #17 in the Billboard Album Charts and #11 in the UK.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #26 in the UK, and #3 in Canada in 1965.
Ecclesiastes (3:1-8)
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
From Songfacts
Seeger: “I got a letter from my publisher, and he says, ‘Pete, I can’t sell these protest songs you write.’ And I was angry. I sat down with a tape recorder and said, ‘I can’t write the kind of songs you want. You gotta go to somebody else. This is the only kind of song I know how to write.’ I pulled out this slip of paper in my pocket and improvised a melody to it in fifteen minutes. And I sent it to him. And I got a letter from him the next week that said, ‘Wonderful! Just what I’m looking for.’ Within two months he’d sold it to the Limelighters and then to the Byrds. I liked the Byrds’ record very much, incidentally. All those clanging, steel guitars – they sound like bells.” (this appears in Zollo’s book Songwriters On Songwriting)
A folk trio called The Limeliters released an upbeat, banjo-based version in 1962.
Before he recorded this song with The Byrds, Jim McGuinn (who later went by Roger) played acoustic 12-string guitar on Judy Collins’ 1963 version, which appears on her album Judy Collins #3. He also worked up the arrangement with Collins.
Judy Collins’ version was released as a single in 1969 when it was included on her album Recollections. It reached #69 in the US, the only Hot 100 appearance of the song besides The Byrds’ rendition.
Dolly Parton covered this on her 1984 album of cover songs The Great Pretender, and again in 2005 on Those Were The Days.
Roger McGuinn teamed up with country artist Vern Gosdin, who was once a member of Chris Hillman’s bluegrass band The Hillman and one half of The Gosdin Brothers (who occasionally opened for The Byrds), for a cover of this song on Gosdin’s 1984 album There Is A Season. McGuinn played the same 12-string Rickenbacker that he used on The Byrds’ recording of the song. In 1994 a previously unreleased version that was originally remixed in 1984 for an anticipated single was included on the The Truly Great Hits Of Vern Gosdin.
This was used in the movie Forrest Gump as Forrest says goodbye to Jenny, who is leaving for Berkeley.
I love Roger’s glasses…I did track down a pair of them in the 80s…I then lost them and bought some off of Ebay…they are not easy to find.
Turn Turn Turn
To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die A time to plant, a time to reap A time to kill, a time to heal A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate A time of war, a time of peace A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose A time to rend, a time to sew A time for love, a time for hate A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late
I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
This song is super likable…when I hear it..it makes me want to see Vacation…again. It’s hard to believe this wasn’t a larger hit.
This is a great road song, Lindsey Buckingham wrote “Holiday Road” for the 1983 Chevy Chase movie National Lampoon’s Vacation, where it plays over the opening credits.
This song was used in all of the Vacation sequels… National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), Vegas Vacation (1997) and Vacation (2015). In 2015 movie, three different versions are used: the original, and a cover by Matt Pond, and a version by The Zac Brown Band.
The song peaked at #82 in the Billboard 100 in 1983.
Lindsey Buckingham:Obviously, I knew it had to be somewhat uplifting and a little bit funny, which it is, but somehow we nailed it beyond his expectations certainly. He was like, “Holy crap.” A lot of that was just luck. Then when I got asked to do the title song for Ghostbusters, I said, “Nah, you know, I did this really well once. It’s not something I want to get into as a repetitive part of my identity.”
From Songfacts
National Lampoon’s Vacation follows the misadventures of the Griswold family as they set out from Illinois to California in the trusty station wagon en route to Wally World. The film did very well, helping to popularize this song.
In his work with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, Buckingham wrote songs of depth and meaning. “Holiday Road” allowed him to step outside of these constraints to compose a simple, jaunty song with no relation to his other work. He kept it simple; the chorus is simply the words “holiday road” repeated four times, and the verses are very basic:
I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Take a ride on the West Coast kick
I found out long ago
It’s a long way down the holiday road
Buckingham could come off as serene (as he was portrayed on Saturday Night Live), but this song showed he had a healthy sense of humor.
Fleetwood Mac was on hiatus when Buckingham released this song. He had already released one solo album, Law and Order (1981), which contains the #9 hit “Trouble.” His next album, Go Insane, was released in 1984 with a title track that reached #23. But ask just about anyone to name one of his solo songs, and they will likely recall “Holiday Road,” which thanks to the Vacation movies became his most popular song.
In 2015, this was used in a commercial for the Infinity QX60 that spoofs a scene where Chevy Chase ogles Christie Brinkley who drives past him in a convertible. In the spot, Brinkley is a passenger in the family car, and she chastises her husband for checking out a girl who drives past him. “Honey, a blonde in a convertible, seriously?,” she says.
Holiday Road
I found out long ago It’s a long way down the holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Take a ride on the West Coast kick Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
I found out long ago It’s a long way down the holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road Holiday road
This song was released in 1976 on the Ramones debut album. I first heard this album in the early 80’s…and was struck by the economical way they produced their songs. Rapid fire songs one after the other…
I would NOT recommend what the Ramones are stating here. Bass player Dee Dee Ramone wrote this song, which is about sniffing glue, a cheap and easy way to… well to kill some brain cells. This is a pastime of bored teenagers with very bad judgment.
Running just 1:34, no one will accuse the Ramones of ripping off Bob Dylan. The song consists of these lyrics repeated, rinsed and washed.
Now I wanna sniff some glue
Now I wanna have somethin’ to do
All the kids wanna sniff some glue
All the kids want somethin’ to do
The Ramones didn’t really want folks to sniff glue. Tommy Ramone said: “I have a feeling Dee Dee was talking about his childhood, how he actually thought it was some kind of release when he was a kid. I thought of it as a parody. He might have been a little more serious.”
Johnny Ramone: “We couldn’t write about love or cars, so we sang about this stuff, like glue sniffing. We thought it was funny. We thought we could get away with anything.”
This is one of the tracks on the Ramones debut album. On their follow-up, they included a song called “Carbona Not Glue,” which is about graduating to cleaning solvent for a cheap high.
Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
Now I want to sniff some glue Now I want to have somethin’ to do All the kids want to sniff some glue All the kids want somethin’ to do
1-2-3-4 Now I want to sniff some glue Now I want to sniff some glue Now I want to have somethin’ to do All the kids want to sniff some glue All the kids want somethin’ to do One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight
Now I want to sniff some glue Now I want to have somethin’ to do All the kids want to sniff some glue All the kids want somethin’ to do Now I want to sniff some glue Now I want to have somethin’ to do All the kids want to sniff some glue All the kids want somethin’ to do
The Peanuts lived in a world where adults didn’t matter as much. The world was for kids only and anytime an adult came around and talked… all you heard was a wah, wah, wah wah… no words. All the kids owned their day to day activities. The Peanuts didn’t talk down to us…no they talked to us. They were also clever enough for adults to like.
Nobody ever wins every time in this life. Everyone loses sometimes…therefore everyone is Charlie Brown to an extent. Every person has failed at a big moments or at small moments. We felt for Charlie Brown because we felt for ourselves.
When my son was born…I thought oh great…Now I’m a grown up and I’m a wah, wah, wah, wah adult…My son will live his life and sometimes I will be just noise in the background.
Growing up, there was no other cartoon I looked forward to more than the Peanuts. Every holiday and any time one of the networks decided to show one… I was there. I would also read the occasional Sunday paper to see the Peanuts strip.
Everything from Linus telling us the true meaning of Christmas, Sally and Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin, Lucy pulling that football from Charlie Brown, Snoopy being cool and taking care of Woodstock, Lucy being a Psychiatrist and Charlie Brown getting that sad looking Christmas tree…we got to peek into that world and listen to the wisdom that was going on while propped up on that brick wall.
Charlie Brown, one day when you grow up… I hope you end up with the little red head girl that you like so much and win just for once…for all of us.
I wanted to throw some blues in this morning. I first heard Hooker’s version of the song while watching the Blues Brothers. I became an instant fan the second I heard it. It was written by John lee Hooker.
Boom Boom was the song that crossed over, marking his only entry on the US Hot 100 and becoming his signature song.
The song was released in 1962 and peaked at #16 in the Billboard R&B Charts and #60 in the Billboard 100.
Hooker recorded for Vee-Jay but members of Motown’s house band…The Funk Brothers… played on this. The Funk Brothers were great musicians and played on hundreds of hit records, but Motown didn’t pay them very well, so they would take gigs at other labels in the Detroit area to make extra money.
In 1992, this was used in a UK ad for Levi’s jeans. It was re-released that year and peaked at #16 in the UK charts and #24 in New Zealand.
In 1964 the Animals took the song to #43 in the Billboard 100 and #14 in Canada.
John Lee Hooker: “I used to play at this place called the Apex Bar in Detroit. There was a young lady there named Luilla. She was a bartender there. I would come in there at night and I’d never be on time. Every night the band would beat me there. Sometimes they’d be on the bandstand playing by the time I got there. I’d always be late and whenever I’d come in she’d point at me and say, ‘Boom Boom, you’re late again.’ And she kept saying that. It dawned on me that that was a good name for a song. Then one night she said, ‘Boom boom, I’m gonna shoot you down.’ She gave me a song but she didn’t know it.
I took that thing and I hummed it all the way home from the bar. At night I went to bed and I was still thinking of it. I got up the next day and put one and one together, two and two together, trying to piece it out – taking things out, putting things in. I finally got it down right, got it together, got it down in my head. Then I went and sang it, and everybody went, Wow! Then I didn’t do it no more, not in the bar. I figured somebody would grab it before I got it copyrighted. So I sent it to Washington, D.C., the Library of Congress, and I got it copyrighted. After I got it copyrighted I could do it in the bar. So then if anybody got the idea to do it I had them by the neck, because I had it copyrighted. About two months later I recorded it. I was on Vee-Jay then. And the record shot straight to the top. Then, after I did it, the Animals turned around and did it. That barmaid felt pretty good. She went around telling everybody I got John Lee to write that song. I gave her some bread for it, too, so she was pretty happy.”
From Songfacts
John Lee Hooker first recorded in 1948, and the next year released his classic “Boogie Chillen,” which eventually sold over a million copies. In the ’50s, he recorded under several different names (“Delta John” and “Birmingham Sam” among them) and refined his craft with constant live performances. By 1962, he was signed to Vee-Jay Records, who teamed him up with seasoned session players and tried to bring his music to a wider audience.
Hooker performed this when he appeared in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. It was the only movie Hooker ever appeared in.
Many blues bands have covered this over the years, including The Animals and The Yardbirds. It has become a blues standard.
Hooker didn’t play this live for a long time because he feared that he wouldn’t do it justice. He finally played it in his last two shows before his death.
This was used in a 2002 commercial for The Gap. In the ad, it was performed on roller skates by Baba Oje, a former member of Arrested Development. The advertising campaign, dubbed “For Every Generation,” used a variety of artists, including Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams, and Natalie Imbruglia.
Boom Boom
Boom, boom, boom, boom I’m gonna shoot you right down Knock you off of your feet And take you home with me Put you in my house Boom, boom, boom, boom
Ow ow ow ow ow Hmm hmm hmm Hmm hmm hmm hmm I love to see you strut Up and down the floor When you’re talking to me That baby talk I like it like that Oh yeah
Talk that talk Walk that walk
Won’t you walk that walk? And talk that talk And whisper in my ear Tell me that you love me I love that talk When you talk like that You knock me out Right off my feet Ho ho ho ho
Well, talk that talk And walk that walk Oh yeah Oh yeah Talk that talk, babe
Many Steve Miller songs I have heard too many times. This one hasn’t been worn out…at least not to me. Heart Like a Wheel came out in 1981 on the Circle of Love album. A great thin guitar sound on this song. The guitar makes the song to me.
Steve started his career more blues-oriented but with “The Joker” in 1973 started in a more pop/rock direction. If you listen to his music in the late sixties and early seventies it sounds completely different than this.
This song peaked at #24 on the Billboard 100 and #17 in Canada in 1981. Steve’s lyrics won’t ever be confused with Bob Dylan’s but the man can write a catchy pop/rock hook.
“Heart Like A Wheel”
I’ve got a heart like a wheel Feel like I got to roll Ooohh
Heart like a wheel I told you so And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
Well, I can give what I take And you know I want to give you my love Babe I ain’t faking You know I want to give you my love
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so Come on and roll
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
It takes two to make love It takes love to make a family real I got to know what you need I got to know what you really feel
And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so Come on and roll
You know it’s such a pity If you’re going to get the summertime blues Lovers everywhere are pairing off two by twos
And I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
I’ve been loving you for so long You are the one Heart so real I love you so
These tapes helped inspired the movie Spinal Tap and The Troggs were forever known for these tapes just as much as their big hits like Wild Thing, A Girl Like You, and Love Is All Around. If you are a rock fan and a comedy fan…I think you will like it.
They were working on a song in a session in 1970 but things weren’t going well, and the session degenerated into a F bomb fest…but a hilarious F bomb fest. A copy of the recording somehow made it onto the bootleg market and became legendary. Saturday Night Live even parodied the Troggs Tapes in a sketch with Bill Murray and John Belushi except using “flogging” in place of the real word.
A friend of mine had a tape of this in the 80s. It was many generations old but it was really funny. We would listen to it over and over and cry laughing. You can see where Spinal Tap got a lot of their ideas. The F word is used liberally to say the least. I’m positive the Troggs were not the only band to have these kind of talks but their engineer (Clive Franks) who evidently had a great sense of humor let the tapes roll….and later it was passed around as a bootleg.
Later on when Clive Franks was asked by his boss (Dick James) about the tape…he thought he was fired…but James wanted a copy…then the Troggs wanted to hear it including their lead singer Reg Presley…at first he was unhappy with the release, but later gave a positive opinion of it.
Later on Clive Franks was introduced to George Harrison as “the guy who made the Troggs Tapes” and George shook his hand and told him how much he enjoyed it.
This tape made it around to every major performer in the 1970s. Everyone from Bob Dylan, Aerosmith, Jeff Lynne, to George Harrison.
The release gave the Troggs an infamous reputation, though it also raised their public profile. Though the band’s career collapsed shortly after the session, it was revitalized by the bootleg’s notoriety and led to the band reforming and becoming popular with punk rock audiences towards the end of the 1970s.
If you have sensitive or virgin ears…don’t listen!
“Put a Little Bit of F***ing Fairy Dust Over the Bastard!”
This is a partial transcript…you don’t really need it to follow the “conversation.”
Ronnie Bond: “That is a fuckin’ No 1! If that baaa-stard don’t go, then Oi’ll fuckin’ retoire. Oi fuckin’ do!”
Dennis Berger (producer): “I agree – I think it is a good song.”
Ronnie: “But it fuckin’ well won’t be unless we spend a little bit of fuckin’ thought and imagination to fuckin’ make it a fuckin’ No 1. You’ve got to put a little bit of fuckin’ fairy dust over the baaa-stard!”
Dennis: “Well, we’ll put some fairy dust over it – I’ll piss over the tape.”
Ronnie: “Oi don’t know what it needs, Den …”
Dennis: “Aaah! I know that it needs strings – that I do know.”
Reg Presley: “You’ve got to have a fuckin’ bloke who says: ‘Oi’ve got a fuckin’ sound in here that’s fuckin’ great.'”
Tony Murray: “We need a producer who says: ‘You’re not doing that; you’re fuckin’ doing this.'”
Dennis: “Did you do exactly what Larry Page said?”
Chorus: “Yep!”
Tony: “That’s how they had hit records.”
Reg: “Because there was just one fuckin’ mind on it – not fuckin’ seven or eight.”
Ronnie: “We didn’t even fuckin’ get a say in it – it was fuckin’, wham, it was in the can regardless. You reckon that was bad? Fuck me! One take, that’s it, finish. You never ‘ad a fuckin’ say – it was out. As weak and fuckin’ insipid we used to think.”
Reg: “We thought With A Girl Like You was fuckin’ terrible and let’s go and do it again. And that was the only fuckin’ time he let us fuckin’ have our way. And could we get anything fuckin’ better?”
Ronnie: “No.”
Reg: “Fuckin’ … the first thing he fuckin’ did was it.”
Ronnie: “All fuckin’ day. We went in there at nine o’ clock and we didn’t come out till, fuck, about three o’clock the next fuckin’ morning, and they had Mick Jagger, you name it, they were fuckin’ in there to try and make it better.”
Reg: “What about a fuckin’ 12-string on it?”
Dennis: “Play the beginning again, Barry.”
(The identity of “Barry” is now lost in the mists of time. Vigorously-strummed guitar chords are affirmed as just the ticket by a slightly demented shriek of “Yeah! … No!!” from Reg.)
Reg: “You ‘ad it there at the beginning. Ron. It was soundin’ good. Ron?
Ronnie? Just listen for a sec …”
Ronnie: “You can say that all fuckin’ night, but Oi just cannot feel it any other than what Oi’ve been fuckin’ doing it.”
Reg: “You have played it tonight.”
Ronnie: “Don’t expect fuckin’ miracles just like that.
Reg: “It’s fuckin’ there – better than there. Oi can’t fuckin’ hear it any other way but that.”
Reg: “But you have done it. You did it.”
Tony: “Play duh-duh duh-duh duh duh.”
Reg: “No, no more beats.”
Tony: “Play duh-duh duh-duh duh-chuh on whatever drum you were playing it on originally.”
Reg: “You did it. You went duh-duh duh-duh duh chuh.”
Ronnie: “You can say that all fuckin’ night, but you won’t listen.”
Tony: “We can keep on trying …”
Ronnie: “You can say that all fuckin’ night, but you won’t listen.”
Tony: “We can keep on trying …”
Ronnie: “Yeah – well just shut your fuckin’ mouth for five minutes and give me a fuckin’ chance to do it. Don’t keep fuckin’, right into that fuckin’ microphone. Duh duh derh duh duh derh. Fuck me, Reg. Just fuck off, in there, and just keep going, fuckin’ do it, don’t just …”
Reg: “Well, just fuckin’ think, then.”
Ronnie: “Don’t just keep saying they’re not loud enough. Oi know they’re fuckin’ right. Oi can hear it ain’t right. Weeell, fuck me.”
Reg: “You can hear it’s fuckin’ not right, too.”
Ronnie: “Oi fuckin’ can, and Oi’m the one that’s playing it so Oi don’t want to hear … fuck … fuck … in me fuckin’ head, that’s what Oi gotta fuckin’ do, then Oi’ll do it. Yer big pranny.”
(Tum-tum-tum-ti-tum, goes the bass guitar. Tum-tum-tum-ti-tum, tum-tum-tum-ti-tum…)
Reg: “One, two, a one, two, three, four … Yer doing it fuckin’ wrong!”
Ronnie: “Oi know Oi am.”
Reg: “Dubba dubba dubba chah, dubba dubba dubba chah, dubba dubba dubba chah, dubba dubba … You din i’ in the beginning. Bloody hell, Oi can’t play to tha’.”
Ronnie: “Nor can fuckin’ Oi.”
Reg: “Well, you’re fuckin’ doin’ it!”
Ronnie: “Well, Oi can’t fuckin’ play to it either.”
Reg: “Hahahaha. Why don’t you just do what you fuckin’ started out doing – dubba dubba dubba chah. On your top one, dubba dubba dubba chah. Dubba dubba dubba chah.”
(On tom tom, Ronnie attempts to follow his singer’s sage advice. It sound hopeless.)
Reg: “Nooooo!”
Ronnie: (very heatedly) “Why don’t you fuckin’ … You’re talking out of the back of your fuckin’ aaaarse because all you want then is the same fuckin’ thing that Oi was playing fuckin’ originally in that baaa-stard.”
Reg: “But on different fuckin’ drums!”
Ronnie: [agitated] “Then all you want, then, is fuckin’ tha’ one, and the fuckin’ bass drum playing the same thing.”
Reg: “You’re the fuckin’ drummer!”
Ronnie: “Yes, you fuckin’ do, ‘cos that’s all you’re fuckin’ doing. You ain’t playing any fuckin’ thing else – orl roi’, Oi’ll play tha’. Oi’m goin’ nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-bomp, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-bomp …” (He thumps in dull accompaniment, sarcastically).
Reg: “You don’t fuckin’ listen, that’s your trouble. Oi’m only asking you to do half of it on one drum, half of it on the other and the bang wherever you want to bang … Ronnie, can you ‘ear me? Wha’ abou’ trying’ i’ not just on that top skin floor and then your floor tom-tom, but split your hands so’s that one beat is doin’ it on the top drum, one’s doin’ it on the floor tom tom, then your bass.”
(A tinny tattoo beats out gamely.)
Reg (philosophically): “Fuckin’ drummer. Oi shit ’em.”
I really like this song…you have a crunchy brit sound guitar open it up with another great rhythm guitar intertwining with it.
Mutt Lange produced 4 songs on this album (Shades in Bed) including this one when he had to leave the album for prior commitments. the rest of the album was produced by Tim Friese-Greene. The last song recorded, “The Phone,” was a late addition to the album and was produced by Huw Gower.
The Records were an English powerpop band formed in 1978. Teenarama was off their debut album Shades in Bed. The band included John Wicks – rhythm guitar, vocals, Huw Gower – lead guitar, vocals, Phil Brown – bass guitar, vocals, and Will Birch – drums, vocals.
AllMusic called the album “a pure pop masterpiece”
Teenarama
I wanted a holiday You sure had a lot To say every night I thought that a younger girl Could show me the world That was right Co-co-co-cola Is all you ever drink The way you smile The way you wink
Teenarama Is what you’re givin’ me (What you’re givin’ me) Teenarama Injections in the knee (Injections in the knee) Teenarama All that mellow drama Gimme gimme gimme gimme Gimme gimme Teenarama
I wanted a change of style To be with a juvenile For a week So I rented an apartment Then you went and lost the key
Sugar candy Is all you ever eat You’re so skinny You’re so sweet
Repeat Chorus
Monday School day You wait Weeks late Dirty star Coffee bar First bra Too far Ahhhh Co-co-co-cola Is all you ever drink The way you smile The way you wink
Great song by Elton that I heard early on in my life.
This was the first US single from Madman Across The Water, Levon runs 5:22 minutes and Elton would not let his record company cut it down for radio play. As a result many radio stations ignored it. The song didn’t chart high but proved to be an enduring song, earning airplay on classic rock and adult contemporary radio for decades to come.
The song peaked at #24 in the Billboard 100 and #6 in Canada in 1971.
The next single from the album was Tiny Dancer, which is even longer, at 6:12. Like Levon, that one fared poorly on the chart (#41) but… also became a classic. Neither song was issued as a single in the UK.
I always wondered if the song had anything to do with Levon Helm, but Bernie Taupin says that he simply made the name up because he likes it, and the song has nothing to do with Helm.
From Songfacts
In Susan Black’s book Elton John in His Own Words, Elton says of “Levon”: “It”s about a guy who just gets bored doing the same thing. It’s just somebody who gets bored with blowing up balloons and he just wants to get away from it but he can’t because it’s the family ritual.”
When Rolling Stone asked Taupin about the song in 2013, he insisted that he has no idea what he intended as the meaning. “It was a free-form writing,” he said. “It was just lines that came out that were interesting.
This is a great example of Taupin’s intricate, nuanced writing style that leads to many different interpretations. For instance, the “cartoon balloons” that Levon blows up all day could be balloons with cartoon characters printed on them, or perhaps something more figurative, like thought bubbles that appear in comic strips, indicating the thoughts that are constantly rising out of his consciousness.
Taupin and John made a great team because Elton could interpret his lyrics very well, giving life to the characters in the songs with a curious ambiguity that encouraged further listens. In many cases, Elton didn’t know what Taupin had in mind when he wrote the lyrics – when asked he would often reply, “you’ll have to ask Bernie.”
The actual New York Times page 1 headline that included the phrase “God Is Dead” is dated March 24, 1968; the full headline read, “‘God Is Dead’ Doctrine Losing Ground to ‘Theology of Hope’.”
The phrase also appeared in a major (page 3) article on January 7, 1970. Smaller pieces dated January and April 1966 that feature the phrase in their headings can also be found. None were on Christmas Day, but the January ones are close!
The cover art for the album was hand-embroidered on a Levi’s jacket. On the back, the track listing was hand-stitched. This kind of artwork has become scarce in the age of digital design.
Jon Bon Jovi covered this for the tribute album Two Rooms. Elton played piano on some of Bon Jovi’s recordings.
Sir Elton and his partner David Furnish became parents to a son born on Christmas Day 2010 to a surrogate mother in California. They named him Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, which is how the baby boy ended up in this Songfact. It is assumed the name “Levon” was chosen because of the song’s line, “He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas day.”
Levon
Levon wears his war wound like a crown He calls his child Jesus ’cause he likes the name And he sends him to the finest school in town
Levon, Levon likes his money He makes a lot they say Spends his days counting In a garage by the motorway
He was born a pauper To a pawn on a Christmas day When the New York Times Said God is dead and the war’s begun Alvin Tostig has a son today
And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man And he shall be Levon In tradition with the family plan And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man He shall be Levon
Levon’s sells cartoon balloons in town His family business thrives Jesus blows up balloons all day Sits on the porch swing watching them fly And Jesus, he wants to go to Venus Leave Levon far behind Take a balloon and go sailing, While Levon, Levon slowly dies
He was born a pauper To a pawn on a Christmas day When the New York Times Said God is dead and the war’s begun Alvin Tostig has a son today
And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man And he shall be Levon In tradition with the family plan, woo And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man He shall be Levon
And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man And he shall be Levon In tradition with the family plan, woo And he shall be Levon And he shall be a good man He shall be Levon
I found the short video while looking around and thought I would post it. The drummers include Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Stewart Copeland, Questlove, Tre Cool, Max Weinberg, and Chad Smith.
In the span of just three minutes, we get a sense of exactly why the most famous drummers in rock and roll admire Ringo.
Another video I found is of a drummer explaining how Ringo played for the song and not to be recognized in the song.
Here is a drummer demonstrating how Ringo played for the song. He starts talking about Ringo around 50 seconds in.
This song was climbing in the charts in the top twenty when it was pulled. It was pulled because of the Kent State shootings and Neil Young wrote Ohio and CSN&Y wanted it released as soon as possible. Teach Your Children probably would have peaked in the top ten if not pulled.
The song peaked at #16 in the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, and #19 in New Zealand in 1970.
Graham wrote this song while he was still playing with the Hollies but he never recorded it with them. He played it to Stephen Stills and Stills suggested a country arrangement which turned it into a hit.
Jerry Garcia performs the pedal steel guitar part of this track. He had been playing steel guitar for only a short period of time. Crosby told Nash he should ask Jerry to play steel guitar on the song. Garcia played on this song and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young worked with the Grateful Dead on harmonies for their acoustic albums Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty.
I would say it worked out well for both bands. Jerry told Graham Nash who wrote the song that he made a mistake but Graham wanted that take.
It was on the album Déjà Vu which peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada and #5 in the UK.
Graham Nash:I’d heard Jerry had just started playing pedal-steel guitar and asked if he would add a pedal track to my song. After the first take, I said, “Thanks, Jerry, you’re done.” “No, no,” he protested, “I fucked up that part when we go right into the chorus. Can I do another?”“Absolutely, do it,” I told him, “but I’m never going to use it. The first one was exactly what I wanted.”
And, of course, his pedal steel was one of the defining elements in that recording.
From Songfacts
Graham Nash wrote this song. The lyrics deal with the often difficult relationship he had with his father, who spent time in prison.
Graham Nash (from the liner notes of their 1991 boxed set): “The idea is that you write something so personal that every single person on the planet can relate to it. Once it’s there on vinyl it unfolds, outwards, so that it applies to almost any situation. ‘Teach’ started out as a slightly funky English folk song but Stephen (Stills) put a country beat to it and turned it into a hit record.”
Deja Vu was the first album the band recorded with Neil Young, but Young did not play on this.
According to the 2019 book Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Nash wrote the song while under the influence of hash. He taught it to the rest of the band in one day in the studio.
In Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood, Graham Nash is quoted as saying, “When I wrote ‘Teach Your Children’ and ‘Our House,’ we didn’t know what we were doing. ‘This sounds pretty fun, we can sing this, let’s do it!’ And then all of a sudden people are singing it back to me forty years later.”
An updated version with a new arrangement was used in a 1985 TV commercial for the Apple II computer. Bill Siddons, then manager for CSNY, told BAM magazine: “The whole idea of the spot was to show how to prepare your kids for the modern world, which is part of what ‘Teach Your Children’ is about.”
Shortly after writing this, Nash visited an art gallery and saw two photographs that crystallized the meaning of the song: Diane Arbus’ “Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park” and Arnold Newman’s portrait of German industrialist Alfried Krupp. The singer told the news website Truthdig: “I put the ‘Hand Grenade’ photograph next to a picture of Krupp, who was the German arms magnate whose company was probably responsible for millions of deaths. It was an eerie photograph, a portrait, and the lighting is weird and his eyes are dark – a great image. And looking at them together I began to realize that what I’d just written [‘Teach Your Children’] was actually true, that if we don’t start teaching our children a better way of dealing with each other we’re f–ked and humanity itself is in great danger.”
At the end of The Office episode “Take Your Daughter To Work Day” (2006), Michael and Dwight perform this for the staff and their kids.
Teach Your Children
You who are on the road Must have a code that you can live by And so become yourself Because the past is just a good-bye. Teach your children well, Their father’s hell did slowly go by, And feed them on your dreams The one they picks, the one you’ll know by. Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry, So just look at them and sigh And know they love you.
And you, of tender years, Can’t know the fears that your elders grew by, And so please help them with your youth, They seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents well, Their children’s hell will slowly go by, And feed them on your dreams The one they picks, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry, So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
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