I’ve heard this one a lot but I still love that simple bass line that drives the song. They did manage to get 8 songs in the Billboard 100 but with only two top twenty hits. Radar Love is a great driving song.
This song peaked at #13 in the Billboard 100 and #7 in the UK in 1973.
Golden Earring was founded 1961 and into the ’00s was still playing with the same lineup since 1970, doing 100+ shows a year in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. The group is from The Netherlands, where this was a #1 hit. They had only one other hit. It didn’t come until 1982, with “Twilight Zone.”
To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the band, Golden Earring recorded a new track in October 2019, titled “Say When”
The time signatures to this song are quite different than your normal songs. I found this about it…so Jeremy if you are reading…you might be interested.
The song is all in 4/4 time, and the original tempo is around 100 BPM. It’s a very clever arrangement: the intro is on the beat of each bar at the start. The shuffle on the snare is semi triplets which give the illusion of the song speeding up. You have to quantize drum machines to a 6th beat. Consequently, the chorus is doubled up to give the impression that the tempo has speeded up to 200 BPM. You have to transpose the 4/4 bar so it can be played with in 1 beat of the bar. It does take a bit of lateral thinking to get your head around the math, but the song is all 4/4 at 100 BPM.
From Songfacts
Before you could send a text message or call someone in their car, there was no way to communicate to a driver – unless you had a certain telepathic love that could convey from a distance your desire to be with that person, something you might call – Radar Love. In this song, the guy has been driving all night, but keeps pushing the pedal because he just knows that his baby wants him home.
Like many of Golden Earring’s songs, this began with the title and grew from there. Originally intended only as an album track, it turned out to be the only cut on their US debut album Moontan that they could whittle down to a single for radio. It became their showstopper at concerts, and provided a striking moment for their drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk, who would take a few steps back and leap at the drum kit near the end of the song.
This song is featured in the movie Detroit Rock City, about four teenage boys and their struggle to finally see the band KISS play live.
The website http://www.radar-love.net details lots of info on the use and abuse of this song. It has been covered over 250 times: Notable versions include Bryan Adams, U2, Crowded House, Def Leppard, R.E.M. and Carlos Santana. It has also been used in TV shows The Simpsons, The X-Files, Beverly Hills, 90210 and My Name Is Earl. Movie usages include The Break-Up, Pushing Tin and Wayne’s World 2.
White Lion had a minor hit with their cover of this in 1989.
UK radio station Planet Rock carried out a survey of their listeners in 2011 regarding their favourite tracks for in-car listening. This song came out top with Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” the runner-up and AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” in third place.
The line, “The radio’s playing some forgotten song, Brenda Lee’s coming on strong” is a reference to the 1966 Brenda Lee song “Coming On Strong,” which made #11 US.
Radar Love
I’ve been drivin’ all night, my hands are wet on the wheel There’s a voice in my head that drives my heel My baby call said I need you here It’s half past four and I’m shifting gears
When she gets lonely and the longing gets too much She sends a cable coming in from above Don’t need a phone at all We got a thing that’s called radar love We got a wave in the air Radar love
The radio’s playin’ some forgotten song Revelry’s coming on strong The road has got me hypnotized As I spin into a new sunrise
When I get lonely and I’m sure I’ve had enough She sends comfort coming in from above Don’t need no letters at all We got a thing that’s called radar love We got a line in the sky
No more speed I’m almost there Gotta keep cool, now, gotta take care Last car to pass, here I go The line of cars drove down real slow The radio plays that forgotten song Brenda Lee’s coming on strong The news man sang his same song One more radar lover gone
When I’m feeling lonely and I’m sure I’ve had enough She sends the comfort coming in from above Don’t need no radio at all We got a thing that’s called radar love We got a light in the sky We got a thing and its called radar love We got a thing that’s called Radar love
Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack I went out for a ride and I never went back Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing I took a wrong turn and I just kept going
It’s hard to beat that as an opening verse…once I heard that I was hooked. Springsteen met Joey Ramone in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Ramone asked Bruce to write a song for his band, The Ramones. Springsteen wrote “Hungry Heart” that night but decided to keep it.
Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (Flo and Eddie) of The Turtles sang backup.
The song was on the album The River. The album peaked a #1 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1980. Hungry Heart peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100 in 1980. This was Springsteen’s first top 10 hit.
Bruce Springsteen:“I saw the Ramones in Asbury Park,” “and we were talking for a while and I was like, ‘Man I’ve got to write the Ramones a song.’ So I went home and I sat at my table and I wrote it in about the time it took me to sing it. I brought it in and we went to make a demo for it or I played it for [Johnny Ramone], and he said, ‘Nah, you better keep that one.’ He was right about that. It did pretty well.”
From Songfacts
This was Springsteen’s first Top 10 hit. Born To Run was a big album five years earlier, but did not have any hit singles. This song proved that Springsteen could not just sell concert tickets and albums, but could record hit pop songs.
This song explores a man’s wanderlust contrasted with his desire for a stable family life. Many of Springsteen’s songs are about wanting to get away, and in this song the main character concludes that he does not want to be alone.
Springsteen’s voice was slightly sped up on the recording, producing a higher vocal. Bob Dylan did the same thing on “Lay Lady Lay.”
This was used in the Tom Cruise movie Risky Business. It was the first time a Springsteen song was used in a film.
In the 1981 Rolling Stone reader’s poll, this was voted best single. Springsteen also won for Best Artist, Album, and Male Singer.
Bruce has the audience sing the first verse and chorus when he performs this live.
The single was backed with “Held Up Without A Gun.” This started a tradition of using songs that did not appear on his albums as B-sides.
This went to #28 when it was Reissued in England in 1995. The first time it was released it only went to #44.
Springsteen performed this with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at Young’s first annual Bridge School benefit concert in 1986.
Hungry Heart
Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack I went out for a ride and I never went back Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing I took a wrong turn and I just kept going
Everybody’s got a hungry heart Everybody’s got a hungry heart Lay down your money and you play your part Everybody’s got a hungry heart
I met her in a Kingstown bar We fell in love I knew it had to end We took what we had and we ripped it apart Now here I am down in Kingstown again
Everybody’s got a hungry heart Everybody’s got a hungry heart Lay down your money and you play your part Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Everybody needs a place to rest Everybody wants to have a home Don’t make no difference what nobody says Ain’t nobody like to be alone
Everybody’s got a hungry heart Everybody’s got a hungry heart Lay down your money and you play your part Everybody’s got a hungry heart
When this came out it took me a while to warm up to it… but after a few listens I liked it. They were all over MTV then when they were opening up for the Who’s “farewell” tour.
Clash drummer Topper Headon wrote the music and the original lyrics. After he wrote it he was fired from the band because of drug problems… In the meantime, the song became an enormous hit in the US. In the music video for the song, its original Clash drummer Terry Chimes at the kit (he had returned to replace Headon temporarily).
Joe Strummer decided to take Headon’s lyrics in a different direction. According to former Clash co-manager Kosmo Vinyl, Headon’s original words were a filthy ode to his girlfriend. Joe Strummer wrote the lyrics with a more political bent.
This was The Clash’s biggest US hit, and along with “Train In Vain,” one of only two that reached the Top 40. They had several Top 40 hits in England.
The song peaked at #8 in 1983 in the Billboard 100. The album Combat Rock peaked at #7 in the Billboard Album Charts.
From Songfacts The first line of Strummer’s re-written lyrics had a specific genesis: manager Bernie Rhodes was frustrated in the early Combat Rock sessions with every track ending up being really long (stuff like “Straight To Hell” and “Sean Flynn”) and in one session shouted, “Does everything have to be as long as raga?!” Strummer told Rolling Stone shortly before he died in 2002: “I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, ‘The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop.’ I looked at it and for some reason I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in Iran.” This served as inspiration for the rest of the lyrics, about the people defying the Arab ruler (Shareef)’s ban on disco music and “Rocking the Casbah.”
“Casbah” (also spelled “Qasbah” or “Kasbah”) refers to walled areas in many North African towns, especially the one in Algiers. The lyrics use many different terms in humorous context from Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish and Sanskrit language and culture – along with Casbah, there are also Sharifs, Bedouins, Sheikh, kosher, raga and minerets in the song.
In the UK this single was backed on the B-side by “Long Time Jerk,” a song mostly written by bassist Paul Simonon about his then-girlfriend Pearl Harbour. “Jerk” wasn’t available anywhere else until it was included on the expanded Super Black Market Clash rarities compilation in 1993.
The US military used this as a rallying cry when they invaded Iraq in 1991. During Operation Desert Storm, Joe Strummer was irate over the song being one of the most requested on US radio because of the misunderstanding that it was an anti-Iraq in sentiment (a similar fate befell The Cure’s “Killing An Arab”).
With electronic sound effects and an intriguing video, this appealed to Americans more than any other Clash song, but it wasn’t a good representation of the band. For many young people in the US, The Clash were known as a British import with a catchy song, similar to MTV darlings like Thomas Dolby and A Flock of Seagulls. In England they were revered for breaking new ground as rock rebels.
When this became a hit, Joe Strummer considered leaving The Clash. He couldn’t justify singing rebellious songs when the band was rich and successful. In their early years, when they were struggling, their music was sincere, but he felt they were becoming a joke.
When the band broke up in 1985, it was speculated that their plan all along was to break up once they had conquered America, a feat that was achieved by “Rock the Casbah” becoming such a huge hit along with “Should I Stay or Should I Go?.”
The music video features an Arab and an orthodox Jewish person skanking, to go with the Middle Eastern theme. The parts of the Arab and Jew were played by Titos Menchaca (the sheik), and local theater director Dennis Razze (the Jew). Titos told us the story:
“We shot it in 1981 in and around Austin, Texas. This was a few months before MTV was even launched. At the time, I was a young film acting student (I had stage experience/training, but working in front of the camera is a different beast). My teacher was a guy named Loren Bivens. One day after class he mentioned that some guys were in from out of town to do some sort of film shoot. He didn’t know much about it but thought it’d be a good opportunity to work in front of a camera.
I chatted with them at their hotel room later. There was Don Letts, a rastah from London who would direct, John Hazard, ace camera man from New York, and some guy named Barry, who I later learned was their DP (director of photography). They explained that they were with the Clash and working in a brand new medium called “music videos” that bands were going to be using to pitch songs to record companies and other powers-that-be. It was such a foreign concept at the time that I didn’t think much about it after the interview until they called later and said they wanted me for the part of the sheik, they liked the contrast between my height (6’3″) and Dennis’, and the gig would pay $350 for one day’s work. NOW they had my attention.
This was Don’s directorial debut, so he was a bit unsure how to handle actors. But, he was extremely creative and we soon learned to glean from his instructions what he wanted from us in each scene.
A few quick notes about the shoot: The rock quarry scene near the beginning where I’m running – we shot that about 6 times because Don wanted to see dust flying off my shoulders à la Indiana Jones when he’s running from the natives at the beginning of the original Raiders movie which had just come out and was all the rage. He kept heaping more and more dirt on me and we kept doing takes until, mercifully, John and Barry told him it simply couldn’t be seen from that distance.
The scene where we’re jamming down the highway with the Austin skyline in the background – John was shooting out an open panel van door and there was lots of honking traffic behind us. That was real beer we were drinking all day.
For the final scene where we’re dancing in the crowd at the concert – some punk kept trying to worm his way into the shot and Don had to physically block him out (like a basketball player) so we could get the shot. (that venue has since been torn down to make a park).
We got to hang out with the band for a bit before the show. They struck me as quiet, serious. Sober, too. Joe Ely was there, also. That night, I hung out at a local reggae joint in Austin called Liberty Lunch (now torn down also) with Bivens, Barry, and these two brothers from New York who were former students of Bivens’ – in town to scout locations for their first feature, which Barry was going to DP for them.
I enjoyed some notoriety from the video when it became an MTV (and later VH1) mainstay, but that all kind of quieted down after a few years except for rabid fans of the band (of which there are many). I find it interesting that it has such social relevance now, as it did then. Maybe more. Also, kids today are rediscovering the Clash and when I do guest artist gigs at colleges my ‘cool factor’ shoots up immediately. Heh heh! Oh, by the way… Barry’s last name? Sonnenfeld. And the two brothers scouting locations? Joel and Ethan Coen. The movie? Blood Simple.
Dennis Razze, who played The Rabbi, told us: “A casting agent friend of mine suggested I audition for this video shoot, so on a lark I went down to the Sheraton Hotel that night to audition. At 8pm or so was a long line around the block of guys auditioning, and finally around 11pm I was ushered into the hotel room to meet three guys who were doing the shoot. Titos, who was a friend of mine, was next in line so we went in together. They had a boom box on which they played this song I had never heard (“Rock the Casbah”) and asked us to improv to it. We danced around a bit and did some interaction as the two characters they wanted – the Sheik and the Rabbi. When we were done they told us on the spot we got the job. We were told to be back there at 5am for makeup and costume!
I had to wear three layers of dark heavy wool and also fake “locks” that were glued to my sideburns. The day of the shoot was ungodly hot as Austin can be in the summer. Close to 100 degrees. They drove us around in a van from location to location and by mid day we had also met the band who didn’t have much to do with us (and I didn’t have a clue who they were). They had rented an expensive film camera to do the shoot (most people don’t realize that music videos were shot on film) The director loved the little bits I added like the “Fiddler on the Roof” dance and spitting beer in the pool. He encouraged me to have fun and I had no trouble being silly. As the day went by, I began to really like the song that they played over and over again at each location. The coolest thing was doing the scene with the armadillo – what a cool creature, bigger than I thought one might be.
We didn’t end the very long day till around midnight after the concert shoot which was absolutely crazy because they just worked us into the audience in front of the stage and shot us and the band in real time during the concert. I was drenched in sweat by that time, exhausted, and just wanted to go home to bed.
I never thought I would hear another thing about the video, but six months later, friends of mine form the East Coast would call and say they saw me on HBO and later MTV. (I never saw the video myself till almost two years after it was shot) We were paid a few hundred dollars for our work, and because there were no residuals in the early days of music videos, we never made another cent off of our success. Given the number of times over so many years the video has been aired, Titos and I would have made a sizable sum I think if the video had been shot a year later when it was determined that music videos would work the same way as commercials.
Combat Rock was recorded at the Electric Ladyland studio in New York. Topper Headon recalled to Mojo magazine November 2008: “I loved New York, the 24-hour city. (But) we’d lost that unity and had stopped hanging out together as friends, and would all turn up at the studio at different times, writing stuff as and when it came up. The sessions were supposed to start at two in the afternoon, though by the time everyone turned up it was seven. I got there early, and what else was I going to do except put down an idea?” That idea was the drum pattern and tune for this song.
Live performances of this song often took a different direction, since by this time the band had given up on taking a keyboard player on tour. This meant the piano part couldn’t be played live, and the song took on a heavier, more all-out rock feel in a live setting.
It was a live staple from its introduction in 1982 through to the band’s breakup in 1985. Joe Strummer was so proud of the song that it was one of the Clash songs that he performed live with his solo band, The Mescaleros (who did indeed have a keyboard player!).
Rock The Casbah
Now the king told the boogie men You have to let that raga drop The oil down the desert way Has been shakin’ to the top The Sheik he drove his Cadillac He went a-cruisin’ down the ville The muezzin was a-standing On the radiator grille
Shareef don’t like it Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah Shareef don’t like it Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
By order of the prophet We ban that boogie sound Degenerate the faithful With that craazy Casbah sound But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum The local guitar picker got his guitar-picking thumb As soon as the Shareef had cleared the square They began to wail
Shareef don’t like it Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah Shareef don’t like it Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
Now, over at the temple Oh, they really pack ’em in The in-crowd say it’s cool To dig this chanting thing But as the wind changed direction Then the temple band took five The crowd caught a wiff Of that crazy Casbah jive
Shareef don’t like it Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah Shareef don’t like it Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
The king called up his jet fighters He said you better earn your pay Drop your bombs between the minarets Down the Casbah way
As soon as the Shareef was chauffeured outta there The jet pilots tuned to the cockpit radio blare As soon as the Shareef was outta their hair The jet pilots wailed
Shareef don’t like it Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah Shareef don’t like it Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
Shareef don’t like it, he thinks it’s not kosher Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah Shareef don’t like it, fundementally can’t take it Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
Shareef don’t like it, you know he really hates it Rock the Casbah, rock the Casbah Shareef don’t like it, really, really hates it
This was my favorite song off of the Lets Dance album released in 1983.
Stevie Ray Vaughan played guitar on this song. Bowie asked him to play on the Let’s Dance album after seeing him perform at a music festival.
David Bowie and Nile Rodgers wrote this song. Modern Love peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100, #2 in Canada, #2 in the UK, and #6 in New Zealand in 1983. The album was also produced by Bowie and Rodgers.
Nile Rodgers said that Bowie came into his apartment one day and showed him a photograph of Little Richard in a red suit getting into a bright red Cadillac, saying “Nile, darling, that’s what I want my album to sound like.”
How cool is that?
From Songfacts
This is about the struggle to find solace in love and religion. It has also been suggested this song contemplates the old adage “The more things change the more they stay the same.” Explaining how he remained a force in pop music for so many years, Bowie sings, “It’s not really work it’s just a power to charm.”
Bowie said this song’s call-and-response vocal arrangement “all comes from Little Richard.” A defining moment in Bowie’s childhood was when his dad came home with a copy of “Tutti Frutti.”
This sounds very similar to Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing.” They were both recorded around the same time and Bowie nor John were aware of each other’s song.
In 1987, Bowie re-recorded this with Tina Turner for a Pepsi commercial where he plays a scientist who creates the perfect woman (Turner), with a little help from Pepsi. The storyline is cribbed from the 1985 movie Weird Science.
Modern Love
I know when to go out Know when to stay in Get things done
I catch a paper boy But things don’t really change I’m standing in the wind But I never wave bye-bye But I try, I try There’s no sign of life It’s just the power to charm I’m lying in the rain But I never wave bye-bye But I try, I try Never gonna fall for
(Modern love) walks beside me (Modern love) walks on by (Modern love) gets me to the church on time (Church on time) terrifies me (Church on time) makes me party (Church on time) puts my trust in God and man (God and man) no confession (God and man) no religion (God and man) don’t believe in modern love
It’s not really work It’s just the power to charm I’m still standing in the wind But I never wave bye bye But I try, I try Never gonna fall for
(Modern love) walks beside me (Modern love) walks on by (Modern love) gets me to the church on time (Church on time) terrifies me (Church on time) makes me party (Church on time) puts my trust in God and man (God and man) no confession (God and man) no religion (God and man) I don’t believe in modern love
Modern love (modern love) Modern love (modern love) Modern love (modern love) Modern love (modern love) Modern love (modern love) Modern love (modern love) Modern love (modern love) Modern love (modern love) (Modern love) (Modern love) (Modern love) (Modern love) Modern love, walks beside me (Modern love) Modern love, walks on by (Modern love) Modern love, walks beside me Modern love Modern love, walks on by Modern love Never gonna fall for Modern love Modern love
Every bar band who has ever played this song in hole in the wall bar… can relate to the lyrics. This song was the B-Side to Bad Moon Rising. CCR and The Beatles had the best double-sided singles of anyone in my opinion.
Lodi is a city in California located in the central valley, about 38 miles south of Sacramento and 87 miles away from Oakland. Fogerty and his earlier band (The Golliwogs) often performed in out of the way towns like Lodi.
Because of being the B side… Lodi peaked at #52 in the Billboard 100 while the A-side Bad Moon Rising peaked at #2 in 1969.
Drummer Doug Clifford on Lodi California: “There were nine people in there, they were all locals, they were all drunk and all they did all night was tell us to turn it down.”
From Songfacts
In Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, John Fogerty explained that the inspiration for “Lodi” came from trips with his father around central California, an area of the world where he “felt very warm and special.” This seed of an idea grew into a story about a traveling musician whose career “is in the rearview mirror.” Fogerty was only 23 when he wrote this song about an aging musician.
This song is a reflection on John Fogerty’s days with The Golliwogs, an early version of Creedence Clearwater Revival. They had to struggle for success, playing wherever they could with dilapidated equipment and an often indifferent audience. He did not want a return to the Bad Old Days.
Al Wilson recorded a cover of this song. His version was issued on Soul City Records in America and on Liberty Records in the United Kingdom. It was played extensively in the few underground “Northern Soul” clubs of England during the late 1960s and early ’70s, getting its first exposure at the famous Twisted Wheel Club Allnighters in Manchester, England.
In a radio interview, John Fogerty said when he was young his parents took him and his brother to camp at Lodi lake (called Smith lake then) and they hated camping there. So later on they wrote a song about Lodi using their old hatred for the place.
Tesla did an acoustic version of this song that was included on their 1990 live album, Five Man Acoustical Jam. Each band member got to pick a song to cover for the set, and Tesla drummer Troy Luccketta chose “Lodi” since he was born there.
Lodi
Just about a year ago I set out on the road Seekin’ my fame and fortune Lookin’ for a pot of gold Thing got bad and things got worse I guess you know the tune Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again
Rode in on the Greyhound I’ll be walkin’ out if I go I was just passin’ through Must be seven months or more Ran out of time and money Looks like they took my friends Oh Lord, I’m stuck in Lodi again
A man from the magazine Said I was on my way Somewhere I lost connections Ran out of songs to play I came into town, a one night stand Looks like my plans fell through Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again
If I only had a dollar For every song I’ve sung Every time I had to play While people sat there drunk You know, I’d catch the next train Back to where I live Oh Lord, stuck in a Lodi again Oh Lord, I’m stuck in a Lodi again
Running Scared is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100 and #9 in the UK. Roy’s voice turns this into something more than just a pop song.
Something I’ve read about this session. Roy wasn’t happy with his first couple of takes. He felt he wasn’t singing that final verse loud enough. The orchestra seemed to be drowning him out. He’d been singing that final note in falsetto, and he finally decided to just sing it full-on, singing it as hard as he could. Orbison sang so hard the musicians in the orchestra stopped playing. They were stunned.
Running Scared, like many of his other songs, was recorded in RCA Studio B in Nashville with the session pros known as “The A-team.”
From Songfacts
A song called “Running Scared” delivered in the trembling tones of Roy Orbison sure sounds pretty bleak, especially when he starts singing about the girl’s past love and how she still feels for him. At the end, however, we find out that everything works out for the best, and the girl walks away with the singer. Orbison’s plaintive voice led many to believe that all his songs were based on misery, but he liked to point out that this one has a happy ending.
Orbison began his career with Sun Records in Memphis, where he was a Rockabilly singer – in 1956 he reached #59 US with “Ooby Dooby,” recorded with his group the Teen Kings. As a songwriter, he also cracked the charts with “So Long I’m Gone” (#72 for Warren Smith in 1957) and “Claudette” (#30 in 1958 for The Everly Brothers).
After moving to Monument Records, Orbison went to Nashville and teamed with fellow songwriter Joe Melson. The pair began writing more operatic songs that would become huge hits for Orbison and define his style – songs that “give you an up mood while you’re crying,” as Melson put it. Their first major success was “Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel),” which was followed by “Blue Angel,” “Up Town,” “I’m Hurtin'” and “Running Scared,” which the pair claimed they wrote in just five minutes.
The engineer on these sessions was Bill Porter, who gave this song an exaggerated dynamic range, meaning some parts are very quiet and others are very loud. While most songs of the era had a range of about 3 decibels, Porter said that this one has 24.
This was the last song Roy Orbison ever sung live. His final performance was on December 4, 1988, just two days before his sudden passing, at a Cleveland-area venue. As was his usual habit, Orbison closed the show with “Running Scared.”
Running Scared
Just runnin’ scared each place we go So afraid that he might show Yeah, runnin’ scared, what would I do If he came back and wanted you
Just runnin’ scared, feelin’ low Runnin’ scared, you love him so Just runnin’ scared, afraid to lose If he came back which one would you choose
Then all at once he was standing there So sure of himself, his head in the air My heart was breaking, which one would it be You turned around and walked away with me.
I want to thank Val for bringing up this band and song whom she saw open for Led Zeppelin. I love this era of hard blues but I wasn’t familiar with the band. When I heard this song…I knew I heard it before but couldn’t place it…it was featured in the great movie…Almost Famous.
What struck me was singer-guitarist Mick Abrahams’s vocals.
Ahead Rings Out was the debut album by British blues-rock band Blodwyn Pig. It was one of just 2 albums the band released, the other being Getting To This in 1970. The band was formed by former Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams in 1968.
Blodwyn Pig recorded two albums, Ahead Rings Out in 1969 and Getting To This in 1970. Both reached the Top Ten of the UK Albums Chart and charted in the United States.; Ahead Rings Out
The group was finished by Abrahams’ departure after 1970’s Getting to This. They briefly reunited in the mid-’70s, and Abrahams was part of a different lineup that reformed in the late ’80s; they have since issued a couple of albums in the 1990s.
Dear Jill
Sorry babe, but I won’t be home, Won’t be home tomorrow. Sorry darlin’ but I got to let you Gotta let you down Your wasten’ my time Got no love Love left to give you anymore.
I gotta look for, I gotta find me a brand new Find me a brand new woman You know I gotta find, the one that won’t The one that won’t run around You took everything I had, but I got no love, Love left to give you anymore.
It wasn’t the highest-charting song (See Me, Feel Me peaked at #12) but probably the most well-known song off their concept album Tommy.
It was the last song written for Tommy. Townshend wrote it when he found out influential UK rock critic Nik Cohn was coming to review the project. Townshend knew Cohn was a pinball fanatic, so he put this together to ensure a good review. Cohn gave it a great review, and pinball became the main theme of the rock opera.
After writing this song for Nik Cohn, Townshend almost didn’t even mention it to the band because he hated it so much. They told him to play it and told him he had written a hit. Meanwhile, he thought it was a mindless, badly written song.
The song peaked at #19 in the Billboard 100, #4 in the UK, #6 in Canada, and #8 in New Zealand.
From Songfacts
This is part of Tommy, the first “rock opera.” Tommy is about a young man who is deaf, dumb, and blind, but becomes a pinball champion and gains hordes of adoring fans. It was made into a play and continues to run as an off-Broadway production.
Tommy was made into a movie in 1975 starring Jack Nicholson, Ann Margaret, Tina Turner, and Roger Daltrey (who played Tommy). Elton John made an appearance as The Pinball Wizard and performed this song. His version hit UK #7.
Pete Townshend wrote this. It existed mostly in his head while they were recording it, and the other members of The Who had no idea how most of the story would end until they finished it. Townshend was not credited as the only songwriter on the project – John Entwistle wrote “Cousin Kevin” and “Fiddle About,” and Keith Moon got credit for “Tommy’s Holiday Camp.”
The character Tommy played pinball by feeling the vibrations of the machine. Townshend liked how that related to listeners picking up the vibrations of the music to feel the story.
The single version was sped up to make it more radio-friendly.
This was the most famous and enduring song from the Tommy project. Along with “See Me, Feel Me,” it is one of 2 songs from the album that The Who played throughout their career.
The Who performed this at Woodstock in 1969. The song was still fairly new, so many in the crowd did not recognize it. The Who were given the early morning slot, so they ended up playing this as the sun came up.
The Who performed the entire album from start to finish on their subsequent tour. Two of the dates were in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
The famous guitar riff was sampled by The Shocking Blue on their 1969 hit “Venus,” which was covered by Bananarama in 1986.
The album got The Who out of a financial mess. After a legal battle with their manager, Shel Talmy, and some bad business deals in England, they were facing bankruptcy if it didn’t sell.
According to the book The Duh Awards by Bob Fenster, Rod Stewart asked Elton John if he should accept an offer to sing in Tommy. Elton told him no way, “Don’t touch it with a barge pole.” A year later, The Who asked Elton John to sing the same song. Elton grabbed his barge pole and took the offer. “I don’t think Rod’s quite forgiven me for that,” he commented years later.
The Dutch group The Shocking Blue used the guitar riff from this song for their 1969 hit “Venus.”
Townshend played a 1968 Gibson SG Special guitar on this song.
This features in a commercial for the Toyota Supra GR that debuted during the 2019 Super Bowl between the Rams and Patriots. In the spot, a driver navigates a life-size pinball game in the vehicle.
Pinball Wizard
Ever since I was a young boy I’ve played the silver ball From Soho down to Brighton I must have played them all But I ain’t seen nothing like him In any amusement hall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid Sure plays a mean pinball!
He stands like a statue Becomes part of the machine Feeling all the bumpers Always playing clean Plays by intuition The digit counters fall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid Sure plays a mean pinball!
He’s a pinball wizard There has to be a twist A pinball wizard’s got such a supple wrist
‘How do you think he does it? I don’t know What makes him so good?’
Ain’t got no distractions Can’t hear no buzzers and bells Don’t see no lights a-flashin’ Plays by sense of smell Always gets the replay Never seen him fall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid Sure plays a mean pinball!
I thought I was The Bally table king But I just handed my pinball crown to him
Even on my favorite table He can beat my best His disciples lead him in And he just does the rest He’s got crazy flipper fingers Never seen him fall
That deaf, dumb and blind kid Sure plays a mean pinball!
I always favored the Cars first two albums and those string of hits…but I did like their later output as well. Cars frontman Ric Ocasek wrote this song, but he didn’t sing the lead vocal…their bass player Ben Orr did.
The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 and #5 (1984) #4 (1985) in the UK
This was the Cars’ highest-charting US single and their second-highest charting UK single, the highest being “My Best Friend’s Girl.” In the UK, this hit #5 on its initial release. It was reissued one year later and reached #4. The royalties from its reissue were donated to the Band-Aid Trust.
The song was on the album Heartbreak City released in 1984 and peaked at #3 in the Billboard Album Charts.
From Songfacts
A very melancholy song by The Cars, this is written from the perspective of a guy who’s watching a woman (whom he presumably used to date) “going down the tubes,” trying to get her to take a hard look at what’s going on in her life.
Orr died of Pancreatic cancer in 2000. When he died, “Drive” was played in his honor at a memorial service at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Orr also sang lead on the first Cars hit: “Just What I Needed.”
The Cars resisted the urge to use automotive imagery in their songs; “Drive” is a rare instance where they did.
At the Live Aid concert, this was used as background music to film clips of famine stricken Africa. The group performed on the Philadelphia stage and included “Drive” in their set.
The video was directed by a 23-year-old Timothy Hutton, who had won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the movie Ordinary People. Hutton aspired to direct, so when Ric Ocasek of The Cars suggested he do it, Hutton jumped at the chance.
Hutton cast the Czechoslovakian model Paulina Porizkova as the female lead in the clip. Auditioning for the role was the first time she met Ocasek, whom she married in 1989.
The Cars performed this on Saturday Night Live on May 12, 1984.
This was used in two 2019 episodes of the TV series Arrested Development: “Saving for Arraignment Day,” and “Check Mates.” It was also used in the movies Midnight Heat (2007), Transformers (2007) and The Squid and the Whale (2005).
After the death of Princess Diana, the UK radio station XFM banned certain songs that might upset people. Their list of barred songs included “Drive.”
The song was covered by Sixx: A.M. on their 2014 album, Modern Vintage. Regarding the decision to record their own version, Nikki Sixx said: “We had started going down the street of [the Elvin Bishop hit] ‘Fooled Around And Fell In Love.’ One day I called [vocalist James Michael] up and just sang the opening line to ‘Drive’, and [he] said, ‘That’s a Sixx: A.M. song!’ I think it was an opportunity to cover a song that is so defined that you have to be very careful not to wreck it. That song is so loved by so many people, including us, that we really wanted to pay a real tribute to it, and I believe we have.”
“It’s such a simple song – the original version was so simple, but that’s what was exciting about it,” Michael added. “In a way, it’s a blank canvas, but you need to respect the simplicity … that’s what was so fun about the version we did, especially when [DJ Ashba] started doing his guitar solo. Even that had to be carefully structured around what the original song was.”
Drive
Who’s gonna tell you when It’s too late Who’s gonna tell you things Aren’t so great You can’t go on Thinking nothing’s wrong Who’s gonna drive you home tonight
Who’s gonna pick you up When you fall Who’s gonna hang it up When you call Who’s gonna pay attention To your dreams Who’s gonna plug their ears When you scream
You can’t go on Thinking nothing’s wrong Who’s gonna drive you home tonight
Who’s gonna hold you down When you shake Who’s gonna come around When you break
You can’t go on Thinking nothing’s wrong Who’s gonna drive you home tonight
The first song on Led Zeppelin’s 1968 debut album, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page are the credited songwriters on this track. Jones and Bonham really stand out on this track.
To get the sound on his guitar Page ran his guitar through a Leslie cabinet to make the swirling sound. A Leslie cabinet has a speaker in it that spins and makes the sound swirl. The Beatles and Buddy Guy first used that effect with a guitar in 1965. Before that, it was used mostly with the Hammond Organ.
This song peaked at #80 in the Billboard 100 in 1969.
Jimmy Page: “John Paul Jones came up with the riff. I had the chorus. John Bonham applied the bass-drum pattern. That one really shaped our writing process. It was like, ‘Wow, everybody’s erupting at once.”
From Songfacts
John Bonham used a device called a “Triplet” on his bass drum for this song to get a double bass pedal sound. He used the tip of his toe to flick the bass pedal back fast, creating an effect many drummers tried to copy. Jimmy Page explained in the BBC Book Guitar Greats, “‘Good Times, Bad Times,’ as usual, came out of a riff with a great deal of John Paul Jones on bass, and it really knocked everybody sideways when they heard the bass drum pattern, because I think everyone was laying bets that Bonzo was using two bass drums, but he only had one.”
Led Zeppelin played this at their live shows until 1970.
Page put microphones all over the studio to capture a live sound when they recorded this.
Godsmack recorded this for their 2007 Greatest Hits album, which was titled Good Times, Bad Times… Ten Years of Godsmack.
When the band reformed for a benefit show on December 10, 2007 with Jason Bonham playing drums in place of his father, this was the first song in the set. Bassist John Paul Jones told Rolling Stone magazine after the show: “That’s the hardest riff I ever wrote, the hardest to play.”
There are some rumors that “Good Times Bad Times” (and “Your Time Is Gonna Come”) was played in its entirety once or twice in 1968 when the group was transitioning from The New Yardbirds to Led Zeppelin. However, there is no recording of this, and there’s no complete version on any of the unofficial live recordings from 1968 to 1980, the closest being inside a “Communication Breakdown” medley on September 4, 1970, in which John Paul Jones played a bass solo. They did play parts of it in different medleys, usually either “Communication Breakdown” or, most often “Whole Lotta Love.” The first recorded instance of the entire song being played by the full band is the 2007 reunion.
Good Times, Bad Times
In the days of my youth I was told what it was to be a man Now I’ve reached the age I’ve tried to do all those things the best I can No matter how I try I find my way to do the same old jam
Good times, bad times You know I had my share When my woman left home With a brown eyed man Well, I still don’t seem to care
Sixteen I fell in love With a girl as sweet as could be Only took a couple of days Till she was rid of me She swore that she would be all mine And love me till the end When I whispered in her ear I lost another friend
Good times, bad times You know I had my share When my woman left home With a brown eyed man Well, I still don’t seem to care
Good times, bad times You know I had my share When my woman left home With a brown eyed man Well, I still don’t seem to care
I know what it means to be alone I sure do wish I was at home I don’t care what the neighbors say I’m gonna love you each and every day You can feel the beat within my heart Realize, sweet babe, we ain’t ever gonna part
This is a truly great song. Wonderfully written by Paul Simon. The song peaked #7 in the Billboard 100, #6 in the UK, #3 in Canada, and #9 in New Zealand.
This song was not recorded in one take and done. It took over 100 hours to record, with parts of it done at Columbia Records studios in both Nashville and New York City. The chorus vocals were recorded in a church: St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University in New York. The church had a tiled dome that provided great acoustics. It was an interesting field trip for the recording crew who had to set up the equipment in the house of worship.
Paul Simon: “I think the song was about me: everybody’s beating me up, and I’m telling you now I’m going to go away if you don’t stop. By that time we had encountered our first criticism. For the first few years, it was just pure praise. It took two or three years for people to realize that we weren’t strange creatures that emerged from England but just two guys from Queens who used to sing rock’n’roll. And maybe we weren’t real folkies at all! Maybe we weren’t even hippies!”
From Songfacts
With all this material to work with, a standard 8-track recorder wasn’t enough, so the album’s producer, Roy Halee, brought Columbia boss Clive Davis into the studio to demonstrate his problem and lobby for a new, 16-track recorder. Davis, who didn’t become a legendary record executive by turning down such requests, bought him the new machine.
Simon found inspiration for this song in The Bible, which he would sometimes read in hotels. The lines, “Workman’s wages” and “Seeking out the poorer quarters” came from passages.
Sometimes what is put in as a placeholder lyric becomes a crucial part of the song. That was the case here, as Simon used “Lie la lie” in place of a proper chorus because he couldn’t find the right words. Other examples of placeholders that worked include the “I know” chorus in “Ain’t No Sunshine” and Otis Redding’s whistling in “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.”
In a 1990 interview with SongTalk magazine, Simon said: “I thought that ‘lie la lie was a failure of songwriting. I didn’t have any words! Then people said it was ‘lie’ but I didn’t really mean that. That it was a lie. But, it’s not a failure of songwriting, because people like that and they put enough meaning into it, and the rest of the song has enough power and emotion, I guess, to make it go, so it’s all right. But for me, every time I sing that part, I’m a little embarrassed.”
Simon added that the essentially wordless chorus gave the song more of an international appeal, as it was universal.
The legendary session drummer Hal Blaine created the huge drum sound with the help of producer Roy Halee, who found a spot for the drums in front of an elevator in the Columbia offices. As recounted in the 2011 Making of Bridge Over Troubled Water documentary, Blaine would pound the drums at the end of the “Lie la lie” vocals that were playing in his headphones, and at one point, an elderly security guard got a big surprise when he came out of the elevator and was startled by Blaine’s thunderous drums.
The opening guitar lick came courtesy of the session player Fred Carter Jr., who Simon hired to play on the track. Simon would often use another guitarist to augment his sound.
This song was recorded about a year before the album was released.
Bob Dylan recorded a version of this on his 1970 album Self Portrait.
The Boxer
I am just a poor boy Though my story’s seldom told I have squandered my resistance For a pocket full of mumbles Such are promises All lies and jests Still a man hears what he wants to hear And disregards the rest
When I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy In the company of strangers In the quiet of the railway station Running scared Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters Where the ragged people go Looking for the places Only they would know
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Asking only workman’s wages I come looking for a job But I get no offers Just a come-on from the whores On Seventh Avenue I do declare There were times when I was so lonesome I took some comfort there Le le le le le le le
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Then I’m laying out my winter clothes And wishing I was gone Going home Where the New York City winters Aren’t bleeding me Leading me Going home
In the clearing stands a boxer And a fighter by his trade And he carries the reminders Of every glove that laid him down Or cut him till he cried out In his anger and his shame “I am leaving, I am leaving” But the fighter still remains
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Ray Davies wrote this song after the group’s 1965 tour of the United States. The tour did not go well, with infighting, fatigue, and conflict with the musician’s union that kept them from performing in the country for another four years.
Davies recovered from the tour with a vacation at the English resort town of Torquay, Devon. There, a wealthy hotel guest recognized him and asked Ray to play a round of golf. Far from being flattered by the invitation, he took great offense. “I’m not gonna play f–king golf with you,” “I’m not gonna be your caddy so you can say you played with a pop singer.”
The song peaked at #13 Billboard 100 but it didn’t chart in the UK.
A Well Respected Man
‘Cause he gets up in the morning,
And he goes to work at nine,
And he comes back home at five-thirty,
Gets the same train every time.
‘Cause his world is built ’round punctuality,
It never fails.
And he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.
And his mother goes to meetings,
While his father pulls the maid,
And she stirs the tea with councilors,
While discussing foreign trade,
And she passes looks, as well as bills,
At every suave young man.
‘Cause he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.
And he likes his own backyard,
And he likes his fags the best,
‘Cause he’s better than the rest,
And his own sweat smells the best,
And he hopes to grab his father’s loot,
When Pater passes on.
‘Cause he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.
And he plays at stocks and shares,
And he goes to the regatta,
And he adores the girl next door,
‘Cause he’s dying to get at her,
But his mother knows the best about
The matrimonial stakes.
‘Cause he’s oh, so good,
And he’s oh, so fine,
And he’s oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.
A super positive song that I could listen to at any time. The song peaked at #17 in the UK in 1980 and re-charted at 76 in 1985.
The source of Marley’s inspiration for the lyrics of “Three Little Birds” remains disputed. They are partly inspired by birds that Marley was fond of that used to fly and sit next to his home. A friend of Marley, Tony Gilbert, was present at the time he was writing the song and said that Bob was inspired by things around him as he observed life.
Gilbert said he remembered pretty birds, canaries, who would come by the windowsill at Marley’s home. However, some say the three female singers in ” I Threes” were the “birds” Marley was talking about. Sometimes he would ask them ‘What are my Three Little Birds saying?”
Either way, it’s a fantastic song.
From Songfacts
This uplifting tune from Bob Marley & The Wailers’ ninth studio album, Exodus, is famous for its reassuring refrain, “Don’t worry ’bout a thing, ’cause every little thing is gonna be alright” – a message Marley received from the birds that frequented his porch stoop in Kingston, Jamaica. “That really happened,” he told Sounds magazine. “That’s where I get my inspiration.”
Despite the troubles Marley faced in Jamaica – in 1976, he survived a politically motivated assassination attempt connected to his support of Prime Minister Michael Manley – the singer still viewed the island as sacred place. “JA is one of the heaviest places in the West spiritually, regardless of what a go on,” he explained.
Marley’s friend Tony “Gilly” Gilbert was present when the singer wrote the song and confirmed Marley had several feathered friends. “It was just amazing how he put the words for ‘Three Little Birds’ together in a flow,” Gilbert told Vivien Goldman, author of The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Album of the Century. “Bob got inspired by a lot of things around him, he observed life. I remember the three little birds. They were pretty birds, canaries, who would come by the windowsill at Hope Road.”
The I Threes, Marley’s vocal backing trio, insist the song is actually about them. Group member Marcia Griffiths (who taught us the Electric Slide) explained: “After the song was written, Bob would always refer to us as the Three Little Birds. After a show, there would be an encore, sometimes people even wanted us to go back onstage four times. Bob would still want to go back and he would say, ‘What is my Three Little Birds saying?'”
She continued: “‘Three Little Birds’ was our song, officially for I-Three. It was more or less expressing how we all came together, when he says, ‘Rise up this morning, smile with the rising sun.’ We loved it. Even when we were recording it, we knew that it was our song.”
Marley’s son Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul recorded this for the animated films Shark Tale (2004) and Surf’s Up (2007). Several other artists have covered the song, including Robbie Williams, Karen David, Gilberto Gil, Billy Ocean, Monty Alexander, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Britain’s Got Talent alumna Connie Talbot recorded a popular version for her 2008 album, Over The Rainbow. The single went to #3 on the UK Independent Singles Chart and #1 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart in the US.
In 2013, Hyundai used a version remixed by Marley’s son Stephen Marley and DJ Jason Bentley (from the Legend: Remixed album) in its All-New Assurance Connected Care Campaign to reflect the automobile manufacturer’s new safety standards. In 2018, the company revisited the tune, this time enlisting Maroon 5 to record it in the Hyundai Santa Fe promotion for the FIFA World Cup. Maroon 5 also released a music video for their version.
Marley’s eldest daughter, Cedella Marley, adapted this into the children’s book Every Little Thing in 2012 and, two years later, the off-Broadway musical Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. The story follows a shy little boy who is coaxed by three little birds to go outside and play.
This was used on the TV shows Boston Legal (“Helping Hand,” 2006), 90210 (“Another, Another Chance,” 2010), Smash (“The Coup,” 2012), and The Handmaid’s Tale (“Birth Day,” 2017).
This was also featured in the movies Club Paradise (1986), Strange Days (1995), In Her Shoes (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Funny People (2009), Ramona and Beezus (2010), and Strange Magic (2015).
Three Little Birds
“Don’t worry about a thing ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright Singing’ “Don’t worry about a thing ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright!”
Rise up this mornin’ Smiled with the risin’ sun Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep Singin’ sweet songs Of melodies pure and true Saying’, (“This is my message to you”)
Singing’ “Don’t worry ’bout a thing ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright.” Singing’ “Don’t worry (don’t worry) ’bout a thing ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright!”
Rise up this mornin’ Smiled with the risin’ sun Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep Singin’ sweet songs Of melodies pure and true Sayin’, “This is my message to you”
Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh! Every little thing gonna be alright. Don’t worry!” Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing” I won’t worry! “‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright.”
Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright” I won’t worry! Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing Cause every little thing gonna be alright.” Singin’ “Don’t worry about a thing, oh no! ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright!
This John Denver song I really like. Denver was a huge star in the early to mid-seventies. I’m not a huge fan by any means but he did have a few songs I liked. He was a songwriter, musician, activist, actor, and he sold millions of records (over 33 million). He was never known to be cool or hip.
Denver was an easy target for critics and peers. Robert Christgau dubbed him “the blandest pop singer in history,” and comparing him to James Taylor… “If James is a wimp, John is a simp, and that’s even worse.”
I don’t think all the criticism was fair. Some of his music was really good to great like Rocky Mountain High…
Denver wrote this song with his friends Bill and Taffy Danoff. Denver was in Washington, DC to perform with the Danoffs, and after the show, they went back to the couple’s home where they played him what they had of this song. Denver almost didn’t make it because he was in a car wreck and injured his thumb.
The Danoffs have stated they were hoping to get Johnny Cash to record this song when they wrote it. They almost didn’t play it for Denver because they didn’t think it fit his style.
Denver helped them complete the song, and the next night they sang it together on stage. Denver knew he had a hit song on his hands, and brought the Danoffs to New York where they recorded the song together – you can hear Bill and Taffy on background vocals.
The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 and #3 in Canada in 1971.
From Songfacts
The country roads in this song are in West Virginia, but Denver had never even been to West Virginia. Bill and Taffy Danoff started writing the song while driving to Maryland – they’d never been to West Virginia either! Danoff got his inspiration from postcards sent to him by a friend who DID live there, and from listening to the powerful AM station WWVA out of Wheeling, West Virginia, which he picked up in Massachusetts when he was growing up.
Bill Danoff told NPR in 2011: “I just thought the idea that I was hearing something so exotic to me from someplace as far away. West Virginia might as well have been in Europe, for all I knew.”
The Danoffs were in a band called Fat City at the time they wrote this. They later formed the Starland Vocal Band, who had a big hit with “Afternoon Delight” in 1977. There was some speculation that Denver somehow screwed the Danoffs when he became famous and they remained in obscurity, but the couple always defended Denver in interviews, pointing out that he brought Fat City on tour and helped them get a record deal with his RCA/Windsong Records. Denver also recorded several other songs Bill Danoff wrote.
The Shenandoah River is in West Virginia, running right through Harper’s Ferry into the Potomac. The Blue Ridge Mountain Ranges run in a strip from northeast West Virginia to its southwest across the eastern part of the state. Clopper Road originates in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was a single lane road, but is now a busy four-lane road that heads to Germantown, Maryland. No country road anymore… not even close! It is attainable by exiting off of I-270 at Exit 10.
This was released as a single in the spring of 1971. It broke nationally in mid-April, but moved up the charts very slowly, as Denver was a little-known singer. To this point, Denver’s biggest success was writing “Leaving On A Jet Plane,” which he performed as a member of The Chad Mitchell Trio but was a hit for Peter, Paul and Mary in 1969. Denver pushed RCA records to keep promoting “Take Me Home Country Roads,” and their persistence paid off when it became a huge hit that summer. It was Denver’s first hit, and the first of 13 US Top 40 hits he scored in the ’70s.
Denver charted earlier in 1971 with “Friends With You” at #47, but “Country Roads” established him as a crossover artist with appeal to Pop, Country and Easy Listening audiences. >>
Clopper Road is still there. It is a four lane road from Qince Orchard Boulevard to just past Rt. 118 where it returns to a two lane road. The end of Clopper Road is in a town called Boyds. From Rt. 118 to the end, the road is much like it was in 1969 through the mid-1980s.
In 1969, it really did seem idyllic in a way. Other than the farms and a few houses, there was nothing between Gaithersburg and Boyds other than the few stores and a few businesses in Germantown, and a gas station/country store at the corner of Clopper Road and Rt. 118.
Today, the road is built up from Quince Orchard Road to Seneca Creek, but the last mile or two is like it was back then. The concrete batch plant has been gone for a number of years, the old B&O railroad flag stop is now a MARC commuter rail stop for Boyds, but the rest of Clopper Road has been sold to housing developments. The trip from Rt. 118 to Boyds and to Dickerson beyond is still one of the nicest and peaceful drives in the Metropolitan area. >>
After hearing the first verse, most people feel compelled to sing the chorus, especially in a group environment or if alcohol is involved. The St. Louis Blues hockey team learned this on February 9, 2019 when they played the song during a break in the third period of a game against the Nashville Predators. When play resumed, they faded the song just as it was getting to the chorus, but the crowd sang it anyway and a tradition was born. It helped that the team was winning: they ended up going all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 49 years. Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” also soundtracked the team that season.
Take Me Home Country Roads
Almost heaven, West Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains Shenandoah River, Life is old there Older than the trees Younger than the mountains Blowin’ like the breeze
Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain momma Take me home, country roads
All my memories gathered ’round her Miner’s lady, stranger to blue water Dark and dusty, painted on the sky Misty taste of moonshine Teardrops in my eye
Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain momma Take me home, country roads
I hear her voice In the mornin’ hour she calls me The radio reminds me of my home far away And drivin’ down the road I get a feelin’ That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday
Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain momma Take me home, country roads
Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain momma Take me home, country roads
Take me home, now country roads Take me home, now country roads
Anyone who follows my posts knows I don’t follow heavy metal but a cool riff is a cool riff. I liked this one the first time I heard it.
John Lennon has a distant connection to this song. Judas Priest was renting Tittenhurst Park (John Lennon’s former home) in 1980 to record their album British Steel. As they were watching television…guitarist Glenn Tipton said they saw John Lennon’s Imagine video and were in the very same room where it was filmed… he said they could imagine the piano and the white walls…and how surreal it was…
Rob Halford actually got the inspiration for the lyrics for Living After Midnight as his bandmates kept him awake by blasting out riffs and drum beats in the studio below.
He came downstairs to complain and said, Hey, guys, come on. It’s gone midnight…and they wrote the song.
Living After Midnight
Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn Lovin’ ’til the morning, then I’m gone, I’m gone
I took the city ’bout one A.M, loaded, loaded I’m all geared up to score again, loaded, loaded I come alive in the neon light That’s when I make my moves right
Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn Lovin’ ’til the morning, then I’m gone, I’m gone
Got gleaming chrome, reflecting steel, loaded, loaded Ready to take on every deal, loaded, loaded My pulse is racing, I’m hot to take This motor’s revved up, fit to break
Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn Lovin’ ’til the morning, then I’m gone, I’m gone
I’m aiming for ya I’m gonna floor ya My body’s coming All night long
The air’s electric, sparkin’ power, loaded, loaded I’m getting hotter by the hour, loaded, loaded I set my sights and then home in The joint starts flying when I begin
Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn Lovin’ ’til the morning, then I’m gone, I’m gone [repeat and fade]
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