I did not dislike Hot Space like some Queen fans and non-Queen fans. I would not rate it as high as The Game but it had some decent songs. The album peaked at only #22 in the Billboard Album Chart in 1982 after the hugely successful album The Game.
Queen incorporates a little of Lennon’s style in this one and Mercury’s voice sounds great in this song.
From Songfacts
Freddie Mercury wrote this song as a dedication to John Lennon. The music emulates different John Lennon song styles, and the lyrics are mostly about Freddie’s realization that John was dead, and how real life was. “Life is Real” is related to the John Lennon lyric “Love is Real.”
The death of John Lennon sparked Queen to play “Imagine” during concerts, something they did during their tour with Paul Rodgers.
This song took on a new life after Freddie Mercury’s death, and is now regularly performed as a tribute to Mercury as well as Lennon – particularly when performed by Kerry Ellis and Brian May on their tours (notably the Born Free tour) where a montage of Freddie Mercury images would play on screens behind the artists.
Life Is Real (Song For Lennon)
Guilt stains on my pillow Blood on my terraces Torsos in my closet Shadows from my past Life is real, life is real Life is real, so real
Sleeping is my leisure Waking up in a minefield Dream in just a pleasure dome Love is a roulette wheel Life is real, life is real Life is real, oh yeah
Success is my breathing space I brought it on myself I will price it, I will cash it I can take it or leave it Loneliness is my hiding place Breast feeding myself What more can I say? I have swallowed the bitter pill I can taste it I can taste it Life is real, life is real Life is real
Music will be my mistress Loving like a whore Lennon is a genius Living in ev’ry pore Life is real, life is real Life is real, so real Life is cruel, life is a bitch Life is real, so real Life is real, life is real, yeah Life is real.
I liked this group the first time I heard them. This song was released right after “The Way” and I’ve always been partial to songs played in variations of the D chord like this one, Here Comes The Sun, and If I Needed Someone by the Beatles.
This song peaked at #10 on the Alternative Billboard Chart in 1998. The song has a jangling feel to it with good lyrics.
From Songfacts
In this song, a guy is trying to explain his true self, probably to a girl. He knows he doesn’t want to be Superman, and he’s not sure where he’s headed, so he settles on an abstract answer: he’ll be the rain falling on her fire escape. He’s more comprehensible at the end of the song: “I can be myself, how ’bout you?”
This was written and sung by Fastball guitarist Miles Zuniga, who along with Tony Scalzo did most of the songwriting in the band. It was released as the second single from the band’s breakthrough album All the Pain Money Can Buy, following their hit, “The Way.”
The video was directed by Francis Lawrence, whose credits include the films Constantine and I Am Legend, as well as videos for Audioslave (“Be Yourself”) and Lady Gaga (“Bad Romance”).
It’s one of the more unusual videos ever made: the band appear in it, but they’re all dead. It takes place in an home of an obsessed female fan who is getting ready for work, casually ignoring their corpses. At one point, a TV news program comes on and Access Hollywood host Pat O’Brien announces that the band has disappeared. “If anybody sees them, they might want to show them the way,” he says, referencing their hit song.
The video is all one shot (well, not really – there’s an edit when they go from a Steadicam to what is likely a crane), and breaks the fourth wall at the end when the woman breaks character and says, “Francis, I can’t work like this.”
The video was shot in Newhall, California on a sweltering hot day. According to Tony Scalzo, it took them about 10 takes to get it right. “The second-to-last one was almost perfect, and then the girl closed the door too fast and closed it on the camera, which upset everybody not just because the shot was ruined, but because it was a very expensive camera,” he told Songfacts. “It’s deathly hot. I’m in this bathtub so that’s okay. But I gotta lie upside down in the water with my face under water. Well, it took all day, but we finally got it and it came out a pretty creepy, weird video. The only other shots we had to do were us walking out of the house, looking stupid, and the live stuff where you see a performance video that’s on a TV in the house.”
Fire Escape
Well, I don’t wanna be President, Superman, or Clark Kent I don’t wanna walk around in their shoes
‘Cause I don’t know whose side I’m on I don’t know my right from wrong I don’t know where I’m goin’ to I don’t know about you I’ll be the rain falling on your fire escape
And I may not be the man you want me to I can be myself, how ’bout you?
I don’t wanna make you mad I don’t wanna meet your dad I don’t wanna be your dream come true ‘Cause I don’t know just what I’ve found
I don’t know my sky from ground I don’t know where I’m goin’ to I don’t know about you I’ll be the rain falling on your fire escape
And I may not be the man you want me to I can be myself, how ’bout you?
I’ll be the rain falling on your fire escape And I may not be the man you want me to I can be myself, how ’bout you? I can be myself, how ’bout you? I can be myself, how ’bout you?
This song is based on the true story of Lela and Raymond Howard, an elderly couple from Salado, Texas who drove to the annual Pioneer Day festival 10 miles away in Temple and didn’t return. She had Alzheimer’s disease and he was recovering from brain surgery.
When they disappeared, a reporter wrote a series of articles about the missing couple. Fastball bassist Tony Scalzo came up with the idea for the song after reading the articles. “It’s a romanticized take on what happened,” he said. Scalzo pictured them “taking off to have fun like they did when they first met.”
Thirteen days after the Howards went missing, they were found in Hot Springs, Arkansas, about 400 miles from their destination; they were still in the vehicle, which had veered off the side of the road and was hidden in the brush. Scalzo had finished writing the song when he learned that the couple had died.
The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Charts in 1998. When I heard this band I thought they would be around for a while but I never heard much more from them. They did follow this song up with “Fire Escape” which I liked even better than this one.
From Songfacts
The song was released in February 1998 as the first single from Fastball’s second album, All The Pain Money Can Buy. The band was little known at the time, so it took a few months for the song to catch on, but by the summer of 1998 it was getting lots of airplay.
The keyboard figure that plays throughout this song was made with a Casio keyboard Tony Scalzo had. It was processed to loop around itself, creating a distinctive, but lo-fi sound.
The song opens with the sounds of an analog radio going up and down the dial, briefly tuning in stations amongst the static. When “The Way” starts, it’s as if the listener has found a song he likes and is going to give it a listen. For the first 40 seconds, the dynamics are restricted to simulate the limited frequency of a radio signal. At the line, “they drank up the wine,” the full range comes in.
The band didn’t put much thought into the radio collage: they simply put a microphone in front of a radio and turned the dial. The result is a sampling of Los Angeles radio in the summer of 1997. Most of it is indistinguishable chatter, but you can pretty clearly hear a split second of “Foolish Games” by Jewel in the mix – part of her line “in case you failed to notice.”
In a Songfacts interview with Tony Scalzo, he talked about writing this song while the Howard saga was unfolding. “I didn’t think it would be anything but an abstraction of their story, so I wasn’t really thinking about that,” he said. “Also, I wasn’t expecting it to be this massive song that everybody liked, so I was unfettered by any of those concepts.”
Guitarist Miles Zuniga is a big fan of ’50s music and drew inspiration from the hit “Secret Agent Man” for his solo.
This is a rather unusual song with a retro feel and lot of little sound effects incorporated into the mix. “There was this brief moment in time when people were having hits with really weird stuff,” Miles Zuniga said. “We got lucky that we came around at that time. Even two years later was too late.”
This was Fastball’s breakout hit, but it came on their second album. The group was signed to a major label, Hollywood Records (owned by Disney) and in 1996 released their debut, Make Your Mama Proud. It tanked, in part because the label was in disarray and gave it little promotional support. This story usually ends with the band getting dropped, but there was so much turnover at Hollywood Records that there was nobody to drop them, and they got to record a second album in the summer of 1997.
Once the album was recorded, there was no guarantee it would be released. One of the reps at the record company felt very strongly about “The Way” and took it to radio stations, which got lots of positive feedback from listeners when they played it. The song was clearly a hit, and about six weeks later the album was released.
In America, “The Way” wasn’t sold as a single, which was a ploy to force listeners to buy the album. It worked: All the Pain Money Can Buy sold over a million copies in the US.
This was a big song in the summer of 1998. It peaked on the Billboard Airplay chart at #5 on June 20 that year.
This song proved quite enduring, selling over 500,000 copies by 2014 after it was released digitally in 2003.
The music video was suitably abstract, with no allusion to the tragic story that inspired the song. It shows the band driving into the desert, arriving at a camper where dancers emerge, performing as the band plays the song.
It was directed by McG, who before directing films like Charlie’s Angels and Terminator Salvation did music videos, mostly for bands around his stomping grounds of Orange County, California. He also did most of the videos for Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth
The Way
They made up their minds and they started packing They left before the sun came up that day An exit to eternal summer slacking But where were they going without ever knowing the way? They drank up the wine and they got to talking They now had more important things to say And when the car broke down they started walking Where were they going without ever knowing the way? Anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved with gold It’s always summer they’ll never get cold They’ll never get hungry, they’ll never get old and gray You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere They won’t make it home but they really don’t care They wanted the highway, they’re happier there today, today The children woke up and they couldn’t find ’em They left before the sun came up that day They just drove off and left it all behind ’em Where were they going without ever knowing the way? Anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved with gold It’s always summer they’ll never get cold They’ll never get hungry, they’ll never get old and gray You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere They won’t make it home but they really don’t care They wanted the highway, they’re happier there today, today Anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved with gold It’s always summer they’ll never get cold They’ll never get hungry, they’ll never get old and gray You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere They won’t make it home but they really don’t care They wanted the highway, they’re happier there today, today
This was on the album Coda it was released two years after John Bonham’s death and features outtakes from sessions throughout their career.
the song was supposed to be released as a single to coincide with their 1979 tour, but it was delayed because of production problems. This was Zeppelin’s answer to the Punk Rock groups at the time. It was recorded during the making of the In Through The Out Door album.
I don’t think it would have fit well on In Through The Out Door but it is too bad they didn’t release it as a single at the time.
From Songfacts
John Bonham died before this could be released. It was included on Coda, an album of unreleased tracks.
They planned to release this under the name of a fake band so it would not be judged as a Zeppelin song and could compete against the popular Punk bands.
Led Zeppelin never performed this live, but in 1990, Page and Plant played it at the Knebworth Festival in England.
Wearing and Tearing
It starts out like a murmur Then it grows like thunder Until it bursts inside of you Try to hold it steady Wait until you’re ready Any second now will do Throw the door wide open Not a word is spoken Anything that you want to do
Ya know, ya know, ya know Ya know, ya know, ya know
Don’t you feel the same way? Don’t you feel the same way? But you don’t know what to do No time for hesitatin’ Ain’t no time for hesitatin’ All you got to do is move They say you’re feeling blue, well I just found a cure It’s a thing you gotta do, yeah
(Ya know, ya know, ya know)
Now listen, when you say your body’s aching? I know that it’s aching Chill bumps come up on you Yeah, the funny fool I love the funny fool Just like foolin’ after school? And then you ask for medication Who cares for medication When you’ve worn away the cure
(Ya know, ya know, ya know)
(Hey, hey) Go back to the country yeah, go back to the country Feel a change is good for you When you keep convincin’ Ah, don’t keep convincin’ What’s that creeping up behind a you? It’s just an old friend, it’s just an old friend And what’s that he’s got for you?
(Ya know, ya know, ya know)
Yeah, yeah, yeah I can feel it, I can feel it ? Oh, medication, medication, medication
Love the lyrics to this song and also Knopfler’s guitar. When this song came out my friends and I would quote these lines to one another at school. Any song with I don’t know how you came to get the Betty Davis knees…But worst of all young man you’ve got Industrial Disease’ …..is alright with me.
The song was off of their Love over Gold album which peaked at #19 in the Billboard album chart in 1982. Industrial Disease peaked at #75 in the Billboard 100 in 1983.
From Songfacts
The song focuses on the decline of the British manufacturing industry in the 1980s. The song focuses on strikes, depression and dysfunctionality.
The title of what later became an AC/DC song is mentioned in the lyrics: “Thunderstruck.”
The reference to “brewers droop” as a medical condition is an in-joke, referring both to the effect of alcohol on libido and to the band of the same name that Mark Knopfler played in prior to Dire Straits.
Industrial Disease
Warning lights are flashing down at Quality Control Somebody threw a spanner and they threw him in the hole There’s rumors in the loading bay and anger in the town Somebody blew the whistle and the walls came down There’s a meeting in the boardroom they’re trying to trace the smell There’s leaking in the washroom there’s a sneak in personnel Somewhere in the corridors someone was heard to sneeze ‘goodness me could this be Industrial Disease?
The caretaker was crucified for sleeping at his post They’re refusing to be pacified it’s him they blame the most The watchdog’s got rabies the foreman’s got fleas And everyone’s concerned about Industrial Disease There’s panic on the switchboard tongues are ties in knots Some come out in sympathy some come out in spots Some blame the management some the employees And everybody knows it’s the Industrial Disease
The work force is disgusted downs tools and walks Innocence is injured experience just talks Everyone seeks damages and everyone agrees That these are ‘classic symptoms of a monetary squeeze’ On ITV and BBC they talk about the curse Philosophy is useless theology is worse History boils over there’s an economics freeze
Sociologists invent words that mean ‘Industrial Disease’ Doctor Parkinson declared ‘I’m not surprised to see you here You’ve got smokers cough from smoking, brewer’s droop from drinking beer I don’t know how you came to get the Betty Davis knees But worst of all young man you’ve got Industrial Disease’
He wrote me a prescription he said ‘you are depressed But I’m glad you came to see me to get this off your chest Come back and see me later – next patient please Send in another victim of Industrial Disease’ I go down to Speaker’s Corner I’m thunderstruck They got free speech, tourists, police in trucks Two men say they’re Jesus one of them must be wrong There’s a protest singer singing a protest song – he says ‘they want to have a war to keep us on our knees
They want to have a war to keep their factories They want to have a war to stop us buying Japanese They want to have a war to stop Industrial Disease They’re pointing out the enemy to keep you deaf and blind They want to sap your energy incarcerate your mind They give you Rule Brittania, gassy beer, page three
Two weeks in Espana and Sunday striptease’ Meanwhile the first Jesus says ‘I’d cure it soon Abolish Monday mornings and Friday afternoons’ The other one’s on a hunger strike he’s dying by degrees How come Jesus gets Industrial Disease
In 1975 John Fogerty was battling his old record label Fantasy and his ex-bandmates in Creedence. He released his second solo album, John Fogerty, it was released by Asylum Records in the United States and Fantasy Records internationally. The album peaked at #78 in 1975.
It contained two songs are among my favorite of Fogerty’s solo material… this one and Almost Saturday Night. Rockin’ All Over The World peaked at #27 in the Billboard 100 in 1975.
Status Quo did a cover of this song and it peaked at #3 in the UK Charts. John isn’t concerned that many people think it was written by Status Quo. He said: “It’s wonderful to have a cover that’s much better known than the original. Even at the time, when I was still lost in the woods, the fact that there was a song I’d written that was doing quite well made me feel much better.”
From Songfacts
Creedence Clearwater Revival was one of the top American acts from 1968 until their split in 1972. Their leader, John Fogerty, released an album under the name The Blue Ridge Rangers in 1973 that got away from the CCR sound, with covers of classic country songs. For his next album, released in 1975 under his own name, he wanted to re-establish himself as a rocker, which he did on this song, which is the first single.
The 2:50 “Rockin’ All Over The World” finds Fogerty singing about life as musician bringing rock to the masses, which is something he knew well. The song did well, but the album stalled at #78. The following year, Fogerty said in an interview with Phonograph Record, “When I finished it, there was something wrong that I just couldn’t put my finger on. It sounded dated in a way, like it should have come out in 1971.”
Bruce Springsteen added this song to his setlist when he toured the UK in 1981, typically playing it as part of his encore. The song would show up again on tours in 1985 and 1993, then occasionally at concerts in the ’00s and ’10s.
Typical of Fogerty’s solo work, he played all the instruments on this track and did all the vocals himself.
The British group Status Quo took this to #3 in the UK with their 1977 cover. Their guitarist Rick Parfitt got the idea to cover the song; he first heard it after a night in the studio when copious amounts of alcohol were consumed. Driving home, he stopped to pick up what he thought was a hitchhiker, but was really a mailbox. Realizing he was quite impaired, he turned on the radio and “Rockin’ All Over The World” came on, which he later suggested to the band.
“When we all heard it, it just sounded piddly to us,” Quo frontman Francis Rossi told us. “But once we’d done the track and then Rick got that kind of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ piece on the end, it started to build into something.”
Status Quo made this the title track of their 1977 album, and embarked that year on the “Rockin’ All Over The World” tour. This tour, however, skipped America. After making stops in the US the previous four years, the group gave up on the States, where their only significant hit was the 1968 track “Pictures Of Matchstick Men.”
This was the first song performed at Live Aid. Status Quo was the opening act at the London stage, and played it first in their set, which also included “Caroline” and “Don’t Waste My Time.”
Status Quo re-recorded the song in 1988, to support Sport Aid, as “Running All Over The World” with slightly amended lyrics. The new version reached #17 in the British Singles Chart.
The song has been reworked by the supporters of several football teams. Southend United fans, for instance, began singing “Shrimping All Over the World” after the 2004 Football League Trophy final and it is now their anthem. Also supporters of the Northern Ireland national football team often sing the song, particularly on away trips, changing the lyrics to “Drinkin’ All Over the World.”
Status Quo have a devoted rock following who love this song, even thought it’s one of their poppier efforts. As Francis Rossi tells it, even in 2013 when they played the Sweden Rock festival, metal bands were clearly enjoying this song. “It went out as a single and it was just monstrous,” he said. “I don’t really understand why.”
By the time Quo were ready to film the video, bassist Alan Lancaster had moved to Australia to get married. When the band asked him to fly back for the promo, he refused. Quo’s solution was to replace him with a life-sized puppet with a guitar, its strings operated by the band’s manager from the studio ceiling. “I didn’t mind the puppet,” Lancaster told Q magazine April 2013, “But that was the first time we’d done something without all four of us.”
John Fogerty recorded his original during a dark period when he was boycotting his old Creedence Clearwater songs.
Rockin’ All Over The World
Oooh! Ah!
Well, a-here-ee-yup, a-here-ee-yup, a-here we go,
Four in the mornin’, justa hittin’ the road,
Here we go-oh! Rockin’ all over the world! Yeah.
Well, a-geedeeup, a-geedeeup, a-get away,
We’re goin’ crazy, and we’re goin’ today, here we go-oh!
Rockin’ all over the world!
[Chorus:]
Well I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it,
I la-la-like it, la-la-la, here we go-oh! Rockin’ all over the world!
Yeah! Yeah!
Well, I’m gonna tell your Mama what your Daddy do,
He come out of the night with your dancin’ shoes,
Here we go-oh! Rockin’ all over the world! Yeah.
This was a duo from the eighties I really liked. This song peaked at #14 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock Hits in 1986. The album Boomtown peaked at #39 in 1986 and it contained three radio hits. Welcome to the Boomtown, Ain’t So Easy, and Swallowed by the Cracks.
The two Davids were David Baerwald and David Ricketts. They broke up after their only studio album which really disappointed me because I was really looking forward to their next album. There is hope though…in 2016 it was reported that they are working on their second album.
Boomtown was a very underrated album. David Baerwald’s voice is so down to earth and the lyrics and melodies were really good. This album got lost in the mega album 80s.
They did work later with Sheryl Crow on her Tuesday Night Music Club album.
Swallowed By The Cracks
I once was a dancer
I was young once like you
Though I know I don’t look it
Jumped high as the sky
Had fire in my eyes
And legs like a stallion
And I had a girl and I loved her
My best friend was her brother
We were on top of the mountain that summer
Thought we’d never be swallowed by the cracks
Fallen so far down
Like the rest of those clowns begging bus fare back
Swallowed by the cracks
Our pride worn down talking times gone by
Like everybody else
Swallowed by the cracks
We would never be swallowed by the cracks
We would talk through the night
About what we would do
If we just could get started
I would choreograph
Eileen she would act while
Steve was a writer
Then Stevie ran away and get bored
Eileen took a job in a store
Me I became this drunken old whore
‘Cause you see we’d be swallowed by the cracks
Fallen so far down
Like the rest of those clowns begging bus fare back
Swallowed by the cracks our pride worn down
Talking times gone by like everybody else
Swallowed by the cracks
Swallowed by the cracks
You see we’d be swallowed by the cracks
Maybe it ain’t over I can see it’s up to me
You only out when you stay out you stay out when you don’t
Believe we could drive around in circles getting nowhere
All night long getting drunk with strangers telling lies
And singing along with the jukebox baby
Swallowed by the cracks
I’ve always liked this instrumental because it is a fun listen. Nothing intricate but just a fun song. Its original name was Beatle Bop. This was not released on any Beatle albums during their time. This was before Brian Epstein and fame.
This instrumental is the only Beatles track to be credited to John Lennon and George Harrison alone (who play rhythm and lead respectively). It was intended as a parody of British rock band The Shadows (Hence the name), whose instrumental music was enjoying success. Whilst Harrison imitates Shadow’s guitarist Hank Marvin’s signature lead sound, McCartney can be heard replicating the style of bassist Jet Harris.
This song was recorded in Hamburg in 1961 when they were backing Tony Sheridan by the name of the Beat Brothers.
This song is one of only two officially released Beatles singles to feature Pete Best on drums. The other is “Ain’t She Sweet,” although it is alleged that a studio drummer “sweetened” the drum parts on this recording for American release. The producer Bert Kaempfert would take away Pete’s bass drum at these sessions and kept him only on the snare because of his timing issues.
From Songfacts
In a 1987 interview with Guitar Player magazine, George Harrison said: “In Hamburg we had to play so long, we actually used to play ‘Apache‘… But John and I were just bulls–tting one day, and he had this new little Rickenbacker with with a funny kind of wobble bar on it. And he started playing that off, and I just came in, and we made it up right on the spot.”
This track features the original Beatles drummer Pete Best, who received some royalties from the song when it was included on the 1995 Anthology collection.
This track was recorded in Hamburg whilst the Beatles performed under the moniker “The Beat Brothers” as a backing band for English singer Tony Sheridan. The track was produced by German big band leader and composer Bert Kaempfert.
Released on Polydor Records, the label declined further recordings from The Beatles, who returned to England, whilst Tony Sheridan stayed in Hamburg. At the request of The Beatles new manager Brian Epstein, Kaempfert dissolved his contract with the band in May 1962.
Lennon wrote this when he was in The Beatles. They recorded it as a demo called “Child of Nature,” which he’d written about their trip to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It didn’t make it onto any Beatles albums, so Lennon used it on his Imagine album with the lyrics changed to reflect his jealous nature. It was not released as a single in 1971.
The single reached #80 in the Billboard Hot 100 in1988, in conjunction with the release of the film Imagine John Lennon.
Joey Molland and Tom Evans of Badfinger both played acoustic guitar on this track. Badfinger was signed to the Beatles-run Apple label and George Harrison recommended to Lennon, “if you need some guitar players on Imagine, use the Badfinger guys.”
John Lennon said this about the song: My song, melody written in India. The lyrics explain themselves clearly: I was a very jealous, possessive guy. Toward everything. A very insecure male. A guy who wants to put his woman in a little box, lock her up, and just bring her out when he feels like playing with her. She’s not allowed to communicate with the outside world – outside of me – because it makes me feel insecure.
From Songfacts
John Lennon confronts the green-eyed monster in this song, where he sings about the fits of jealousy that controlled him. At the time, he was married to Yoko Ono, who believes the jealousy Lennon describes is not sexual, but more an unfounded feeling of inadequacy. “He was jealous about the fact that I had another language in my head, you know, Japanese, that he can’t share with me,” she told Uncut in 1998. “It was almost on a very conceptual, spiritual level. It wasn’t on a level of physical or anything ’cause I just would never give him a reason for that.”
Paul McCartney stated in the February 1985 issue of Playgirl: “He (John) used to say, ‘Everyone is on the McCartney bandwagon.’ He wrote ‘I’m Just a Jealous Guy,’ and he said that the song was about me. So I think it was just some kind of jealousy.”
Speaking with Rolling Stone months after Lennon’s death, she said that he made her write out a list of all the men she slept with before they met. “He wrote a song, ‘Jealous Guy,’ that should have told people how jealous he was,” she said. “After we started living together, it was John who wanted me there all the time. He made me go into the men’s room with him. He was scared that if I stayed out in the studio with a lot of other men, I might run off with one of them.”
Klaus Voormann played bass on this track. He was an old friend of the Beatles and designed the cover of Revolver. Other musicians were Jim Keltner on drums, Alan White on vibes and John Barham on harmonium.
In 1981 Roxy Music recorded this as a tribute to Lennon, who was murdered on December 8, 1980. Their version went to #1 in the UK. Many other groups have covered it as well, including The Faces and The Black Crowes.
Joey Molland recalled working with Lennon in an interview with Gibson.com, “It was great! He was just a plain-talking, regular guy. No b.s. at all. Now, of course, he was John Lennon, so he had that energy about him; he kind of lit up the room, you know? But he welcomed us, said he was thrilled to have us, and then he said, ‘The first song we’re going to do is something called ‘Jealous Guy.” It was pretty amazing, sitting there with your headphones on, hearing John Lennon singing this fantastic song. Totally remarkable.”
Yoko Ono contributed to the track’s lyrics. However, because of the public’s negative attitude towards her at the time, her role was downplayed. She told NME: “Well, if it was just John, [he] would have given me the right credit, but it was a difficult time. No famous songwriter would have thought of splitting the credit with his wife.”
Yoko added regarding her influence on the track: “I think it’s a good song from a women’s point of view as well. John was trying to create a fun song about going on a trip to Rishikesh. That might have been great too, but it ended up not being that.”
Jealous Guy
I was dreaming of the past And my heart was beating fast I began to lose control I began to lose control I didn’t mean to hurt you I’m sorry that I made you cry Oh my I didn’t want to hurt you I’m just a jealous guy
I was feeling insecure You might not love me anymore I was shivering inside I was shivering inside Oh I didn’t mean to hurt you I’m sorry that I made you cry Oh my I didn’t want to hurt you I’m just a jealous guy
I didn’t mean to hurt you I’m sorry that I made you cry Oh my I didn’t want to hurt you I’m just a jealous guy
I was trying to catch your eyes Thought that you was trying to hide I was swallowing my pain I was swallowing my pain I didn’t mean to hurt you I’m sorry that I made you cry Oh no I didn’t want to hurt you I’m just a jealous guy Watch out baby I’m just a jealous guy Look out baby I’m just a jealous guy
Back Off Boogaloo was Ringo’s follow up to his 1971 hit It Don’t Come Easy. It was released as a single only in 1972.
Some say Ringo wrote this song about Paul McCartney to stop his snide remarks in the press about the other Beatles and also to make better music. I can see why some people saw that in:
Wake up, meat head Don’t pretend that you are dead Get yourself up off the cart
Get yourself together now And give me something tasty Everything you try to do You know it sure sound wasted
That last line was because Paul was very fond of Cannabis at the time. Ringo has since cleared that up and said it was inspired by Marc Bolan of T-Rex. Bolan had often said the word Boogaloo and Ringo wrote the song. Later on, George helped him finish the song but didn’t want songwriting credit as was the case in It Don’t Come Easy.
The song peaked at #9 in the Billboard 100 and #2 in the UK in 1972.
Chris Welch wrote in Melody Maker: “A Number One hit could easily be in store for the maestro of rock drums. There’s a touch of the Marc Bolan in this highly playable rhythmic excursion … It’s hypnotic and effective, ideal for jukeboxes and liable to send us all mad by the end of the week.”
Back Off Boogaloo
Back off, Boo-ga-loo, I said Back off, Boo-ga-loo, come on Back off, Boo-ga-loo, Boo
Back off, Boo-ga-loo What d’yer think you’re gonna do I got a flash right from the start
Wake up, meat head Don’t pretend that you are dead Get yourself up off the cart
Get yourself together now And give me something tasty Everything you try to do You know it sure sound wasted
Back off, Boo-ga-loo, I said Back off, Boo-ga-loo You think you’re a groove Standing there in your wallpapers shoes And your socks that match your eyes
Back off, Boo-ga-loo, I said Back off, Boo-ga-loo, come on Back off, Boo-ga-loo, Boo
Another positive song from George. The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #8 in the UK and #9 in Canada in 1973. Just another good song from George that continues his positive message.
“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” replaced Wings’ “My Love” at number 1 on the Hot 100 singles chart…For the week ending 30 June that year, the Harrison and McCartney songs were ranked numbers 1 and 2 respectively.
George Harrison said this about the song: “Sometimes you open your mouth and you don’t know what you are going to say, and whatever comes out is the starting point. If that happens and you are lucky, it can usually be turned into a song. This song is a prayer and personal statement between me, the Lord, and whoever likes it.”
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
Give me love
Give me love
Give me peace on earth
Give me light
Give me life
Keep me free from birth
Give me hope
Help me cope, with this heavy load
Trying to, touch and reach you with,
Heart and soul
Om m m m m m m m m m m m m m
M m m my lord . . .
Please take hold of my hand, that
I might understand you
Won’t you please
Oh won’t you
Give me love
Give me love
Give me peace on earth
Give me light
Give me life
Keep me free from birth
Give me hope
Help me cope, with this heavy load
Trying to, touch and reach you with,
Heart and soul
When I heard this guitar intro I was surprised, to say the least. In the late eighties after hearing Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai endless finger tapping and scales on guitar.. this was refreshing. Jon Butcher sounded like he was inspired by Jimi Hendrix and it showed in this song….but he didn’t just sound like Hendrix in his other songs.
These comparisons to Hendrix were because of Butcher’s onstage appearance and mannerisms, patterned after Hendrix, and his choice for the band name Axis, which was a reference to Hendrix legendary album Axis: Bold as Love. Butcher’s stated influences are Richie Havens, John Lennon, Phil Lynott, Bob Dylan, and Taj Mahal and today he maintains that the Hendrix comparisons are superficial and has been quoted as saying “Being black, left-handed, and playing a Stratocaster created certain inevitable comparisons, particularly in the early days”.
This song peaked at #42 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock Song Chart in 1987.
Wishes
It’s late at night in the neighborhood And the thieves have all gone to bed They can hear your heartbeat in the distance As you lay down your weary head
But don’t worry, ’cause the dawn is breaking In another room halfway around the world And you can’t waste your life Wishing upon a star
‘Cause if wishes were horses If wishes were horses If wishes were horses Then dreamers would ride Huh, yes they would
A girl lives her life missing Some things that she never had Spends too much time in the unemployment line You see in her eyes that it drives her mad
Deep within her constitution Her pride and her dignity show through So she works that dream ‘Cause it’s all she can do
If wishes were horses If wishes were horses She says: if wishes were horses Then dreamers would ride Yes they would
Now I’m looking All around me for the answers And I know you’re looking hard too I know what you’re thinking Maybe wishes come true
If wishes were horses If wishes were horses I know, if wishes were horses Then dreamers would ride
I remembered Cochrane from Red Rider and their hit Lunatic Fringe. “Life Is a Highway” is a song by Canadian-native Tom Cochrane. It is his only US Top-40 hit, reaching #6 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1992. Cochrane is a celebrated artist within the Canadian music scene. His honors include seven Juno Awards, membership in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, being an Honorary Colonel in the Canadian Air Force, and having been inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame.
From Songfacts Cochrane was also the frontman and chief songwriter for the group Red Rider for ten years and hit a few times with that group as well. Their best-known song in America is “Lunatic Fringe.”
This song was inspired by Cochrane’s trip to West Africa, where he was gaining exposure for the World Vision famine relief organization. He recalled to Jam! Music: “When I wrote that song after my first trip to Africa, which was just mind bending and soul-sapping, I was mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted and I really needed something to pull me out of this funk. I had this sketch that I had written and I ended up going into the studio and recorded it in an hour at seven in the morning.”
“The irony is that it was the most positive song I’d ever written, coming out of a pretty heavy experience. I needed a pep talk, and it became that for me and for millions of others.”
Cochrane devotes a great deal of his time to activism and causes, blending them together with his music, similar to artists such as Neil Young.
Since 1992, this song has had a near-continuous popularity thanks to heavy use in commercials. These include one for Cleveland, Ohio-based bank National City Corp and one for the NBC TV series VIPER. Before you say “car commercials,” that was different versions by other artists. It was most recently covered by Rascal Flatts who also got it to #7 on the Hot 100.
Rascal Flatts recorded a more kid-friendly version for the 2006 Disney movie Cars. The original version was used in the movies Cheaper by the Dozen and There Goes the Neighborhood.
Life Is A Highway
Life’s like a road that you travel on When there’s one day here and the next day gone Sometimes you bend sometimes you stand Sometimes you turn your back to the wind There’s a world outside every darkened door Where blues won’t haunt you anymore Where the brave are free and lovers soar Come ride with me to the distant shore We won’t hesitate break down the garden gate There’s not much time left today
Life is a highway I want to ride it all night long If you’re going my way I want to drive it all night long
Through all these cities and all these towns It’s in my blood and it’s all around I love you now like I loved you then This is the road and these are the hands From Mozambique to those Memphis nights The Khyber pass to Vancouver’s lights Knock me down get back up again You’re in my blood I’m not a lonely man
There’s no load I can’t hold Road so rough this I know I’ll be there when the light comes in Just tell ’em we’re survivors
Life is a highway I want to ride it all night long If you’re going my way I want to drive it all night long
Life is a highway I want to ride it all night long If you’re going my way I want to drive it all night long
There was a distance between you and I A misunderstanding once but now We look it in the eye
There ain’t no load I can’t hold Road so rough this I know I’ll be there when the light comes in Just tell ’em we’re survivors
Life is a highway I want to ride it all night long If you’re going my way I want to drive it all night long
Life is a highway I want to ride it all night long If you’re going my way I want to drive it all night long
Life is a highway I want to ride it all night long If you’re going my way I want to drive it all night long
A good mid-sixties pop song from The Hollies. The song peaked at #5 in the Billboard 100, #5 in the UK, and #1 in Canada in 1966.
Bus Stop was written by Graham Gouldman, who went on to form the band 10cc, best known for their hit “I’m Not In Love.” Gouldman was just 19 when he wrote “Bus Stop,” but he had already written three Yardbirds songs: “For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul” and “Evil Hearted You.”
Graham Nash of The Hollies recalls learning about this song when their manager, Michael Cohen, told them about “this little kid who lives down the street,” which was Graham Gouldman. When Gouldman played it for them, they knew they had a winner. Nash says they recorded it in just an hour and 15 minutes.
From Songfacts
This song is about a couple who meet one rainy day at a bus stop. Love blooms when they share an umbrella.
In a Manchester newspaper, Graham Gouldman said he wrote it whilst riding on the No. 95 bus, which ran from East Didsbury – the route went through Manchester city center, to Sedgeley Park, Cheetham Hill, Prestwich, and on to Whitefield near Bury. Gouldman was living with his family on this route in Broughton Park Salford at the time. >>
Graham Gouldman’s father was a talented and creative writer who often helped his son with song ideas. Graham had the idea for bus stop setting, and his dad came up with the first line: “Bus stop, wet day, she’s there, I say, ‘please share my umbrella.'” From that starting point, he was able to finish the song.
In a Songfacts interview with Gouldman, he explained: “He gave me those words and I immediately, as I was reading them, heard the melody in my head, and it just kind of wrote itself. And then the middle part of the song I wrote – I got the melody and the words all in one chunk.”
The timeline in this song is a little askew. We know that love bloomed over the summer, but then we get the line, “Came the sun, the ice was melting.” This harkens spring, so apparently, time has passed. In Gouldman’s Songfacts interview, he clarified: “Winter is over, the snow is passed because the sun has melted it, so there’s no need to shelter anymore under the umbrella. You could say the snow is underfoot so you don’t need an umbrella anyway, but it’s poetic license: it could have been snowing so the umbrella can protect you from the snow as well as the rain.”
According to Gouldman, this song’s middle eight was one of the few instances in his songwriting career when he had a sudden inspiration rather than having to resort to hard toil. He explained to Mojo magazine in a 2011 interview: “You have to be working to make something happen. Occasionally you can wait for some magic, like McCartney waking up with Yesterday already written in his mind, which does happen – it’s like a gift from your own subconscious. Or sometimes, it’s like a tap’s turned on. When I’d written most of ‘Bus Stop,’ I was actually on a bus thinking about how the middle eight should go. And this whole, ‘Every morning I would see her waiting at the stop / Sometimes she’d shop…’ that all came to me in one gush, and I couldn’t wait to get home to try it. When that sort of thing happens, it’s really amazing. But that’s rare. Mostly, you have to do the slog.”
Herman’s Hermits also recorded this song in 1966. They got first crack at many of Gouldman’s songs because their manager was married to his sister.
In the Songfacts interview with Peter Noone, the Herman’s Hermits frontman explained: “‘Bus Stop’ went to the Hollies before us, because Graham didn’t think it was the kind of song that we would like. Then when we heard it, it was like, Are you kidding me? We want that. Luckily John Paul Jones heard it when we were trying to figure it out and he said ‘Nah, I’ve got it,’ and he re-invented the song. That’s John Paul Jones who turned that into a hit record, nobody else. It is not a hit song. If you listen to the Hollies demo version of it, it’s just not good. He reorganized the song and made it what it is: serious artwork.”
There is a short instrumental passage midway through the song, but the vocals, sung by Allan Clarke, carry the day. The only real verse section is in the middle – the rest is chorus and bridge, which at the end of the song is flipped – “Every morning I would see her waiting at the stop” comes in before the “bus stop, wet day” part, providing a bookend.
With so little verse, there are very few details – we have no idea what the bus or people look like – but that works to the song’s advantage because the listener can fill in the gaps. It’s a technique Gouldman picked up listening to The Beatles. “Sometimes it’s what’s left out that makes it work,” he says.
Bus Stop
Bus stop, wet day She’s there, I say Please share my umbrella Bus stops, bus goes She stays, love grows Under my umbrella
All that summer we enjoyed it Wind and rain and shine That umbrella we employed it By August she was mine
Every morning I would see her Waiting at the stop Sometimes she’d shop And she would show me what she’d bought
Other people stared As if we were both quite insane Someday my name and hers Are going to be the same
That’s the way the whole thing started Silly but it’s true Thinking of our sweet romance Beginning in a queue
Came the sun The ice was melting No more sheltering now Nice to think that that umbrella Led me to a vow
Every morning I would see her Waiting at the stop Sometimes she’d shop And she would show me what she’d bought
Other people stared As if we were both quite insane Someday my name and hers Are going to be the same
Bus stop, wet day She’s there, I say Please share my umbrella Bus stops, bus goes She stays, love grows Under my umbrella
All that summer we enjoyed it Wind and rain and shine That umbrella we employed it By August she was mine
This one I remember from the video more than airplay. A simple but effective riff to open the song and there is also The Band member Garth Hudson playing with The Call. That is what got my attention when I saw the video in the 80s. When The Walls Came Down peaked at #74 in the Billboard 100 and #17 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs in 1983.
Guitarist Michael Been stated, “There was a great deal happening politically – Grenada, Lebanon, or the government saying the Russians are evil and the Russian government probably saying the same about us. That kind of thinking inspired me to write the last lines of ‘Walls Came Down’.”
When The Walls Come Down
Well they blew the horns And the walls came down They’d all been warned And the walls came down They stood there laughing They’re not laughing anymore The walls came down
Sanctuary fades Congregation splits Nightly military raids The congregation splits It’s a song of assassins Ringin’ in your ears We got terrorist thinking Playing on fears
Well they blew the horns And the walls came down They’d all been warned But the walls came down I don’t think there are any Russians And there ain’t no Yanks Just corporate criminals Playin’ with tanks
Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya (Wake up) Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya Ya ya ya ya ya ya (Come on, come on, come on, come on)
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 