“Here he comes, here he comes; Speed Racer. He’s a demon on wheels…” that will always stick with me.
I first saw this in the 70s at some point and it was different. I had said that Jonny Quest was different and it was but this one…was completely different than anything I had seen. It was my first viewing of Japanese Anime. Speed Racer was one of the first Japanese anime cartoons to make it stateside back in the 1960s. The show originally called Mach Go Go Go reached millions of kids around the world while in syndication. My first thought while watching it while I was older…this was NOT Hanna-Barbera.
I discovered Speed Racer and Jonny Quest at the same time. I would watch it at my cousin’s house and was blown away by the different animation.
Speed Racer (Go Mifune) is the young driver of the Mach 5, an incredible supercar designed by his father “Pops” Racer (Daisuke Mifune). Speed would race dangerous routes against dangerous people and come out on top with his “girlfriend” Trixie (Michi Shimura) trailing him in a helicopter and his little brother Spritle (Kurio) and his pet chimp Chim-Chim (Sanpei) frequently stowing away in the trunk.
Through the years there have been remakes of the show in the 90s and a movie in 2008 which was not received well. It was a groundbreaking show in the US and opened the door for Japanese Anime afterward.
Peggy Sue Got Married was the sequel to Holly’s hit Peggy Sue. The original hit was named after the girlfriend of Crickets drummer Jerry Allison.
Buddy Holly recorded this alone, on acoustic guitar, in his New York City apartment, along with “Crying, Waiting, Hoping,” “That’s What They Say,” “What to Do,” “Learning the Game” and “That Makes it Tough” which would be his last songs. After his tragic death, these recordings would be overdubbed to become the Holly songs we know today.
A little more than five months after Holly’s death, Coral Records on July 20, 1959 released “Peggy Sue Got Married.” It appeared as a B-side to Buddy Holly’s “Crying, Waiting, Hoping.”
Below is the demo of the song and the released version which Buddy would never hear.
The real Peggy Sue… Peggy Sue Gerron passed away at 78 years old in 2018.
From Songfacts
In this song, Holly finds out that the girl from his 1957 hit “Peggy Sue” has gotten married. It was one of the first sequels of the Rock Era.
This song provided the title for the 1986 movie Peggy Sue Got Married, starring Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage. In the movie, Holly’s demo version with just his voice and acoustic guitar was used.
When producer Jack Hansen augmented Holly’s demo of this tune and made a hit out of it, it was the first instance of an entirely ‘new’ unheard song being completed and released after a star’s death. Later instances of songs of deceased acts being revived and “completed” include tunes by The Beatles, the Carpenters, The Doors, Lynyrd Skynrd, Bob Marley, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra, Biggie Smalls, Tupac and Hank Williams.
Demo
Released Version
Peggy Sue Got Married
Please don’t tell No, no, no Don’t say that I told you so I just heard a rumor from a friend
I don’t say That it’s true I’ll just leave that up to you If you don’t believe I’ll understand (understand)
You recall a girl that’s been in nearly every song This is what I heard of course the story could be wrong
She’s the one I’ve been told Now she’s wearing a band of gold Peggy Sue got married not long ago
You recall a girl that’s been in nearly every song This is what I heard of course the story could be wrong
She’s the one I’ve been told Now she’s wearing a band of gold Peggy Sue got married not long ago Peggy Sue got married not long ago
I always feel good when I hear this song. I first heard it when I was using my stereo recordable 8-track to record songs off of the radio. This one and the Walter Egan song Magnet and Steel I got back to back…I can’t hear one without thinking of the other.
The song peaked at #41 in the Billboard 100 and #5 in the UK in 1971. It was on the Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One album. The song is reminiscent of Lola which is on the same album. The album peaked at #35 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1971. This album was somewhat of a comeback album in the US. They had released great albums but didn’t get the airplay they deserved.
From Songfacts
Ray Davies wrote this song about a man who is unhappy with the modern world. Looking to escape the problems caused by his fellow humans, he plans a journey away from home, where he can live like an “apeman.” Escape from our modern-day society is a theme prevalent in many of Ray Davies’ other songs, both solo, and with The Kinks.
Ray Davies had to re-dub the line “the air pollution is a-fogging up my eyes” for the radio, and for their November 1970 performance on Top Of The Pops, because it sounded too much like “the air pollution is ‘a f—ing’ up my eyes.” The Kinks had the same situation with their previous single, “Lola” where Ray had to replace the line “Where you drink champagne and it tastes just Coca-Cola” with “Cherry cola” for airplay. >>
John Gosling (aka “The Baptist”) wore a gorilla outfit while sitting behind his keyboards during the Kinks’ Top of the Pops performance of this song.
The song was covered by former Marillion singer Fish for his 1993 album Songs from the Mirror.
This appeared in the 1986 Robin Williams movie Club Paradise.
Apeman
I think I’m sophisticated ’cause I’m living my life Like a good homo sapiens But all around me everybody’s multiplying and They’re walking round like flies man So I’m no better than the animals sitting In the cages in the zoo man ‘Cause compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees I am an apeman
I think I’m so educated and I’m so civilized ‘Cause I’m a strict vegetarian But with the over-population and inflation and starvation And the crazy politicians I don’t feel safe in this world no more I don’t want to die in a nuclear war I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman
I’m an apeman, I’m an ape, apeman, oh I’m an apeman I’m a King Kong man, I’m a voodoo man, oh I’m an apeman ‘Cause compared to the sun that sits in the sky Compared to the clouds as they roll by Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies I am an apeman
In man’s evolution he’s created the city And the motor traffic rumble But give me half a chance and I’d be taking off my clothes And living in the jungle ‘Cause the only time that I feel at ease Is swinging up and down in the coconut trees Oh what a life of luxury to be like an apeman
I’m an apeman, I’m an ape, apeman, oh I’m an apeman I’m a King Kong man, I’m a voodoo man, oh I’m an apeman I look out the window but I can’t see the sky The air pollution is a-fogging eyes I want to get out of this city alive and make like an apeman
Oh come on and love me, be my apeman girl And we’ll be so happy in my apeman world
I’m an apeman, I’m an ape, apeman, oh I’m an apeman I’m a King Kong man, I’m a voodoo man, oh I’m an apeman I’ll be your Tarzan, you’ll be my Jane I’ll keep you warm and you’ll keep me sane We’ll sit in the trees and eat bananas all day, just like an apeman
I’m an apeman, I’m an ape, apeman, oh I’m an apeman I’m a King Kong man, I’m a voodoo man, oh I’m an apeman I don’t feel safe in this world no more I don’t want to die in a nuclear war I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman
Anissa was on the popular family comedy called Family Affair. Everyone knew her as Buffy and her TV brother (Johnny Whitaker) as Jody. I watched the show in the early seventies. I watched in syndication and I grew up with Buffy and Jody. It seemed unreal in 1976 when I heard on the news that Anissa Jones had died at the age of 18.
At eight years old, Anissa was cast as Buffy on Family Affair, which aired from 1966 until 1971. Just a year before she started on Family Affair, her parents had gone through a terrible divorce with a long and bitter custody battle for her and her little brother. Sadly, her father died shortly after he was awarded custody in 1973.
She did appear in an Elvis movie “The Trouble With Girls” in 1969. Family Affair was the last thing she did besides a Dick Cavett appearance.
She was known to be a caring person as a kid up until she died. Earl Graham was the janitor on the set of the show Family Affair. When he passed away during the third year of the show, the cast and crew attended his funeral. By the following Monday, everyone was ready to get back to work. To Anissa, it seemed like everyone was acting like Earl had never existed at all. Anissa went to her mother and asked if she could take an ad out in Variety saying goodbye to her good friend. The ad cost Anissa $400.00. Anissa’s Mom said that was one of her proudest moments as a mother.
She was up for the Regan MacNeil part in The Exorcist but the director was fearful that people would think “Buffy” had been possessed. Her friends and family said she was relieved when she was turned down because she wanted to be with her friends in school. She was also invited to try out for “Easy” Steensma in Taxi Driver but turned it down. She was very intelligent but fell into the wrong crowd.
In 1975 she started to skip school and take drugs and ended up in a juvenile hall for a bit. She eventually dropped out of high school working at restaurants until she was 18 in 1976 and she gained control of 180,000 dollars she got from Family Affair. She fell into the drug culture.
On August 28, 1976, Anissa died of a drug overdose. It was ruled an accidental with cocaine, PCP, Seconal, and Quaaludes found in her system. She was at a party with friends. The coroner would call it one of the most massive overdoses he’d ever seen.
Seeing the news and blog posts on the 50th anniversary of Woodstock made me think of this song. I bought the Woodstock triple album set in the late seventies or early eighties…this song I liked automatically. It’s catchy and is about as anti-authority as you can get. The imagery is fun in this song… Chicken flying everywhere around the plane Could we ever feel much finer and Walking in the hall with his things and all
Smiling, said he was the Lone Ranger
This is the song that really got me into Arlo…though I had heard City of New Orleans. After hearing this I wanted to check out his music.
Arlo wrote this song and it was on his second album Running Down the Road. The great Clarence White played guitar on this song. Other musicians on the album were Ry Cooder, Gene Parsons, and James Burton. The song didn’t chart because it’s pretty clear why (Coming into Los Angeles, Bringing in a couple of ki’s, don’t touch my bags if you please mister customs man)…but the album peaked at #54 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1969.
The best-known version is the Woodstock version.
Studio Version
Woodstock
Coming Into Los Angeles
Coming in from London from over the pole Flying in a big airliner Chicken flying everywhere around the plane Could we ever feel much finer
Coming into Los Angeles Bringing in a couple of ki’s Don’t touch my bags if you please Mister customs man, yeah
There’s a guy with a ticket to Mexico No, he couldn’t look much stranger Walking in the hall with his things and all Smiling, said he was the Lone Ranger
Coming into Los Angeles Bringing in a couple of ki’s Don’t touch my bags if you please Mister customs man
Hip woman walking on the moving floor Tripping on the escalator There’s a man in the line and she’s blowing his mind Thinking that he’s already made her
Coming into Los Angeles Bringing in a couple of ki’s Don’t touch my bags if you please Mister customs man
Coming in from London from over the pole Flying in a big airliner Chicken flying everywhere around the plane Could we ever feel much finer
Coming into Los Angeles Bringing in a couple of ki’s Don’t touch my bags if you please Mister customs man, yeah, all right
I can tell you what I was doing 42 years ago on August 16, 1977… I was ten years old and played some baseball with the neighborhood guys and went inside in the afternoon. I started to watch Gilligans Island and then the news interrupted the show. Elvis Presley had died.
It really didn’t affect me too much at the time until I saw my mom and stepdad react. My mom was somewhat upset and although I knew Elvis’s music, the impact just wasn’t there until the news items started to roll across. I called my dad and talked to him and it bothered him…he had just seen Elvis a few years before in Murfreesboro Tn.
I really wouldn’t know how they felt until December 8, 1980, when Lennon was killed. It’s a shame what happened to Elvis because he was trapped by his fame, manager, and by his own excesses. After reading about him more it seemed like it was inevitable…I just wished it could have been different.
Fotomaker was founded by former Rascals members Gene Cornish (bass) and Dino Danelli (drums) They two contacted ex-Raspberries guitarist Wally Bryson. The Fotomaker lineup was subsequently completed with guitarist Lex Marchesi and keyboardist Frankie Vinci (lead vocal duties were split between several members).
This song peaked at #81 in the Billboard 100 in 1978. The band opened for the likes of Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Foreigner, and Van Halen. Their self-titled debut album was released in early 1978. They had one more minor hit in 1978 with “Miles Away” which peaked at #63 in 1978.
The band released 3 albums in all before disbanding in 1979.
Where Have You Been All My Life
It used to be My life was like a puzzle in a million pieces And it seemed My purpose and my destiny were mysteries then Girl you came Into my life And you brought my heart a one way ticket Straight to paradise
And just where have you been all my life Tell me where have you been all my life Girl where have you been all my life
Once I believed My life was like a story book of empty pages But now I see All the years I spent in waiting were preparing me for you And it’s true Love can make someone brand new ‘Cause I feel just like a newborn child Whenever I’m with you
And just where have you been all my life Tell me where have you been all my life
All my life I’ve been waiting All my life I’ve been waiting All my life I’ve been waiting
This song was released right after Sex and Candy. The song was not a hit but did get some airplay at the time. I liked it just as well as their hit.
The band was named after the Marcy Open grade school in Minneapolis, which is the school John Wozniak attended. He chose the name because many of his songs were inspired by his childhood. Marcy Playground emerged in the late 1990s. Influences include David Bowie, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Wham! and the Beatles.
Sherry Fraser, the namesake of the song, is the founder of the band Two Ton Boa. Lead singer/writer/guitarist John Wozniak said: “Sherry was my first girlfriend. When I was 15, she was 16. She was my first true love. And still a very close friend. She did all the artwork for our latest record, Leaving Wonderland. She’s a really terrific visual artist and also a great musician. She has a band called Two Ton Boa, which is really cool. I always tap Sherry for her ideas and her creativity, and I have for years. But she’s since married somebody else and we haven’t been together since 1993 or something. So it’s been a long time, almost 17 years. Well, I guess for that age it was a long time. I met her in ’87, and we stopped dating in ’93. We remain friends and made music together. We wrote a bunch of stuff. She sings on the very first record that I ever did, which was the Zog Bogbean – from the Marcy Playground. And we wrote some songs together.”
From Songfacts
The last single from Marcy Playground’s debut album, this is song is about a real person. In our interview with Marcy Playground lead singer/songwriter John Wozniak, he explained:
There are some Alice in Wonderland references in the lyrics, a theme that would recur in Marcy Playground’s 2009 album Leaving Wonderland. Wozniak told us: “Sherry and I started experimenting with LSD when we first got together. I was 15 and she was 16 and we were tripping on acid a lot. And Through the Looking Glass was always both of our favorite book. And so it’s part of it, I suppose. But the way I write songs is with a lot of imagery, and not necessarily a lot of direct meaning. It’s all multi-layered feelings, like ‘disco lemonade’ (from “Sex and Candy”) doesn’t mean anything. There’s no such thing. (laughs) It’s a feeling.”
Sherry Fraser
Oh I saw stars falling all Around her head Red gold and blue Sherry Fraser where are you ‘Cause I saw stars falling All around your head When we were young Sherry Fraser where have you gone We’re all wondering When will you come back And play some day. Sherry yeah The mad hatter he waits for Alice To come to tea again He waits forever for his old lover And always wonderin’ Will I see stars falling all around your head When you return Sherry Fraser what have you learned And we’re all wondering When will you come back And play some day And please do come back And play some day Please do come back And play some day Sherry yeah
One of the many great songs on the Cars debut album. The song to my surprise was not released as a single but it received plenty of airplay through the years. I was written by Ric Ocasek and sung by bassist Benjamin Orr.
One of my favorite songs by the Cars that is not played as much as some of the others.
The Cars debut album Peaked at #18 on the Billboard 100 in 1979 and stayed on the Charts for 139 weeks. The Cars album was huge despite being released through the height of disco.
From Songfacts
“Bye Bye Love,” written by Rick Ocasek, is the seventh track from their debut album The Cars. Benjamin Orr does the lead vocals here – he and Ocasek shared lead vocal duties in the group.
“Bye Bye Love” is not at all to be confused with the song of the same title by The Everly Brothers (and covered by Ray Charles, Simon & Garfunkel, and others). The Everly Brothers song implies a comma: “Bye Bye, Love” where The Cars is: “Bye, Bye Love.” Of course, the lyrics and arrangement are completely different as well.
This song has been used in the HBO TV series Big Love, where it was chosen for having an ’80s sound. Since the song was written and released in 1978, that tells you how far The Cars were looking ahead.
In Frank Moriarty’s Seventies Rock – The Decade of Creative Chaos, it is noted that “The clever melding of disparate elements that characterized 1978’s The Cars led to an astonishing success for the band, chiefly because the stodgy album-oriented radio stations – which had in large part attempted to ignore punk and New Wave – finally were confronted with new music that they couldn’t help but play.”
Note also that in April of 1978, four of the top five singles currently parked on the charts were by the Bee Gees. America had Saturday Night Fever and there seemed to be no cure, so getting something not-disco on the charts at all was a spectacular achievement.
Bye Bye Love
I can’t feel this way much longer Expecting to survive With all these hidden innuendoes Just waiting to arrive
It’s such a wavy midnight And you slip into insane Electric angel rock and roller I hear what you’re playin’
It’s an orangy sky Always it’s some other guy It’s just a broken lullaby Bye bye love Bye bye love Bye bye love Bye bye love
Substitution mass confusion Clouds inside your head Involving all my energies Until you visited
With your eyes of porcelain and of blue They shock me into sense You think you’re so illustrious You call yourself intense
It’s an orangy sky Always it’s some other guy It’s just a broken lullaby Bye bye love Bye goo’ bye love bye bye love Bye bye love
Substitution mass confusion Clouds inside your head Well foggin’ all my energies Until you visited
With your eyes of porcelain and of blue They shock me into sense You think you’re so illustrious You call yourself intense
It’s an orangy sky Always it’s some other guy It’s just a broken lullaby Bye bye love Bye bye love Bye bye love Bye bye love
When I was 12, I was in a Dime Store in my small town (long since gone…another WalMart casualty) walking by the Mynah Bird all of us kids talked to in 1979…looked down at the record rack and I saw this record by the Kinks. When I first saw it I thought it was the Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy I’d been hearing on the radio…by Bad Company.
I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the record and liked it more. I had a Kinks greatest hits album and knew some about them but this record got me into them heavily.
This song peaked at #30 in the Billboard 100 in 1978. Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy was on the Misfits album and it peaked at #40 on the Billboard Album charts in 1978.
Inspired by the death of Elvis Presley and the departures of bassist Andy Pyle and pianist John Gosling from The Kinks, Ray writes about whether rock and roll is something mature adults should do.
From Songfacts
Kinks leader Ray Davies wrote this song, calling it a “Method acting songwriting job.”
While he was writing the song in 1977, he learned that Elvis Presley had died, which influenced the lyric. He was staying in New York at the time, and when he looked out his window late at night, he saw a single light on in one of the buildings. Davies imagined that light being the apartment of an ardent Elvis fan, which became the character Dan the Fan in the song.
The Kinks were falling apart around this time; guitarist Dave Davies wanted to stop touring, and keyboard player John Gosling and bass player Andy Pyle had decided that Misfits would be their last album with the group. Ray Davies explained in Rolling Stone: “The song was almost a homage to them; if you listen to the lyrics, it’s about someone leaving the band because they’ve given up the cause, and the two brothers will find a way through this.”
The line, “The King is dead, rock is done,” is a reference to Elvis. The lyrics go on to describe a man named Dan living in Davies’ block who is a huge fan of The Kinks. Whenever he feels unhappy, Dan loses himself in their music, “living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy.”
By 1978 The Kinks may have been selling out Madison Square Garden, but they weren’t altogether happy. “A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” details Ray Davies and his brother Dave considering breaking up the band. “The song is about two guys,” Ray told Q Magazine. “Shall we call it a day?”
Released as the first single from Misfits, the track was The Kinks’ most successful single in the US since their 1970 top ten hit “Lola.”
A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy
Hello you, hello me Hello people we used to be Isn’t it strange, we never changed We’ve been through it all, yet we’re still the same
And I know, it’s a miracle we still go For all we know, we might still have a way to go
Hello me, hello you You say you want out, want to start anew Throw in your hand, break up the band Start a new life, be a new man
But for all we know, we might still have a way to go Before you go, there’s something you ought to know
There’s a guy in my block, he lives for rock He plays records day and night
And when he feels down he puts some rock ‘n’ roll on And it makes him feel alright
And when he feels the world is closing in He turns his stereo way up high
He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy He just spends his life living on the edge of reality He just spends his life in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy He just spends his life living on the edge of reality He just spends his life in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
He just spends his life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy Look at me, look at you You say we’ve got nothing left to prove The King is dead, rock is done You might be through, but I’ve just begun
I don’t know, I feel free and I won’t let go Before you go, there’s something you ought to know
Dan is a fan and he lives for our music It’s the only thing that gets him by He’s watched us grow and he’s seen all our shows He’s seen us low and he’s seen us high
Oh, but you and me keep thinking That the world’s just passing us by
Don’t want to spend my life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy Don’t want to spend my life living on the edge of reality Don’t want to waste my life hiding away any more
Don’t want to spend my life living in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
With Guns N’ Roses, I liked some of the stuff they did…I wasn’t a huge fan of Rose but I liked the rawness they brought and Slash’s guitar playing.
This song peaked at #4 on the Billboard 100 and #10 in the UK, in 1989.
The song was on their second studio album G N’ R Lies released in 1988. The title for the album was Lies! The Sex, The Drugs, The Violence, The Shocking Truth. Geffen Records decided it was too long, so they changed it to just Lies.
From Songfacts
This song was a trendsetter in its use of all-acoustic instrumentation. This song made it safe for hard rockers to display their sensitive, vulnerable sides in a more understated way rather than utilizing the power ballad format.
The video for this song can be seen playing in the background of the Robert DeNiro film Cape Fear.
This is a very popular Karaoke song, but one that you might want to avoid. Kimberly Starling of The Karaoke Informersays it’s one of the top 5 songs that tends to bomb: “It just eludes the average ear and when you get off key on this one it sounds to the ear like a turd in a punch bowl looks to the eye.”
On January 30th, 1989, Guns N’ Roses played this at the American Music Awards with Don Henley on drums.
Axl Rose can be heard whistling on this track. He’s also the one who blows the whistle on “Paradise City.”
Patience
One, two, one, two, three, four
Shed a tear ’cause I’m missin’ you I’m still alright to smile Girl, I think about you every day now Was a time when I wasn’t sure But you set my mind at ease There is no doubt you’re in my heart now
Said woman take it slow, and it’ll work itself out fine All we need is just a little patience Said sugar make it slow and we’ll come together fine All we need is just a little patience (Patience) Mm, yeah
I sit here on the stairs ‘Cause I’d rather be alone If I can’t have you right now, I’ll wait dear Sometimes I get so tense but I can’t speed up the time But you know love there’s one more thing to consider
Said woman take it slow and things will be just fine You and I’ll just use a little patience Said sugar take the time ’cause the lights are shining bright You and I’ve got what it takes to make it We won’t fake it, I’ll never break it ‘Cause I can’t take it
Little patience, mm yeah, mm yeah Need a little patience, yeah Just a little patience, yeah Some more patience, yeah (I’ve been walking the streets at night, just trying to get it right) A little patience, yeah (Its hard to see with so many around You know I don’t like being stuck in the crowd) Could use some patience, yeah (And the streets don’t change but maybe the names) (I ain’t got time for the game ’cause I need you) Gotta have more patience, yeah (Yeah, yeah but I need you) All need some patience (Ooh I need you, whoa I need you) Just a little patience is all you need (Ooh, this time, ah)
This song’s harmonies are great and so is the incredibly treble solo in the middle. John wrote this song. John wrote this song after he spent all night trying to write a song. He eventually gave up and laid down and then the song came to him. The song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1966.
John: “I’d spent five hours that morning trying to write a song that was meaningful and good, and I finally gave up and lay down. Then ‘Nowhere Man’ came, words and music, the whole damn thing, as I lay down…So letting it go is what the whole game is. You put your finger on it, it slips away, right? You know you turn the lights on and the cockroaches run away. You can never grasp them.”
The guitar solo was performed by both John and George in unison on their identical Sonic Blue Fender Stratocasters. George: “I decided I’d get a Strat, and John decided he’d get one too. So we sent out our roadie, Mal Evans, said go and get us two Strats. And he came back with two of them, pale blue ones. Straight away we used them on the album we were making at the time, which was ‘Rubber Soul.’ I played it a lot on that album, (most noticeably) the solo on ‘Nowhere Man’ which John and I both played in unison.”
The Beatles pushed the engineers to add treble to the solo that John and George were playing. Run it through and put the treble on it again and again. The Engineers said, “We can’t do that”…Paul told them that it was ok…if it is terrible we simply won’t use it…they kept on pushing and it worked perfectly. The engineers were also afraid of getting fined by EMI for doing things against regulations…with the Beatles though it soon became commonplace.
This shows how the Beatles were changing the rules as they were going along. Not only in writing superb songs but pushing the limits of the studio as well as doing things that pop stars just didn’t do before them…
From Songfacts
John Lennon came up with this after struggling to write a song for the album. Said Lennon: “I thought of myself sitting there, doing nothing and getting nowhere.”
This was used in the animated Beatles movie Yellow Submarine. They sing it to Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.D., who describes himself as an “eminent physicist, polyglot classicist, prize-winning botanist, hard-biting satirist, talented pianist, good dentist too.” The Beatles decide to take him Somewhere, and he eventually helps them to defeat the Blue Meanies. >>
This starts with a three-part harmony sung by Lennon, Harrison, and McCartney.
This is probably the first Beatles song that has nothing to do with love.
Typical of many John Lennon compositions are the “falling” melodies, which can be heard in “Nowhere Man.” Folk music often has falling melodies, indicating melancholy. In Baroque music, a falling melody means sadness.
There is a very audible feedback 38 seconds into the song after the word “missin’.”
Natalie Merchant performed this at the 2001 special, Come Together: A Night For John Lennon’s Words And Music. She did a mellow version, as the show was also a tribute to victims of the terrorist attacks on America.
In a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon recalled the background to this song: “I remember I was just going through this paranoia trying to write something and nothing would come out so I just lay down and tried to not write and then this came out, the whole thing came out in one gulp.”
In 2003, John Lennon’s original handwritten lyrics to this song were auctioned at Christie’s of New York for $455,500.
One of the many songwriters influenced by The Beatles is Graham Gouldman of 10cc, who toured with Ringo’s All-Starr Band in 2018. According to Gouldman, this song is an example of how they would create a two-part harmony, but leave out third part, which is implied. “That’s screaming out for the third harmony, but they never did it,” he told Songfacts. “And in your head, you sing along, if you’re musical, the third harmony.”
Nowhere Man
He’s a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Doesn’t have a point of view Knows not where he’s going to Isn’t he a bit like you and me? Nowhere man please listen You don’t know what you’re missing Nowhere man, The world is at your command
He’s as blind as he can be Just sees what he wants to see Nowhere man, can you see me at all Nowhere man don’t worry Take your time, don’t hurry Leave it all till somebody else Lends you a hand Ah, la, la, la, la
Doesn’t have a point of view Knows not where he’s going to Isn’t he a bit like you and me? Nowhere man please listen You don’t know what you’re missing Nowhere man, The world is at your command Ah, la, la, la, la
He’s a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Jonny Quest was different than many cartoons I watched…the artwork and stories were above the normal ones at the time.
Jonny Quest the series was about the globe-trotting adventures of an eleven-year-old boy (Jonny), his scientist father (Dr. Benton Quest), his adopted brother Hadji (from Calcutta, India), his government bodyguard (Race Bannon) and his bulldog (Bandit). A young future Animal House actor Tim Matheson voiced Jonny Quest.
When I was a kid I loved Jonny’s father Dr. Benton Quest’s hands-off approach in raising Jonny and Hadji. They would be scuba diving with sharks and off in the jungle with their dog Bandit without any parent around…The character Race would help them out and protect them when needed. It was exciting to see kids have the freedom to explore new places.
The series that premiered on September 18th, 1964 that is one of the most celebrated and influential animated series to come from Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered on September 18th, 1964 and is one of the best and most influential animated series to come from Hanna-Barbera. Jonny Quest only ran for one season with 26 episodes but the influence of that series is still being felt and it spawned a comic book, a remake in the 1980s, 1990s, and a couple of tv movies.
Doug Wildey was the artist and the show was going to be based on an old radio show called Jack Armstrong but Hanna-Barbera thought the rights were too expensive so they just made their own show. Wildey drew some influence from the James Bond movie Doctor No.
The artwork and the stories made Jonny Quest special.
I’m not a big fan of newer country music…but this song sounded fresh when it was released. The song crossed over and peaked at #41 in the Billboard 100, #1 in the US Country Songs, and #1 Canda Country Tracks in 1998. The song was on the album Wide Open Spaces and it peaked at #4 on the Billboard Album Charts, #1 on the Country Album Charts, and #1 in the Canadian Country Album Charts in 1999.
Susan Gibson wrote the song years earlier. Gibson was the lead singer of the alt-country band The Groobees. They decided to include “Wide Open Spaces” on their album and their producer was Lloyd Maines… the father of Dixie Chicks lead singer, Natalie Maines. He thought the song would be perfect for the Dixie Chicks and they agreed. After testing it on a couple of audiences, they made it the title track for their major-label debut.
This album was the first album which Natalie Maines was the lead singer.
Their career was going great until all hell broke loose in 2003 after lead singer Natalie Maines criticized George Bush and the invasion of Iraq during a London concert. Country radio led the backlash against the Dixie Chicks. Stations banned their music and even told listeners to trash their CDs.
This defiant, nude cover on ‘Entertainment Weekly’ added fuel to the fire.
If this would have been a rock act that did the same thing…would this have happened? I would say no…
On June 26, 2019, The Dixie Chicks has confirmed that they are returning to music with a new studio album after a 13-year hiatus. They are expecting to record their first new studio album since 2006’s Taking the Long Way.
From Songfacts
This song was written by Susan Gibson, who was lead singer of a Texas-based band called The Groobees. She wrote the tune back in 1993 in a spirit of rebellion during her first return home from the University of Montana for Christmas break. “My mom probably said something like, ‘What time did you get home last night, honey?’ Whatever it was rubbed me the wrong way,” Gibson told The Montanan. “I sat down at the kitchen table and wrote furiously for twelve minutes, and then I went and did something else. I forgot all about it.”
The lyrics were so specific to Gibson’s own experience, including lines about her dad warning her to check the oil in her car, she was hesitant about giving away such a personal song. Then she heard the Dixie Chicks’ version: “It made me bawl my eyes out. It was so beautiful—it had this stunning musicianship and very professional production. I could still see my handwriting on the page, and here was this gorgeous recording of it.”
Lloyd Maines, father of Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines, worked with The Groobees, and brought the song to the Chicks. The Groobees recorded their version in 1999.
Thom Oliphant helmed the music video, which intercuts touring footage with the girls singing in open fields of wildflowers as well as performing at Winter Park, Colorado’s annual West Fest. In a Songfacts interview, Oliphant recalled: “That song probably moved them from big clubs to arenas over the course of that year, so we were just out documenting.
A lot of that stuff was shot without a clock ticking. You’re on a bus and we would shoot some stuff, and then it all was woven together with a couple of big days of shooting out around Denver. It made it look like it was all about the same time, but it wasn’t.”
The video was named the Country Music Association’s Video of the Year in 1999.
The Groobees broke up a couple of years after this became a hit, partly because they couldn’t agree on how to handle the success. Susan Gibson, who collected the bulk of the royalties as the tune’s sole writer, explained in Lone Star Music Magazine: “We were once a unified band with nothing to lose and all struggling in the same direction. Some band members thought that the success of that song meant that we could afford to take those crappy-paying, but good-exposure gigs. Others thought it meant we didn’t have to. That discrepancy resulted in each of us taking our own piece of the pie and going forward in our different directions.”
Gibson has since carved a career for herself as a solo artist, but still delights in hearing fans talk about the song: “Because the Dixie Chicks made that song so huge, I have enjoyed the look on people’s faces when they hear that I wrote that song. About 80 percent of the time, somebody has a cool story attached to it about leaving home, getting married, getting divorced, and breaking down in Moab, Utah. 19 percent of the time it’s like, ‘Oh! My mom loooooves that song!’ And there’s 1 percent out there that are like, ‘I don’t really listen to music.’ That’s OK. It’s the stories that I hear back from people that put a face to the huge numbers associated with that song.”
This spent four weeks at #1 on the country chart.
Wide Open Spaces
Who doesn’t know what I’m talking about Who’s never left home, who’s never struck out To find a dream and a life of their own A place in the clouds, a foundation of stone
Many precede and many will follow A young girl’s dreams no longer hollow It takes the shape of a place out west But what it holds for her, she hasn’t yet guessed
She needs wide open spaces Room to make her big mistakes She needs new faces She knows the high stakes
She traveled this road as a child Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired But now she won’t be coming back with the rest If these are life’s lessons, she’ll take this test
She needs wide open spaces Room to make her big mistakes She needs new faces She knows the high stakes
She knows the high stakes
As her folks drive away, her dad yells, “Check the oil!” Mom stares out the window and says, “I’m leaving my girl” She said, “It didn’t seem like that long ago” When she stood there and let her own folks know
She needed wide open spaces Room to make her big mistakes She needs new faces She knows the high stakes
She knows the high stakes She knows the highest stakes She knows the highest stakes She knows the highest stakes
Probably the most famous dog actor in the 60’s and 70’s. The two roles he is best known for were Benji and “The Dog” on Petticoat Junction.
In 1960, animal trainer Frank Inn found Higgins at the Burbank Animal Shelter as a puppy. A fluffy black-and-tan mixed-breed dog, he was marked like a Border Terrier, and Inn believed him to be a mix of Miniature Poodle, Cocker Spaniel, and Schnauzer. He took an immediate liking to Higgins and saw a real potential for acting in him. Higgins ended up being his biggest star.
Frank Inn, also trained Arnold Ziffel (the pig) and all of the other animals used on The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, and The Waltons TV series.
Higgins won a Patsy Award in 1967, and he was cover-featured on an issue of TV Guide magazine. He was really close to Edgar Buchanan who played Uncle Joe on Petticoat Junction. They were both in the movie Benji and it would be the last role for each actor.
From 1964-1970 he was in 174 episodes of Petticoat Junction. He also appeared in The Beverly Hillbillies, Village of the Giants, Green Acres, and in the early 1970s appeared in Lassie. In 1971, at the age of 14, Higgins starred in a TV movie with Vincent Price called “Mooch Goes to Hollywood.” Frank Inn retired Higgins, but in 1974, he brought him out of retirement to star in his greatest role, the loveable dog “Benji.”
Higgins was born December 12, 1957 (per wiki), and sadly passed away November 11, 1975…he was 4 weeks shy of his 18th birthday. Frank Inn had Higgins cremated and wanted his ashes buried with him when he died. Frank died in 2002 but because of changes in the law…Higgins could not be buried with him.
After Higgins passed away his daughter played “Benji” in the next Benji movie in 1977.
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