This guitar riff caught me right off the bat…I heard it for the first time not long ago. It’s pretty much irresistible. It reminds me of a song that Free would have one. The term “thunderbox” is British slang for a portable toilet, which reflects Steve Marriott’s sense of humor.
You know, I love Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, John Prine, and other performers who write deep songs. Sometimes though it’s nice to play a song like Thunderbox and let it go. The song was written by Steve Marriott and David Clempson.
Humble Pie released their seventh studio album Thunderbox in 1974. They were considered a “supergroup” at the time. Along with Small Faces Marriott, they featured former Herd lead guitarist Peter Frampton and ex-Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley plus teenage drummer Jerry Shirley. The album peaked at #52 on the Billboard 100 and #58 in Canada in 1974. This was the start of the decline of the band. They got ripped off bad and Steve Marriott mentioned the mob and John Gotti being one of the beneficiaries of the band’s profits.
Humble Pie had some great songs but nothing really caught on with the masses. That’s not always a bad thing but they never had a big song identifiable to them as some other bands do. The Faces had Stay With Me but Humble Pie never had that one song. For me, it should have been 30 Days in the Hole.
They did have four top twenty albums but were more known as a live band…check out Performance Rockin’ the Fillmore …that album put them over the hump.
Thunderbox
Oh, yeah Ooh, oh, ooh Ooh, ooh Oh, yeah He’s a thunderbox, sure You got your hot pants round your shoulders Lick your lips and you a fox Everybody stopped and told us They say you got a thunderbox You can see for yourself, I’ve got a clean bill of health I ain’t never seen a thunderbox Oh, oh, what do you know Well, I get to sing–solo He’s a thunderbox Oh yea, he’s a thunderbox… Well, was your claim to fame In the same letter name It’s your game I’m playing While the music is swaying Oh, I’m so glad I came in here He’s a thunderbox Oh yea, he’s a thunderbox… You’re not a lot, you know, when you ain’t a gypsy And a hooker with your wicked knots I had to park the car and take a look to see ‘Cause I ain’t never seen a thunderbox Oh, oh, well, I don’t know where you’ve been But I can guess what you’ve seen You know what I mean He’s a thunderbox Oh, yea, he’s a thunderbox… Oh, oh, I can see what you’ve got Since you sure got a lot And, and the band’s still playing Let the music sway Oh, I’m so glad I came in here He’s a thunderbox Oh, yea, he’s a thunderbox… Some say you from Dallas there And you’re hooked on pork and beans But I think it might be you’re from Louisiana Roundabout New Orleans I can see you don’t smell like no flower But I can say the same for myself Tell you girl, I know that you know that I know I’ve got my reasons You know that you’re bad yourself Don’t ask me for no answers You could never ever take the shock I’ve got the grief and I’ll take my chances Rolling with my thunderbox Oh, oh, I guess you may say It’s just a casual affair But I just got to know you all He’s a thunderbox Oh, yea, he’s a thunderbox…
The king of Marigold was in the kitchen Cooking breakfast for the queen The queen was in the parlor Playing piano for the children of the king
One song off the White Album that I found when I was 13 years old. It’s a good reason why I’m happy they kept it as a double album. I wouldn’t have this song and a few more. When the chorus kicks in it sticks in your head. That is the beauty of the White Album…it has something for everyone. Lennon had a way of delivering sometimes dark imagery, forming it around a catchy melody and it worked. It’s just part of the album’s huge tapestry.
The track includes a coda not originally part of the song… a snippet of Paul McCartney singing a few lines known as “Can You Take Me Back?” That was an unfinished song by Paul. This fragment segues into Revolution 9 on the album and adds an eerie, unresolved feeling to the end of the track. They would explore this more on the B side of Abbey Road.
Although the songs differ in style they all have that Beatles touch to them whether it be the hard Helter Skelter, country Rocky Raccoon, or even the fairytale-like Cry Baby Cry. The sessions were not the happiest time for the band (the Esher Demos were though) but they came up with the most eclectic batch of songs they ever produced. The demos they made gave another look at the song.
When John Lennon was killed in 1980 there were three albums I bought that long winter. Double Fantasy, The White Album, and Abbey Road. I’m back there again in that 1980-81 winter and spring when I hear this album.
The White Album is as diverse as you can get… Pop, Rock, Country, Folk, Reggae, Avant-Gard, Blues, Hard Rock and some 20’s British Music Hall thrown in the mix. It has plenty of songs that you have heard of and many that the masses have not heard as much. John Lennon wrote one of his best songs for this album… Dear Prudence.
The Beatles more than many bands could bend to a style of music and play that style well.
Of all the songs I heard on this album…this is the one where I thought…hmmm… John Lennon was so different in writing songs compared to Paul. I love this example of John’s fairytale. He wrote the song in 1967, inspired by a commercial jingle he heard on Television. The lyrics play on the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence, with lines like Cry baby cry, make your mother sigh evoking a fairy-tale atmosphere.
Ian MacDonald, in his book Revolution in the Head, described this song as “a charmingly wayward waltz” with “a whimsical, mildly satirical undertone.”
The White Album was released in 1968 and peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Chart, #1 in Canada, #1 in the UK, and #1 about everywhere else
The demo of Cry Baby Cry. You can hear John double his voice.
Cry Baby Cry
Cry, baby, cry Make your mother sigh
The king of Marigold was in the kitchen Cooking breakfast for the queen The queen was in the parlor Playing piano for the children of the king
Cry, baby, cry Make your mother sigh She’s old enough to know better So cry, baby, cry
The king was in the garden Picking flowers for a friend who came to play The queen was in the playroom Painting pictures for the children’s holiday
Cry, baby, cry Make your mother sigh She’s old enough to know better So cry, baby, cry
The duchess of Kirkcaldy always smiling And arriving late for tea The duke was having problems With a message at the local bird and bee
Cry, baby, cry Make your mother sigh She’s old enough to know better So cry, baby, cry
At 12 o’clock, a meeting ’round the table For a seance in the dark With voices out of nowhere Put on specially by the children for a lark
Cry, baby, cry Make your mother sigh She’s old enough to know better So cry, baby, cry Cry, baby cry Make your mother sigh She’s old enough to know better So cry, baby, cry
Cry, cry, cry Make your mother sigh She’s old enough to know better So cry, baby, cry
Johnny Cash crossed genre’s probably better than anyone. I’ve met metal, punk, and rock fans who love this man. It’s probably a combination of personality and music that draws people into his orbit. He is still crossing genres even after being gone for years.
This song was written by his best friend June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore in 1962. The inspiration came from June’s feelings about her relationship with Johnny Cash. At the time, their relationship was intense as Johnny was struggling with addiction and the complications of his personal life. When she wrote the song, they were just close friends at the time and not married yet. They would not get married until March 1, 1968.
Johnny wasn’t the first to record this song though. That would be Anita Carter who was June’s sister. She did a really good version of it but without those horns…it just doesn’t click like Johnny’s version does. Cash claimed that he dreamed of the song’s eventual arrangement, including the Mexican-style trumpets. He wanted the song to have a mix of country, rock, and mariachi sounds.
The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and #17 on the Billboard 100 in 1963. It appeared on the compilation album Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash in 1963.
Vivian Cash (Johnny’s Ex-Wife): “She didn’t write that song any more than I did. The truth is, Johnny wrote that song, while pilled up and drunk, about a certain private female body part.”
Ring of Fire
Love is a burnin’ thing And it makes a fiery ring Bound by wild desire I fell into a ring of fire
I fell into a burnin’ ring of fire I went down, down, down And the flames went higher And it burns, burns, burns The ring of fire, the ring of fire
I fell into a burnin’ ring of fire I went down, down, down And the flames went higher And it burns, burns, burns The ring of fire, the ring of fire
The taste of love is sweet When hearts like ours meet I fell for you like a child Oh, but the fire went wild
I fell into a burnin’ ring of fire I went down, down, down And the flames went higher And it burns, burns, burns The ring of fire, the ring of fire
I fell into a burnin’ ring of fire I went down, down, down And the flames went higher And it burns, burns, burns The ring of fire, the ring of fire And it burns, burns, burns The ring of fire, the ring of fire The ring of fire, the ring of fire
You combine Jeff Beck playing in this song with a great young Rod Stewart and you get pure gold. Jeff Becks’ use of the wah-wah pedal gives the song a cool psychedelic feel. The man was so adventurous on guitar…he is one guitar player that when I listen to his music…I can honestly say I never heard the guitar played that way before on many of his songs.
After being booted out of the Yardbirds… Beck formed The Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on rhythm guitar and sometimes bass. They had an ever-changing rhythm section with bassists and drummers who came and went. They released the album Truth in 1968.
This album has been considered one of the first ones with “heavy metal” leanings on it. Beck was not happy with Jimmy Page when Zeppelin’s first album included a cover of the blues song You Shook Me. Beck’s album the song as well. Page insisted it was a coincidence but Beck never bought that.
Truth was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Olympic Studios in 1967-1968. Beck and his band aimed for a raw feel, with huge heavy riffs, rougher vocals, and minimal production. That is why this album sounds so good. They kept the studio tricks at a minimum.
Beck continued to explore guitar tones. His use of distortion, feedback, and the wah-wah pedal helped craft a heavier blues sound.
This song was written by the blues legend Willie Dixon. It was released in 1962 by Howlin’ Wolf. The album Truth peaked at #15 on the Billboard Album Charts and #37 in Canada in 1968. That is remarkable for a debut album with no hits to push it. The album is now considered a classic as it should be.
I always like to include a live clip from the era it was released but I can’t find any from the 60s or 70s… this one is from 1984…so sorry about that. It’s still good though.
I Ain’t Superstitious
I ain’t superstitious Black cat crossed my trail I ain’t superstitious But a black cat crossed my trail Bad luck ain’t got me so far And I won’t let it stop me now
The dogs begin to bark All over my neighborhood and that ain’t all Dogs begin to bark All over my neighborhood (mm, mm) This is a mean old world to live in And I can’t face it all by myself
At all
And dogs begin to bark All over my neighborhood The dogs begin to bark All over my neighborhood
I got a feelin’ about the future And it ain’t too good I know that
I know, I know, I know, I
Ain’t superstitious But a black cat crossed my trail I said so many times before I ain’t superstitious A black cat crossed my trail Bad luck ain’t got me so far And you know I ain’t gonna let it stop me now
I remember this well from my childhood on WMAK, an AM station in Nashville that played the hits. Dr. John (Malcolm John Rebennack) had a voice that was hard to forget along with his delivery. This one was written by Dr. John not to be confused with The Drifters song Such A Night.
This song was from the album In the Right Place released in 1973. It’s is a delight…you have John’s New Orleans-style funk and his unique voice. When I first heard it I would have sworn he was saying “Saturday Night” instead of Such a Night when I heard him on the Last Waltz doing this song. He put a little New Orleans in everything he did.
This was his breakthrough album. It peaked at #24 on the Billboard Album Charts. Before this album he was a musician’s musician but after he became a pop star as well. This song peaked at #42 on the Billboard 100 but Nashville must have liked it more than that…they played it a lot.
Dr. John collaborated with legendary producer Allen Toussaint and The Meters, a huge New Orleans funk band and the results were gold. I knew I heard of Allen Toussaint before…he worked with The Band. Robbie Robertson wanted horns on Life Is A Carnival and Toussaint did it. After that, Robbie asked him to write horn parts for an entire live show. He did that over Christmas of 1971 and The Band’s live album Rock Of Ages came out of that collaboration.
Such A Night
Such a night, it’s such a night Sweet confusion under the moonlight Such a night, such a night To steal away, the time is right
Your eyes caught mine, and at a glance You let me know that this was my chance But you came here with my best friend Jim And here I am, tryin’ to steal you away from him
Oh, but if I don’t do it, you know somebody else will If I don’t do it, you know somebody else will If I don’t do it, you know somebody else will If I don’t do it, you know somebody else will
And it’s such a night, it’s such a night Sweet confusion under the moonlight It’s such a night, such a night To steal away, the time is right
Yeah, I couldn’t believe my ear and my heart just skipped a beat When you told me to take you walkin’ down the street Oh yeah, you came here with my best friend Jim Here I am, I’m stealin’ you away from him
Oh, but if I don’t do it, you know somebody else will If I don’t do it, you know somebody else will If I don’t do it, you know somebody else will If I don’t do it, you know somebody else will ‘Cause it’s such a night
In the past couple of years, I’ve been listening to more and more of the Texas style singer/songwriters and I can’t get enough. I keep looking for more but there are a few I always come back to…Guy Clark, Townes Van Zant, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Steve Earle. In 1975 Guy Clark released this song on his first album Old No. 1 and eventually released 13 studio albums.
In the 1960s, Guy Clark tried his luck in the California music scene. He also built and repaired guitars and had a shop in San Francisco in 1969. In 1971 he was signed as a songwriter by Sunbury Music in Los Angeles, he decided to relocate to the company’s Nashville office in 1971. His arrival helped usher in a migration of new songwriting talent to the city.
Clark wrote this song while living in Los Angeles in the late 1960s. He and his wife, Susanna Clark, lived in a small, rundown apartment, and they felt out of place in the city. They wanted to leave Los Angeles and return to Texas, where he felt more at home.
The idea for the song reportedly came to Clark while he was driving on the freeway, scribbling lyrics on a paper bag. The line “pack up all your dishes, make note of all good wishes” showed his desire to escape the chaotic nature of L.A. at the time.
Jerry Jeff Walker was the first to record the song on his self-titled album in 1972. Walker’s version of this song peaked at #98 on the Billboard 100 so Walker popularized it.
L.A. Freeway
Pack up all your dishes Make note of all good wishes And say goodbye to the landlord for me That son of a bitch has always bored me
Throw out them LA papers And that mouldy box of vanilla wafers Adios to all this concrete Gonna get me some dirt road back streets
If I can just get off of I’ll be down the road in a cloud of smoke To some land I ain’t bought, bought, bought
And it’s, here’s to you old skinny Dennis The only one I think I will miss I can hear that old bass singing Sweet and low, like a gift you’re bringing
Play it for me one more time, now Got to give it all you we can now I believe every thing you’re saying And just to keep on, keep on playing
If I can just get off of this L.A. freeway Without gettin’ killed or caught I’ll be down the road in a cloud of smoke To some land I ain’t bought, bought, bought
And you put the pink card in the mailbox Leave the key in the front door lock They’ll find it likely as not I’m sure there’s somethin’ we have forgot
Oh Susanna, don’t you cry, baby Love’s a gift that’s surely handmade We got somethin’ to believe in Don’t you think it’s time we’re leavin’?
If I can just get off of this LA freeway Without gettin’ killed or caught I’ll be down the road in a cloud of smoke To some land I ain’t bought, bought, bought
If I can just get off of this LA freeway Without gettin’ killed or caught Down the road in a cloud of smoke To some land I ain’t bought
So pack up all your dishes Make note of all good wishes And say goodbye to the landlord for me That son of a bitch has always bored me
This band is a blast to listen to. They have the punk edge but with power pop choruses. Along with bands, like The Jam, Small Faces, Slade, and a host of others…America just didn’t hear unless you were in the know. These guys blended punk and pop about as well as anyone. I had a friend with their import records in the eighties. That was the only way I could hear them. Orgasm Addict was a hell of a debut single for the band. It was banned by the BBC soon after the release. Yet another song about teenage masturbation.
The song was written by Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto during Devoto’s time with the band, though he left before it was recorded. Known for its risqué and lyrics, the track asked for controversy and limited radio play at the time of release but has since become a punk rock staple. This song was released in 1977 and was not an album track. It peaked at #56 on the UK Charts.
They chose the name Buzzcocks after reading the headline, “It’s the Buzz, Cock!”, in a review of the TV series Rock Follies in Time Out magazine. The “buzz” is the excitement of playing on stage; “cock” is northern English slang meaning friend. They were formed in 1976 by Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto after seeing the Sex Pistols. They were able to blend punk’s spirit and sound with pop.
Nirvana invited them to open select dates on the grunge outfit’s last European tour, in early 1994. Steve Diggle told about a memory he has of Kurt Cobain: “Doing two grams of coke is one of my famous stories with him.” They also opened up for Pearl Jam in 2003.
They released 3 albums and broke up in 1981 after a dispute with their record company. They reunited in 1989 and released 6 more albums. Pete Shelley continued to play with the band until his death from a heart attack in 2018. The band still continues to tour.
Orgasm Addict
Well, you tried it just for once Found it all right for kicks But now you found out That it’s a habit that sticks
And you’re an orgasm addict You’re an orgasm addict
Sneaking in the back door With dirty magazines Now your mother wants to know What all those stains on your jeans
And you’re an orgasm addict You’re an orgasm addict
Ah-huh, ah-huh, ah Ah-huh, ah-huh, ah
You get in a heat You get in a sulk But you still keep a beating Your meat to pulp
‘Cause you’re an orgasm addict You’re an orgasm addict
You’re a kid Casanova You’re a no Joseph It’s a labour of love Fuckin’ yourself to death
Orgasm addict You’re an orgasm addict
Ah-huh, ah-huh, ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah Ah-ah-ahh!
You’re makin’ out with school kids Winos and heads of state You even made it with the lady Who puts the little plastic bobins on the Christmas cakes Butcher’s assistants and bellhops you’ve had them all here and there Children of God and their joy-strings International women with no body hair
Ooh, so where they’re askin’ in an alley And your voice ain’t steady If sex mechanic’s rough, you’re more than ready
You’re an orgasm addict You’re an orgasm addict
Johnny want fuckie always and all ways He’s got the energy, he will amaze
He’s an orgasm addict He’s an orgasm addict
He’s always at it You’re always at it ‘Cause you’re an orgasm addict We’re all orgasm addicts
If you go when the snowflakes storm When the rivers freeze and summer ends Please see if she’s wearing a coat so warm To keep her from the howlin’ winds
This is one of the most beautiful songs that Bob Dylan ever wrote. I learned this song on guitar and harmonica when I was in my twenties. When we were playing out the equipment would break down like the guitar player’s amp or my amp…I would grab an acoustic and a harmonica with my harmonica rack and play this one. It always went over well. The song hits me deeply for some reason…you can tell this song was genuine.
I read Robert Shelton’s book about Bob Dylan, and the song appears to be about Echo Helstrom (If I would have had a daughter…I wanted to name her Echo), a girl he knew in Hibbing, Minnesota before he made it. As with every Dylan song, there is another rumor that it’s about a folk singer and actress named Bonnie Beecher. I tend to believe the Shelton book on this one and go with Echo but who knows which one it is? He knew both in Minnesota so it could have been either one. Some say Suzy Rotolo was it but he didn’t meet her until he was in New York.
It was originally released on his 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and later re-recorded as a duet with Johnny Cash for Dylan’s 1969 album Nashville Skyline. Unlike some Dylan songs…this one is not a musical novel. It’s a little over 3 minutes and gets right to the point in the most elegant way. Bob did take the melody of Scarborough Fair for this one.
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan peaked at #22 on the Billboard Album Charts and #1 in the UK in 1963. It was his second album and here is where he started to get real traction with people and build an audience, especially in the UK. The folk purists would get two more albums until the electric instruments of 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home would shatter their Dylan folk singer dream.
Johnny Cash: “I had a portable record player that I’d take along on the road, and I’d put on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan backstage, then go out and do my show, then listen again as soon as I came off. After a while at that, I wrote Bob a letter telling him how much of a fan I was. He wrote back almost immediately, saying he’d been following my music since ‘I Walk the Line,’ and so we began a correspondence”.
This live clip is from Hard To Handle when Dylan used Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as his backing band. I learned it from this live version.
Girl From The North Country
If you’re travelin’ in the north country fair Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline Remember me to one who lives there She once was a true love of mine
If you go when the snowflakes storm When the rivers freeze and summer ends Please see if she’s wearing a coat so warm To keep her from the howlin’ winds
Please see for me if her hair hangs long If it rolls and flows all down her breast Please see for me if her hair hangs long That’s the way I remember her best
I’m a-wonderin’ if she remembers me at all Many times I’ve often prayed In the darkness of my night In the brightness of my day
So if you’re travelin’ in the north country fair Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline Remember me to one who lives there She once was a true love of mine
I know you are probably thinking…what is he doing? Ok…humor me today, please.
I’m veering away from my usual subject of pop culture…but…you know what? Dinosaurs may fit into that category. Lately, I’ve been really getting into dinosaurs and I have watched a lot of programs about them like Walking With Dinosaurs and Planet Dinosaur which I would recommend both…and yes all the Jurassic Park/World films just to see them.
Dinosaurs were separated by both time and geography. The Age of Dinosaurs (the Mesozoic Era) included three consecutive geologic periods (the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods).
When I was in first grade, I learned about dinosaurs. We were all assigned one to make a Play-Doh model of, and I was assigned the Stegosaurus. Okay, it wasn’t the cool T-Rex or Spinosaurus but cool all the same. The Stegosaurus lived in the late Jurassic period. It was hunted not by the T-Rex but by the Allosaurus because it was in the same period. The T-Rex would come later in the late Cretaceous period.
Ok enough of the technical stuff…. what struck me about these beautiful animals were the dermal plates on the back with the killer spikes or thagomizers on its tail.
They were deadly if they landed. They have found fossils with Allosaurus’s teeth marks in Stegosauruses but they have also found the huge thagomizer lodged in an Allosaurus. These spikes could get up to 3-4 feet long… if you were a carnivore you had to think twice about having a Stegosaurus for dinner.
Here is an example of an Allosaurus meeting its match.
It has been “my” dinosaur since first grade and they are one of the most recognizable dinosaurs. The biggest knock on this one is the small brain pan size so it wasn’t the brightest dino. At one time it was thought they had two brains because they were so long but now they don’t think that. They were 30 ft long and 14 ft tall. In other words about as tall as a Giraffe and as long as a London Bus. If they ever brought dinosaurs back to life…this is the one I would like to see most.
Thank you all for humoring me today. I may feature a dinosaur once in a while…kinda like an animal appreciation day.
I love tradition so here we are again! Happy New Year 2025.
For the past few years, this has been my first post in the New Year. If you have followed me for a while you should know this one. Again for 2025 my first post!
Next to Auld Lang Syne, this is my favorite New Year’s Song. A favorite of mine from one of my favorite bands. Everyone… I wish you a Happy New Year in 2024.
You didn’t have to read my blog but you did and I really appreciate it…I want to thank all of you for reading and commenting in 2023.
This song sounds like it should have been a hit but it was never pushed as a single at the time. It was the B side to Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914) which is an experimental song and was a big surprise to the band that it was picked as the first single. Both are from the great album Odessey and Oracle in 1968. Several songs on this album could have been in the charts but Time of the Season was the only one that made it and it was a year after the album was released.
Bruce Eder of AllMusic gave the album five stars out of five, calling it “one of the flukiest (and best) albums of the 1960s, and one of the most enduring long-players to come out of the entire British psychedelic boom”.
On recording Odessey and Oracle…Rod Argent:
“We had the chance of going in and putting things down in the way we wanted people to hear them and we had a new studio, we walked in just after The Beatles had walked out [after recording Sgt. Pepper]. We were the next band in. They’d left some of their instruments behind … I used John Lennon’s Mellotron, that’s why it’s all over Odessey and Oracle. We used some of their technological advances … we were using seven tracks, and that meant we could overdub for the first time. And it meant that when I played the piano part I could then overdub a Mellotron part, and it meant we could have a fuller sound on some of the songs and it means that at the moment the tour we’re doing with Odessey and Oracle it means we’re actually reproducing every note on the original record by having extra player with us as well.”
This Will Be A Year
The warmth of your love Is like the warmth of the sun And this will be our year Took a long time to come
Don’t let go of my hand Now darkness has gone And this will be our year Took a long time to come
And I won’t forget The way you held me up when I was down And I won’t forget the way you said, “Darling I love you” You gave me faith to go on
Now we’re there and we’ve only just begun This will be our year Took a long time to come
The warmth of your smile Smile for me, little one And this will be our year Took a long time to come
You don’t have to worry All your worried days are gone This will be our year Took a long time to come
And I won’t forget The way you held me up when I was down And I won’t forget the way you said, “Darling I love you” You gave me faith to go on
Now we’re there and we’ve only just begun And this will be our year Took a long time to come
Yeah we only just begun Yeah this will be our year Took a long time to come
This song is such a pleasure to listen to. The great voice and the sparse accompaniment are great. This was released back in 1950. It was written by Frank Loesser in 1947 and was originally intended as a standalone song, not tied to Christmas or New Year’s traditions. I have heard this song a few times around this time of year. It was released back in 1949 and peaked at
They have since been known as “The Original Kings of Harmony.” They were a successful R&B vocal group that pioneered the evolution of doo-wop music. Their first major hit, “It’s Too Soon to Know,” in 1948, is considered one of the first R&B chart-topping singles and is often regarded as a doo-wop song. The term doo-wop didn’t appear until 1961 when the Marcels covered Blue Moon. Their biggest hit was Crying In The Chapel released in 1953. To see more of the history of doo-wop…check out my friend Randy’s post on doo-wop.
The listbelow has grown so much since I started to do this a few years ago. If I forgot you…please forgive me. But Happy New Year 2025. I add new readers to this list every single year and like I said…I hope I got you all.
I want to thank everyone who has read my blog this year and the last few years. I ran this post last year and I’ve added more names. It’s so much fun communicating with all of you. I’ve been told my blog is a place people come to comment like sitting around a campfire. That is the way I hope it is. I’m not a real writer so I just write as if I’m talking to you in a room. I hope many of you find other bloggers at my place with things in common.
In 2017 I would not have believed I would communicate with people in different states across America and the world…such as New Zealand, The UK, Hong Kong, Germany, Columbia, Australia, India, France, Sweden, Spain, and more! I’m also learning more about new music, old new music, cool old and new movies, and most of all…people. I comment way too much at times but it’s a lot of fun learning.
I’ve commented with you all, emailed many of you, talked to some over the phone, and met one of you. Thank you all once again.
Carl Benson Jr... a great sports guy who has worked in it all of his life. Thank you Carl! You have taught me a lot.
Sheila “Spiral Sister” Murrey… thank you for all of your comments and the subjects we have got into…plus a very cool name.
satyam rastogi…thanks for the comments when you stop by!
I’ve even listened to Heavy Metal and Canadian bands from Canadians Deke and Dave and became friends with both.
A fellow Big Star and mid-60s pop/rock fan and one of the best commenters I have…I’ve learned a lot from him… Obbverse
Off-the-radar songs and movies, and everything cool… from Cincinnati Babyhead (CB) Thanks for opening up more music for me.
I’ve read great stories and poems for really the first time from Lisa, Obbverse, and Bruce. I still don’t know much about poems but I’m learning. Thanks to all of you…I consider all of you friends.
Lisa is the biggest George Harrison fan I know…and that is a great thing.
Fellow power pop fan Music City Mike and fellow Nashvillian.
Learned about new music from Grahamand Christian. If you want the best of new music…these are the 2 are the places to go. They don’t overlap much at all which is great…you get a good variety.
Christian … we have VERY similar taste and it was great to talk to him the other day on the phone.
Liam...another great blogger I met through our TV Draft who leaves insightful comments.
I’ve had a good time commenting about music and movies with princecranoir….thanks for the conversations. Also one of the best movie reviewers I’ve read.
How radio really works and more about family from Keith… it’s always great talking to you and texting.
Ra Na-Gedwho I have appreciated coming to the blog…who had one of the best comments of the year with: Elvis may be king, but Otis had the Voice of God.
Again if I missed anyone I’m sorry…I just ran through this off the top of my head.
Thanks to everyone and have a Happy New Year to you and your family from Powerpop.blog (and it’s curator…Max). We survived 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024… let’s make this one even better!
This song is a great way to start a year! Anytime you can hear Otis…you are on the right path! Have a Happy New Year! Get ready for 2025. Their voices sound amazing. They complimented each other very well. I just wished they would have had time to do more.
Stax’s house band, Booker T & the MGs, provides the backing. Note Booker T’s subtle but effective organ lending the song a spiritual element, while Donald “Duck” Dunn’s bass and Steve Cropper’s tasteful guitar licks ground the track’s rhythm
Stax was hoping to replicate the success of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Stax paired two of their greatest stars for the 1967 album King & Queen, which produced the hit “Tramp.” The album featured their takes on classics such as “Knock on Wood,” “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby,” “Bring It on Home to Me,” and “It Takes Two”
This song was on the King and Queen album released in 1967. This is the only album they got to make because Otis died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. Carla Thomas would go on to a successful career with 2 top 20 hits plus many top 20 R&B hits.
I’m adding the song Tramp off of the album. This song peaked at #26 on the Billboard 100, #2 on the R&B Charts, and #1 on the UK R&B Charts in 1967.
New Year’s Resolution
I hope it’s not too late
Just to say that I’m sorry, honey
All I want to do
Is just finish what we started, baby
Let’s turn over a new leave
And baby let’s make promises
That we can keep
And call it a New Year’s resolution, hmmm
Oh, I’m a woman
And woman makes mistakes too
But will you, will you forget the changes
That I put you through
let’s try it again
Just you and me
And, baby, let’s see how happy honey, yeah
That we can be
And call it a New Year’s resolution, yeah, yeah, yeah
Many times we had our ups and downs
And times you needed me I couldn’t be found
I’m sorry
And I’m sorry too
I’ll never, never do it again, no, no, no
So baby before we fall out
Let’s fall on in, yeah, yeah
Oh, and we’re gonna try harder
Not to hurt each other again, oh
Love me baby, huh
Week after week
And baby let’s make promises
That we can keep
And call it a New Year’s resolution, yeah, oh
I know we can do it Carla
I’m gonna keep my promises
I’m gonna hold on that we can do it, baby
Oh, it’s not too late
You’re gonna love me
Nobody else
Oh Otis let’s finish what we started
Talk no mean
I love boxing movies like Raging Bull, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and even Chaplin’s City Lights that feature a match. This movie also included that musical theme that is probably played more at gyms than anything else.
At the time it was released, the movies coming out had unhappy endings. It was the trend at the time. I like movies like that as well but this one split the difference. Rocky didn’t end up winning the belt in the movie but he held his own against Apollo Creed the current champion. The movie is the ultimate underdog movie.
In the mid-1970s, Stallone was an unknown actor struggling to make it in Hollywood. He had only a few minor roles and was living in poverty, even selling his dog at one point because he couldn’t afford to feed it. He wrote the script for Rocky in less than four days. The character of Rocky the Underdog mirrored himself because of the struggles he was going through.
Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff offered him $360,000 for the story but Stallone had one condition…he insisted on playing Rocky. Despite his financial struggles, he refused to sell the script unless he was cast as the lead. The producers were hesitant, preferring a big star like Robert Redford or Burt Reynolds, but Stallone convinced them.
The budget was low so they had to film sometimes guerrilla-style without permits and permission. Stallone’s friends and family were cast in roles to save money. For example, Stallone’s wife, Sasha, played a minor role, and his dog, Butkus (he bought him back), his two pet turtles Cuff and Link, appeared in the film.
Why was this movie so successful? Other than rooting for the underdog, it was the characters. They all had faults, likes, and dislikes but we could relate to these people because we knew them. You had Talia Shire playing Rocky’s shy love interest, Burt Young who played He played Rocky’s brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino, Burgess Meredith who played his trainer Mickey, Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed the character influenced by the boxer Jack Johnson.
The main story is about one man’s struggles to overcome the odds but it is also a love story. There are real touches of greatness… such as Burgess Meredith as Mickey a veteran boxer who does not want to train Rocky as he sees him as a washed-out bum until he is offered a shot at the big time. Then seeing his relationship with Rocky grow. The acting is superb and the music still pumps me up to this day. This may have been the movie to invent the training montage which is now a must in any movie about sports or fighting. Stallone’s performance is great in this role.
All Rocky wants to do, as he confesses to Adrian (Talia Shire) in that touching apartment scene, is go the distance with the champ. He doesn’t have to knock him out, doesn’t even have to win, just go the distance. You know, I still have to remind myself at times as I reflect on the picture that Rocky really didn’t win the match but the film won because of it.
Rocky has become part of pop culture for so many years it’s hard to look at the first film as a standalone low-budget entry in the boxing genre. This is a great film and put the writer and main lead Sylvester Stallone into the stratosphere of Hollywood. The film is not flawless but it is classic.
A fun note about this film. In the movie, Rocky has two pet turtles, Cuff and Link, and he still has them at his home today. They are around 50 years old. He bought his dog Butkus back and the guy that he sold him to knew he had Stallone over a barrel so Stallone had to pay him $15,000 but he said it was worth every penny.
PLOT IMDB
Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer trying to make the big time, working as a debt collector for a pittance. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a “nobody” to become a “somebody”. The match is supposed to be easily won by Creed, but someone forgot to tell Rocky, who sees this as his only shot at the big time.
Quotes
Adrian: Why do you wanna fight?
Rocky: Because I can’t sing or dance.
____________________________________________
Adrian: Einstein flunked out of school, twice.
Paulie: Is that so?
Adrian: Yeah. Beethoven was deaf. Helen Keller was blind. I think Rocky’s got a good chance.
I found out about The Georgia Satellites in the spring of 1985. A friend of mine who played guitar in high school with a band got a bootleg of Keep Your Hands To Yourself a year before it was officially released. His band was playing it in the gym (a spring show) before we went on. I thought they wrote it until I asked him. It’s a great-sounding song live.
Battleship Chains was the followup song in 1986 that MTV played a lot of during that time. The Georgia Satellites were like a fish out of water during the mid 80s. There were bands like the Replacements who played rock but they were not in the mainstream like the Satellites were when this album was released. Two years later Guns and Roses came out and then The Black Crowes. By that time though lead singer Dan Baird was leaving the Satellites.
This song was sung by their lead guitarist Rich Richards. The song was written by musician Terry Anderson. Later on, Dan Baird covered one of Anderson’s songs called I Love You Period on his solo album Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired. The song peaked at #26 on the Billboard 100 in 1992.
The Georgia Satellites came out of nowhere with a number 2 hit in 1986 called Keep Your Hands To Yourself. In the era of synth-driven songs, it was great to hear this guitar band out of Georgia that played raw roots rock and roll without the big production.
This song was sung by lead guitarist Rick Richards. It peaked at #86 in the Billboard 100 and #44 in the UK in 1987. Battleship Chains was also covered by a band called the Hindu Love Gods, which contained REM and Warren Zevon members.
This song was on their self titled album released in 1986. On the strength of Keep Your Hands To YOurself and Battleship Chains, the album peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts, #42 in New Zealand, and #52 in the UK.
Battleship Chains You got me tied down with battleship chains fifty foot long and a two ton anchor tied down with battleship chains fifty foot long with a two ton anchor
I can’t move my arms to hold nobody hold nobody but you I can’t move my legs s to chase nobody to kick nobody but you
You got me tied down with battleship chains fifty foot long and a two ton anchor tied down with battleship chains fifty foot long and a two ton anchor
I can’t move eyes to see nobody see nobody but you I can’t move my tongue to taste nobody to lick nobody but you
You got me tied down with battleship chains fifty foot long and a two ton anchor tied down with battleship chains fifty foot long and a two ton anchor
I can’t move my lips to kiss nobody kiss nobody but you I can’t move my heart to love nobody to love nobody but you
You got me tied down with battleship chains fifty foot long and a two ton anchor tied down with battleship chains fifty foot long and a two ton anchor You got me tied, tied, whoo hoo, tied tied don’t you know you got me tied tied, whoo hoo baby don’t you know you got me tied tied, whoo hoo
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