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Tom Petty – Mary Jane’s Last Dance

To tell you the truth…I always thought the title was Last Dance of Mary Jane. I thought the video to this song…lives up to Halloween.

I like the rawness of the song, and the lyrics are fun. Tom was making his second solo album, Wildflowers, but the record company wanted a couple of tracks to go on the greatest hits album. Mary Jane’s Last Dance is one of Tom’s most successful songs. This would be the last song Stan Lynch played drums on for the Heartbreakers.

Petty himself once said he didn’t really know what the song was about when he wrote it, “maybe about leaving behind the past.” The Mary Jane double meaning, weed or woman, kept the mystery alive. Later on, he said that Mary Jane is the same character as the female in American Girl, with a few hard knocks.

Petty made some strange videos, and this was no exception. Tom played a mortician who takes home a corpse played by Kim Basinger. When he gets her home, he puts her in a wedding dress and dances with her. Then he puts her in a pickup truck and throws her into the ocean, and she opens her eyes as she sinks. It won Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The song was released as part of the band’s 1993 Greatest Hits compilation. The song peaked at #14 on the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, and #52 in the UK in 1994. It was like the end of one era and the beginning of another. Petty was saying goodbye to the jangle rock of his past and heading toward the inward-looking of Wildflowers.

I always liked the line “There’s pigeons down in Market Square
She’s standin’ in her underwear” because it sounds like it could have been off a mid-sixties Dylan album.

Kim Bassinger: Now that was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. It was classic, wasn’t it? He was a doll, and he was so sweet and asked me to do it, and both of us are extremely shy so we just said three words to each other the whole time. I’ll never forget how heavy that dress was! And I had to be dead the whole time. You know, it’s really one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, because I had to be completely weightless to be in his arms the way I was. It won all those awards, and the kids love it even today!

Mike Campbell: “That song took on a few shapes. It was written in my garage. I didn’t write it, but we were jamming in the garage and Tom was playing one of my guitars. It was called ‘Indiana Girl,’ the first chorus was ‘Hey, Indiana Girl, go out and find the world.’ We liked the song and Rick Rubin suggested we cut it. It had actually been around for a while, just the basic riff and that chorus. We cut the song and Tom was singing the chorus, and he decided he just couldn’t get behind singing about ‘Hey, Indiana Girl,’ so we went back and about a week later he came in and said ‘I’ve got a better idea,’ so he changed the chorus to ‘Last dance with Mary Jane.’ In the verse there is still the thing about an Indiana girl on an Indiana night, just when it gets to the chorus he had the presence of mind to give it a deeper meaning.”

Mike Campbell: “An interesting thing about that record, the same day we did the last overdubs, that guitar and a few little bits, we did a rough mix here at my house, just did it by hand. Then we went to 3 or 4 different studios over the next couple of weeks and tried to do a proper mix, and we could never beat that rough mix, so that was the mix we put out. It’s an interesting track, it’s very inaccurate, it’s kind of greasy and loose. That day we just gelled and every time we mixed it we could clean up the sound and make it more posh, but it just didn’t have the juice that one mix had.”

Mary Jane’s Last Dance

She grew up in an Indiana town
Had a good lookin’ momma who never was around
But she grew up tall and she grew up right
With them Indiana boys on an Indiana night

Well she moved down here at the age of eighteen
She blew the boys away, it was more than they’d seen
I was introduced and we both started groovin’
She said, “I dig you baby but I got to keep movin’…on, keep movin’ on”

Last dance with Mary Jane
One more time to kill the pain
I feel summer creepin’ in and I’m
Tired of this town again

Well I don’t know what I’ve been told
You never slow down, you never grow old
I’m tired of screwing up, I’m tired of goin’ down
I’m tired of myself, I’m tired of this town
Oh my my, oh hell yes
Honey put on that party dress
Buy me a drink, sing me a song,
Take me as I come ’cause I can’t stay long

Last dance with Mary Jane
One more time to kill the pain
I feel summer creepin’ in and I’m
Tired of this town again

There’s pigeons down in Market Square
She’s standin’ in her underwear
Lookin’ down from a hotel room
Nightfall will be comin’ soon
Oh my my, oh hell yes
You’ve got to put on that party dress
It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone
I hit the last number, I walked to the road

Last dance with Mary Jane
One more time to kill the pain
I feel summer creepin’ in and I’m
Tired of this town again

Star Trek Continues

***I have the next Kolchak written up, but I didn’t want to post two television shows in one day, so I’m going to go over the entire season of Star Trek Continues with this post, and I’ve scheduled Kolchak for next Friday! Sorry for the interruption. *** BTW… the link to next week’s episode is THIS.

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I found this 11-episode Star Trek a few years ago. It’s called Star Trek Continues, and it’s so well done! That link gives you ALL the episodes on YouTube. I added an episode at the bottom so you can check out the look of this. The only non-consistent thing is…much like the original (another doctor in the pilot), one actor plays Dr. McCoy in the first two episodes and another (a better one) plays him in the rest of the series. The same characters: Spock, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura. It’s as if they went back in time and took over the sets while the original stars were on break, then filmed this show.

When I did the Star Trek series, going over every episode, I meant to write this one up, but never did. This series was made between 2013 and 2017. They were professionally made but fan-made. When I say “fan-made,” what I mean is a Kickstarter drive with professional actors who are huge fans. They got it down almost perfectly. Good writing and a talented cast to bring the original characters to life. It’s such a labor of love with these Star Trek-obsessed actors. They went to great lengths to recreate the original atmosphere. The space scenes even look like the remastered original series.

This is not a “Star Trek: The Next Generation”; it’s a copy of the original with new stories. They have the lighting, look, feel, and everything pretty much on target. This show only has 11 episodes total. Some shows are continuations of the original shows. It was a 5-year mission, but the original series only got 3 years. So this picks up in the 4th year and goes through the 5th and even sets up the first movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

When I watch Star Trek TOS and get through every episode, I wish there was more… then I found this. They have some guest stars from the original series, and Chris Doohan, son of Scotty (James Doohan), plays Scotty, and the rest of the cast is really good. The only one that is hard to get is Todd Haberkorn, who played Spock. That is probably the hardest role you could get, but he does make it work. I don’t think he got Leonard Nimoy’s toughness as much.

All of these were released straight on YouTube when made. If you like the original series and wish they had made more…this is for you. Rod Roddenberry, son of Gene Roddenberry, said the show was superb and should be in the canon.

Some of these episodes are great, especially the two-part ending. You do get one character that was made up just for this. That would be the ship’s counselor, Michele Specht, as Dr. Elise McKennah. They do explain in the last show why she isn’t in the movies.

You also get a character named “Smith” played by Kipleigh Brown, which I think is super cool. The reason is there WAS a “Smith” in the original episode Where No Man Has Gone Before. She only had one line, but they used her in this series. She ties into the two-parter conclusion because of what happened in that original episode. This was brilliant to me. Getting a basically unknown character and making a story around her.

The original Barbara Smith is holding hands with Marshall in that episode.

The new Barbara Smith…same character

Pilgrim of Eternity: A direct sequel to the TOS episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, featuring the return of the character Apollo. Michael Forest played Apollo in the original AND in this one.
Lolani: Inspired by the portrayal of Orion slave girls (Green is my favorite color!) in the original series. Lou Ferrigno makes an appearance and is GREEN again.
Fairest of Them All: A continuation of the Mirror Universe, picking up from the events of “Mirror, Mirror“.
The White Iris: A head trip for Kirk that deals with the fates of women he met on previous missions, such as Rayna from “The Ultimate Computer” and Miramanee from “The Savage Curtain” and more women that Kirk was involved with. Even the Joan Collins character (Edith Keeler) from The City On The Edge Of Forever.
Divided We Stand: Kirk and McCoy are trapped in an incident from the American Civil War, inspired by the time travel episode “Tomorrow Is Yesterday“.
Come Not Between the Dragons: The Enterprise is threatened by a pursuing alien creature.
Embracing the Winds: Kirk is recalled to a starbase to face an ethical dilemma.
Still Treads the Shadow: The Enterprise discovers a lost starship and an unlikely passenger.
What Ships Are For: Kirk struggles to aid a society with a unique view of their world.
To Boldly Go, Part I: The Enterprise returns to the starting point of Kirk’s five-year mission. These last two episodes go back to Where No Man Has Gone Before.
To Boldly Go, Part II: The series finale concludes Kirk’s mission with a final battle. This episode takes you up to the movies.

Primary Cast
Vic Mignogna as Captain James T. Kirk
Todd Haberkorn as Mr. Spock
Larry Nemecek as Dr. McCoy (Episodes 1 & 2)
Chuck Huber as Dr. McCoy (Vignettes & Episodes 3-11)
Chris Doohan as Mr. Scott
Grant Imahara as Mr. Sulu
Kim Stinger as Lt. Uhura
Wyatt Lenhart as Ensign (Later Lt.j.g.) Pavel Chekov
Michele Specht as Dr. Elise McKennah, ship’s Counselor
Recurring Cast
Steven Dengler as Lt. William C. Drake, Security chief
Kipleigh Brown as Lt.j.g. Barbara Smith, relief Conn officer (formerly Ship’s Yeoman)
Cat Roberts as Lt. Elizabeth Palmer, relief Communications officer
Martin Bradford as Dr. Jabilo G. M’Benga, relief Medical officer/Vulcan specialist
Reuben Langdon as Lt. Kubaro Dickerson, Security officer
Liz Wagner as Ensign Lia Burke, nurse
Marina Sirtis as ship’s Computer voice
Amy Rydell as Romulan Commander

I hope you enjoy this!

…

Dave Matthews – So Much To Say

I’ve heard some Dave Matthews here and there, mostly live music. I’ve heard some good songs posted by my fellow bloggers that I’ve liked. This is my first Dave Matthews post, which surprises me. I posted a Rare Earth song on Friday, and the same thing hooked me with this, the groove. From what I’ve heard from Dave Matthews, everything is built around it.

In 1996, the Dave Matthews Band had built a loyal live following, their concerts becoming legendary for long jams and Matthews’ guitar grooves. This song is from their breakthrough album Crash, which was the song that officially cracked the mainstream. The song grew out of a jam between Matthews and saxophonist LeRoi Moore, with producer Steve Lillywhite helping turn that little riff into a full-blown single. What really got me about the song is…you guessed it! That groove.

There is some controlled chaos going on in this song, but it stays grounded throughout. It remains one of those songs that captures exactly what makes the Dave Matthews Band tick: great musicianship, off-the-wall songwriting, and a sense of weirdness that feels timeless. This song still sounds fresh today, almost 30 years later.

The song peaked at #19 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks in 1996. This song won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, and it helped Crash become a huge hit.

So Much To Say

I say my hell is the closet, I’m stuck insideCan’t see the lightAnd my heaven is a nice house in the skyGot central heating and I’m alrightYeah, yeah, yeah

Can’t see the lightKeep it locked up insideDon’t talk about itT-t-talk about the weatherYeah, yeah, yeah

Can’t see the lightOpen up my head and let me out, a-little baby‘Cause here we have been standing for a long, long timeTreading, trotting trails for a long, long time

I say my hell is the closet, I’m stuck insideCan’t see the lightAnd my heaven is a nice house in the skyGot central heating and I’m alright

‘Cause here we have been standing for a long, long timeTreading, trotting trails for a long, long timeTime, time, time, time, time, time

I find sometimes it’s easy to be myselfSometimes I find it’s better to be somebody else

I see you, young and soft, oh, little babyLittle feet (little hands), a-little feet (little feet), a-little babyOne year of crying and the words creep up insideDeep into your mind, yeah

So much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to saySo much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to say

‘Cause here we have been standing for a long, long timeTreading, trotting trails for a long, long timeTime, time, time, time, time, time

I find sometimes it’s easy to be myselfSometimes I find it’s better to be somebody else

So much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to saySo much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to saySo much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to saySo much to say, so much to say, so much to say, so much to say

Open up my head and let me out, little baby

…

Everly Brothers – Bye Bye Love

Love the intro to this song. It’s the kind of song that turns teenage heartache into pure joy. This song was my introduction to the Everly Brothers, and I have never stopped listening.

The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant wrote this song. Together, this talented couple wrote many hits for the Everly Brothers and other artists, including Wake Up Little Susie and All I Have To Do Is Dream. The Bryants are credited with being the first songwriters to come to Nashville and make a living only by writing songs. Almost 30 other artists had previously rejected this song before The Everly Brothers recorded it. It became their first hit in both the UK and the US.

Behind the scenes, the recording session was minimal: two voices, a couple of guitars, Floyd Chance on upright bass, and Buddy Harman on drums, but the sound was huge. The Everlys blended country, pop, and rock ’n’ roll, and it gave teenagers something they hadn’t quite heard before. That ringing acoustic rhythm became very influential, later inspiring everyone from The Beatles to Simon & Garfunkel, The Hollies, and countless power-pop bands down the road.

This song was more than just a hit; it opened doors. The Beatles modeled their early vocal style after Don and Phil. Keith Richards once said that hearing the Everly Brothers changed everything for him. The song has been covered by everyone from Simon & Garfunkel to George Harrison. It’s a rare song that never feels dated

The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #1 on the Billboard Country Charts, #2 on Canada’s CHUM charts, #1 in New Zealand, and #6 in the UK in 1957. It was recorded in Nashville at the RCA Studios.

Boudleaux: “I wrote ‘Bye Bye Love’ while traveling home one night. Felice was driving down the highway and I got the first verse and chorus right down there. I always make sure I have a pen and paper in the car for these occasions.”

“We really believed in the song and were disappointed when so many people turned it down. They said it was unsuitable, some even asked if we has anything better!”

Bye Bye Love

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness, hello loneliness
I think I’m-a gonna cry-y
Bye bye love, bye bye sweet caress, hello emptiness
I feel like I could di-ie
Bye bye my love goodby-eye

There goes my baby with-a someone new
She sure looks happy, I sure am blue
She was my baby till he stepped in
Goodbye to romance that might have been

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness, hello loneliness
I think I’m-a gonna cry-y
Bye bye love, bye bye sweet caress, hello emptiness
I feel like I could di-ie
Bye bye my love goodby-eye

I’m-a through with romance, I’m a-through with love
I’m through with a’countin’ the stars above
And here’s the reason that I’m so free
My lovin’ baby is through with me

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness, hello loneliness
I think I’m-a gonna cry-y
Bye bye love, bye bye sweet caress, hello emptiness
I feel like I could di-ie
Bye bye my love goodby-eye

Bye bye my love goodby-eye
Bye bye my love goodby-eye

English Beat – Save It For Later

I always heard of this band but didn’t know much about them in real time. When I heard this recently, I was caught unaware of how good it was. It’s a pop gem out of the 1980s, which you don’t hear me say a lot.

Dave Wakeling, the band’s lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, wrote this song when he was still a teenager, and that teen confusion seeps through every line. It’s a song about growing up, about wanting to hold on to innocence while the world says no, you are going to grow up.

By 1982, The English Beat (also known as The Beat at home) had established a presence in the British ska and new wave scenes. But this song, from their third and final album Special Beat Service, was something else entirely, a melodic farewell that bridged ska and pop. This one was more reflective, a coming-of-age song packaged in jangly guitars and on-target harmonies.

Behind the scenes, the song nearly didn’t make it. Wakeling and guitarist Andy Cox had trouble convincing their bandmates that this softer, more melodic song fit the band’s style. But they pushed it through, and it became one of the band’s most remembered tracks. After Special Beat Service, The Beat split up, with Wakeling and Ranking Roger forming General Public and Cox and bassist David Steele launching Fine Young Cannibals.

Pete Townshend loved it so much that he recorded his own version, and it’s shown up in films like Clueless and Kingpin, giving it a second life with new generations. The song peaked at #47 in the UK and #6 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under 100 Singles Charts in 1982. It was written by Wakeling but credited to the entire band…Roger Charlery, Andy Cox, Everett Morton, David Steele, and Dave Wakeling.

Here is Dave Wakeling talking about Pete Townsend calling him up asking about the special tuning to the song. Love his humor in this.

Save It For Later

Two dozen other dirty loversMust be a sucker for itCry, cry, but I don’t need my motherJust hold my hand while I come to a decision on it

Sooner or laterYour legs give way, you hit the groundSave it for laterDon’t run away and let me downSooner or laterYou hit the deck, you’ll get found outSave it for laterDon’t run away and let me down, you let me down

Black air and seven seas and rotten throughBut what can you do?I don’t know how I’m meant to act with all you lotSometimes I don’t tryI just na, na, na, na, na, naNa, na, na, na, nowNa, na, na, na, na, naNa, na, na, na, now (now, now, now, now)

Two dozen other stupid reasonsWhy we should suffer for this?Don’t bother trying to explain themJust hold my hand while I come to a decision on it

Da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, da, da, da, daDa, da, da, run away, run

Run away, run awayRun away, run awayRun away, run awayRun away and let me down

…

Johnny Burnette Trio – Tear It Up

There is not a week that goes by that I don’t listen to some rockabilly. It’s not just the leads, it’s the fills as well. Rockabilly music is like this machine where parts are moving everywhere, but it always falls into place.

In this song, it’s not the opening riff that gets to me; it’s the fills that the guitar player is playing while Johnny is singing. He also slips some basslines in, all the while the bass is throwing some in as well. When you analyze this music, it can be chaotic, but when done right, it’s hard to resist. It’s like music climbing a ladder on one side and coming back down on the other at the same time.

This song was released in 1956; a very unpolished burst of energy that still sounds electric seventy years later. The Rock ’n Roll Trio, Johnny on vocals and rhythm guitar, his brother Dorsey on bass, and Paul Burlison on guitar, made a sound that helped define the very idea of rockabilly.

While it didn’t chart at the time, its influence was huge. The record’s mix of rhythm and attitude caught the attention of British musicians, guys like Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Paul McCartney, who all cited Burnette’s Trio as a crucial influence. The Stray Cats and Robert Gordon helped revived rockabilly in the late 1970s and early 1980s; this song was one of the first songs they covered. You might remember another song by Johnny, Train Kept a Rollin’ and it was covered by Aerosmith and The Yardbirds.

If you only like smoothly produced music, rockabilly is not for you. If you want a primal sound, welcome aboard!

Tear It Up

Come on little baby let’s tear the dancefloor up
Come on little baby let’s tear the dancefloor up
Come on little mama let me see you strut your stuff
Tear it up, tear it up
Tear it up, tear it up
Come on little baby let me see you strut your stuff

I’m leavin’ little baby, gonna be gone a long-long time
I’m leavin’ little baby, gonna be gone a long-long time
So come on little baby, show me a real good time
Tear it up, tear it up
Tear it up, tear it up
Come on little mama let’s tear the dancefloor up
(Goow!)

Well you step back baby, move my way
Step around again an’ let me hear you say
Tear it up, tear it up
Come on little baby let’s tear the dancefloor up
Tear it up, tear it up
Tear it up, tear it up
Come on little mama let’s tear the dancefloor up

Rare Earth – I Just Want To Celebrate

I’m so thankful for a cousin who gave me and my sister a lot of singles. Cool singles, not the ones my sister had. I remember this single because of the artwork. The singles artwork really caught my attention, and when I think of this song, I think of the single spinning around. The groove in this song is hard to resist.

This band helped bridge the gap between Motown soul and straight-up rock and roll. This band was Motown’s attempt to be played on FM radio, and it worked. Rare Earth’s success was more than just a one-off hit; it marked a turning point for Motown. Before these Detroit rockers came along, Berry Gordy’s label was almost exclusively known for its soul and R&B greats: The Temptations, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. But in 1969, Gordy decided to take a chance on the growing rock audience and launched Rare Earth Records, a Motown imprint named after the band itself. The idea worked while it showcased white rock groups who could carry that Motown groove into new territory. Berry took a chance and it paid off with this band.

Rare Earth was a blue-collar group of guys who could play as hard as Grand Funk but still had a Motown groove. The band had already made some noise with stretched-out covers like Get Ready, (I Know) I’m Losing You, but I Just Want to Celebrate was the one they will be remembered by the most.

This song peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100 and #10 in Canada in 1971. It was off their album One World. This was Rare Earth’s last top 10 single. The song was written by Dino Fekaris and Nick Zesses. This song has been covered by a span of artists, such as David Ruffin, rapper Foxy Brown, Metallica, and Marshall Crenshaw. How is that for different genres?

The song has had one of those second lives most bands only dream about. Decades after its release, the song kept finding new audiences, blasting out in movies like Tropic Thunder, Three Kings, and A Knight’s Tale, and even in TV spots for Ford, Nike, and Coca-Cola.

The song has been in countless commercials and movies. It is one of those songs that makes you feel good! It’s got soul, rock, and that Detroit groove, no overthinking, just joy. The band is still playing today, but with no original members.

I Just Want To Celebrate

One, two, three, four

I just want to celebrate another day of livin’
I just want to celebrate another day of life
I put my faith in the people
But the people let me down
So I turned the other way
And I carry on, anyhow

That’s why I’m telling you
I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah
Another day of living, yeah
I just want to celebrate another day of life
Had my hand on the dollar bill
And the dollar bill flew away
But the sun is shining down on me
And it’s here to stay

That’s why I’m telling you
I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah
Another day of living, yeah
I just want to celebrate another day of livin’
I just want to celebrate another day of life

Don’t let it all get you down, no, no
Don’t let it turn you around and around and around, no

Well, I can’t be bothered with sorrow
And I can’t be bothered with hate, no, no
I’m using up the time but feeling fine, every day
That’s why I’m telling you I just want to celebrate
Oh, yeah
I just want to celebrate another day
Oh, I just want to celebrate another day of livin’
I just want to celebrate another day of life

Don’t let it all get you down, no, no
Don’t let it turn you around and around, and around, and around
And around, and round, and round
Round, round, round, round
Round, round, round, round
Round, round, round, round
Don’t go round

I just want to celebrate
I just want to celebrate
Well, I just want to celebrate
Said I just want to celebrate (celebrate)
I just want to celebrate (I want to celebrate)
I just want to celebrate (I got to celebrate)
I just want to celebrate

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – Firefall

November 08, 1974 Season 1 Episode 6

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This episode brought to mind the Twilight Zone episode, Mirror Image. A much more deadly version, though. The noir type of narration helps in this one because of the unusual story. Kolchak gets more involved in this one than most… he is in the center of it.

This one has a very different storyline from the others so far. By the time Kolchak: The Night Stalker aired this episode, the series had already established itself as a mix of noir and dark humor. This episode presents one of the show’s more psychologically complex stories. Instead of a vampire, werewolf, or zombie, this one focuses on a ghost-like “doppelganger,” a mysterious double that stalks its victim until it kills him. The result is a haunting-filled hour that shows just how flexible the Kolchak format could be.

The story begins when Kolchak investigates a series of spontaneous combustions connected to a famous symphony conductor, Ryder Bond. People around Bond are dying in fiery, unexplained accidents, and Kolchak quickly suspects something supernatural. But this isn’t your standard ghost story. What sets this one apart is its odd concept: a ghostly twin, born out of a near-death experience, who appears whenever the conductor falls asleep, a sleeping phantom trying to take his place in the world.

Director Don Weis uses shadows, flickering lights, and slow zooms to heighten the tension. Also, he makes the Chicago nights look especially moody here. Darren McGavin’s performance is typically sharp; his Kolchak is funny yet genuinely frightened. He balances humor with desperation as he realizes he’s chasing something that can’t be photographed or fought. The episode also benefits from a solid supporting cast, including Fred Beir as Bond and Madlyn Rhue as his wife.

It stands out more than the Alien episode because it dives heavily into psychological horror rather than pure monster-of-the-week thrills. It’s about the fear of losing yourself and being replaced by something that looks like you but isn’t. For a 1970s network TV show, that’s surprisingly territory. While it doesn’t have the flashy monster effects of “The Werewolf” or “The Zombie,” it lingers in your mind long after it’s over.

The COMPLETE EPISODE

Blasters – This Is It

It’s been a while since I posted a Blasters song (although I’ve posted performances by them), so I thought we would revisit them today on this fine Sunday. When I listen to the Blasters, I feel that I’m hearing every American sound that mattered. Rockabilly, R&B, gospel, blues, and the ghost of early rock ’n’ roll. This song is from their self-titled album, released in 1981.

I missed the Blasters when they were real-time, but I’m happy to be catching up with them now. They didn’t follow trends; instead, they stuck with what they knew best. 1950s energy reimagined through the early 1980s, without the trap of big production and high-gloss synths.

The Blasters album was the one that put them on the map. It caught the ear of critics, landed them an opening spot for Queen and The Cars, and even made them heroes of the early L.A. punk scene. But they didn’t fit neatly anywhere; they were too raw for pop radio, too traditional for punk, and too loud for nostalgia. They were their own being.

The Blasters never had mainstream success…but mainstream radio back in the ’80s would have been greatly improved by these guys. They were a rock and roll band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman.

You can hear the ghosts of Gene Vincent and Little Richard shouting approval. It’s pretty simple, just the sound of American rock ’n’ roll refusing to die. If you’re new to The Blasters, start here with this album because… This is it.

This Is It

This is it, now, baby
The moon, it sure looks fine
I can tell your future by looking
At the highway sign

It’s something we’ll never know
Unless we get up and go
This is it, now, baby
We’re gonna have a time tonight

This is it, this is it
This is it, now, baby
We’re gonna have a time tonight

This is it, now, baby
It’s something we can share
Don’t worry about the rules
Tonight i just don’t care

Our world’s just a little too grey
Tonight’s right for our getaway
This is it, now, baby
We’re gonna have a time tonight

This is it, now, baby
It ain’t no hanging crime
But when the sun comes up
Maybe you’ll change your mind

If you want to go home say when
But you’ll never come with me again
This is it, now, baby
We’re gonna have a time tonight

This is it, this is it
This is it, now, baby
We’re gonna have a time tonight

…

Rolling Stones – Monkey Man

Yeah, I’m a sack of broken eggs
I always have an unmade bed
Don’t you?

This song is a great album cut. The way I would describe the song? It is the actual sound of sleaze, and that is a compliment. It was used well in Goodfellas, the 1990 movie, in a scene where the gangsters are trafficking cocaine. One of my favorite Stone songs. I always liked the Stones album cuts more than their hits. This is when they had the perfect producer (Jimmy Miller), the perfect guitar player (Keith Richards), and the perfect sound. This is the Stones I love, their golden period.

What makes this song is Keith Richards’ riff, and it is menacing and on the prowl, practically alive in this song, stalking you outside your bedroom window. Only Keith could make a riff sound dangerous, and it builds up through the song. Richards laid down the main riff on a late-night jam, a hypnotic riff, with just enough space for Nicky Hopkins to work in his piano. Hopkins’ playing on this is greatness: melodic and sinister all at once. He reportedly improvised much of it, adding those runs that make the song snarl.

This song was on Let It Bleed, and it was recorded after Brian Jones was fired and before Mick Taylor replaced him. On Monkey Man, Keith Richards played electric and slide electric guitar, Bill Wyman played bass, and producer Jimmy Miller assisted drummer Charlie Watts on tambourine. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote “Monkey Man” as a tribute to Italian pop artist Mario Schifano, whom they met on the set of his movie Umano Non Umano! (Human, Not Human!).

This song is the Let It Bleed track I always come back to when I want to feel the Stones at their most human and feral.

Monkey Man

I’m a fleabit peanut monkey
And all my friends are junkies
That’s not really true

I’m a cold Italian pizza
I could use a lemon squeezer
What you do?

But I’ve been bit and I’ve been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town
Have you babe?

But I am just a monkey man
I’m glad you are a monkey woman too

I was bitten by a boar
I was gouged and I was gored
But I pulled on through

Yeah, I’m a sack of broken eggs
I always have an unmade bed
Don’t you?

Well I hope we’re not too messianic
Or a trifle too satanic
But we love to play the blues

But well I am just a monkey man
I’m glad you are a monkey woman too
Monkey woman too babe

I’m a monkey man
I’m a monkey man
I’m a monkey man
I’m a monkey man
I’m a monkey
I’m a monkey
I’m a monkey
I’m a monkey
Monkey, monkey
Monkey

Monkey
I’m a monkey

Hollyood Fats Band – The Hollywood Fats Band …album review

This guy was mentioned in the comments last week (he was playing guitar with the Blasters in a video I posted), and I was listening. A blues band that swung like they were on a chandelier… what an incredible band this was. When I write posts, sometimes I think of the readers who would like them. Christian is the one I’m thinking of here…I’m not a blues aficionado, but when I hear something great, no matter what it is…I play it. Rarely would I review a blues album, but this one is certainly worth it. His guitar playing took me by surprise.

I loved how they recorded this. The band recorded the album in Los Angeles, using vintage tube gear, ribbon microphones, and a minimalist mic setup to capture the warmth and air of those old 1950s records. They wanted it raw, live, and most importantly, human. No overdubs, no studio tricks, just five musicians facing each other and playing to each other.

If you were hanging around the Los Angeles blues scene in the mid-1970s, you might’ve seen a big fedora-wearing guitar phenom named Michael “Hollywood Fats” Mann. For a few short years, he led a group that reminded the world that the West Coast had some great blues. The band had a deep Chicago and Texas blues sound. The Hollywood Fats Band didn’t last long, but they left their mark.

Michael Mann was just out of his teens when he was already playing alongside blues legends. He was born in Los Angeles in 1954. He sat in with the likes of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Albert King when they hit town. He had a tone straight out of Chess Records. By the time he met harmonica player Al Blake and pianist Fred Kaplan in the mid-1970s, the idea of forming a blues revival band that really sounded like the old days began to take shape.

The lineup was a dream team for blues purists: Hollywood Fats on guitar, Al Blake on harp and vocals, Fred Kaplan on piano, Larry Taylor (formerly of Canned Heat) on upright bass, and Richard Innes on drums. They were in the middle of the disco era, but they stuck stubbornly to jump blues, and it swung. The chemistry was electric. Fats’ guitar lines just rip off those recordings I’ve been listening to, and the entire band was just fantastic.

Their lone studio album, The Hollywood Fats Band (recorded in 1979 and released in 1980), sounded like it had been transported from a Chess Records session with better fidelity. Sadly, it didn’t end well. Hollywood Fats struggled with addiction, and just as his reputation was spreading beyond the clubs of L.A., he died in 1986 at only 32. The band members carried on, but it was never the same.

There is not much film on the guy…this is not a great quality video, but you take what you can.

…

Rockpile – Teacher Teacher

Love this band, and thanks to Randy at mostlymusiccovers, who got me to look at this band more. What a fantastic duo Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds were in the 70s and 80s.

Nick Lowe (lead vocals, bass), Dave Edmunds (lead vocals, guitar), Billy Bremner (backing vocals, guitar), and Terry Williams (drums) had been writing, recording, and playing live together for years before they released just one album, at least under the Rockpile name.

Before the band that recorded Seconds of Pleasure, the name “Rockpile” had already been used as the title of an album by Dave Edmunds that he released in 1970. Edmunds then toured as “Dave Edmunds and Rockpile,” with a band that included Williams on drums. But the group that became known as Rockpile didn’t form until Lowe and Edmunds began recording together in the mid-1970s.

In 1979, Edmunds and Lowe reached new heights of popularity with the release of Lowe’s Labour of Lust, including his hit Cruel to Be Kind, and Edmunds’ Repeat When Necessary, including his popular versions of Queen of Hearts and Elvis Costello’s Girls Talk. Both of those records were recorded by the members of Rockpile, but with the headliner singing all of the lead vocals on his album.

This song was written by Eddie Phillips and Kenny Pickett, both from the mod 1960s band The Creation (a band who patterned themselves on The Who). That makes sense because it has got that mid-’60s British melody, while the performance is pure pub-rock punch. Nick Lowe takes the vocal lead, while Edmunds’s production keeps everything crisp.

This song peaked at #51 on the Billboard 100 and #31 in Canada in 1980.

Teacher Teacher

Young love, teacher’s pet
Cheeks flushed, apple red
Ringing you every day
Begging for a word of praise
I’ve put aside my foolish games
I run and hide and callin’ names
School’s out, the bells’ll ring
Now’s the time to teach me everything

Teacher, teacher, teach me love
I can’t learn it fast enough
Teacher, teacher, teach me more
I’ve got to learn to love for sure

Lesson one, just begun
Growing up ain’t much fun
Grown up, out of school
Out of luck and out of rules
No one there to tell me how
A different world, teacher teach me now

Teacher, teacher, teach me love
I can’t learn it fast enough
Teacher, teacher, teach me more
I’ve got to learn to love for sure

Lesson two, nothing new
I can’t love, just passing through

Books I read don’t understand
What it means to be a man
I need a woman just like you
Teacher, teacher, teach me what to do

Teacher, teacher, teach me love
I can’t learn it fast enough
Teacher, teacher, teach me more
I’ve got to learn to love for sure

Teacher, teacher, teach me love
I can’t learn it fast enough

Joe South – Walk A Mile In My Shoes

When I hear this song, I think of Joe South delivering a Sunday sermon on Southern philosophy. It was on the AM radio growing up, and I remember it well. This one and Games People Play were the two South songs I heard the most.

This song is a little bit of everything with pop, gospel, country, and soul. Before his solo success, South had already built a reputation that most session players would love to have. He played guitar on Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools, wrote Billy Joe Royal’s Down in the Boondocks, and later wrote his own solo hit, Games People Play, which was a Grammy-winning anthem of its own. Joe South was Georgia guy who would write songs that people could relate to. His records were smart, soulful, and unafraid to say something.

Elvis Presley covered this song during his 1970 That’s the Way It Is concerts, giving it his full Vegas-gospel jumpsuit treatment, which helped carry Joe’s song to the mainstream. Everyone from Coldcut to Bryan Ferry to Otis Clay would later cover it, but none quite captured that mix of frustration and hope that Joe did on the original.

Joe South doesn’t get enough credit in the conversation about 60s/70s singer-songwriters. He wasn’t flashy, but was saying something worth hearing. The song peaked at #12 on the Billboard 100, #10 in Canada, #11 on the Canada Country Charts, and #56 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1970.

Joe South is personal to me because of his connection to my family. He recorded some in my uncle’s studio. This is from 1964.

Walk A Mile In My Shoes

If I could be you, if you could be meFor just one hourIf we could find a wayTo get inside each other’s mind

If you could see you through my eyesInstead of your egoI believe you’d beSurprised to seeThat you’ve been blind

Walk a mile in my shoesWalk a mile in my shoesAnd before you abuse, criticize and accuseWalk a mile in my shoes

Now, your whole worldYou see around youIs just a reflectionAnd the law of KarmaSays you gonna reapJust what you sow, yes you will

So unless you’ve lived a lifeOf total perfectionYou better be careful of every stoneThat you should throw, yeah

And yet we spend the day throwing stonesAt one another‘Cause I don’t think or wear my hairThe same way you do

Well, I may be common peopleBut I’m your brotherAnd when you strike out and try to hurt meIt’s hurtin’ you, Lord have mercy

Walk a mile in my shoesWalk a mile in my shoesHey, before you abuse, criticize and accuseWalk a mile in my shoes

There are people on reservationsAnd out in the ghettosAnd brother, thereBut for the grace of GodGo you and I, yeah, yeah

And if I only had the wingsOf a little angel, yeahDon’t you know I’d flyTo the top of the mountainAnd then I’d cry, hey

Walk a mile in my shoesWalk a mile in my shoesHey, before you abuse, criticize and accuseBetter walk a mile in my shoes

Walk a mile in my shoesWalk a mile in my shoesOh, before you abuse, criticize and accuseWalk a mile in my shoes, yeah…

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Werewolf

November 01, 1974 Season 1 Episode 5

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

I’m loving going through these episodes. Like the X-Files, this show has a monster and humor. Sometimes serious and sometimes camp. There is something for everyone. With Star Trek and Twilight Zone, I tried to hide what the monster or whatever was, but with the titles to this series, not much cause for that.

This is one of the great atmospheric episodes in the series. This time, our ever-skeptical reporter Carl Kolchak (played with perfect disheveled energy by Darren McGavin) finds himself aboard a cruise ship bound for New York, covering what should have been a puff piece about fun on the high seas. Naturally, things go sideways when passengers start turning up brutally mauled, and the only clues are shredded clothing and what look like animal bites. Kolchak’s sense for the bizarre kicks in, and soon he suspects that a werewolf might be loose on the ship, a premise that turns an already claustrophobic voyage into pure nightmare.

The episode cleverly uses its limited setting to heighten suspense. The cruise ship’s narrow hallways and locked cabins create a sense of entrapment — there’s nowhere to run when the full moon rises. The story also dips into old-school monster-movie tradition: silver bullets, cursed bites, and the doomed man who becomes the beast. The makeup effects, while modest by today’s standards, deliver a creepy punch, a classic, snarling wolf-man straight out of a Universal horror movie. Kolchak, armed only with his typewriter wit and some makeshift silver, must find a way to stop the creature before the ship reaches port.

This episode is a good example of the show’s formula: horror meets journalism, with humor and cynicism woven through. The episode’s director, Allen Baron, keeps the pacing tight, and the contrast between McGavin’s wisecracking performance and the grim killings maintains that strange Kolchak balance between camp and dread. It also helped solidify the series’s reputation for finding horror in everyday or unexpected places, in this case, a pleasure cruise turned into a deathtrap.

This episode feels like a monster-of-the-week done with a touch of humor and melancholy. This one has the feel of a late-night drive-in flick, half spooky and half funny, and it remains a fan favorite…per IMDB. Two standout guest stars were Nita Talbot as Kolchak’s cohort, Paula Griffin. She was no one’s fool and quite a match for Kolchak. Also, Eric Braeden as Bernhardt Stieglitz who plays the title role of the show.

The FULL EPISODE! The reason I don’t embed the video is that Dailymotion just keeps playing every time you pull up my site. It gets on your nerves and mine as well.

Them – Gloria

Please pardon the personal story…but, you should be used to it by now, by the way I go on. I hope I haven’t told this story before, but if I have…I apologize. This is just one of the songs we played.

This song belongs right beside Louie Louie and Wild Thing as a staple of garage band rock. Three chords… E D A, and you are off to the races. A beginner guitar player can emulate this song rather well. When I was in high school, the band I was in… played this song. We would play more challenging songs, of course, but this one always got a good response and participation from the crowd with the call-and-answer lyrics.

When I was a senior, we played in the “fall frolics” (rock bands, singers) in our high school gym, and I had a couple of friends who were curious/envious and wanted to know how it felt to play in front of people. We had been playing at parties and a bar (shhhh yea we were underage) by this time. What I did was show one of them this song on bass…it’s that easy… and the other one we handed a tambourine and told him to participate in the chorus.

For that one song, we called them up and they got to know how it felt. I ran into one of them a few years back, and he thanked me again. He said it was one of the scariest but best moments he ever had in high school.

Sorry for the detour… This song was by “Them,” which featured no other than Van the Man Morrison (who also wrote the song). It peaked at #93 in the Billboard 100 in 1965 and #71 in 1966.

Morrison wrote this song while fronting Them at the Maritime Hotel in Belfast, often using it as their closer, a song that could stretch to ten minutes or more depending on the crowd and Van’s mood. Recorded at Decca Studios in London, it was originally the B-side to Baby, Please Don’t Go. Ironically, this song would outlive its A-side by miles, becoming a rock ’n’ roll rite of passage for any band that could play an A, D, and E chord. Well…their version of Baby, Please Don’t Go is my definite version of the song.

The song charted higher for The Shadows of Knight in 1966 at #10 on the Billboard 100, but this is the version I listen to. Finding Them at 18 led me to Van Morrison, which I have followed ever since. The first thing I did was order an album from the UK, which I still have with many of their hits.

At this stage in their career, sometimes, some session musicians played on Them’s records instead of the actual band, although Van Morrison did the real singing. One of these session players was Jimmy Page, who played guitar on this song.

In the video below…is that a donkey they flash to?

Gloria

Like to tell you ’bout my baby
You know she comes around
Just ’bout five feet-four
A-from her head to the ground
You know she comes around here
At just about midnight
She make me feel so good, Lord
She make me feel all right

And her name is G-L-O-R-I
G-L-O-R-I-A
Gloria!
G-L-O-R-I-A
Gloria!
I’m gonna shout it all night
Gloria!
I’m gonna shout it every day
Gloria!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

She comes around here
Just about midnight
She make me feel so good, Lord
I want to say she make me feel all right
Comes a-walkin’ down my street
Then she comes up to my house
She knock upon my door
And then she comes to my room
Yeah, and she make me feel all right

G-L-O-R-I-A
Gloria!
G-L-O-R-I-A
Gloria!
I’m gonna shout it all night
Gloria!
I’m gonna shout it every day
Gloria!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
So good
Gloria!
All right
Feels so good
Gloria!
All right, yeah