Tag: Chris Wilson

Flamin’ Groovies – Shake Some Action

This is a great power pop record. This band had different phases, blues rock, and then power pop after co-founder Roy Loney left. Over the decades, Shake Some Action has aged better than nearly anything else from its era. It doesn’t belong to 1976, not really, it belongs to the die-hard power pop fans that followed.

The Flamin’ Groovies first recorded this song in 1972, but the song was not released until their 1976 album of the same name, which was produced by Dave Edmunds, who sped up the tempo of the track and pushed the vocals. According to lead guitarist Cyril Jordan, the descending phrase he played on lead guitar was overdubbed about six times. Edmunds would also put remote microphones around the studio to fatten up certain passages.

The band started in 1965 with Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. By the end of the sixties, they clashed over where to go. Loney was more Stones, and Jordon leaned toward the Beatles. Loney left in 1971, and they got an 18-year-old lead singer named Chris Wilson. They moved to London and started to work with Dave Edmunds. With Chris, they did more power pop, and that is when Shake Some Action came about, with Wilson and Jordon writing it.

They would go on to be a great power pop band and also be known as an early proto-punk band…they pretty much covered the gamut. This anti-drug song was written by Jordon and Loney before he left…Chris Wilson is singing it.

Wilson left in the early eighties, but the band continued until around 1994. They regrouped in 2012, including Chris Wilson. The Flamin’ Groovies have released 9 studio albums and one as late as 2017.

Shake Some Action

I will find a way
To get to you some day.
Oh, but I, babe, I’m so afraid I’ll fall, yeah.
Now can’t you hear me call?

Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.

It’s taken me so long
To get where I belong
Oh, but, oh, please don’t send me back that way, yeah.
For I will make you pay.

Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.

If you don’t dig what I say
Then I will go away.
And I won’t come back this again. No.
‘Cause I don’t need a friend.

Shake some action’s what I need
To let me bust out at full speed.
I’m sure that’s all you need
To make it all right.

Flamin’ Groovies – Teenage Head

This band went through two distinct phases: an early rock/blues era followed by a shift to power pop. Their diverse catalog spans power pop gems, gritty blues-rock, and classic rock ‘n’ roll. In this song, we’re focusing on their rock/blues period from the early ’70s, hearing the raw Groovies.

I first heard this band with the song Shake Some Action. That song is probably their best-known, but the blues/rock period should be heard. This song was written by Cyril Jordan and Roy A. Loney.

Released the same year as the Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers, Mick Jagger reportedly noticed the similarities between the Groovies Teenage Head album … and thought the Flamin’ Groovies did the better take on the theme of classic blues and rock ‘n roll. The band was started in 1965 by  Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. By the end of the sixties, they clashed over where to go. Loney was more Stones and Jordon leaned toward the Beatles. Loney left in 1971 and they got an 18-year-old lead singer named Chris Wilson.

They moved to London and started to work with Dave Edmunds. With Chris, they did more power pop and that is when Shake Some Action came about with Wilson and Jordon writing it. They would go on to be a great power pop band known as an early proto-punk band…they pretty much covered the gamut. This anti-drug song was written by Jordon and Loney before he left…Chris Wilson is singing it.

I’ve listened to this album and it does sound very Stonesy but not copying them at all. This album was released before the Stones Sticky Fingers.

There is a Canadian band with the same name as this album and song…Teenage Head. They took their name from this song title and album. They quickly gained a loyal following on the Ontario club circuit for their shows, highlighted by Gord Lewis’ guitar work and frontman Venom’s (Frankie Kerr) vocals and on-stage presence.

Their self-titled debut album was released in 1979 and distributed by Epic Records Canada. A year later, the group signed to Attic Records and released the Frantic City album, which put them on the international radar. The hit singles, “Something On My Mind” and “Let’s Shake” helped propel the album to platinum sales (100,000) in Canada.

I added another cool song off of the album called Yesterday’s Numbers.

Teenage Head

I’m a monster
got a revved up teenage head.
Teenage monster
California born and bred.
Half a boy and half a man
I’m half at sea and half on land, oh my
Bye-bye.

Got a woman,
she’s my hopped up high school queen.
She’s my woman,
she’s a teenage love machine.
She knows how to turn me on
and get me high and get it on and on,
yeah she does.

When ya’ see me,
better turn your tail and run,
’cause I’m angry
and I’ll mess you up for fun.
I’m a child of atom bombs
and rotten air and Vietnams; I am you,
you are me.

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