Tag: Shake Some Action

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 – Yes It’s True ….Power Pop Friday

I really like this band. Their career was split into two different sounds. In the early seventies, they were more like the Stones with blues/rock. After their singer (Roy Loney) left…they got another (Chris Wilson) and switched to power pop. They have songs that are power pop, grungy blues rock, and some great rock and 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 and also be known as an early proto-punk band…they pretty much covered the gamut. Yes It’s True was written by Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson. It has a Beatle vibe to it and was on their 1976 album, Shake Some Action. The album peaked at #142 in the Billboard Album Charts.

The band broke up in the 80s but some of them continued with the name touring off and on. They did release an album in 2017 called Fantastic Plastic. 

Yes It’s True

Every time you see me smile
I’m really blue
Because I’m wondering all the while
If you’re really true

Cause girl you know I’ve tried and tried
Everything to see your side
But I can’t forget the tears I’ve cried
Yes, it’s true

When you got a girl who thinks she’s smart
That’s not so fine
Cause they’re the kind who’ll break your heart
And leave you crying

And lovin’ them is not so nice
You better think about it twice
Or I else she’ll make you pay the price
Yes, it’s true

Well, she’s the kind of girl
Who knows what she wants to be
She knows what she wants
And she knows how to get it from me and you

I saw the smile upon your face
I felt so sure
Although there never was a place
For me and you

…

Flamin’ Groovies – Slow Death

The Flamin’ Groovies are a treasure find of a band. They have songs that are power pop, grungy blues rock, and some great rock and roll. On this song we are concentrating on the rock/blues phase of the Groovies.

I first heard this band with Shake Some Action. Their music style at first was hard to pin down. They admitted they were all over the map. They are most known for the power pop song Shake Some Action but I read where a commenter said…Slow Death was the best Stones song the Stones never did.

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 revisited in a modern context.

The band 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.

The 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 know 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.

Bass Player George Alexander:

We were the fastest band on the planet, like Ramones-fast. Once Chris got in, we decided to move on to what we considered the next level. We needed a lead singer that could carry that off, a young, good-looking guy who could Jagger-out.

With Chris we were moving into ‘Shake Some Action.’ Our last record from the punk phrase was ‘Teenage Head’ and [the first single with Wilson] ‘Slow Death,’ which was more Stones-y. We kept ‘Slow Death’ in the set but it was now time for ‘Shake Some Action’ and the power pop.

On this video…looks like they are at the Marquee Club where the Who started.

Slow Death

I called the doctor
In the morning
I had a fever
It was a warning
She said “There’s nothing I can prescribe
To keep your raunchy bag of bones alive”
I got some money left for one more shot
She said “God bless you” I said “Thanks a lot”

It’s a slow, slow death

I called the preacher
Holy, holy
I begged forgiveness
That’s when he told me
He said “There’s nothing I can prescribe
To keep your raunchy bag of bones alive”
I got some money left for one more shot
He said “God bless you” I said “Thanks a lot”

Slow Death

I’m set to mainline
A hit of morphine
It’s set to mainline
It’s like a bad dream
Slow death–eat my mind away
Slow death–turn my guts to clay
It’s a slow, slow, slow death