I came across this week's tune on some sort of compilation album (name long forgotten) released a thousand years ago when in Louisville, KY working on a store remodel back in my Camelot Music days. It was one of those tunes that after the second or third listen I just couldn't get out of my head (but in a good way), and when I got back home to St. Louis I immediately bought it on a .45 single. Can you say "He's old!" boys and girls?
The Swingin' Medallions were formed in 1962 in the major metropolis of Greenwood, South Carolina. They are purveyors of beach music, which was born in the mid-40's around the Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) area, and revolves around the dance known as the shag (or Carolina shag), and remains popular today primarily in the Carolinas, but also in pockets of the deep South (the things you learn on Wikipedia). While some major pop/R & B groups have performed numbers that one can dance the shag to (the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Foundations classic "Build Me Up Buttercup"), the core bands remain regional favorites in the Carolinas. Some of the original Swingin' Medallions (there were 8 all told, near as I can tell) still perform together to this day throughout the South (there's a video of them singing with Bruce Springsteen in South Carolina a couple years back that isn't worth a listen because someone posted it from their phone and if you turn the volume up to 80 on your computer you can almost hear the lyrics), and they are another in a long line of bands featured on FNJ this year who have made the mostest out of their one hit single. And good on them--who wouldn't rather spend your Saturday night singing for a bunch of happy college kids rather than stocking grocery shelves?
"Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)" was released in 1966 and appeared on their very aptly named debut album, Double Shot (of My Baby's Love). It would become the band's only chart success, reaching #17 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100. And just to show you how far we've come, the song was actually banned on many radio stations because it discussed drinking and sex. The horror!
If "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen and "96 Tears" by ? and the Mysterians got married and had a baby, it would probably be "Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)." How's that for an intro? Truth be told, the reason I say that is every time I hear it it reminds me of the two--it's got the mirth and frivolity of "Louie Louie" and the organ reminds me of "96 Tears." Still, the song stands very well on its own, a paean to a good lovin' woman, replete with some fine harmony vocals, plenty of hand claps, a catchy as all hell chorus with a lot of yeah, yeah, yeahs, and enough hootin' and hollerin' (as my dear old Dad used to say) in the background to keep even the most cynical of music lovers happy. All in all, like last week's tune from Kiss, this is a fun song, made to be enjoyed.
Lyric Sheet: "It wasn't wine that I had too much of/It was a double shot of my baby's love..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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