Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXVI--Violent Femmes: Gone Daddy Gone

One of the many things that I love about pop music is how it continues to surprise and amaze me again and again, even as I turn into an old man who wonders if said surprises can continue.  Such was the case with the Violent Femmes--a couple of years back I scored a copy of their greatest hits for a dollar at the thrift shop figuring it would be worth it to have the two songs of theirs I did know and like.  When I popped it in the car CD player on a whim, little did I know that it would be all I played as I drove to and from work and across southeast Michigan for the next three months.

Violent Femmes formed around 1980 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when Gordon Gano joined Brian Ritchie and Victor DeLorenzo, who'd been a rhythm duo for a couple of years prior.  They were discovered by the late James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders playing on a street corner outside of a Milwaukee venue the Pretenders would be playing later that night.  They were invited to do a short acoustic set before the show and the rest is history.  Shortly thereafter they released their debut album, and would follow it up with eight more albums across the years.  While the band has had a couple of hiatuses (1987, 2009-2013), Gano and Ritchie with a revolving cast of drummers have been together as a band for thirty-nine years now.  They've sold over nine million records, which is pretty impressive considering their highest charting album hit #84, and they've never had a single crack the Billboard Hot 100.  They released their last studio album in 2016 and continue to tour somewhat regularly.

"Gone Daddy Gone" was released in 1983 on their oh-so-cleverly titled debut album, Violent Femmes.  As noted above, the single never charted, and neither did the album, which leads to this week's...

Fun Fact:  Violent Femmes debut album is the only album in the history of the Billboard charts to go both gold and platinum without ever reaching the charts.  It would eventually reach the charts after going platinum, peaking at a distant #171 (one hopes with a bullet!).  To date, it has sold over 1.8 million copies.

Pretty much all you need to know about "Gone Daddy Gone" is that a xylophone is featured prominently in the song and somehow the Violent Femmes managed to make it sound incredibly cool--which I'm pretty certain isn't easily done within the constraints of a post punk tune.  Cano has almost a deadpan vocal style and is helped immensely by a catchy chorus that is repeated often (emaycee fave alert!).  The song makes note of a lost love, but whether it's creepy or nostalgic I'll leave up to the reader.  Lastly, the song features one of the best instrumental breaks I've come across in a pop tune--it alternates between a solo of the aforementioned xylophone, a drum break reminiscent of a sixties surf tune, and some nice jangly guitar.  It's a bit of an odd song, but in a nod to the Violent Femmes, they made it all work and gave us a tune for the ages.

Lyric Sheet:  "Beautiful girl, lovely dress/Where she is now I can only guess..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee