Friday Night Jukebox, Vol CCXXVI--The Faces: Ooh La La

As I've noted here a time or two, thrift shop CDs for a dollar have added immensely to my enjoyment of music by allowing me to take a chance on bands that I have missed through the years but don't have the financial means to take said chance.  One such band was Faces, who I knew slightly because of a) my fandom of early Rod Stewart, b) their one big hit, "Stay With Me," and c) this week's tune.  I picked up a two disc hits compilation of theirs for that one dollar figuring I'd listen to it a few times through on my jaunts to work before moving onto the next great musical adventure.  I preceded to spend the next three months alternating between the two discs as it turned out Faces were actually one hell of a band whose output went far beyond a couple of  hit singles.

Faces formed in 1969 in England from the remains of Small Faces after lead singer Steve Marriott left to form the band Humble Pie.  Joining Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones were a lead vocalist and a guitarist of some note--Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood  respectively.  Between their beginning and their end in 1975, the band released four albums (three of which reached the top thirty on the Billboard 200), 11 singles (the aforementioned "Stay With Me" was their only hit, reaching #17--with a bullet!--on the Billboard Hot 100), and were noted for being a hell of a live act (if a bit on the tipsy side as they did so).  Unsurprisingly, Rod Stewart's solo success lead to fissures in the band and they went their separate ways in 1975 (though they have reunited several times through the years).  In 2012 they were elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  In addition to Stewart, their members have gone on to quite some success--Ronnie Wood eventually joined the Rolling Stones and has now spent the better part of forty years with one of the world's most successful bands, and Kenney Jones would go on to replace Keith Moon in the Who for a number of years.  Sadly, Ronnie Lane died of multitple sclerosis in 1997 and Ian McLagan passed in 2014.  Though the band didn't last long, they are considered one of the more influential bands from their era, especially in their native U.K.

Fun Fact:  Small Faces became just Faces because when Stewart and Wood joined the band they were considerably taller than the other members (though only 5'10" and 5'9" respectively) and the remaining members of Small Faces thought they should make a break with the past and focus on the new band.

"Ooh La La" was released in 1973 on Faces' final album, entitled, surprisingly enough, Ooh La La.  It was released as a single but it failed to chart (how in the hell that happened is beyond me).  Rod Stewart--who does not appear on the version being featured this week--did release his own version of it in 1998 and it did hit the top 40 (even though it wasn't a particularly memorable version).  The song has also been featured in a number of movies and television commercials.

"Ooh La La" tells the story of a young man being warned by his granddad about the ways of wily women and the young man rolling his eyes...until he's a little older and wishes that when it comes to women, he knew what he does now when he was younger.  The song is notable because it is the only Faces song that Ronnie Wood sang lead vocals on (though Wood has had a couple of solo projects, being in bands with lead vocalists extraordinaire Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger probably doesn't offer much in the way of chances to sing lead).  Wood also delivers some fine acoustic and electric guitar work, McLagan has some enjoyable piano work in the instrumental break, and Jones, in what may be an FNJ first, plays the maracas (coooolllll) for a bit.  The song has a lot of folksy charm and is one of those that can lighten even the worst of my days, leaving me singing the words "Ooh La La" (and what a great title that is) for days on end.  Just like now...ooh la la, ooh la la la....

Lyric Sheet:  "Poor young grandson, there's nothing I can say/You'll have to learn, just like me/And that's the hardest way/Ooh la la..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

The dice are loaded

You can't have too much money

I'm shocked--shocked I tell you--to find out that America's wealthy elite are lining up to help re-elect the worst President in the history of our republic.

Amazing what a massive tax cut for rich people can do, isn't it?

The wealthy weren't too keen on Donald Trump in 2016, a large number of them choosing to stay on the sidelines.  But now that he's proven himself to be a first class racist, adept at stoking anti-Semitic hate, slept with a porn star while his third wife was recovering from having their child, colluded with Russia, cozies up to dictators, obstructed justice, sends out deranged tweets virtually daily, and has shown himself to be a prize idiot again and again, he's suddenly a-o.k.?

Give me a fucking break.  The wealthy in this country are not to be admired nor emulated--they care nothing for America or Americans and only serve their own interests.  They're not builders or innovators--they're parasites who are sucking our country and our planet dry.  They know nothing of compassion or shame and have all the human worth of a rabbit turd.

And they're more than happy to let our children starve if it means another nickel in their pockets.

This isn't about envy--I happily accept the fact that I don't have the talent to be ultra-wealthy.  What I am not content to accept is that I have the talent to live a a financially comfortable life and yet I live month to month like a vast majority of my fellow Americans.  And the reason I and so many of us do is because the wealthy have bought the stairway to financial heaven through our government (right to work for less laws, the war against unions, their fight against universal healthcare, giving U. S. Cabinet posts to unqualified people like Betsy Devos only because they're wealthy, owning the republican party) are unwilling to let us achieve our fair share because it means less for them.

Supporting a horrible President and even worse human being simply to increase your share of an already avaricious wealth is a sure way for America to end up like France, circa 1789, with an incredibly unpleasant result for people of too much means.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
 

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

An unwinnable game--like capitalism

Seems the billionaire class is worried about the future of capitalism in America.

Want to ask me how much I give a fuck about the future of capitalism in America?

After nearly forty years of wading through the muck that is working for a living in America, I can honestly say that capitalism is little more than a code word for the rich get richer and the poor stay poor.  Ever since the Reagan devolution, we've witnessed wages that haven't kept up with inflation, levels of income inequality not seen in the history of this country, CEO salaries setting records in comparison to the wages their workers earn, the number of Americans living in poverty continuing to grow, health insurance going from an employer expense to a shared expense (and the level of coverage ever decreasing), and going from the safety of a pension plan to 401ks which are subject to the whims of...rich people.

Frankly, as far as I'm concerned they can stick capitalism up their asses.  To me it's just a word like God or Santa Claus full of empty promises that help no one except the powers that be.

Socialism?  Bring it on--can't be any worse than the losing system we have now.

Fuck Donald Trump
emaycee

Biden my time

A problematic contender?

Joe Biden announced his candidacy for the Presidency today, and while I will most assuredly support him should he win the Democratic nomination, Tulsi Gabbard and Seth Moulton are probably the only two candidates in the race (so far) that I have less enthusiasm for.  It could all be for naught, as well, as Biden has run for the Presidency twice before and failed miserably both times.

The Trump campaign has said that the candidate they fear will be their toughest foe is Joe Biden.  Campaigns do not tell voters who they fear--they tell voters who they would most like to face.  My guess is that Trump fears Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris a lot more than Biden because they're both smarter, tougher, and stronger than Trump could ever be.

The reason the Trump campaign wants to run against Joe Biden is because if Biden is the nominee, the election won't be about Donald Trump, it will be about how many times Joe Biden puts his foot in his mouth (quite often will be my guess), and Biden's inappropriate touching of women (keep in mind that the media only cares about Democrats' sexual harassment of women--republicans, because they are neanderthals, one supposes, get a free pass.  Don't believe me?  See also, Trump, Donald and Kavanaugh, Brett).

One hopes that voters in the early primaries will find a candidate more conducive to a Democratic victory for the White House in 2020, but I fear if we choose Biden we will fuck up what should be an unfuckable path to that victory.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

K-k-k-komrades

It's been more than 100 years since republicans gave a shit about America

Trump sycophant Rudy Giulani went on TV this weekend to defend the administration's collusion with Russia and question if it was even illegal to accept a foreign government's help in a United States election.

Leaving aside the fact that if a Democratic President had pulled the shit Trump has pulled with regard to Russia half of the republicans in America would have had an aneurysm by now screaming "Impeachment!" at the top of their lungs, the republican party isn't even pretending to care about our country anymore.  As Paul Krugman noted this week, as long as republicans can continue to cut taxes for the wealthy Trump can do whatever he wants, even if the end result is America becoming a shadow of itself and what it stands for.  And ordinary Americans?  Humbug to them.

I tell you, either we bury these fuckers in 2020...or we bury America.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

And the lack thereof

Thanks but no

My biggest remembrance of Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is from 2014 when she was being interviewed on Rachel Maddow's show concerning the Farm Bill from that year that was coming up for a vote.  The Farm Bill is where the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (more colloquially, Food Stamps) is funded, and that year's bill (which was sponsored by my sad sack Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow) was going to lead to several thousand Americans losing benefits and going hungry.  When asked by Maddow about the bill, Klobuchar responded that it didn't affect Minnesota, so she was going to vote for it even if thousands of Americans were going to go hungry (note that current Democratic Presidential hopefuls Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Kirsten Gillibrand voted against the bill for just that reason).  Her rationale for voting for the bill seemed to me a callous and hollow response.

So it came as no surprise to me this week when news leaked that Klobuchar had voted to confirm more judges nominated by Donald Trump than any of her fellow contenders--and by a considerable margin (better than 25% more).  One wonders how she'll rationalize this, as Trump is nominating right wing ideologues who stand to do considerable harm to workers' rights, workers' paychecks, Americans' healthcare, voting rights, LGBQT rights, and a host of other that will most certainly affect Minnesotans.

Frankly, what this country needs in its post-Trump era is a President borne of the courage and fortitude that makes up the Democratic Party and it platform and not weak kneed Democratic lite candidates like Amy Klobuchar.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Political courage

You've got to fight to make what's right

I don't pretend to know what the best political calculation for Democratic electoral chances in 2020 concerning the impeachment of Russian tool Donald Trump is, but I do know that it is the right and moral action to take.  If we walk away and let Trump run roughshod over our Democratic norms the nation will rue the hell we unleashed.

Elizabeth Warren did not hesitate to make this distinction last Friday when she became the second Democratic Presidential aspirant (Julian Castro was first) and the first serious contender to call for impeachment.  Warren has thus far run a very thoughtful campaign (which I fear may doom her--a woman and smart? Pshaw!), but she showed no fear in championing an action that as yet no one knows how it will play among voters because it is what we should do regardless of our electoral quests.

With each passing day Elizabeth Warren is showing us that she has the intelligence, wherewithal, and courage to be the anti-Trump that puts America back on the right track.

Here's hoping Democratic voters have the prescience to follow her lead.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXXV--Kane, Welch, & Kaplin: I Can't Wait

This week's tune, like last week's tune, is another I discovered by listening to the folk channel on Pandora while slaving my ass off for pennies.  The joys of the digital age...

Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch, and Fats Kaplin could really use a primer on choosing interesting band names, but interesting name or no, they've released three more albums than I have.  Kane had some success with John O'Hara in a country band called the O'Kanes, which had six top twenty country singles on the Billboard charts including one #1 (with a bullet!) before disbanding in 1990.  Kane then went on to a solo career with seven studio albums and eight singles reaching the Billboard Hot Country chart, sandwiched around albums released with various artists such as Welch and Kaplin.  Welch joined with Kane to found Dead Reckoning Records, which seems to feature a variety of bluegrass/country/folk artists.  He has released six albums on his own and has had five singles reach the Country charts.  In addition to having a memorable nickname (one hopes his parents didn't name him "Fats"), Fats Kaplin plays the accordion (among many other instruments including banjo and fiddle), which is really kind of cool (more on that later).  He has released five solo LPs and two more with his wife, musician Kristi Rose.  All in all, the three of them have managed to make a living making music and there ain't nothin' wrong with that at all.

"I Can't Wait" was released in 2006 on their album Lost John Dean, whose title I thought, silly me, might make reference to the John Dean of Watergate fame, but which, rather, makes mention of a character named John Dean who hails (and most perfectly for a rhyming scheme) from Bowling Green,  "I Can't Wait" was not released as a single, though it would have made a fine entry on the Christian charts if I might ever be so bold.

It'd been a while since I listened to "I Can't Wait" and when I did again a few days ago, the first thing that hit me was the opening instrumental, and as I listened the instrument became obvious and I broke into a big smile, and said to myself, "That's a fucking accordion!"  Ah, it's the little things in life.  Kaplin gets the song off to a rousing start before Kane and Welch jump in with their acoustic guitars (that's it--no other instruments need apply), before breaking into what is essentially a plaintive prayer about a more compassionate world.  The song is most definitely gospel influenced but even for a non-believer like me it is one of the more beautiful songs I've heard in my life, the acoustic guitars juxtaposing every so prettily with the soft and hopeful vocals of Kane and Welch.  As with the Chatham County Line song last week, "I Can't Wait" might not be for everybody, but for an old fart folkie like me, it's a slice of heaven.

Lyric Sheet:  "Someday we'll roll away the stone/That we have carried for so long/All our burdens will be gone/And I can't wait..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Warren-ting a closer look

The woman who would be President?

While it is very early and I haven't chosen a candidate to support for the 2020 Democratic nomination for President, I have to say that Elizabeth Warren thus far has proven herself to be very intriguing and has already laid out clear plans for leading America post-orange shit gibbon (see also, Trump, Donnie).  She is seeking to fortify the financial standing of ordinary Americans, her wealth tax is a shot across the bow against income inequality, she's got strong climate change plans, and when Donald Trump farts, she is immediately letting the country know that it does indeed stink.

And she isn't just feeding us Democratic platitudes--this is a woman with a concrete blueprint to steer America deep into the 21st century.

Over the next several months we're going to be separating the contenders from the pretenders, and Elizabeth Warren is setting herself up quite nicely to a serious contender for the Democratic nomination in 2020.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Who gives a Dame?

Waste not and many will want not

This one's going to go over like a fart...in, uh, church.

First let me say that in a perfect world, the Notre Dame Cathedral would never have burned,  but as most of us are well acquainted with, we don't live in a perfect world.

That being said, I can't think of a bigger waste of money than spending a billion dollars to rebuild an eight hundred year old building, especially one that's a symbol of one of the world's most hateful and perverted organizations, the Catholic Church, which has spent the better part of the last forty years a) covering up the rapes its leadership committed on children in order to preserve its real estate holdings, and b) snuggling up to right wing politicians who think the Golden Rule is for wimps so that the Church's hate for the LGBQT community and its desire to keep letting men control what happens to womens' bodies can remain on the political agenda.

It's an old building--most eight hundred year old structures are no longer standing and the world is none the worse for it.  Meanwhile, we still have poverty, children going hungry, diseases that kill, people who can't afford decent housing, and underfunded education systems throughout the world.

No, a billion dollars isn't going to solve the world's problems--but it's going to bring a lot more joy and better living to a lot more people than restoring an antiquated structure so that less than 1% of the world's population can ooh and aah over its architecture.

Frankly, they should take a couple hundred thousand dollars, plow it under, and make a public park of the space.  It would be of much better use and the rest of the money could be spent on more pressing problems than a centuries old church.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

All ye need to know

Truth will be beauty after we see the full report

All you need to know about "Attorney General" William Barr's "press conference" today on the release of the redacted (key word!) Mueller report is that he noted not once, not twice, not three times, not four times, but five times that Mueller found no evidence of collusion.

His denials mean beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, an enemy of the United States of America.

Period.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXXIV--Chatham County Line: Speed of the Whippoorwill

A few years back when I was working at a thrift shop, they had Pandora piped in over the intercom and after a few months of listening to drivel, I decided one day to punch in "folk" and see what came up on the system.  I've always been something of a fan of Americana music and it seemed a good opportunity for hearing something new for a change (plus it was run by a religious organization and folk seemed a little less likely to feature devil's music that might offend our Christian customers).  What I didn't realize at the time is that this week's tune--as well as a host of others--proved to be a renaissance of sorts for my love of music, and I've spent a good chunk of what free time I've had since then letting my curiosity get the best of me and finding even more tunes that make my heart go pitter-patter.

Chatham County Line was formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1999 and as you might guess, have yet to become a household name.  However, they have released nine albums over the years and have had at least one #1 album on Billboard's bluegrass charts (once again this week, getting info on a small band has proved to be most difficult).  Chatham County Line features four nattily dressed musicians (often in coats and ties) who play acoustic guitar, upright bass, fiddle, and banjo respectively.  They have become known for a lively live show, and have become very popular in Europe (especially the Netherlands--so many cool Dutch kids!).

Needless to say, "Speed of the Whippoorwill" was not released as a single, but it was originally released in  2006 on their most appropriately named album, Speed of the Whippoorwill.  For those wondering, typing a double "o" after a double "p" is extremely odd....

Fun Fact:  I got curious as to just how fast a whippoorwill flies, and while I found they are a nocturnal bird that feeds on moths and other flying insects, lay two to four eggs a year, care for their eggs without a nest on the forest floor, and are named for the sound of their mating call. I could find nothing that said the whippoorwill was a particularly fast flying bird.  Kind of a bummer!

"Speed of the Whippoorwill" tells the story of a man working on the railroad back in the day, the rigors of the job, and why he's doing it--to earn money to get back home so he can be with his true love.  What could be more Americana than that, for Christ's sake?  The song features simple yet heartfelt lyrics, vocals that capture the protagonists hurt as well as hope, an upright bass which keeps the song's rhythm (I'm sure I've featured a song without drums but I'll be darned if I can remember it), and two emaycee fave's, a fiddle and a banjo (how can anyone not love a fiddle and a banjo?).  In all honesty, it certainly might not be everyone's cup of tea musically, but it's a fine example of what American traditional music has to offer, and it's also a nice reminder that the playing of instruments makes some beautiful noise...and it's good once in a while to appreciate that.

Lyric Sheet:  "Water boy come running, I'm dry as the dirt/The day's keep getting longer, I've got hurt on top of hurt..."

Alas, I could only find a live version on YouTube--it doesn't quite do justice to the studio version, but it still showcases the band's talent.  Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXXIII--The Teddybears featuring Iggy Pop: Punkrocker

This week's tune has a bit of the bittersweet to it, as it was introduced to me by my nephew Josh, who we lost last July to the ravages of ALS at the all too young age of 34.  Rest in peace, Josh--and thanks for the tune...

The Teddybears hail from Stockholm, Sweden, and originally formed in 1991.  They started out as a hardcore punk band (as Teddybears STHLM) but over the years have incorporated electronica, hip-hop, rock, and reggae into their music (and are now just the plain old Teddybears).  Over the course of their career they have released 7 albums, 5 EPs, and 18 singles--which must have done quite well in their native Sweden but have done fuck-all here in the States for all the information I could find on their chart success.  Since 2006 the band members have begun donning bear masks for all of their tours and album artwork...I suppose because they can.

Fun Fact:  Because so many Norwegian and Swedish hardcore metal bands (don't know why but it seems a bit odd that such bands hail from Scandinavia, too) have dark and macabre sounding names, the Teddybears went for something soft and cuddly...just to be a wee bit different.

"Punkrocker" was originally released in 2000 on the album Rock 'n' Roll Highschool (no relation to the Ramones soundtrack of the same name, near as I can tell).  It was re-released in 2006, this time with vocals featuring Iggy Pop on their album Soft Machine, which is the version we're celebrating this week.  The Wikipedia entry for "Punkrocker" said it was a minor hit here in America, but I could find no proof of it ever charting so no shout out for Billboard magazine this week.  The song did have a run as the background music for a Cadillac commercial...because the first thing I think of when I think of Cadillac is punk rock....

For those who sit around and wonder, like me, just how important vocals are in rock and roll, one only has to compare the original version of "Punkrocker" to know the answer.  I gave it a listen and it's a nice little pop tune that had I heard back when it was first released, I probably would have liked.  But I tell you what, give the lead vocals to Iggy Pop, and the song soars from nice little pop tune into the realms of great pop singles.  There's a desperation to his vocals that ties in perfectly with the mood of the song, and it takes quite a vocalist to make nihilism sound cool, but Iggy pull that off, too.  The Teddybears liven it up with some scrumptious drumming that really drives the song and some subtle guitar and even a bit of synthesizer that carries it to Catchy As All Hell Heaven.  I defy you to listen to the chorus and not have it swimming in your head happily for the next week.  In a testament to its high quality, it's the kind of song that will almost make you forgive Sweden for ABBA....

Lyric Sheet:  "See me die on Bleecker Street/I'm bored with being good/See me sneering in my car/I'm driving to my star...

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump.
emaycee

(Raised arm with clenched fist)

Oui! Oui!

I've been thinking the past few days about a poster that hung on a wall in one of my high school classes (couldn't begin to remember the class or the teacher) which contained a quote from French Resistance Fighter and Nobel Prize winner for literature, Albert Camus.  The quote was thus:  "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

What brought this quote back to me, after forty some odd years, is our current political predicament and the often hopeless feeling one has watching it unfold.  We literally have a party--republicans, obviously--who is rewriting the rules of our political discourse not in the service of the common good but for its own thirst for power and to placate the minority of Americans who are wealthy.  We've watched--all in the past few weeks--an Attorney General whitewash a report questioning whether the President colluded with a foreign power and/or broke the law.  We've had to watch as Mitch McConnell breaks all decorum in confirming judges for our courts to ram through candidates who are both unqualified and also out of step with the beliefs of a large majority of Americans.  We've watched as the government tries to take healthcare away from 20 million Americans--not to provide a better alternative or to even cut costs, but just as a spiteful move to wreck the legacy of one of the greatest--and first African-American--Presidents in our history.  We've watched as Facebook and Twitter have decided that it's fine to let foreign powers interfere in our political process--as long as it helps their profitability.  We've watched as a white nationalist in New Zealand killed 49 Muslims and the President of the United States barely offered a "tsk, tsk."  And just to show that he truly is a racist, the President also doesn't seem to care that the people of Puerto Rico are as much an American citizen as he is.

But despite the drumbeat of despair, we haven't quit.  We're still out there making donations, running for office, talking to folks who are on the fence, sending postcards, hanging our political signs, and writing heartfelt blogs.  We do not see the dream as breaking, and it's certainly not broken.

For us, it's an invincible summer.

And fuckin'-A to us for that.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXXII--Sweet: Ballroom Blitz

Dork Alert:  Me, my kid brother, and one his friends used to like cranking this week's tune really loud and playing air band in my family's living room.  Let me just say that whatever we lacked in talent (actually, we had none) we more than made up for with enthusiasm for the song.  Or not--time often plays tricks with the mind...

Sweet had a very convoluted (and not all that interesting) beginning before finally coming together in their most successful incarnation as a foursome in the early 70's (give or take).  They originally started out as bubble gum pop before they decided to rock the casbah like their musical heroes The Who (nnnnnoooottttt quite...).  They released their first album in 1971 and had some success in their native UK, but by the time their second album was released they were ready to move on from the top of the pops into glam rock.  They would have a fine run of success through the mid-1970's including fifteen top forty singles in the UK and four top ten singles here in the states.  Unfortunately for the band, their albums never sold quite as well as their singles and they were also unable to draw crowds when they headlined their tours (though they had some success as an opening act) and by the early eighties they were done releasing new material.  Over the course of their career Sweet released nine albums, and had a gold record here in the States and a gold and a silver in the U.K.  Sadly, lead singer Brian Connolly succumbed to the ravages of alcoholism (probably played a part in the band's lack of success after the 70's) in 1997 at the age of 51, and drummer Mick Tucker died of leukemia in 2002 at the age of 54.  The band still tours--guitarist Andy Scott performs with his version of the band in the U.K., while bassist Steve Priest has a version here in the U.S.A.  Not a bad gig if you can get it...

"Ballroom Blitz" was originally released as a single in the U.K. in 1973 where it reached #17 on the charts.  It was released here in America on their album Desolation Boulevard  in 1975 and re-released in England and it went on to reach #2 there, #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 in Canada (so many cool kids north of the border!).

Not So Fun Fact:  The album cover for Desolation Boulevard was photographed near the entrance of a Sunset Boulevard music club called The Central.  It would eventually become The Viper Room--which is where actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on Halloween in 1993.

In one of the more interesting origins for a song here on FNJ. Sweet wrote "Ballroom Blitz" about being driven off stage from a show in Scotland by a slew of bottles being thrown at them (there seems to be some question as to whether this was because the band had changed its musical persona or because it was four men on stage with long hair and eye-liner).  The song is quintessential 1970's rock--lots of electric guitar and prominent drumming with a smidge of bass line thrown in the obligatory instrumental break.   Connolly delivers vocals that convey the band's plight--note the beginning when he asks each band member if they'e ready to rock--and Steve Priest throws in some haunting spoken vocals that further enrich the story.  The song plays as an adrenaline rush of rock and roll gone out of control--and is a nice reminder that there were a hell of a lot of good tunes that came out of the 70's.  Or else that I was a lot younger then and had a lot more time to appreciate music...either way, it's cool.

Lyric Sheet:  "Are you ready, Steve?  Uh-huh/Andy? Yeah/Mick? Okay/Alright fellas, let's go..."

Enjoy (and note that these guys had to be an inspiration for eighties hair metal bands...):

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee