At least this one's only six days late....
I was only eleven when the sixties ended, but through the years I have read/seen/heard that musically it was a veritable cornucopia of styles with hundreds of bands releasing singles that became classics, or, at the very least, inspired many an oldies tour many years later. While I wouldn't compare the two, in many ways the nineties were a lot the same. Sure, there were greats like Nirvana and Pearl Jam (among others) having their breakthroughs, but there were plenty of smaller artists that had their moment in the sun, sometimes just as a one-hit wonder--much like this week's featured band and its tune....
The Refreshments, like many bands before them, formed out of the remnants of two other bands,though in Tempe, Arizona in 1992. They originally opened for other local bands, but within a year found themselves packing small venues. They were accepted into South by Southwest where their solid performance morphed into a record deal with Mercury. They released their first LP in 1996 and had a minor hit. They recorded a follow-up, but a combination of changes at the label and poor promotional support of their second album led to weak sales and the band being dropped from the label. That would spell the end of band, though they have reunited briefly in 2010, 2013, and 2016. For their career, the Refreshments released two albums, one EP, and five singles. Lead singer and guitarist Roger Clyne formed Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers after the band's demise, and is still performing under that moniker, including playing a number of the Refreshments hits when in concert.
Fun Fact #1: Not only did the Refreshments write and perform the theme song for the television show King of the Hill, but they have also penned the theme song for their local baseball team, the (boo!) Arizona Diamondbacks.
"Banditos" was the first single from their debut album, the alliteratively named Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy. While doing my half-assed research, I learned that the single did reach the Billboard Hot 100, but was given no number. I was also unable to find a chart position for the album. Not a good week for Wikipedia entries....
Fun Fact #2. The title of this week's album is a nod to the Who's compilation album Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy. Maybe Wikipedia wasn't so bad after all....
Roger Clyne has said that the inspiration for "Banditos" came from being a poor college student, and playfully dreaming of knocking off a convenience store for money and heading for Mexico. He actually wrote the song while hanging out with friends, and the reference to Jean-Luc Picard came from them all being Star Trek fans. As you might suppose, this one is just fun. That being said, Clyne's vocals are just this side of wonderful, with a mischievous exuberance that plays well with the song's story line (for whatever odd reason I also love the way he says "uh-huh" at the end of several stanzas--just a nice touch of smart ass). There's a couple of nice instrumental breaks, and Clyne's lyrics capture the criminal daydream element with a B-movie embellishment that's worth a smile or two (also love the line "And everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people" in the chorus, but that may just be a reaction to the dumbasses in MAGA). Every now and again, a good pop song is just a good pop song--and "Banditos" is just a good pop song.
Lyric Sheet: "Well, give your I.D. card to the border guard/Now your alias says you're Captain Jean-Luc Picard/Of the United Federation of Planets/"Cause he won't speak English anyway..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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