Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDXLIII--Dr. Hook: The Cover of "Rolling Stone"

A novelty song, such as this week's featured tune, always runs the risk of having a one way ticket to Dorkville, but I think our song of the week keeps its coolness quotient for three main reasons: (1) It was written by Shel Silverstein of Where the Sidewalk Ends fame (among many others, including writing the hit "A Boy Named Sue" for Johnny Cash) (2) It's a tongue-in-cheek look at the lives of rock stars (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), and (3) It was featured in one of the best, if not the best, movies about rock and roll, Almost Famous.  As for my coolness quotient, that ship sailed some time ago....

It was a good week for my half-assed research--not only did I not know Shel Silverstein wrote this week's song, I had no idea Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show (shortened to just plain old Dr. Hook in 1975) was from New Jersey (for some odd ass reason I thought they were a Southern band).  They began their career in 1968 in Union City and developed a reputation as a good live band.  It led eventually to their being signed by the great (or not) Clive Davis who was then at CBS.  While the band had a number of hit singles, they were not able to sell albums, and coupled with their inability to manage money, the band filed for bankruptcy in 1974.  A few more hit singles helped the band get back on its feet, but by 1983 they had run the course of their most success.  Dr. Hook broke up in 1985, reunited in 1988, broke up again in 2015, and reunited for the last time in 2019 and continue to pay their bills playing on the Never-Ending Nostalgia Tour.  For their career, they released twelve studio albums (the last in 1983), twenty-three (!!!) compilation albums, and thirty singles (six of which hit the top ten).

"The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" was the second single from the group's second studio album, the rather crudely titled Sloppy Seconds.  The song would hit #6 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album would peak at #41, the highest charting album of their career.

Fun Fact:  Dr. Hook did make the cover of Rolling Stone, in March of 1973.  Sadly for the band, it was just a caricature of three of its members.  You'd think Rolling Stone would have enough class to give the entire band a photo shoot just for the free advertising....

While I'm sure that someone somewhere has written a dissertation on a novelty song, this post isn't going to attempt to wax poetic about a song that's more or less just a lot of fun.  The song is catchy as all hell, Silverstein's lyrics have some nice word play, there's a knowing wink at the life of a rock star, and the band engages in a lot of banter (apparently a part of their live show).  "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" hearkens back to an era when rock stars were troubadors who played music for the love of the music, and not so their brand could sell perfume and condoms.  If nothing else, it's a nice reminder that once upon a time Corporate America didn't rule the airwaves, and people made music to make other people smile.

Lyric Sheet:  "(Rolling Stone) Wanna see my picture on the cover/(Stone) Wanna buy five copies for my mother/(Stone) Wanna see my smilin' face/On the cover of the Rolling Stone..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXLV--Elton John: Tiny Dancer

In all honesty, if I'd never seen the movie Almost Famous, there is no way "Tiny Dancer" would have been this week's featured tune.  I knew the song in a small way, but it was a minor hit from a thousand years ago.  But once you see the bus scene in Almost Famous where the band and its followers sing along, you'll never forget it--hell, the Beautiful Girl downloaded it from Kazaa (remember that one?) the very next day after she'd seen it.

Elton John is another in a long line of rock and roll stars whose resume is a bit long for a brief recap.  Nonetheless, he has released over thirty albums, sold over 300 million records, won five Brit Awards, five Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Tony.  He was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, has numerous songwriting awards and honors with his partner, lyricist Bernie Taupin, has six albums on the Rolling Stone list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time," and has been given a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth.  He also had thirty-one consecutive years (1970-2000) with at least one single on the Billboard Hot 100, is the first person to ever have an album debut at #1 on the Billboard 200, and has the greatest selling single ("Candle in the Wind") ever in both the U.S. and the U.K (33 million copies).  And truth be told, since 1975 everything he's done has been utter shit to my ears, but much like Rod Stewart (who at least had "Downtown Train" in the eighties) that doesn't take away from the several great years he had from 1970-1975 (he was as big a rock star as there was in that time) that made him a rock and roll icon.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that John is a noted humanitarian and has done much in the battle against AIDS (including having the go to after party for the Academy Awards--surprisingly enough, I've never been), as well as being a leader in LGBT community and a voice for their equal rights.

While "Tiny Dancer" has become a classic and concert staple through the years, it didn't have typical success--originally released in 1972 from the 1971 album Madman Across the Water (one of the better album titles in the rock era), it only reached #41 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and was never even released as a single in the U.K. (thought it made it to #19 in Canada thanks to all the cool Canadian kids).  Still, it's been certified platinum here in the states and silver in the U.K. even though it was not a single (not exactly sure how that worked....).  Unlike many hit singles, as well, it clocks in at over six and a half minutes which is three and a half minutes longer than your average Top 40 radio usually played back in the day.

Lyricist Taupin has said the song was trying to capture the spirit of California in the early seventies as evidenced by the many beautiful women he met there--which I can attest to, though, being a dork, I never actually met them, I just admired them from afar.  In listening to it over the past couple of days, what stands out most to me is its simplicity--while there's a touch of guitar, some drums, and some strings, it's mostly John's piano playing which stays with you.  And then there's the vocals--John manages to convey both the joy and the sorrow that is at the heart of the song, and bounces from storyteller with the staccato breaks to emcee of the upcoming wonder to pop star extraordinaire as he's singing for the tiny dancer to hold him closer.  "Candle in the Wind" may have sold 33 million copies, but "Tiny Dancer" should have--it's Elton John's masterpiece and a timeless classic celebrating the loveliness that is women.

Liner Notes:  "Jesus freaks out in the street/Handing tickets out for God/Turning back she just laughs/The boulevard ain't that bad..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee