Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XCVIII--The Jam: The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)

When I write Friday Night Jukebox each week, the song I've chosen was picked months ago.  I keep a notebook by my computer that lists each week and what song will be written about for that week (I currently have songs lined up through February of 2018)--and there's really no order to how a song is chosen.  I hear it, or remember it, and I think, "Man, that'd be a great one to write about..." and I log it in my FNJ notebook.

Little did I know when it was originally chosen that "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)" by
The Jam, would pop up in the same week as the single most disheartening election of my entire existence.  And let me tell you, the election of Donald Trump was one mother fucking bitter pill to swallow--though I have to admit I'm hoping this trend of FNJ songs reflecting current happenings continues and I win the Powerball jackpot the week I highlight "Money (That's What I Want)"  by Barrett Strong....

In 2002 Virgin Radio did a poll and eventually a countdown of the top 100 English music acts of all time and the top five in order were Queen, The Beatles, Oasis, David Bowie, and...The Jam.  I note this because the first four had substantial, though to somewhat varying degrees, success here in the States, and The Jam had none.  Their most successful album here was Sound Affects which peaked at a celestial #72 (and probably not with much of a bullet either).  Nonetheless, The Jam would probably make my top five favorite bands of all time (and their greatest hits package Snap! is the greatest greatest hits package ever, bar none), and I can honestly say I've met exactly one person in my life who liked them--and that was a hundred years ago when I was in my early twenties.

And here's where I go full on fan boy:  heavily influenced by my all-time favorite band The Who and the band I think is the most underrated group ever, The Kinks, The Jam musically were a mix of sixties pop, Rhythm and Blues, punk, and new wave, and lyrically were political, poetically English, and never lost sight of their working class roots.  Paul Weller's vocals varied from anger to matter-of-fact to sorrow and never sounded false or contrived.  And, as an added bonus, they dressed super snazzily.  Sadly, the band lasted all of five years (1977-1982) before a bitter break-up (Weller and bassist Bruce Foxton didn't speak for twenty years and though now reconciled, Weller said he and his children would have to destitute and living in the streets before he'd ever consider a reunion), releasing only six albums, but leaving dorks like me a host of songs to marvel at into our old age.  Weller would go on to form the Style Council (not for me) and have some solo success; his band mates did what lesser talented band mates usually do:  form lesser talented bands that have as many hits records as I do:  zero.

Released as a single in 1982, "The Bitterest Pill"  surprisingly enough is not about disappointing election results but rather about love lost and the ensuing heartache when said love finds their soul mate who in no way whatsoever resembles you.  I don't want this post to turn into a novel (well on its way!) so suffice it to say that the song combines the best of sixties soul with vocals that fluctuate between heartbreak and, unsurprisingly, bitterness, and all the while it's catchy as all hell, because, what the fuck, just because you're miserable doesn't mean you can't dance.

Lyric sheet:  "For the bitterest pill is hard to swallow/The love I gave hangs in sad coloured, mocking shadows..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LVII--Edwin Starr: War

Good God, y'all....

The first three 45s I ever owned were "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night, "Power to the People" by John Lennon, and "War" by Edwin Starr.  I'd like to tell you I was quite the politically inclined twelve-year-old, but the truth of the matter is that I brought the three of them because so many of the kids in my school thought they were cool, and I wanted to be cool, too.  Alas, that dream died a quick death, but the influence on me of "Power to the People" and "War" would be profound.

Written by Motown greats Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong (click on either link--the list of hit songs they wrote is quite impressive), the song was originally recorded by The Temptations.  Fans clamored for it to be released as a single, but The Temptations were afraid of alienating their core fans so Edwin Starr stepped up and offered to record it.  And when he did, he recorded a song that could arguably be called the greatest protest song ever.

Good God, y'all....

Edwin Starr's career began in the early 1960s (and right here in Detroit, Michigan, home of one Motown records).  His first hit was "Agent Double-O-Soul" (and what a cool title that is, and also the epitaph on his gravestone).  His biggest hit prior to "War" was "25 Miles" (fans of the movie Adventures in Babysitting may recall it).  Released in 1970 on his War and Peace (if you're going to borrow a title, borrow it from the best), the song would go on to reach #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and stay there for three weeks.  Starr would eventually leave the U.S. in 1973 for greener pastures in England where he recorded and toured until his all too early death from a heart attack in 2002.  The influence of "War" is still felt far and wide on televison shows, movies, and various other media as the quintessential anti-war song (Springsteen took a cover version of "War" to #8 in 1986, as well),  For those counting at home, that's six uses of parentheses in a single paragraph which may be a Friday Night Jukebox record....

The thing that amazes me most about "War" is how much it sounds like, well, war.  From the beginning drum roll that leads into an explosion of horns and percussion right before Starr's vocals thunder the words "War, huh yeah/What is it good for?/Absolutely nothing!" all the way to the end where Starr clamors again and again at the injustice of war (and if you listen closely you can hear the drums mimicking marching boots), the song reminds us of the hell that is war.  Even when you listen to the music behind Starr's singing of the verses there's a cacophony to it that recalls helicopters and bombs exploding and gunfire and young men screaming in terror.  The song is literally an aural music video (if that makes any sense) playing out the horrors of war.  And Starr gives a truly great vocal performance with grunts and howls and an urgency that conveys the pain and heartache as well as the all too often utter senselessness of settling our disputes with guns.  "...(W)ho wants to die?"  he asks at the end, lamenting the age old existential quandary of watching too many young men and women die in battle and wondering what the hell for.

"Good God, y'all" indeed.

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee