Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXII--Culture Club: Karma Chameleon

For both of you keeping score at home, this makes three straight weeks without posting on an actual Friday...

I can honestly say that this week's band never had another tune that I remotely liked let alone loved, but when they made featured tune #212, the Gods of Pop threw a thunderbolt with a touch of magic their way and they made the most of it.

Culture Club formed in 1981 in London and head a hell of a run for their first five years. Led by the flamboyant Boy George, the band released four of their six total albums all of which reached the top twenty in their native UK and the top forty here in the States.  They also had ten top ten singles in the UK (two #1's) and seven here in America (one #1).  Sadly the band had some inner turmoil (Boy George and drummer Jon Moss had a tumultuous romantic relationship), and went their separate ways in the mid-eighties.  Boy George through the years has battled addictions to varying drugs and has been arrested for possession a number of times--though he's also found time to start a fashion line, write two autobiographies, continue to write songs, release solo albums, and has become quite a well known DJ.  The band reunited in 1999, released an album that didn't sell, and went back to their lives.  They reunited again in 2011 and have remained together since mostly for touring and the occasional guest appearance, though they did release an album last year.  Overall the band has sold over 150 million records, won a Grammy Award, a couple of Brit Awards (UK's equivalent of our Grammy), and are considered a staple of the eighties new wave movement (with a shout out to MTV).

Fun Fact:  The band's name is a play on the band member's racial, sexual, and religious make-up--it features a gay Irishman, a black Briton, a blonde Briton, and one member of the Jewish persuasion.

"Karma Chameleon" was released in 1983 on their Colour by Numbers album, both of which were the biggest hits of their career.  "Karma Chameleon" went to number one in both the UK (for six weeks) and the US (for three weeks) and eventually sold over five million copies.  The album reached #1 in the UK and stayed at #2 on the Billboard 200 for three weeks behind Michael Jackson's Thriller (there's some luck--having your best selling album on the charts at the same time as the best selling album of all-time) here in America, and sold over sixteen million copies.

There's nothing much fancy about this one--regular readers know that emaycee is a big fan of a) blue-eyed soul, b) harmonicas, and c) catchy pop tunes, all of which are features of "Karma Chameleon."  Ostensibly the song is about staying true to yourself--or rather, the song's protagonist is asking his lover to say true to him/herself.  Boy George' vocals truly carry the day, though there's a nice bass line and some quirky guitar along the way as well.  The chorus is a pop single fan's favorite ice cream--it melts in your mouth and feels good all the way down to the pit of your stomach.  I should also mention that the band chimes in with some really nice backing vocals--a spot here and a spot there that help make the song even better.  "Karma Chameleon" is one of the few songs from the eighties new wave movement that has aged very well and is as hoppin' and boppin' as it was when it first came out thirty-five years ago--another in a long line of great Brit pop.

Lyric Sheet:  "Every day is like survival/You're my lover not my rival..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCIV--John Fogerty: Rock and Roll Girls

After last week's nice character study, we're going back to fun--lookin' out my back door (so to speak) and just enjoying the view....

I wrote  about John Fogerty and Credence Clearwater Revival a while back so I won't rehash their history, other than to note that only the Beach Boys (and I'm not even sure about them) were their peers in the annals of American rock and roll bands.  After CCR's demise in 1972, Fogerty released solo albums in 1973 and 1975 before taking a hiatus from the music business.  He came back with a vengeance in 1985 with his album Centerfield  which would go on to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and propelled Fogerty back into the mainstream of rock and roll.  He's released six more albums (for a total of nine solo LPs) since and solidified his stature as one of rock's greats.  Fogerty has won a Grammy, been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, toured the world over, and has often been a benefactor of veterans groups.  Not bad for a kid who grew up, like me, in the San Francisco Bay Area....

"Rock and Roll Girls" was released in 1985 on the aforementioned Centerfield LP and reached #20 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Surprisingly, the song went to #10 in Austria--who knew there were so many cool kids in Austria?

Fans of CCR may notice the thematic similarity between their 1970 #2 hit "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and "Rock and Roll Girls" (each penned by Fogerty)--both songs are basically paeans to taking a moment to sit back and enjoy watching the world go by.  But while the former is full of dream-like imagery, the latter is based more in the here and now.  The song opens with a signature Fogerty guitar line, quickly introduces a pulsating drum (which more or less carries the song until its end), before Fogerty's vocals send us on our way.  Two facets stick out:  the first is the joyous saxophone (listen to Springsteen much?), and the second, which is one of those special moments that truly make a song great, is the way Fogerty gives the words in the stanza that end in a long "o" a yodelesque (pretty sure there is no such word) quality--it just takes it up a notch and is fun as all hell to sing along (loudly) to as you're flying down the highway...or mowing the lawn...or washing the dishes...you get the picture.  One thing is for sure--there are few songwriters who can pack as much into three minutes of music as John Fogerty can (most of his singles--even the ones with CCR--don't even hit three minutes in length), and "Rock and Roll Girls" is another that can be added to his pantheon of pop songs.

Lyric Sheet:  "If I had my way, I'd shuffle off to Buffalo/Sit by the lake and watch the world go by/Ladies in the sun, listening to the radio..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCIII--Sheryl Crow: Leaving Las Vegas

It's hard to believe it's been twenty-five years since the music store I worked at received a promotional copy of Sheryl Crow's debut album, and I, looking for something new, gave it a listen.  We received exactly one copy of it for sale, and the CD sat in the store for six months before anyone purchased it--at one time I considered pulling it for return but since I really liked the LP, held onto it (prescient move).  Needless to say, Crow has gone on to have quite the career.

Sheryl Crow was born in my one time home of Missouri (meh), was an all state track athlete in high school, graduated with a degree in music from the University of Missouri, and was a music teacher in my actual Missouri home (meh) of Fenton where she also sang commercial jingles before heading westward to chase her dreams.  She sang backup for Michael Jackson on his Bad tour and sang backing vocals for a number of artists before hooking up with a group of musicians who called themselves the Tuesday Night Music Club...and the rest is history.  Over the past twenty-five years Crow has released ten LPs. sold fifty million records, won nine Grammy Awards, and toured throughout the world.  She's had nine top ten albums on the Billboard 200 and three top ten singles.  Interestingly (or not), it would be a toss up as to what has more...either artists she's worked with or organizations she's donated to (the woman is a wonder--everything from cancer research to women's organizations to hunger to politics to...you get the picture).  Crow is a breast cancer survivor and has adopted two boys.

"Leaving Las Vegas" was released in 1994 from Crow's debut album Tuesday Night Music Club and was a moderate hit, reaching #60 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  The song was written by David Baerwald, whom regular readers (both of you) may recall from earlier FNJ featured tune "Welcome to the Boomtown", and his being one half of David + David.

Opening with emaycee fave hand claps and a rock solid bass line, "Leaving Las Vegas" explores the dark underbelly of the American Dream from the confines of our most decadent city.  Baerwald writes a nice character study of a woman looking for redemption and seeing a fresh start away from Vegas as her ticket to a happier life, and Crow delivers the goods with an impassioned performance bolstered by some fine "Whoa-oh-ohs" in the backing vocals..  While I have my doubts the protagonist makers her way out (at least for good), I like the way the song juxtaposes the gambling Vegas is known for and her gamble on leaving as a quick fix for what ails her.  And in the end, while not necessarily every aspect, a lot of life is just one big crapshoot--and "Leaving Las Vegas" is a fine vignette of one person throwing the dice.

Lyric Sheet:  "Such a muddy line between/The things you want/And the things you have to do..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXCIX--Boz Scaggs: Lido Shuffle

If you're familiar with Boz Scaggs, you'll know he has a distinctive vocal style--so much so, that when I was still a young man I spent months trying to imitate it (with some, but not much, success).  A couple of weeks back when I realized a Scaggs' tune was coming soon here on FNJ, I thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to see if I can imitate Scaggs' vocals again?"...and promptly coughed up my larynx....

Boz Scaggs learned to play the guitar at the age of 12, and shortly thereafter began a friendship with Steve Miller that would result in the two of them playing music together for a number of years.  Scaggs went to college at the University of Wisconsin (where he continued to play with Miller) before bouncing around London and Sweden on his own for a couple of years before releasing his first album in 1965 (dud).  He would then relocate to my city by the Bay, where he became the lead vocalist for the Steve Miller Band's first two LP's.  Scaggs went solo again in 1968 and released his second album which contains the seminal (and long, at over twelve minutes) song, "Loan Me a Dime."  Scaggs continued to release albums steadily and then in 1976 released Silk Degrees, which would go on to sell over 5 million copies and make Scaggs an international star.  Scaggs success would continue through the early eighties before the inevitable tapering off that afflicts so many artists set in.  In all, Scaggs has released 19 studio LPs (the latest just this year), had two top ten LPs, a top ten single (the incredible "Lowdown"), won a Grammy Award, and co-owns a club in San Francisco as well as owning a vineyard.  His son, Austin, is a music critic for Rolling Stone.  Not a bad little career at all.

Fun Fact:  A classmate of Scaggs at a prep school in Texas began calling him "Bosley" which over time was shortened to "Boz" and thus created his distinctive moniker.

Fun Fact #2:  I was quite the Scaggs fan back in the day and wanted to name my oldest son "Boz" in tribute to Mr. Scaggs.  Fortunately, my first wife was the brains in the outfit and nixed that idea forthwith...

"Lido Shuffle" was released in 1977 on the aforementioned Silk Degrees LP.  It would eventually reach #11 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 (it would hit #2 in Australia and #5 in Canada--so many cool kids in Australia and Canada, eh...).  On a completely unrelated note, I scored a copy of Silk Degrees for a buck a few months back and spent two solid months listening to it on my drives to and from work--had forgotten what a fine piece of work it was.

I think what stands out for me about "Lido Shuffle" is how different it is from most of what Scaggs has released through the years.  He's known for smooth pop songs (with elements of jazz and R & B) and lush ballads, but this one is as close to a balls out rocker as he's done.  And he manages to do it with little or no guitar (the credits list three guitarists but I'll be damned if I can hear them).  It's driven by a rock solid bass line and some pulsating drumming.  There's a nice organ solo about midway through that features emaycee fave hand claps...and did I mention it's a song about a small time hood looking for one last big score before he calls it a career?  Throughout, Scaggs vocals (as ever) provide the juice to make it electric.  All in all, it's a rock tune from the 70's that, like so many others from that decade, stands the test of time.

Lyric Sheet:  "He'll be making like a bee line/Headin' for the borderline/Goin' for broke/Sayin' one more hit ought to do it/This joint ain't nothin' to it..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXCVII--Linda Ronstadt: Long, Long Time

Truth be told, poets do unrequited love much better than musicians--one supposes because poets spend a lot of time dreaming about love and rock and roll stars actually get out there and make it.  But every now and again, as with this week's tune, a song comes along that gives Yeats and his Maud Gonne adoration at least a pinch on the cheek....

While I was doing my half-assed research on Linda Ronstadt this week, it became quickly apparent that--much like Elvis Costello--her music resume was amply long enough to make me wonder just what the fuck I've done with the last nearly sixty years of my life.  Ronstadt doesn't show up on anyone's radar much anymore (more on why later), but in the 70's she was literally the queen of rock and roll.  She was the first woman to have three consecutive platinum albums (which eventually reached eight in a row), sold out arenas around the world, was on the cover of Rolling Stone six times, Time three times, and Newsweek once.  And just to keep it interesting, she was also the girlfriend of California governor Jerry Brown (yes, the same Jerry Brown who's currently governor of California yet again).  She proceeded to follow that up in the 80's and 90'd with a Tony nomination for her performance in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, released three albums of American standards (eat your heart out Rod Stewart), one of which made me a lifelong fan of George and Ira Gershwin's "Someone to Watch Over Me," released an album of Mexican standards, and made an album with country icons Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.  Over the course of her career, Ronstadt has released over thirty albums, sold over 100 million records, won eleven Grammy Awards, and been elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  She accomplished all of this while remaining fiercely a woman, in a business that was (and still is) exceedingly male dominated.  Sadly, Ronstadt retired in 2011 due to health issues; in 2012 she was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and in a cruel twist of fate, she said that she "can no longer sing a note."

Fun Fact:  In 1971, Ronstadt's backing band for a few months consisted of Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon--who together would go on to form a little band called The Eagles....

Released in 1970 on Silk Purse, her second solo album, "Long, Long Time" was the second hit of Ronstadt's career (the first, with her original band, The Stone Poneys, was the also excellent "Different Drum").  It would go on to reach #25 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and lead to her first Grammy nomination.  It was critically acclaimed, as well, and was the foot in the door that lead to Ronstadt becoming one of the biggest stars of her day.

One of the things that helps in enjoying "Long, Long Time" is if you've ever had an unrequited love (moi? nev...okay, a time or two)--Ronstadt and songwriter Gary White do an excellent job of capturing the pathos and the (sometimes) insanity that goes with realizing that someone has never loved you and is never going to love you and yet still continuing to love that person.  The song is sparse--the music is just a plucked guitar and some strings (kind of sappy), the lyrics are relatively simple (and kind of sappy), but what makes the song, and keeps it from being just another overwrought ballad are Ronstadt's vocals, which are nothing short of otherworldly.  It's not just the timbre, it's also the inflections she uses that comes close to making the vocals acting as singing (if that makes any sense).  In short, every now and again a ballad comes along that's a swift kick to the heart, and "Long, Long Time" is one such song.

Lyric Sheet:  "Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine/And I think I'm gonna love you for a long, long time..."

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXCV--The Romantics: What I Like About You

It's back to my adopted home city for another in a long line of bands from the Motor City who have put their stamp on pop music.

The Romantics formed in 1977 right here in Detroit, Michigan, and played their first show on Valentine's Day opening for the New MC5 (not to be confused with the old MC5, who could really kick out the jams, motherfuckers!).  Over the next decade they would have a fair amount of success, especially in 1983 when they had a top 20 album and a top five single (the not particularly good, "Talking in Your Sleep"--there was a lot of hit and miss in the new wave era).  While they won't be entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame any time soon, they were voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2011 (shit you not, had absolutely no clue such a place existed and I've lived in Michigan for 17 years now).  Through the years they have released 6 LPs (the last in 2003), two EPs, and one live album, and have toured regularly.  While they have appeared in somewhere near a million different incarnations (only a slight exaggeration) since their inception, thanks to two hit singles they are still together and performing to this day.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, playing music for a living can be a great gig with a little luck and a knack for writing an arresting tune.

"What I Like About You" was the first single released from their rather inventively named debut album The Romantics in 1980 (egads, has it been that long?).  The song would go on to reach #49 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, though it would reach #2 on the Australian charts (so many cool kids in Australia...).  The song would actually become a much bigger part of the pop music lexicon in the late 80's when it was used as the background music for a series of Budweiser commercials.  As some famous pop singer once said, whatever gets you through the night....

"What I Like About You" is the type of song that music critics probably hate and fans of pop music anthems adore.  It's little more than a I'm Cray-Cray-Crazy For You Baby song, but it is otherworldly catchy and absolutely chock full of musical goodies.  Right from the beginning with the in unison screaming of "Hey" (featured throughout) and the "Uh-uhs" through the hand claps, and all of it backed by some fine jangly guitars.  There's a nice instrumental break in the middle that closes with some hyperkinetic harmonica (and emaycee always loves him some harmonica), before the band breaks into the final verse, closing with the lead singer whispering "That's what I like about you" repeatedly before the hand claps return to bring us to the end.  And once again all the little pieces come together to make an unforgettable single for a pop lovin' doofus like me.

Lyric Sheet:  "What I like about you/You keep me warm at night/Never wanna let you go/Know you make me feel all right, yeah..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXCIII--Smokey Robinson: Being with You

This week's tune was released just a short while after I began managing my first Camelot Music store, and not only did it teach me that the business end of music was often forgettable, but it also taught me that music artists can make some serious magic when they combine the best of pop with the best of soul.  The first lesson probably explains why I never made it to Executive Vice President (there was a lot more to it than that...), while the second led me to many a fine R and B tune over the course of my life.

William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. has been in the music business longer than I've been alive.  Starting out in my adopted hometown of Detroit, Michigan in 1955, Robinson began making music when he was still in high school with The Five Chimes, who eventually became the much better known the Miracles.  In 1957 Robinson met one Berry Gordy, who helped him and the Miracles release their first single ("Got a Job"), and it would lead to one hell of a collaboration.  Between 1960 and 1970, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles would release 26 singles that reached the top 40 (including Motown's first million selling record, "Shop Around").  When Robinson wasn't writing songs for the Miracles he kept plenty busy writing hit songs for other Motown artists--"My Guy" for Mary Wells, "My Girl" for the Temptations, and "I'll Be Doggone" for Marvin Gaye, among many others.  In the early 1970's Robinson departed the Miracles to focus on his duties as VP of Motown, but eventually returned to music and went solo, and while not quite having the success he did with the Miracles, did pretty darn well for himself (including winning his only Grammy Award).  He last released an album in 2014 (the obligatory--these days--duet album) which reached #12 on the Billboard 200.  Robinson was elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 (though, oddly, the Miracles weren't until 2012), and also elected into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1989.

"Being with You" was released in 1981 on his appropriately enough entitled LP, Being With You.  It would go on to reach #2 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Surprisingly, for all the hits Robinson has had throughout his career, he's only had one #1 single--the classic "Tears of a Clown."

Fun Fact:  Robinson got his nickname from a favorite uncle who used to take him to cowboy movies (which Robinson loved) when he was a child.  The uncle wanted to give him a cowboy name and came up with "Smokey Joe."  Eventually Robinson dropped the Joe and just became Smokey.

Somewhat like last week's (yesterday's?) tune, there's a subtlety to "Being with You" that's easy to miss at first listen.  With Robinson's silky smooth vocals and a dreamy melody, one could easily mistake the song for a walking on the beach, holding hands with the wind in our hair kind of love ballad.  Alas, this one's about a man whose friends are warning him about the woman he's crazy about, but he doesn't care because he likes being with her (thematically, it's somewhat similar to Wilson Pickett's "When a Man Loves a Woman"), and he's willing to give them up rather than lose her.  Robinson shows a maturity as a songwriter, though, as the protagonist does wonder whether he's been made blind by love, and if he's being a fool.  There's some nice saxophone work throughout, Robinson coos wondrously in the background (one could probably write a post just about Robinson's vocals--a gift from the gods of music), and even some twenty-six years into his career, he can still write a tune that you'll be singing and humming for days.  While Robinson has had any number of singles that could be called classics, this one is a nice reminder that although artists get older, they can still make a little magic.

Lyric Sheet:  "Or can it be, that like love I am blind?/Do I want it so much 'til it's all in my mind?"

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXXXII--The Beach Boys: God Only Knows

Truth be told, if Rolling Stone hadn't released it's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" my choice here probably would have been "Good Vibrations" (not a bad choice, either--actually ranked higher on Rolling Stone's list at #6).  But Rolling Stone did, I gave it a a rather late first listen, and fell in love with it instantly.  Probably doesn't hurt that the song is featured prominently toward the end of one of my all-time favorite movies, Love Actually.

The Beach Boys are another in a long line of bands featured here on FNJ whose bio is a bit long for a blog post.  Nonetheless...they (original lineup:  brothers Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine) had their beginnings in the late 50's, had a great run from the early to late 60's, pretty much became a nostalgia act by the mid 70's, and are still together today, though Jardine and Love run separate versions of the band on the oldies circuit.  The band has had numerous internal squabbles through the years.  Brian Wilson is generally credited as being the genius behind the band, though the rest of the band played crucial roles.  Brian had massive mental health issues for a number of years (somewhat coinciding with the band's commercial and critical decline), but in recent times seems to have gained something of a foothold on his problems.  The Beach Boys are the most successful American band in history, with thirty-six top 40 hits and over 100 million records sold.  They were #12 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time."  Sadly, Dennis Wilson drowned drunkenly in 1983 and Carl Wilson succumbed to lung cancer in 1998.  Still, though their fortunes have waxed and waned through the years, they will always be one of a handful of rock and roll artists whose catalog represents much of the best of what rock and roll has to offer, and their influence on the music and on other artists is immeasurable.

Released in 1966 on their seminal LP, Pet Sounds, "God Only Knows" was only released as a B-side (to "Wouldn't It Be Nice") here in the states and only reached #39 (though still with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Overseas it was released as an A-side (so many cool kids overseas), and was much more commercially successful (it hit #2 on the UK Singles Chart).  Surprisingly, as it's considered one of the greatest albums ever and it's from a very commercially successful band, Pet Sounds only reached #10 on the Billboard 200 and sold a mere 500,000 copies (which is merely 500,000 more copies than I've ever sold).

Fun Fact:  Believe it or not, there was much internal consternation over the use of the word "God"--in the 1966 pop world, God was as unthinkable as an expletive.  Eventually the band decided the word was being used in the more secular way (i.e., "My God, what the hell is that?"), rather than with any religious connotation and the lyrics were left intact.

This one is a little hard to write about--it's musical structure is way above my meager musical knowledge (Wikipedia gives a nice run down if that's your cup of tea).  And Brian Wilson used instruments that aren't exactly your run of the mill rock and roll instruments (French horns, violas, cellos, harpsichords, a sleigh bell).  Some have compared it to classical pieces--again, not exactly my forte.  So suffice it to say that it has harmonies that the Gods of Rock and Roll personally oversaw, that it's theme of a love that leaves one wondering where one would be without it is one muses would fight over, and that in the annals of pop songwriting I'm not sure there has ever been a better song written and composed.  And when Paul McCartney says it's his favorite song of all time...well you know you are listening to something very, very special.

Lyric Sheet:  (One of the finest ultra short choruses ever written) "God only knows what I'd be without you..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXXIV--The Staple Singers: I'll Take You There

We still have a few more 70's tunes to go, you know...

My introduction to the Staple Singers actually came a few years after their biggest hit--they collaborated with the Band on their classic song "The Weight" for Martin Scorsese's The Last Walt\z.  It's an unforgettable performance, with Mavis Staples taking the second stanza and Pops Staples the third, with the rest of the family providing backing vocals throughout.  Hate to overstate the case, but the two groups' performance borders on being a religious experience--it's that powerful.

Pops Staples moved from Mississippi to Chicago (can't imagine why a black man would want to get out of Mississippi...) after he got married and worked in steel mills and meat packing plants until 1952 when he and his children signed their first professional contract and began performing as the Staple Singers (for whatever reason, though their last name is Staples, the band's named features Staple in the singular).  They started out primarily as a gospel group, but by the mid-sixties had progressed into R & B and soul.  They were well known for being active in the civil rights movement and many of their songs reflected their activism.  Over the course of their forty-two year career, they released 17 albums (two of which were in the top twenty on the Billboard 200), and had two #1 singles.  They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Gospel Hall of Fame in 2018.  Sadly, Pops Staples and sisters Yvonne and Cleotha have departed this vale, though brother Pervis and sister Mavis still remain with us.  Mavis still performs regularly, and though 79, still sings like an angel...

Released in 1972 on their biggest selling album, Be Altitude:  Respect Yourself, "I'll Take You There" would go on to become the Staple Singers first #1 (with a bullet!) single on the Billboard Hot 100.  Their second #1, "Let's Do It Again" in 1975 would mark the end of their commercial success--still, they had a nice run for about ten years and were able to perform until the end of their days because of it.

Driven by a wicked bass line and some pulsating drumming, "I'll Take You There" is more magic soul from the 70's.  Combining elements of soul, R & B, gospel, and the blues, The Staple Singers take the song to an otherworldly plateau.  Though some feel the song is speaking of heaven, others believe the Staples are taking us to a place in this world, once we move past all the racism and hate and achieve true equality for all.  Regardless, while they were recording this one the Gods of Music reached down and blessed Mavis Staples voice because her vocals really do take us there--and with plenty of help from the family's backing vocals.  It's a striking back and forth, and a testament to the power of music to both address social issues and provide the background music for the struggle and the strugglers.

Rap Sheet:  "I know a place/Ain't nobody cryin'/Ain't nobody worried/Ain't no smilin' faces/Mmm, no no/Lyin' to the races..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXXIII--Cat Stevens: Moonshadow

The 70's, yada, yada, yada...

Anyhoo, when I was young and in high school, there were a fair amount of my fellow students who thought Cat Stevens was the shit...and I wasn't one of them.  In fact, I really never gave him much thought after his heyday had passed until 10,000 Maniacs released a nice cover version of his song "Peace Train" when I began to give my previous lack of interest a second thought, and it was cemented when my youngest son, who is a huge fan of our moon, liked when I sang this week's tune every time we were ensconced in our very own moonshadows.  While he'll never be Bruce Springsteen to me, he's certainly had his share of tunes that I now greatly enjoy, and serves as a reminder to me of how my musical tastes have evolved (devolved?) through the years.

Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) has certainly had a most interesting life.  He had his first hit in 1967 in his native England at the age of nineteen, with his debut album hitting #7 on the U.K. charts and featuring two top ten singles.  Two years later he had contracted tuberculosis and spent months in the hospital and a year recuperating.  After his nearly dying, Stevens decided to change his career trajectory from that of pop star to folk singer--with excellent results.  From 1970 to 1977, Stevens released eight albums, six of which hit the top ten (including one #1), and had twelve singles reach the top 40.  At the height of his popularity, Stevens came close to drowning off the coast of California and promised God if he lived he'd devote his life to working for Him.  Shortly thereafter Stevens' brother gave him a copy of the Quran, and Stevens eventually converted to Islam.  Not feeling comfortable with  the rock and roll lifestyle and his new religion, Stevens walked away from the spotlight in the late 70's and devoted himself to Muslim causes.  In the mid 90's he began playing Islamic music and by the mid 2000's had come to believe that music was a way of sharing God's love and returned to touring and making music.  Stevens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.  There's a lot more to Stevens' life--much of it involving his Muslim faith and not all of it easy or good for him--but in the end, Stevens literally put his money where his mouth was, donating a substantial portion of his earnings to charitable causes.

Fun Fact:  Stevens return to the music of his youth in the 2000's was aided by his son bringing a guitar home--Stevens began to play for the first time in many years and had an epiphany of sorts.  Behold the power of the guitar!

Released in 1970 as a single in his native U.K. and later on his wonderfully named LP Teaser and the Firecat here in the States, "Moonshadow" would reach #30 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Stevens says it's his favorite song of his older material, and it has been made into an animated short film and a musical.

Stevens was a young and successful pop star on vacation in Spain when he saw his shadow in the moonlight for the first time (growing up in London he said the lamplights were too powerful to allow the showcasing of the moon's rays), and then wrote a song about his experience.  The song is sparse--it's just Stevens playing an acoustic guitar and singing, with a touch of backing vocals (which may or may not be just Stevens), but through his playing and vocals Stevens captures the joy (I'd say almost giddiness) of his discovery of his shadow in the moonlight.  There's a whimsical quality, almost childlike, to the song, and even today, though he's thirteen now, my youngest son will still on occasion  ask me to sing it when the moon is full and while we're basking in our very own moonshadows reflecting off our driveway.

Lyric Sheet:  "Oh, if I ever lose my eyes, if my colours all run dry/Yes, if I ever lose my eyes, oh if...I won't have to cry no more..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXXII--The Spinners: Games People Play

For the umpteenth time here in 2018, FNJ will be featuring another tune from the 70's--while I'll never be one of those people who claims they don't make music like they used to (sure they do--you just don't have the time you once did to hunt it all down), there was certainly something special about the music of the 70's (which, not coincidentally, could also have a lot to do with the 70's being the time of my coming of age).

The Spinners formed in 1954 in my adopted home of Detroit, Michigan and began their careers on Gordon Berry's dream, Motown.  They wouldn't have their first hit until 1961, their second until 1965, and shortly after their third ("It's a Shame"--another great cut, penned by one Stevland Morris) they would move on to Atlantic Records and under the guidance of producer Thom Bell would shoot into the stratosphere of seventies soul groups.  Between 1972 and 1980, the Spinners would have 7 top ten singles (including a #1 with Dionne Warwick, "Then Came You"--again, another great cut), and 16 singles total in the Billboard Hot 100.  Unfortunately, after 1980 the Spinners commercial success fizzled out, and they released the last of their 18 albums in 1989, and their last single to chart was in 1995.  Though only one original member is still with us, the Spinners remain a huge draw on the oldies circuit and continue performing to this day.  In one of pop music's greatest travesties, the Spinners, though nominated in 2015, have yet to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--seriously, Bon Jovi and Kiss are in, but not the Spinners?  WTF?

Released in 1975 on their Pick of the Litter LP, "Games People Play" (also referenced as "They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play)" though God only knows why since it's considerably longer and not what the song was originally called upon its release) would go on to reach #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.

Fun Fact:  "Games People Play" was also a #1 hit on the Billboard R & B chart--and it immediately followed FNJ  #170, Natalie Cole's "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)."  A good couple of weeks for a child of the 70's....

I could tell you that "Games People Play" features some rock solid piano and horn playing, as well as a hint of electric guitar.  I could also tell you it's a song about being a little blue about the nature of your fellow beings, and finding a face in the crowd that gives just a little hope.  And I could tell you about the wonderful interplay of the vocals of Bobby Smith, Pervis Jackson, and backup band singer Evette Benton.  But the piece de la resistance, the part that makes it a classic instead of just a great song, is the interlude that begins with Jackson's magical bass vocals that begins "12:45...."  This is how great it is:  Jackson earned the nickname "Mr. 12:45" for his role in the interlude and he only sings four lines.  My words don't do it justice, but trust me "Games People Play" is a wondrous soul single from a wondrous decade for soul singles.

Rap Sheet:  "12:45/Headed for the subway home/I took my time/'Cause I felt so all alone/Not far away/I heard a funny sound took a look around, and I/Could see her face/Smiling as she came, calling out my name..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXX--Natalie Cole: This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)

Another week, another trip back to emaycee's teen years--and one of my first faves by a female vocalist...which would eventually become a lifelong love affair with female pop singers.

Natalie Cole had quite the musical pedigree--her father was the unforgettable (so to speak) Nat King Cole.  Despite that, Natalie Cole originally was turned down by numerous labels for her initial effort, before Capitol Records saw what the others had missed.  She started singing professionally at the age of six on one of her father's Christmas LPs and over the course of the next fifty some odd years released 23 albums, won 9 Grammy Awards, sold over 30 million records, had numerous gold and platinum releases, and had slightly more ups and downs than a seismograph chart (slight exaggeration).  After a stunning start to her career, Cole battled drug addiction into the mid 80's and would see her career plummet right alongside her health.  Though Cole cleaned up by the late 80's and had a major career resurrection (her album of her father's standards, Unforgettable...with Love, sold 7 million copies and won her six Grammys), her earlier drug addiction led to later complications that caused her to need a kidney transplant in 2009, and sadly, her death from congestive heart failure in 2015.

Not So Fun Fact:  Despite her self-assuredness of an everlasting love, Cole was married three times with the marriages lasting 4,6, and 3 years respectively.  Sometimes fame ain't all it's cracked up to be...

Released in April of 1975 on her Inseparable album, "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" would go on to reach #6 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Oddly enough, when the song was originally released it was simply called "This Will Be" but over time most references add the parenthetical aside.

This week's tune has a little bit of everything--it's got gospel elements, soul elements, jazz elements, and pop elements, with a bit of the Andrews Sisters thrown in (a la "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy").  The song opens with a peppy piano, quickly adds in some buoyant horns (which are prominent throughout), and throws in another in a long line of emaycee song faves with plenty of hand claps.  Cole's vocals pulsate with sheer joy and there's some nice overdubbing of same (which reminds me somewhat of the aforementioned Andrews Sisters), and close with a staccato like burst of back and forth on "this will be," "love," and "you and me" which always makes me smile.  There's a lot of fun in "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)," but there's also an awful lot of musical genius that turn it into an unforgettable (so to speak) piece of musical magic.

Rap Sheet:  "This will be/You and me/Yessir-ee/Eternally/Hugging and squeezing, and kissing and pleasing/Together forever through ever whatever..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXIX--Leo Sayer: Long Tall Glasses

This week we're returning to the 70's for the sixth week in the last seven--a little pop ditty that was among the first 45 RPM records that I ever bought...

Like many artists featured here on Friday Night Jukebox, Leo Sayer had a nice run for several years--from the mid 70's to the early 80's he had two #1 singles, two other top ten singles, and two top twenty albums (and he had even more success in his native U.K.).  He also won a Grammy Award for best Rhythm and Blues Song for a song that was neither rhythm nor blues ("You Make Me Feel Like Dancing"), appeared on the Muppet Show, and once performed a song on British TV dressed as Pierrot (why, yes, I did have to look that up).  Over the course of his forty-five year career, Sayer has released twenty-three albums, the last in 2015.  Sayer eventually settled in Australia, where he still tours regularly.

Released in 1975 from his 1974 album Just a Boy, "Long Tall Glasses" would become the first top ten hit for Sayer in the U.S., reaching #9 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  

Fun Fact:  Sayer had a #2 single with "The Show Must Go On" in the U.K....which was also the last top ten single for fellow FNJ alum Three Dog Night, reaching #4 here in the States in 1974.

"Long Tall Glasses" is not your conventional top 40 hit--it tells the tale of a tired and hungry hobo who comes across an establishment offering food and drink for everyone.  When he gets inside he discovers there's good food everywhere...but in order to partake, he has to "...dance like Fred Astaire."  Our hero is uncertain at first, but then decides to give it a whirl and finds that hell, yes, he can dance.  Needless to say, this one is all about the fun--Sayer throws in a lot of little goodies like accentuating the "aire" part of Astaire, and describing glasses of wine as being full "up to yar."  There's also a lot of emaycee fave banjo playing throughout, plus some spirited vocals and guitar from Sayer who alternates between playfulness and sheer joyfulness.  It won't make anybody forget "Blowin' in the Wind," but it will make you bop around the kitchen while you're cooking up the burritos for the night's dinner...

Lyric Sheet:  "I can dance/I really hit the floor/Ah, it feels good/Look at me dancing..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXVIII--Elvin Bishop: Fooled Around and Fell in Love

My first recollection of this week's tune is riding the bus when I was a junior in high school and a girl (one of the cool kids who had a reputation for being meaner than hell--the kind of person a shy kid like me stayed away from) getting on the bus as it was playing, and having no inhibitions about singing her heart out as it blared from WLS 89 out of Chicago.  It made me wonder if just maybe it was a little more than just another ballad on the top 40.  A few years later in college I would see her at a coffee house, just her and an acoustic guitar on the stage, and I was still in awe at how much she loved music and how well she sang, still no inhibitions about sharing her soul with the rest of us....

Elvin Bishop went to the University of Chicago where he majored in physics--but unlike many of his fellow physics majors, after graduation he decided he wanted to be a star rather than study them.  In 1963 he hooked up with Paul Butterfield and appeared as lead guitarist on several of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's albums until the late 60's.  From there he went solo, and over the course of the next fifty years or so released 20 albums (the latest in 2017), six live albums, and toured the world over.  In 2015 Bishop was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and the year after was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in his own right.

Originally released in 1975 on his album Struttin' My Stuff, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" was released as a single the following year and would reach #3 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  It would be the only hit of Bishop's career (as we've learned time and again here on FNJ, one is more than enough to build a career on)--though he didn't sing the tune himself.  Bishop felt his voice wasn't right for the song and asked one of his backup vocalists, Mickey Thomas, to sing it.  Thomas parlayed the success into a gig with Jefferson Starship--which was probably a good financial move on his part, but definitely cost him coolness points....

For the second straight week we have a song which isn't a typical emaycee  fave--I'm one of about three white American men in his fifties who doesn't think the blues are the be all end all of music--and "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" most definitely has a bluesy feel to it.  It tells the tale of a man who spent many a year playing the field (by his estimation a million girls, though emaycee thinks that may be a bit of an exaggeration) until, whoops, he fell right in love with one of them.  Thomas's vocals do an excellent job of capturing the soul of a man who's surprised to find he's fallen in love, Bishop has a killer guitar solo about halfway through (I'm not familiar with much of Bishop's work, but it shows a neophyte fan why he's in the Blues Hall of Fame), and the song closes with a catchy back and forth on the words "fooled around" which keeps it spinning round and round in your head for weeks on end (not necessarily a bad thing).  All in all, it's a nice blues ballad that serves as a reminder (for me) that not everything in high school was a living hell....

Lyric Sheet:  "Free, on my own, that's the way I used to be/But since I met you baby, love's got a hold on me..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXVII--Al Stewart: Year of the Cat

I often note in my weekly posts here on FNJ, with some sense of amazement, how many artists I've featured have turned a hit or two into a career in the music business.  I'm not really sure why I'm amazed--it's not like only having a couple of hit records instantly makes you into a prime candidate for being an Assistant Manager at Foot Locker after the glow is gone.  Still, it's special that there are folks who love music enough to keep making it even without the fame and fortune (though I'm sure the fortune from having a hit single can certainly prolong a career).

And such is the case with this week's featured artist, Al Stewart, who began his career in 1966 in London, released several albums with little fanfare before having back to back top ten LPs in the late 70's, and then faded into relative obscurity, though he still has a small but devoted following.  Still, it was enough to let Stewart play music for over 52 years now--he's released sixteen albums, three live albums, and still tours extensively these many years down the road.  Stewart is well known for writing songs with an historical bent to them, as well as being a songwriter's songwriter--lots of imagery and fancy words.  He's said that he tries to make his songs into aural cinema--a movie song, more or less--and at least as it pertains to this week's tune, I can certainly see it that way.

Fun Fact:  In 1969, Stewart released an album called Love Chronicles, which included an 18 minute song of the same name chronicling (so to speak) the sexual adventures of his youth and it was the first mainstream song to contain the word "fucking,"  Alrighty, then...

Released in 1976 on his aptly titled Year of the Cat LP, "Year of the Cat" would go on to reach #8 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1977, and become Stewart's signature song.  Surprisingly, it is not his biggest single--"Time Passages" released the next year would go on to reach #7 (also with a bullet....).  The LP would be the biggest seller of Stewart's career, reaching #5 on the Billboard 200.  For those interested in such things, the cat is one of the twelve signs of the Vietnamese zodiac, and, luck of all luck, Stewart actually recorded it in the year of the cat....

"Year of the Cat" is a somewhat different song for an emaycee fave--clocking in at a little over 6 and a half minutes, four minutes of the song is instrumental.  And while the chorus is catchy as all hell, it's basically just one line ("...in the year of the cat..." or a slight variation thereof) repeated just five times throughout the song.  Still, it's a great story--man traveling through a foreign city encounters a mysterious woman at a bazaar and after spending the day and night with her realizes he's missed his bus, lost his ticket, and is going to stay with her...though he probably shouldn't.  Stewart manages to throw in references to Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre ("Casablanca"), opens it with a killer piano intro (being a guitar aficionado, I sometimes forget how great piano is in pop songs), has a long instrumental break that goes from acoustic guitar solo to electric guitar solo to sax solo seamlessly, and overall has written one of the truly great story songs in the history of pop music.  Stewart noted after he recorded it that if the song wasn't a hit record he wasn't ever going to have a hit record--fortunately for the rest of us it was, and the rest is rock and roll history.

Lyric Sheet:  "On a morning from a Bogart movie/In a country where they turn back time/You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre/Contemplating a crime..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXVI--The Del-Vikings: Come Go with Me

"Dom-dom dom-dom dom-de-doo-be"...proof positive that the best lyrics don't have to be "How many roads must a man walk down?" or "In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream..." to make a classic pop song.

The Del-Vikings (sometimes the Dell Vikings or the Dell-Vikings) were formed in Pittsburgh, PA in 1955 by several servicemen stationed at a nearby Air Force Base.  Known as a doo-wop group, they had three top 15 singles by 1957...and haven't come close since.  Still, the band is performing to this day, though through the years they have split, reunited, had several different incarnations (thus the differing spellings on the band name), and had something near to 52,000 different members (only a slight exaggeration).  Near as I can tell, all of the original band members have departed this vale, but their legacy as one of the few racially integrated bands in the 1950's to achieve chart success is a fine feather in their caps...as is the wonderful single featured this week on FNJ.

Released in 1956, "Come Go with Me" would go on to reach #4 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and was the biggest selling single of the Del-Vikings' career, eventually going gold.  The song would also be listed at #449 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"--a fine tidbit for their musical resume.

Fun Fact:  The first time Paul McCartney saw John Lennon, Lennon's band the Quarrymen was playing "Come Go with Me"--and Lennon couldn't remember the words so he made them up as the song went along.  Tsk, tsk, John!

As I noted in the intro, there are pop songs that try to make a big statement, and there are pop songs that are just a hell of a lot of fun...and "Come Go with Me" sits squarely in the latter.  Opening with the wonderful scatting and closing their intro with the always welcome "whoa whoa whoa," the song is little more than a boy telling a girl that he loves her and just wants a chance to win her heart.  The harmonies are as good as any you'll ever hear, and there is an absolutely killer saxophone (replete with hand claps, as well) solo about two thirds of the way in...before closing with some more unparalleled harmonies.  This one is all about the fun--I can tell you that no matter how bad of a day I'm having, if I hear this song it is immediately lightened, and it'll be ear candy for the next several days. Just a great single from the early days of rock and roll....

Lyric Sheet:  "Dom-dom dom-dom dom-de-doo-be dom dom dom dom dom dom-de-doo-be dom dom dom dom dom dom-de-doo-be dom, whoa, whoa, whoa..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXV--Paul Simon: American Tune

It can be hard sometimes, in our current political climate, to not wonder if the U.S. has finally jumped the shark as a nation and question whether it's all downhill from here on out.  I'm not there myself--and might be too much of a pessimistic optimist to ever reach that point--but when you live in a nation where thirty-five percent of our people are willing to overlook the fact that our President may be in cahoots with a foreign adversary, you do have to question it.  This week's tune looks at the opposite of Thunderclap Newman's call to arms and quietly contemplates the resignation of a weary people.

Paul Simon is another in a long line of artists featured here on Friday Night Jukebox whose career can't easily be summed up in a paragraph.  Starting out with his work with Art Garfunkel as Tom and Jerry (with a couple of minor hits), moving into superstardom with Simon and Garfunkel, breaking up at the height of the band's popularity to go solo and continuing his success through the seventies, reinventing himself in the eighties with his foray into world music (among others), Simon has had quite the run.  He's won 16 Grammys (three for album of the year), been elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for both Simon and Garfunkel as well as for his solo work, wrote and starred in a movie (One Trick Pony), created a Broadway musical (Capeman), and showed up on several different Rolling Stone All-time lists (album, guitarists, songwriter).  This doesn't even count the numerous #1 albums, #1 singles, millions of records sold, and record breaking world tours.  Needless to say, it adds up to a career resume that isn't surpassed by many (Dylan, Springsteen, Townshend, McCartney, and maybe a couple of others that don't immediately spring to mind).

Released in 1973 on his wonderfully titled There Goes Rhymin' Simon LP, "American Tune" was the third single from the album and peaked at #35 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Despite its not being the most commercially successful single of his career, the song has become a fan favorite through the years and one of the most popular on his concert tours, both solo and with Art Garunkel.

Simon says he wrote "American Tune" in the aftermath of Richard Nixon's re-election in 1972, which may have been some serious prescience on Simon's part as it would be nearly two years before Watergate brought the Nixon administration to its knees.  There's a certain resignation in the songs music and lyrics, though I've always thought the references to rest were more to rest up to fight another day rather than giving in to the powers that be.  Still, Simon sings "But it's all right, it's all right" three times as he weaves his tale, and I don't think the line is an accident.  Yes, we're all tired and weary, he seems to be saying, but we'll get there yet.  To me, "American Tune" is ageless--in this, the era of Trump, we need all the hope we can get and this song, forty-five years down the road, reminds us that though we may not be forever blessed, we can still sing an American tune as we continue the unending struggle.

Lyric Sheet:  "And I don't know a soul who's not been battered/And I don't have a friend who feels at ease/I don't know a dream that's not been shattered or driven to its knees/But it's all right, it's all right..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXIV--Thunderclap Newman: Something in the Air

This week's tune remains as relevant today as it did when it was originally released--there is something in the air here in 2018 and it does smell like revolution (just ask the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL)...

Thunderclap Newman was formed by Who mastermind Pete Townshend (who also produced their work) and its manager, Kit Lambert, in 1969 to showcase the talents of John "Speedy" Keen, a former roadie extraordinaire for the Who.  The band had a short history--by 1971 they were done, having released just one album and embarking on just one short tour...and having a hit single that even nearly fifty years later is almost universally recognized.  Sadly, all three of the band's original members--Speedy Keen, Andy "Thunderclap" Newman, and Jimmy McCulloch are no longer with us.

Fun Fact:  Townshend played bass for the band on its recordings, under the pseudonym Bijou Drains (you got me...).

Released in 1969, "Something in the Air" was originally written by Keen for the movie The Magic Christian.  It would go on to become #1 in England for three weeks, and hit #37 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Thunderclap Newman's only album, Hollywood Dream, was released nine months after the single, and had virtually no commercial success.  The band did have another minor hit in England with the song "Accidents"--which is most noted for rivaling only "Softly As I Leave You" for having the saddest subject matter of any song ever written....

"Something in the Air" is a literal and figurative call to arms--the world was changing and it was time to take it upon ourselves to make the world a better place.  The music and instrumentation has an almost otherworldly quality to it--its boldness matches the boldness of the call to revolution.  There's some nice guitar work by McCulloch (who was all of 16 at the time), and Keen's drumming helps to add to the song's power.  There's a dandy piano break by Andy Newman about two thirds of the way into the song that is at times both beautiful and chaotic before the song breaks on through to the other side (to quote a phrase) and closes with an almost hopeful, somewhat prayer-like plea for us all to get it together and embrace the moment.  It was a one-off moment of genius for Keen who had the good fortune to have Townshend's as a Muse--and they created a pop classic for the masses.

Liner Notes:  "Because the revolution's here, and you know it's right/And you know that it's right/We have got to get it together/We have got to get it together now..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXIII--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Refugee

I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first time in the summer of 1980, which was just a few months after the release of the album that would turn them into superstars, and just about the same time that "Refugee" was making its run up the charts.  As you might expect, the song was one of the most anticipated of the night, and we all roared when the band broke into its intro...only to have Petty suddenly scream for the band to stop.  He then proceeded to pace the stage, from one end to the other, staring into the crowd, looking as pissed off as a man can get, and I figured, "Great, one of the best songs of the night and some idiot decides now would be a good time to throw something at him."  Petty stormed the stage for about thirty seconds and then walked up to the microphone and said, "This is America.  It's a free country.  You can stand up for this song if you want to...." and the band broke into the song again, from the beginning.  In all the dozens of concerts I've seen through the years, I have never seen a crowd erupt into complete delirium quite like we all did at that moment.

Tom Petty's rock and roll dream began at the age of 11 in Gainesville, Florida when an uncle who was working on the set of the movie Follow That Dream introduced Petty to one Elvis Presley.  And what a dream it became:  Petty would go on to sell over 80 million records, releasing 13 albums with the Heartbreakers, three solo records, two late in career albums with his original band Mudcrutch, and two albums with superband The Traveling Wilburys (featuring Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison).  Petty went on numerous world tours, and he and the Heartbreakers were also Dylan's back up band on one of his tours.  They were elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and also showed up on Rolling Stone's greatest artists and albums of all time.  And truth be told, in the pantheon of emaycee's favorite rock and roll artists, he finishes just a half step behind Bruce Springsteen.  Needless to say, his death last October, as I noted in a post at that time, was only the second time I cried at the passing of a celebrity (Muhammad Ali being the first).

Fun Fact:  One of Petty's early guitar teachers was Don Felder, who would go on to have some fame of his own as the lead guitarist for a little band called The Eagles.

Released in 1979 on his classic LP Damn the Torpedoes (and what a classic album title that was), "Refugee" would go on to become the second biggest single of Petty's career (trailing only "Don't Do Me Like That" from the same album), eventually peaking at #15 (most assuredly with a bullet!).  Through the years, it would eventually become Petty's signature song, and it's one of those rare cuts that remains fresh and vibrant even nearly forty years down the road.

In listening to it over the past several days, I think the aspect of the song that stands out the most was what a showcase it was--not just for Petty's wondrous vocals, but for the rest of the band as well.  The song features stunning guitar work from Mike Campbell (as usual), some nice piano cut ins from Benmont Tench, and some pulsating drum work from Stan Lynch.  I think the Heartbreakers, moreso than say, The E Street Band, tend to get overlooked a bit as far as great backing bands go (perhaps, in all honesty, because of their reserved nature--none of them have the colorful personality of a Clarence Clemons) but this song (as many others) really shows what a force they were in Petty's success.  "Refugee" can also be noted as being one of several songs on Damn the Torpedoes in which at some point Petty barks out a raucous "Oh, oh, oh!" which I always wait for and thoroughly enjoy more than I probably should.  It's the little things in life, my friends, the little things...

Lyric Sheet:  "Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have kicked you around some/Who knows maybe you were kidnapped tied up/Taken away and held for ransom..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLVII--Dave Matthews Band: Crash into Me

I've often thought I should be a big fan of the Dave Matthews Band--it's a bunch of laid back dudes known for their musicianship who play thoughtful pop tunes.  But--much like the Grateful Dead--for me it never happened.  Which isn't to say, obviously, that both bands haven't had a moment or two that's captured my fancy...much like this week's tune.

Formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991 the Dave Matthews Band has had quite the successful run over the past twenty-six years.  Their nine studio albums and numerous live albums have sold better than 50 million copies, and they've had a summer tour virtually every year since the band's inception.  Their last six albums have debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, and their six #1 albums ties them with the Eagles for the most #1 albums by an American band.  They've been nominated for many Grammy Awards (winning once), and are known for their offbeat music videos.  The band's charitable foundation has donated over $8.5 million dollars to various causes, and their coolness quotient rates high thanks to their concerts in support of the candidacy of one Barack Obama, a President whose class, grace, intelligence, and love for his country far surpasses that of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Released in 1996 on their career defining LP Crash, "Crash into Me" reached #19 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  The band's performance was also nominated for a Grammy in the longest category title in the history of award category titles:  Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.  Ten words--for fuck's sake, it's almost as long as a song.

In a VH-1 Storytellers appearance, Dave Matthews said the song was about a voyeur looking through a woman's bedroom window at night, so any mystery as to the song's meaning is pretty much rendered moot.  Still, for as creepy as that seems, there's still an innocence (if you can get past the more erotic lyrics) to the man's viewing--there's a lot of the romance of loving someone from afar in his thoughts and words.  Matthews (somewhat like the vocals in "Sex and Candy" as I noted a couple of weeks back) makes good use of cadence in his singing, drawing out certain words and deliciously half whispering the word "crash" before completing the chorus.  The song is sparse--a little guitar, a little bass, some drums, a sax, and Matthews vocals.  In the end, it's one of those songs that has just stayed with me these last twenty years and that I enjoy hearing every bit as much today as I did in 1996 when it was first released.

Lyric Sheet:  "Sweet like candy to my soul/Sweet your rock/And sweet you roll..."

Enjoy:

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emaycee