Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDLXI--The Rivieras: California Sun

 Better late than never is what I always say....

My introduction to this week's tune wasn't this version--it was the Ramones cover version (though truth be told, our featured song is actually a cover version, too).  After years of hearing the Ramones cover, I finally got around to listening to the original and found it to be...amazing.  While the Ramones rendition has its charms (three chord thrashing guitar, furious drumming, Joey's fevered vocals), the 1964 version is a nice slice of sixties pop pie....

The Rivieras (they eventually named themselves after the General Motors luxury car the Buick Riviera) formed while its original members were still in high school in 1962, in that hot bed of rock and roll, South Bend, Indiana.  They recorded a single, managed to get it distributed, and had a hit.  Before they could even record their first LP, two of its original members joined the Marines.  The band would change members frequently (the draft and parental desires for them to attend college), before disbanding in 1966.  In their short career, they released two studio albums, and eleven singles.  Some band members would reunite under the name Wildcat from 2000-2010 but the band is now officially defunct.

"California Sun" was originally released as a single only in 1964, but after its success was the lead cut on their debut album, Let's Have a Party.  The single would peak at #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and I was unable to discern if the album ever charted.

Fun Fact:  Some people consider "California Sun" to be the last American rock and roll hit before the British Invasion.  When it peaked at number five, the #1 song on the charts was a little ditty you might have heard of:  "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles....

As you listen to "California Sun," keep in mind that the young men recording it were still in fucking high school!  It's not like George Martin was in the studio to produce it for them--they did it themselves.  Just a killer rat-a-tat guitar, pulsating drums, a rambunctious organ (and its mid-song solo), and devil-may-care vocals that capture all the hope and joy that is our west coast.  All I know is the more I hear it, the more I'm all in for heading out to that warm California sun.  An absolute triumph of youth.

Lyric Sheet:  "And they walk, and I'll walk/They twist and I'll twist/They shimmy and I'll shimmy/They fly and I'll fly/Well, they're out there a-havin' fun/In that warm California sun..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCV--The Bluebells: Cath

Outside of themselves, their family members, a handful of Scots, and myself, I'm not sure too many folks remember this week's tune.  I first heard it when MTV was still in its infancy (and still playing music full time) in 1983, and it's one of those gems that make me miss MTV as it once was, when one could find a small gem that otherwise would be lost amidst the thousands of songs released each year. 

The Bluebells originated in Scotland in 1981 (and until I did my half-assed research this week I had no idea they were Scottish--always thought they were an American band) and stayed together until 1986.  In that time they released an EP and one full length album, and had a modicum of commercial success in their native UK (though none here in the States).  Their debut LP hit #22 on the UK charts, and they had five singles hit the top 100 in the UK.  Their biggest hit was "Young at Heart" which hit #8 in 1984, and thanks to a Volkswagen commercial, became an even bigger hit in 1993, hitting #1 and staying there for four weeks.  The band has reunited a time or two--1993 thanks to Volkswagen, and briefly in 2008-2009 and 2011.  Most of its members have stayed in the music business in one form or another, though one does make a living now writing about golf.  I've always thought they were like the Ramones, if the Ramones had been a pop band instead of a punk band, but this could also be because one of their members (watch the video below) bears a passing resemblance to Joey
Ramone....

"Cath" was originally released in 1983 on their debut EP entitled, appropriately enough, The Bluebells, and was also included on their debut LP, Sisters, in 1984.  It was also released twice as a single, reaching #62 (with a bullet!) on the UK charts in 1983, and #38 (most assuredly with a bullet!) on the same charts in 1984.

Fun Fact:  Though the Bluebells only released one EP and one LP (though they did have a Japan only release, as well), they still managed to release a greatest hits package in 1993.  Oh, the wonders of a hit single....

If the gods of music got together and said to themselves, "What we really need to do is create a pop single that emaycee really loves..." (as if) they would have been hard pressed to make one that has more of my faves than "Cath."  From the ever present harmonica, to the catchy chorus, to the "woa, woa"s, to the crescendo ending, to the guitar leading into the crescendo (shamelessly stolen from Rod Stewart's "Maggie May"), this one pretty much nails it.  It's a pop fan's pop tune, a one off single that shows the glory of the pop single.  It's the kind of song that I started Friday Night Jukebox for--I am music fan, hear me roar, this one you cannot ignore...and it's  fine addition to the genre that is known as Scottish pop.
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Lyric Sheet:  "I'm shaking with fright/And nothing's going right/You've spoilt my day for the rest of the night..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXXXI--The Ramones: Blitzkrieg Bop

"Hey! Ho! Let's go!"

And with those four words a legendary rock and roll band was born

It's hard to overestimate the legacy of the Ramones--despite their lack of commercial success (their highest charting album hit #49, their highest charting single hit #66--both, one presumes, with a bullet!) their influence on the punk movement and later the alternative scene (much like their non-selling kin The Velvet Underground) was astounding.  Formed in Queens, New York in 1974, the Ramones would spend the next 22 years making fourteen albums and touring over two hundred days a year.  They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, were listed as #26 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time," and in 2011 received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Grammy's.  Sadly, much of this glory was missed by the original band members, as three of the four (Joey in 2001, Dee Dee in 2002, and Johnny in 2004) had passed away less than eight years after their dissolution, and the last original Ramone (Tommy) died in 2014.

Fun Fact:  There have been 48 (yes, 48) full-length tribute albums devoted to the Ramones.  Not bad for four middle class kids from Queens....

Released on their oh so cleverly named debut album (which was certified gold--500,000 copies sold--thirty eight years later in 2014), The Ramones, in 1976. "Blitzkrieg Bop" was the world's vinyl introduction to the Ramones.  I'm not sure there's ever been another band whose first song on their first album transformed a generation of musicians the way "Blitzkrieg Bop" did--when you listen to the guitars it's not hard to guess where the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and Green Day (among a multitude of others) borrowed their guitar sounds from.  In keeping with the Ramones disdain for long songs (their songs are generally three minutes or less in length), "Blitzkrieg Bop" is two minutes and nineteen seconds of pure adrenaline with Joey's shout singing vocals, Johnny's blistering guitar, and Tommy's no holds barred drumming.  Even at the age of fifty-eight, it's hard when listening to it to not jump around the house with arms and legs thrashing.  It's power pop at its finest...and as it often went in the Ramones' career, the song never even made the damn charts.

And it's a reminder that all too often, greatness is only seen in retrospect (Hello, Hillary Clinton!).

Liner Notes:  What else?  "Hey! Ho! Let's go! Hey! Ho! Let's go!"

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee