I smoke old stogies I have found, short but not too big around, I'm a man...who's (five days) late again....
After having watched this week's artist on Saturday Night Live, falling in love with his first single, and then rushing out to get his debut LP, I fell in love with his second single simply by listening to it again and again as I listened to the aforementioned album and said first single. Surprisingly (somewhat), that would pretty much do it--while there was a song or two of his I enjoyed as his career went on, nothing came close to those first two....
I wrote about Eddie Money in Vol. CCLXXXVI (see first single noted above), and on a sadder note, about his death in 2019. Alas, as his death remains permanent and nothing new of his life or career has surfaced in the last six years, we're going to let that bio ride, captain, ride....
"Two Tickets to Paradise" was the second (and final) single released from his 1977 debut album, the rather deviously entitled Eddie Money. The single would reach #22 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while, as I noted in my original post of his debut single, the album reached #37 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: My girlfriend at the time of this week's song's release (who would go on to be my first wife) actually made me two tickets to paradise and sent them to me when she was away at college. Sadly, they've been lost in time, but it's still a reminder that, despite the eventual outcome of our marriage, we did have a lot of joy together, too.
It's funny to look at some of the critical reviews of Eddie Money (he was pretty much damned with faint praise) as he started his career and think of how much I enjoyed his earliest efforts, listening to his first album again and again on my very first stereo, earned from summers of working for Continental Steel. In fairness, Money did pretty much turn out to be just another rocker, but I'd bet my next paycheck that a lot more people were saddened at his death than will be saddened at the death of every rock critic ever combined. What that has to do with this week's song is beyond even me (and I wrote it), but suffice it to say that Money turns in a stellar effort here (some consider it his signature song), nailing the promise and desire of being in love and wanting to give your lover all the joy he or she needs. There's some great blasting guitar, and the drums really drive the song's ambiance. No, it isn't one of the greats, but it's still a catchy as all hell love song that rocks and rolls in all the right places. And sometimes, that's enough.
Lyric Sheet: "I'm gonna take you on a trip so far from here/I've got two tickets in my pocket, baby/We'll disappear/You know why?/You've waited so long..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
