"Lookin' Out My Back Door"

 This is a song recorded by the American band Creedence Clearwater Revival. Written by the band's lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter, John Fogerty, it is included on their 1970 album Cosmo's Factory.  

I cannot figure this band out.  I also cannot figure out this script.  why does it do that.  There is this formating thing.  Anyway, John Fogerty is a well off southern California guy who writes songs that do not sound like the Beach boys.  I do not know anything.

On  one level, I do not even like this song, on most levels i guess. 

"High On You"

This is a 1985 song by the American rock band Survivor. It peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of March 23, 1985.
I remember Eye of the Tiger, Rocky and all that.  Good movie song but to play it all the time on the radio, that's not right.  They  High on You rotted my brain out for almost a year.

I am glad the hard working boys of Survivor made some good money, really, I am.  I would have paid them not to let that song on the air.  Not that it is a bad song by the rules of music, rule 4 and rule 9 apply.  I guess my dread is the balance between playing a song on the radio and driving nails in my ears to not ever hear that song again.  I thought it was a 38 Special song for years.  I think the  songs of those two groups are annoying in the same way.

I always ask myself the question:  Will this song be requested and listened to in twenty years?  I have had three twenty year periods now and King of the Road still holds up.  One Oclock Jump, Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade, Roy Orbison's Only the lonely still hold up.  High on You?

Not so much.


PS.  The worst thing about this type of song, you cannot get it out of your head, ever.

Take the Money and run

This is a song recorded in 1976 by the Steve Miller Band. A song about two young (possibly teenage) bandits and the police officer pursuing them, it was one of the many hit singles produced by the Steve Miller Band in the 1970s and featured on Fly Like an Eagle. The song peaked at #11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in July 1976^[1] and also charted well in Australia.

1973 is my wheelhouse for music because my brother was a few years older than I was so I was swamped with Deep Purple, Woodstock and the Grateful Dead.  I was a senior in high school in 1976 when this song came out.  Steve Miller songs were everywhere.  Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, I was in Utah for my high school years and the availability to a wide variety  of music was limited but The Steve Miller band was always on X-Rock 80. X Rock was a border blaster,  a broadcast station that in practice is used to target another country. The term "border blaster" is of North American origin, and usually associated with Mexican AM stations covering large parts of the United States and United States border AM stations covering large parts of Canada.

XEROK-AM is a commercial AM (medium wave) radio station in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. It is licensed to operate with a power of 150,000 watts on a carrier frequency of 800 kHz, although its new transmitter is now powered at 50,000 watts. The station calls itself "Radio Cañón."
XEROK is the dominant Class A station on 800 AM, a Mexican clear channel frequency. The station had a colorful history as a border blaster, aiming its programming at listeners in the United States, when at night, its 150,000 watt signal could be easily heard in many parts of the Southwest.

In the evenning, with near zero humidity or clouds, it was possible to pick up tons of radio stations.  Most of them were the russian woodpecker versions blocking Radio Free Europe or Voice of America.  But X-Rock came in clear most nights.

Good things do come across the border.

Boom Boom, Out goes the lights

Pat Travers had a big hit in the late 70's with this one.  It was written by harmonica player Stan Lewis it was recorded by another harmonica player, Little Walter on Chess Records. Marion Walter Jacobs (1930-68) was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2008.  I think the origin is suspect.  

When I was in college and trying to learn how to drink beer, this song was everywhere.  Yes it is about punching the lights out of a girl friend.  But men and women just loved this song when it was played.   The important thing to remember is that Pat Travers did a great job with this in his live concerts. 

Run, Run, Run

Written and recorded by Jo Jo Gunne , an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1971 by Jay Ferguson (keyboards, vocals and guitar) and Mark Andes (bass guitar and vocals) after they had left Spirit. The group's name is derived from "Jo Jo Gunne", a Chuck Berry song that peaked at #83 as a single in November 1958.  

There is at least 4 other songs and 1 group with the name of Jo Jo Gunne or something similar.  I love this song.  Even fourty seven years later I love the song.  It was the first song that really kicked my ass.   I was thirteen years old, and the radio in Florida was wearing this song out.  My brother bought the album and we played it continuously when we weren't playing the Beatles, Creedence, and Led Zeppelin.   I have read some reviews of Jo Jo Gunne that compared the sound to southern rock Lynyrd Skynyrd.  It is probably the slyde guitar style.  See what I did with all those  "y's".  I have no idea what the punctuation on this stuff should be since it is poor grammar to start with.

I remember the album cover, the best album cover stereotyping the Rock era.  Young men, long hair, great car and hopefully living large.  It almost makes me cry, still.  It follows Music rule #8, great album cover.

I still have this album

"Somebody's Baby"

This is a song written by Jackson Browne and Danny Kortchmar^[1] and recorded by Browne for the 1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High movie soundtrack.  I have not seen the entire movie if you can believe that. 

I know the take on the song but later in life, the line "She must be somebody's baby" had a larger meaning as a parent.  It is strange how that happens.  This song just popped into my head and it has been there every since that 1:30 am awakening.  I went right back to sleep but the song is still there and I rememberd thinking about it.  It was not until morning that I remembered it was Jackson Browne with an E at the end. 

Since I am a bad speller and grammar guy, an E at the end is important.

She's a Lady

This is a song written by Paul Anka and covered by a ton of people, most notably (I always wanted to say that) by Tom Jones.  You cannot say enough about Paul Anka and the transition to Rock and Roll and popular music.  He was in the middle of it, talented and smart.  The song is progressive and snappy. 


This song at its base is quit male dominated but if you really feel the lyrics, you can see who is in charge and large and that is this LADY. "But she always knows her place, She's got style, she's got grace, she's a winner!"  I am not sure where her place is, she knows it though and that is her strength. "She can take what I dish out, and that's not easy."  People have "places" in society.  We may not like our place and we can change the stars, in some places at least but "how" is usually the trick to success.  

This lady is a success in any place or time.  



 

"Last Kiss"

This is a song released by Wayne Cochran in 1961 on the Gala label.  It was later done by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers which is the version I heard and loved.  This song makes tears in my eyes always.  It is the craziest thing but not as crazy as Wayne Cochran, with the Dolly Parton hair and Liberace outfits.  That is what Rock and Roll is all about. 

Pearl Jam had a big hit with it and I don't think I ever heard it.  I like Pearl Jam but since I don't listen to the radio since probably 1999, I have missed a bunch of stuff.  I just do not want to invest the time in listening to 53 shit songs just to hear 1 decent one.  For those keeping score that is about 1 less than awful song .02 percent of the time.  If your average song/introduction/commercial announcement,  even on stations that say they do not waste your time,  that would be in a twenty four hour period, seven(7) song that do not suck each day.  For that to be new songs that could be worth hearing more than once, I am not listening to new music intentionally because it most likely will be a waste of time. 

The song was one of several teen tragedy songs from that period.  The other one I think I have already review, "Billy, Don't be a Hero" but it did not make me cry.  It made me angry,  "War, good God, what is it good for, Absolutely nothing." 

So it goes.