Focus -- "Hocus Pocus" (1971)

Definitely file this under the "what the hell was that?" category. With prog rock roaring in the early 70's, the Dutch threw their hat into the ring, and as always, it was nothing less than interesting.

Focus had one of the most off-the wall instrumental hit singles of the decade, veering close to self-mocking and classical parody. The long version of "Hocus Pocus" was several minutes long, and guaranteed to be heard on the FM progressive rock stations at the time, while the much shorter single was on the AM and usually found in current compilations of the era.

You know the prog rock cliches and they were all here, regardless of where these guys came from: long hair, high-speed quasi-classical precision flourishes on their instruments, high-pitched vocals, unusual time meters and key changes, largely expanded drum kits, and those analog synths.

The song revolves around guitarist Jan Akkerman's highly distorted rock riff front and center, starting on A minor and working its way around some unusual progressions, then breaks into the song's signature yodeling melody. Yes, leave it to the Dutch to bring yodeling to prog rock. The yodeling, done by organist Thijs van Leer, sings out a nonsensical melody, and then gets higher and higher until you expect thousands of sheep to come herding in.

If you listen to the full version, van Leer's vocals get even wackier in one verse, where it seems like he's choking on an Irish jig (at least that's what it sounds like to me!). They even chuck in a Viking-ish flute break, as if the kitchen sink wasn't thrown in already.

A joke on the audience? A sophisticated out-of-the-blue show of musical and vocal chops? Whatever it was, this song was an FM radio staple but then again, radio was embracing a lot of strange stuff in 1971, from the ridiculous Mac and Katie Kissoon's "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" and Coven's "One Tin Soldier" to the icky "Stay Awhile" and "Put Your Hand in The Hand."

"Hocus Pocus" is far better and outlived all that pap, and now considered a respectable classic rock song.

The October 1973 video below from NBC-TV's "Midnight Special" is quite entertaining, from Gladys Knight's unlikely introduction ("Musically, they're one of the most exciting and together groups going") to van Leer's bizarre nervous tic facial expressions before, during and after yodeling.

The Five Stairsteps -- "Ooh-Child" (1970)

One of the most enduring one-hit wonder soul songs of all time, you just can not help but love the Five Stairsteps' claim to musical fame. It stands up amazingly well after more than 35 years with its dazzling optimism, impassioned vocals, emotionally-charged arrangement, and irresistible melody.



I have vague memories of the song playing on Top 40 radio. The song's timing was perfect, coming at the turn of the decade when blacks were fighting for equal opportunity in jobs and education, and the musical tide was turning with socially-driven artists like Curtis Mayfield, the Norman Whitfield-powered era of The Temptations, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, and The Staple Singers. What makes "Ooh Child" stand out on its own is its inherent sweetness, letting listeners read between the lines of its upbeat message of hope.

The lyrics basically come down to these two passages:

Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier
Ooh-oo child, things'll get brighter
Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier
Ooh-oo child, things'll be brighter.

Some day, yeah
We'll put it together and we'll get it all done.
Some day
When your head is much lighter.
Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun.
Some day
When the world is much brighter.


Musically, the song is truly marvelous. The "Ooh child" verses are a descending three-chord pattern while the "Someday" verses take the same chords up three steps. Between the two, it creates a "softness" during the verses, and strident fuller choruses with the whole family joining in accompanied by horns and strings. The song really kicks into overdrive during the instrumental break when the whole group is singing "La la la" as the melody, then the drummer does a hyper-fast snare and tom fill when it lifts up those three keys, and everybody is just soaring in layered choruses. The ending is just perfect, when the family hammers in "Right now" while ad-libbing around it, the horns popping in and out.

You want to see an amazing video, check out this one with the group performing the song live on the "Barbara McNair" TV show a year or so after the song became a hit and they now called themselves the Stairsteps. The clothes are right out of the early 70's quasi-white flash look, and you can see somebody actually conducting the band behind the singers. These guys are totally into it, and you absolutely realize why this song still brings chills. Wow.

Sniff 'n' The Tears -- "Driver's Seat" (1978)

One of the very best in New Wave one hit wonders, Sniff 'n' The Tears' "Driver's Seat" had a fast four on the floor beat, led by the constant snare drum snap on the 8th notes. This was a rock toe-tapper in every sense of the word, backed by the hard acoustic guitar strums of lead singer/songwriter Paul Roberts, all based on three chords.

New Wave was probably the last great period of danceable rock and roll, with plenty of short named bands, or just slightly twisted ones like these guys. "Driver's Seat" was made for the skinny tie crowd with that pulsating snare beat.

Tightly arranged, "Driver's Seat" has a very cool production trick at the song's start that bears a few listenings. I'm actually convinced it may have been an accident. The song's three acoustic guitar chords are played hard twice through, then the drums come in with that precision beat, but it sounds like somebody let the reverb go on for a couple of seconds, and then dial it back quickly back down down. It's a slightly subtle effect, and if you listen to the official video below in the first 10 seconds, you'll distinctly hear it.

"Driver's Seat" is one of the New Wave era's two big driving songs (the other was the Tom Robinson Band's "2-4-6-8 Motorway"), much in classic rock's tradition like Golden Earring's "Radar Love" and Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town." You crank it up in the car for a few good reasons -- 1) the pulsating beat, 2) it's about driving and 3) it's a great song, so what other reason do you need?


Doing alright, a little drivin' on a Saturday night.
And come what may, gonna dance the day away.


Jenny was sweet, show a smile for the people she meets.
I'm trouble, let's drive, I don't know the way you came alive.


News is blue (the news is blue), has its own way to get to you.
What can I do (what can I do), when I remember my time with you.


Pick up your feet, got to move to the trick of the beat.
There is no lead, just take your place in the driver's seat.


Paul Roberts had the required disaffected lead singer tone of New Wave bands, his being a bit light and rough around the edges. The background vocals are derivative of doo wop, of all things, with a basso singer doing the "yea-aah" during the brilliant a capella break, and at other times, brilliantly echoing some of the lines with shuffled variations ("What can I do-o-o-o?").

Other highlights: fuzz guitar lines, octave guitar chords, and the square wave synth solo that twists and turns around the last part of the song.

Got to love the fact that you can buy a "Best of Sniff 'n" The Tears" CD, but there was only one real hit for the band. Below is the official video, which is amusing for three reasons 1) Paul Roberts is playing an electric Fender Telecaster but the part is an acoustic guitar, 2) the band's debut album cover conveniently laid across the prominently viewed kick drum, and 3) the cheek and sexist camera pulling away from that kick drum revealing the drummer placed perfectly between a pair of girl's legs. That's followed by the band's appearance on "Top Of The Pops" (Where Roberts at least has the acoustic guitar this time!).

SNIFF 'N' THE TEARS - Driver's Seat ( 1978)
Uploaded by exDrBob

Tasmin Archer -- "Sleeping Satellite" (1992)

Did you ever hear a song somewhere that made you stop and say, wow, what a voice... and what a song?

That was the case with Tasmin Archer, when I bought one of those various artist compilation discs on a London trip. I've got a bunch of these at home, all stuffed with UK Top 40 and indie label hits at the time of their release.

I had no idea who Tasmin Archer was, but when this song came on right after Annie Lennox's "Walking On Broken Glass," I was like wow, let me play that again. And I did... many times over. "Sleeping Satellite" barely scratched the surface of anything resembling a hit in the States, it made a brief blip and was then gone, so it became my song to put on friends' mix tapes and turn them on. In the UK, "Sleeping Satellite" went right to #1.

The first thing that grabbed me was this nearly cold opening right on the song's dramatic chorus with a forcefully strummed minor chord on an acoustic guitar and startling lyrics sung by an equally strident female voice and nothing else:

I blame you for the moonlit sky
and the dream that died
with the eagle's flight.
I blame you for the moonlit nights
when I wonder why
are the seas still dry?
Don't blame this sleeping satellite...

In an example of a singer/songwriter matched with an arrangement that matches her vocal command, "Sleeping Satellite" then just gallops with a breezy snare, piano and lightly chorused guitar. And it's not until the end of the second verse when Archer really lets the bottom drop in her voice with guttural declaration:

Did we fly to the moon too soon?
Did we squander the chance?
In the rush of the race
in the reason we chase is lost in romance
and still we try
to justify the waste
for a taste of man's.. greatest adventure.

And it's on those "greatest adventure" words where she powers it up like a chainsaw and you know you are heading into an emotional ride, a really great song.

With every subsequent chorus, more instruments come into the mix, the beat picks up slightly, the drums, guitars and keyboards increasing in volume and urgency, a handclap blending with the beat after the break, and a simple slightly detuned organ notes gliding around.

I found a copy of Archer's debut album, Great Expectations, released on EMI, and I noticed on the cover that she was an attractive black woman singing rock. Of course, my initial thought was "here's another Tracey Chapman." Except where Chapman's sound was raw, dark and based in blues and protest music, Archer was much smoother and carried by London's top studio musicians. Unfortunately, nothing else on the album could match the impact of "Sleeping Satellite."

Online, there are two different "official" videos for "Sleeping Satellite": the hokey somewhat gothic-visualed British version (I don't know what they could have possibly been thinking) with the song's original mix; and the completely different US version, which is fairly better and a different mix (with a noticeable electric guitar solo at the end).

There are also numerous cover versions done by various artists from European countries, including a very slow "quiet storm" acoustic version by some Barcelona band, and a remix to a hip hop drumbeat!

I'm going to spare you the UK video, and give you Archer's live performance on "Top of The Pops," followed by a really beautifully done anime cartoon using "Kingdom Hearts" clips done to the song (excellent acoustics too). Listen to this second one in how the drums get pushed up front when Archer finishes the second verse -- that's how to mix and arrange a song!

Malo -- Suavecito (1972)

Why did Carlos Santana become the five-decade legend and Latin Rock pioneer, while his brother Jorge's band just squeak out this one marvelous classic?

Was Carlos' material that much more superior? Was the marketplace only taking one Santana at a time?



In the magical early 70's, when artists were not manufactured from reality TV shows, MTV didn't exist and FM radio was not the playground of consultants and publicly-traded corporations, could a song like this make the Top 40. Looking back, there were so many songs that you could consider flukes, both good and bad, but they became hot numbers because the radio business was different and the public was still absorbing an art form in its early years.

I am not familiar with any of Malo's other material other than "Suavecito" and there's not much rock to it, but plenty of "Latin." We're talking about a mambo, for God's sake, that topped the Billboard chart in 1972! There were no high-up-the-fretboard guitar antics, but tons of guiros, timbales, bongos, congas and shakers. Oh, and that joyful Latin trumpet like a Mongo Santamaria workout.

"Suavecito" was a mid-tempo romantic song, a really out of this world swooner.

Never, I never meet a girl like you in my life
I never, no, no, yeah
I never meet a girl like you in my life

The way that you hold me in the night
The way that you make things go right
Whenever you're in my arms
Girl, you're filling me with all your charms

Suavecito, mi Linda
Suavecito
The feelin' I have inside for you
Suavecito, mi Linda
Suavecito

The feelin', the feelin' that I have inside for you
'Cause ever since the day I met you
I knew you that you were my dream come true
But I think I've found that day
Gonna make you mine in every way

The group-sung "la-la-laaa-la-la-la" hook that is heard throughout "Suavecito" was lifted by Sugar Ray for their 1999 "Every Morning" hit. I once pointed that out to my former staff, since they had never heard of "Suavecito" but they certainly knew the Santana surname.

Enjoy these two clips of "Suavecito" -- 1) a live 1972 performance from the TV show "Rollin'" which shows what a large band Malo was... note the host's mispronunciation of Jorge's name... you may think that's Jorge Santana singing the song up front with his timbales, but that's song composer Richard Bean (Santana was a guitarist), and 2) a homemade video of the full 6-minute version of the song.

The Bells -- "Stay Awhile" (1971)

Once a year, an early 70's piece of fluff comes on the radio that causes such personal revulsion and such disbelief in its inanity, that I will actually listen to the whole thing in very much the way people check out car crashes on the side of the highway. It's a rarely-played song that happened to play this morning over XM Radio's 70's channel on my drive to the train station. I had to remind myself that this song actually was a hit.

And that song is The Bells' "Stay Awhile."

This is not one of those things that is "so bad, it's good." It's just bad.

"Stay Awhile" was one of the bigger soft rock horndog hits at the time, a duet of a girl and a boy having the most sensitive caring sex of their lives. Sylvia's "Pillow Talk" was probably even steamier," but it at least had slightly more redeeming value (just slightly).

When "Stay Awhile" comes on, you feel like you should be lighting scented candles, hanging posters of kittens and sunsets on the walls, and popping the bottle of wine you've been hiding in the fridge. It's all soft acoustic guitar arpeggios, piano chords, fizzy cymbal rolls, finger chimes, and light drums with a rimshot keeping the beat. As a matter of fact, the volume level of the whole song is defiantly low, like it was made to be played when seducing the chick in the dorm room next door.

The girl starts first, whispering in the most come hither voice made for phone porn you've heard on a song, and you're half expecting her to break into a giggle. Every syllable is clearly enunciated and the ending "s" is held slightly for effect (notably on "creeps" and "peeps").

Into my room he creeps,
Without making a sound.
Into my dreams he peeps,
With his hair all long and hanging down

How he makes me quiver,
How he makes me smile.
With all this love I have to give him,
I guess I'm gonna stay with him awhile.


Then it's the boy's turn and this was nothing macho about this. He sings just as softly, describing the babe that just entered his bedroom with nerve-wracking anticipation.

She brushes the curls from my eyes,
She drops her robe on the floor.
And she reaches for the light on the bureau.
And the darkness is her pillow once more.

How she makes me quiver,
How she makes me smile.
With all this love I have to give her,
I guess I'm gonna stay with her awhile.


Then there's the harmonica solo.

The couple sing the chorus a few more times together, it slows down and the girl sighs and whispers "I guess I'm gonna stay" just as the final chord fades.

You can throw up now.

Ian Lloyd -- "Slipaway" (1979)

Off the top of my head, this seems like the only song Ric Ocasek gave away that became something of a cult New Wave hit.

Luckily it landed in the hands of Ian Lloyd, better know as the lead singer of another one hit wonder band, Stories (interracial love tale "Brother Louie," which was also a cover tune).


Lloyd had been singing background on various song and albums. When he cut this solo album Goose Bumps for Scotti Brothers Records, this was the one tune written and produced by Ocasek, featuring all his fellow members of The Cars. The song's original demo can be found on the double-album Just What I Needed: Cars Anthology, but this version beats it by miles.

"Slipaway" is best described as a 60's party song as remade by Ocasek. It's faster than most Cars songs, probably as fast as "Don't Cha Stop" from the debut album. It's got an absolute pumping beat, with a matching bass going up and down with it and a killer analog synth hook that sounds suspiciously like a really old Virginia Slims cigarette commercial (now I know I'm really dating myself!). Lots of hand claps, heavily shouted background vocals of "That's right" and some cool bottle rocket effects that make the whole production seem like it's going to explode.

Trademark Ocasek lyrics: obtuse, name-dropping, and a bit of biting sarcasm...

I can tell that you're wild
and you love their aching smile
and I know I'm on the list to be kissed.

When you're givin' out the name
of the one you want to blame
you'll be on the brink of tears, that's right

Could I talk you out of stayin' here tonight?

Well I see that you're cute
in your Fiorucci suit
and your eyes have seen the shadows that you hide.

I could be a little sweet
that would come off very neat
you'd be on the brink of tears, that's right

Could I talk you out of stayin' here tonight?

And of course, you can clearly hear Ocasek singing back to Lloyd "something's gotta change now" during the chorus.

This is one tough little record to get. The album is long out of print and I don't know of any collections it can be found on. Truly one of the great rare singles of the New Wave era.

But somebody has done us all a favor and put together a neat little video for the song, so kudos to them!

The Outfield -- "Your Love" (1986)

For years, I've had this theory that when a major musical artist disappears for a while, or maybe they no longer record, sometimes another act appears that sounds just like them and gets a hit single out of it.

Previously on this blog, I noted the group Flash mimicked prog rockers Yes for their one single "Small Beginnings." Other examples: when Springsteen took years between albums, questionable acts like Billy Falcon, D.B. Byron, and some say Meatloaf stepped into the void.

The theory definitely holds true for the English band the Outfield, and their one big hit single "Your Love," which could have been easily mistaken for The Police, who broke up two years before this tune appeared. For a clone song, it is very good and you have to give credit where credit is due.

The lead singer sounds almost exactly like a yelping Sting. The instrumentation is sparse and the guitars are heavily chorused, just like The Police. The drums are compressed and gated, just like the Police. The group is British, just like the Police, yet they have a very American name, tagged after a sport that never ever caught on in the UK.

So if you can forget that these guys are soundalikes, you have a great well-arranged little pop-rock single that made it to #6 on the US charts. The song starts "cold" -- no intro -- just vocals and only a heavily chorused rhythm guitar accompanying on D, Bm and A chords:

Josie`s on a vacation far away, 
Come around and talk it over 
So many things that I wanna say 
You know I like my girls a little bit older.
I just wanna use your love tonight. 

Then the overdubbed background vocals echo "I don't wanna lose your love toni-ight."

Two big simultaneous smashes on the snare and hi hat, and the whole band drops in, with the
bass anchoring that mid-tempo beat and the drums miked all over for airy ambiance, pounding like a train engine.

The little thing you notice in this song: when the singer goes back to just his voice over a drum this time, the beat pattern changes to a Phil Spector-type "bum...bum-bum" like the kind you hear on the beginning of The Four Seasons' "Rag Doll." Just a cool little touch to keep things interesting in the middle.

Two albums later, still unable to recapture the heat of "Your Love," the Outfield released Voices of Babylon, produced by David Kahne, which I consider one of the sleeper rock albums of the 80's. Not one hit off this album, unfortunately, but the songs are actually far more consistent than Play Deep, with lots of delays and reverbs moving them slightly more away from The Police sound.

Here's the official video of "Your Love," which has an extended intro.

Bloodstone -- "Natural High" (1973)

As with the earlier discussed Chi-Lites from Chicago, the early 70's was an overflow of doo wop-based soul and R&B acts who evolved with better production, more elaborate arrangements, and on-the-nail songwriting.

Like the Chi-Lites, Bloodstone came from the Midwest -- Kansas City -- and began as the doo wop group the Sinceres. in the early 60's. Toiling along for years in relative obscurity, Bloodstone actually did what the Stray Cats did nearly 10 years later, go to London to find fortune and fame. And when they came back, they came back big with "Natural High."

A prototypical early 70's soul ballad, "Natural High" had a piercing falsetto lead, light as a feather background vocals, and that kind of slow jam groove made for swaying back and forth. The song begins with a striking see-saw opening with the Strat playing the lead line, an occasional bell in the background, then in drops down with the bass, stops, and then three spectacular stuttering snare and kick drum fills for an intro. Throughout the song, there are jazzy guitar runs going up the fretboard, the group whispers "I... don't... know... you," and then the song changes tempo altogether for a melodic clean Gibson solo that races all over the high register, swallowed up by that old "ahh" breathing out vocal trick into the next verse.

There's also one of those "little things" that sort of watermark the song: in the verse after the first chorus, they sing: " If you have anything to do/Call me and I will do it for you/And I don't even know you." Just before he goes into the next verse, it sounds like they're whispering: "Hey Jeannie." You can definitely hear it on the "Soul Train" video below.

For some reason, despite having really shot their biggest load with "Natural High," Bloodstone convinced somebody two years later to finance a film starring the group, Train Ride To Hollywood. I remember the film vaguely coming out, and wondering how it actually got made and who would see it. I don't know if anybody did, but you can still get a used DVD of it from Amazon. Reading the IMDb plot description, I can understand why it wasn't exactly up there with Superfly and Shaft: "Harry Williams, member of the rhythm & blues band Bloodstone, is about to go onstage for a concert when he is hit on the head. The rest that follows is his dream. The four band members become conductors on a train filled with (impersonated) actors and characters from the 1930s such as W.C. Fields, Dracula, and Scarlett O'Hara. Patterned after movies by the Marx Brothers and the Beatles, 'Train Ride' features various songs. The thin plot requires the singing conductors to solve a mystery; Marlon Brando is murdering Nelson Eddy, Jeanette McDonald, and others by suffocating them in his armpits. Arriving in Hollywood, the Bloodstone boys are turned into wax sculptures by Brando."

However, the biggest compliment for "Natural High," certifying it as ultra-cool, is that Quenin Tarantino used it prominently in his film Jackie Brown, when Robert Forster first sees the title character, played by Pam Grier (see video below).

Before that video, Bloodstone performing "Natural High" on Don Cornelius' "Soul Train" TV show. I love that each guy is playing a different guitar, from the black and white Strat all the way ont he left, and then, from left to right, a gold-plated Gibson Les Paul, a Fender bass, a Fender Telecaster, and what looks like a black semi-hollow-bodied Gibson (I think). Am I imagining things when I hear the vinyl crackle on this lip-synch performance?
Soul Train 1973 - Bloodstone -Natural high

Flash -- "Small Beginnings" (1972)

Yes' "Roundabout" is the prototypical early prog-rock song when one wants to write about an all-time classic of the genre. But I'm starting with this song by Flash because in my mind, it's been an overlooked classic.

Frankly, I was excited that I found a fantastic sounding audio link to the full song below and wanted to use it right away.

In the early 70's, Flash had all the prog rock trademarks for that era: long hair, some glasses, classical music noodling, singer with high voice, elaborate key and tempo changes, epic song lengths, sudden musical shifts, and awesome technical music prowess.

Flash had the extra bonus of two former members of prog rock legends Yes: the original guitarist Peter Banks (from the first two albums, pre-Fragile) and keyboardists Tony Kaye (pre-Rick Wakeman). There was no point reinventing what was already there, so they cut a debut album that sounded amazingly like Yes.

Flash cut three albums but nothing broke out except their first single, "Small Beginnings." It wasn't exactly a chart topper, but back in those days, prog rock was loved so much that it actually made it to the Top 40.

In the morning when you start your day
do you feel yourself quite lost
in a world of countless millions
on the tide of your life you're tossed
don't think you're getting nowhere
you know we all must start
from very small beginnings off to a better part



In the rush and hustle of your day
when all your world seems mad
do you look at ev'rything you see
and know that it's not so fine
just take your time and work it out
you know what's in your mind
from very small beginnings off to a better time


While this song absolutely stands on its own, it does owe something to the numerous parts of "Roundabout" and most prominently, the final section of both songs, which features hard-strummed guitars with multiple vocal layers. I don't care. A great song is a great song. So click play below and listen to one of the best songs of the early 70's prog rock era.

Ian Gomm -- "Hold On" (1979)

When the UK label Stiff broke out across Europe with its eccentric group of artists, Ian Gomm fit right into this rat pack. Many of them specialized in in short punk or power pop songs, like Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe.

Gomm played bass in the cult pub rock band Brinsley Schwarz while Lowe manned the guitar. When that act broke up, Gomm recorded a solo album called Summer Holiday in the UK, but released here on Epic as Gomm With The Wind with a different song order.

Even if the sunny redhead didn't record another song, he'd still be collecting royalty checks to this day for co-writing Nick Lowe's breakout classic, "Cruel To Be Kind."

But he wrote about dozen short memorable new wave-ish rock songs in the "Cruel To Be Kind" mold for that debut album and one of them went right to the top, "Hold On." Ringing in with an A minor-E minor-F major pattern on the shiny acoustic guitar, the bass, drums and saxophone drop into the second verse, with the echo coming at the end of each first line:

I've been drifting on the sea of heartbreak
Tryin' to get myself ashore
For so long, for so long

Listenin' to the strangest stories
Wondering where it all went wrong
For so long, for so long

But hold on hold on hold on
To what you've got
So hold on hold on hold on
To what you've got


A lot of these pub rock acts who broke into the new wave movement were doing nothing complicated. It was all about simple rock songs, good playing, careful arrangements and usually a bit of wit. "Hold On" was quite a short song but it was extremely catchy. Enough so that my grad school roommates used to mime it rather graphically while changing that chorus to "Hold on hold on hold on to what I got."

Packed with a dozen songs, the album was also short but a remarkable showcase of economic rock songs in that Lowe style. Honest to God, every one of them could have been a hit single. He also slowed down The Beatles' "You Can't Do That," until you are dissecting every syllable in that early classic.

Remarkably, none of those songs followed "Hold On" up the charts. I know Gomm had other albums, even as recent as the 90's, but nothing impacted.

Below is a February 1982 Swedish TV broadcast of Gomm performing "Hold On" live with the legendary power pop pioneers the db's backing him up.

Benny Mardones -- "Into The Night" (1980 and 1989)

Benny! I was attending Syracuse University graduate school when his second album, Never Run, Never Hide, came out. The local FM rock station took immediately to playing "Mighta Been Love," which was all cranking guitars, catchy melody, chugging drums and opened up with those might words with just a mere bass playing: "I never run... I never hide." Bomp ! Bomp! " I can't remember the last time I cried... It might've been the day they took Elvis away."

But then his equally catchy rock ballad about lusting after an underage girl caught on, "Into The Night" and it took Mardones to the top of the charts. This Mardones guy was on to something. In the city of Syracuse, this guy was becoming a god.

My roommates and I loved the fact that the guy's name was "Benny Mardones." OK, we mocked it a little. It wasn't the most dangerous sounding name in rock and roll. Somehow we got the album, and we'd sing along in sort of a pseudo-croon:

She-e-e-e's just sixteen years old
Leave her alone, they say
Separated by fools
Who don't know what love is yet
But I want you to know

If I could fly
I'd pick you up
I'd take you into the night
And show you a love
Like you've never seen, ever seen

The drums were recorded crisply, skipping a beat at the end of every other line. A clavinet and electric piano blending for the chords, tinkling downwards for effect. Heavily chorused rhythm guitar. Synth strings building each chorus up. And Mardones' masterfully belting it out. By the second verse, the last word of every other line overdubbed with breathy echoes ("he-e-e-eart").

Besides, the "Into the Night" chorus utilized one of rock's most powerful chord patterns -- F to G to Em to Am.

Some years later, when I had my first home recording studio in my apartment, I did a version of this song with my friend John so he could impress the girls that summer in Fire Island. It was a little stiff because the drum machine was too rigidly programmed, but John gave it his all to hit those dramatic chorus high spots.

Now, by that time, Benny Mardones was the name of a guy who sang a song we all loved when we went to graduate school, a memory really. Until some Arizona DJ dug the song out of the vault, the phones went crazy and the song amazingly became a national hit all over again in 1989. And from what I read, Syracuse practically built a stature of Mardones in town. That's one of the funny things in rock and roll, when some random city embraces a musical act like nobody else, even if they are not from that town. Much like Crack The Sky and Baltimore, and Little Feat and Washington, D.C.

The first video is a nicely done homemade video featuring old Mardones photos and record covers. The second is a entertaining promo for what was purportedly a 2002 documentary on Mardones' rise and fall with an absolutely priceless introduction.

The Producers -- "What's He Got?" (1981)

The epitome of a one-hit wonder, New Wave skinny tie band, The Producers were one of many similar bands cranked out like this at the height of the New Wave movement. Many of the band names started with the word "the." Some of them had one great song and that was it, their one significant contribution to musical history. A lot of them just disappeared right away and their albums became landfill. It was the New Wave gold rush, much like the grunge craze in Seattle in the early 90's when the record labels were signing similar New Wave bands left and right.

As is often the case with the one hit wonder, New Wave skinny tie bands, that one hit was usually a killer and this was definitely the case with The Producers' "What He Got." Their label, Epic/Portrait, was clearly trying to model them in some way after Cheap Trick, putting keyboardist Wayne Famous (!) in the Bun E. Carlos role as the "strange comic looking one who stood out among the handsome band members." They even shared Cheap Trick's long time producer, Tom Werman (one of the great unsung rock producers, in my opinion).


But that's just about with their similarities ended. While Cheap Trick was guitar-driven, heavy Beatles-influenced power pop with lots of overdriven chords, The Producers just had New Wave written all over them. "What's He Got" is three minutes of sharp jangly pop, a rather sneering tale of a jealous guy wondering why the girl he has the hots for is instead going out with that man "with the big black car, long cigar, he's twice your age."


Looking for a place
In his will
Why should you be just a
Mid-life thrill
You'll be thinking of me
Every night
When he turns away and
Turns out the light

Remember rock music when you could dance to it? That was one of New Wave's greatest contributions to culture, something we haven't seen in years. With "What's He Got," you can sing along to the entire song and then the counter harmonies ("na na na na na") like a true upbeat pop song and dance like a New Wave nut, hopping up and down, huddling together.

Below was the group's official "What's He Got" video, which starts off with this nonsensical Monty Python animation rip-off and then goes right into the beauty. Watch how they make that keyboardist appear as the comic relief (and suspiciously he's the only bald one!), surrounded by synthesizers and carrying one monster unit around his shoulders during the break.

The 10 Greatest Bubblegum Songs of the Late 60's

I spent all my elementary school years in the 60's and listened to a lot of WABC-AM and WMCA-AM radio. While there was plenty of great pop and rock music, I dropped right into the whole bubblegum music craze of the late 60's/early 70's. I could not avoid it and frankly, it was hard to resist, which is exactly what all these record producers and labels wanted.

I bought the singles by acts who were merely fictitious vehicles for these music executives to sell their acts. I thought they were real like everybody else!

How do I define bubblegum music? Under three minutes, "teenage subject matter" (usually girls), an element of silliness, simple chord structure, repetitive to the point of surrender. The song could be highly produced with horns or strings (Spanky and Our Gang's "Sunday Will Never Be The Same"), or garage-type rock (Any song by the 1910 Fruitgum Compnay or Ohio Express).

What is all the boy band music and Hanna Montana but modern variations on bubblegum music?

Sixties bubblegum was particularly unique in that the group names were ridiculous, especially the ones tied in with Saturday morning cartoon shows (The Wombles? The Cattanooga Cats?). Even the "boy detectives" The Hardy Boys had a bubblegum band (Frank Hardy on guitar, Joe Hardy on bass!). You also had the same producers coming out with different songs under different names, often with the same lead singer (Ron Dante sang lead on all The Archies songs, and then did the same on The Cuff Links "Tracy").

For further reading, the book on the topic is absolutely "Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth," still in print, with contributions from my west coast friend Becky Ebenkamp (check out her radio show here). For a modern appreciation of the genre, you must buy the fantastic power pop tribute Right To Chews.

I make no apologies for being a big fan of bubblegum music, especially when one consider The Ramones based a lot of their songs on the same catchy simple chord patterns, and even covered "Indian Giver" on their Ramonesmania compilation? You're telling me that the Cars didn't consciously rip off the beginning of "Yummy Yummy Yummy" for their first hit "Just What I Needed?"

So here is my list of the 10 greatest bubblegum songs of the 60's with some nifty videos below them (in no particular order):

1) Ohio Express -- "Chewy Chewy" (1968): This is the first bubblegum single that I had to buy. I was at a sixth grade party at some kid's house, the boys on one side of the room and the girls on the other, and somebody put this single on the phonograph. That was it, it was all over for me. The singer had this nasal quality to his voice, almost like he was holding his nose while singing the song. And for a sixth grader standing on the other side of the room from the girls, it was easy to dance to, as bad as my floor moves may have been. The Swedish power pop group The Yum Yums (how's that for a name?) did a heavy electrified cover of the song in the late 90's.

2) Crazy Elephant -- "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" (1969): I always thought they were called the Crazy Elephants, but their name turned out to be similar to Iron Butterfly. What is this song, two minutes? Driving beat, the trademark cheesy Farfisa organ, three chords! One of my absolute favorites, the first song I ever did in my home recording studio, and covered with drum machines and samples by cult producer Mitch Easter on the aforementioned Right To Chews record.

3) The Archies -- "Sugar Sugar" (1969): Let me quote Wikipedia's entry on the band... "The Archies are a garage band founded by Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones, a group of adolescent fictional characters of the Archie universe, in the context of the animated TV series, The Archie Show." I'm surprised they didn't refer to him as "Reginald Mantle." This first big hit by The Archies stayed at #1 for what seemed to be an eternity. Another song with just a few chords, a nicely distorted electric piano playing the chords, and what seems like a black soul singer's voice coming out of Betty's or Veronica's mouth!

4) Tommy Roe -- "Dizzy" (1969): Probably the most complex bubblegum hit of the era. The song changes key seamlessly about three or four times for each verse and chorus, and because of that, has this sort of "merry go round" feeling. Certainly memorable for that shuffle-beat drumming throughout the song, including a couple of solo breaks. Another great cover on Right to Chews, the one by Cliff Hillis, who uses distorted samples, synthesizers and a toy piano.

5) The Cowsills -- "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" (1967): Discussed at length on a previous post. A three-minute "teenage hippie symphony."




6) The Cuff Links -- "Tracy" (1969): Gee, why does Archie Andrews from the Archies sound remarkably similar to the singer of this single? Ron Dante overdubbing himself many times over for a ridiculously catchy song that also pushed the bubblegum envelope by changing keys several times. If there is any song that is a tribute to Dante's brilliant vocal skills, this is it.


7) Steam -- "Na Na, Hey, Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)" (1969): Strangely, the one hit wonder that has had the longest-lived life, thanks to modern day sports. The song also marks one of the first successful uses of drum loops. Word has it that this song was made as a goof and the lyrics were never meant to be what they were. Yet, when you combine repetitiveness, catchiness and a good gimmick at the break (repeating the chorus over and over at low volume, building it until it's normal again), and oh yes that awesome drum loop, flukes do happen.

8) The Monkees -- "I'm A Believer" (1966): The ultimate real life bubblegum rock group, where auditions were held to create this group from scratch and go on to do a successful TV show, concert tours, albums and singles. The group members rebelled at one point because they wanted to play their own instruments and write their own songs. But this early hit written by Neil Diamond cemented their fame with another great fuzzy electric piano line, a country-type guitar lick, and Micky Dolenz' fun vocals. Smash Mouth's cover has nothing on the original.


9) The 1910 Fruitgum Company -- "Simon Says" (1968): Not exactly the most threatening sounding band name. I can picture the production team sitting in their offices coming up with the brainstorm of taking the kids' party game and turning it into a silly simple song. They took it all the way to the bank. At a time when there was the Watusi, the Twist and the Pony, it doesn't get anymore blatant than: Put your hands in the air, Shake them all about, Do it when Simon says, And you will never be out.


10) The Lemon Pipers -- "Green Tambourine" (1968): This is the biggest bubblegum hit which delved into psychedelia. Scratchy violins going up and down, prominent sitar playing, and weirdly echoed and altered vocals on the "Now listen while I play-y-y-y-yy."


THE OHIO EXPRESS -- "CHEWY, CHEWY"

The Archies - Sugar Sugar
Uploaded by scootaway

TOMMY ROE -- "DIZZY"


THE CUFF LINKS - "TRACY"


THE MONKEES -- "I"M A BELIEVER"


THE LEMON PIPERS -- "GREEN TAMBOURINE"

Crazy Elephant - Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'
Uploaded by phgabin

STEAM -- "NA NA HEY HEY (KISS HIM GOODBYE)

The Jags - "Back Of My Hand" (1979)

You just have to laugh when you hear that the name of this band was "The Jags." C'mon. Just as the New Wave movement was building up a head of steam, every other new rock band had their skinny ties and their name began with "The." But The Jags?

OK, well, back n the late 70's, early 80's, for a short shining moment in radio time, WPIX-FM in New York played all the latest new wave and what was considered "alternative rock" for that era. This was before consultants came in and ruined everything good about radio. The other station that led the way in this edgy format was WLIR-FM, which broadcast then out of Hempstead, Long Island, but could be heard in the boroughs.

WPIX-FM played a lot of cool stuff, a lot of the "The" bands, and one of them was this absolutely fantastic piece of rock music which reminded me of Dire Straits, simply because they both prominently featured Fender Strat solos. That's where the comparison ends, though. The Jags came and went, like many other new wave bands, but they had it all riding on "Back Of My Hand."

All the new wave hallmarks were intact: biting put-down lyrics, unforgettable melodies throughout, hard-strumming rock guitars, short sharp stops. The single, lifted off the Evening Standard album, actually had high production values with every chord chiming clearly. Apparently, the song was featured on the Owen Wilson-starring "You, Me and Dupree" soundtrack from a couple of years back.

You only call me if your feeling blue
You tell me I don't pay attention to you
But if you only knew, just what I'm going through
You wouldn't phone those guys who mess around with you girl.

When i call you I get stack of lies
You whip 'em out before you dry your eyes
I'm not a fruit machine, a nineteen sixties dream
And in the 'bet you' list I bet you've never seen her.

You're not unreadable, you're not unbeatable,
I know just what you are, don't push your luck too far
You're not untouchable, not just another girl
I'd get in touch with you , I only wish you knew that

I've got your number written on the back of my hand (x 3)
I've got your number


As much as The Jags came and went, they contributed this one amazing song and for here, we salute them, wherever they may be.

What I love about the video below is that The Jags are not the best song synchers. My favorite guy is the blond guitarist when the camera moves in and pans around to him early on in the song. Not only is he nowhere near the song's timing, but he looks like he's spastically slapping the guitar. Too bad because the guitar playing on the single itself, including the solo, is superb. The end is cut off a little early with audience applause, unfortunately, but to hear this song again is worth it.
the jags - back of my hand

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John Fred & His Playboy Band - "Judy in Disguise" (1968)

For a quasi-novelty number, "Judy In Disguise" was still a great party song right through the late 80's. In those days, when was I renting the second floor of a three family home with two other friends in Briarwood, Queens, this song was mandatory on the party tapes. Like The Isley Brothers' "Shout" or The Rascals' "Good Lovin'," it was a blatant 60's -era song that wouldn't quit.

"Judy in Disguise" had its own variation of the tried-and-true bass motif based on the major 6th pattern, also employed artfully from Gary Lewis & The Playboys' "She's Just My Style" to Squeeze's "Black Coffee In Bed."

However, "Judy in Disguise" sped faster than any of those variations, with straight ahead drums and the snap of the snare. Much of the song's melody incorporated that major 6th pattern, going up in the first words ("Judy in disguise") and down the next few ("Hey that's what you are").

At first, it sounded like he was singing" Judy in the skies," a parody of The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky (With Diamonds)" -- which it was. You could clap your hands, shake and shimmy as the horns powered out that major 6th riff, as an unusual set of high strings went front and center for the instrumental break. Those strings also suddenly went out of tune and psychedelic for a few seconds just before the last verse, a subtle dig at the orchestra crescendo of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life." Even the song's end had a detuned guitar following the solo lead vocal. This was probably one of the most cleverly arranged one hit wonders of the 60's.

If you read the lyrics, you realize that although it sounded nothing like the Beatles' classic "Lucy In The Sky," they were clearly poking fun at the Fab Four's more "out there" words:

Judy in disguise, well that's what you are
Lemonade pie with a brand new car
Cantalope eyes come to me tonight
Judy in disguise with glasses

Keep a-wearing your bracelets and your new rara
Cross your heart with your living bra
Chimney sweep sparrow with guise
Judy in disguise with glasses

Special attention, though, must be made to the vocals of John Fred, a stage name if there ever was one. He sounds like he's going to break out of control, with subtle vibe of horniness. His vocals are charged with confidence, but it seems like any second, he's going to go nuts. By the time the song hits that weird psychedelic break, with the dissonant strings going up and down, he's panting and moaning, so is he putting you on or not?

The video below is really hilarious and of the time, as it was shot on a local Cleveland pop TV show "Upbeat" that was clearly trying to be cool with some green lens effects. At least the band has horn players to play to the track, but where the hell is the drummer? And you've got to love the quick cutaway closeups of the individual musicians, who seem to have no idea what to do.