How ’bout some prog-rock about some sailors? Amazing, but songs about sailors aren’t that uncommon in the rock world.
You might have something from Styx, Blue Image, or Gordon Lightfoot in mind. This one, though, is from Kansas and 1977. Not their biggest hit by far, I’ve always been teased by that line, “How long to the point of know return?” It’s like, “Well, I don’t know.”
I also always remember Jerry, a buddy of mine, when I hear this song. He loved being the vocalist while playing air keyboards when this song played.
I love the beach, and I miss the beach, so I’m trying to make plans to go to the beach. Challenge number one is timing; number two is finding trustworthies to feed the cats.
Hunting for beachy accommodations on the net, I began streaming a popular beach song. I like “Rockaway Beach” by the Ramones (1977) for its raucous fast pace and lyrics. I especially enjoy those opening lines, which are later repeated:
Chewin’ at a rhythm on my bubble gum
The sun is out, I want some
It’s not hard, not far to reach
We can hitch a ride to Rockaway Beach
I laugh at the first because I used to chew rhythms on my gum, which infuriated Mom, my sisters, and later, my wife. They all consider it noisy. Mom also thought I was like a cow chewing my cud.
I tried chewing my gum to “Rockaway Beach” — you have to, right? — and failed. Guess I need to keep working on it.
Gonna tell you a story. About a kitty I know. When it comes to loving, she steals the show. Ain’t exactly pretty, ain’t exactly small.
Well, she was small of body, but big of mind, and HUGE of will.
Anyway, back to the theme music. Going with AC/DC. “Whole Lotta Rosie”. 1977. You either know it, or you don’t. That’s how stuff usually works.
You may not know this, but I was born in 1956, so 1977 was part of my extended childhood. Truthfully, my extended childhood will probably end within a few years. I’m holding on, but all good things must end.
Go in for more work in Peckerville today. Wish me luck. Cheers
As I’ve thought about what was happening and where I’ve decided to go, Peter Gabriel’s song, “Solsbury Hill” (1977) came to me. The song is about making decisions, taking risks, and changing, coming about when he left Genesis, the group he’d helped begin almost a decade before, to begin a solo career.
Many of the versus reflected his uncertainty about the decision.
I’m agnostic in my religious approach, with some new age and pagan shavings. Our house is lightly decorated for the holidays with a few Douglas Fir swags over the fireplace and front door, and a large wreath on one of the living room’s high walls. Each is lit by strands of small white lights at night. I like sitting in there and thinking of the centuries past, when darkness and cold descended, and people wondered what was to come. Gee, just like as it happens now, innit? I also sip a little mulled wine or wine with wassail, just to put me in the right mood, when I sit in there.
Perhaps it’s cheesy by some standards, but I like this rendition of Bing Crosby and David Bowie doing “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth”. I was stationed in the Philippines when it came out in November, 1977, and didn’t see it for years. My assignment was due to end on December 28, 1977, and I’d go home then, and on to my next assignment, but the Flying Tigers, which was the servicing airline the military contracted, had an extra 747 available. They announced that seats were available for anyone who could get leave or process through to end their assignment, if their assignment was due to end in December.
I ended up on that flight, along with maybe a dozen other people. Landing in L.A., I found flights to Cincinnati to Charleston, WV, and took a bus for the final miles, arriving home just after a snowstorm, but still on Christmas Eve. I’d called my wife from Charleston to meet me at the bus station. That was the first she knew of my early homecoming. I think I was the only person who got off the bus.
Time for another visit with the Alan Parsons Project. This song, “I Wouldn’t Want to be Like You”, came out in 1977. I awoke with it bouncing around my stream, along with songs about rain. I went with Alan Parsons.
I can’t trace the roots of why I’m streaming this song today. Didn’t have the record, or any of this group’s albums. I knew the song came out sometime in the mid to late 1970s, but had to look it up to find it.
The airways often shaped the musical landscape then, with television giving musical groups and their hits a step up via Soul Train, American Bandstand, and a few other shows like that. FM stereo was growing in popularity, with multiple stations dedicated to rock, soul, R&B, and country genres going on air. Once songs began getting air time, they would move up the charts, gain more air time. Suddenly they were in your ears.
Nothing wrong with that, of course. When I first started driving in 1974, our area had three FM stations. You’d punch the buttons and move around between them. I don’t punch buttons now, but gently tap them to move ‘tween stations, or use my thumb on a rocker button my steering wheel to advance to the next setting. I have five FM stations that I prefer in my area, but I also play satellite FM. The satellite capability offers about a zillion stations, but I listen to eight primary music stations when I’m drivin’ ’round town.
This song, “Baby Come Back” (1977) by Player, came to me by radio saturation. The song reminds me of Hall & Oates. I was stationed in the Philippines when it was released. We only had one station, the Armed Forces Network Philippines (AFN-P). It’s an okay song, doesn’t stir me in any particular direction, but it’s part of my memoryscape.
Yes, it’s time for a little AC/DC live. I like the live show’s energy. As for the song, I like that they’re singing about a big woman, and they like her for her bigness, along with other matters.
As a side comment, I want to note that I wanted those lyrics to be one paragraph, and single-space. WordPress didn’t agree and imposed its will. I reverted to Word, wrote it out, started a new doc, and pasted it in.
And WordPress imposed its will about how it thinks it should like, which pisses me off. So I went back to Classic editor
And guess what? Yeah. They’re making me work too hard for just a little post.
Thinking of many things today, and from that morass streamed an old Tom Petty song.
Many consider “Breakdown” (1977) to be the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ breakout song. It’s a mellow, reflective sound with some edges, a sweet and weary reflection of love and trying. I prefer the live version included in An American Treasure.
The music today comes via a personal experience. Trying to give my cat a pill, I kept saying, “Come on, give a little bit.” He never did but I managed to get the pill into him.
However, the diabolical little flooflaw then went under my desk and spit it out. When I retrieved it, I discovered three more pills.
Grrr.
I crunched the pill up and put it into a little dab of water and administered it to him via an eye-dropper.
So, in honor of Quinn, here’s a past hit streaming through my awareness, Supertramp with “Give A Little Bit” from 1977.
Michael Seidel, writer 