Breakfast in America Album: Breakfast In America (1979)
by Supertramp

Supertramp is a British band whose main songwriters were keyboard player Rick Davies and bass player Roger Hodgson. Although they shared songwriting credits, most of their songs were written separately. Hodgson wrote this one when he was in his late teens and still living in England. The song describes an English youth who dreams of going to America and becoming famous, which is exactly what Supertramp did.

When we spoke with Hodgson in 2012, he told us that he put himself in character for the song, and was in a whimsical mood when he wrote it. Said Roger: "The line 'playing my jokes upon you,' I think that kind of sums up the song. It was just mind chatter. Just writing down ideas as they came - fun thoughts all strung together. And I do remember the Beatles had just gone to America, and I was pretty impressed with that. That definitely stimulated my dream of wanting to go to America. And obviously seeing all those gorgeous California girls on the TV and thinking, Wow. That's the place I want to go."

Roger did go to California - he moved there in 1973 and has lived there ever since.
Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies were at odds over naming the album after the song. Says Hodgson, "He [Davies] didn't want the album title 'Breakfast In America' either. So I guess I won out on both counts."

The Breakfast In America album was very different from Supertramp's previous albums, which were more conceptual and elaborate. Breakfast was designed to have pop appeal, which is why they included this song that Hodgson had written eight years earlier.

Hodgson and Davies had a specific disagreement over the first line in the song: "Take a look at my girlfriend, she's the only one I got." Hodgson explained to Melody Maker in 1979: "He never liked the lyric to 'Breakfast.' It's so trite: 'Take a look at my girlfriend.' He's much more into crafting a song. He would have been happier if I'd changed the lyric to either something funnier or more relevant. I tried, but it didn't work out, so I was stuck with the original."

Hodgson added in his Songfacts interview, "I don't believe I had a girlfriend at that time, and if I did it wouldn't have lasted much longer after that."

This song was powered by an old pump organ. Hodgson explained: "I think I was 17 when I found this wonderful pump organ - a harmonium that you pump with your feet. I found it in this old lady's house in the countryside near where I lived in England. I bought it for £26, and when I brought it back I proceeded to write all these songs on it: 'Breakfast In America,' 'Two Of Us,' 'Soapbox Opera,' even the beginning of 'Fool's Overture' and 'Logical Song.' It's amazing what this instrument pulled out of me."

A dazzling array of unusual instruments were used on this track, including some that rarely are heard on rock songs. Supertramp could be very musically adventurous thank to band member John Helliwell, who could text limit

New Sensation Album: Kick (1987)
Suicide Blonde Album: X (1990)
Devil Inside Album: Kick (1987)
by Inxs

Like all the original tracks on Kick, "New Sensation" was written by lead singer Michael Hutchence along with Andrew Farriss, who played a number of instruments in the group. Farriss came up with a guitar riff that carries the track musically; Hutchence added the "seize the day" lyric, encouraging us to live boldly, seeking out new sensations.

"I felt that a lot of the lyrics on the Kick album were very positive lyrics," Farriss said. "When I listen to that album, a lot of the lyrics are about celebrating life, and I find them particularly positive."

Listen carefully under the guitar and you'll hear a banjo line, which Andrew Farriss added using a sampler.
The video shows a different side of Michael Hutchence, putting him in a suit and ponytail (très chic in 1987) as the band performs the song at the Municipal House in Prague. INXS was fond of their visual effects, and this one used a combination of light waves mixed with a strobing look pioneered in the Wang Chung "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" video.

Like most of their early videos, New Sensation was directed by Richard Lowenstein, their good friend from Australia.
INXS guitarist/horn player Kirk Pengilly played the saxophone part, and yes, Michael Hutchence yells "trumpet!" just before it plays. This was an in-joke: The group's other guitarist, Tim Farriss, wanted to play trumpet on the track, but Pengilly overruled him and got his sax solo.

In the video version, Hutchence's call for trumpet is removed because it sounds really dumb when you actually see the saxophone.

This was the third single from the Kick album, which took the band to a new level. Outside their home country of Australia, they had just a modest following, but the first single from the album, "Need You Tonight," was a monster, going to #1 in America. "Devil Inside" followed, reaching #2, so by the time "New Sensation" was released, there was no question it would get airplay. It followed the sequence, peaking at #3 in July 1988 (the next single, "Never Tear Us Apart," stopped at #7).
INXS ruled MTV in 1988. At the Video Music Awards on September 7, they were the big winners, taking home five awards for the "Need You Tonight/Mediate" video. They closed the ceremony with a performance of "New Sensation."

With the promise of a "new sensation," this song is irresistible to ad agencies, who have placed it in commercials for Toyota, Sea World and McDonald's.

This plays in the Charmed episode Coyote Piper (2001), and in the Mr. Robot episode "eps3.1_undo.gz" (2017). It also shows up in these movies:

The Way Way Back (2013)
Towelhead (2007)
Shattered Glass (2003)
40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)

The song title comes from a phrase describing a woman who colors her hair blonde as "dyeing" from her own hand, making her a "suicide blonde." It was written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, who were the primary text limit

There's Gonna Be Some Rockin Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976)
Problem Child Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976)
by AC/DC

All the kiddos out of skool. Don't ya' just feel like matriculating more of this sh1t?

When vocalist Bon Scott introduced this song at concerts he would say half-jokingly that it was about lead guitarist Angus Young. In his biography of the band, Paul Stenning says it could have been written about any of them, but Angus himself said, "I wasn't really a bad sort of kid". Young did though invariably dress as a schoolboy on stage, so this humorous remark may have had a double meaning.

The song was written by Malcolm Young, Angus Young and Bon Scott.

Bassist Cliff Williams told Hard Rock magazine in 1996: "A friend of mine gave me a phone call telling me AC/DC was looking for a bassist and that my name was on their list. The boys in the band thought they had greater chances to find the right man in England rather than in Australia because the talent pool was more important there. I was auditioned in a small room at the Victoria studio. The first tracks I played were "Live Wire" and "Problem Child" and a few old blues songs if I remember well. The manager of the band told me I had the job. The plan was as follows: I was to leave London to Australia, because we were supposed to prepare the recording of Powerage. But the Australian Immigration Department didn't act cool with me. The guy in charge of my file told me, 'I don't understand why a Brit got the job, an Australian could have had it.' I answered, 'You're crazy, you could have me lose my job.' Yes, I had a few problems but finally I was able to go to Australia where we recorded Powerage."

There's Gonna Be Some Rockin'

Well me and the boys
Are out to have some fun
Gonna put on a show
Come on, let's go

There's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin' at the show tonight

Every night there's a rock 'n' roll queen
Gonna quiver and quake
Gonna shake her thing

Gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin' at the show tonight
It's a rock 'n' roll show

We got a big fat sound
Wanna share it round
Got a big bass drum
Gonna have some fun

Gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin' at the show tonight

C'mon
There's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin' (Yeah)
There's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin' at the show tonight
There's gonna be some rockin'

(Does that rock, or what?)
Hey, there's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin'
Gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin'
There's gonna be some rockin' at the show tonight
Hey, there's gonna be some rockin' at the show tonight
Oh, there's gonna be some rockin' at the show tonight

Rock You Like A Hurricane Album: Love At First Sting (1984)
by Scorpions

In an interview with Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker, he said: "I think 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' is a perfect rock anthem, which talks about attitude and sexuality. It's very important to recognize the tension between the verses and the chorus. I think Klaus (Meine) went over the lyrics around eight or nine times because the first lyrics of the song went something like 'blah blah blah blah.' And we said, 'No! The song is not feeling right.' But at the ninth or tenth time, it came.

The lyric goes: 'The bitch is hungry, she needs to tell, so give her inches and feed her well.' This was the tension between the 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' chorus, and the words to the verses. This is what makes the song great. And the funny thing is, the girls, when they're talking about 'Rock You Like A Hurricane,' they say, 'Oh, I love your song 'Rock Me Like A Hurricane.''"

The video for Rock You Like A Hurricane, which features a leopard, a black panther, women wearing next-to-nothing, and the band inside a makeshift cage which is being rocked back and forth by the crowd outside, was targeted by Tipper Gore in an interview about her reasons behind co-founding the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center). Stated Gore, in an interview with Gary James, "At that time, there was Van Halen's 'Hot For Teacher,' Motley Crue's 'Looks That Kill,' The Scorpions' 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' - I mean, there were some very violent images. Through the eyes of a 6 or 8-year-old, when they see these scantily clad women kind of rounded up by the band members and put in cages, and there's whips, and there's a sort of menace and there's a sort of a sexuality, they pick up on that."

The PMRC was founded in 1985 by four wives of powerful political men. They became known as the "Washington Wives." Their objective was to have record companies voluntarily place warning labels on records that contained sexually explicit or violent lyrics or images, or which were suggestive of drug use. Although many recording artists testified against the use of any labels on their material, citing their rights to freedom of speech and no censorship, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) began placing warning labels on its merchandise, and continues to do so. The RIAA represents the US recording industry, and count among its members record labels and distributors responsible for the creation and distribution of 90% of recorded music sold there.

The video was directed by David Mallet, who had done AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" and Billy Idol's "White Wedding." Rudolf Schenker credits him with capturing the essence of the Scorpions, saying in I Want My MTV, "He said, 'Don't be serious, let's get crazy.' That video is about attitude, craziness, and sexuality. That's how we survived into the video generation."

This song is played at the home games of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes txt lmt

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida Album: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)
by Iron Butterfly

Jarosław Jaśnikowski
iron butterfly inagita davita

One of the most blissfully indulgent rock songs, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is animal-instinct rock and roll, playing out for just over seventeen minutes in its unabridged form and taking up an entire album side. The mysterious title is one of the great legends in rock. You might think it has a deep, mystical meaning, but it's really a translation error.

The title was supposed to be "In The Garden Of Eden." Drummer Ron Bushy wrote it down as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" because he couldn't understand was vocalist Doug Ingle was singing. Their record company was OK with the title because it sounds exotic and Eastern spirituality was big at the time, with The Beatles going to India and The Rolling Stones experimenting with Indian instruments.

As for the meaning of the song, it's just a guy affirming his love for his special girl.

This was written by Doug Ingle, Iron Butterfly's vocalist and keyboard player. His father was a church organist, which influenced the drawn-out organ riffs in this song.

When he wrote the song, Doug Ingle didn't intend for it to be over 17 minutes long, but that's how it played out when the band recorded it at what they thought was merely a soundcheck to test levels for engineer Don Casale while they waited for producer Jim Hilton to arrive. Casale, though, kept tape rolling, and the band got in a groove. After the rehearsal was completed they agreed that the performance - filled with mistakes but also with raw energy - was of sufficient quality that another take wasn't needed.

The single was edited down to 2:52, shaving over 14 minutes off the song! Some pop stations played the single, but much of the airplay came from progressive FM stations that played the long version, which wasn't available as a single (a 45 RPM vinyl disc couldn't hold nearly that much music). So to get the full song, listeners had to buy the album, and they did. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, the album, ended up selling over 4 million copies. Until Led Zeppelin came along, it was the best selling album in the history of Atlantic Records.

The band's original guitar player quit before this was recorded. He was replaced by Eric Braun, who had only played the guitar for three months.

The title loosely translates as "In The Garden Of Life."

This was the first hit song that could be classified as "heavy metal." The phrase was introduced that year in the Steppenwolf song "Born To Be Wild."

Iron Butterfly would have performed this at Woodstock, but they didn't make it because they were stuck at the airport.
Hip-hop artist Nas has two different songs that sample "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." The first is "Thief's Theme" from his 2003 double album Street's Disciple. The second is the title track of his 2006 album Hip-Hop is Dead. >>
Danny Weiss of Iron Butterfly was recommended to Al Kooper by David Crosby (of Crosby, Stills, & Nash), right when text limit

Son of a Preacher Man Album: Dusty In Memphis (1969)
Spooky Single: (1968)
The Windmills of Your Mind Album: Dusty In Memphis (1969)
by Dusty Springfield

Son of a Preacher Man was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. Dusty's version is the most popular, but it has been covered by many artists, including Elvis Presley, Bobbie Gentry, Foo Fighters, Chet Atkins, Joss Stone, and Natalie Merchant. The song was originally offered to Aretha Franklin (who is a preacher's daughter), but she turned it down because she thought it was disrespectful. She subsequently changed her mind and did a cover version of it.

Dusty Springfield was born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien in London on 4/16/1939. She died in 1999 or breast cancer. Shortly before her death she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was given the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Some famous preachers' sons: Marvin Gaye, Wyclef Jean, Tim Curry, John Hurt, John Ashcroft, Martin Luther King Jr.
The backup vocals were by a female group called the Sweet Inspirations, who were made up of Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith and Estelle Brown. They were the sought-after female backup vocalists in the New York area, having performed on albums by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Picket, Van Morrison and many others. With four singers, they could create a rich, soulful sound that suited this song perfectly.

Later in 1969, the Sweet Inspirations went to work for Elvis Presley, touring and recording with him. Cissy Houston left the group at this time so she could spend more time with her children, including her young daughter, Whitney Houston.

There is a drink called a "Son Of A Preacher Man." It's made with peppermint schnapps, vodka or gin, and lemonade.

Son of a Preacher Man was used for a key sequence in the movie Pulp Fiction, which made the song popular again in 1994. Director Quentin
Tarantino said he would have cut the scene if he hadn't been able to get the rights to the tune.

The rap group Cypress Hill sampled Son of a Preacher Man at the beginning of their song "Hits from the Bong."

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's son Jay Bakker has written an autobiography titled Son Of A Preacher Man. The Bakkers were televangelists who were disgraced in the late '80s when it was revealed that Jim had a sexual encounter with Jessica Hahn and bilked his followers out of lots of money. Jim Bakker went to jail for tax evasion.

This was also featured in the 2000 thriller Frequency, starring Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel. The song is skipping on a record player in a dead girl's apartment.

Son of a Preacher Man was used in a 1997 Dr. Pepper commercial, where a preacher's son uses the soft drink to woo his crush.

In The Office episode "Baby Shower" (2008), Jan Levinson sings Son of a Preacher Man to her baby. It was also used on Sons Of Anarchy in the 2008 episode "Seeds" and on Ally McBeal in the 1999 episode "The Green Monster" (sung by Courtney Thorne-Smith).

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How's It Going To Be Album: Third Eye Blind (1997)
Semi-Charmed Life Album: Third Eye Blind (1997)
Never Let You Go Album: Blue (2000)
by Third Eye Blind

On the HBO show Reverb, Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind described "How's It Going To Be" as "The emotional side of mortality, as played on a zither." He explained: "'How's It Going to Be' started with an autoharp that Kevin was playing. It's an antique instrument, and it inspired a nostalgic, emotional condition in me. And the lyrics really came out of that very quickly. I think the song's just about the fear you have when you've been close friends and that gets knocked back to becoming acquaintances again. So I think it's sort of a song about the emotional side of mortality."

In an interview with Third Eye Blind lead singer Stephan Jenkins, he said Semi-Charmed Life is "about falling apart." It relates specifically to a drug-induced high that makes everything fleetingly better. Said Jenkins: "Perfection is the moment right before gravity comes back in."

Semi-Charmed Life describes a drug user's descent into crystal meth addiction. The line, "I want something else..." contains a reference to crystal meth in the song. Stephan Jenkins explained on the HBO show Reverb that they intentionally put a chipper melody to the dark lyrical content. Said Jenkins: "When I wrote 'Semi-Charmed Life,' the guitar riff was intended to have this sort of bright duh-nuhnuh-nunt, this shiny thing, because that was a feeling of speed. You know, it's sort of a bright, shiny drug. And we all were sort of into hip-hop, and so it has a hip-hop flow over it."

The line: "Doing crystal meth will lift you up until you break" was a little racy for some radio stations, who played an edited version with the words "Crystal Meth" distorted.

Talking about the deeper meaning of Semi-Charmed Life on Reverb, Jenkins said: "It's a song about always wanting something. It's about never being satisfied, and reaching backwards to things that you've lost and towards things that you can never get. I think everybody has some identification with that. The story line between the people, the demise of this relationship, is just an extreme example of that condition. I think that's what makes people really relate to 'Semi-Charmed Life.'"

The band has admitted that they borrowed the "doot doot doot" part of the song from Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side."
This was Third Eye Blind's first single. The group's name could be a reference to a penis, but The Third Eye is also a metaphysical term in new age spirituality referring a state of enlightenment and is associated with the pineal gland.

The original line on Semi-Charmed Life was "I want nothing else..." but when the song was eventually released, it was changed to "I want something else." No explanation has ever been given for this, however recordings of the original can be found.

Semi-Charmed Life was played in the Norm MacDonald movie Dirty Work as Norm's character, Mitch, returns hom

Introduction by George Kupczak of the AT&T Archives and History Center This 1963 film shows how basic physical concepts are applied to make an optical maser oscillate. The optical maser is examined as a generator of electromagnetic energy in the optical range of frequencies, having many similar qualities to standard radio and microwave oscillators. The principal types of gas and solid-state optical masers are shown in the laboratory. Dr. C. G. B. Garrett of Bell Laboratories (and his prominent British accent) presents the material, which also includes lab demonstrations and animation. The Optical maser is a phrase that means the same as Laser - or Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. A Laser is basically a Maser that works with photons in the light spectrum. There are optical and infrared masers, as profiled in the 1958 pioneering paper that introduced the concept to the world, written by Bell Labs scientists Charles H. Townes and Arthur L. Schawlow. Dr. Garrett worked with Dr.s Townes and Schawlow, and is shown here with the latter. Original audience: college students Produced at Bell Laboratories Footage courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ

John George Trump (August 21, 1907 – February 21, 1985) was an American electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist. He is the uncle of former United States President Donald Trump He is the uncle of former United States President Donald Trump He is the uncle of former United States President Donald Trump A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1936 to 1973, he was a recipient of the National Medal of Science and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Trump was noted for developing rotational radiation therapy.[3] Together with Robert J. Van de Graaff, he developed one of the first million-volt X-ray generators John was the youngest of three children, and the second son of German immigrants Frederick Trump and Elizabeth Christ Trump. He was born in New York City on August 21, 1907.

Exactly what happened in Maui and can be powered from a ship with a nuclear reactor maser and specialized capacitor bank(s)

Get It Right Next Time Album: Night Owl (1978)
Night Owl Album: Night Owl (1978)
Right Down The Line Album: City To City (1978)
by Gerry Rafferty

"Night Owl" is the title track to Gerry Rafferty's third solo album, the follow-up to his best-seller, City To City. At the time, Rafferty had left his native Scotland and relocated to England.

Night Owl was released as a single backed by "Why Won't You Talk to Me?" Like the rest of the album, it was written by Rafferty and produced by Hugh Murphy on the United Artists label. The album was recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Chipping Norton, England.

The Los Angeles Times called the songs of Night Owl "concise, wry tales of love and ambition, inventively arranged and sung in a dry whine that carries just the right amount of detachment."

The Lyricon solo was played by Raphael Ravenscroft, the guy who performed the famous sax solo on "Baker Street." The Lyricon is a breath-controlled analog synthesizer invented by Bill Bernardi and Roger Noble of Computone Inc. in Massachusetts in the early 1970s. It was the first electronic wind instrument to be constructed.

Gerry Rafferty enjoyed some success with his group Stealers Wheel, particularly the single "Stuck In The Middle With You." However, after the band disbanded, legal issues meant Rafferty could not release any material for three years. Once the disputes were resolved, he released his smash hit "Baker Street." "Right Down The Line" is the follow up.

Rafferty married his fellow Scot, hairdresser Carla Ventilla, in 1970, and here he pays tribute to how she stuck by him through thick and thin. He praises Carla for helping him through all the bad times and tells her every day he loves her more and more.

Rafferty had always been partial to a drink or two, which he alludes to in his 1979 single "Night Owl." But a growing alcohol problem placed his marriage under an intolerable strain, and Carla divorced him in 1990, though they remained close.
"Right Down The Line" peaked at #12 on the Hot 100 and also spent four non-consecutive weeks on top of the adult contemporary chart. In Canada, the song reached number five on both the pop singles and adult contemporary charts.

Bonnie Raitt covered Right Down The Line for her 2012 Slipstream album, adding a faux-reggae groove. Released as a single, it reached #17 on the US Adult album alternative chart.

Right Down The Line plays in the first episode of the second season of the American teen drama TV series Euphoria.

Green Eyed Lady Album: Sugarloaf (1970)
Don't Call Us We'll Call You Album: Don't Call Us, We'll Call You (1975)
Rollin Hills Album: Spaceship Earth (1979)
by Sugarloaf

Who is the green-eyed lady? According to lead singer Jerry Corbetta, it was his girlfriend at the time, Kathy, who is bandmates referred to as the green-eyed lady. He wrote the song with producer J.C. Phillips and a songwriter named David Riordan.

Since "Green-Eyed Lady" gets almost daily play on US radio stations to this day and none of their other songs do, many will be surprised to know that Sugarloaf is not a one-hit wonder; their other hit is "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" from 1975 at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Green-Eyed Lady," at #3, is their best-known (and somewhat overplayed) single.

One of the reasons that the hook is so catchy is that it's based on a piece of a scale exercise that frontman Jerry Corbetta found in a book.

The band was originally called "Chocolate Hair" but after getting signed to a record label, they had to change their name because managers were nervous about the potentially racist interpretation of that name (that and the name would have permanently branded them as '60s psychedelics). They chose "Sugarloaf" after a small mountain west of Boulder, Colorado.
Jerry Corbetta played the organ solo on this track in addition to singing lead. He played it in the style of jazz musician Jimmy Smith, his idol.

In the single version of Green Eyed Lady, which is all you'll hear on the radio and also in most compilation albums, the song length is about three and a half minutes. The album version is extended to seven minutes for Corbetta's lengthy - but dazzling - organ solo.

Sugarloaf was formed from the remains of the band The Moonrakers, with five members of that group carried over. Interestingly, "Moonraker" doesn't just refer to a James Bond film, but also to a nickname for people from Wiltshire in South West Country England. The story goes that the people there were discovered running a rake through a pond at night, trying to retrieve treasure. When a revenue man asked what they were up to, their excuse was that they were trying to retrieve a wheel of cheese from the pond (the reflection of the full moon). The revenue guy walked off chuckling at their simple-mindedness, and the villagers didn't have to pay taxes.

Sugarloaf found themselves without a label in 1974. They made some calls, trying to find a taker, but couldn't get much interest. This song recounts that experience, using many industry clichés they heard along the way. A big part of the game was getting a foot in the door by buttering up the A&R guys at the label, with lines like, "I got your name from a friend of a friend." The reply is the classic blowoff: "Don't call us, we'll call you."

The group ended up getting signed to the Claridge label, which was rewarded when Don't Call Us We'll Call You became a hit, reaching #9 in 1975.

One of the labels that turned down text limit

Original Prankster Album: Conspiracy Of One (2000)
Army of One Album: Let The Bad Times Roll (2021)
You're Gonna Go Far, Kid Album: Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008)
by The Offspring

The main riff played in the intro, verse and bridge all contain samples from "Low Rider" as performed by War, a popular funk group from the 1970s. Although the sample is quiet, it acts as a foundation for these sections of Original Prankster.

The title Original Prankster is a play on the 1991 Ice-T song and album "O.G. Original Gangster." But instead of keeping it OG, The Offspring are keeping it OP, retaining their sense of humor in a world that takes everything too seriously.

That's the rapper Redman delivering the "original prankster" line in the chorus. He also appears in the video.
In an early effort at digital music distribution, this song was made available as a free download from the band's website before the album was released. Fans who downloaded it were entered in a $1 Million sweepstakes. The money was given away on MTV's Total Request Live. The two finalists agreed to split the money before the final question was asked (The question: Who is the oldest member of The Offspring).

Originally, the video Original Prankster, directed by Dave Meyers, was banned from MTV. It contained a scene with two naked schoolgirls on the lap of their principal, who is holding a paper that reads: "Principal arrested for molesting students." MTV objected to the word "molesting" and made them take it out before they would air the video.

Another scene had to be altered as well: A kid puts dog poop on his father's sandwich. MTV would not let them show the man biting into the sandwich, but would let them show him spit it out. A spokesman for the channel said, "At MTV, we don't eat s--t."

Original Prankster was the first single from the album Conspiracy Of One. The band originally planned to make the whole album available as a free download, but could not because of contract obligations.

The "You can do it!" line that repeats throughout Original Prankster comes from the 1998 movie The Waterboy, where Rob Schneider's character says it.

To the best knowledge, Original Prankster is the first Hot 100 hit to get the word Prozac in the lyrics ("Prozac can make it better").

The lyrics mention Janet Reno ("Rockin' like Janet Reno"), the first female Attorney General of the United States. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton for the position in 1993 and served until 2001.

Track 4 Army of One is on Let the Bad Times Roll which is the tenth studio album by the Offspring, released on April 16, 2021. Produced by Bob Rock, it is the band's first release on Concord Records, and their first studio album in nine years since Days Go By (2012), marking the longest gap between two Offspring studio albums. Let the Bad Times Roll also marks the band's first album without bassist and co-founding member Greg K., who was fired from the Offspring in 2018. Even though new text limit

Cyclotrons Televisions And Clones

Glycerine Album: Sixteen Stone (1994)
Comedown Album: Sixteen Stone (1994)
Swallowed Album: Razorblade Suitcase (1996)
by Bush

Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale wrote "Glycerine" about his relationship with his girlfriend at the time, a model named Jasmine Lewis, who is credited as a backup vocalist on the Sixteen Stone album. Rossdale dated her for about five years before their breakup, which was exacerbated by busy schedules that kept them apart. Gavin's next relationship was with Gwen Stefani, whom he met when her band No Doubt was opening for Bush on the Sixteen Stone tour. They got married in 2002.

Glycerine is a chemical used in perfumes and medicines and also to preserve food. The title comes from the explosive applications of glycerine to stabilize nitro. Rossdale said the song was about how love was like a bomb.

This song came together very quickly for Rossdale, who wrote it in his London flat. When he played it for the band, he felt there was something "ancient and mystical" about it. "I was like a conduit," he told Entertainment Weekly in 2017. "Something about it was bigger than anything we were doing."

The video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, won the Viewer's Choice Award at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. Kerslake directed four Nirvana videos, and also worked with Soundgarden, R.E.M. and Stone Temple Pilots.

When a popular producer named Desmond Child heard this song, he thought Rossdale was singing "Kiss The Rain." When he found out that wasn't the title, he started writing a song called "Kiss The Rain" for Billie Myers. It became her first single and hit #15 in the US.

The Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever" is referenced in the line, "We live in a wheel where everyone steals, but when we rise it's like strawberry fields." Bush loved The Beatles and it was John Lennon and Paul McCartney who inspired them to form a band.

Gavin Rossdale talked about his Beatles reference and the meaning of the song in an interview with Fuse: "In 'Glycerine,' it's a cynical world. 'Strawberry Fields' is a Beatles reference because when people think of that song it makes them happy: it elevates you and it lifts you up. For me, it's like a soft pillow. Most of my lyrics and most of the songs that I've written are about rising up against struggle and what you do within problems like the human condition. How we can screw up and how we can make up for it and what we can escape from and what we can win."

Lead singer Gavin Rossdale wrote Comedown about his ex-girlfriend, Suze DiMarchi. She was lead singer of a band called Baby Animals.

Rossdale had written songs with other people, but Comedown was the first one he wrote on his own. It gave him a lot of confidence and inspired him to keep writing.

Rossdale said of Comedown: "It was written in the context of half regret, half celebration and just being objective about the situation of coming down from that high and dealing with those intense emotions."

Reflecting on Comedown in 2017, text limit

Would I Lie To You Album: Be Yourself Tonight (1985)
Sweet Dreams Album: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1982)
Sexcrime Nineteen Eighty Four Album: 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother) (1984)
by Eurythmics

For Eurythmics third album, Dave Stewart set out to make a "killer R&B riff." He found it one morning when he was having breakfast with his acoustic guitar on his knee. He took the riff to Annie Lennox, who wasn't sure about it at first, since it didn't fit their sound.

As Stewart explained in The Dave Stewart Songbook: "When we started putting it down Would I Lie To You had a lot of energy and inspired Annie to come up with the great lyric, 'Would I Lie To You" and a melody with very odd answering harmonies, 'Now, would I say something that wasn't true.' These harmonies are very unusual and Annie is a genius at working them out very quickly in her head. The song started to be a fusion between Stax type R&B and Eurythmics."

Lennox sings this from the perspective of an angry girlfriend who walks out on her cheating lover. It was not directed at Stewart, although they were a romantic couple before forming Eurythmics, but inspired by the breakup of her first marriage, to a Hare Krishna named Radha Raman.

"I was always looking for a good relationship, and you can see it in the songs, all this unrequited love," Lennox told Q magazine regarding her songwriting during this period. "I was never in one spot, so my emotions were in turmoil."

Eurythmics recorded Be Yourself Tonight in a small room they set as a recording studio in the suburbs of Paris. Lennox and Stewart lived in apartments on top of each other while they were making the album.

Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played the Hammond organ on Would I Lie To You; he and Stewart previously worked together on "Don't Come Around Here No More." Martin Dobson was brought in for horns.

In the book Annie Lennox: The Biography, Lennox explained that Sweet Dreams is about the search for fulfillment, and the "Sweet Dreams" are the desires that motivate us.

"Sweet Dreams" is a song of contrasts, with a heart-pumping beat but a lyric that carries a dark undercurrent. Listeners have adapted it accordingly. In a 2022 Songfacts interview with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, he explained: "A lot of people use it as a very uplifting dance record at EDM festivals and raves and parties. When the DJ puts that on there's always a lot of hands in the air. But it's actually a very sort of existential, spooky record asking if this is what the world has come to. Is this what our dreams are made of? And then some people want to use you, some want to abuse you. So it goes into a topic that could go massive if you want it to. Eurythmics songs always had a bit of that in it, a juxtaposition between the music and the lyric."

"I suppose it was reality, basically, what we were writing about," he added. "It wasn't a Disney kind of world."
Eurythmics are British: Annie Lennox hails from text limit

Metal Health (Bang Your Head) Album: Metal Health (1983)
Slick Black Cadillac Quiet Album: Riot II (1978)
Highway To Hell Album: Highway to Hell (2016)
by Quiet Riot

"Metal Health", sometimes listed as "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)", "Bang Your Head" or, as it was listed on the Billboard Hot 100, "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)", is a song by the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot on their breakthrough album, Metal Health. One of their best known hits and receiving heavy MTV music video and radio play, "Metal Health" was the band's second and final top 40 hit, peaking at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Being about the headbanging subculture, the song caught the attention of many heavy metal fans on its release. The single contained both the studio-recorded version and a live version, which was later released on their Greatest Hits compilation. The lyric, "well now you're here, there's no way back", eventually became the title for Quiet Riot's documentary, released in 2015.

The song title is a play on the phrase "Mental Health," and is a celebration of the rebellious nature of heavy metal and fans who bang their heads to the music. Lead singer Kevin DuBrow wrote the lyric, which is based on the slights he heard throughout his life. DuBrow, who died of a drug overdose in 2007 at age 52, did indeed have a "mouth like an alligator," as he would always speak his mind.

Thanks to a video that got lots of airplay on MTV, this song helped bring heavy metal music with a pop sheen into the mainstream, paving the way for photogenic hair bands of the '80s like Mötley Crüe and Twisted Sister.

Quiet Riot had been around for a while, releasing their first album in 1977 with Randy Rhoads, who later became Ozzy Osbourne's go-to axeman, on guitar. By the time they released their third album, Metal Health, they were polished and poised for stardom. "Metal Health" was the first single, but it went nowhere. Their cover of the Slade song "Cum On Feel The Noize" was released as a follow-up, and that one caught on in America, going to #5 in November 1983, the same month the Metal Health album topped the chart, becoming the first metal album to do so. With the band now established, "Metal Health" went up the chart, landing at #31 in February 1984.

Guitarist Carlos Cavazo and drummer Frankie Banali are the co-writers on this track along with Kevin DuBrow. "We were huge fans of AC/DC, so we wanted something that had a very simple, straight ahead groove at a certain tempo," Banali said in a Songfacts interview. "It went through a lot of different changes, and what I mean by 'changes,' a lot of that song has to do with the tempo. I listen to a lot of classical music and jazz, and the thing that I found interesting about both classical music and jazz is that certain parts of a song only work at a certain tempo, and they don't work at another tempo. With jazz, they shift gears - the same thing with classical. With rock 'n' roll, you basically start at a tempo text limit

Gotta Go Album: Something's Gotta Give (1998)
Riot Riot Upstart Album: Riot Riot Upstart (1999)
by Agnostic Front

Gotta Go is one of Agnostic Front's most popular songs, "Gotta Go" became a hardcore anthem. The group's lead singer Roger Miret wrote the lyrics; he told us: "It's one of those songs like you've just got to leave the situation. You've got to get out of it. Whatever it is, I've got to go, I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear this, I don't want to hear that."

Riot, Riot Upstart is the sixth full-length studio album from Agnostic Front. It was released in September 1999 on Epitaph Records and follows Something's Gotta Give released the previous year. The album was produced by Lars Frederiksen of fellow punk band, Rancid, and the title track appeared on a volume of Epitaph Records' Punk-O-Rama compilation series.

https://www.agnosticfront.com/

Agnostic Front is an American band from New York City. Founded in 1980, the band is considered an important influence on the New York hardcore scene, as well as a pioneer of the crossover thrash genre.

Formed in 1980 with Vincent "Vinnie Stigma" Capuccio (formerly of the Eliminators) on lead guitar, with Diego on bass, Rob Krekus (aka Robby Crypt Crash) on drums and John Watson on vocals. Despite being billed at their first concert as the Zoo Crew, Stigma introduced them as Agnostic Front, saying that the poster had been made prior to deciding on the name. They soon added Ray Barbieri, aka Raybeez, on drums and Adam Mucci on bass. After Watson was arrested, the band hired James Kontra as their vocalist, who eventually quit before a performance at Great Gildersleeves after a disagreement with Capuccio about how to hand out stickers. Although never having spoken to him before, Stigma told some of his friends to ask Roger Miret (former bass player of the Psychos) if he wanted to be the vocalist of Agnostic Front, because he liked his style of slam dancing. In 1983, this lineup recorded their debut EP United Blood. The EP was officially released later that year, however by that point Mucci had departed from the band, and been replaced by Todd Youth.

During its initial phase, the band consisted entirely of skinheads. Although this would change over time, Agnostic Front would continue to feature skinheads as part of their lineup. This led to a belief among some that the band espoused ultra-nationalist or fascist politics, an assertion denied by vocalist Roger Miret in a 1985 Flipside interview:

"...We're skinheads. And the skinheads in England have a very bad name like with the fascists and stuff like that. But this is America not England. Just because the skinheads are fascists over there doesn't mean we got to grow our hair out if we don't feel like it.... We love our country — but not necessarily how our government works."

Agnostic Front
Roger Miret – vocals
Vinnie Stigma – guitars
Rob Kabula – bass
Jim Colletti – drums
Production
Recorded at Big Blue Meenie Studios, Jersey City, NJ

Your Party Album: La Cucaracha (2007)
Buckingham Green Album: The Mollusk (1997)
The Rainbow Album: Chef Aid: The South Park Album (1998)
by Ween

"Your Party" was written by Gene Ween, who also sings the lead vocals. The track features guest musician David Sanborn on alto saxophone.

Gene Ween has stated that the idea of "tri-colored pasta" was the germ of inspiration for the song. He said he always thought that style of pasta had a "fanciful and exciting flair".

David Sanborn Appearance:
Gene brought this song to the studio one night and played it for me on acoustic guitar. It sounded like something from Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat". We both agreed that it was a good tune but needed a smooth jazz kind of approach. That's why we asked David Sanborn to play sax on it, which he did, and he did a great job. I never said anything to Gene but I was trying my best to get it to sound like the 70's Bee Gees, at least musically.

And here is Dean again, speaking on a different occasion:

Ok, let me first start off by saying that we vowed never, ever, ever, would there be horns on a Ween album. As teenagers we always used that as a yardstick to determine when our favorite band was starting to suck, when their new record came out and it had horns on it (this rule applies only to rock music and white people). But there has always been one provision to this rule, and that was we would only use horns if we could get David Sanborn to play some sexy saxophone on a Ween tune. We finally wrote a song worthy of him, contacted his manager and it turns out he was a Ween fan and immediately agreed to do it. So that, in and of itself, means that we have accomplished one of our lifelong goals as a band.

"Your Party" dates back to at least January of 2007, when Gene Ween played the song several times at solo acoustic shows, nine months before the release of La Cucaracha. Ween began playing the song with the full band later that year, and it has remained a common live Ween song ever since. In addition, Gene Ween has played "Your Party" very often individually, both solo acoustic and with his band Freeman. It was even played a handful of times by the Dean Ween Group.

"Your Party" was used in an episode of the show Sex Education (season 3, episode 3).

The Mollusk album version of "Buckingham Green" features lead vocals by Gene Ween and a guitar solo by Dean Ween. The song's title may have been inspired by a shopping center called Buckingham Green in the town of Buckingham, PA, near New Hope.

"Buckingham Green" is significantly older than its appearance on The Mollusk and dates back to 1992.

Three separate demo recordings of "Buckingham Green" were made during the sessions for Chocolate and Cheese, all three of which can be found on the bootleg Chocolate and Cheese Demos: Summer 1992.

A version labeled "Buckingham Clean" or "Buckingham Green Take 1" is a short and simple rendering of the song's three verses, with a repeat of the first verse as in the text limit

Spanish Fly Album: Van Halen II (1979)
Little Dreamer Album: Van Halen (1978)
Mean Street Album: Fair Warning (1981)
Sunday Afternoon in the Park Album: Fair Warning (1981)
by Van Halen

“Spanish Fly” is the seventh track on Van Halen II, released in March of 1979. It is a flamenco-style acoustic guitar piece, as well as Eddie Van Halen’s second studio-produced solo—considered to be a sort of follow-up to 1978’s hugely influential “Eruption” from Van Halen I.

According to the official Van Halen News Desk, producer Ted Templeman was hosting a New Year’s Eve party in December 1978 when he witnessed Eddie “fooling around” on an acoustic. Surprised that he was just as skilled with nylon strings, he asked Eddie to record something for their sophomore effort. Later, in Guitar World magazine, Eddie recalled the moment:

Ted Templeman walked in and said, ‘You can play acoustic?’ I looked at him, like, ‘What’s the difference? It’s got six strings!’ I ended up coming up with ‘Spanish Fly.’

It was also common for Eddie to incorporate sections of Spanish Fly into his live guitar medleys.

The recording Little Dreamer and this debut album with producer Ted Templeman began August 29, 1977. The tracks were recorded quickly during sessions between August 31 and September 8, 1977. Work on the album ended October 4 with the final mixing of "Little Dreamer" and "Eruption" (titled simply "Guitar Solo" on studio documents). Overall, the album cost approximately $54,000 to produce.

"We didn't have a ton of material," recalled bassist Michael Anthony, "so we basically just took our live show and all the songs we knew and went for it. The whole album only took a couple of weeks. Ted Templeman wanted to make a big, powerful guitar record, and he had all he needed in what Eddie was doing."

The subsequent tour began March 3, 1978 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago with the band opening for Journey and Montrose in the United States. They later opened for heavy metal band Black Sabbath in Europe and the United States.

Mean Street David Lee Roth grew up in New Castle, Indiana, where the streets were certainly not mean, but he made his way to Los Angeles, which likely inspired his lyric about toughing it out in a desperate part of town. That's where Van Halen made their rise.

Another Hollywood transplant from Indiana is Axl Rose, whose "Welcome To The Jungle" lyric for Guns N' Roses was inspired by the seedy areas of that town.

"Mean Street" is the first track on Fair Warning, Van Halen's fourth album. It came at a very creative time for the band when they were in a groove, creating an album a year with producer Ted Templeman. The song is quintessential Van Halen, opening with Eddie Van Halen doing some tapping on his fretboard - a sound he innovated. It also has the harmony vocals of Michael Anthony, a monster guitar riff from Eddie, and an interlude where David Lee Roth gets to change gears. It's this section where he evokes the name of the album:

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Southern Rock Opera Act Two The Drive By Truckers

originally this piece was a direct complaint to Elon because my fake account was nuked for using the ("N WORD")
so it was n word heavy at the beginning, and since my satire is basically only funny to me (which explains a lot... also I don't care because this is the internet and not real) this has been re-edited and school friendly, as it's a rocket scientist's life...

Now with 119% MORE Elon Memes. Happy African-American Day from the richest nigger there is!
Southern Rock Opera is the third studio album by the American rock band Drive-By Truckers, released in 2001. A double album covering an ambitious range of subject matter from the politics of race to 1970s stadium rock, Southern Rock Opera either imagines, or filters, every topic through the context of legendary Southern band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The record was originally self-released on Soul Dump Records. The album was re-released on July 16, 2002 by Lost Highway Records. The album was financed by issuing promissory notes in exchange for loans from fans, family and friends of the band.

The album's artwork was done by Richmond, Virginia artist Wes Freed.

The idea for Southern Rock Opera pre-dates the band's formation in 1996. Southern Rock Opera began in a long discussion between Drive-By Truckers' frontman Patterson Hood and former Truckers bassist and producer Earl Hicks, during a road trip. The pair discussed writing a semi-autobiographical screenplay about growing up in the South and about the plane crash that almost ended the career of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, taking singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and Gaines' back-up-singer sister Cassie Gaines.

Soon after this discussion, Hood formed Drive-By Truckers. The Truckers recorded two studio albums and one live album during the four years between their formation and the actual recording of Southern Rock Opera. During these years, Drive-By's principal songwriters Hood, Mike Cooley, and Rob Malone continued to contribute songs to "The Rock Opera", as they had come to call it.

After the release of their live album Alabama Ass Whuppin', Drive-By Truckers began recording what they hoped would be their magnum opus: Southern Rock Opera. According to Patterson Hood, "(the album) was recorded in Birmingham, upstairs in a uniform shop during an early September heat wave, with no air-conditioning. We had to turn the fans off when we were recording, and we worked from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. So Southern Rock Opera was fun to write, but we had a miserable time making it."

After the album was finished, however, the troubles continued for The Truckers when they ran out of funding for the immense project. To resolve the problem, and to avoid "any fine print crap", as Hood put it, the band took a non-traditional approach. The Truckers made a prospectus and solicited investors, with a promise of 15% interest, to pay for the manufacturing and distribution of Southern Rock Opera. text limit

Southern Rock Opera Act One The Drive By Truckers

originally this piece was a direct complaint to Elon because my fake account was nuked for using the ("N WORD")
so it was n word heavy at the beginning, and since my satire is basically only funny to me (which explains a lot... also I don't care because this is the internet and not real) this has been re-edited and school friendly, as it's a rocket scientist's life...

Now with 119% MORE Elon Memes. Happy African-American Day from the richest nigger there is!
Southern Rock Opera is the third studio album by the American rock band Drive-By Truckers, released in 2001. A double album covering an ambitious range of subject matter from the politics of race to 1970s stadium rock, Southern Rock Opera either imagines, or filters, every topic through the context of legendary Southern band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The record was originally self-released on Soul Dump Records. The album was re-released on July 16, 2002 by Lost Highway Records. The album was financed by issuing promissory notes in exchange for loans from fans, family and friends of the band.

The album's artwork was done by Richmond, Virginia artist Wes Freed.

The idea for Southern Rock Opera pre-dates the band's formation in 1996. Southern Rock Opera began in a long discussion between Drive-By Truckers' frontman Patterson Hood and former Truckers bassist and producer Earl Hicks, during a road trip. The pair discussed writing a semi-autobiographical screenplay about growing up in the South and about the plane crash that almost ended the career of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, taking singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and Gaines' back-up-singer sister Cassie Gaines.

Soon after this discussion, Hood formed Drive-By Truckers. The Truckers recorded two studio albums and one live album during the four years between their formation and the actual recording of Southern Rock Opera. During these years, Drive-By's principal songwriters Hood, Mike Cooley, and Rob Malone continued to contribute songs to "The Rock Opera", as they had come to call it.

After the release of their live album Alabama Ass Whuppin', Drive-By Truckers began recording what they hoped would be their magnum opus: Southern Rock Opera. According to Patterson Hood, "(the album) was recorded in Birmingham, upstairs in a uniform shop during an early September heat wave, with no air-conditioning. We had to turn the fans off when we were recording, and we worked from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. So Southern Rock Opera was fun to write, but we had a miserable time making it."

After the album was finished, however, the troubles continued for The Truckers when they ran out of funding for the immense project. To resolve the problem, and to avoid "any fine print crap", as Hood put it, the band took a non-traditional approach. The Truckers made a prospectus and solicited investors, with a promise of 15% interest, to pay for the manufacturing and distribution of Southern Rock Opera. text limit

Peaches Album: The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)
Lump Album: The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)
Dune Buggy Single & Album: The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)
by The Presidents Of The United States Of America

First theory: It's just a song about how peaches are great. Perhaps a little commentary about how natural peaches are better then canned stuff.

Second theory: It's about women's private parts and cunnilingus.

The Presidents Of The United States Of America also have a song called "Kitty," which is about a cat (or is it?). They insist these songs - which they're well aware are full of double meanings - are about the literal explanations.

In an interview with Presidents lead singer Chris Ballew, he told the story behind Peaches. "The key line, 'Moving to the country, going to eat a lot of peaches,' I overheard a homeless man who was walking by the bus stop where I was waiting for a bus," he said. "He was saying it under his breath over and over again: 'I'm moving to the country, I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches.' And I thought, 'That's interesting. I've never heard a homeless guy talk about his future and peaches and the country like that.'

I was on my way to my girlfriend's house and I didn't have a guitar there but the phrase stuck with me. I later got home and put it to a little music. All I had was that, then I was trying to be Nirvana in the verse, gnarly and growly.

So I had a verse and a chorus, and the verses were about how I had taken some hallucinogenic drugs and gone to a girl's house that I had a crush on. I was intending to tell her how I felt but she wasn't home, so I sat in her yard under a peach tree, having a psychedelic experience smashing peaches in my fist, literally like I say in the song, and watching the juice dribble and watching the ants run around. She never showed up, so I never got to tell her, but I bottled it and turned it into that song."

"Peaches" was written by the three band members: Chris Ballew, Dave Dederer, and Jason Finn. Dederer came up with the part that closes out the song:

Millions of peaches
Peaches for me
Millions of peaches
Peaches for free

"The song sounds like two different songs," Ballew said. "It's got my verse/chorus/verse/chorus, and then Dave's end part."

"I love that that song was so popular because it really was a collaborative thing," he added. "Dave and I depended on each other to make that song work. Growing up as I did in the shadow of Lennon and McCartney, I thought it was cool that we had that collaboration."

The Presidents Of The United States Of America were one of the many Seattle bands signed to a major label when grunge hit. Unlike most of these bands, they panned out, selling over 3 million copies of their debut album on Columbia Records.

Their first single was "Lump," which got a lot of airplay and some spins on MTV. "Kitty" followed, then "Peaches." The album was released in July 1995, and the band promoted it relentlessly, making the rounds on radio stations in the mornings while they toured. "Peaches" reached its chart peak in April 1996; they put out their next album, II, in November.

That album didn't produce any substantial hits but still sold 500,000 copies. By this time, the band was burned out, and in early 1998, they called it quits. They reunited from time to time, and lead singer Chris Ballew found an audience as Caspar Babypants, a maker of music for kids. From 1997–2004, their cover of "Cleveland Rocks" was the theme song to The Drew Carey Show.

The band name is ironic, meant to contrast their lo-fi sound with the gravitas of the highest political office in their home country. It ended up being a great marketing tool, especially on Presidents' Day. On that holiday in 1996 (February 19, 1996) MTV aired a 30-minute concert of the band performing from Mount Rushmore.

The music video of Peaches was directed by Roman Coppola, son of The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. Most of it is just the band performing in an orchard, but it takes a hard turn when a group of ninjas show up and attack them. According to Ballew, Coppola had been watching ninja movies and was keen to shoot a fight sequence.

The peach was a symbol of immortality to the ancient Chinese. They placed bowls of peaches in the tombs of close family members to prevent the bodies from decaying. Giving the fruit as a gift was a sign of friendship. (From the book Food for Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World by Ed Pearce)

Lump follows the story of a woman named (or nicknamed) Lump who lives in a boggy marsh. She's not too bright, but has managed to attract a mate ("Lump slipped on a kiss and tumbled into love").
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Jungle Boogie Album: Wild & Peaceful (1973)
Kool and The Gang

It took some brains to make this video... like the Mayor and City Council of Westminster South Carolina

Praise Jesus Harder!

"Jungle Boogie" was first released on the Kool & The Gang album, Wild & Peaceful, in October 1973. A month later, November 24, 1973, the track was released as a single, with the little recognized "North, South, East, West" as the B-side. With the million-selling success of "Jungle Boogie" and the success of other singles, "Funky Stuff" and "Hollywood Swinging," the album was quickly certified gold by the RIAA, the band's first certified gold album. "Jungle Boogie" hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 after receiving extensive play in dance clubs and discos, leading to the single being certified gold as well on February 2, 1974. The album, Wild & Peaceful peaked at #6 on the Billboard R&B Album chart and #33 on the Billboard Pop Album chart.

The main spoken vocals on "Jungle Boogie" were performed by then-roadie, Donal Boyce, who became better known as "The Boogie Man." Boyce's vocals on the hit were so popular he was invited to sing back-up and perform "vocal effects" on a number of Kool & The Gang singles, including "Spirit of the Boogie," "Open Sesame," and "Slick Superchick." Boyce performed with the band from 1973 to 1977.

All the songs on Kool & The Gang's 1973 album Wild & Peaceful, including "Jungle Boogie," were credited to the songwriting team of Kool & The Gang and Gene Redd. At the time, Kool & The Gang was made up of six members: Robert 'Kool' Bell, Claydes Smith, Dennis 'D.T.' Thomas, Ronald 'Khalis Bayyam' Bell, Robert Mickens, and George Brown. The group joined together with music producer and founder of De-Lite records, Gene Redd, in 1968, when Redd signed them to his first record label, Redd Coach Records.

Since its release in 1973, "Jungle Boogie" has been sampled and covered repeatedly. Kool & The Gang sampled their own hit, releasing an instrumental version with an overdubbed flute section and additional percussion called "Jungle Jazz" on their album, Spirit of the Boogie. In 1988, Hip hop duo EPMD sampled the track for their debut single, "Strictly Business." The 1989 Beastie Boys hit, "Hey Ladies," used parts of "Jungle Boogie" to help land the first single in US history to chart in the Top 20 on both the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart and the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Madonna followed suit with sampling for her 1992 hit "Erotica," a controversial song that got the material girl banned from the Vatican and banned from airplay on the surrounding radio stations. The 1994 Top 10 hit by Janet Jackson, "You Want This," featured samples from both "Jungle Boogie" and "Love Child" by The Supremes.

Media moguls love to use a well-recognized song like "Jungle Boogie" for their projects. Director Quentin Tarantino used the track for his 1994 film, Pulp Fiction. A cover version of "Jungle Boogie" by The French was featured in text limit

Roll Me Away Album: The Distance (1983)
Like A Rock Album: Like a Rock (1986)
by Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band

Bob Seger always seemed more like a regular guy than a Rock Star, and Like A Rock is a moving song about pride and consistency which struck a chord with working class Americans who could relate to him. Seger grew up in Michigan, paid his dues with constant touring, and stayed true to his roots.

Seger was 40 years old when Like A Rock was released, and there was a wisdom to his words that appealed to his audience. In a 1986 interview with Creem magazine, he said: "It's a matter of growing up. From the time I was 20 until I was 30, I didn't sell a whole lot of records, but I was doing a lot of rock 'n' roll. That's the way I felt at the time. Maybe during the period when I was 30 to 40, I was getting more mature, writing about older themes. I'm sure 'Like A Rock' doesn't mean much to someone who's 20, but I gotta write what I know about."

Talking about writing Like A Rock in a 1994 interview with Music Connection, Seger said, "There have been times where I've written a bunch of verses before I even know what the title is. That's what happened with 'Like A Rock.' I wrote the first three verses of that song before I even knew where I was going. Then, one day, I just fell into the 'like a rock' thing, and I thought it worked."

Guitarist/singer Rick Vito played the guitar on Like A Rock. Vito was in Fleetwood Mac from 1987-1991.

The album version of Like A Rock is 5:56 long. The single version was cut down to 4:36.

Like A Rock was used in an advertising campaign for Chevrolet trucks that ran from 1991 - 2004, making it indelibly associated with the vehicles. The song helped sell a lot of Silverados, and is considered one of the best choices for an ad campaign in the history of music. With a sturdy tempo, a singer who fits the demographic, and lyrics about reliability, this was the perfect song. The title provided a tag line better than anyone in Madison Avenue could have dreamed up, and the song got a new life, becoming much better known than it was on initial release.

The Like A Rock video was shot in the Mojave Desert. They went for cinematography over effects, with a blue tint and no lip synching. It was artistic but slow, and failed to make an impact on MTV. Some guys were never meant to be video stars.
This song was used in the soundtrack for the film The Weather Man (2005), which starred Nicolas Cage.

"Roll Me Away" is a song on the album The Distance. The song was used as Seger's opening song on his Face the Promise tour in 2006–2007, his first tour in a decade.

According to Seger the song was inspired by a motorcycle trip he took to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He stated:

"I wanted to do that for a long time. It was fascinating being out. The first night it was 42 degrees in northern Minnesota; the second it was 106 in South Dakota and all I had on was my shorts, and my feet were up on the handlebars to keep them text limit

Seven Turns Album: Seven Turns (1990)
Soulshine Album: Where It All Begins (1994)
The Allman Brothers Band

Seven Turns refers to a Navajo belief that there are seven times in life that you must make a decision that determines your life path. Taking the wrong path means you must either backtrack or stay on the road to ruin.

Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts wrote Seven Turns after producer Tom Dowd asked him to write something similar to "Blue Sky," which he composed for the band's 1972 album Eat A Peach.

This was the title track to the Allman Brothers comeback album. They had not recorded together for nine years.
This was one of the few Allman Brothers songs where Betts sang lead.

Seven Turns features Warren Haynes on slide guitar. His addition to the band on the Seven Turns album allowed them to play with two guitars, like they did before Duane Allman died in 1971.

"Soulshine" is a song written by American musician Warren Haynes and originally recorded by Larry McCray on his 1993 album, Delta Hurricane. It is best known as a recording that The Allman Brothers Band released on their 1994 album, Where It All Begins, featuring Gregg Allman on vocals. The song's title originates from Haynes's nickname, given by his father.

Although the Allmans' version was never released as a single, it remained one of their best known songs among fans and concert-goers. A live version of the song, which appeared on the Allmans' 2003 DVD, Live at the Beacon Theatre, had Allman and Haynes alternating vocals on the verses and harmonizing on the chorus, and includes a slide solo from Derek Trucks, as Dickey Betts was no longer with the band. This has become the standard for the song in most recent years with dual vocals.

When Haynes and bassist Allen Woody formed Gov't Mule, they took Soulshine with them. Gov't Mule performs "Soulshine" live at their concerts and it was included on the band's Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends, The Deep End, Volume 1, and The Deepest End, Live in Concert releases.

Beth Hart covered this song on her 2007 album, 37 Days.

Soulshine was covered by two contestants from the thirteenth season of American Idol. C.J. Harris used the song during his audition (and also in the Top 8) and Ben Briley performed the song during "Rush Week".

The 1997 David Allan Coe album Live: If That Ain't Country... has a cover of Soulshine as the second track, since Haynes, Coe's original guitar player, joined him for that concert.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love Album: The Game (1979)
Keep Yourself Alive Album: Queen (1973)
Another One Bites The Dust Album: Greatest Hits (1980)
by Queen

Freddie Mercury wrote Crazy Little Thing Called Love while Queen were recording The Game in Germany. He wrote it while taking a bubble bath in his room at the Munich Hilton. Peter Hince, the head of Queen's road crew, recalled to Mojo magazine September 2009: "The idea for the song came to him while he was in the bath. He emerged, wrapped in a towel, I handed him the guitar and he worked out the chords there and then. Fred had this knack of knowing a great pop song."

Freddie acknowledged that perhaps his limited talent on the guitar helped shape the song: "'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' took me five or ten minutes. I did that on the guitar, which I can't play for nuts, and in one way it was quite a good thing because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords. It's a good discipline because I simply had to write within a small framework. I couldn't work through too many chords and because of that restriction I wrote a good song, I think."

Crazy Little Thing Called Love sounded a lot more like Elvis Presley than Queen. It was a different sound for the group, but their fans loved it.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love was the first song on which Freddie Mercury played rhythm guitar. He was keen to keep the song minimal, despite his limited guitar knowledge, and producer Mack claimed that he rushed into the studio to record it "before Brian could get there!"

He also played the guitar solo on the original recording of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, but the tapes were lost so Brian May played the solo instead, using a Fender Telecaster to achieve the period sound. May didn't seem to like playing another guitar, and even when playing live, after performing the solo on the Telecaster he would immediately switch back to his Red Special.

At first, this was not released in the US. Since the album was not out yet, radio stations there started playing import copies of the single. This led Queen's record company to release it in America, about 3 months after it came out in England.
Mercury's name is in the lyrics. He sings, "Are you ready," and the band sings, "Ready Freddie."

This section took on a poignant edge after Mercury's death when the song was performed with guest singers, as the lyric was never altered regardless of the vocalist. Fans would take this opportunity to bellow the 'Ready, Freddie!' lyric back at the band in remembrance of the singer.

On stage, Crazy Little Thing Called Love was an important part of the show. Brian May often used three different guitars during the song: the first verse was played by Freddie alone with his guitar, then Brian joined with another Ovation Acoustic; before the third verse he had already switched to a Telecaster on which he performed the solo. During the singalong part (famous for its "ready Freddie" line) Brian again changed text limit