web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Category: People

all-about-musicians-and-the-people-who-help-them-make-music

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #30: Jackboots & Kilt

    Napoleon XIV's 1966 novelty hit, "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!"

    NAPOLEON XIV  “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!”  b/w “Photogenic, Schizophrenic You” (Eric Records #195, early-’80’s reissue.  Originally released on Warner Bros. #5831, Summer 1966)

    When it comes to artistic integrity, few social groups get maligned as much as the mentally challenged.  Even in this enlightened era of advanced education, when extensive research is being done to comprehend such phenomena as autism, terms like “outsider” still separate the layers of our ability to understand the deeper workings of the human brain.  Probably out of fear.  Fear of discovering that, one way or another, we are all outsiders.

    Early rock performers like Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis clearly understood the minds of the mentally challenged.  They knew that there was a little bit of crazy in all of us, that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, and that all we had to do was just open up and let it out.  Few later rockers understood this better than The Cramps’ late leader, Lux Interior, whose pure joy in performing for mental patients is chronicled in the stunning Live At Napa State Mental Hospital DVD.  “Finally!” you can imagine the patients thinking as they jump around to the band’s pounding, distorted rockabilly, “Music for ME!  Music that speaks to ME!”

    "...to the funny farm..."

    Back in the Summer of ’66, one record ratcheted up the insanity to previously unprecedented levels when 28-year-old New Yorker Jerry Samuels (under the nom-de-straitjacket, Napoleon XIV) recorded a totally batshit spoken-word ode to a misbehaving, runaway pup.  Released on Warner Bros., it sped to the top of the charts thanks to tons of airplay and just plain utter “gotta-hear-it-to-believe-it” ridiculousness.  Behold the psycho-chaotic masterpiece of marching-band drums, helium vocals and ambulance sirens that is, “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!”

    Play \”They\’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!\” by Napoleon XIV

    Not psychotic enough for ya?  Check out the B-side of the original Warners 45, “!aah-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT” (which is — you guessed it! — the A-side backwards).

    yalP \”!aah-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er\’yehT\” yb VIX noelopaN

    Great fun on jukeboxes.  Anyway, my early-’80’s Eric Records (the pre-Rhino Rhino) pressing of ” They’re Coming…” is backed with a later Samuels composition, “Photogenic Schizophrenic You.”  Slightly more melodic and ballad-like than the A-side, “Photo-Schizo” once again employs the device of the narrator blaming the cause of his mental illness on that of another, this time a gorgeous, but of course completely multiplexed, blonde (a stone from which modern gag writers still manage to wring blood).

    Play \”Photogenic, Schizophrenic You\” by Napoleon XIV

    “They’re Coming…” shot to #3 on the Billboard singles chart before insensitivity protests from advocacy groups wiped out the airplay entirely.  Nonplussed, Samuels went on to record two whole albums of nuthouse-inspired novelty tracks for Warners.  These days, like a modern Broadway Danny Rose, he runs the successful Philly-based Jerry Samuels Talent Agency, booking  juggling clowns and one-man-bands into homes for the physically and mentally challenged.  Viva Napoleon!

    NEXT WEEK: I’m not a sailor, I’m the captain.

  • Jamie Foxx Gets It WRONG

    foxx

    I was watching the Academy of Country Music Awards last night, when Jamie Foxx came on & made a complete fool of himself. He told the audience what a BIG fan he is of country music. He was making a point of saying how radical it was to see a black man onstage at a country music event. “Darius Rucker, WOW!”, said Jamie.

    Boy, what a fan Jamie is! I guess he’s never heard of Charlie Pride, an African American country singer who has had 36 number one songs on the Billboard country music charts, and who is a member of the Grand Old Opry. Or perhaps he’s never heard of Cleve Francis, another African American country singer who released three albums on the Liberty Records label, and had four of his singles on the Billboard country music charts.

    By trying to be hip & cutting edge & jump on the Obama train, Jamie’s done a major disservice to all African American country artists, and to the entire genre of country music. He’s severely understating the accomplishments of his fellow African Americans, and looked very foolish in the process. If you’re going to get up at an awards show, at least know what you’re talking about……

  • In Defense of…Boston??

    boston

    Hey folks. If you remember a couple of weeks back, my buddy Pat posted a piece about why he kinda sorta digs Nickelback (and I second that emotion). Now, he’s back, defending the indefensible once again. While everyone can get behind Boston’s smash debut and its’ hit single “More Than a Feeling”, it’s a bit more difficult to come out in support of the band’s third album, “Third Stage”. For those of you having trouble remembering the album, it’s the one with “Amanda” on it. Unfortunately (for Pat, I guess), I can’t get behind this one, since I remember “Amanda” as being perhaps one of the worst power ballads of the decade. Ah well, we’ll always have “More Than a Feeling”. And hey, different strokes for different folks, right?

    Take it away Pat…

    One of the joys of the music website Pandora is not only the ability to listen to your favorite types of music, but the chance to discover, or in my case rediscover, songs that you’re not as familiar with.

    In case you’re not a Pandora fan, the process is simple: type in the name of a band or singer, and the site will pull music from that genre into your own little commercial-free radio station. While you’ll usually hear music you’re familiar with, there’s a good chance you’re going to discover something new and exciting for your listening pleasure.

    Such was the case when I decided to build a station around the band Boston. Any classic rock aficionado most likely has Boston’s hugely recognizable debut album, appropriately titled “Boston”, in their music collection. If you’re a big fan of the band, you most likely have their extremely successful follow-up, “Don’t Look Back”, in there as well, but that could be where your Boston tunes end. It would be a shame, because as I’ve discovered, Boston’s third album, titled “Third Stage”, belongs in there as well.

    It’s easy to think why “Third Stage” wouldn’t sound recognizable. “Third Stage” was released in 1986, a whopping 8 years after “Don’t Look Back” and 10 after “Boston”. Many reasons plagued the long delayed album: band member changes, lawsuits, and record label shifts. But at the time when other 70s rock bands such as Heart and Fleetwood Mac were finding new success in the pop-power ballad movement of the time, Boston sounds as if it never missed a beat from its mid-70s success. It’s no surprise to learn that Boston founder Tom Scholz worked for years through all the difficulty the band was experiencing to produce this album.

    And what an album it is. Starting off with the immediate Boston classic “Amanda” and following with another Boston staple, “Get Ready,” the album shows a continual growth and confidence from its earlier work. “The Launch” and “Cool the Engines” fire off a journey of looking ahead, not worrying about the difficulties that have plagued your past. They show their tender side with “To Be a Man” and “Can’tcha Say (You Believe in Me)” before closing out with “Hollyann,” a song that bookends the album with the opener “Amanda.” As “Amanda” seems to be all about looking forward, “Hollyann” is a quiet reflection of one’s past with that special someone.

    It wasn’t until listening to “Third Stage” that I really felt sadness about lead singer Brad Delp’s suicide. While a success, this album didn’t achieve near the popularity of the band’s previous two. Regardless, even though it’s 23 years later, it is worth a listen.