Oh Firefox spell check, you mean well but that is indeed how The Zombies named their masterpiece of an album. The Stones and The Beatles will always be the twin champions of the British Invasion but I think The Zombies stand out as a great band. Obviously, having Rod Argent's electric keyboard made them sound like no else. But Argent and Chris White's song craft were the band's greatest tools. Most British bands wanted to be Muddy Waters or Little Richard. I think The Zombies wanted to be the best songwriters and backing band in the Brill Building (the real one). This song has the bouncy feel of American pop music as well as British Music Hall. The giant harmonies that come in make the point that these guys were also looking ahead and trying to create the future of pop. That and the fact this song is about someone being released from prison. I think The Zombies accomplished something very similar to what The Beatles did on Sgt. Pepper's, only to far less acclaim.
The Knickerbockers, "Lies" from Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968Listen here!Buy here!
So we go from figuring out what American artist the Brits wanted to sound like in the '60s to what Brits some American artists wanted to sound like in, well, later in the '60s. Going through the first Nuggets box set it's pretty easy to tell which one-hit wonder (if that!) was listening to which British Invasion artist. The Knickerbockers were definitely spinning Rubber Soul and Revolver a few hundred times. Hey, it lead to them turning out a great song like this. You've got a great hook and a great harmonic twist in the chorus. Like most of the songs on Nuggets it's a juicy three minute morsel of rock 'n' roll.
I know the danger of setting your iPod to shuffle is that a track you're embarrassed by will pop up and remind you of your occasional suspect taste. But I do not apologize for having Mr. Cross on my "motherbox!" This is Cross at his most rocking. That doesn't mean this song actually rocks but compared to "Sailing" it's Metallica. What can I say, I dig that piano riff and there is a real groove behind this song. I don't mind a little Michael McDonald showing up for the chorus. And we all learned from SCTV how that recording session went:
SPECIAL BONUS SECTION: As I've written here in the past I'll occasionally play the open mic at The Hotel Utah. I might play tonight although I'm not sure. Every week they post a podcast of certain acts from that night. The podcast from 2/4 was such a doozy I'm telling you all to check out. It's worth hearing for Laura Weinbach's "The Doll" (which starts the podcast), DJ Real's "Magician" and Kelly McFarlan's voice and banjo cover of Yes's "Owner of a Lonely Heart." The website has the time codes telling you where all these songs are. Check it out. Permanent Link: 10:30 AM |
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