Month: April 2021

Last week a songwriter’s death may have slipped the attention of music fans.  I’m talking about Jim Steinman who died suddenly at age 73.   Right now, you’re probably saying, “Who was Jim Steinman?”

As a writer of lyrics and music, Steinman penned two hits for Bonnie Tyler, “Holding Out for a Hero” and the iconic “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”  This in addition to Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” Air Supply’s “Making Love out of Nothing at All” and Meatloaf’s “I’ll Do Anything for Love, but I Won’t Do That.”

But before those compositions, Jim Steinman wrote all the songs for Meatloaf’s landmark album “Bat Out of Hell.”  Tracks from that record included “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” the operatic “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and other great songs that made both sides of the disc fun to listen to.

“Bat out of Hell” came out in late 1977. At that time my stereo’s turntable spun albums by The Who, Elton John, Queen, Eagles and Bob Seger. Meatloaf’s songs were also played loudly and often in my bedroom.

This record had a bold orchestral sound to it.  It was very theatrical, as was 270 pound Meatloaf performing concerts in black slacks and a ruffled tuxedo shirt all breathy and sweaty.  Lots was made of Meatloaf’s heavyset body and long hair but his vocals were equally noteworthy.

 Still, when you take away Meatloaf’s vocals and visuals, there were Steinman’s melodies and lyrics that resonated with me as a sixteen-year-old. I was full of piss and vinegar and of course teen lust.  At that time, I’m not sure any other set of songs were as much in my wheelhouse as what “Bat Out of Hell” brought me.

You had the drama of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” with the whole idea of ‘going all the way’ that lit fires of passion and wanting. Lyrics like “Well I can remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday, parking by the lake and there was not another car in sight, and I never had a girl looking any better than you did, and all the kids at school, they were wishing they were me that night.”   How can you listen to that and not think about the night you had that much wanted “hot date”?

There was the angst and frustration of “All Revved Up and No Place to Go.”   “I was nothing but a lonely boy looking for something new, and you were nothing but a lonely girl, but you were something, something like a dream come true.”  And then to go on to the chorus of this guy and girl with “Every Saturday night, I felt the fever grow, do you know what it’s like, all revved up and no place to go.”

Finally, there was my favorite track, “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth starting with the boy-girl recitation asking “Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?” This followed by the sung lines, “It was a hot summer night and the beach was burning, there was fog crawling over the sand, when I listen to your heart, I hear the whole world turning, I see the shooting stars falling through your trembling hands.”  I didn’t have a beach to take girls to but I sure wished one was nearby.    

Then top this off with the killer line “You were licking your lips and your lipstick shining, I was dying just to ask for a taste, we were lying together in a silver lining by the light of the moon, you know there’s another moment to waste.”  Been there, done that. Whew!

Just re-writing these Jim Steinman lines brings me back to cranking those songs every Friday and Saturday night before going out to high school parties to guzzle cans of Old Style & Olympia beer, all charged up and hoping to chat up a girl or two.  After that, who knows what might happen?

Full disclosure- Me and most of my high school buddies were a bit slow to get out of the gate with the opposite sex; like Bob Seger so aptly sang we were ‘Working on mysteries without any clues.’  Eventually, all of us did find our footing with girls and thankfully I had Jim Steinman’s songs there to let me know I wasn’t alone in my wanting. There was someone who knew how I felt, there was hope and yes, maybe even a slight glimpse of paradise by the dashboard light…

NEXT BLOG- Some fun memories of my mom.

Last weekend on my Facebook page I quoted an opening line to an old song.  It’s something I sometimes do when a tune is whirling around my coconut.  This time I posted the line “Well she’s all you’d ever want, she’s the kind I’d like to flaunt and take to dinner.” It’s the opening lyric to the Tom Jones oldie “She’s a Lady.”  Seemed innocent enough and some Facebook pals chimed in on how they like that song and Tom Jones.

However, one person replied to my post by saying, “One of the most sexist songs in history.”  Then this Facebook friend quoted the line ‘Well she’s never in the way, always something nice to say, she’s a lady.’ 

One slight phrase pulled from a song that’s fifty years old and it’s labeled ‘One of the most sexist songs in history.’  (Sigh) While I’m fine with people (myself included) being more ‘woke’ to sensitive issues and situations, this particular ‘sexist’ accusation is broke.  

One thing to note, Tom Jones did not write ‘She’s a Lady’ (it was penned by Paul Anka) but Tom did make it a hit, his highest charted single.

So, let’s check out the rest of the lyrics of “She’s a lady.”

Lines like, ‘She’s got style, she’s got grace, she’s a winner.’  I see nothing wrong here.  And to finish the ‘never in the way’ line, Jones sings “I can leave her on her own knowing she’s O.K. alone and there’s no messing.”  Hmm, sounds to me like this lady is independent, self-assured and totally together.  Nothing sexist there.

Then we move on to the words, “She never asks for very much and I don’t refuse her, always treat her with respect, I never would abuse her, what she’s got is hard to find and I don’t want to lose her, helped me build a mountain from a little pile of clay.”  Yeah, real sexism here, right?  Those lyrics pay tribute to someone who the singer treasures, honors and owes much of his success to.   (Another sigh)

Let’s go further in the song.  “But she knows what I’m about, she can take what I dish out and that’s not easy, but she knows me through and through and she knows just what to do and how to please me.”  Here we have lines with the singer admitting he can be difficult but she can take it “and that’s not easy.’ This lady has relationship skills and strength.  Again, I’m having trouble finding the sexism in words that pay homage to how special this woman is.

So, it is with good humor and a whimsical shake of my head, I reject that “She’s a Lady” is a sexist slur of a song.  Folks, we all need to think things through and take caution in what we label as bad or cancelled or banished as poison. Almost any set of lines can be cherry picked to meet an agenda. Nothing is going to be perfect and just because part of a song or a joke or anything else doesn’t precisely fit into today’s standards and expectations doesn’t mean it’s a total disgrace. So let’s try not to paint everything with such a broad brush.

With all this said, it is not lost on me that Tom Jones, (now 80 years old) has been one of the most prolific womanizers in music history.  The singer was married to his childhood sweetheart Linda for 59 years before she succumbed to a final battle of lung cancer in 2016.  For whatever reasons, Linda Jones tolerated her husband’s mega-infidelity and he loved her for that and more.  Tom’s wife’s death left him devastated and you would think he’s carrying some load of guilt for all his past indiscretions. 

Full disclosure- back in the summer of 1998 I saw Tom Jones in concert at Chicago’s Vic Theater. The guy was incredible, belting out two sets of rock and R&B with his band; he practically blew the roof off the joint. If given the chance to see him again, I would.

So now we separate the blatantly unfaithful singer Tom Jones from a fun tune released in 1971 that is NOT the most sexist song in the world.  And we leave it at that.  Again, my only request is that anyone who wants to express agenda-based ideas to a song, movie, joke or written piece, stay away from cherry picking & nit-picking and relax a little.  As the Eagles once sang, “Take it easy, don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.”  (I threw in that line because I know the person who posted Jones’ song was sexist HATES the Eagles.  LOL)

Next blog– Remembering songwriter Jim Steinman.

The other day I was in a store and over the P.A. I heard the old Moody Blues song “Tuesday Afternoon” being played.  Right away it brought back a great memory that made me smile broadly.  Some songs do that you know.

It was the summer of 1988 and The Moody Blues were playing a concert at Poplar Creek Music Theater and  while working at classic rock station 105.9 FM WCKG I was asked to host some listeners in one of the luxury boxes in the pavilion of the concert venue.  I jumped at the chance because not only were these great seats but the fridge in the luxury box was stocked with beer and snacks, plus we had a food and drink tab we could run up as we entertained our six listeners. 

As was custom, I was also given a ticket for a friend or a date and the first person I thought to take was a buddy from my days working for the Elmhurst Park District.  He was a hard-working blue collar family man named Bernie.  Bernie, eight years my senior, was my crew leader during my first summer working for the EPD and we became good friends since.  I even vacationed with him, his wife Jan and their two young sons Chris and Alex one summer as we camped in the Rocky Mountains.

Bernie was a longtime fan of progressive rock groups like Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Emerson Lake and Palmer but the Moody Blues were tops on his list.  He was thrilled at the prospect of this Monday night outing to see his favorite act and a fantastic time was had at an expertly performed concert.  We’d seen several other live shows together including The Who, Doobie Brothers and Men at Work but this concert was a biggie for my friend.

A few songs into their set, the Moody Blues started playing, (you guessed it) “Tuesday Afternoon” and Bernie really got caught up in the moment.  The whole crowd stood cheering, going nuts and my buddy turned to me with tears rolling down his cheeks.   Bernie put his arm around my shoulder and told me how much that song and this concert meant to him.   Outside of the time his mother was stricken with a heart attack, I’d never seen him so overcome with emotion. I too enjoyed the Moody Blues show but seeing my friend become so moved, THAT made the night for me!

Thanks to all my years in radio, I got plenty of friends and dates to join me at other shows and they too got off on such cool events.  I liked these outings a lot but seeing others get so taken up in what was going on was the real juice for me.  I often felt like Willy Wonka (the Gene Wilder version) when he opened his factory to guests so they could take in all of his candy wonders.  Me showing others the wonder of a live concert or other special happening was a total blast. What fun that was!

I’ll get around to writing about other special concert times with my friends, but that night with The Moody Blues deserved a first mention.   Bernie passed away a few years ago and while that’s a sad and serious drag, I’m sure glad we could share such a memorable night at Poplar Creek.  “If you’ll just come with me you’ll see the beauty of Tuesday afternoon.”

My time off from blogging takes a one week break.

Of all the Spring Breaks I’ve had as a teacher THIS one was the most looked forward to. I made the most of my time off which included the following:

Home Repairs– While I handle most basic maintenance jobs in my home, when it comes to real ‘fix-up jobs’, it’s best to turn to the experts. I follow Andy Griffith’s pleas to Aunt Bee when her old freezer went on the blink; “Call the man! Aunt Bee, just call the man!”

I had a plumber come out to clear the drain pipes in my kitchen.  Several decades of gunk and mess were excised.  What a relief! Then I hired a tree trimming service to prune my silver maple tree. That shade bearing behemoth had not been properly shaped in several years and it looks much better now. Finally, I tried lining up a carpenter to re-build my front stairs but the guy who was recommended to me had too much of a workload to take my business.  So, I’m looking for other help on that job.  I also did some major toss-outs of unused junk.  My home possessions are really becoming streamlined and it feels great to do that.

MOVIES- Despite being vaccinated for the COVID virus, I still don’t feel safe going to movie theatres so I caught up on some films via HBO, Netflix and Amazon Prime.

“Tina”– HBO brings us a detailed documentary on the legendary Tina Turner.  While you think you know her story from the biopic “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, there is much more to know in details.  “Tina” was as good as last year’s HBO doc on the Bee Gees.

“One Night in Miami”– On the same night when Cassius Clay (soon to be re-named Muhammad Ali) won the heavyweight title over Sonny Liston, he had a post-fight hang-out with NFL star Jim Brown, singer Sam Cooke & Malcom X.  It’s a fictional account of what COULD have been talked about.  The actors playing Clay (Eli Goree) and Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) are especially good in this one.

“Sound of Metal”- A punk rock drummer and recovering drug addict suffers sudden hearing loss and gets help from a special program for the deaf.  Oscar nominations are in for lead actor Riz Ahmed and supporting actor Paul Raci.  It’s a visual and auditory trip.  By the way, if someone ever makes a movie about protesting former NFL QB Colin Kaepernick, Riz Ahmed is dead ringer for Kaepernick and could play the lead.

“Promising Young Woman”- Another Oscar nominated film (for Actress Carey Mulligan along with Best Picture and Director). The trailer for this one makes you think it’s a trashy ‘woman gets revenge on men who take advantage of her when drunk’ story.  “PYW” goes WAY beyond that.  I really enjoyed the ride in this mind-bending film, which is an amalgam of “Fatal Attraction”, “Heathers” and “The Usual Suspects.”  In fact I liked it so much, I watched this film twice!

BOOK CLUB– While off, I read a whole 400 page book cover to cover. “Rock Me on the Water,” written by Ronald Brownstein does a remarkable job covering the cultural aspects and ramifications of movies, music, television and politics in the pivotal year of 1974 in Los Angeles.  One line from the start of the book notes how at that time in L.A. ‘you could throw a rock and easily hit a genius’ on the brink of a social or cultural breakthrough.

Finally, there was time for intermittent naps, some TV channel surfing and catching up with some friends on the phone.  I also worked on a load of half written blogs. Once they’re edited, I’ll get back to weekly postings. No hurry on that task.  

So, it was a good Spring Break but it’s great to be back online with my students.  Oh, and yes, ALL of us are counting down to less than three months before our summer vacation!