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Influential Albums 1052-58
Fri., Mar. 31. 2023 5:21pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the latest entries in the "albums that influenced me" series I started writing in May 2020:
1052. The Best of Three Dog Night - Three Dog Night
I remember eyeing this CD up at National Record Mart at Greengate Mall in Greensburg PA shortly after my all-night parody-writing session on December 28-29, 1991. Of the six spoofs I'd written in that 24-hour period, two were Three Dog Night tunes. I can't remember if I actually bought it then or waited till later. Released in 1982, The Best of Three Dog Night was quite a comprehensive collection. There's not an ounce of fat; all 20 tracks on this double-album hit the Top 40. In fact, only the group's final and least-known Top 40 hit, "Til the World Ends" (#32), is missing. However, The Best of Three Dog Night did include the sad and lovely "Pieces of April" (#19) — the only other one of their hits that hadn't appeared previously on either Golden Biscuits (a 1971 LP that chronicled their early successes) or Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits (a 1974 LP that concentrated on later stuff). It was written by Kenny Loggins' cousin Dave, famous for his 1974 Top Five hit "Please Come to Boston." ApologetiX has spoofed five of the tracks on The Best of Three Dog Night: "Joy the World," "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," "Never Been to Spain," "Shambala," and "Eli's Coming."
1053. G N' R Lies - Guns N' Roses
I bought this cassette at Jerry's Records, too, but I think it was during a return trip in the spring of 1992. Released right after Thanksgiving Weekend in 1988, G N' R Lies only featured eight songs. The first side featured four simulated live tracks, including a cover of Aerosmith's "Mama Kin." The second side had four acoustic tracks, most notably the ballad "Patience," which became the album's only hit (#4 pop, #7 rock) ... but that was enough to propel G N' R Lies to #2 on the Billboard 200. I first heard about "Patience" during the annual Labor Day Weekend retreat for First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, which was held in Ligonier PA. Tim Hart and I were put in charge of activities for the youth in '88, and they liked us enough to ask us to reprise our roles in '89. One of the kids mentioned "Patience" and Axl Rose several times, so I filed that away for future use. And use it we did. Less than three years later, "Patience" became the first GNR song ApologetiX ever spoofed. It was also one of the first "modern" songs we tackled, along with "Signs" by Tesla and "More Than Words" by Extreme. Our "Patience" parody made it onto the first ApX homemade live cassette in June 1992 and the first mass-produced ApX studio album in July '93. We eventually revised and rerecorded it in 2015. I also wrote a spoof of the track that followed "Patience" on G N' R Lies, "Used to Love Her," in '92, although we never recorded it. The track after that, "You're Crazy," had already appeared on Appetite for Destruction, but I liked the new acoustic treatment on G N' R Lies a lot better.
1054. Open Up and Say ... Ahh! - Poison
Here's another of the used cassettes I purchased in pursuit of potential parodies on my return trip to Jerry's Records in the spring of 1992. Released in May 1988, Open Up and Say ... Ahh! was Poison's second and most successful LP, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200 and selling five million copies. It generated four hit singles: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" (#1 pop, #11 rock); "Nothin' but a Good Time" (#6 pop, #19 rock); "Your Mama Don't Dance" (#10 pop, #39 rock); and "Fallen Angel" (#12 pop, #32 rock). ApologetiX has spoofed the first three, but the fourth may be my favorite. Then again, perhaps that's because I'm not burned out from listening to it over and over again while working on a parody. Since I've mentioned Jerry's Records so many times in my entries, I should explain that the place was a veritable institution for local lovers of recorded music. Its namesake and founder, Jerry Weber (who looked a bit like Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead), retired and sold the business to his employee Chris Grauzer in 2017 and died in 2022. Although I used to visit Jerry's Records when it was in Pittsburgh's Oakland section (home of the University of Pittsburgh), Jerry moved his establishment to Squirrel Hill (less than four miles from Oakland) in 1993. Jerry's Records is still in business there and online. And you can see photos of the inside of the store at: https://jerrysrecords.com/about/
1055. All the Best - Paul McCartney
After ApologetiX had played a few concerts, I got a killer idea for a parody of "Live and Let Die," a song I'd previously owned on vinyl (45 single) and cassette (Wings Greatest). Those days were long past, so I had to buy All the Best! to get it again ... this time on CD. I think I bought it brand new at a record store in a strip mall in Fox Chapel PA. It turned out to be a wise investment. ApologetiX ended up releasing a live version of that "Live and Let Die" parody on our first cassette in June 1992, followed by a studio version on CD in 1998, a live version on CD in 2005, and a revised studio version in 2015. We also released parodies of "Band on the Run" in 2016 and "Junior's Farm" in 2019. Those tunes had also been on Wings Greatest (released in 1979), but All the Best!(released in 1987) had some notable tracks that weren't, including three #1 hits: "Listen to What the Man Said," "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)" and "Ebony and Ivory." Three other significant songs making their first "best of" appearance were "Goodnight Tonight" (#5), "No More Lonely Nights" (#6) and "C Moon," which was originally released as a double-A side with the "Hi, Hi, Hi" (#10). It's arguably the weakest track on the collection. I'd read of it in my chart books before but had never heard it till I got this CD. Released in November 1987, the U.S. edition of All the Best! had 17 tracks in all, whereas the U.K./Australian/Canadian/Japanese version had 20. Either way, for the price, it was a better deal on Wings than you'd find at most local sports bars.
1056. 70's Greatest Rock Hits Volume 10: Hitchin' a Ride - Various Artists
This compilation was released in 1991, and I think I bought it on CD in '92. It contained two songs ApologetiX would spoof that June on our first live cassette, Get Your Wigs — "Hot Rod Lincoln" by "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (#9 pop) and "Signs" by Five Man Electrical Band (#3 pop). We went on to do studio versions of both of those parodies within the next couple years and then later did live remakes of each in 2010. We eventually spoofed a third song from Hitchin' a Ride, "One Toke Over the Line" by Brewer & Shipley (#10 pop), in 2018. There were only nine tracks on the album, although there's at least one other I would like to attempt at some point. It also contained a novelty song I liked as a kid that my own children also enjoyed, "Dead Skunk" by Loudon Wainwright III (#16 pop). Inexplicably, Hitchin' a Ride did not include "Hitchin' a Ride" by Vanity Fare, a #5 hit in 1970. I wonder if they originally intended to include it but something fell through; that might explain the odd number and meager quantity of selections. For a complete track listing, go to https://www.discogs.com/release/6007423-Various-70s-Greatest-Rock-Hits-Volume-10-Hitchin-A-Ride
1057. Un-Led-Ed - Dread Zeppelin
Released in June 1990, Un-Led-Ed was the debut LP by California reggae-rock band Dread Zeppelin. The album consisted of 10 Led Zeppelin songs performed in reggae style by a singer who sounded like Elvis Presley (Greg Tortell a.k.a. Tortelvis). I first heard about them through Karl, who told me about "Heartbreaker (at the End of Lonely Street)," which ingeniously combined the music of Zep's "Heartbreaker" with the lyrics of Presley's "Heartbreaker" to great comedic effect. Un-Led-Edis a full tank of fun. In addition to "Heartbreaker (at the End of Lonely Street)," my favorite tracks are "Whole Lotta Love" (a-keep a-coolin', Charlie), "Your Time Is Gonna Come," and "Immigrant Song." They also did some clever things with "Black Mountain Side" and "Moby Dick" (reciting text from the Herman Melville novel of the same name). I later bought a used cassingle featuring DZ's take on "Nobody's Fault but Mine" from their follow-up LP, 5,000,000 (*Tortelvis Fans Can't Be Wrong). ApologetiX has never spoofed Dread Zeppelin, but we have spoofed Led Zeppelin and Elvis many times, including "Heartbreaker" and "Heartbreak Hotel."
1058. Door Into Summer - Jacob's Trouble
In late June 1992, I attended my second Creation music festival (my first was in 1988) in Mount Union PA. There were many big-name acts on the roster for the multi-day event, but the one that left the most profound impression on me was a five-piece band from Georgia called Jacob's Trouble. As Steve Taylor had been for me at Creation '88, so was Jacob's Trouble at Creation '92 ... fun, funny, and entertaining. I don't recall everything they played that day, but I distinctly remember "Wind and Wave," "Dreammaker" and the very cleverly worded (yet worshipful, believe it or not) "You Scare the Hell Out of Me," each of which came from a different album. I went to the onsite music store and bought a cassette of their 1989 debut LP, Door Into Summer, produced by Terry Scott Taylor of Daniel Amos and The Swirling Eddies. It was plainly influenced by two of my favorite secular bands: The cover art spoofed A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles, and the title was derived from "The Door Into Summer," my favorite non-hit by The Monkees. Jacob's Trouble did a remake of that song on this album, and they also covered one of my favorite lesser-known non-hits by The Beatles, "Tell Me What You See." But JT's sound on this particular project incorporated more than the Fab and Pre-fab Four; it also called to mind bands like The Byrds and REM. The other nine tracks were all originals, including the aforementioned "Wind and Wave." Depending on the topic, the group could write tunes that were witty ("Church of Do What You Want To"), gritty ("Waiting for the Son" and "Awfully Familiar), or downright pretty ("She Smiles at the Future" and "Psalm 151") I loved every song I've mentioned thus far, plus "Million Miles." I don't know how to classify that one in a way that rhymes with my other categories, except to say it was far more than a ditty. This wouldn't be the last I'd hear from Jacob's Trouble ... not by a longshot.
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