I wanted to belatedly note the passing of Tom Verlaine, guitarist, and songwriter for the band Television. Their seminal album Marquee Moon from the punk era (really a guitar album) is one that i’d done a blog on a while back. Actually, I reblogged a guy who is no longer blogging so you can’t find it. Maybe I’ll get around to doing a post myself one fine day. 

I did a couple of posts previously about one-hit wonders here and then some weird ones here. Here’s a few more for ya.

Wikipedia: “Brewer & Shipley are an American folk-rock duo who enjoyed their peak success in the late 1960s through the 1970s, consisting of singer-songwriters Mike Brewer (and Tom Shipley.

They were known for their intricate guitar work, vocal harmonies, and socially conscious lyrics which reflected the concerns of their generation – especially the Vietnam War, and the struggles for personal and political freedom. Their greatest commercial success was the song “One Toke Over the Line” from their 1970 album Tarkio.”

“One Toke Over the Line” is an incredibly infectious tune that I find myself singing along to as I drive down the road. I know that other people appreciate me singing it as well as I can see people in other cars pointing and laughing and doubtless saying, “What a good time he’s having. Too bad I have to cut him off!”

I love the explanation of what this song is about in Songfacts. I learned somethinig new! “This song is about drugs, especially marijuana. A ‘toke’ s a puff from a marijuana cigarette (!) or pipe.” Shipley – “I considered marijuana a sort of sacrament. If you listen to the lyrics, ‘one toke’ was just a metaphor. It’s a song about excess. Too much of anything will probably kill you.”

The Sanford Townsend band consisted of John Townsend and Ed Sanford, both of whom, oddly, played keyboards and sang. They are a couple of guys from the Deep South (Alabama) who were pretty much songwriters for people like Loggins and Messina.

They went out as a band and had a pretty big hit with the catchy “Smoke From a Distant Fire.” I remember going to see them at some point. They did this tune and everybody sang along and danced. Before and after that everybody pretty much just chatted with each other, not recognizing any of the other tunes.

According to a write-up of the tune on The Unfortified Castle, “the narrator is talking to his unfaithful ex-partner, saying how we should have seen her wavering affections and ultimate infidelity coming from a mile away.” Then later he says, well you know what? You wanna be with that guy, go and don’t the door hit in the ass,

Of course, you know the song “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.” When your team wins and the other team loses it’s a great companion to “We Are the Champions” by some other band.

The band that does this tune – Steam – was not a band at all. It is not at all uncommon in the history of recording for songwriters and/or studio musicians to come up with the tune, make up some bogus band name, and hit the charts. That’s what happened here and so, who really cares who these guys were? I will say this – I would have sworn that that was a woman singing lead but it turns out it was a guy named Garrett Scott.

I fucking love “Walking on Sunshine.” I just do. It’s such a great, exuberant performance with a great vocal. I have it on Spotify and listen to it during some of my workouts. I find it upliftting to know that someone is walking on sunshiine when I am too often stuck in the primordial mud.

This is done by Katrina and the Waves who  despite being a British band – were led by a Kansas woman named Katrina Leskanich. It turns out they also won a Eurovision contest wit another song but I can advise you it never broke over here in the good old US of A. Another tune that brings in royalties for its songwriter. (Not Katrina)

Last but hardly least is the tune “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers, twin brothers from Scotland. I remember one of my kids asking what it was about and I told them it was a man’s devotion for (I assume) a woman and that he’d walk endlessly to be with her. I feel that way about a good steak.