Lawr’s “Wild In The Streets” post made me think of Chris Spedding, who was our guitar hero back in the day. Probably because he was somewhat obscure, at least to American folks, and he embraced early punk instead of trashing it. We used to think this song was all that and a bag of chips. Now it seems a bit tame and cheesy, though still enjoyable. The accompanying video is kind of cheesy, but helpful:
Spedding wails. My familiarity with him started with “Nilsson Schmilsson” and then “A Little Bit of Schmilsson in the Night.” If you know the movie “Goodfellas,” then you should know on towards the end of Henry’s last day of freedom, as he drives around frantically, coked up and valiumed down, that “Jump Into the Fire” is the soundtrack. That song is all Spedding.
This song actually made it onto the radio back in the day. Yes, a novelty, and a piece of fluff except that HE COULD DO THIS. Spedding was our hero too. I saw him at the Lone Star with Robert Gordon and man was he smoking, then maybe a year later we went to see Roxy Music at Radio City and there was Spedding with Phil Manzanera, another eternal treat.
I’m a sucker for this type of song, so here’s arguably the best. You’ve probably heard it before. You can skip the first two minutes if you want:
http://youtu.be/wxjvlB26Rgw
My absolute favorite band in the early 70s was Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, who had a hit with this. Bill Kirchen was the shy-seeming but fantastic guitarist in what was a fantastic band. I’ve since seen YouTube videos of Kirchen playing street fairs. Playing well, but street fairs.
That’s where this sort of thing really works.
Better than the Spedding, this is the best I’ve ever heard in this vein. Snuck the Pistols in there.