IT BREAKS MY HEART TO SEE THOSE STARS SMASHING A PERFECTLY GOOD GUITAR!

 

Rich here. I remember like it was yesterday, seeing Pete Townshend and The Who smashing their instruments on TV (the Mike Douglas Show, if I remember accurately). As a 13-year-old who'd had to take over my brother's paper route for several weeks just to afford a cheap, $45 Japanese-made guitar, I was aghast. "Pete!" I screamed. "I'll take your guitar. Give it to me!"

 

Damn. 

 

And then Jimi Hendrix lit his guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop Festival, and by the time the Punk Movement came along, smashing guitars was routine. "How rebellious! What an artistic statement!" the rock critics wrote.

 

But to this day, it still breaks my heart for bands to smash their guitars, and John Hiatt voices my frustration perfectly.

JOHN HIATT - "Perfectly Good Guitar" 

THE REPLACEMENTS - "20th Century Boy" (1984)

 

Here's a song that was on the flip side of this three song EP brought out by The Replacements in 1984.

I don't think I need to say much except this is what Rock and Roll music is supposed to sound like.

Turn It Up!!! 

THE REPLACEMENTS - "20th Century Boy"

BAD COMPANY - "The 'Original' Bad Co Anthology" (1999)

 

This 1999 album by Bad Company titled "The 'Original' Bad Co Anthology" was a compilation of hits and unreleased tracks from their career. 

Here's a song that wasn't on any of their other records. It's just a basic rock and roll tune, nothing special, and no frills, but I like it. 

BAD COMPANY - "Ain't It Good"

WILDEST DREAMS - "Gypsy Eyes" (2014)

 

The other day I was trying to find out info about a 1980's L.A. band called The Wildest, and while I didn't find anything out about that band, I stumbled onto this image from an album by a band called Wildest Dreams, and I was like, hey, that's almost exactly the same as the cover of Randy California's album titled "Kapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds" from 1972.

 

I was wondering what the connection was and it sounds like Wildest Dreams was pretty enamored with the music of Randy California, and I also thought they sounded like some of the Bob Welch era Fleetwood Mac, or in other words, Wildest Dreams are a pretty cool band. I like their sound.

WILDEST DREAMS - "Gypsy Eyes"

I never did find out anything about a band called The Wildest.

CHRIS KENNER - "I Like It Like That" (1961)

 

 A top 10 song in 1961 was "I Like It Like That" by Chris Kenner. Chris wrote this song and it made it to number two on the charts.

Chris also wrote and recorded the killer song "Land Of A 1000" dances, but his version only made it to number 77 in 1962. The more popular version was recorded by Cannibal And The Headhunters that hit number 30 on the charts in 1965.

Chris died of a heart attack in 1976 at the age of only 46.

CHRIS KENNER - "I Like It Like That"

HUEY "PIANO" SMITH AND THE CLOWNS - "Don't You Just Know It" (1958)

 

Let's go back to Louisiana for a couple of days, and the hit songs of my youth.

Huey "Piano" Smith was a prodigy and wrote his first song at 8 years old, and by the time he was 15, he was already playing in clubs.

After performing with many people including Little Richard, Huey and his band called The Clowns recorded this hit record that made it to number 9 on the charts.

Unlike many musicians from this time period, Huey lived to be 89, and just passed away in 2023.

HUEY "PIANO" SMITH AND THE CLOWNS - "Don't You Just Know It" 

LOS CUATES DE SINALOA - "Pegando Con Tuba" (2009)

 

Just one of the great things about the TV series "Breaking Bad" was the clever choices of music, and this song by Los Cuates De Sinaloa was a good one. It was just all too perfect!

Cousins Gabriel and Nano Berrelleza were originally from Sinaloa, Mexico but are now based in Phoenix, Arizona! 

LOS CUATES DE SINALOA - "The Ballad Of Heisenberg (Negro Y Azul)"