Roving Feline Swagger

 Song 648: This week the playlist applauds Stray Cat Strut by Stray Cats, written by Brian Setzer, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Happy Meow Year! Just like 3 of my last 5 blogs here, tonight marks the first appearance of this particular group in my favorite song gathering. Despite my admiration for felines, somehow it took well over 9 years before I got around to adding this striking mover to the collection. When it first arrived, I had gotten halfway through my third year at a very comfortable Oakland, CA, residence, but then when September rolled around, a room became available at a friend's home in Berkeley, so I soon had an address within a few blocks of the pizza place where the singer/songwriter circle I had joined hung out. Spending more time in Berkeley soon made it obvious to me how lots of stray cats (human ones, NOT felines) had made the city sidewalks their new living quarters, mainly due to POTUS Reagan having essentially ended federal funding of mental institutions. During that era, the word cat had become a slang reference to a guy, and as the 1990s unfolded, I started writing a song I originally titled It Takes a Jealous Cat, implying a human male's jealousy over a human female. As I plan to explain in a video about The Story Behind My Song One More Cat Tale, at some point in that decade, the title evolved into It Takes a Cat and became a melodic ramble about a real furry fellow, so it now enlivens my Purrfection CD single, and you can hear and see a YouTube lyric video of it by clicking on the title. Like other stray cats, I don't bother chasing mice around, but I also don't get my dinner from a garbage can, even when I strut right by with my tail in the air.

Cardiac Chilling

 Song 647: Seven weeks after my previous personal friend song post, this week's cool ride Heart On Ice comes from another one of my Fast Folk colleagues Judith Zweiman (who also wrote the song) & the Answers (her backup band) and it marks her first appearance in this series. You can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I met her soon after I accepted the responsibility of handling the booking and acting as MC for a weekly early evening acoustic set at a lower Manhattan folk club in the fall of 1988. I recall seeing and hearing her and her musical partners doing a few performances during the stretch when I did that job, and I liked the sounds I heard coming from the stage, plus I soon enough had a copy of their cassette release that got a bunch of spins on my player. I had never heard this particular jaunt until recently, but as soon as I did, it became another one of my favorites. Back in the era when I did sometimes stretch with the all night shiners hanging out in the night cub scene, I personally never felt that I had to keep my heart on ice or chill my holy soul.

Can St. Nicholas Return a Romantic Partner?

 Song 646: This week on the playlist you can hear Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me) by Elvis Presley, written by Aaron Schroeder and Claude Demetrius, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. The last time I featured Elvis in this collection was 52 weeks ago, when I made Blue Christmas Song 594. Mr. Presley recorded this classic a few days before my sixth birthday, but I knew very little about him while growing up. My parents and grandparents opposed the devil's music and I assumed most of the rest of the older generation did as well, so I could not have imagined back then that my best friend's mother was a big fan of the Elvis guy - a fact that I only found out about in recent years, shortly before she died. I did see at least one or two performances by him on the Ed Sullivan Show, but what I witnessed didn't grab my ears the way the Fab Four had. However, when I left the fundamentalist nest and began my own life as an independent young adult, having the freedom to pursue an interest in RnR, I soon learned a lot more about the groundbreaking sounds Mr. Presley had sparked, and I came to understand why the Beatles had all named him as their primary inspiration. As I expanded my LP stack, I added a 33 that included this moving carol and then it became a regular part of the melodies that enlivened my holiday season. Personally, I also don't need a lot of presents to make my Christmas bright. You can go ahead and fill my sock with candy and a bright and shiny toy, since the Christmas tree is ready and the candles all aglow. Happy Merry, Merry Happy!

Carnivore Vision

 Song 645: This week the playlist puts the spotlight on Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, written by Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. About a year before this tough rumbler arrived in1982, I had moved over to Berkeley, CA, after residing for 3 years in nearby Oakland. The 6-bedroom house where I rented a room had, a couple of years earlier, become the dwelling for a quintet that had originated from the singer/songwriter circle that I had hung out with, but then the band split up, and soon enough at least one member moved out, and I happily took up the available space. I liked living only a few blocks from the pizza joint basement performance arena where my creative friends routinely gathered. Most of them seemed to primarily have an interest in the folkie acoustic realm, but my housemate Bob Nichols, who had played bass for the home's band when he first moved in, did also share my appreciation for the heavier sounds of movers like this Survivor hit. As much as I rolled with this ride, though, I did not care for its connection to the film Rocky 3. I thought the first one of that series was OK, but it didn't thrill me, and I had no interest in the movie’s followups. Now, 4 decades later, I personally have not lost my grip on the dreams of the past, and I know I must fight just to keep them alive, so I intend to do that.

Mouth Your Passion

 Song 644: This week the playlist applauds Say You Love Me by Fleetwood Mac, written by Christine McVie, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I saw a TV segment featuring Fleetwood Mac in 1974 and while it didn't excite me, I had this impression that the group did have major potential, and when the Buckingham/Nicks duo joined the ensemble the following year, the band hit a whole new level, and justifiably so. I really relished the album they released that year, which included this gem, and as I acquired the 33 and paid more attention to the quintet, I also increased my appreciation of keyboard player Christine. This marks her third appearance among this collection as the singer and songwriter of prominent Fleetwood Mac tunes, with Over My Head being Song 341 and Songbird being Song 413. I decided to once again highlight the woman who had had a Perfect last name before marrying the band's bassist, mainly because of the sad news about her demise a few days ago. Evidently she was getting weaker, weaker every day, and she was not as strong as she used to be, but I doubt it was someone using her again that was the end of her.

Unrestrained Fowl

 Song 643: This week the playlist recognizes Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. When this anthem started riding the air waves in the winter of 1975, I had just found an available room in an apartment on the south end of the Chicago-area locality where I had spent most of the preceding 4 years, so I personally did not feel like the Free Bird that had relaxed in the Atlanta, GA, region the previous spring, but I did appreciate having a warm space to rest. As much as I initially enjoyed listening to the signature song of this septet, which marks their premier appearance among this collection, I would eventually, over the next decade, get tired of hearing other performers do their own versions of it. By the time the 1980s arrived, whenever I attended a night club show, whether by a low-level musician or a prominent star, if the singer gave the audience a chance to make a request, I always heard at least one person - and often many more - shout out Free Bird, to the point where it became rare NOT to hear that. This phenomenon continued well into the 1990s, and may even still happen these days, because, after all, this bird you cannot change.

Vibrate Your Income Source

 Song 642: This week the playlist comes around to Shake Your Moneymaker by Elmore James, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. In researching last week's Doors trailblazer Break on Through I learned that guitarist Robby Krieger has credited Paul Butterfield's version of this EJ hit as the inspiration for the riff that he used to drive the Doors' first album opener, so this seemed like an appropriate moment to feature Mr. James' rendition of the tune which he gets recognition for as the songwriter. This marks Elmore's second appearance in this group, with Dust My Broom being Song 307. When this shaker arrived in 1961, a few years before the Beatles rocked my world, I had no knowledge of such earlier heavy movers, and during my HS stretch I still found out very little about them, but as the 1970s unfolded and I had, as a young adult, the freedom to explore musical pathways that interested me, a 1950s RnR revival hit the Chicago radio waves and I got to hear many classics that had never previously crossed my ears, some of which I highly appreciated, such as this stunning rocker. As a male, I can certainly enjoy watching a woman shake her moneymaker and roll her activator, but it doesn't surprise me when she won't do a thing I tell her to do.