So let’s just say I’m only a fan of about 10% of what my son listens to. And most of that is stuff he got from me and my wife, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or The Struts. But for some reason, he likes Post Malone, and a ton of other hip-hop stuff. And while Post isn’t one of my favorites, it’s probably the one of his favorites that I’m actually okay with, and the song really isn’t too bad.
It’s a hypnotic little riff that he’s singing over, and while the lyrics are typical 21st century mumbling and a lot of pop culture references, it’s very much music of its time, and that’s not really a bad thing given what he’s going for.
So just chill with a nice little groove that hit whatever charts matter these days and is a surprisingly good song by a current artist that really no one over 23 gives a rip about.
There’s nothing particularly fancy or revolutionary about the song structure here. Its a basic blues structure with dual repeating lines at the start of each verse. It’s got a good driving beat and the bass guitar almost takes the lead on the whole thing. It’s a fun windows-down-Summer-day kind of song that just gets the whole car energized.
Not every great song has to break new ground or be wildly inventive for you to enjoy the hell out of it.
Podunk, Oklahoma didn’t have a ton of musical acts come through. We would occasionally get a name brand act come through the base, like Lee Greenwood on 4th of July (where he was selling pre-packaged patriotism to a fan base that loved the soldiers as a backdrop to the photo op, but never could find a recruiting station when it mattered). But by and large, it was a whole lot of folks on the fringes of the music world, or occasionally you would get some up-and-comer who was sort of from the area, like the time Dangerous Toys (from Texas) played in town.
So here comes Tangier, playing at the only real club we have in town that’s actually primarily a live music venue. And it’s a band we’ve actually heard of, and seen on MTV, back when Headbanger’s Ball existed, and actually played music. And you know what, I don’t care how derivative and mediocre the band was. On that night, they were awesome. It was a glorious night of a bunch of teenagers and twenty-somethings at the local rock club watching live music tear the place up. Heavy blues, fast dueling guitars, and some smokey vocals while watching everyone gyrate around the club as best as you could dance to late ’80s hard rock
This was the lead single from MTV and the only song most of the crowd knew. I happened to have a copy of the album, so I knew the rest of what they were playing, too. While this was the show-stopping highlight that brought the house down, it wasn’t the best musical performance they had that night (“Sweet Surrender” was).
And that’s totally okay.
Sometimes the vibe has nothing to do with musicianship and everything to do with the organic feel of the whole performance when the audience and the performer are totally in tune with each other and just grooving on the flow like there’s nothing else in the world going on.
No one could ever quite figure out what these guys were, which made them perfect for the mid-90s mishmash of genres that also brought you Rage Against The Machine playing hard rock hip hop, and White Trash playing heavy metal with a brass section, not to mention the Beastie Boys cranking up the flute.
This two-song intro to their live EP really showcases their frantic energy and insane musicianship. It also showcases the acquired taste of the twin female vocalists. They’re singing about as much as Anthony Kiedis “sings” for the Chili Peppers, but it does seem to fit the style of the music. Off the beaten path, but still talented and fun.
It’s amazing how many people considered Night Ranger to be a one-hit wonder on the strength of “Sister Christian”. They completely forget tunes like “When You Close Your Eyes” or “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” or “Goodbye” that all hit the charts.
But after their massive tour in support of Midnight Madness and “Sister Christian,” they recorded an ambitious follow-up that was arguably a much better album, both musically & lyrically. Unfortunately, it got released in 1985 when hard rock was on the run from a combination of hairspray fatigue and the PMRC. Hip hop was starting to invade MTV, and the follow-up albums from people like Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard hadn’t dropped just yet.
Into that hard rock wasteland, 7 Wishes appeared and the world yawned. It’s unfortunate too, because there are some great moments of hard rock radio quality tunes all over this album:
I got holes in my conscience / shot with a vengeance
Just make you wonder what was happening at 4 in the morning.
~ They sure don’t sound like they’re from Scotland ~
Half of their songs sound like they’re a Black Crowes cover band, and the other half sound like someone dared them to play faster so they went as fast as the drummer could keep up. This one starts to fall into the latter category, and while it’s not as fast as some DC punk bands, it’s still faster than most of their other songs. But it’s a driving beat that keeps people chugging along and lyrics that sound just socially conscious enough that you feel like you’re listening to something more than just booze and boobs while you’re air drumming along in your car.
I spent a lot of the 80s living out of suitcases given that my father was in the military and when we weren’t moving, we were traveling. Not only did we bounce around the US a bit, but for 8-1/2 years we lived in Germany (over 2 tours) and took a lot of trips to see a lot of Europe while we had the opportunity.
Although this album was released several years before I knew who Triumph were, I packed most of the cassettes to go with my Walkman on a lot of our trips in the 80s. This particular one (Just A Game) I played a lot during the summer of ’87 when I was in the US visiting my grandparents for a few weeks. As much as I love my grandparents, there was only so much that 14-year-old me was going to have in common with 65-year-old them. That left me with a lot of cassettes, comic books, Astros games on UHF TV, and RPG products that I couldn’t find in the exchange over in Europe.
Living out of a suitcase just seems very relatable for those few years.
