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September 23, 2025 68 mins

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Some songs don’t wait for the chorus to hook you—they grab you from the very first word. In this episode of The Perfect Album Side, we explore the magic of vocal hook intros: those unforgettable openings where the human voice alone sets the stage, commands attention, and makes the song instantly recognizable. From haunting whispers to soaring shouts, we dig into why these moments leave such a lasting mark, how they’ve shaped decades of music history, and what makes a vocal hook intro so powerful. It’s a journey through the art of making a first impression—music that doesn’t just start, it arrives.

One idea. Six songs. Infinite possibilities...

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let me tell you what Guns N' Ammo said about it.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Welcome to the Perfect Album, side One idea,
six songs, infinitepossibilities.

Speaker 4 (00:26):
This is the Perfect Album Side Podcast.
My name is Steve, his name isWyndham and we are here.
You may speak now.
Wyndham, that's you.
I'm pointing at you.
Is it okay if I speak now?
You can talk now.
Do I need to?

Speaker 1 (00:40):
hold.
Like what, lord of the Flies, Ineed to hold the conk.
You're okay, you're okay, it isso.
It is really great to be in thestudio, it's really great to
hear the iconic, a word we useso often and a word we're going
to use a little bit more todayiconic opening, iconic vocal
opening.
It's really good to hear thattoday for a lot of reasons.

(01:01):
You'll get into that later.
How you doing I'm going tosteal your line how you doing,
man.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
I am fantastic, I'm really good.
I hear you alluding to it, soI'll just go ahead and get it
out.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
I'm alluded.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
I'm known to allude, I'm here, I'm here, and it was
touch and go for a minute but Imight not be here.
And I don't mean just today, Imean like ever again.
I was, I was, I was literallyon my deathbed, I think.
Uh, I had a heart attack, whichyou know, whatever.
That was weird.
Uh, I went to the doctor, theyfixed me all up.

(01:35):
I, you know, I got fixed, I'mbetter, I'm here, I'm not dead.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
The show goes on.
The show does go on.
I'm so thankful you're here.
Uh, it's uh it's always notalways, because it doesn't
happen often but to get a textfrom uh someone you uh are uh
close with and you're thankfulfor that, uh, that that happened
.
I'm glad you're right here.

(01:59):
That's what I mean.
But I can't, you know, I speakfor all of our global listeners.
Stone Cold Can we get theopening tone down just a bit,
maybe at a whisper?

Speaker 4 (02:08):
You want me to do it?
As I was meeting with thecardiologist, they said are you
world famous for a globallyrenowned podcast and do you
scream into the microphone?
At the beginning I said yes,like every week, and they went.
You got to stop that.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Did you have to disclose like, hey, real quick.
I know you get a lot of thesequestions about running and
exertion, but there is somethingI do.
I'm kind of known for it andit's actually global.
But is it cool if I keep?

Speaker 4 (02:30):
doing this.
Doc, if you could just stitchme back up, I've got a podcast
to run.
That's kind of how thatconversation went.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Just zip me back up.

Speaker 4 (02:37):
Yeah, yeah, she took good care of me, but yes, I, I'm
glad to be here, glad to bealive.
Speaking of being alive, ozzyOsbourne he's not anymore and
that's unfortunate.
Yes, I was thinking about himtoday.
He passed.
What has it been a week or twonow since he passed away?
I think it's been like.
Hasn't it been like a month?

(02:57):
I don't know.
I was in the hospital.
I don't know.
I could have been there for twoyears.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
We know the world continued, steve.
Even though you were laid up,the world did go on, okay.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
Ozzy Osbourne no longer with us.
I don't think it came as a bigsurprise to anybody.
I think everybody knew that hislife was coming to an end.
Still very unfortunate.
What a huge powerhouse in musichistory and although I don't
think was he ever on the perfectalbum side uh, sports anthems

(03:29):
chipper jones did that happen ohyeah, that happened okay nice
call.
Yeah, yeah, I think he was wellwe really are back.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
You're making that kind of pull.
We are back well, uh, I.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
I think that's ozzy osbourne's only uh appearance
thus far, uh to date, on thePerfect Album Side podcast.
Any future ones will certainlybe posthumous, which would be
unfortunate.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
Let me ask you this so you know the whole final show
Back to the Beginning.
I think is what they called itin Birmingham.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Something like that, yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
And I saw snippets of it and there's a lot of things
about it, like the whole MotleyCrue connection with it.
Did you hear about this?
No, motley Crue was supposed tobe a part of it.
They were asked to be a part ofit but they said as long as you
pay for everything.
And they were like no, we'renot doing that, it's a charity

(04:27):
event event.
And so they were cut.
Sharon Osbourne said your loss,you know, yeah, we.
You need us more than we needyou, believe me, and I respect
that.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
Um, but his passing was so soon after that event
yeah, like I said, I don'tpretend to know the medical
history of Ozzy Osbourne, but Iknow that it seemed like they
everybody kind of knew this isit, this is it.
And got that one final show in.
A lot of people got to saytheir goodbyes.
I think his daughter gotengaged backstage at that show.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, so he got to witness that I didn't know that.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
That's crazy.

Speaker 4 (04:56):
Obviously a huge loss for music.
I mean, the guy was a legend.
What else is there to say?

Speaker 1 (05:02):
And I'm not a big fan of Ozzy, I think, oh, why don't
you just kick a man while he'sdown.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Do you have anything negative to say about me?
While I was in the hospital,you just shitting all over Ozzy.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
I think his music.

Speaker 4 (05:11):
Talking about Ozzy.
Yeah, I mean, look, I'm not a Iwasn't a huge Black Sabbath fan
or a huge Ozzy fan.
There are songs that I likethere that all of us as fans of
music know, and I think we allknow the impact that he will
have on rock music until the endof time.
You know, sappy as it may be, Istill like Mama.

(05:32):
I'm Coming Home.
It's my favorite Ozzy song.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
Totally.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
So good, that's a good album actually.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
I like the guitar riff on that Maybe my favorite
riff that he had Sabbath orotherwise.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
Yeah, anyway, big loss for music.
Speaking of live music, yousomewhat recently saw live music
.
Tell me about it.
What'd you see?

Speaker 1 (05:54):
I can't believe I haven't told you this yet.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
Well, again hospitalized.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
This was that weekend .
It had to be Two Saturdays ago.
What'd you see?
You're like, shut up and tellme what you saw.
I saw an opening band that IMike Campbell.
Oh yeah, he opened and I sawand the main attraction top
billing was Blackberry Smoke.

Speaker 4 (06:19):
Oh wow, how was it?
Was that your first BlackberrySmoke show?

Speaker 1 (06:22):
It was, and I share this with you because we like to
share live music experiences,but you got me into that band.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
They're a good band.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
They are an amazing band, but I'll tell you this
Shoot they are so much betterlive and Charlie Starr is so
much better live than he is onany recording that they've had.
And I know that's a singlestopic we can probably have.
But I think the true metal of aband is how good they are live

(06:53):
compared to how they are whenthey're in the studio.
And Charlie Starr is aperformer.
I was really impressed.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
I agree.
For those of you that are notfamiliar with Blackberry Smoke,
I encourage you to becomefamiliar.
Yeah, great live band.
I've seen them many, many timesPhenomenal.
Always a good show and you know, unlike Wyndham, I like their
records.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
I like their records too.
That doesn't sound like it.
I was a little underwhelmed byMike Campbell.

Speaker 4 (07:17):
I was just going to ask how was Mike Campbell?

Speaker 1 (07:19):
It was okay.
You're a big mike campbell fantoo, I am, and I still like him
a lot.
Uh, I just was a littleunderwhelmed.
Um, blackberry smoke was thebest, but I'll tell you, they
did a little jam session fivesong jam session at the end with
mike campbell.
And you know, because you're abig blackberry smoke fan, you
know they play a lot of pettyokay, yeah, what they play they

(07:40):
played uh rocking.
They played uh which this.
I love this.
They played uh southern accents.
I never thought I'd hear thatsong live.
Um, they played you got lucky.
Wow, uh.
They played uh running down therunning down.
A dream wow, that's a whole lotof tom petty stuff um, and they
even played one more and Ican't remember what it was and

(08:02):
I'm sorry I didn't do a betterjob in show prep.
But the Petty stuff was great.
The Blackberry Smoke stuff wasamazing.
They played Baby Love by.

Speaker 4 (08:11):
Mother's Finest.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
Holy smokes.
I love that song.
They played Midnight Special byCCR Outstanding.
They played when the LeveeBreaks by Led Zeppelin.

Speaker 4 (08:21):
Now, I'm not familiar with them.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
I'm not either, but the folks around us said they
were quite good.

Speaker 4 (08:26):
They actually do a really good cover of Remedy by
the Black Crows.
They close with that one a lot,which is kind of cool.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
That would have been really, really good.
Had they played that, I wouldhave actually gone nuts.
What's interesting too.
Last thing, and let's get towhat we're here for we saw them
on the day that Jerry died.
It hit the anniversary Not onlyan anniversary, it was the
30-year anniversary of JerryGarcia's passing.

(08:57):
Okay.
And so, which was interesting,breakdown sorry Breakdown was
the other petty song they played, but they teased a little bit
of scarlet begonias, so uh,which I thought was really cool.
So, um, you know, to meblackberry smoke is georgia
satellites, with a little bit oflittle feet, a little bit of
collective soul, that hard powerchord guitar and, uh, with a

(09:21):
little, maybe a little, panic inthere, just from a jam
perspective but, it's phenomenal.
I would go see them again.
Hands down, I can't say I'd seethe Dirty Knobs again, but I
would definitely go seeBlackberry, smoke, stone Cold.
Let's kick this thing off.

Speaker 4 (09:33):
Another ringing endorsement for Blackberry Smoke
.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Last thing, oh, we've got one more thing.

Speaker 4 (09:39):
Well, we've often talked about the Atlanta music
scene.
Atlanta lost a big oneyesterday.
Brent Hines, lead singer andguitarist of the band Mastodon,
passed away yesterday.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
I just saw that.

Speaker 4 (09:50):
So that that one, that that that sucks too.
So I mean, I don't claim to bea huge Mastodon fan, but I know
he was.
You know they were a big dealin Atlanta and throughout the
world.
Did you guys ever cross paths?
No, no, no, I think we weconcert wise.
No, maybe maybe the tour busescrossed in the night, I don't
know.
And I, when I say tour bus, Imean the old Dodge van that we
used to drive.

(10:10):
Uh, piece of shit.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
Anyway today.

Speaker 4 (10:14):
today we are here to build the perfect album side of
vocal hooks.
You know we've done some of themost iconic guitar riffs and
drum beats and bass lines andthings like that.
Today is about vocal hooks.
A song that starts off with ahuge, big as Michael Bolton
would say big, sexy hook, butit's all vocals.

(10:36):
At least that's what I did.
I hope that's what you did.
I don't know what you did,we'll find out.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
No, that is what I did.
I can't ever joke about thatanymore, ever since the old live
joke from episode 47.
Wow, I don't know if that'swhat episode it was.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
I was impressed.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yeah, that was the greatest thing ever.
That's exactly what I did, andI think there are a lot of
pieces of music and songs thatget overlooked, and a lot of
times the vocal intro issomething that a lot of people
don't hang on to.
But the ones I'm bringing tothe house today Stone Cold,
iconic.
There it is.

(11:12):
There's the word.

Speaker 4 (11:14):
I got songs that span many decades.
I think I span 40 or 50 yearsbetween oldest and newest songs
on my perfect album side.
I got songs that are sevenminutes long.
I got songs that are sevenminutes long.
I got songs that are twominutes long.
I got everything in between.
So I am jacked and ready to gofor this one.
Are you ready?

Speaker 1 (11:34):
I'm ready and am I allowed to mention overlap.

Speaker 4 (11:38):
Yeah, overlap.
I think it's going to be lowerthan normal.
We always say two and a halfthree.
I think it's one and a halftoday and I'm kind of excited
about that because, although Iam very stoked about the six
songs that I have brought to thetable from hyper tom side, I
can't wait to hear what you did,because I bet you've got two or
three that I just didn't thinkof and that are awesome, or
maybe not.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
Maybe yours is terrible, we don't know what
you're like if, if, if pasthistory is indicator, yours are
going to be awful, I'm going togo two.
I'm going to go two.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
Okay, all right, so you're taking the over.
I said one and a half, let's go.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
I agree with you.
This is going to be interesting.
I know there's two, there's onesong.

Speaker 4 (12:16):
we definitely have overlap on this one will be on
your perfect album side.
Here we go.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Shout to the heart and you're up to the plate.
Darling, you give love a badname.

Speaker 4 (12:48):
Whoo.
That is how you open a song.
Kids Talk about a vocal hook.
I mean that one's all vocalsfor the first line.
I love a song that starts withthe chorus first of all, and
this one does, and it's a vocalhook.
It's vocals only for that firstline or two.
You Give Love a Bad Name by BonJovi, released July of 1986 off

(13:10):
of the famous Slippery when Wetalbum.
Songwriters John Bon Jovi,richie Sambora and Desmond Child
, producer Bruce Fairburn.
They recorded at LittleMountain Sound Studios in
Vancouver.
I mean there's not a whole lotwe haven't already said about
Bon Jovi.
I mean obviously one of thebiggest bands in the history of
music.
This song, a number one, hit inthe United States on the

(13:33):
Billboard Hot 100, top ten inCanada, australia, new Zealand
and a dozen other countries.
Certified platinum in the US.
It just doesn't get much biggerthan that kind of vocal hook.
Is it on your perfect albumside?

Speaker 1 (13:47):
Yes, it is.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
Yes, it is.
What do you have to say aboutthis one?

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, number one hit first single off.
I don't know.
This has got to be a top tenalbum for everybody ever.
And as I was looking into thisStone Cold, just thinking about
Slippery when Wet, three oftheir biggest hits, three of the
biggest songs.
They've got three of the mostsignature songs.
They've got yeah, wanted, badName and Living on a Prayer, all

(14:11):
from the same record.
So good, and there aren't toomany bands there are some and we
could talk about that, butthere are some, but not many,
that have their possibly threebiggest songs, most recognizable
off one record.
Here's something you said, thesame thing I was going to say
Desmond Child's a big part ofthis, but you know there's no
mistaking that intro part.

(14:31):
And if you want to get a crowdlined up for a song, play this.

Speaker 4 (14:35):
Yeah, and back when Richie Sambora was in the band,
and if you ever saw them livewhen they played it, it was just
the two of them belting outthat opening line together in
harmony.
Holy shit, I mean.
Whatever arena you're in justgoes bananas, and this is
in-your-face metal, stone Cold.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
This is in-your-face rock music and I don't know if
Jovi, if anyone, does it betterthan Don Jovi.
One little thing I picked up asdoing this and you may be ready
to talk about this, so don'tlet me jump in, hit me, hit me.
Well, you mentioned DesmondChild, who wrote this song.
Well, desmond Child wroteanother song that was released
about four months before this byan artist by the name of Bonnie

(15:17):
Tyler.
Yes, yeah.
You know this you know whereI'm headed.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
Well, I was going to talk about Bonnie Tyler here in
a minute, but maybe for adifferent reason.
Go ahead.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
Okay.
Well, she had a song written byDesmond Child called If you
Were a Woman and I Was a man.
The songs are incrediblysimilar, so I would encourage
everyone dig up your old BonnieTyler vinyl and listen to If you
Were a Woman and tell me ifthose two songs are not the

(15:47):
exact same, written by the sameguy.

Speaker 4 (15:49):
Now I got to go listen to it.
Desmond Child had a huge partin writing this song, as we've
talked about, but Bon Jovi andRichie Sambora were also big in
the writing process.
Desmond Child originally wrotethis song for Bonnie Tyler,
which is what I was going to say.
She passed on it?

Speaker 1 (16:07):
I didn't know.

Speaker 4 (16:08):
Yeah, so she passes on it, brings it to John and
Richie and they're like hell,yeah, and they had an album, a
song on their first album on BonJovi by Bon Jovi called Shot
Through the Heart.
That was one of the songs onthat album and so they really
liked that line and wanted tobring that over.
So the three of them kind ofput pulled this thing together.

(16:29):
Desmond Child said the minuteJohn sang the opening line, the
vocal hook that we talked about,I knew it was going to be a
monster.
And the producer, bruceFairbairn, said we kept it dry,
there's no reverb.
That line had to punch throughthe speakers and, uh, it does
check.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
You can check that box, it sure does.
Uh, it does check.
You can check that box, it suredoes I there may be.
It may be John Bon Jovi's bestvocal performance.
That's for argument.
It is certainly my favoritevocal performance.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
It's, you know, obviously one of Bon Jovi's
biggest hits and maybe the bestexample of what we're going for
here today Opening line vocalhook.
Uh, they don't get much biggerthan that.
That was the first song on myPerfect Album side.
I assume it's the first onyours.
It's one of them.
Tell me what you've got on yourPerfect Album side.
You may begin.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
Yes, I am going to do this song.
I thought this one for sure wasgoing to be where you started.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
Is this the real life ?
Is this just fantasy?

Speaker 3 (17:29):
Caught in a landslide .

Speaker 2 (17:33):
No escape from reality.
Open your eyes, look up to theskies and see.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
Look up to the skies and see, I'm just a blue boy.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
I need no stupid.
So when you started talkingStone Cold about six minutes,
seven minutes this is what Ithought you were kind of
dropping a subtle hint about.
Does it need to even be talkedabout?
This is Bohemian Rhapsody byQueen, of course.
Made famous by the originalrelease in 1975, made famous

(18:14):
don't call by Live Aid.
Made famous by Wayne's World.
Made famous by the film of thesame name in 2018.
But there's a lot going on inthis song.
But it all starts with theincredible vocals, the
incredible harmony.
Freddie Mercury is this thereal life?
And you know listening to this?

(18:35):
And we did Queen on the lastepisode, back to the basics, all
the way to the bass, all theway to the bass, all the way to
the bass.
That was much better.
Uh, I, you know listening toqueen again for this episode.
Just, there isn't a moreoperatic rock and roll band than
queen.
I mean the who got thingsstarted, tommy and quadrophenia.

(18:57):
But there's so much going on inthis song.
There's so many different parts.
We did a coda episode where thecoda is different than the rest
of the song.
How about every other part ofthe song is different than the
rest of the song?
That's what this is the vocalsmake it, of course.

Speaker 4 (19:15):
Huge vocals in this song and a big vocal hook to
start the song, like you talkedabout.
I'm going to go ahead andanswer your question, which is
this song on my Perfect Albumside?
It is not.
It was two hours ago, If youremember.
I texted you said I'm makingchanges.
I pulled this one for adifferent song last minute.
But here's the reason.
I'm not arguing with anythingthat you just said Huge song,

(19:40):
huge vocal hook, awesome choice.
Absolutely Like I said, it wason my Perfect Album side until a
couple hours ago.
I pulled it off.
For this reason, this song hasabout 10 different hooks in it
and I'm not so sure that theopening lines are the most
memorable part of this song.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
You may be exactly right.
I tried to keep things in thefront of the song, right, that's
kind of how I patterned myperfect album side today, um,
but there are so many thegalileo part right probably up
there, um, but this, there's somuch to this song, as we said,
but there's so much about this.
On the live aid performance, ofcourse, song was top 10, um,

(20:22):
compared to a lot of beach boysmusic, believe it or not, which
is what I was reading about.
But listen to what theEconomist magazine, the
Economist magazine in 2015.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
Is that where you go to get your musical reviews?

Speaker 1 (20:36):
Oh, it's where I go to get everything.
That's a phenomenal publication.
Let me tell you what the WallStreet Journal said Let me tell
you what Guns and Ammo saidabout it.
Go ahead Before BohemianRhapsody.
The movie was released.
This is in 2015.
It said, though Led Zeppelin'sJohn Paul Jones and the Beatles'
Paul McCartney had experimentedwith symphonic elements and

(20:58):
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd andPete Townshend of the who had
created narrative albums withdistinct movements, none had the
audacity to import a miniatureopera into rock music.
Boom, that's impressive Queen.

Speaker 4 (21:13):
I did do some research on this song because,
like I said, it was on myPerfect Album's side.
They did 180 vocal overdubs.
They said that the tape youknow, the two-inch tape that
they recorded to was almosttransparent.
That's how many tracks were onthere and they're like you know.
We were moments away from thetape breaking and it being
ruined forever.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
Oh, that would have been a shame.

Speaker 4 (21:35):
Yeah, I mean that's amazing.
But 180 overdubs, that'sincredible.
Number one in the UK.
It did not hit number one inthe United States.
Number two.
I can't believe that and it's ashame it was top ten.
Yeah, I think it's been on theperfect album side at least a
couple of times, but one of themwas for Songs to Chart Twice.

(21:55):
Yes.
Late 1970s and then again in1991, 92, 93 with I think it's
92 with Wayne's World.
Somebody fact check me on that?

Speaker 1 (22:06):
It may not have been number one Stone Cold, but it's
Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 2018, it officially becamethe most streamed song from the
20th century, surpassing SmellsLike Teen Spirit and Sweet Child
, but the music video surpassedone billion, with a B views on
YouTube.
One billion views on YouTube,making it the oldest music video

(22:28):
to reach 1 billion views onthat platform, which is great.
But the bad news is it'sincredibly sad, considering I'm
older than this song.
You Are Too, yeah, but all thataside, stone Cold, it still
makes my PAS.
And this was the second song Ithought of.
It's the first song I have onmy cheat sheet here, but it was
the second song I thought of.
It's the first song I have onmy cheat sheet here, but it was
the second song I thought of.

(22:48):
I'll get to my first song later.
I thought for sure, this was onyour Perfect Album side.
I wasn't even going to ask you.

Speaker 4 (22:54):
And it was on my Perfect Album side.
It was literally a couple hoursago.
I pulled this one off in placefor another song, which I'll
play now if you're ready.

Speaker 1 (23:07):
Well, we'll go by the honor system, but I am going to
say that I think I know whatthat other song is going to be.

Speaker 4 (23:10):
I don't know if you do.
I don't know if you do.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
I'm going to go by the honor system.
This isn't going to be like.
Oh, I was going to say that one.
Yeah, yeah, have a thought.

Speaker 4 (23:19):
This is the song that I replaced it with Carry on

(24:13):
song that I replaced it.
So so, kansas, carry on waywardson from November of 1976, off
the album leftover.
Chair songwriter Carrie Livgren, producer Jeff Glicksman,
recorded in Bogalusa, louisiana,at the studio in the country,
did not know that till this week.
Uh, look, I mean a huge groupfrom the late 70s, one of
America's premier progressiverock bands.
Guitarist and primarysongwriter Kenny excuse me Cary
Livgren, often infused spiritualand philosophical themes into

(24:36):
his lyrics.
Carry On Wayward Son was writtenjust days before this recording
session began, inspired by hisinternal search for direction
and meaning, just that openingharmony and those opening lines.
It's so recognizable and anyfan of rock music knows this
song and knows those openinglines there.

(24:58):
A number 11 hit in 1977, thefirst Kansas single to chart,
certified four times platinum bythe ri double, a ranked number
96 on vh1's 100 greatest hardrock songs.
Uh, it made my perfect albumside, like I said, it took queen
out for me.
Uh, just because I thought thatthat opening line was a bigger

(25:23):
vocal hook than Queen.
But that's what do you think ofit?

Speaker 1 (25:27):
Well, I think you know it's so funny.
We just talked BohemianRhapsody.
Here's another example of asong that a lot of people didn't
think was going to be a hitbecause it was so long.

Speaker 4 (25:37):
This song or that one .
This song is just like Bohemian.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
Okay, both songs are very long and both bands didn't
think they had much choice of ahit until this one peaked at 11.
So yeah, you seem to know somestuff about this song.
I was trying to drop enoughnuggets to where you would ask
me.

Speaker 4 (25:54):
Is this song on your perfect album side this?

Speaker 1 (25:57):
song is on my perfect album side.

Speaker 4 (25:58):
There's two We've got two out of three, and we could
have had three if I had stuckwith Queen.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
I thought you were going to replace queen with.
I thought you weren't going toreplace queen at all.
You were going to go withanother queen song oh boy, oh
boy.

Speaker 4 (26:12):
I won't say anything more than that yeah, um, so this
song is on my perfect albumside.
It's on your perfect album side, uh, carrie livgren again, uh,
singer, said I wrote it as apersonal pep talk that my life
was not in vain.
And then Steve Walsh, one ofthe vocalists, said that
acapella intro.
No one had expected it to blowup like it did.

(26:33):
Like you said, the song barelymade the record and they didn't
think it was going to be a hit.
And it's.
It's probably.
It's this or Dust in the Windsignature hit.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
I have that written down verbatim.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
Really Dust in the Wind, signature hit I have that
written down verbatim, really.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah, you know, when my brother used to take me to
school, every morning I got abig dose of Kansas Nice, and so
I like Kansas.
You know, even though the band,the name suggests otherwise,
they were a big-time Atlantaband for a while.
Do you know where they're from?
Well, oh God, I know they livedin Atlanta for a while.

(27:07):
Do you know where they're from?
Well, I know they lived inAtlanta for a while.
I don't know if they're they'refrom Kansas.
I thought that was a trick, abargain trick question.
They are from Topeka.
Kansas.

Speaker 4 (27:17):
A great town, topeka, kansas.
If you haven't driven throughit, I suggest you do.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
What are you Midwesterners?
You guys like to keep thingsclose.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
I gotta spend some time at a burger king uh in
topeka once.
I'll just leave it at thatphenomenal place, I'm sure.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yeah, uh, to me it's the length of the song that kind
of was a little bit bohemianrhapsody, but at the same time a
lot of different parts, stonecold, a lot of different parts
here yeah, this song's kind ofall over the place and, like you
said about Bohemian Rhapsody,it almost has movements, if you
will.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
Yeah, a lot like that .
So, yeah, I do see thesimilarities in those two songs
and that's amazing that we'reconnecting those back-to-back
like that.
Like you said, and you said,the band initially considered
leaving it off the album, butyou know, the opening Carry On
my Wayward Son just becomes thisiconic cold open, one of the

(28:09):
most recognizable intros in thehistory of rock.
The song has been in a millionTV shows, movies, video games,
most famously as the unofficialtheme song for Supernatural,
where it plays every seasonfinale, every season finale,
excuse me, yeah, every time Ithought about this song I was

(28:29):
like I don't know how I canleave it off.
It's just such a huge opening.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
And I didn't and you didn't.
Nope, the vocal opening was toogood.

Speaker 4 (28:37):
The.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
It's on mine, it's on yours.

Speaker 4 (28:41):
Hence it is on the Perfect Album side.
That was my second song.
It's on yours, Hence, it is onthe Perfect Album side.
That was my second song.
It's on yours too, but it'syour turn.
Go ahead.
What do you got?

Speaker 3 (28:52):
This was the first song that I thought of when this
topic came came up hey, mamasaid, the way you move, gonna
make you sweat, gonna make yougroove thing, gonna make you

(29:14):
burn, gonna make you stay.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
Hey, baby, when you walk that way, watch honey drip,
can't keep away.
Stone Cold, you said this aboutBohemian Rhapsody Choosing that
first one may not be the onlyone you could choose in the song
, and that's the same with thissong.

(29:37):
Of course it's Black Dog, ledZeppelin, lead single off Led
Zeppelin IV.
Now this is where I saidearlier I was going to be
pushing the envelope on therules here.
You got the muted guitar soundto open the song and the
guitar's warming up in thebackground, which was a Page
signature.
Ps.

(29:57):
He did the same on ImmigrantSong.
He did the same on Friends,let's Up in Three.
But then you hear that vocalopening, that iconic vocal
opening, a little bit of a calland response.
Stone Cold, also a Zeppelinsignature, with the rest of the
band Plant doing his thing, onlyto be followed after the lyrics
by the riff itself, which waswritten by John Paul Jones, and

(30:19):
the riff that we're talkingabout.
I know we're talking aboutvocals, but the riff itself was
based off of SmokestackLightning by Howling Wolf.
We've talked about Zeppelin alot.
Try not to do it too much.
It's my favorite band.
I could do it all the time, buta lot of their music was
patterned, influenced, takenfrom whatever you want to call
it.
This is another exampleSmokestack Lighting by Howling

(30:41):
Wolf and it's really, to kind ofspeak your language, stone Cold
.
It's really one of the mostincredible drum songs in the
entire Zeppelin catalog.
I don't know how Bonham keepstime the way he does with the
guitar riff.
It's absolutely incredible.

Speaker 4 (30:57):
I mean, we're talking about very, very special
musicians.
John Bonham and Jimmy Page arenot normal people.
There have been many timeswhere I've thought to myself and
I have openly said on thispodcast you know, I'm not so
sure that we need both of us,because my perfect album side is
perfect, so we'll play along,we'll let you do yours, but
mine's perfect.
Here's a fun fact Never eventhought about this song.

(31:21):
Never even thought about thissong.
Never even thought about thissong.
And I'll tell you right nowthis song will be on the perfect
album side of vocal hooks.
It's the best example so far,probably, and I didn't think of
it and I'm ashamed.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
I think Bohemian in this one probably are going to
be neck and neck Now.
I don't know the rest of yours,but this is we talked about
Slippery when, Wet and three oftheir biggest hits, maybe the
three biggest hits most popularon one record.
Well, let's Upland 4 is kind ofthe same way.
This was an A side.
Do you know what the B side tothis song?
It was Misty Mountain Hop,which still gets played on the
radio today.

(31:59):
Yeah, the second single releasewas Rock and Roll.
Okay, Stairway is on thisrecord, so it had to make my PAS
.
The very first song that Ithought of.
But it's that vocal hook Again,a lot like you Give Love a Bad
Name when a singer I don't carewho you are, plant or otherwise

(32:20):
gets on stage and you open withthat lyric there isn't anyone in
that stadium, that arena, thatconcert hall that's not singing
along.
This was the very first songthat I thought of when this
topic was presented to me viatext message on my cellular
device.
Stone called Black Dog, the hey, hey, Mama song off Led

(32:41):
Zeppelin 4.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
Yeah, I mean, I don't have anything to add to what
you just said.
I think you said it all and I'mso ashamed that I didn't.
I just didn't think of thatsong, and yeah, I'll show myself
out.

Speaker 1 (32:54):
That's okay.
I've been down that road, stoneCold.
You will bounce back from this.

Speaker 4 (32:57):
If you can bounce back from a heart attack, you
can bounce back from this well,make sure you let robert plant
and jimmy jimmy know andapologize on my behalf.
Uh, fantastic choice on yourpart.
And this is the next song on myperfect album side.
It's actually the first song.
This is the song that gave methe idea.
It's not the first song Ithought of once we had the idea.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
I thought of bon jovi first, but this is the one that
gave me the idea level compareI am yours now and you are mine,
and two together we lovethrough all space and time.
So don't cry.

(33:50):
One day all seven will diethat's the song.

Speaker 4 (34:01):
I was listening to it in the car and I thought what
an unbelievable vocal hookopening.
We got to do a perfect albumside on those.
And once I came up with thatidea I was like all right, bon
Jovi came to mind, but to methis is the one that started
this topic for me.
First of all, I want to get allcards on the table.
You know, and all of ourlisteners know, know, I love

(34:21):
prince.
I'm using the word love aboutanother man, prince.
I love prince, the baddestmother to ever walk the face of
the earth, in my opinion, andthis song is just one of my
favorites ever.
Um seven by prince and the newpower generation, november 1992,
off the album.

(34:42):
Well, you know, with a littlesquiggly symbol, that's the name
of the album, the love symbol,as Prince would tell you.
Songwriter, his name was Prince,producer name was Prince.
The eight different vocaliststhat make up the vocal hook all
named Prince.
I think it's the same guy, Ican't be sure, but all eight of
those vocal all named Prince.
I think it's the same guy, Ican't be sure, but all eight of

(35:03):
those vocal parts were Prince.
This guy's unbelievable, I mean, he plays most of the
instruments, although not withthe new power generation, but
incredible song, incrediblevocal hook to open it up.
Prince was kind of known forpushing the boundaries of genre,
identity, sexuality and sound.
Seven kind of combined funk,pop, layered vocals, mysticism,

(35:29):
gospel all these really coolthings into one song and some
almost Middle Eastern scalesthat they're using on some of
this, which I thought was reallycool.
Number three on the BillboardModern Rock chart, wyndham.
I'm going to give you one guesswhat number do you think it
reached on the Billboard Hot 100?
You get one guess, go.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
Seven.

Speaker 4 (35:50):
You are correct, sir.
It hit number seven, which isso perfect.
Yeah, I mean, this song is onmy perfect album side.
What are you thinking?

Speaker 1 (35:58):
You know the song, I assume.

Speaker 4 (36:06):
Of course I know this song, I assume of course, I
know this song um and when youpresented this idea, this topic
to me.

Speaker 1 (36:09):
I think you even used seven as your example, I think
I did yeah, which which?
Is unusual.

Speaker 4 (36:11):
I normally don't tell you an example.
But I was like, okay, vocalhook, just listen to prince.
That's what I'm talking about Iwas like wow he.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
I was like damn, he really did put this on his.
He told me he was was going todo this.

Speaker 4 (36:21):
To me it's a great example.
It's an eight-part harmony, allsung by the same guy, and it
went to number seven and it'scalled Seven.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
I'll tell you the best thing that I heard.
I do love this song, so acouple of thoughts immediately
come to mind.
We've heard the Van Halenversus Van Hagar.
Who do you like best?

Speaker 4 (36:42):
What about?
Well, what about Prince and theRevolution versus Prince and
the New Power Generation?
I won't pretend to have astrong opinion on that.
I can't answer that question.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
Probably the Revolution Me too.
But what I was really going tosay is I love the gospel talk.
When you started talking aboutthat gospel vibe that comes out
of this song, I think you'reexactly right.
That's what makes this songgreat.
The other reason I think thissong is so great is the vocal
intro, which is what we'retalking about.
That is the song.
But the song goes in a littlebit.

(37:11):
For me, when the music kicks in, it goes in a little bit of a
different direction than Ithought it was.
After you hear the vocals atthe very beginning, you think
it's going to go one way, but itactually goes somewhere else,
almost like a Dinosaur Jr kindof oh, wow, wow.
So that's what I like best aboutit.
It kind of keeps you guessing.
But Prince is Prince and Princeis going to Prince, and I think

(37:34):
this song is incredible.
It really is one of my favoriteones, the intro vocal, just the
way it goes is so good, sosmooth.

Speaker 4 (37:44):
One of my favorite print songs uh, what you just
said, I'm gonna write that down.
You said uh, you know, princeis prince and he's gonna prince.
I hope somebody one day saysyou know, steve is steve and
he's gonna steve, like that'sjust, that was beautiful.

Speaker 1 (37:54):
Um well, windham is windham and, unfortunately, for
51 years he's windham he's gonnawindham and he has, and it
hasn't gotten him very far.

Speaker 4 (38:04):
I mean, look at you now, look at you.
They played this song on tour.
This was a staple at every showafter 1992.
Seven Stands is probably themost mystical vocal openings in
pop history in my mind.
Harmonic blend, spiritual,spiritual, genre-less sound.

(38:24):
Uh, it's just unforgettable.
And and one of my favorites,you know I love prince.
There was no way I was making aperfect album side about vocal
hooks without including prince.
Uh, but apparently I did,without including led zeppelin.
So what the hell do I know?
Uh, prince made my perfectalbum side.
I didn't ask you if it madeyours it did not make mine.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
You teed it up for it to make mine by sharing it with
me a few weeks ago, but it didnot make mine For about a
thousand episodes, or about 90episodes now.

Speaker 4 (38:52):
We have always said we don't tell each other the
songs that are on our perfectalbum, and today is no different
.
But this is probably theclosest I think we've come to,
because I used it as an example.
You did I.
But this is probably theclosest I think we've come to,
because I used it as an exampleas to how to do it.
You did I think all will beforgiven one day.
Our listeners will come back.
They'll always be here.
Yeah, yeah, prince made myperfect album.
What's next on yours?

Speaker 1 (39:11):
good sir, I'm going with another legend, and this
was a late edition.
Oh boy, I had an honorablemention.
Well, a song that's now anhonorable mention, I replaced it
with this one.
We'll be very interested to seewhat you think of this tune.
Stone Cold, here we go.

(39:49):
Hit me so a little bit differentthan what you've heard so far
from my first album side, butit's a vocal hook.
I'm going with it, I'm stickingwith it, I'm standing by it and
I'm not ashamed of it.
It's a vocal hook.
It's only like four or fivewords, if that, but it's a vocal
hook and it's the song that alot of people say is what put

(40:09):
Elvis Presley on the map.
This is Hound Dog from 1956,stone Cold, and I wrestled with
this one but it went number one.
And it's not just the vocals,not just the 12-bar blues riff,

(40:30):
but it was the first time Elvishad been on national TV Milton
Berle Thankfully I'm not olderthan Milton Berle, but first
time he had been on national TVwithout his guitar.
But it was also his hipgyrations, because he had no
guitar.
Yeah, that's really what puthim on the map and that's a
topic alert, perhaps futuretopic hip gyrations uh, hip

(40:53):
gyrations.

Speaker 4 (40:54):
You want that to be a topic?

Speaker 1 (40:55):
well, I mean, you know, let's have fun with it.

Speaker 4 (40:57):
Okay, we got we got elvis and axel.
What else uh ship?

Speaker 1 (41:00):
shakira?
Uh, maybe, okay, let's not sayanymore because, yeah, we're
giving away.
Good, okay, we got Elvis andAxl.
What else, shakira?
Maybe she wrote a song about it.

Speaker 4 (41:05):
Let's not say anymore because, yeah, we're giving
away good stuff here, yeah,that's really how I've gotten
through life.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
Not much merit but not much talent, no substance
but plenty of hip gyrations.
Can I interrupt you?

Speaker 4 (41:16):
Please interrupt.
I'm going to do it anyway, Muchlike Led Zeppelin phenomenal,
phenomenal choice.
I wish I had thought of it.
It just it's really botheringme.
You almost didn't make it, butif you remember, at the top of
the episode I said I can't waitto hear what you because I bet
you come up with something thatI didn't think of and Jesus,
robert Plant and Elvis Presleyit doesn't get much better than

(41:38):
that.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
We haven't put Elvis a lot on here.
Blue Suede Shoe was on here,carl Perkins and Elvis Presley,
but this was going to be a majorhit.
Colonel Tom Parker, however youmay feel about him, he knew
this was going to be a hit.
He went to RCA, president StoneCold, and you may know RCA, the
logo is Victor the Dog.
Yeah, yeah, colonel Tom Parkerwent to the president of RCA,
president Stone Cold, and youmay know RCA, the logo is Victor

(42:02):
the dog, yeah, yeah.
Colonel Tom Parker went to thepresident of RCA and said you
may want to change that to ahound dog and you're going to
find out, but he caught a lot ofheat heat for what he was doing
on national TV.
So he went back on TV with EdSullivan not long ago not long
after, excuse me.
And the rest, as they say, ishistory.
Grammy Hall of Fame 19.

(42:22):
Number 19 on Rolling StoneMagazine's top 500 greatest rock
songs ever.
I think once you get on thatlist the 500 greatest songs ever
I think once you get into thetop 50, any of those songs could
be number one.

Speaker 4 (42:33):
But this is number 19 , four times platinum.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
You Give Love a Bad Name was five times platinum
though.
Stone Cold, think about that.
Yeah, this isn't my firstforays, I said with the king,
but this is a good one.
It was the originally.
How about this for a, for asingle?
It was originally stone cold,hound dog, the b side, to don't
be cruel, and we talked aboutzeppelin having, uh, releasing a

(42:58):
single with black dog on side a, misty mountain on side b.
That's a pretty filthy single.
I don't know if you get muchbetter than a single release.
Don't be cruel and hound dog,yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:08):
I bet.
I bet that 45 is worth a lot ofmoney.
A first pressing of hound dogand don't be cruel, I bet that's
a.
That's a pretty sought aftersingle couple of things.
I want to bring up Number one.
Number one it's not on myperfect album side, but I wish
it was Number two.
When I was in preschool I usedto get up on the stage at the
church that I went to preschooland I would sing this song for

(43:30):
all the teachers and they lovedit.
They were big Elvis fans.
I'm talking 1977, 78.
I'm like two or three years oldand I would sing and do Elvis
on stage and you know so.
Uh, the the next piece, uh,well, I've, I've lost my train
of thought, but uh, phenomenal,phenomenal tune, and I wish I
had thought of it.
Um, I'll tell you what I lovethat you went back to 1957.

(43:53):
Uh, I'm gonna go back to 1954though.
Oh my, are you ready for that?
hit me with it all right, herewe go show you.
Oh, he's got something to say.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
What do you?
Got to say no, no, I think Iknow what it is and I'll tell
you if I'm right, because youjust gave me that time frame,
hit me with it.
I've got to hear this, allright.

Speaker 6 (44:24):
Mr Sandman, mr Sandman.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
Bring me a dream.
Make him the cutest that I'veever seen.
Give him two lips like rosesand clover.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
Mr Sandman by the Cordettes, october of 1954.
A single release, not part ofan album Mr Sandman by the
Cordettes, october of 1954.
A single release, not part ofan album.
Pat Ballard is the songwriterproducing Archie Blair, recorded
in New York City.
They were formed in the 40s.
The Cordettes transitioned awayfrom being a barbershop quartet
to pop harmony powerhouse.
A number one hit on theBillboard Hot 100 for seven

(45:01):
weeks in 1954, right beforeMarty McFly got there.
You know because he got thereNovember of 1955.
And this song is prominentlyplayed in Back to the Future and
the Gremlins.
Write that down.
Hit number 11 in the UK sold amillion copies in 1954.
Incredible.
Janet Ertel, one of theCordettes, said we were told by

(45:25):
the producers to smile with ourvoices and I can't unhear that
now.
Smile with our voices.
Lynn Evans, one of the othersingers, said we recorded it
live, no fixes.
You can hear us grinning andlaughing and I thought that's
fantastic.
Again, a big, prominent role inBack to the Future and the
Gremlins.
The vocal hook doubled as therhythm and the lead, which is

(45:48):
kind of rare for 1950s pop.
Apparently this song isfrequently used in vocal
training because of the intervalclarity, so I thought that was
kind of cool.
There's just very few songsthat have an acapella intro this
recognizable, Pure harmonymagic in my opinion.
But I love that we wentback-to-back 1950s.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
I do too and I didn't have.
Can you be the artist again,the Cordettes?
I did not have the Cordettes onmy PAS bingo card.
You know the song.
I would have said Andrews,sisters, that would have been
wrong Of course.

Speaker 4 (46:24):
It's the.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
Cornettes, it would have been very wrong.
That is absolutely incredible.
I thought when you said 1954,it immediately popped in my head
Bill Haley and the Comets rockaround the clock.
That would have been great too,I know, but this is amazing.
That's a really great pull.
I do love that.
We like to smile with ourvoices and you can hear that in

(46:45):
you can.

Speaker 4 (46:45):
It's fantastic.
Uh, I, I didn't think I wouldever say this.
Oh, I remember what I was goingto say about elvis.
If you go back and listen toepisode I think two or three of
this podcast, there's a momentwhere you say and that will be
the last time elvis presley evershows up on one of my perfect
album sides.
Do you remember thisconversation from three years
ago?
Cause I do.

Speaker 3 (47:05):
And yet here we are.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
And you put Elvis Presley back on the perfect
album side and I know that heand his entire estate will be
pleased with with not only withperfect albums, but with you
personally.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
Yeah, I I'll sleep easier tonight because of that,
but I'll also remember sayinghere, no easier tonight, uh,
because of that.
But I'll also remember sayinghere no, you definitely said it.
I mean I kind of did.
Well, like I said, blue suedeshoe, uh, elvis presley,
originally done by carl perkins.
That was on our my perfectalbum.
It's even in my show notes, soI believe I would have said it.
I'm sorry, I was soclose-minded.

Speaker 4 (47:35):
Yes, steve, I know that's what you're wanting me,
and I think it might have beenon the b-sides episode.
Think about that, that for asecond this was a B-Side.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
Oh, I got to figure out what that B-Side was, mr.

Speaker 4 (47:44):
Sandman, we just talked about it, remember.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
No, no, no the blue suede shoe.

Speaker 4 (47:52):
B-Side.
Okay, my bad, mr Sandman by theCordettes, later covered by
Metallica just called InnerSandman.
They did a little differentversion, but yes, mr Sandman by
the Cordettes, 1954.
Makes my perfect album side.
I got one or two left.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
How many you got left , by the way, I've got one left.
If you've got two, why don'tyou go ahead?
I've got two.

Speaker 4 (48:13):
Let me go with this one next.
This one might be a little,we'll see if it breaks the rules
piano plays softly.

Speaker 3 (48:42):
You should have been gone, knowing how I made you
feel, and I should have beengone After all your words of
steel.
Oh, I must have been a dreamerDreamer.
No, and I must have been adreamer Dreamer.

(49:02):
No, and I must have beensomeone else.

Speaker 4 (49:06):
Oh, sherry, by Steve Perry, former frontman of
Journey, april of 1984, off hisfirst solo album Street Talk.
Songwriters include Perry,randy Goodrum, craig Kramp and
Bill Cuomo.
Producer Steve Perry recordedat Record One in Los Angeles.
The man steps away from Journeyand puts out this as his first

(49:29):
single.
Unbelievable song.
It's still as huge today as itwas probably in 1984.
A number three hit on theBillboard Hot 100, number one on
mainstream rock, certified gold.
Look, this one's a little maybenot because it's got that whole
keyboard intro, littlesynthesizer intro, but then it
goes silent before he comes inand to me it's just an iconic

(49:52):
opening vocal hook.
To me nobody remembers thenotes of that opening piece
until he starts singing, but youremember that line.

Speaker 1 (50:02):
Well, of course, this is just like Black Dog, it's
the same thing.
Wow, and I don't feel so bad inputting Black Dog on there
because the vocals weren't thefirst thing you hear.
But this Hound Dog, black Dog,mr Sandman, all great pulls this
may be the pull of the episode,really.

Speaker 4 (50:21):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
Well, because you do have the music intro it breaks
the rules a little bit, butthere are no rules.
But then again it doesn't,because everybody remembers
could have been gone.
Yeah, should have been gone,not could have been gone.
Excuse me, well, I'm the onlyone that can't remember Should
have been gone then.
Um, I love this pull.
That's a great call.

Speaker 4 (50:42):
That opening line.
Randy Goodrum, one of thesongwriters, said that opening
line.
It was like throwing a punchwith a tear in it.
I thought it was a really coolway of putting that.
Steve Perry said I wantedpeople to hear me first.
Yeah, maybe it's an ego thing,but I mean a hell of a way to

(51:02):
open up your solo career.
I think we may have played thissong a perfect downside
contender on going solo in the1980s episode, which is like
episode eight or nine, somethinglike that of this podcast.
You have something to say.

Speaker 1 (51:16):
Let me go back to something you may have said and
I missed it.
Was this the first single hereleased as a solo artist after
leaving?

Speaker 4 (51:24):
Journey.
I am 98% sure that is factuallyaccurate.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
Yes, Because you said maybe Ego, and I'm thinking.
I don't think so.
If this is the first song afterhe left Journey, Ego aside, go
for it.
You go bold and you go big andstep on the gas which he does
with that vocal intro.

Speaker 4 (51:45):
You know there's a whole history of Journey and
some bad blood there and a lotof the bad blood stemmed from
this song and I'm paraphrasing.
But the rest of the band, neil,sean and those guys were like
you know, hey, steve wanted togo do a solo record and that's
cool, you know, go do somethingdifferent from Journey.
But they're like this is aJourney song.
I mean, it's the same style ofmusic, nothing's different.

(52:06):
Like you just released aJourney song without us and that
didn't sit too well with thoseguys, and you know they're right
.
I mean, his voice is incredible, unbelievable.
Whatever you want to say here,I'll play it again for you when,
when they're.
I'm just kidding.
It was inspired by his reallife girlfriend, sherry Swofford
.
She's the pretty girl in thevideo, one of the most played

(52:28):
videos of 1984 and MTV, and it'sjust the absolute prototype for
emotional vocal entrances.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
Had to make my perfect episode.
This is a great selection.
It didn't even cross my mind,and a lot of times for this
particular topic.
It's easy to get lost in thosefirst few notes.

Speaker 4 (52:48):
Well, I feel a little bit better about forgetting a
couple of ones that you put on,since you didn't remember this
one, I've got one more.
You've got one more.
Go ahead, sir.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
You don't want to keep it going.

Speaker 4 (52:58):
Go ahead, Mr Wyndham.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
You know that's the name of the song actually.
They just spelled it wrong onthe sleeve.
This is my last one.
I'm welcoming a new artist tothe Perfect Album side, but had
to make it.
It was never in question.
Here we go His fingers.

Speaker 5 (53:18):
Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with
his song, killing me softlywith his song, telling my whole
life with his words Killing mesoftly with this song.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
A little bit of a gray area.
Stone Cold, I'm not afraid tosay it.
It's a little bit of a grayarea, but I didn't think the
instruments were that pronouncedthat it would knock this one
out of my perfect album side.
This is Roberta Flack, thesecond artist to do this song.
Roberta Flack, killing MeSoftly Off the record Killing Me

(54:10):
Softly, 1973.
Roberta Flack has got it goingon.
We know that Number one hit.
Number one hit.
The Fugees version in 1996didn't chart on the Hot 100, but
a lot of people may forget thissong was with Roberta Flack.
It's not her song.

(54:31):
It was originally recorded byLori Lieberman.
Flack heard the Liebermanversion on an airplane,
immediately wanted to try andrecord it.
Which version are we listeningto?
We're listening to the RobertaFlack.
This is version two.

Speaker 4 (54:44):
Yeah, After Lieberman before.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
After Lieberman, before Fugees.

Speaker 4 (54:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
Flack opened for Quincy Jones at the Greek
Theater and Quincy said I'm notready to go on yet.
I need you to play one moresong.
She said, okay, well, I havethis song that I've been working
on.
I might as well give it a shot.
And the rest was history.
Audience wouldn't stopscreaming and clapping.
Quincy told her immediately onstage don't ever play that song

(55:12):
again until you've recorded it.

Speaker 4 (55:14):
That's so great.
This is another one that Ididn't think of.
I wish it had crossed my mind,because it's it's a really,
really good example of what wewere going for, and I that voice
.
It's so good, it's so good, Imean underrated.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
I don't think she gets nearly the attention she
deserves she did.
Tonight I celebrate my love,which you've heard, yeah, and
the first time I ever saw yourface.
Those are two major, major hitsthat really spotlight her voice
and her amazing vocals.
She's classically trained fiveconsecutive weeks at number one
stone cold more than any othersong.
In 1973 she wore all sorts ofgrammys for this grammy hall of

(55:54):
fame, but it's the intro, right,it's that intro and it's
exactly what we're here to talkabout.
That vocal intro hooks you in,just like we're supposed to talk
about.
I don't think she's got a moreiconic song than this and I
credit the Fugees for bringingthis song back into pop culture,

(56:14):
but she's the one that did itWell second, but it's so good,
such a great example of what wewere going for here today and I
wish I had thought of it.

Speaker 4 (56:27):
Um, yeah, I my hat's off to you.
I mean it's not literally, I'mgonna keep my hat on because you
know I got headphones.
It would be, it would be awhole shtick, uh, so I'm not
gonna take my hat off, but Ithink you get a tip of the cap,
a nod, whatever, a wink.
You get it.
Uh, great job.
Look, I you know job.
Look, we're going to build aperfect album side in a second.
But look, I don't say this toyou very often and maybe I don't

(56:47):
say it enough Job.
Well done today.
Sir, you came to play.
You came to play.
These are huge.
I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
I did this for you, big guy.
I'm excited about this episode.
So much to choose from and Iwill.
I'll tell you this I reallythought about asking, calling an
audible, and asking if we canbracket the timeframe, because
there's a lot of great music, asyou talked about going back to
the fifties, 1954.
And I didn't really break intothe nineties or two thousands

(57:15):
which you may be about to do.
Uh, but this is a really bigtopic.

Speaker 4 (57:20):
Yeah, I mean I'll go ahead and get to get to my song.
If you're ready for that, I'mready.
We do not get into the the2000s with my song.
Hang on two seconds.
Yes, the final song on myperfect album sound sounds like
this one.

Speaker 6 (57:46):
Oh Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of
the law.
Lawmen is putting in to myrunning and I'm so far from my
home, my home.

(58:07):
Oh mama, I can hear you acrying.
You're so scared and all alone.
Hangman is coming down from thegallows and I don't have very
long.

Speaker 3 (58:34):
If chickens up can use it all.
They finally found me, renegadeby Styx, march of 1979.

Speaker 4 (58:48):
Off the album March of 1979.
Off the album Pieces of Eight,songwriter Tommy Shaw.
You might know Tommy Shawbetter as lead vocalist and
guitarist of Damn Yankees, buthey, he was also in Styx.
You hate Damn Yankees, I don'thate Damn Yankees, I love Damn
Yankees Good album.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
I thought you didn't like them.

Speaker 4 (59:06):
No, I liked them.
Paragon Studios in Chicago,March of 1979.
You know, Styx is this bigarena rock again, progressive
rock, band, theatrical vocals.
You know they were big theatertype nerds, if you will and
their music comes across likethat Number 16 on the Billboard
Hot 100, Certified Gold.

(59:27):
That opening thing is sohaunting to me and I think
that's a topic right there,haunting music that that that
opening line or two reallyhaunts me I think you're right.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
Did you catch the heartbeat bass drum?
Yeah, yeah, it's so.
That's that adds to thathaunting great adjective.
I love that.

Speaker 4 (59:49):
I'm not the world's biggest Styx fan, which is weird
because I've seen him inconcert two or three times and
it's it's an impressive show.
But I'm not a big Styx guy forwhatever reason, which is weird
because I'm a huge meatloaf guyand they're both big theatric,
you know arena rock type stuff.
But anyway, tommy Shaw saidthat silence before the band
kicks in.
That's the tension we werelooking for.

(01:00:10):
And perfect word, perfect word.
You get this haunting openingwith that hook and then huge
tension.
Dennis DeYoung said we wantedit to sound like a last breath.
And again, haunting, a lastbreath.
Oh, I love the opening of thissong.
It's a good song too.
They recorded it late at nightto capture a hushed, intimate

(01:00:33):
vocal.
Renegade is the anthem used bythe Pittsburgh Steelers at home
games, which I didn't know that.
I didn't know that Two of myfriends in Pittsburgh no, never
mind Go Cowboys Recognized byClassic Rock as a top 10 cold
opening.
And again, it's a haunting hellof a way to start a song.

(01:00:54):
That's what I have to say aboutit.
What do you think about thisone?

Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
I don't think I can get any better than haunting,
chilling, haunting, frightening,very, very good.
I love this song and I likeStyx.
I don't think Styx is terrible.
Tommy Shaw I probably wouldn'thave.
I would have said he's betterknown for Styx.
That's why I said that abouthim.
He is.
But yeah, this is a great song.

(01:01:17):
I don't think it's theirsignature, but as far as vocal
hooks go, I love how quiet he isabout it.
He's so calm in that intro.

Speaker 4 (01:01:32):
It's almost like he's talking.
Well, that's the one of thethings they were talking about.
It's it's this chilling vocalintro and then it transitions
from that little fragile soundinto this explosive rock band.
I mean just an absolute masterclass in in tension, as they
said, and the contrast betweenthat quiet, haunting vocal and
then just ass-kicking whole rockband.
A huge vocal hook had to makemy perfect album inside.

(01:01:53):
That's all I have to say aboutthat.
And that's the end of the song.
So perfect timing.
It's like I've done this before.
It's almost like I've done thisbefore.
I have brought my perfect albuminside.
You have brought your perfectalbum inside.
You have shared your parchmentwith me.
I believe you have brought yourperfect album side.
You have shared your parchmentwith me.
I believe I have shared myparchment with you.
We can now begin to build theperfect album side, as it were.

(01:02:15):
If it's on mine and it's onyours, it's on thee.
You said at the beginning youthought we'd have two crossover
tunes and you were correct.
You have a look on your face ofinquisitiveness what's up?

Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
I'm looking at your.
I'm looking at your parchment.
Okay, and that was you just.
You just got me to a placefaster than I was getting myself
, as far as I was counting howmany overlap we had.
And you're right, it's two.

Speaker 4 (01:02:40):
I believe we've got to.
Uh, you give love a bad name byBon Jovi and carry on wayward,
son, by Kansas.
They were on my perfect albumside, they were on your perfect
album side.
Hence, they are on the perfectalbum side, which means we have
four spots to go.
The way we have done this inthe past is I take a look at
yours, you take a look at mineand say, yes, this has to be on

(01:03:01):
the perfect album side.
I'm going to let you go first,take a look at my perfect album
side and say what has to be onthere.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
Okay, I am going to go.
What has to be on there?
Yeah, has to be.
Oh, uh, you're.
You're second to last song,your last one on this list.

Speaker 3 (01:03:18):
Oh, sherry, I think that's a great great poll.

Speaker 1 (01:03:21):
I said that when you played it, and if you're patient
enough to wait through themusical intro, you are going to
hear one of the best, one of theboldest vocal intro hooks that
we have on today's episode.

Speaker 4 (01:03:34):
And as I look at your perfect album side, it's
staring me right in the face.

Speaker 5 (01:03:43):
Hey, mama said, the way you move gonna make you
sweat gonna make you grow.

Speaker 4 (01:03:45):
He does it a little bit better than I do.
Not much, not by much, not bymuch, not by much.
But Led Zeppelin absolutelymakes the perfect album side.
Led Zeppelin hasn't made theperfect album side a lot, so
hats off to them.
That's exciting.
Take a look at my list and saySteve, what?
No, are you crazy?

Speaker 1 (01:04:07):
That doesn't belong on here, because I'm going to do
the same to you and you're notgonna.
You're not gonna like it, butyou're gonna.
Let me have it be gentle.
Is what you're saying?
Uh, you know, I'm just gonna doit.
We may hear from some uhactivist groups, but I'm gonna
say, mr sandman, I love thecordettes smiling with their
vocals.
I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
I do all right, all right, and you the the back to
the future.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
You know what it makes me think of.
We did a singles episode about,uh, mount Rushmore of TV
sitcoms.
Yeah, family ties didn't makeit, but there's an episode where
Jennifer's band plays MrSandman and uh as, as you have
often said, he's not the best inthe business for nothing, folks
.

Speaker 4 (01:04:44):
He just referenced, uh, jennifer, from family ties.

Speaker 1 (01:04:49):
Two different Michael J Fox productions that has this
song prominently displayed.
But I'm going to say thank youfor playing.
We're going to move on withoutyou.

Speaker 4 (01:04:56):
As I look at yours.
If I had to rule one of themout, well, I ruled it out on my
own Perfect Album side.
Hence I'm going to rule it outon yours.
I don't think Bohemian Rhapsodyby Queen makes the perfect
album side, because the wholesong is hooks.
I'm not so sure that openingcouple of lines is what
everybody remembers.

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
Well, wait a minute, wait a minute.
What, right about now, is whenpeople are driving their cars
off the road because they can'tbelieve what they just heard you
say.

Speaker 4 (01:05:26):
Well, I'm sorry, but Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody does
not make the perfect album sideof vocal hooks.
I mean, if you know, as youlook at your own list and I look
at mine, we got to put two moresongs on the perfect album side
If I was going to go for one ofmy own.
I mean it's either Seven, oreither uh seven or renegade at

(01:05:49):
this point, Cause you ruled outSandman and O'Sherry's already
on there.
Uh, and to me it's, it's thefirst one that made me think of
it.
It's Prince, it's, it's sevenby Prince, that's what I would
have said.
The perfect album side.
Uh, as we look at yours, we gotone more spot left on the
perfect album side.

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
Uh, I, I know what it's going to be, but you tell
me I know, and I can't tell you,how happy I would be if we
could find a way to get RobertaFlack on the Perfect Album side.
But going up against ElvisPresley is going to be a real
difficult challenge.
So I'm going to give the nod toHound Dog, the second pooch
represented on the Perfect Albumside today.

(01:06:24):
That's right, the king gets it.

Speaker 4 (01:06:28):
Wow, after you said in episode three that we would
never hear Elvis Presley on yourperfect album side again, it's
when you're really letting meand and it made the final
perfect album side.
Here's how it goes.
The perfect album side of vocalhooks goes like this you give
love a bad name by Bon Jovi, acarry on wayward Son by Kansas,

(01:06:50):
oh Sherry by Steve Perry, blackDog by Led Zeppelin, seven by
Prince.
And finishing out the perfectalbum side, you Ain't Nothin'
but a Hound Dog, elvis, freakingPresley Unbelievable.
Look at that, presley.
Unbelievable.
Look at that.
Bon Jovi, kansas, steve Perry,led Zeppelin, prince, elvis,

(01:07:16):
that is a perfect album side.
If I've ever seen one.
That's not bad at all.
Hey man, I'm glad to be backwith you, all of you.
I'm glad that I'm here with allof you and that I didn't die.
That's all I have to say.
That's all I have to say.

Speaker 1 (01:07:30):
That's all I have to say.
I thought about it.

Speaker 4 (01:07:32):
As I was on my deathbed dying, I thought well,
Wyndham will have to do itwithout me, and what a sad
tribute it's going to be.
He's going to have to have someepisode with my brother or
something.
And I thought about that.

Speaker 2 (01:07:41):
How is it going to go down if I die?

Speaker 1 (01:07:47):
it a little bit and, honestly, the first thing I
thought about it because stevedoes a lot of the engineering,
and by a lot I mean all of it Iwas thinking how would I do a
tribute episode for steve?
I have no idea how to get thisepisode live.

Speaker 4 (01:07:55):
Oh, oh well well, uh, good, perfect album side, my
man, I will.
Uh, I'll talk to you later.
I hope so later, man.

Speaker 3 (01:08:02):
Yeah this has been the perfect album side.
See you next time.
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