I played (guitar) on it once for a choral group in high school the 1970s. I’d thought it was by Frankie Valli (thanks for fighting my ignorance) because of the falsetto part. The choir director changed the words, “she was a Jewish girl” to, “her name was Ariel”.
That’s a bummer. I like the lyrics quite a bit and wouldn’t change a thing. In fact, the only thing I think I might change would be removing the fireworks overdubs. That’s a step too far even for me.
But I’ve warmed up by playing the bass part fairly frequently and people always ask me what it is.
My experience isn’t anything like yours. Like you, I was too young to be aware of “You Light Up My Life” during its chart popularity. However, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it on the radio more than a handful of times. I really only know about it from reading various “worst songs of the 70s” or “worst songs ever” or “most-forgotten hits” lists. I know it so poorly, I don’t think I can hum the tune or even recognize it if I heard the first few notes of it. I have listened to lots of oldies stations over time, but it very rarely gets played.
How I envy you…
Put the Bone In got some memorable airplay on the Dr. Demento Show, most appropriately. Terry Jacks probably put that on the B side of Seasons in the Sun so that disc jockeys would have no confusion over which side to play. In the days of the 45, it was very risky to put two strong, hit-contender songs on one single. One side could, potentially, dilute the chart position of the other. Now, if both sides became big hits in their own rights, as happened with Penny Lane b/w Strawberry Fields Forever, then, fine.
Oh this Prism monster I created!!!
So no anti-love for “You’ve Blown it All Sky High” by some bloody band back then.
It’s possible Pauline Kael was on to something with the descriptor “mushy-minded lyrics” IRT Cat Stevens’s “If You Want to Sign Out, Sing Out”.
To put this whole Joe Brooks thing to rest (and let his grossness sink in and marinate a little more) he wrote and acted in a sort of auto-biographical 1979 shmaltz-out called “If Ever I See You Again” about a (who knew?) humble composer genius trying to woo the stunning Love Interest (in this case Shelly Hack). See this without requiring a shower afterwards if you dare. Only a ten-minute tease - imagine sitting through the entire thing.
My god - poor Shelly…
Reminding me of a cool university radio station dj many moons ago who got pissed off that no one was calling in with donations to their “Groovy CFUV Fundrive”, so, in retaliation, he played over, and over, and over, and over, just this “Put the Bone In” line:
Cuz my doggie’s, been hit, by a car-r-r-r-r-r…
I can only imagine Rick just sitting there, hunched over the bloody turntables, his arm frozen over the record so he can steady the tonearm to constantly return the needle back to the beginning of that line.
Or he just lucked out by the gods and it was an actual skip in the album.
Wow, that’s some porno level dialogue and acting, there. I do wish more pornos had at least that level of cinematography, though. I’m not asking for Barry Sonnenfeld, but would it kill them to set up a dolly shot?
Jeebus, it was a Christmas movie, too? The horror.
I beg to differ. There were a lot of crap songs, true, as there are in every decade, but the 70s also brought us
Layla (Clapton–original and best version)
Ramblin’ Man (Allman Brothers)
“Ramblin Man” is worse than stepping in poop. It’s BY FAR the worst Allman Bros. song.
It should be in a thread of “Terrible songs by good bands” alongside (the even worse) “Black Water” by the Doobie Brothers.
I have to admit, I love a lot of these horrible songs. What can I say? The Seventies were my formative years, and I like the music because it takes me to my happy place.
That said, “Daddy, Don’t You Walk So Fast” by Wayne Newton is schmaltz of the highest order, and I would be happy if I never had to hear it again.
“Watching Scotty Grow” isn’t much better.
That would be a good thread!
It’s possible my liking for the song got mixed up with my liking of the guy I was dating at the time. But come on, you don’t even like the Betts and Dudek guitar part toward the end?
100% agree about “Black Water.” Plus it was overplayed.˜
So he tried to stiff her twice…
Jigsaw.
Remember this one?
Yeah, I’ll admit I like a lot the ones posted upthread…Ariel in particular.
Maybe I missed this one upthread, but dead beings songs seemed to be very popular in the mid-70s. “Shannon” by Henry Gross was about a dog. May it (the song, not the dog) rot in torment.
What percentage of the songs upthread do you actually enjoy?
- 75-100%
- 50-74%
- 25-49%
- 0-24%
0 voters
How come so many people know Put the Bone In? I know it because I did buy the Seasons in the Sun single and always checked out the B side of the 45s that I bought.
I did play it for friends to show them a bad song.
I think Dr. Demento was mentioned above – I don’t actually know where I know the song from, but I did listen to the show regularly for a couple of years, so that’s the most likely source for me.
I know it and only ever heard it as the last song on Soul Asylum’s “Hang Time”. Never knew it was a cover (there are no credits on my CD copy) and assumed it was a drunken, silly studio improvisation.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…
Hehehe, I just went and double checked - it’s not on the vinyl. My ears were virgin to that one before this thread.
No one has mentioned Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey? I always thought that even when they stopped writing together they still wrote for the other’s approval. It worked with John’s “Happiness is a Warm Gun” but Paul sure blew it with this one.
Sometimes I think we enjoy songs because they take us back to a certain period in our lives reminding us of events, people we knew, or other pleasant or unpleasant memories and maybe making us feel a bit nostalgic. I won’t pretend like Vanilla Ice’s Ice, Ice Baby is a great song, but I almost always enjoy hearing it as I associate it with my freshman year of high school.