My Favourite Songs - Part VII

Here we are again with another instalment of My Favourite Songs. It just so happens that today's picks are all oldies - from the 60's through the 80's. And those were good times, weren't they?

First up is Rock You Like a Hurricane, by the Scorpions. Ah, the memories. I first heard the Scorpions on Toronto rock radio station Q107 in the late 1970's. It was around this time that I had a tape deck hooked up to the family room receiver, so I would often sit there with headphones clamped on my noggin, ready to hit the Record button whenever a great song came along. So in this manner, I compiled many, many tape recordings of my favourite songs off the radio. This is how we grabbed free music before the internet. In this way, I got my first Scorps tunes on tape.

Anyway, back to the song... I had already been a Scorpions fan thanks to Q107's very solid rock and metal programming, with a handful of their albums on cassette tape. I was super impressed with the Blackout album from 1982, giving that a lot of play time on my home stereo and my portable player (a Walkman knock-off). Then along came the 1984 release of Love At First Sting, which continued the Scorpions' streak of hit albums, songs and music videos. Rock You Like a Hurricane was and still is easily my favourite track on the album. 

That heavy crunching chord progression and those wailing lead fills set up the build to the big anthemic chorus. The palm-muted chugging gives way to full on power chords during the verses. Rudy Schenker displays his strengths as a top rhythm guitarist here. Then singer Klaus Meine leads the vocal assault on the sing-a-long metal chorus. And so what if we couldn't quite decipher every word he sang (German is his first language, and his English a bit spotty)? Make up your own words!

And that guitar solo! Whew.... I get chills just thinking about it. Lead guitarist Matthias Jabs totally tears it up with both shred and melody. He's among my fave guitarists, and this track is an excellent example of his radio-friendly metal stylings. No compromise here, just a hard rockin' fun party vibe that everyone (even non-Scorps fans) can sing and air guitar along with. 

Now on to a little something, perhaps unheard of for many, from 70's Canadian rockers Max Webster. Rascal Houdi is the song, off the 1979 album, A Million Vacations. I first learned of Max  at a high school "dance"... a concert, really. A small gig, but it was among my first shows ever, so I was sort of shell-shocked by the weird assembly of musicians onstage and their loud prog-hard-rock concoction. But they won me over right then and there. I think it was only about a year, or less, later that Max released their sort of breakthrough album, A Million Vacations. Though early Max records garnered respect, they did not give them a lot of exposure.

The Vacations album, though, delivered three hit songs which became Canadian classic rock staples. Rascal Houdi was not one of those songs, but to my ears, this harks back to the heavier, bizarro sound of earlier Webster. Nutty lyrics (which I love and laff at whenever I listen), a buoyant verse structure, a noodly bridge section, then a freakin' kickass guitar solo. Thanks, Kim (Mitchell - band leader, singer, guitarist, songwriter) for this memorable summertime, or anytime, tune. 

Let's go back to the 60's for the next song, Spanish Caravan, by The Doors. While I like so many of their songs, it's really hard to pick favourites. But Spanish Caravan always struck me as a bit different from so many of their psychedelic hits of that decade. Robby Krieger pulls out all the stops on the mesmerizing Spanish guitar intro, which is actually a good chunk of the song. As other instruments join in, a sort of Gypsy lilt emerges, then fuzz guitar and some spacey keyboards send the previously "staid" tune into orbit. And of course, throughout, Jim Morrison intones his romantic-adventure lyrics laced with longing.

Moving along, we'll look at FM, by Steely Dan. I recall recoiling from their music when I first heard it as a young teen. A neighbourhood friend was just starting to buy records, and when he played some Steely, I tuned right out. Not for me. I'd stick with my Kiss and Beatles. But fast-forward a couple of decades, and I found the time was right to properly appreciate the music of this collective of interchanging, but always talented, musicians (around the core duo).

FM was written as a theme song for the 1978 movie of the same title (which I'd like to see, but it's tough to track down). Its sophisticated and complex jazz-rock fusion sound was typical of the Dan at that time. The softly funky verses, the smooth rock chorus, and the dreamy So-Cal sax solo combine for a certain type of listening experience. Late night on the couch with a scotch and a special someone sort of music. Glistening guitar riffs are so tasty my mouth waters. Piano, too. Insistent yet organic bass lends a warm rhythm to what might otherwise be a bit of a cool and antiseptic treatment. Highly produced, but you can't deny the musical virtuosity here.