Ladies and gentlemen, from 1974, it's the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and their epic live version of "Midnight Moses."
These guys were absolutely huge in England during the Glam Era but were never more than a rumor here in the States, despite an amazing stage show (Harvey would put pantyhose over his head, jump into the audience and mug people in the first row). In any case, I think we can all agree that, for sheer de profundis, the following couplet from "Moses" may be the two most brilliant lines ever penned -- not just in rock history, but going back to the days in the dim dark past when people wrote stuff on clay tablets.
"I wish I was a forest ranger...
Danger, danger, danger."
In a similarly Spinal Tap-ish vein, it is perhaps worth noting that Harvey's brother Les, a member of British blues band Stone the Crows, had the misfortune to fry himself to death onstage as a result of touching an improperly grounded microphone.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Zal Cleminson!!!
Saw Zal with the 1979 version of Nazareth (No Mean City)
OK... once again, my Cleveland roots are showing. CleBob and I grew up listening to WMMS ("The Home of the Buzzard") back when it was a station that mattered. All manner of acts that were also rumors were touted and even broken on MMS: Bowie, Roxy Music, etc... even Funkadelic. They were the first station given "Born to Run" months before it was released.
Anyhoo, they played a LOT of Alex Harvey. "The Man In The Jar" and "The Faith Healer" in particular were in heavy rotation and were faves of mine.
My big brother is correct. I've lived all over the US and no one I've ever met has ever of of the SAHB outside of the Cleve.
WMMS was an original free format station that died a long time ago, but they were vital in their day.
I've only read some excerpts from his book, but John Gorman, who was the program manager during WMMS' height of greatness, has done an excellent accounting of the radio station that was.
Here's his blog...
http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/
Post a Comment