Sugarloaf – "Green-Eyed Lady" (1970)

Green-eyed lady feels life I never see

Setting suns and lonely lovers free

[NOTE: Sugarloaf released “Green-Eyed Lady” in August 1970 – which was the month I started college.  The other two records I associate with my first days of college are Free’s “All Right Now,” and Grand Funk Railroad’s “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home),” both of which are members of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.  Now it’s the turn of “Green-Eyed Lady” to have its day in the  sun.  I originally featured that record on my wildly popular little blog in June 2021 – below is a lightly edited version of that post.]

*     *     *     *     *

In a recent 2 or 3 lines, I noted that there are a lot of songs about blue eyes but only a few about green eyes – which are the kind that yours truly has.

An old friend of mine promptly took me to task for overlooking what is without a doubt the greatest of all green-eyed songs – to wit, Sugarloaf’s 1970 hit single, “Green-Eyed Lady.”

I can’t imagine how I could have forgotten “Green-Eyed Lady” – it was released the same month I started college, and I vividly remember hearing it many times on the radio that fall.

*     *     *     *     *

In 1968, keyboardist Jerry Corbetta and guitarist Bob Webber formed a band called Chocolate Hair.  Just before the release of their first album, the suits at their record label asked them to choose a new name – they were afraid that Chocolate Hair might be interpreted as racist.

I don’t know if the name Chocolate Hair is racist, but I do know that it is BY FAR the worst name for a band I’ve ever heard.

*     *     *     *     *

Sugarloaf was (briefly) kind of a big deal after “Green-Eyed Lady” made it all the way to #3 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”  

Sugarloaf’s eponymous debut album 

The group opened for the Who, Deep Purple, and Eric Burdon & War (among others) in 1970-71.  In March 1971, they performed at the Grammy Awards “after” party along with Aretha Franklin and Three Dog Night.

But the band’s second album failed to make the crack the top 100, and the two singles from that album flopped.  

*     *     *     *     *

After everyone except Jerry Corbetta bailed on Sugarloaf, he cobbled together a bunch of hirelings and went on tour.  The reconfigured Sugarloaf opened for Rare Earth on July 2, 1973, in my hometown – Joplin, Missouri.  (The truly awful Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show – best known for  “Sylvia’s Mother” and “The Cover of the Rolling Stone” – was also on the bill.)

Rare Earth – which was the first successful all-white band that Motown Records signed – had three top ten hits between 1969 and 1971, but was on its way down by the time the band played in Joplin . . . which explains why it played in Joplin.

The concert was held outdoors at Joplin’s 1934-vintage Junge Stadium, which seated about 3500 people.  (I saw many high school football games there.)

Junge Stadium

But rather than shelling out the $4.50 ticket price, my friends and I stood outside and listened to the concert from behind the chain-link fence that circled the stadium.

Sure, we were a long way from the stage, so we couldn’t see a lot.  Also, we were positioned at a 90-degree angle to the direction the speakers were pointing, so we couldn’t hear much either.  But $4.50 would pay for a whole week’s worth of 3.2% beer at the bars in Galena, Kansas, where it was legal for 18-year-olds to drink.  (Beer went for 25 or 35 cents a quart in Galena in 1973.)

*     *     *     *     *

Click here to listen to the album version of “Green-Eyed Lady” – I love it to death, despite the incoherent lyrics.

Click here to buy “Green-Eyed Lady” from Amazon.

Status Quo – "Picture of Matchstick Men" (1968)

You in the sky

You with this guy

You make men cry, you lie

In 2004, the BBC News listed the recording artists with the most hit singles in the UK.

U2 was high on that list, with 40 hit singles.  The Rolling Stones had 51, and Queen 52.

But there was one group that had had even more hit records in the UK – 61, to be exact.  And I guarantee that you couldn’t name that group if your life depended on it.

*     *     *     *     *

Here’s a clue.  The group that held the record for the most hit records in the UK had had only a single hit single in the U.S. – “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” which peaked at #12 on the Billboard “Hot 100” in 1968.  

That’s right – I’m talking about the Status Quo, which was founded in 1962 by two 13-year-old schoolboys, and which released the most recent of its 33 studio albums only a few years ago.

Not a single one of those albums ever cracked the top 100 in the U.S.  But about two-thirds of them were top ten albums in the UK – including four that made it all the way to #1 and three others that peaked at #2.

It’s not unusual for a recording artist to be much more successful in the UK than in the U.S. – and vice versa.  

But the contrast between the Status Quo’s superstar status across the pond and their almost total lack of success in the U.S. is incomprehensible.

At least, it’s incomprehensible to 2 or 3 lines.  

*     *     *     *     *

Francis Rossi – one of the two mates who founded the Status Quo – once gave this account of the writing of “Pictures of Matchstick Men”:

I wrote it on the bog. I'd gone there, not for the usual reasons . . . but to get away from the wife and mother-in-law.  I used to go into this narrow frizzing toilet and sit there for hours, until they finally went out.  I got three quarters of the song finished in that khazi.  The rest I finished in the lounge.

(For those of you who aren’t familiar with British slang, “bog” and “khaki” are synonyms for “toilet.”)

I found the Status Quo’s first album in the cutout bin at the Grandpa’s discount store in Joplin, Missouri a year or two after “Pictures of Matchstick Men” was released in 1968.  I think I also bought the Shocking Blue’s eponymous U.S. debut album and the Sir Douglas Quintet’s Mendocino LP at the same time – Grandpa’s cutouts were three for a dollar.

I’m not sure I ever listened to the entire Status Quo album – in fact, I may have never listened to anything on that album except for “Pictures of Matchstick Men.”

But that one track was worth every penny of the 33 and one-third cents I paid for that LP.

*     *     *     *     *

Click here to listen to the “Pictures of Matchstick Men” – which is now and forever shall be a member of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.  (World without end, amen!)

Click here to buy that recording from Amazon.

Amboy Dukes – "Journey to the Center of the Mind" (1968)

Take a ride

To the land

Inside of your mind

Did you know that a man’s finger length ratio – that is, the length of his index finger divided by the length of his ring finger – tends to be lower than a woman’s?  That’s because men tend to have longer ring fingers, while women’s ring and index fingers are usually about the same length.

Another significant difference between men and women is the kind of movies they like.

*     *     *     *     *

ScreenGeek recently published a list of the movies with the widest spreads between their IMDb.com rankings by men and their rankings by women.

Among the movies that men love but women hate are For a Few Dollars More, Raging Bull, Unforgiven, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Once Upon a Time in the West, Platoon, Rocky, The Great Escape, and Lawrence of Arabia – that’s two boxing movies, three Westerns, and four war movies:

On the list of movies that women favor but men disdain include rom-coms (Pride and Prejudice, The Notebook) and Disney movies (Frozen, Tangled, Beauty and the Beast):

I suppose it comes as no surprise that men prefer war films to Disney princess movies– and vice versa for women.  But there is something in these rankings that I wouldn’t have anticipated.  And that’s how strongly women and men disagree when it comes to Harry Potter movies.  

Numbers one, two, four and five on the list of female-preferred films with the greatest disparity between male and female rankings – that’s the second chart – are Harry Potter movies.  For example, the average man ranks Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix no fewer than 690 spots lower than the average woman.

In other words, if you ask the typical man and woman to list how many movies they like better than Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the man’s list will have 690 more names on it.  That’s a lot of movies.

I’m not sure I could even name 690 movies.  But if I could, I guarantee you I would rate every one of them ahead of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (which is number two on the list).

*     *     *     *     *

The typical male might compare the movies on these two lists and be tempted to make a sexist, smart-ass crack like “Who knew that women had such terrible taste in movies?”

2 or 3 lines is not the typical male, of course.  I would never say something like that.

Though I might think it.

*     *     *     *     *

I’m surprised that I haven’t previously featured the Amboy Dukes’ 1968 hit single, “Journey to the Center of the Mind,” on my wildly popular little blog.  Better late than never!

“Journey to the Center of the Mind” – which is a real stick of dynamite – was co-written by Ted “Motor City Madman” Nugent.  

Say what you will about Nugent’s outré political beliefs and obnoxious public pronouncements, he is a fan-f*cking-tastic guitarist.  

From Wikipedia:

During the recording [of “Journey to the Center of the Mind”] there was considerable tension amongst the band members . . . . Nugent would often create an uneasy environment for the other band members when he didn’t receive enough attention.

I sympathize with Ted – I rarely receive enough attention from others, and am sometimes forced to take rather extreme steps to remedy that.

Click here to watch a video of the Amboy Dukes (plus go-go dancers) performing the newest member of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME. 

 

Human Beinz – "Nobody But Me" (1968)

No no no no no no no no no

No no no no no no no 
No no no no no no no no no

No no no no no

Nobody can do the shing-a-ling like I do

[NOTE: There is no record I enjoy singing along to more than “Nobody But Me.”  That alone makes it worthy of being chosen for the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.  Here’s what I wrote about that record way back in 2011.]

*     *     *     *     *

Very talented people are often envied by less talented people.  I myself have experienced such envy on more than one occasion.

For example, whenever this song comes on the radio, I am able to do something that very others can – namely, sing the very tricky "no-no" parts of this song EXACTLY correctly. 

I'm like a certain baseball player who was such a natural hitter that it was said that if you dragged him out of bed in the middle of the night and started pitching to him, he would immediately start hitting line drives to all fields.

If you dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night and put on "Nobody But Me," I would duplicate lead singer John "Dick" Belley's performance like we were Siamese twins, putting each and every "no" (there are 30 altogether) in its proper place.  I don't even need to hear the record – I can do it a cappella and on demand.  

Try it sometime.  What the hell – try it right now.  Click on this link, which will take you to the song.  Hit the "start" button and give it a shot.

I'll even give you the sheet music:

*     *     *     *     *

How you'd do?  Pretty bad, huh?  I thought so.

Well, try it one more time – after all, I caught you by surprise, before you had a chance to warm up.  I'm sure you'll do much better the second time . . .

NOT!  You sucked just as badly the second time, didn't you?  (Tell the truth!)

That's the difference between you and me – I nail "Nobody But Me" a hundred times out a hundred, rain or shine.  (Of course, there are other differences between you and me.  For example, you've never created a wildly popular little blog.)

*     *     *     *     *

Click here to listen to the original recorded version of "Nobody But Me" by the Isley Brothers.  It's not bad, but it's certainly not as good as the Human Beinz cover.

That cover is used as the soundtrack to a new Nike TV ad.  It's not the best Nike TV commercial ever (I'll be posting about the very best one sometime in the future) but it's a good one – thanks in large part to the use of "Nobody But Me."  Click here to view that Nike ad.

Martin Scorsese used "Nobody But Me" in The Departed.  Click here to see the scene from The Departed where Leonardo DiCaprio goes medieval on a couple of thugs to the accompaniment of "Nobody But Me."

The first episode of the 7th season of The Office featured a cold open with the cast doing a lip dub to "Nobody But Me."  Click here to watch it.

*     *     *     *     *

The Human Beinz are from Youngstown, Ohio, and originally called themselves the Premiers.  In 1966, they changed their named to the Human Beingz, but their record company mispelled their name on "Nobody But Me."  The song became a top-10 hit, which meant they couldn't really change the spelling then.

Turns out it didn't really matter.  They never had another hit (at least not in the United States – the band was very popular in Japan for some reason), and broke up in 1969.

The Human Beinz in Japan

Click here to listen to Human Beinz recording of "Nobody But Me."

 

Click here to order the song from Amazon.

Rod Stewart – “(I Know) I’m Losing You” (1971)

Your love is fading

I can feel your love fading

[Putting not only the original Temptations recording of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” but also Rare Earth’s and Rod Stewart’s cover versions of that song in the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” COVER RECORDS HALL OF FAME is an unprecedented decision that’s certain to be controversial.  I have only three words to say to those who don’t agree with it – can you guess what those three words are?  (Here’s a hint: the first of those three words is “go.”)] 

*     *     *     *     *

From Cashbox magazine’s November 12, 1966, review of the Temptations new single, “(I Know) I’m Losing You”:

It’s a surefire success for the Temptations with this emotion packed follow-up to “Beauty’s Only Skin Deep,” titled “(I Know) I’m Losing You.” The ork is throbbing, the chorus is smooth and the group tells its sad tale in exquisite fashion.

“The ork is throbbing”?  (Say what?)

*     *     *     *     *

Rod Stewart’s cover of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” – a #1 hit for the Temptations in 1966 – is yet another example of a great cover of a Motown song by a white recording artist.

That cover was the penultimate track on Stewart’s 1971 album, Every Picture Tells a Story – an album that everyone (and I do mean everyone) I knew in college owned.

Every Picture Tells a Story wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good – clearly Stewart’s best album ever.

*     *     *     *     *

Click here to listen to the Temptations’ original recording of “(I Know) I’m Losing You.”

Click here to listen to Rod Stewart’s cover of that record, the newest member of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE’ COVER RECORDS HALL OF FAME.

Click here to buy that record from Amazon.

Rare Earth – "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1970)

It’s all over your face

Someone’s taken my place

Ooh baby, I’m losing you

[Welcome to the big leagues, Rare Earth!  Your cover of “(I Know) I'm Losing You”is so good that I've decided to promote it from the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” COVER RECORDS HALL OF FAME to the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.  I saw Rare Earth perform at the high-school football stadium in my hometown of Joplin, Missouri on July 2, 1973.  I'll have more to say about that in a future 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME post – until then, the original March 3, 2023 2 or 3 lines post about today’s featured record will have to suffice.]

*     *     *     *     *

Rare Earth – which began life as the Sunliners in Detroit in 1960 – wasn’t the first all-white group signed to a record contract by Motown.

But they were the first all-white band signed to a record contract by Motown to have a hit.

Both of Rare Earth’s first two hit singles – “Get Ready” and “(I Know) I’m Losing You” – were covers of Temptations hit.  And both charted higher than the originals.

*     *     *     *     *

We could argue until we’re blue in thew face whether the Rare Earth or Rod Stewart covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” is better.

But life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend.  So let’s just agree they’re both great, and leave it at that. 

*     *     *     *     *

Click here to listen to the album version of Rare Earth’s cover of “(I Know) I’m Losing You.”

Click here to listen to the single version, which peaked at #7 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”

Click here to view a rather bizarre video of the group performing the song on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Click here to buy the album version of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” from Amazon. 

Temptations – "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1966)

I can feel it in my bones

Any day you’ll be gone

Oooh, baby, I'm losing you

[I featured covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” by Rare Earth and Rod Stewart on my wildly successful little blog before featuring the original Temptations recording of that song.  I can’t think of another truly great record from that era that has two equally great covers, so I’ve decided to induct all three of those recordings into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.  Here's my January 2024 post about the original Temptations recording of “(I Know) I’m Losing You."]

*     *     *     *     *

My 24th season of basketball refereeing did not get off to a great start.

I had been assigned to do a girls’ junior-varsity game at 530p at a high school just a few miles from my apartment.  (So far, so good.)

But the visiting team – which was being bussed from a high school in the most distant part of the county – ran into rush-hour traffic, and arrived half an hour later than they should have.

Don’t ever send me this greeting card!

Then the very loud buzzer that the scoreboard operator uses to alert the referees when there’s a substitute who wants to enter the game got stuck in the first quarter, necessitating a long delay while someone went into the electrical closet at the school to disconnect and then reset the buzzer.  (My hearing is almost back to normal, thank you very much!)

But then the same thing then happened in the second quarter.  That time, the effort to reset the buzzer resulted in both scoreboards going blank.  So we had to wait until the athletic director located the small portable scoreboard that is used for kids’ rec league games in that gym on weekends.  (That scoreboard wasn’t satisfactory for several reasons, but we really had no choice.)

The game started out looking like it was going to be a blowout, but it ended up coming down to the home team’s last shot.  That last shot was blocked, but the home team players, coaches, and fans were certain that the shooter was fouled.

They were kind enough to point out our error to us as we left the court.

*     *     *     *     *

My partner and I had changed into our uniforms in the PE department office.  I had left my phone and keys in a zippered coat pocket before heading to the gym to do  the game, but my smart watch wasn’t with them when we returned to change back into our street clothes.  

I didn’t think much about that – I figured I had stuck it somewhere in the small suitcase I use to transport my uniform, shoes, and whistle to games, and that I would find it once I got back home and unpacked.

But the watch not only wasn’t in my coat pocket, it wasn’t in my suitcase either.  Nor was it in my car when I made the long trip from my apartment to my parking garage to check.  

The watch

I texted one of the referees who was working the varsity game that followed mine and asked him to look around the dressing area after his game was over, but he told me that he didn’t see my watch anywhere.

*     *     *     *     *

There’s an app on my phone that controls various aspects of my smart watch’s operation.  I opened that app, thinking that there might be a “Find My Watch” function I could use to track it down – and sure enough, there was such a function.  

I didn’t know if “Find My Watch” worked only if I was in the immediate vicinity of my watch.  But I had nothing to lose, so I hit the button.

A jazzy little ringtone immediately started to sound, so I knew the watch must be nearby.  But where could it be?

After listening intently for a few seconds, I realized that the ringtone seemed to be coming from inside my left shoe – which I was still wearing.

The shoe

Sure enough, the watch was in my left shoe – where I had hidden it after changing into my referee shoes before the game.

Somehow I had managed to change back into my street shoes, walk to my car, drive home, walk to my apartment, walk back to my parking garage, and then walk back to my apartment once again without noticing that there was a watch in my left shoe.

*     *     *     *     *

2 or 3 lines has previously featured the Rare Earth and Rod Stewart covers of “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” so I figured it was about time to feature the original 1966 recording of that song by the Temptations.

Click here to listen to today’s featured record.

Click here to buy that record from Amazon.