In the late '70s, Rock was emerging from a period of softness, with singer-songwriters like Jim Croce, Cat Stevens, and Elton John were dominating radio. Punk hadn't gotten widespread exposure yet, and hard rock (sometimes called Heavy Metal) was a niche product that didn't get played much.
But occasionally an artist would sneak subversive stuff past the long line of Pop songs and strike a chord. In 1978, that artist was Warren Zevon. Backed by a band of All-Stars (Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley, Glen Frey, and others), he burst on the scene with Excitable Boy, a rocking album with some truly disturbing lyrical content (a headless assassin coming back from the dead? A line "then he raped her and killed her and then took her home"?
But that music! It was juuuust accessible enough to be played on AM (and FM, at that time the destination for people seeking non-Top 40 stuff). And it all started with "Werewolves in London", a tune about a dapper werewolf tearing up the English countryside (sample line: "You better stay away from him/He'll rip your lungs out, Jim/Ha! I'd like to meet his tailor") .
A deep dive into Excitable Boy reveals a diverse range--from upbeat rockers ("Nighttime In the Switching Yard) to ballads ("Tenderness on the Block"), and today's mind-warper from the Time Machine. Travel with us as we follow our intrepid hero, up to his eyeballs in trouble and seeking help from Dear Old Dad (or the Department of Defense, depending on your interpretation). As he says it himself: "So I'm hiding in Honduras/I'm a desperate man/Send Lawyers, guns, and money/the shit has hit the fan".
More from Warren down the line. But we can't leave without recalling his philosophy on life. When asked once by David Letterman what he was learning as he fought cancer (unfortunately, cancer won), Zevon said "Enjoy every sandwich". Sage advice, indeed...
See you tomorrow...
Pete
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