Let him play…. somewhere else.
Alright everyone, it’s time to stop kissing Valentino by that crystal blue Italian stream because Monday is finally here! That means it’s time to crack open the vault and treat you to another lost sonic boom straight out of the uncharted depths of The Nest’s Dusty Vinyl Archive! Our international ambassador of forgotten tunes, DJ Scratchy, is pulling a real gem out from under America’s Hat today… and the Sponkies are pumped because unlike their mama Sparkleponeh, Aunt Scratchy is perfectly willing to let them play some rock and roll!
Jerry Doucette is not a name that instantly comes to mind when you think of 70’s rock… in fact, unless you’re from Canada, you probably wouldn’t ever come up with his name at all. Unless, perhaps, you were from St. Louis where Doucette’s lone big hit north of the border also found its way into our local rock heritage after being picked up by legendary rock station KSHE-95 in the late 70’s. “Mama Let Him Play,” the title track from Doucette’s debut album in 1977, only reached #72 on the US Billboard Hot 100… but still gets occasional airplay on the local rock stations in the STL today, making it one of the most popular of our vast array of regional favorites…
This is one of those songs that blends so seamlessly with the rock of that era, that it’s practically impossible to comprehend why it DIDN’T become a huge national hit. A flat out rocker that encourages parents to let their kids annoy the hell out of the neighborhood explore rock and roll music so they can become the next generation of drug addled guitarists. And Jerry Doucette even bears a vocal resemblance to David Lee Roth… what’s not to love!?!?
Only Jerry doesn’t do that weird noise that makes it sound like he’s trying to sing through emphysema…
I’ll let you kids rock out to another awesome lost song next Monday!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
a song about jerry’s childhood… think he got the first guitar as he was 4 or 6 or something like that… I only got piano lessons… never a guitar… I could be famous too today… thanks mom&dad :o(((
I didn’t even get that. My best friend’s dad did give me his old guitar… which my sisters promptly broke. I never could figure out how to play it anyway…
how sad :o( with our two hypothetical guitars we could be as famous as the Olson Brothers… or Modern Talking :o)
Oh dear piggy heavens. Another tune for me to play in the middle of the night once dad goes to sleep. Thanks my evil friend! XOXO – Bacon
Make sure it’s playing plenty loud enough for him to hear it!
Where do you come up with these? Seriously.
I’ve already erased the first three attempts to reply to this… so I guess I don’t really know. But we’re all better off for my Monday gift, right?
Maybe because I am watching more anime recently with M, but it seems to be that this is your Nen* It would be very effective in battle, you would be victorious!
*Term from the show HunterXHunter, but essentially it has to deal with aura, power and talent.
If it ever comes down to musical warfare, I’m pretty sure I could kick a lot of ass with my Nen…
He does sound like David Lee Roth! So much so that, if I ever heard this song before, I probably just assumed it was early Van Halen. After your Monday music posts, I usually end up looking up stuff online, usually stuff that’s not even related to the song you feature. Today I’m off to google David Lee Roth because I’m curious about how he has aged.
I was positive this had to be Van Halen at first too… and it’s better than a lot of their early stuff too! I’m sure DLR doesn’t quite rock the neon spandex these days like he used to…
Surprisingly, he turned into a pretty normal-looking old guy! Probably because he gave up on the big hair.
ody & biskit…..well now de food servizz gurl feelz like 10 bazillion yeerz old…her rememburrz her van halen dayz !!! we will have ta try N tune in two thiz toon two morrow ( thiz pee see we iz on iz bak ta noe volume again } can ewe say peace oh…..yea……… we iz anxious ta heer a roth sound a like !! 🙂 ♥♥
Sounds like it’s time to whack that stupid computer a few times until it decides it wants to have sound again. This one’s definitely worth a listen whenever you can!
I like the photo with the child in his Superman shirt! The song was okay. E.S. Thanks for all your friendly posts and your visit to mine. Big hugs, Robin xo
Thank you for another trip into my missing decade. I feel fulfilled. Or something like that 🙂
Don’t worry…. even if you were in tune with pop music at the time, you’d have never heard this song. I think it only played in Canada and where I live, which is a shame. It’s a great road trip song…
Yet another goodie from the past that I have never heard – of course in the 70s I was somewhat…..well…..er……um……”out of it” from time to time…..and most music I listened to was with headphones on and turned up so loud my head should have exploded. Which, by the way, explains a lot (just ask my husband). ANYWAY, thanks for the oldie ear-worm…..always appreciate hearing things I missed out on back in the day.
Pam
The official policy when it comes to the 70’s is Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell…. just crank up those headphones and listen to the great tunes!
I definitely followed the official policy. AND THEN SOME……….;)
I like this one. No disco! No 80s music. I had never heard this song either. Maybe you’ll make a hit of it ý
I doubt I have that kind of influence, but I always like to get stuff like this out there because someone, somewhere will eventually look for it. Next week should be crazy and lame 80’s, so you’re warned ahead of time!
Great song! I don’t think I remember it but I do know if I heard it I would have liked it. 😀
This one may have even passed Molly by… it’s pretty obscure unless you were in the right place at the right time to hear it. I’m glad I was…
Quite a cool song, though it sounded to me like he was constantly a mere couple of hertz out of tune 🙂
Eh, being in tune only matters to pop singers. In the world of rock, if your larynx works, you’re as good as gold. Just ask Bon Scott’s ghost…
Don’t forget Barnsie! It is surprising his larynx does work, but it does and he is GREAT!(Jimmy Barnes!)