No, not you. And don’t forget to get your money back from Wimpy tomorrow…
Some like it hot and some sweat when the heat is on. Other just want to get up and dance to another awesome lost tune that will help them get it on with the week. It’s Monday, so that means The Nest is going to make you feel the heat as we push aside the door to that power station of lost music we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! DJ Scratchy is never afraid to dress up as one of Robert Palmer’s video vixens, while the Sponkies are busy driving Sparklepony up the wall by banging the gong all day. Now, let’s turn up the heat till we fry…
The early 70’s music phenomenon known as glam rock was more of a thing on the European side of the water than it was here in America. Take for example one of the genre’s biggest groups and pioneers, Marc Bolan’s outfit known simply as T. Rex. They were huge megastars in the UK… but here in America, they were just another 1970’s one hit wonder. “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” was their lone single that made the Top 40 here, peaking at #10. And there are still a fair number of people from my generation who only think of that song as a Power Station hit from the 80’s (raising hand), sounding better than the original….
It also helped that it had more hot babes in the video.
Despite the fact that they heavily influenced many future rockers to come, T. Rex doesn’t get their due in the annals of American pop music lore. In fact, it took a weird and wild hiccup with Mecca Radio four years ago to even put another T.Rex song other than “Get It On” into my earworm memory bank. For some reason, for about three weeks during the Fall of 2015, the store radio was stuck on the exact same 37 song loop, repeating every hour and a half or so. It introduced me by force to a few songs I’d never heard of before, but liked… including this 1972 T. Rex song that was a #2 in Britain, but a complete flop in America… “Jeepster”
The lyrics in this song are kind of insane (It was the 70’s, after all), but that guitar hook and bass line are really cool together! Mecca Radio’s repetitive nature once again gives me another favorite I may not have ever heard before otherwise!
As for what exactly a “Jeepster” is supposed to be…. well, after hoping for something fun and unique to add to this post, it’s actually kind of stupid. Comparing yourself to a vehicle with an intense drive for a woman’s love is kind of lame…
Even if she is a jaguar…
Come back next Monday when I let another lost hit live the glam life for a day…
it’s a good mood song and I love the intro ;O)
Yeah, and I forgot to compliment the drumwork. I love the beat a lot of the glam artists used…
Never heard it before and you’re right about the lyrics…..pretty wacky indeed but it has some great guitar and of course that T-Rex sound. Jeepster sounds like a great name for a pet. 🙂
Pam
Pam, I agree. My thought, too. A cat named Jeepster would be great.
Jeepster the Jaguar.
I can almost see a cat named Jeepster! I love it…..
I’ll have to find a squirrel that looks like a Jeepster and try the name out. Or maybe I could try it on Buster since I’m pretty sure he’s had a few run-ins with real Jeepsters before…
Hey, I like this song! First time hearing it. heh heh jeepster – funny but I like that too. 🙂
It’s definitely weird, but a good kind of weird! I’m surprised it wasn’t at least a minor hit here…
I’m not sure if I recognise it or not. T Rex has such a distinctive sound…
Good song though.
I’ll bet the T Rex had a distinctive sound too when it was chomping through Buster the raptor…
Classic T Rex! Snappy beat and a nice way to start out the week.
Insert rawring t rex emoji here….
You mean this one? 🦖
Close enough. It just needs the extra short T rex arms…
I guess he is saying he can take the rough road of relationships. I’m married to a car guy. Don’t even get me started on all of the old cars we own that I can’t drive. I have to say this song does not appeal to me at all due to the random lyrics (no doubt written too fast over a cup of cold coffee like my blog posts). He also says he is a vampire for love. OK. That was random. Jeeps, Vampires, maybe throw in a few choking noises, and dude get your spark plugs replaced. What were they thinking? Bang a Gong is still overplaying on the radio. Oh well. All of that said, thank you for another fun post that we can all dance to. I also learned something new. Good job.
Good, bad or ugly, I was hoping you’d make it to the vampire part because that IS extremely random and weird and a bit nasty (I’m going to SUCK YOU!) Ohhhhhkay. If Marc Bolan were still alive, I’d like to see what kind of song he and Beck would write together. The lyrics would be more random than an overturned truck full of 96 count Crayola boxes…
In this weather it would be a sea of of melted wax swirling around the street ready for a 50 car cosmic pile up.
Pretty much all of Marc Bolan’s lyrics were wacked out. And prior to his transformation into a glam rocker, T. Rex was known by the full Tyrannosaurus Rex moniker and was a trippy, psychedelic/folk sound with equally, if not more so, crazy lyrics. I have a couple of the T Rex albums. I actually much prefer the album FOLLOWING Electric Warrior (the one with Bang A Gong and Jeepster) called The Slider. By the way, you may have heard one other T Rex song, 20th Century Boy. It’s been used in a couple different commercials and in numerous movies.
That video for 20th Century Boy used to get some airplay on VH1 Classic back in its glory days (I even used the song in a 2004 LS Not WE Yet game), but for the life of me couldn’t even remember what it sounded like, so chalked it up as an unknown….
Never heard that one before. I can’t believe it made #2 in England. “You’ve got the universe reclining in your hair” makes her sound a bit buggy. Lyrics didn’t have to make sense if they rhymed, I guess.
Right. The only thing stranger than random lyrics is random lyrics that don’t even rhyme. What’s the point? Any idiot can make a song by thumbing through a dictionary for words…
I’ve obviously heard the song before because the melody, such as it is, was very familiar, but i didn’t remember any of the words. Love the leopard. He’s clearly a music fan.
You never know, you may have heard it while shopping. Subconscious muzak that sounds naggingly familiar….
I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that I love T Rex. Jeepster is a great song. I enjoyed hearing it again. My husband’s favorite by T Rex is 20th Century Boy so I hear that one often. Love it!
My favorite T Rex song is Hot Love from ’71. The song has very few lyrics. I first heard it in ’72 when I won the 45 single at a school carnival. I was 9. I had no clue. I was very naïve. I just saw a video for Hot Love after watching Jeepster. So 70s! Marc in silk yellow pants, women dancing in crocheted bikinis which were popular then, audience on stage to dance and a lot of la la la la la la las. Jeepsters great, but Hot Love was my first. 😊
Hey, that’s a pretty good song too! Thanks for enlightening me…
I don’t think I’d ever heard it before but I kinda like it!
Along with Crimson Owl’s addition, I’m beginning to think T Rex may have actually had some really good songs that never became hits here. I really don’t care for their version of Get It On, and it’s about all I ever had to judge the band by…
That 70s beat is great! Loved the jaguar!