Tough break for the Cheetah…
March may come in like a lion, but August so far is coming in like a penguin. OK, that may be hyperbole…. it isn’t snowing or anything. But early Fall-like temps in the first week of August…. hell yes! This break in the weather calls for an earworm… and what luck since it happens to be Monday! That’s the day each week The Nest digs out another lukewarm song from that climate uncontrolled chamber of muzak we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! DJ Scratchy’s not a weather girl, but she knows which way the wind blows… while the Sponkies put on a light jacket to enjoy the last weeks of summer vacation. It may not be hot, but today we’ll be sweatin’ to the oldies…
I very, VERY rarely set the Archive’s WABAC machine before the 1970’s… not because there wasn’t any good music back then. Of course there was! But it’s so much harder for me to get a grasp on a song’s “lost hit” credentials if I wasn’t around the first time it was big.
Whatever happened to these guys anyway? I think they had a hit record or two…
That said, let’s flash back to 1966 and look at the group Bob Kuban and the In-Men. Kuban is from my home area of St. Louis, and has always been a big thing around these parts even if his band is only a one hit wonder footnote to music history. That big song was his #12 ode to the heartbreaking louse, “The Cheater”…
“The Cheater” got a ton of airplay on oldies stations around here when I was younger, which is why I know it so well…. but I’m not sure it survived as well in other parts of the country, let alone the world. This is an awesome song with one of rock’s more epic choruses…. catchy and fun to sing along to, but definitely not in an annoying way like so many other pop hits.
Aren’t you glad nobody plays “All About That Bass” anymore…
“The Cheater” is also home to one of rock and roll’s biggest ironies this side of ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard’s non-beard. The man who is singing about that cad, The Cheater, is the vocalist for Kuban’s backing band, Walter Scott. Scott disappeared in late 1983, and his body was not found until almost four years later, hog tied and shot through the chest… an obvious victim of a homicide. The blue hearted fowl who was ultimately convicted of his murder was…. who else?… the lover of Scott’s second wife, JoAnn, who it turns out was cheating on him.
Talk about having the luck of a possum…
Please return next Monday for another lost hit that will build you up, but not let you down…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Gosh I remember that one………that was the year after I graduated from high school (eeek). So you have cool weather? I’m jealous – we’ve been in the 90s with heat index in the 100s for WEEKS now. BRING ON THE FALL!
Pam
Highs around 80 and lows around 60 (all week!) definitely qualify as cool after the horrendously hot July we had! I’m sure it’ll be on its way to you soon… along with the off and on rain we’ve had for five days.
)))
Whoa…I DO remember that song and yes, it is/was one of those songs with a great snappy beat and terrific harmonies. Ironic back story for Walter Scott. Thanks for starting out the week with a cool song from yesteryear. Now if something could be done about the temps here…🥵 Have a great week.
Sorry the heat is trapped there and our August polar vortex somehow missed the continental divide. I’ll be sure to keep the music cool for all climates. though….
I can always count on your providing cool music 🎶
Great old song I remember well. 🙂
Yay! I’m going to try to do more pre-80’s oldies in this feature…
May your weather our way!! Oh fo a cool breeze!
I would think it’ll reach you soon. It was cool enough this morning to (barely) see my breath… a very rare summer treat around these parts.
This one never made it onto any of the 60s compilations I’ve listened to. Sounds like a lot of excitement going on behind the scenes!
I would doubt its on many 60’s compilations in America either, which is a shame. The 60’s were all about the big artists and groups, the one hit wonders don’t get the love those from more recent decades do…
These are great old songs that I always sing along.
Evil,
I’ve never heard that song, but it is catchy! And oh how I love irony — so the story makes the song that much better! God rest his soul! So we’ve had unseasonable cool temps in Central Northeast Texas. But that changes starting tomorrow. By Friday, the real temps are supposed to be 99 with heat temperature index way above that! I’ve enjoyed the low 90’s in late July and early August! I guess it’s back to the dog days of summer though. Do they have the squirrel days of summer? Mona