Didn’t sleep tight because the bedbugs bite? Well, The Nest is gonna trade your bugs for a worm, as in an earworm. That’s because it’s Monday, the day we put on our beekeeper suits and try to extract some honey that got lost in the swarm from that giant hive of golden hits we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! DJ Scratchy doesn’t mind spiders and snakes, only the moths that try to eat up her precious record collection. While the Sponkies are getting out their magnifying glasses to fry some unsuspecting ants. Once you check in on this song, you won’t want to check out…
The term “heavy metal” as it relates to hard rock music that became popular in the 70’s and 80’s is thought to have originated from a lyric in Steppenwolf’s famous 1969 song “Born To Be Wild.” Yet one of the world’s most successful heavy metal bands is even older than that. The band that would become known as The Scorpions was first formed in (West) Germany in 1965! That comes as a real shock to most Americans who grew up in the 80’s who weren’t even aware of the band’s existence until their breakout 1984 album Love At First Sting was recorded when most of the band was already in their late 30’s!
“Rock You Like a Hurricane” put the Scorpions on the map in the US, and is still their best known song all these years later. Despite lots of airplay on both radio and MTV back in the day, it still made it up to only #25 on the Hot 100.
Meanwhile, another single from Love At First Sting managed to not chart at all…. but is still my favorite Scorps song!
“Big City Nights” made #14 on the Mainstream Rock chart, but couldn’t crack the pop charts that were still a little skeptical that this growing hair metal trend was going to catch on. It had a music video, but I chose to link to the radio version since the video uses a live track and I’m just not a fan of live songs.
The YouTube video I embedded also features the album cover for Love At First Sting…
Forty years ago, this was apparently too hot for some (cough, hack) family friendly retailers in the US…. in particular, an outfit you know here as Mecca. Oh my god! He’s kissing her neck, her boob is almost out, and is that a……. tattoo!?!? On a girl!?!? Not in 1984!!! And so the Scorpions’ US label PolyGram had to go back to the drawing board and create an album cover that good, clean, Tipper Gore types would find wholesome enough…
Despite the winds of change, The Nest will bring you yet another lost hit next Monday…
I remember them for the worst song of century… it was a german cover of the sweets song fox on the run…. oh my….sadly only the fans and admirers were speechless, not the band L0L
I remember you brought that up before, and I’m glad I’ve never heard it. The original can not be improved upon…
Can’t remember hearing this one before, but there is no mistaking that Scorpions sound. I like a lot of their songs. 🙂
Their sound is awesome, and I remember them being pretty big back in the 80’s. I’m surprised their songs weren’t bigger hits…
YESSSS! Love me some Scorpions to start out the week. Great choice, although I’ll probably be playing Rock Me Like A Hurricane in my mind all day long. 😉
Well, there’s nothing wrong with that!
Not too bad. Neither of the videos worked in this country so I got Alexa to play it. She showed me the rather saucier album cover. Alexa knows no fear, bows to no censorship.
I prefer their quieter songs, though – Wind of Change and Send Me an Angel.
I know and like Wind of Change. All of the rest of the Scorpions songs I know are from their hard rock era…
I too liked their more quiet contributions but you have to admit on the “replacement album cover” that they wore their leather well! Unless of course that was that plastic stuff “pleather” !!
Pam
You never can tell… though it would be nice to know a whole lot of cows/oxes/otters/possums whatever they get leather from didn’t have to die to make the cover!