The Shangri-Las, "Leader of the Pack"

The Shangri-Las had their biggest hit with "Leader of the Pack," which reached number one on the Billboard charts in 1964. It's the first song I remember hearing about a girl who may or may not have been a "bad" girl; she went out with the leader of a motorcycle gang! Yes, she broke up with him at her parents' behest, but how did that turn out? Broken glass and roaring out-of-control engines, that's how! I'm afraid the lesson I learned from this song was simple: be a good girl, or...someone will die. Perhaps I was a rather malleable audience for the teen tragedy genre of the pop world.

"Leader of the Pack" is a double treat. Not only is the climax of the song rendered in the form of a short speech, but the introduction is a dialogue between members of The Shangri-Las to set up the dramatic action.

Intro:
Is she really going out with him?
Well, there she is. Let's ask her.
Betty, is that Jimmy's ring you're wearing?
Mm-hmm
Gee, it must be great riding with him.
Is he picking you up after school today?
Uh-uh
By the way, where'd you meet him?

Verse:
He sort of smiled and kissed me goodbye
The tears were beginning to show
As he drove away on that rainy night
I begged him to go slow
But whether he heard, I'll never know
Look out! Look out! Look out! Look out!

(Ugh. Who, besides me, wants to deck Robert Goulet?)

C.W. McCall, "Four Wheel Drive"

Bill Fries became an accidental overnight country sensation. Starting as a jingle writer at an ad agency in Omaha, Fries stumbled into a career in country music after writing songs for Metz Baking's Old Home Bread television commercials. Fries's ads became very popular in Iowa (and in fact, won a Clio award in 1974). These ads featured a hungry truck driver named C.W. McCall. Fries wrote more songs, adopted the C.W. McCall persona and began releasing records in the mid 1970s, eventually recording his most popular song and #1 hit, "Convoy" in 1976. Interesting fact: Chip Davis, later of Mannheim Steamroller, wrote music for Fries. Fries wrote his lyrics and sang on his records. Most songs meld well with the mid 1970s pop culture icons who drove truck, talked on CB radios, and had a penchant for avoiding Smokeys. From 1975's "Wolf creek Pass," here's an excerpt from a song sounding decidedly like chase music, thanks to the prominent banjo. 

Look out now, here he comes. Oh, we gonna get it on now. Don't hit that fella with the banjo. We gonna swim this here creek now, Smokey. Yard wide an' a foot deep. Nishnabotna river they call it. Might have to winch ya out. Don't do a wheelie on that there gopher mound now, Smokey. Can you dig it Smokey? Got four on the floor an' four in the air on that one, didn't we? Goodness gracious...likely bust my shocks...