Shakey, Dirty & Lonely

Some songs make you scratch your head or wonder what was going through the writer’s head or wonder if anyone scratched the writer’s head. Today we look at some big tunes that came out in the mid-‘70s.

In 1975, C.W. McCall had a #1 smash with “Convoy.” This song, which begins “about a mile out of Shakey Town,” is one I loved as a kid (and still do). Back then I thought, How cool – all these trucks just bustin’ through a barricade, talking to each other on these magic radios and ignoring the cops. Now I think, That is irresponsible and dangerous. Someone will have to fix that tollbooth with taxpayer dollars. And why all the destruction? They never explain what happened that day that made all the truckers go crazy, start “hunting bear” and plow down anything in their way at 98 mph. That’s a reckless rate of speed, especially for a truck that takes a long time to slow down.

The ‘76 AC/DC classic, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” starts with a verse about a high school student who’s being pressured to sleep with the head of the school: “You want to graduate, but not in his bed.” You think: That guy is definitely a scumbag and deserves some dirty deeds. I hope they’re cheap. The second verse is about a man who’s cheating: “He’s double dealing with your best friend.” That’s not cool. I mean, it seems like we’re talking about adults here, so it’s not a criminal act or as cruel as the first one, but I guess so. In the final verse, the worst thing mentioned is, “She keeps naggin’ at you night and day.” Now there’s a hit out on someone because she’s naggy? This rocker was written by bothers Angus and Malcolm Young and singer Bon Scott. Maybe the diversity in dirty-deed deservedness is due to each guy writing one verse. Let’s all think about the worst thing someone could do. “I say, sexually abuse a child.” “I say, be naggy. Like, night and day.”

The next year, Andrew Gold had a top 10 hit with “Lonely Boy.” In the first verse, there’s this kid, born in 1951, and his mom dresses him warmly, teaches him to fight, and, well, “Oh, what a lonely boy.” Two years later, a sister is born, and the boy loses his damn mind, running down the hall and crying: “When they said he was their only son, he thought he was the only one.” Yea, he was. Then another one came. That happens all the time. What the hell is this kid’s problem? The final verse happens in 1969, when the boy leaves home, and “hoped to find all the love he had lost in that earlier time.” But we don’t find out what happened to him. Our attention is shifted to the sister, who now has a son of her own, who also gets warm clothes and learns to fight and, well, “Oh, what a lonely boy.” Does that nephew also later freak out when he gets a sister? Why are all the people in this expanding family so lonely? Why is everyone learning to fight? Is there some kind of epic battle brewing?

The truth is, each of these songs works with a mass audience in spite of some arguably questionable lyrics. They all rely on a very catchy hook and a relatable chorus: A bunch of trucks in a rolling, rollicking convoy; a guy delivering justice for just a few bucks; and hey, also, some people are lonely.

C.W. McCall was actually a truck-driving country-singer character created by advertising consultant William Fries Jr., who saw a revival of the popularity of “Convoy” in 2022, just before he passed away.

AC/DC has lost two of the three “Dirty Deeds” writers, the first being lead singer Bon Scott, who died in a cold car overnight after heavy drinking. Scott was actually the band’s second singer, the first being Dave Evans, who sang on AC/DC’s debut single and was with them when they got their first big tour in ’74, supporting Lou Reed. (Interestingly, Reed at that point had just left the famous group Velvet Underground, which was also the name of an entirely different band Malcolm Young and Dave Evans had been in before AC/DC.) Brian Johnson then took over as the third frontman, of course, and remains at the helm, calling Axl Rose in from the bullpen now and then. Sadly, however, Malcolm, who switched early on from lead to rhythm guitar for the band, died in 2017.

Andrew Gold’s other top 40 hit was “Thank You For Being a Friend,” which hit #25 in ’78 and later became the theme song for “The Golden Girls,” which was not named after Gold. The singer seemed to be able to avoid loneliness in his personal life, having had relationships with Saturday Night Live actress Laraine Newman, Vanessa Gold (his first wife and mother of their three daughters), Nicolette Larson (who had several hits, including “Lotta Love”) and his second wife, Leslie Kogan, who’s managed all the gold in the Gold estate since Gold died in 2011.

Taking a fresh listen to any of these songs is like enjoying some Pop Rocks and Tang at the start of a “Happy Days” episode. If you have requests or ideas for a future Breakman Blog, reach out to “Three Tunes and the Truth” at terrybreakman@gmail.com.

Love and lyrics,

Terry