O hai it's me your old pal Will. Welcome to another episode of Vinyl-O-Matic. More specifcally it is Season 4, Episode 53, which means that you can find shownotes for this very program conveniently located at vinylomatic(dot)com(slash)s04e53. This time around we continue our journey through singles with a-sides that begin with the letter R as in Romeo and actually make it into single with a-side that begin with the letter S as in Sierra. You may recall that we concluded our last episode by rocking the casbah, well let's start things of by rocking this town!

Yes indeed, that was Link Wray and his Ray Men bringing us one of the greatest instrumental singles of all time "Rumble" backed with "The Swag" on Cadence Records from 1958. Evidently the title was suggested by none other than Phil Everly, if Wikipedia is not lying to me. Those of you who are fans of music documentaries might want to check out "Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World". Prior to that, we had some cats who wish they were rocking in the 50s. The Stray Cats and their 1981 single "Rock This Town" along with the Holland, Dozier, and Holland classic "You Can't Hurry Love" on the b-side.
Next up: A less good attempt at musical nostalgia but very much of its time.

Hell. Yeah. We just heard Iron Maiden's debut single "Running Free" from 1980 on EMI Records, and the b-side Burning Ambition. A fine example of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. I'll always love that twin guitar attack and off course Steve Harris' galloping triplets. And just three years prior to that Iron Maiden single, Leif Garrett release his staid seventies studio version of Dion DiMucci's "Runaround Sue". The b-side was "I Wanna Share a Dream with You". Evidently no one told Leif that no one wants to hear about his dreams. Before we continue with the music, let me remind you that now more than ever KWTF relies on the support of listeners like yourselves. Any amount will help with our day to day operations. For more information point your browser in the direction of KWTF(dot)net.
And now a little something from my favorite Go Go, Jane Wiedlin.

Welcome back. If you cast your minds back, you will recall that we heard Jane Wiedlin's 1988 single "Rush Hour" backed with "The End of Love". Fun fact: this song can be heard in the Corey and Corey classic License to Drive. View at your own peril. That was followed up with Billy Harner bringing us "Sally Sayin' Something" and the even better b-side "Don't Want My Love". That is on Kama Sutra Records from the year 1967. Oddly enough, the songwriting credits for "Sally Sayin' Something" are for Poltergeist and Sunshine. Well all right then. Next up, peace and love, peace and love.

Ah yes, you know I love me a good monkey song, and that last single was no exception. The Corsairs brought us "Save a Little Monkey" and the pre-karaoke flipside "Instrumental Background to Save a Little Monkey". Prior to that we heard Eric Burdon and The Animals (the second incarnation of The Animals that is) and their paean to the city by the Bay "San Franciscan Night" backed with the b-side "Good Times" from 1967 on MGM Records. It was all fun and games for the summer of love until the meth showed up. Ain't that always the case?
That about wraps it up for us. As I mentioned at the beginning of the show, you can find shownotes and archived episodes of this program at vinylomatic(dot)com. Should you have any questions or comments for me, drop a line to will(at)vinylomatic(dot)com. On our next show, we'll continue our journey through singles with a-sides that begin with the letter S as in Sierra. Join me, won't you?