I need a respite from my parents' illnesses, so I trolled youtube in search of some weird hit songs.
Probably the weirdest, because, well, who would have thunk that such subject matter would become an enduring classic that, 38 years in, continues to be played on oldies radio stations? Who would have thought that a tune about a guy who kills another man because that man said something inappropriate to the protagonist's wife or girlfriend, causing the murderer to run for his freedom, only to be caught by the police at the end, would even be recorded, let alone released, let alone become a hit?
Today, with focus groups, buttinsky's who think they know what makes a hit, radio stations afraid to take much of a chance on something so different, this song would never make it out of whatever fevered brain spawned it.
Back then, however, you could get away with this type of material. I guess it's because you could record a song about puppy mills, a ditty about a nuclear holocaust, a jaunty tune about a slaughterhouse, if it were catchy enough, if it had enough of a hook, if the lyrics were ambiguous enough to make people think the song was about something it wasn't.
I have been beating around the bush. I am referring to R. Dean Taylor's "Indiana Wants Me".
I have found this full-length recording. Go ahead and watch it.
And, as a real curiousity, here is a 1971 music video, shot for about $1.98, for the song.
This song is about as hard to get out of your head as "Mamma Mia"!
Bevboy
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