Sock It to Me Seger! Not quite the Debbie Harry/Ted Bundy removed VW seat..uhh, story…but this Ted Simmons/Bob Seger riff is pretty sweet.
As Ted and Maryanne hitchhiked alongside U.S. 23 North coming out of Ann Arbor, a van pulled over. Ted helped Maryanne into the front passenger’s seat, then climbed into the back.
“I get in, all the seats had been removed, and there was a full drum set in the back,” says Simmons, now a senior adviser to Mariners general manager Jack Zdurencik after a long pro career as a player.
As the van rumbled off into the night, Simmons told the driver how much he appreciated him stopping.
“Where ya going?” the driver asked.
“Detroit,” Simmons replied.
The driver explained he was headed for Interstate 96, but then he was heading west toward Lansing instead of east toward Detroit.
“I’ll drop you, and you can pick up another ride from there,” the driver said.
That settled, Simmons mentioned the drum set and wondered if his ride was a musician.
Yes.
“What’s your name?”
“Bob Seger.”
Repoz
Posted: February 27, 2013 at 05:26 AM |
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1. Non-Youkilidian Geometry Posted: February 27, 2013 at 08:32 AM (#4376860)Ha! I actually like Bob Seger but Mrs. Shooty throws things at me whenever one of his songs pop up on my shuffle. Like A Rock and Against the Wind just hit me in my sentimental sweet spot. I should hate that kind of kitschy crap, but Seger pulls it off for me somehow. If Billy Joel or Rod Stewart had tried to sing those songs they would probably make me vomit.
Anybody? Repoz?
I refreshed and it auto-double posted.
Or Pee Wee's encounter with Large Marge.
Tell it to the judge, pal.
Or Albert Brooks encounter with Dan Akroyd in the "Twilight Zone Movie".
And "wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then" is still a great line.
"Points all her own sitting way up high" is perhaps not.
Like Vernor's, Seger's regional appeal around that time was a sub-niche within a niche -- no real carry beyond his dedicated core in SE and mid-Michigan. Chicago didn't give a lick about him. Hell, I doubt Toledo did.
I'll always remember an old Pete Rose montage set to "Still the Same"--from a baseball game of the week, perhaps? Seemed apt at the time before we knew that the song's gambling references could be taken literally w.r.t Charlie Hustle.
There is absolutely nothing wrong or in need of excuse about "Hollywood Nights" or "Night Moves." Nor, in my view, with the lines "Points all her own sitting way up high (way up firm and high)."
"Old Time Rock and Roll," on the other hand, was listed on my "Do Not Play" list for my wedding. It's excremental, if iconic due to "Risky Business."
Well, early 70s. Night Moves was late 76 and that hit nationally.
There were of course tons of regional bands like that and Seger was certainly one of the "biggest" of the regional bands. Some others made it big for a while (REO) while others didn't (Southside Johnny, Sawyer Brown). The basic question was were you the first call to open for the stones, local headliner at the state fair or music fest, get a gig at a big university. Seger was the first call guy in the Detroit region before hitting it big. And of course those were the days when a major label would sign regional bands in hopes they'd hit.
From his wiki I've learned that he turned down Motown to sign with Capitol. Also Ramblin' Gamblin' Man was a minor hit in 69 (#17).
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