Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole

'Jenny (867-5309)': How Tommy Tutone Did a Number on Rock

In this episode of Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole, Butch and Kevin dive into the classic tune "Jenny (867-5309)" by Tommy Tutone. This 1981 hit became a hit based on its sticky guitar hook and the repeating of a phone number that, per the song, was found on a bathroom wall. It became a song that would troll many people who owned the number at the time, and it just kept on trolling down through the years.

Some of the highlights include:

• The band's name is Tommy Tutone -- the lead singer's name is Tommy Heath.
• Would it have been a hit without MTV?
• The guys met Tommy after a show in recent years. It was an interesting experience.
• The story of where the number and name came from is sort of like the Joker's back story ... ever-evolving.
• It apparently was a real number, owned by a high school in Kentucky. The school allegedly got 50,000 calls in a week's time after the song hit.
• Even today, the song is used by women to give out to rude guys in bars to get the guys to leave them alone.
• The guys wrap up the show by actually calling the number.

'I Was Made for Loving You': How KISS Jumped the Shark

On this episode of Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole, hosts Butch Bays and Kevin Gibson dig into the 1979 KISS hit "I Was Made for Loving You." Is it rock? Is it disco? Was it a sellout? Regardless of what it is or was (aside from just being a darn catchy song), it rocketed to No. 11 on the Billboard charts and sold more than 1 million copies ... but it signaled a downward turn for KISS's career, at least for the time. The guys discuss the backlash to the song and what it meant for the 1980s, the band and rock 'n' roll in general.

Kevin and Butch hit on several topics:

• Butch coins a new phrase, "nuances and nuisances."
• Opening ceremonies: Apocalypse Brew Works Irish Rapture Red is the beer of the episode.
• Tale of the Tape -- Canada really was into the extended disco version of "I Was Made for Loving You." The single version hit No. 1 in many countries.
• Some tidbits about the band you may not know.
• The song is iconic ... but when it was released, it was not met with a welcome reception by many KISS fans, who felt the band was selling out. But they were marketers as well as entertainers.
• Really loud mimes.
• Were KISS the Beatles of the '70s?
• How the song came to be and Desmond Child's role in writing it.
• Stanley's bandmates hated the song -- especially Simmons, who didn't want to sing the falsetto part.
• The song brought the band a whole new genre of fans while alienating their original hardcore fans. It ultimately worked against KISS.
• Just one year later, the band toured and played only one show in America, a small venue out west. KISS had jumped the shark.
• Kevin shares a final theory that "I Was Made for Loving You" ironically killed disco by embracing it -- and helped usher rock 'n' roll back to the top of the charts.
• Bonus: Watch the official video and look for the bloopers, particularly around the 1:42 mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhIsAZO5gl0

'Me and Bobby McGee': Janis Joplin or Kris Kristofferson?

In this episode of Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole, hosts Kevin Gibson and Butch Bays focus on the enduring song "Me and Bobby McGee." Written by Kris Kristofferson, its most successful recorded version was done by Janis Joplin, who topped the Billboard Top 40 chart in 1971 with her take on the tune. But along the way, many artists covered "Bobby McGee," with a wide variety of results. So, whose song is it, anyway? Does it belong to Kristofferson? Or Joplin, given it's her version most people remember?

On this episode, Butch and Kevin discuss a number of aspects of the song:

• How Kristofferson conceived and wrote the song, and how Fred Foster fits into the picture.
• Who the subject of the song really was -- and you may not know that her name wasn't Bobby McGee.
• Before his music career, Kristofferson, a Rhodes Scholar who studied at Oxford, was flying planes down in Louisiana. He wrote the song in a time when he was going broke, which informed the song's lyrics.
• Kevin and Butch break down the song and some of its best lines, as well as where they came from.
• Having tossed aside his education to become a "music bum," Kristofferson's family shunned him out of shame. Enter Cowboy Jack Clement, who saw the letter from Kris's mother and showed it to Johnny Cash. It launched another song.
• The hosts move on to talk about Janis Joplin and her unique life as an outcast. Much like Kristofferson, she was shunned, not by her family, but by her community.
• She ended up becoming a singer while dating a member of the Grateful Dead, performing in bands such as the Full-Tilt Boogie Band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and others.
• They briefly discuss some of the other versions of "Me and Bobby McGee." Other artists to cover it include: Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller, Gordon Lightfoot, Pink, the Statler Brothers and ... Jennifer Love Hewitt?

Joan Jett's 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll': Rock's Greatest Anthem?

In the absolute, very first episode of Rock 'n' Roll Rabbit Hole, hosts Butch Bays and Kevin Gibson debate the all-important topic of whether "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is rock's greatest anthem. The 1982 hit launched Jett into her post-Runaways career, which landed her in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame on the strength of this hit and her other hits, like "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and "Crimson and Clover."

Topics covered:

• The guys introduce themselves and describe what the show is going to (attempt to) do. Butch is a graphic designer and amateur musician, while Kevin is a professional writer/author and (very) amateur musician. They are in a band together called The Uncommon Houseflies.
• Opening Ceremonies: The opening of the beer. The beer on this episode is Monnik Beer Co. IPA, the one IPA to rule them all. (No, Monnik doesn't sponsor us.)
• Tale of the Tape. Kevin has some problems with the opening bell, then Butch offers some basic facts on "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." It charted quite high in Sweden.
• First impressions of hearing the song for the first time, along with a bit about the song's video and some facts that might surprise some.
• Kenny Laguna gets some credit in Joan's career. Kevin talks about when he interviewed Joan a number of years ago and some of the things they talked about.
• Well known guitarist Eric Ambel was originally in the Blackhearts. Ambel collaborated with or performed in the Del-Lords, the Bottle Rockets, the Yayhoos and other acts.
• "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" was written and originally recorded by British band The Arrows. Joan saw the band perform it on a British TV show and recorded an early version with two members of the Sex Pistols.
• The song was considered by composers Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker to be a hit within a hit, given the story it contains.
• Joan wanted the Runaways to record it, but didn't get her way.
• Kevin and Butch ultimately toss out a number of songs that are candidates to be Rock's Greatest Anthem. Butch eliminates pretty much all of them without much deliberation. Some of the contenders include Queen's "We Will Rock You", KISS's "Rock n Roll All Night", AC/DC's “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” and several others. There's a big debate over the Stones' "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll," which gets credit from Merrill as being the inspiration for "I Love Rock 'n' Roll."
• Kevin relates an embarrassing introduction to the aforementioned interview. Luckily, he and Joan both got past the awkwardness and had a productive conversation about labels in rock, "Love is All Around" and other topics.
• Butch tells the story of how he proposed to Joan after a show in Daytona, Florida. True story.