Hey
Dialophiles!
In an effort to stave off the winter chill, the Dial beams you a
rockin’, but forgotten, ‘80s track about a young man’s descent into delinquent
behavior. Tonight, pop your collar, get your sneer on, and prepare to sing
along with John Eddie, and “Jungle Boy”!
“Well, my Mama sheds tears, and my Daddy just spits, Hey! They had it up to here and kicked me out because of it.”
John Eddie, an occasional Bruce Springsteen associate, recorded his self-titled debut LP with members of the E-Street Band. “Jungle Boy” was the album’s first single.
The lyrics are fun and energetic, yet campy, boastful, and rather difficult to take seriously. The listener is introduced to the young man’s parents initially, who are so frustrated over the growing animalistic behavior in their son, that they kick him out of their home. No word on where he lays his head after that.
The second verse details an aggressive cop (with an affinity for a certain fast food chain) that constantly takes off in hot pursuit after the teenager when he speeds on by. Apparently, the young man’s ride is souped up to the point that it always allows him to outrun the hapless lawman.
“Well, there’s a mean old cop in the Burger King lot, Hey, been after me for years, but I ain’t been got…”
During the chorus, Eddie repeatedly warns a “Mrs. Jackson” to safeguard her daughter, because, as he blunt asserts, he’s a “definite threat to her purity”. I’m not sure how you ladies may read that, but that over the top confidence strikes me as rather creepy.
The song takes a decidedly dark turn as the third and final verse begins, as he ends up getting the girl (after belittling her mother), then declares that he has a PLAN, and he has the BULLETS, so he concludes he’ll be a “Jungle Man”. Does this mean that Eddie’s Jungle Boy and Ms. Jackson’s daughter turn to a life of crime instead of, or perhaps in addition to, wanton lust? A modern day Bonnie and Clyde, if you will?
Despite my good-natured ribbing of the subject matter, Jungle Boy is quite the guilty pleasure with its powerful drum and guitar punch, not to mention the infectious “whoa-whoa-whoa… yeah-yeah–yeah” lyric which will be swimming around in your head for days upon giving this one a spin.
Jungle Boy was the only charting single from Eddie’s self-titled 1986 LP, and while it achieved a respectable position on the mainstream rock chart of #17, it stalled at #52 on the hot 100.
The simplistic yet over-the-top music video features Eddie as an 80’s incarnation of a ‘50s tough guy sporting jeans, a leather jacket, Converse All-Stars, and big hair, dancing and gyrating in a dark room under various camera angles, with no other props, alternate scenes, musicians, or actors. As a result, we never see Mrs. Jackson and her daughter, Eddie’s parents, or the burger-eating cop. (picture Sheriff Buford T. Justice for a chuckle). It’s a bit of a lost opportunity. I’d like to get a look at Mrs. Jackson’s daughter myself!
I forgot all about this song until about ten years ago, when I rediscovered it on a three CD set from Sony called “Greatest Hits of the 80s”. This compilation quickly became one of my favorites, because even as it was stocked with well-worn smash hits like “Rosanna” (Toto), “867-5309/Jenny” (Tommy Tutone), and “Baby I Love Your Way / Freebird” (Will To Power), it was also generously peppered with forgotten tracks like Hipsway’s “The Honeythief”, The Godfathers “Birth, School, Work, Death”, and Face to Face’s “10-9-8”, all of which may be Radio Dial features in the near future.
I must confess, however, that when I first read the title “Jungle Boy” on the CD case, I mistakenly assumed it was the quirky new wave/disco hybrid by Baltimora, “Tarzan Boy”. Once I gave Eddie’s track a spin, the memory of his rockin’ stomper came back, and I instantly grew to re-appreciate it as a great slice of mid 80s rock camp.
“‘Cuz I’m a Jungle Boy, Turn up the radio… a Jungle Boy…. Hear me growling low… a Jungle Boy, hey Mrs. Jackson, keep your daughter away from me…”
“Well, my Mama sheds tears, and my Daddy just spits, Hey! They had it up to here and kicked me out because of it.”
John Eddie, an occasional Bruce Springsteen associate, recorded his self-titled debut LP with members of the E-Street Band. “Jungle Boy” was the album’s first single.
The lyrics are fun and energetic, yet campy, boastful, and rather difficult to take seriously. The listener is introduced to the young man’s parents initially, who are so frustrated over the growing animalistic behavior in their son, that they kick him out of their home. No word on where he lays his head after that.
The second verse details an aggressive cop (with an affinity for a certain fast food chain) that constantly takes off in hot pursuit after the teenager when he speeds on by. Apparently, the young man’s ride is souped up to the point that it always allows him to outrun the hapless lawman.
“Well, there’s a mean old cop in the Burger King lot, Hey, been after me for years, but I ain’t been got…”
During the chorus, Eddie repeatedly warns a “Mrs. Jackson” to safeguard her daughter, because, as he blunt asserts, he’s a “definite threat to her purity”. I’m not sure how you ladies may read that, but that over the top confidence strikes me as rather creepy.
The song takes a decidedly dark turn as the third and final verse begins, as he ends up getting the girl (after belittling her mother), then declares that he has a PLAN, and he has the BULLETS, so he concludes he’ll be a “Jungle Man”. Does this mean that Eddie’s Jungle Boy and Ms. Jackson’s daughter turn to a life of crime instead of, or perhaps in addition to, wanton lust? A modern day Bonnie and Clyde, if you will?
Despite my good-natured ribbing of the subject matter, Jungle Boy is quite the guilty pleasure with its powerful drum and guitar punch, not to mention the infectious “whoa-whoa-whoa… yeah-yeah–yeah” lyric which will be swimming around in your head for days upon giving this one a spin.
Jungle Boy was the only charting single from Eddie’s self-titled 1986 LP, and while it achieved a respectable position on the mainstream rock chart of #17, it stalled at #52 on the hot 100.
The simplistic yet over-the-top music video features Eddie as an 80’s incarnation of a ‘50s tough guy sporting jeans, a leather jacket, Converse All-Stars, and big hair, dancing and gyrating in a dark room under various camera angles, with no other props, alternate scenes, musicians, or actors. As a result, we never see Mrs. Jackson and her daughter, Eddie’s parents, or the burger-eating cop. (picture Sheriff Buford T. Justice for a chuckle). It’s a bit of a lost opportunity. I’d like to get a look at Mrs. Jackson’s daughter myself!
I forgot all about this song until about ten years ago, when I rediscovered it on a three CD set from Sony called “Greatest Hits of the 80s”. This compilation quickly became one of my favorites, because even as it was stocked with well-worn smash hits like “Rosanna” (Toto), “867-5309/Jenny” (Tommy Tutone), and “Baby I Love Your Way / Freebird” (Will To Power), it was also generously peppered with forgotten tracks like Hipsway’s “The Honeythief”, The Godfathers “Birth, School, Work, Death”, and Face to Face’s “10-9-8”, all of which may be Radio Dial features in the near future.
I must confess, however, that when I first read the title “Jungle Boy” on the CD case, I mistakenly assumed it was the quirky new wave/disco hybrid by Baltimora, “Tarzan Boy”. Once I gave Eddie’s track a spin, the memory of his rockin’ stomper came back, and I instantly grew to re-appreciate it as a great slice of mid 80s rock camp.
“‘Cuz I’m a Jungle Boy, Turn up the radio… a Jungle Boy…. Hear me growling low… a Jungle Boy, hey Mrs. Jackson, keep your daughter away from me…”
No comments:
Post a Comment