Happy
November, friends! As you gorge yourself on your kids Halloween candy
(c'mon, I know you do it!), I invite you to check out the latest
post, about a tune that suggests that those we hold in high regard,
may not be deserved of such attention. Tonight, the Dial brings you
Bruce Hornsby and the Range, and their 1988
hit-that-should-have-been, “Defenders of the
Flag”!
“It's
coming any day now said the captain... It's coming any day now cried
the priest...
The
people in high places may defend you, but son, you better hope they
keep the peace.”
A
scathing, yet humorous critique of those societal figures that are
expected to be vice-free, the
“Defenders” mentioned here are a preacher who has an affair with
a choir member, and a judge who checks out risque dancers during his
lunch hour. Bruce theorizes that these characters learned their
disrespectful behavior from their fathers, and implies that their
actions are doing much to cause the destruction of the American
ideal.
The
lyrics also contain a clever baseball analogy, as Bruce mentions
players that throw the ball to home, but “always
miss the tag”,
implying that the song's characters are failing those that trust them
by way of their actions. While the lyrics are admittedly
heavy-handed, Hornsby is an expert in using his “Virginia sound”
(a unique mix of jazz, blues, rock, and bluegrass) to spotlight
social criticisms. His hits “The Valley
Road” and “Look
Out Any Window” deal with an unwanted
pregnancy between people of different social classes; and the
polluting of the environment by corporations, respectively, and of
course, his signature 1986 #1 smash “The Way
It Is” talks about racism and the poor.
“The
city halls are falling... The defenders drink their wine...
And
when the party's over... Their stomachs start to sag...”
“Defenders”
also features noteworthy harmonica work by Huey Lewis, and
interestingly enough, this was not the only collaboration between
these two '80s icons. Huey produced three tracks (and provided
backing vocals on one cut) on Bruce’s debut LP “The
Way It Is”, and Bruce and his brother John
wrote “Jacob’s Ladder”,
which Lewis (with The News), took all the way to US #1 in 1987. Bruce
himself recorded a version of “Jacob’s Ladder” in his
characteristic down-home Virginia style, and it appears as the very
track that follows “Defenders..” on his 1988 LP “Scenes
from the Southside”.
While
most members of The Range were newcomers to top 40 radio, Joe Puerta
(on bass and backing vocals) had charted in the late 70s and early
80s as a member of Ambrosia, contributing to their soft rock classics
“How Much I Feel”,
“Biggest Part of Me”,
and “You’re the Only Woman”.
Other members of The Range at the time were George Marinelli and
Peter Harris, both of whom contributed guitar & mandolin work,
and drummer John Molo.
“If
these guys are the good ones... I don't want to know the bad...
You
wonder how it happened... They just picked it up from Dad.”
Although
“Defenders” never charted at top 40, it was issued as the third
single from it's parent LP, and made #11 on the US Mainstream Rock
chart. Due to it's current abandonment by terrestrial radio,
“Defenders” is truly a hidden gem in Hornsby's discography,
waiting to be rediscovered.
Give
it a spin, and keep checking back for more great songs from the past
that deserve to be celebrated. Kyle's Radio Dial... The more you
listen... The MORE you remember!
“Faded
old glory hanging like a rag... Defenders, defenders of the flag”
.
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