"Feel Like Makin' Love" by Dangerous Toys

    Hey friends! It’s time once again to delve into the archives of Kyle’s Radio Dial! This time, we check out an early ‘90s pop/metal cover of a classic rock staple… a remake that deserved a solid chance at radio, but was destined to remain an album cut. Crank it up for Austin, Texas’ Dangerous Toys and “Feel Like Makin’ Love”.

“Baby… when I think about you… I think about love…

Darlin’ gonna live without you… and your love…”

Featured on the Toys’ second LP, 1991's Hellacious Acres, “Feel Like…” was not issued as a single, nor did it garner much, (if any) radio airplay, so it earned no position on the Billboard Hot 100. Don’t let this affect your perception of the song’s quality however as it’s still a solid rocker and a great version of a 70’s hit.

The boys of Dangerous Toys…  Lead vocalist Jason McMaster, guitarists Scott Dalhover and Danny Aaron, Mike Watson on bass, and drummer Mark Geary, update Bad Company’s classic (a US #10 hit in ’75) by replacing the original song’s country-rock styled guitar work with glam metal riffs, and by adding more vocal adlibs, consistent with the genre of pop/metal. The tempo and overall vibe of the tune is undisturbed, though it appears that the lyrics were changed ever so slightly.

While the original Bad Company version is clearly a man singing to his lady about how much he is attracted to her, the Toys' version appears to be a man singing to his lover whom is dying. Check out the differences in these lyrics.

Bad Company: “Darling, don’t live without you… and your love”, and “I would wrap you in the heavens, ‘til I’m dyin’ on the way”.

Dangerous Toys: "Darlin' gonna live without you and your love", and "I would wrap you in the heavens, Feel ya dying on the way".

Bad Company’s verse seems to say that the man doesn’t want to live without his lady, and would be willing to place her in the heavens (metaphorically, I’m assuming) until he passes away and is on the way to see her again. This is a fairly common depiction of romantic devotion in love songs… the singer giving something unattainable (like the heavens) to the subject of the song in order to prove their devotion.

The verses in DT's cover, however, seem to illustrate that the man understands that the woman is not long for this world, as evidenced by the definitive "gonna live without you", and "feel ya dying on the way" lines.

So is this an intentional rewrite in order to change the focus of the song, or a case of DT misinterpreting the original lyrics? I admit I’m not sure. I have to imagine that DT had a copy of the lyrics at the time of the cover, who knows? Maybe they recorded it “off the cuff” and tossed it onto the Hellacious Acres LP at the last minute, and just went with the lyrics as best they remembered them.

“And if I had the sun and moon… we would shine in… I would give you both night and day… both satisfying…”

I first encountered this track through a friend of mine that shared my interest in cover tunes. His music collection was infinitely superior to my own, so periodically, he would record remake-only compilation cassettes for me entitled “ReMikes” (ya know, because his name is Mike.... and that's awesome!) 

It's through these cassettes (which I still have), that I first heard truly awesome covers such as Dweezil Zappa and Donny Osmond launching into a ripping version of the Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive", (complete with a goof on Donny & Marie's "Why don't we play this one a little bit country?" shtick), and the piece de resistance... Motorhead's Lemmy and The Plasmatics' Wendy O' Williams doing a thrash metal duet of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". Amazing stuff.

Dangerous Toys’ cover of the Bad Company ballad was one of the more conventional covers that Mike recorded for me, but it really caught my ear, and I listened to it quite a bit as it made for great driving music.

In fact, I can't listen to the Bad Company original anymore without "hearing" Jason McMaster screaming the "Yeahhhhhhh Bayyyy Bay!" adlib going into the guitar solo. Sometimes, if I’m singing along to the original on the radio, I’ll just sing McMaster's adlib over top of the Bad Company instrumentation. I know you’re jealous.

So check it out, and drop me a line with what you think. Do you think the Toys did a faithful cover here, or does it make your ears bleed?

And be sure to keep it tuned to the Dial for more overlooked gems from the past because as we often say... the more you listen... the MORE you remember!

“Feel like makin’… Feel like makin’ love to you!”