Monday, March 09, 2009

The "exotic" song from 30 years ago today

"The Indians send signals from the rocks above the pass/The cowboys take positions in the bushes and the grass."
I first heard "COOL FOR CATS" by SQUEEZE on "THE QUAKE," the legendary SAN FRANCISCO alternative station, KQAK.
The song sounded so exotic, because of singer Chris Difford's (for then) relatively rare "SARF LONDON" accent. (Hearing something other than a posh English accent was novel in those days before the Internet and 200 television stations.)

"The squaw is with the corporal she is tied against the tree/She doesn't mind the language it's the beating she don't need."
The cover of the single (pictured) seemed exotic, too. I first saw it in an Australian book, "THE NEW MUSIC" -- a guide to music outside the American mainstream that I read until the pages fell out. (I still have the book, too, but that is not really surprising.)
"She lets loose all the horses
when the corporal is asleep/And he wakes to find the fire's dead and arrows in his hats and Davy Crockett rides around and says it's cool for cats It's cool for cats -- Cool for cats."
It seems like I first heard "Cool for Cats" just yesterday, when Squeeze actually released the single 30 YEARS AGO TODAY.
Happy Birthday, "Cool for Cats."

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