One song, two versions: one legit and certifiably a classic, but completely ruined by the second and very naughty version of it. Guess that nothing is sacred anymore! Here is the story.
The other day I was in Buzzy’s Country Store when Bob’s “Against the Wind” began to play on the radio. I stopped loading the beer case to take a minute and wait for Bob to hit perhaps my all time favorite rock lyric – “Wish I didn’t know now, what I didn’t know then” (click here.) Listen for it as Bob sings it at the 00:58 mark.
Brian was in the Store at the time, and as if he read my mind commented “Great tune.” As I agreed with him, I laughed and replied “It sure is, but every time I hear it now, the Greaseman has kinda ruined it for me.”
I then told Brian about the Greaseman’s rendition of the tune that I had heard him do years ago when he was on DC-101. I remember being on my way to work one morning and laughing my butt off as Grease did a very x-rated parody of it that has stayed with me to today whenever I hear Bob’s original.
Well, thanks to that www time machine, I managed to find Grease’s version of the tune and will let you judge it for yourself. Warn you though – with a subtitle of “Doo Dads Against Her Chin” – this take is not for everyone. Note that if you really care for and like Bob’s original version, then do not, and I repeat Do Not listen to this because you will never hear Bob’s original version again without this running thru your mind as you do so.
As for a potential frivolous lawsuit, I could make a case for suing the Greaseman over what he did to ruin this great tune. Wish I didn’t know his version now, like I didn’t know it then. (On the plus side however, it is crazy funny, particularly the happy ending (4:00 mark on.)) Listen if you dare do so.
P.S. Disclaimer alert – Believe or not, I did debate passing this along what with it being the middle of Lent and everything. Naw, I’m just kidding about that. Soon as I had told Brian about the Greaseman connection to the song, I immediately thought “If I can find the Grease version of this, it will make for a good Twofer Tuesday.”
That said however, something that did make me pause a bit and reminisce, is how my Mom used to reprimand me if I ever put anything too risque here on the Buzzyblog. While she never read the Buzzyblog, some of her friends did and they would rat me out to her when I did stray beyond the PG perimeter. She would call me and say “Honey, I heard you put something on that Buzzyblog of yours today that you shouldn’t have. You need to be careful what you put on there because people read it and get upset.” Thereafter, I always did what I call a Mom test and, unlike today, sorta observed it to some degree.
Thus, while I can’t say that it was because of Catholic guilt that I hesitated passing this along, Mom guilt did cross my mind. As we all know too well, nobody can guilt you quite like your Mom can.