Cub Koda & Brownsville Station were "Smokin' In The Boy's Room" in 1973
Written: May 14 '04 (Updated Jul 22 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Features the Top 40 hits "Smokin' In The Boy's Room" and "Kings Of The Party."
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Features six of the band's seven Hot 100 singles, including the multi-million-seller "Smokin' In The Boy's Room" from 1973. Their fans include Stephen King and Motley Crue.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Smoking in the Boy's Room: The Best of Brownsville...
Brownsville Station burst on the national music scene out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, but usually said they were from Detroit because that's where their musical idols, like The MC5, came from.
Their biggest hit, "Smokin' In The Boy's Room," sold 2.5 million copies and was later covered by Motley Crue (who scored their first Top 40 hit in 1985 with their cover of the tune).
At their peak in the early 1970's, Brownsville Station was headlining concerts in stadiums across the United States, with their opening acts being future superstars such as ZZ Top and Bruce Springsteen.
Brownsville Station were the oddest of bands, with a joyful, geeky-looking, bespectacled, shag-haired lead singer in Cub Koda. Fan and horror book author Stephen King has called Koda "the king of the houserockers."
Koda went on to greater fame as a rock journalist and solo artist. Bandmate Michael Lutz went on to become a major record producer of acts such as Ted Nugent (Lutz also played with Nugent's band).
The music of Brownsville Station was fun, blues-based rock with pop sensibilities. They were more than a novelty act (despite hits like "The Red Backed Spider" and "The Martian Boogie").
Asked if he viewed "Smokin' In The Boy' s Room" as a "gold-plated curse," lead singer Cub Koda defended the song he co-wrote with Lutz in an interview with The Detroit News saying, "For a short white kid with big glasses from the Midwestern sticks to be in a band that makes a record that gets played on the radio that a million people go out and buy --- how could that possibly be a curse?"
Despite being a huge concert draw in the mid-'70's, Brownsville Station's albums weren't huge-sellers (though three of their LPs made the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart) and "Smokin' In The Boy's Room" in 1973 would be their only Top 10 hit among their seven Billboard Hot 100 Singles (their only other Top 40 entry was 1974's "Kings Of The Party").
The music of Brownsville Station is well-represented on the Rhino Records anthology CD, "Smokin' In The Boy's Room: The Best Of Brownsville Station," which features liner notes and commentary on each song from the Cubmaster himself.
The album:
A remarkable collection of some great roots-based rock 'n' blues, "Smokin' In The Boy's Room: The Best Of Brownsville Station" is a great CD featuring six of the band's seven Hot 100 singles among its generous collection of 18 tracks on a single CD. One of the 18-tracks is actually a five-song medley.
Missing in action is the band's first hit single, the novelty tune "The Red Back Spider" ("...there was a red back spider on the toilet seat when I sat down last night..."), which is just as well. That song has little to do with Brownsville Station's music and isn't missed here (it peaked at # 96 in 1972).
Present on the CD are the band's other hits: "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" (# 57 in 1973), "Smokin' In The Boy's Room" (# 3 in 1973, the tune earned a Gold Record Award), "I'm The Leader Of The Gang" (their cover of Gary Glitter's British hit peaked at # 48 in 1974), "Kings Of The Party" (# 31 in 1974), "Lady (Put The Light Out" (# 46 in 1977, the tune was produced by Eddie Kramer of Led Zeppelin/Fotomaker/Kiss fame) and "The Martian Boogie" (# 59 in 1977, also produced by Kramer).
The CD booklet is an outstanding, photo-filled 8-page effort (unfortunately with no lyrics, but Cub Koda's liner notes and memories are a pricless addition here).
The tracks:
"Rock And Roll Holiday," "Jailhouse Rock" (a remake of the Elvis Presley classic), "Roadrunner" (a cover of a Bo Diddley standard), "Rumble" (covering a Link Wray classic), "Do The Bosco," "That's Fine," "Tell Me About It" (with singer Bob Seger harmonizing on the last verse), "Wanted (Dead Or Alive)," "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah," "Smokin' In The Boy's Room" and "Barefootin'."
Also, "I'm The Leader Of The Gang," "Kings Of The Party" ("...we're the kings of the party, come on and slip me five..."), "Mama Don't Allow No Parkin'," "I Got It Bad For You," "They Call Me Rock 'N' Roll" (a five-song medley), "Lady (Put The Light On Me)" and "The Martian Boogie."
Recommendation:
Largely forgotten by pop music fans and wrongly labelled a "one-hit wonder" for "Smokin' In The Boy's Room," the music of Brownsville Station was played by musicians who loved what they were doing and who, most of all, were top-notch players.
The music will appeal to fans of the great blues guitarists of the '50s, of classic rock, of '70s music (BTO, Foghat, ZZ Top) and of lean-in-length rockers (the band was dead-set against the boring jam sessions and drum solos that so many '70's bands were into).
Cub Koda, in the CD's liner notes, says the band was influenced by everything from Phil Spector-produced 45s to Chuck Berry to Rick Nelson in their recordings. He described their stage show as equal parts of Paul Revere & The Raiders and James Brown, with "bad science-fiction movies" and Lenny Bruce mixed in.
The CD is fun and many of the tunes stick in your head for the rest of the day (days, in my case --- especially "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" and "Lady (Put The Light Out)" for the last two days). It's campy, fun music that can be played at parties among friends, or a joy to stay awake to during a long drive from home. Brownsville Station was something unique and wonderful in their day; they remain so now. I highly recommend this CD.
On many of the band's tracks, 1970's catch-phrases like "slip me five" and "gettin' on my case" can be found in the lyrics (seemed pretty cool at the time, but may sound a bit dated now).
Personal sidenote:
My first contact with the band was as a fan in the early '70s --- ironically because of "The Red-Back Spider," which isn't on this CD but which was a fun novelty hit (it went Top 40 regionally on some stations). Soon I was buying LPs with tunes like "Smokin' In The Boy's Room" and "Kings Of The Party" on them.
Years later, I encountered the band's lead singer, Michael "Cub" Koda, via AOL message boards for Brownsville Station. Wonderful guy who used to send me emails out of the blue with some memory he wanted to share.
Cub knew I was a Raspberries' fan and he told me The Raspberries were Brownsville's favorite band to tour with, sharing a memory of a time he and Wally Bryson of The Raspberries backed Chuck Berry (Wally and Cub apparently took turns playing Chuck's lead guitar parts, which was not the thing to do when playing with Chuck Berry, as you might imagine, but boys will be boys).
Anyway, it was with great sadness that I learned of Cub's passing in 2000. He died of kidney failure at the age of 51. His illness had plagued him during those last few years, but he was always joyful in email or message board exchanges with me. I've never encountered a nicer guy in music.
As guitarist Dick Wagner from the Alice Cooper group said, "Cub Koda was a cool guy. Very nice and respectful of everybody."
Quick notes on the band:
Most of the time, Brownsville Station was a trio, but they began as a foursome in 1969 and went through various personnel formations during their 10 years on the road.
Lead singer Cub Koda helped form the band in 1969 and remained with the group until they called it quits in 1979.
Cub became a book author (including titles such as "Blues For Dummies," named "best blues reference guide" by Real Blues magazine), a rock journalist (his column, "Vinyl Junkie," ran for 22 years, starting in "Goldmine" magazine and then moving to Discoveries magazine; his father, Max, had been a newspaper publisher), a writer of liner notes for more than 60 CDs (including titles released by Rhino and Time-Life) and always remained a musician at heart (Grammy-nominated for the album, "A Tribute To Howlin' Wolf," in 1999).
Bassist Michael Lutz, also with the band from start-to-finish, later played and toured with guitarist Ted Nugent's band. He also went on to produce Nugent and other acts. His Tazmania Studio is used for recordings by a number of acts, including South Normal and Steven Broderick (Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
Besides their seven Hot 100 Singles, Brownsville Station placed three albums in the Top 200: "A Night On The Town" (# 191 in 1972), "Yeah!" (# 98 in 1973) and "School Punks" (# 170 in 1974).
The best tunes:
"Smokin' In The Boy's Room," written by Cub Koda and Michael Lutz of Bownsville Station, sold 2.5 million copies worldwide after first entering the Billboard charts in October of 1973. It peaked at # 3 during its 19-week chart run.
Koda's lead vocal reminds one of Alice Cooper (who sang "School's Out," the previous year's teen-frustration hit) here, opening with a spoken word rap that sounded funny on AM Top 40 radio:
"How ya doin' out there? Did you ever have one of those days when it just seems like everybody was gettin' on your case from your teacher all the way down to your best girlfriend?..."
Then the band propels Koda in song with ringing guitars, power chords and a rich drum sound (from Henry "H-Bomb" Weck, a drummer powerful enough to pound two bass drums as part of his stage kit). Cub Koda does both lead and background vocals here, while providing the lead guitar and harmonica that drive the melody.
"...sittin' in the classroom thinking it's a drag / listening to the teacher rap just ain't my bag / the noon bell rings, you know that's my cue / I'm going to meet the boys on floor number two / smokin' in the boy's room / smokin' in the boy's room / now, teacher, don't you fill me up with your rules / 'cause everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed in school..."
"Let Your Yeah Be Yeah":
Like a Slade/Sweet anthemic raver, "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" peaked at # 57 in 1973 but got enormous airplay. It features a shuffling, foot-stomping rhythm.
The tune is generally credited as the first reggae tune (originally by Jimmy Cliff & The Trojans) reworked as a rock tune to make the U. S. charts (a full year before Eric Clapton's "I Shot The Sheriff"):
"Yeah! You keep telling me yeah / huh, but I ain't seen it / and you keep tellin' me no / but I hope you don't mean it / oh, you're giving me buts and maybes / don't you know that you're driving me crazy / why can't you tell it like it is / you gotta to let your yeah be yeah and your no be no..."
"I'm The Leader Of The Gang":
Already a Top 10 British glam-rock hit for Gary Glitter, Brownsville Station's cover of "I'm The Leader Of The Gang" reached # 48 on the U. S. charts in 1974.
A boogie-styled rocker in Brownsville's version, the band tried to perform the tune live on stage flanked by six motorcycles gunning their engines --- they did the stunt just once, Cub notes in the CD booklet, because the band hacked from breathing the motor fumes for the next three days.
As a tune, the song fits the group like a glove (with it's classic "come on, come on" chorus):
"...you wanna be in my gang, my gang (oh yeah) / I'm the leader of the gang, I am..."
"Lady (Put The Light On Me)":
Brownsville Station had moved beyond the "party" music of their early albums by 1977, opting for a heavier sound (and adding guitarist Bruce Nazarian to make the outfit a quartet) and production by Eddie Kramer (among the acts he has engineered or produced are Led Zeppelin, Fotomaker, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Kiss).
"Lady (Put The Light On Me)" spent 10 weeks in the Hot 100, just missing the Top 40 in 1977 when the song peaked at # 46. Written by Phil Wainman and John Goodison (who wrote The Bay City Rollers' # 1 British hit, "Give A Little Love"), "Lady (Put The Light On Me)" is a great piece of power pop.
It mixes lovely, Queen-like harmonies with sizzling, Foreigner-style rock 'n' roll, with Bruce Nazarian doing some fantastic lead vocals:
"...she put the light on, she put the light on, baby, put the light on, right on me..."
"Martian Boogie":
The band-written, final chart hit for the group, "Martian Boogie" features Cub Koda sounding amazingly like David Lee Roth (it's actually uncanny in that way). Again produced by Kramer, the tune features synthesizer sounds straight out of a sci-fi film and great slide guitar-work from Nazarian.
In typical, Humble Pie-boogie fashion, the novelty song is about a guy (in the person of lead singer Cub Koda) who stops at the local hamburger restaurant and encounters a Martian with a voice straight out of "The Purple People Eater," which strikes Cub as a bit strange as the Martian passes him a bottle of ketchup:
"...now in 28 years of eating hamburgers I ain't never run into no Martian, not at 2:30 in the morning and certainly not at a fine scarfing establishment like Eat's..."
The Martian explains that he's come to Detroit because he heard it was "the boogie capital of the USA," which of course propels the members of Brownsville Station into seven-minute boogie number after the Martian shares some "colored sticks" he describes as "Martian cigarettes" with the band.
It's a strangely likeable tune --- if you can handle Foghat, you'll like this.
On the web:
VH-1's bio of Brownsville Station: http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/brownsville_station/artist.jhtml
The official Cub Koda site: http://www.cubkoda.com/
An article on Michael Lutz: http://www.washtenaw.cc.mi.us/career/ss03/applause.php
Detroit News story on Cub's death: http://www.detnews.com/2000/obituaries/0007/04/d02-85415.htm
Music Match bio of Cub Koda: http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/artist/artist.cgi?ARTISTID=603260
Detroit area rock band guide: http://home.att.net/%7Es.m.geer/bands.htm#bands
Bio of producer Eddie Kramer: http://www.studioexpresso.com/profiles/EddieKramer.htm
Guitarist Bruce Navarian is now with Gnome Digital Media doing film and TV scores, among other things: http://gnomedigital.com/
You might also enjoy an album by a band that shared the stage with Brownsville Station: Capitol/EMI's 20-track 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries (the original lineup --- Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti --- who sang the million-seller "Go All The Way" reunited in 2004-2005) was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
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