(Laurie, 1958)I’m no fan of the form, but this one was a real doo-fuckin-whopper of a hit for our buddy Dion back in ’58, so who am I to upturn my mod-struttin’ snoot? A bigshot snoot, my snoot, that snores because I’m coming down with a summertime cold. Ah-choo. See how dismissive I am? It’s a lively streetcorner toe-tapper, though, this “I Wonder Why.” Lively and BORING in your standard limp, non-rock vocal-putz way. Ah-choo. Was at least excited to turn the record over and hear what I THOUGHT was gonna be the classic “Teen Angel” (Like: “Teen angel, teen angel, say you’ll be mine” etc.) but WHOOPS I’m an idjit and it turns out that’s “EARTH Angel” by the good ol’ Penguins I was jonesing for, not “TEEN Angel” – our song here is a mawkish drool/drama-fest best suited for mid-century simps and dullards and Lou Reeds. But at least it’s short. Ah-cho—nevermind. Zzz.
1 comment:
Oh, c'mon...you're not gonna convince me that your frequent use of the hanky or kleenex was for the alleged "summer cold" -- when in fact it was due to the yards of snot produced by the crying jag brought on by the tearjerk splendor of "Teen Angel."
The Sha-Na-Na used to do a hilarious live version of this mawkish pap, and rightly so. Nothing says "fifties" to me like CORN, unless it's CHEESE-CORN.
Y'know, one of these days, I gotta make a pilgrimage to Liverpool...
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