Har har har.....oh the 70s....this makes Seasons in the Sun seem like Mozart by comparison. It seems hard to believe now, but for a few months that year it was so common to see people running around nude. Don't hear this much on oldies radio for some reason.
So... The Streak. What can you say about this? I suppose it's got it's comedy appeal, but I still hate that the bulk of his Catalog is made up of this tripe. It just makes me plain sad when I see stuff like this, and know that for about 80% of his career, he was releasing stuff that was far beneath his talent.
Boogity! Boogity! Don't look, Ethel! Seems like every year a novelty song topped the US charts, and here we had another one. Unusually, this one came out of the Country charts - where it only got to #3. I'd forgotten this one was even a pop chart topper. This was released on Barnaby records, which was owned by Andy Williams. We had the single and as a 6-year-old I loved it. Which seems to be the target audience, more or less. I'd call it dumb fun, but it's certainly more clever than '72's big novelty hit "My Ding-a-Ling".
When I was a kid, I was really amused by Stevens' earlier things like Ahab The Arab, Gitarzan and his version of Along Came Jones. This one, less so, but it is still kinda funny and extremely 70s pop culture relevant, which I like. Honestly, I think it is better than his previous straight #1. I know he is a creep now, but I'd still rather hear The Streak than anything by the Denver/Reddy/Murray/Manilow axis of musical hell. Ain't nothin' wrong with a novelty hit once in a while.
Ok, this is one I am not familiar with at all. And I don’t think I missed anything. This was a #1 song? I’m appreciating 80s music even more than I did before.
Loved "The Streak" as a kid, can't really listen to this or anything else he did anymore without being acutely aware of what a nutjob he's become.
Of course, being a novelty single, and not a great one at that, this also went to #1 in the UK in June 1974. ‘Streaking’ was a bit of a thing then, wasn’t it? All I knew at age 11, was that the song was cheeky without being offensive in any way. I don’t think I disliked it at all, but I was never tempted to add the single to my collection either.. I probably sniggered the first time I heard it, but the song has no particular memories attached to it for me. I should add that The Streak only spent one week at the top in the UK, before being knocked off by Gary Glitter’s Always Yours. And that’s where I’ll stop.
The main place for streaking was at sporting events. Cricket and football matches always had the camera cut away quickly to avoid nudity.
Alright, let me have my turn. This was the first Barnaby Records single under a new distribution agreement with what by this time was called Chess/Janus Records, after prior distribution by CBS and then MGM. The Janus distribution was so new that first pressings didn't even have the label design (with a melting record on a tree branch as derived from the works of Salvador Dali) that took root (ha-ha) during MGM's shot at handling Barnaby. Instead it was on a white label, of which there were many variances, but the one I've had for years was a CBS Pitman pressing: Notice, also, the rim print, borrowed from the design of the Westbound label which Janus also distributed. By the time this number became #1, the design I mention was already in place: As for the crowd noises whose dub-ins were obvious (unlike Elton John's "Bennie And The Jets"), I wonder if they were using the same sound effects library as seemed to have been plumbed for another record on another GRT/Janus-distributed label, Cadet, for the prior year's "Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation" by The Dells: Listen to the audience applause on this, then listen to the dubbed-in sounds on "The Streak." You'll probably see (or hear) what I mean. GRT probably had a stake in a SFX library to use for songs warranting them such as these.
It’s a novelty record and streaking was the thing back then. I remember it quite well - the song had great crossover appeal and got played everywhere - on country stations, pop stations, easy listening, etc. I really like some of Ray Stevens records - “Gitarzan” (which is hilarious) and “Misty” to name two, but ”The Streak” really doesn’t do much for me.
I'd rather hear "The Streak" than 99% of what passes for music today, for sure . . . But Mr. Stevens, regardless of what you think of this number, was ahead of the curve. All others were opportunists latching on to a trend, as evidenced by two other singles on two other labels, both CBS Pitman pressings: Before you ask, both of these are in my collection. And no, I've never played them. The type on the label is the sole reason why I got both of them.
It seemed to prefigure the direction The Doobies would take when a certain Michael McDonald joined the band . . .
An oddity regarding "The Streak" was it being on a one-sided 45 under the nomenclature of a vanity label, "Joy's Limited Editions," which seemed to be tied in with some high-priced mail-order item. It too was pressed by CBS Pitman: I suppose it was apropos that the B side label matched what those "streakers" had on - nothing:
...Antone else but me remember Wilson Bryan Key's series of 70s-ish " Subliminal Seduction " books? Well, in one of them, which I bought from the paperback each at Caldor's in 1977 or so, he claims that the opening chant on " HOAF " turns into Something Naughty when the lead comes in!!!!! To be precise, WBK claims that " oohga shaga " turns into: -NOTE: I will asterisks-over-vowels censor here- " Who got s+ck+d +ff? " when the conventional lyrics start! Got me to spend 1 buck 39 cents or so on an oldie series 45 of the song at the time, to see if I heard it, anyway. I didn't. OOHGA SHAGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was trying to come up with a way of saying this, but you did it perfectly without my expressing my anger.
...The B-side of this, " Day To Day Kids ", rather tickles me for its use of the rather literary - and, even in 1974, rather archaic - phrase, " common-law wife ". No. really! I'm sorry, I can't do links just now.. k Thumb, post: 18706485, member: 70080"]Another hit later featured in Guardians of the Galaxy was at #6 with a bullet. [/QUOTE]
...Hearing " Jenny And The Betts " on AM radio at the time and not making out the lyrics, I thought it was, lyrically, one of those " disillusiondly looking back at the gang in the old neighborhood " sort of pseudo-Fifties songs, like " The Lords If Flatbysh " it something, people hanging around the steps-stooo of a rowhouse in Brooklyn - instead of the spoof of glam-rock star hype that I suppose it is.
I have a copy of "The Streak" on 45 but only because it came in a bunch of records bought at a yard sale where everything was in pristine condition. I just bought the entire box of singles - about 50 of them - and didn't go through them until I got home. "The Streak" is cute for one or two listens, but after that it's just dumb. But boy, did people love it. The phrase "Don't Look Ethel!" was as popular as "Dy-no-mite!". Some of Stevens' records are almost entertaining - Guitarzan is geniunely clever for one, and his "straight" recordings show off that he's a passable singer. But as bad as The Streak is (and it is very, very bad) it doesn't come close to the level of awfulness of a previous track called "Bridget the Midget". The song is from the early 70s, but this video is obviously much more recent. The cornball comedy comes through loud and clear and the obvious rip-off of Alvin & The Chipmunks is shameful. Googling the title "Bridget The Midget" gets you an entirely different batch of search results than this terrible song, so add "Ray Stevens" to your search criteria if you decide to punish yourself further.
..."Bridget " got to #2 in the U. K. !!!!!And I had the 45 as a kid, in a BandW cartoon plus photo picture sleeve! ctrola, post: 18767208, member: 7821"]I have a copy of "The Streak" on 45 but only because it came in a bunch of records bought at a yard sale where everything was in pristine condition. I just bought the entire box of singles - about 50 of them - and didn't go through them until I got home. "The Streak" is cute for one or two listens, but after that it's just dumb. But boy, did people love it. The phrase "Don't Look Ethel!" was as popular as "Dy-no-mite!". Some of Stevens' records are almost entertaining - Guitarzan is geniunely clever for one, and his "straight" recordings show off that he's a passable singer. But as bad as The Streak is (and it is very, very bad) it doesn't come close to the level of awfulness of a previous track called "Bridget the Midget". The song is from the early 70s, but this video is obviously much more recent. The cornball comedy comes through loud and clear and the obvious rip-off of Alvin & The Chipmunks is shameful. Googling the title "Bridget The Midget" gets you an entirely different batch of search results than this terrible song, so add "Ray Stevens" to your search criteria if you decide to punish yourself further.[/QUOTE]
