I have many categories on my sidebar that haven’t been added to for some time. I keep meaning to head over to Delaware to rejoin my American Odyssey in Song, or to revisit more songs from the Awesome Mixtape given to me by a friend eons ago, but of course those posts take a fair bit of research, so tend to get side-lined.
There is another very well-known awesome mixtape that has been revisited several times around here however, one that had a bit of a starring role in the film Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m not usually a fan of superhero movies, but when DD introduced us to it a few years back we thoroughly enjoyed it, and I found myself smitten by the soundtrack. It contained many lesser-known, soft rock songs from the 1970s, played over and over on an old Walkman by the lead character, as a link to his dead mother and home in Missouri.
The success of the first movie meant there was a sequel a few years later, and of course there was a second awesome mixtape. I was reminded of one of the songs from it the other week, when it popped up as the answer to a clue on Rol’s excellent Saturday Snapshots feature. Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang by the band Silver was never a hit in the UK, which is why I wouldn’t have recognised them in a picture, but of course once I heard the song, it was immediately familiar from the film.
I do like my American country rock from the ’70s, and despite 1967 still wearing the crown as being my favourite year to revisit around here, 1976 is fast becoming a usurper. For the umpteenth time this year I seem to be writing about a song from that year. The band’s record company gave them the song as a single after deciding none of the other tracks on the album they had produced had single potential. Interestingly one of the members of Silver was Tom Leadon, brother of Bernie who was of course in the Eagles at that time (not that I can ever imagine the Eagles recording Wham Bam).
Before I go, I can’t ignore the fact that over here in Britain in the early ’70s we had another couple of hit songs that perhaps formed the inspiration for Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang, via their titles at any rate. Both bands below have been featured around here before, but not sure how well their songs stand the test of time. Sweet had started out as a bubblegum pop outfit but had just morphed into glam rockers for 1972’s Wig-Wam Bam, inspired by Henry Longfellow’s poem Hiawatha. Those tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh, the Bay City Rollers, were at their height when they released Shang-a-Lang in 1974.
I am being facetious of course, as neither song has anything to do with the Silver song, but nearly 50 years on it’s fun to revisit these old clips to remind ourselves what (some) music fans of my generation were buying in those days. As for the three songs, not sure if you have a favourite amongst them? I am inclined to think many visitors to this place might say, “None of the above”, in which case this offering from ten years later might be more your thing. Had forgotten how great they were right at the start of the Wham! years. I give you Wham Rap!
Until next time…
Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang Lyrics
(Song by Rick Giles)
Starry nights, sunny days
I always thought that love should be that way
Then comes a time that you’re ridden with doubt
You’ve loved all you can, now you’re all loved out
Ooh, ooh, baby, we’ve been a long, long way
And who’s to say where we’ll be tomorrow?
Well, my heart says no but my mind says it’s so
That we gotta love, is it a love to stay?
We got a wham bam shang-a-lang
And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing
Wham bam shang-a-lang
And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing
Looking at you, I wanted to say
I think a little emotion goes a long, long way
Careful, now, you don’t get caught in your dreams
Look out, baby, this is not what it seems
Ooh, ooh, baby, you’ve been so good to me
But please don’t make it what it’s not
Well, I thought we agreed on what we need
So, listen to me, I’ll tell you what we’ve got
We got a wham bam shang-a-lang
And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing
Wham bam shang-a-lang
And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing
I think you’re seeing what I’ve been saying
Because I hear you singing to the tune I’m playing
Now that it’s said and we both understand
Let’s say our goodbyes before it gets out of hand
Bye bye, baby, I’d really like to stay
But we’ll remember the best time in our life
We had a wham bam shang-a-lang
And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing
Wham bam shang-a-lang
And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing
Wham bam shang-a-lang
And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing
Wham bam shang-a-lang
And a sha-la-la-la-la-la thing
What's It All About? 
I ought to pay you for all these plugs. Tell you what, I’ll give you a cut of my profits!
I think the Silver track would be my favourite of the 3 70s offerings, but Wham Rap! beats them all obviously. DHSS!
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A cut of the profits. Very generous indeed Rol. I might hold you to that when Dept. of the Peculiar becomes the next Marvel Studios blockbuster.
So it’s a vote for Wham! Interesting.
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I’d never heard of Tom Leadon. I just looked at Wikipedia and learned that he was a member of Tom Petty’s original band (i.e. before the Heartbreakers).
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He was indeed – A busy pair of brothers around that time.
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Hadn’t heard that before.
Not a patch on Sweet,Wham or the Rollers!
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So many songs with Wham Bam Shang A Lang in them! I too still have a soft spot for the Sweet and the Rollers. “Music like our ours couldn’t die.”
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Never mind PCR tests, I have just tested positive to the BCR test – will be hearing that earworm all day 🤣
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Ah yes, the dreaded unwanted ear worm. Sorry! BCR test – very good.
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Funny when you see those titles all together – I guess the Spice Girls updated it a bit with their slam slam zigazigs too.
I’d struggle to pick a favourite from your first three as I’m in the “none of the above” camp although I’d be happy to watch the performance of of Wig Wam Bam with the sound down! Otherwise I’ll join Rol in a vote for Wham Rap!
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Inspired by the Saturday Snapshots onomatopoeic songs edition. I was kicking myself for not having got the Silver snapshot, but really had no idea what they looked like (identikit Eagles, Looking Glass etc it seems).
Suspected not many visitors to this place would warm to some of these songs but Wham! seem to have gone down well. They were writing about their own lives back then – Signing on but being nagged by parents to get ‘proper’ jobs. Think they did ok in the end and certainly paid back their dole in their tax bills many times over.
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Wham Rap! Is always the song which springs to mind when I think of the classes I used to go to with my friends twice a week at the Dance Centre in Covent Garden in the early 80s, when I was working in central London. How we loved those classes – not just for the music, but for the chance to strut our stuff in Lycra leotards and footless tights in neon and rainbow colours!
I’m looking forward to you resuming your American Odyssey before too long, particularly as. I went on a memorable trip around the USA in a minibus in the summer of 1984 – we visited about 25 states, I think. On a musical note, the only thing I remember about Tennessee is visiting the old railway station which was once the terminus for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo!
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Gosh Lizza, dance classes to Wham Rap in early ’80s Covent Garden – Doesn’t get much better that that and very jealous. Yes, the early 70s songs shared are very dated now but Wham Rap seems to have stood the test of time. You might have noticed I’ve written many, many George Michael posts around here so always good to include yet another song from the great man himself.
Also jealous about your trip across those 25 states. Something I always wanted to do when I was young but it never happened so had to resort to a virtual tour (in song) around here. I was looking forward to visiting those southern states in song, as a rich musical heritage, but got stuck at Delaware. If I could just get past it I could be on my way again (no offence to Delaware). Thanks for the heads up about the Chattanooga Choo-Choo terminus in Tennessee. I think I mentioned the Glenn Miller song Pennsylvania 6-5000 when I visited that state, until I found out it was the number for the hotel in New York City!
Thanks for dropping by.
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