As with the post on bicycles, I have decided to include a post on songs that are intimately connected to the motorcycle but without the name appearing in the title of the song. It is my contentionthat it is impossible to think about these songs without conjuring up an image of the motorbike.
“Leader of the Pack” is a song written by George Morton, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich. It was a number one hit in 1964 for the American girl group The Shangri-Las. The single is one of the group’s best known songs as well as a popular cultural example of a “teenage tragedy song”. The song is about a girl named Betty, who is asked by friends to confirm that she is dating Jimmy, the leader of a motorcycle gang, whose ring they see on Betty’s finger. After singing of love at first sight, Betty’s heart turns to despair as she bemoans her parents’ disapproval. The parents claim Jimmy hails from “the wrong side of town” and ask Betty to tell Jimmy goodbye and find someone new. Betty reluctantly does as she is asked, and a crushed and tearful Jimmy speeds off on his motorcycle. Moments later, Betty’s pleas for Jimmy to slow down are in vain as Jimmy crashes on a rain-slicked surface and dies.
“Born to Be Wild” is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. The song is often invoked in both popular and counter-culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider. It is sometimes described as the first heavy metal song, and the second verse lyric “heavy metal thunder” marks the first use of this term in rock music (although not as a description of a musical style but rather a motorcycle). “Born to Be Wild” was the band’s third single off their 1968 debut album Steppenwolf and became their most successful single, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard singles charts.
“Midnight Rider” is a song by the American rock band the Allman Brothers Band. It was the second single from their second studio album, Idlewild South (1970). The song was primarily written by vocalist Gregg Allman, who first began composing it at a rented cabin outside Macon, Georgia. He enlisted the help of roadie Robert Kim Payne to complete the song’s lyrics. He and Payne broke into Capricorn Sound Studios to complete a demo of the song. While the original Allman Brothers release of the song did not chart, “Midnight Rider” was much more successful in cover versions. Gregg Allman’s solo version of the song, released in 1973, was its biggest chart success; it was a top 20 hit in the U.S. and Canada.
“Bat Out of Hell” is a song written by Jim Steinman, for the 1977 album Bat Out of Hell and performed by Meat Loaf. It was released as a single in 1979, and again in 1993. Steinman insisted that the song should contain the sound of a motorcycle, and complained to producer Todd Rundgren at the final overdub session about its absence. Rather than use a recording of a real motorcycle, Rundgren himself played the section on guitar, leading straight into the solo without a break. In his autobiography, Meat Loaf relates how everyone in the studio was impressed with his improvisation. Rundgren and Meat Loaf were angry with Steinman when he refused to stop writing when the track was already six minutes long. He knew that he had to do the crash. The lyrics describe how the biker is riding “faster than any other boy has ever gone.” He is so involved that he “never [sees] the sudden curve till it’s way too late.” Drums and a roaring guitar indicate the crash.
“Wanted Dead or Alive” is a power ballad by American band Bon Jovi. It is from their 1986 album Slippery When Wet. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was released in March 1987 as the album’s third single. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard chart and #13 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, making it the third single from the album to reach the Top 10 of the Hot 100.
And finally a little curiosity from the 1960’s which perhaps should have been in yesterday’s main post. Motorcycle Irene is a track taken from Wow/Grape Jam the second album by the rock band Moby Grape. It was first released in April 1968. It is different from most double album releases in that it was released as two different albums in separate covers, but packaged together and sold for only one dollar more than price of a single LP. This was Moby Grape’s highest charting release in the U.S., peaking at #20 on the Billboarx album chart.
