THE OL' REVERSE HIPSTER TRICK

Back when I used to DJ on a regular basis, like most DJs I had my favorites that no one else would play. Considering that I wasn't the only one that hop-scotched genres in order to keep things moving and the surprises coming, I latched on to songs that were far from hip. It was the late eighties, it wasn't hard to dig out something that would elicit "Who the fuck is this?". In reality it was "Crowd pleasers be damned, I'll pick my own crowd pleasers whether they please the crowd or not." That was easy because the bar that I began DJing at was not a huge place. On any given night, about three quarters of the crowd were regulars and a large percentage were so liquored up they'd be oblivious to whatever was playing.

Sookie Sookie at 3:20

So, with this backdrop I would dig through my records. Anything was game, deeper cuts would be less recognizable and therefore a plus. Of all records, I pulled out Steppenwolf, not optimistic but what the hell. It'd been years since I heard it and I couldn't name one song on the LP save the two hits, "Born To Be Wild" and "The Pusher". I put it on and "Sookie Sookie" was perfect. An unlikely band to play a funky groove, but they did it with a definite Steppenwolf thud. I listened to others on the LP but stuck with "Sookie Sookie". It wasn't until it became a regular part of my set list that I bothered to look to see who wrote it. Don Covay and Steve Cropper. That's why it's so cool, they're doing a hard rock version of a Stax groove, like Cropper if he got stoned and let it all hang out. Shit, I just remembered, the first line of the song is "Let it hang out baby". Guitar players never listen.

Check the video above. It's from three different episodes of Playboy After Dark. If you don't skip ahead you'll be treated to a tuxedo'ed Hefner, pipe in hand, interviewing John Kay. I'd love to make fun of it, but I'll leave that to you. I'm over here letting it all hang out.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Steppenwolf - Sookie Sookie mp3 at Internet Archive
Don Covay - Sookie Sookie (streaming) at YouTube