rtbuck
Senior Member
J Geils Band
“Dancing on the Ceiling & Dancing on the Floor…” followed by a chorus of “It Ain’t Nothing but a Party, Ain’t Nothing but a Party…Ain’t Nothing but a House Party” rang out through my speakers during a radio commercial for Callahan’s Bar & Nite Club every weekend on QFM-97.9 in the late 70’s, Not only did I want to go to this wild party bar (Unfortunately I had to wait a year until I turned 18) but I also wanted to know who did that jamming tune on the commercial. I found out it was by the J. Geils Band (actually originally done by the Showstoppers) & went out & bought their Best of record. That Best of ,which came out in the late 70’s, is one hell of a Party album. When I turned 18 in 1980 my sister (who was 13 years older than me) would invite me to her toga parties at her apartment & that same J Geils album was always cranked up at her parties. The album is filled with songs that’ll keep you moving & grooving. Songs such as the rocking “Detroit Breakdown” & “Southside Shuffle” will have your arms flailing & your feet shuffling. The instrumental house rocker featuring Magic Dick blowing some of the meanest harp “Whammer Jammer” will have you howling at the moon. The rocking reggae beat of “Give it to Me” will have you rolling your arms & bopping your head & then just when you thought it was safe… the hard rocking “(Ain’t Nothing but a) Houseparty “is right there to Blow your face out! You can’t forget a couple of oldies to keep things rolling, that the band covers: The Do-Wop “I Do”, “Looking for a Love”, & the cool version of the Supremes “Where Did Our Love Go?”. “I Musta Got Lost” will have you holding on tight to that special person which you made a connection with. Yes, that is what the J.Geils Band featuring wild lead vocalist Peter Wolfe & lead guitarist J. Geils is all about.
The J. Geils Band began in 1967 when J Geils, Magic Dick, & Danny Klein decided to change the direction of their acoustic blues trio & become more of an electric blues band. They added vocalist Peter Wolfe who was a local DJ at the time & drummer Stephen Jo Bladd. The band played gigs around the Boston, MA area as the J. Geils Blues Band. After about a year they dropped “Blues” from the band name & also added Keyboardist Seth Justman to their line-up. The band was signed to Atlantic records in 1970 & over the next seven years charted several hit singles most of which are included on that 1979 ‘Best of’ album. “(Ain’t Nothing but a) Houseparty” (which was actually a cover song originally recorded by the Showstoppers) was probably their biggest & most popular single of the 70’s.
In 1978 the band signed with EMI & released ‘Sanctuary’ fared pretty well on the charts. I’ll always remember their appearance on SNL around ’79 as they played the title track “Sanctuary” which rocked the house. 1980 brought us ‘Love Stinks’ which the humorous title track & accompanying humorous video brought the beginnings of commercial success to the band & the album charted 3 other singles including “Come Back” which was a hit in the dance clubs across the nation. My favorite track off of ‘Love Stinks’ is the ultra cool “Till the Walls Come Tumblin’ Down” which will have you snapping your fingers & yelling out “Oooooh Yeahhhh!”.
Still riding high off the heels of ‘Love Stinks’ the J Geils Band released the very commercial ‘Freeze Frame’ in October of 1981 which charted their all-time biggest hit “Centerfold” along with once again 3 more hit singles. The commercially successful ‘Freeze Frame’ came out at the perfect time as 2 months prior MTV launched & videos for the title track & “Centerfold” (along with the “Love Stinks video) were in regular rotation spots(it seemed like you’d be guaranteed to see one of these videos at least once an hour). Videos for “Angel in Blue” & “Flamethrower” also received moderate airplay on the new video hits channel. My favorite song off of the album was “Piss on the Wall” & I also liked the harmonica in “Rage in the Cage”. By 1983 creative differences among Peter Wolf & the band caused Wolf to leave. He had moderate success with his hit single “Lights Out” in 1984 & has released some decent solo albums over the years. Wolf’s 1996 ‘Long Line’ is worth checking out as is 2002’s ‘Sleepless’ which features a cool Keith Richards lending a solo on the blues rocker “Too Close Together” & a duet featuring Wolfe & Mick Jagger on “Nothing but the Wheel”. The J. Geils Band released one album without Wolfe ‘You’re Getting Even While I’m Getting Odd’. The band called it a day soon after but in 1999 they reunited with Wolfe for a small tour & they also performed a couple of dates this past year.
The one thing I have to say is the J. Geils Band is one band that has to be seen live. I caught them in ’82 while the band was supporting their ‘Freeze Frame’ album & they were spectacular putting on one hell of a party. Wolfe is amazing with his fast talking stories live which always leads into their next tune. Check out the intros to “Love Stinks” from the bands live ‘Showtime’ album & “I Musta Got Lost” from the Live “Blow Your Face Out” & you will hear what I mean about Wolfe’s stories. In fact check out any of the 3 live albums (Full House Live, Blow Your Face Out, & Showtime) & you will get yourself some Houserocking Rock & Roll. Of the 3, I would recommend 1976’s ‘Blow Your Face Out’ but you definitely won’t go wrong with ‘Full House Live’.
“Dancing on the Ceiling & Dancing on the Floor…” followed by a chorus of “It Ain’t Nothing but a Party, Ain’t Nothing but a Party…Ain’t Nothing but a House Party” rang out through my speakers during a radio commercial for Callahan’s Bar & Nite Club every weekend on QFM-97.9 in the late 70’s, Not only did I want to go to this wild party bar (Unfortunately I had to wait a year until I turned 18) but I also wanted to know who did that jamming tune on the commercial. I found out it was by the J. Geils Band (actually originally done by the Showstoppers) & went out & bought their Best of record. That Best of ,which came out in the late 70’s, is one hell of a Party album. When I turned 18 in 1980 my sister (who was 13 years older than me) would invite me to her toga parties at her apartment & that same J Geils album was always cranked up at her parties. The album is filled with songs that’ll keep you moving & grooving. Songs such as the rocking “Detroit Breakdown” & “Southside Shuffle” will have your arms flailing & your feet shuffling. The instrumental house rocker featuring Magic Dick blowing some of the meanest harp “Whammer Jammer” will have you howling at the moon. The rocking reggae beat of “Give it to Me” will have you rolling your arms & bopping your head & then just when you thought it was safe… the hard rocking “(Ain’t Nothing but a) Houseparty “is right there to Blow your face out! You can’t forget a couple of oldies to keep things rolling, that the band covers: The Do-Wop “I Do”, “Looking for a Love”, & the cool version of the Supremes “Where Did Our Love Go?”. “I Musta Got Lost” will have you holding on tight to that special person which you made a connection with. Yes, that is what the J.Geils Band featuring wild lead vocalist Peter Wolfe & lead guitarist J. Geils is all about.
The J. Geils Band began in 1967 when J Geils, Magic Dick, & Danny Klein decided to change the direction of their acoustic blues trio & become more of an electric blues band. They added vocalist Peter Wolfe who was a local DJ at the time & drummer Stephen Jo Bladd. The band played gigs around the Boston, MA area as the J. Geils Blues Band. After about a year they dropped “Blues” from the band name & also added Keyboardist Seth Justman to their line-up. The band was signed to Atlantic records in 1970 & over the next seven years charted several hit singles most of which are included on that 1979 ‘Best of’ album. “(Ain’t Nothing but a) Houseparty” (which was actually a cover song originally recorded by the Showstoppers) was probably their biggest & most popular single of the 70’s.
In 1978 the band signed with EMI & released ‘Sanctuary’ fared pretty well on the charts. I’ll always remember their appearance on SNL around ’79 as they played the title track “Sanctuary” which rocked the house. 1980 brought us ‘Love Stinks’ which the humorous title track & accompanying humorous video brought the beginnings of commercial success to the band & the album charted 3 other singles including “Come Back” which was a hit in the dance clubs across the nation. My favorite track off of ‘Love Stinks’ is the ultra cool “Till the Walls Come Tumblin’ Down” which will have you snapping your fingers & yelling out “Oooooh Yeahhhh!”.
Still riding high off the heels of ‘Love Stinks’ the J Geils Band released the very commercial ‘Freeze Frame’ in October of 1981 which charted their all-time biggest hit “Centerfold” along with once again 3 more hit singles. The commercially successful ‘Freeze Frame’ came out at the perfect time as 2 months prior MTV launched & videos for the title track & “Centerfold” (along with the “Love Stinks video) were in regular rotation spots(it seemed like you’d be guaranteed to see one of these videos at least once an hour). Videos for “Angel in Blue” & “Flamethrower” also received moderate airplay on the new video hits channel. My favorite song off of the album was “Piss on the Wall” & I also liked the harmonica in “Rage in the Cage”. By 1983 creative differences among Peter Wolf & the band caused Wolf to leave. He had moderate success with his hit single “Lights Out” in 1984 & has released some decent solo albums over the years. Wolf’s 1996 ‘Long Line’ is worth checking out as is 2002’s ‘Sleepless’ which features a cool Keith Richards lending a solo on the blues rocker “Too Close Together” & a duet featuring Wolfe & Mick Jagger on “Nothing but the Wheel”. The J. Geils Band released one album without Wolfe ‘You’re Getting Even While I’m Getting Odd’. The band called it a day soon after but in 1999 they reunited with Wolfe for a small tour & they also performed a couple of dates this past year.
The one thing I have to say is the J. Geils Band is one band that has to be seen live. I caught them in ’82 while the band was supporting their ‘Freeze Frame’ album & they were spectacular putting on one hell of a party. Wolfe is amazing with his fast talking stories live which always leads into their next tune. Check out the intros to “Love Stinks” from the bands live ‘Showtime’ album & “I Musta Got Lost” from the Live “Blow Your Face Out” & you will hear what I mean about Wolfe’s stories. In fact check out any of the 3 live albums (Full House Live, Blow Your Face Out, & Showtime) & you will get yourself some Houserocking Rock & Roll. Of the 3, I would recommend 1976’s ‘Blow Your Face Out’ but you definitely won’t go wrong with ‘Full House Live’.
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