Georgia Satellites - Georgia Satellites

I'm often asked, "Hey what's your favourite cover song to play live?" More often than not "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" is my reply. They are better songs out there for sure, many that are a lot more challenging, but for sheer goofy shits and giggles this is about as good as it gets.

I can remember vividly where I was when I first heard it too. It was the fall of '86 and Expo was winding down and I was in A&B Sound (man I miss that place) and it was being blasted in the store. It was a breath of fresh air. I mean sure there was good old George Thorogood and the Destroyers and I really liked "I Drink Alone" but this was next level shit. I went and asked who it was, and was told it was a band called Georgia Satellites. I'd come to pick up Billy Squier's Enough is Enough, and I'd be leaving with more than one album. 

I'd recently picked up Timbuk 3's debut, that also came out in October of 1986, and it was kind of weird how much Pat MacDonald and Dan Baird sounded alike on some songs. Stylistically they were miles apart but I was reminded of this when I put the record on. I'd not listened to this in several decades as I never did get this one on CD. 

The album was produced and engineered by Jeff Glixman who was behind the first four classic Kansas albums, and at first blush it may have seemed an odd fit but this is a really great sounding record and the band's energy is palpable. I would hesitate to simply dismiss this as a nice live from the floor recording as there's more going on here than you first suspect. The songs are straight ahead barn burning rockers, but there's some spit and polish on the songs. It's like detailing a classic car you have to make sure the chrome and hubcaps are polished.

Now with all this gushing you'd think I wore out the album.

Nope.

Oh I played it a quite a few times, but there was just so much out there that I cherry picked the best songs and would play the album occasionally but most of the time I pulled it down when I was making a mix tape. As much as I go on about "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" and it is still the song I think about when I look at the album, I was reminded about the deeper cuts that I also really liked. The best of them is "Golden Light" a song that was decidedly less boogie woogie and more rock lament. It reminded me of something from those first few R.E.M albums. The album closes out with a cover of the old Rod Stewart classic "Every Picture Tells a Story" which is probably the weakest song on the album. I was never a fan of the original so that probably doesn't help.  

It's been cool hearing this again . When they were good they were awesome, it's good fun. Funny how I always thought of this as one killer and filler. There was more going on here than I remembered. Especially "Golden Light" a song I'd forgotten about. It's not really like anything else on the album.

For all that I never did get any of their other albums, other than the obligatory best of CD. I have this one. It's all I need.