anti climax

"but I nearly died of hospitality" - has decadence ever been so coy?

the middling 70s at their nadir

info:

"Couldn't Get It Right" is a 1976 song by the Climax Blues Band. The song was written after the band's label told them that their 1976 album Gold Plated lacked a standout track and asked them to "try and write a hit".[4] They then wrote it, in the words of its bassist Derek Holt, "from absolutely nowhere"[4] and it hit #10 on the UK Singles Chart.[5] Later on that year, the song was picked up by Sire Records and the following year it made #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6] Later that year, the song was ranked #32 on Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1977.[7]

In an interview with Songfacts, Derek Holt explained that the song was "just a lucky moment in time", and that it is about being on the road in America. The chorus "kept on looking for a sign in the middle of the night" referred to searches for Holiday Inn signs, the sight of which meant that beds had been found for the night. When the band's career first started in America, they used to fly everywhere, in some cases involving up to three flights just to get to one place. Their itineraries meant that getting to any one place was difficult and involved arriving in a town, getting into a car, getting to the gig just in time to perform the sound check, performing the gig, re-entering the car and then looking for a bed. The final few years of the band's life were easier as they switched to using tour buses. This enabled them to leave the gig, enter the bus, get a bed, drive extended distances (in Holt's words, "1,000 miles or whatever") and turn up at the next gig refreshed.^[4] The saxophonist Colin Coopersang the baritone lead on this song, with the bassist Derek Holt, guitarist Pete Haycock and drummer John Cuffley singing harmony.^[4]

In an obituary for band member Pete Haycock, the Independent said that the song "transcended the clichés of the road-song genre and incorporated several of their trademarks, including the vocal harmonies of Haycock and Holt behind Cooper’s lead, and Haycock’s guitar being played in unison with Cooper’s saxophone, to create a concise gem of a single equal to the best work of the Doobie Brothers or Ace."^[9]

high praise indeed

the b-side