Name that tune?
January 7, 2006 2:18 PM Subscribe
Please help me (re)discover the name of this (60s/70s?) song and the band that released it. They sang a momentarily popular song with the *chorus* "Up against the wall, Motherf**ker".
. . .Not the song by The Jefferson Airplane, in which the phrase is a single line in the song but another one alluded to in this previous but inconclusive askMeFi thread: http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/19527
Oops. Here?
These are truly a crazy moments of sheer manic panic, and it’s utterly absurd because typical politicians don’t scream out pleas for election or make up rude jokes about squirrels on the spot. But David Peel was no politician and he tells only what he wants to and decorum be damned. Hell, there’s even a song called “Up Against The Wall” and wouldn’t you know it -- the entire lyrics are: “Up against the wall / Motherfuckers!!! / Up against the wall / Motherfuckers!!!” Well, there’s also a coupla “La, la, la, la, la, la”s thrown in to flesh it out, as well as ending on a jaunty, “Cha-cha-cha!”
posted by holgate at 2:27 PM on January 7, 2006
These are truly a crazy moments of sheer manic panic, and it’s utterly absurd because typical politicians don’t scream out pleas for election or make up rude jokes about squirrels on the spot. But David Peel was no politician and he tells only what he wants to and decorum be damned. Hell, there’s even a song called “Up Against The Wall” and wouldn’t you know it -- the entire lyrics are: “Up against the wall / Motherfuckers!!! / Up against the wall / Motherfuckers!!!” Well, there’s also a coupla “La, la, la, la, la, la”s thrown in to flesh it out, as well as ending on a jaunty, “Cha-cha-cha!”
posted by holgate at 2:27 PM on January 7, 2006
Best answer: Are you thinking of the song named "Up Against the Wall Motherfucker" by David Peel and the Lower East Side? I think it came out around 1968, although I didn't hear it until much, much later.
posted by Lame_username at 2:28 PM on January 7, 2006
posted by Lame_username at 2:28 PM on January 7, 2006
I'm too slow, again.
posted by Lame_username at 2:30 PM on January 7, 2006
posted by Lame_username at 2:30 PM on January 7, 2006
Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother
by Walker Jerry Jeff ?
Kicking hippies asses and raising hell.
posted by Brian James at 2:47 PM on January 7, 2006
by Walker Jerry Jeff ?
Kicking hippies asses and raising hell.
posted by Brian James at 2:47 PM on January 7, 2006
I feel the need to correct -- "Redneck Mother" was written by Ray Wiley Hubbard.
He does a great bit live on how he hates this song. Hates Hates Hates. "Songwriters", he says, "before you record a song, imagine yourself singing it every night, for the rest of your goddam life."
He goes on, until, of course, how about every three months, the royalty check comes in. Then it's "Up against the wall, redneck mother..."
posted by eriko at 4:18 PM on January 7, 2006
He does a great bit live on how he hates this song. Hates Hates Hates. "Songwriters", he says, "before you record a song, imagine yourself singing it every night, for the rest of your goddam life."
He goes on, until, of course, how about every three months, the royalty check comes in. Then it's "Up against the wall, redneck mother..."
posted by eriko at 4:18 PM on January 7, 2006
He gets royalty checks every three months? Man, I need to talk to my publisher - the little glow in my life is biannual at best...
posted by benzo8 at 5:24 PM on January 7, 2006
posted by benzo8 at 5:24 PM on January 7, 2006
Don't know if the David Peel version is of the same song, but the canonical version is by MC-5.
posted by megatherium at 6:49 PM on January 7, 2006
posted by megatherium at 6:49 PM on January 7, 2006
Don't know if the David Peel version is of the same song, but the canonical version is by MC-5.
What? I don't want to make any crazy assertations here, because my knowledge of the MC5 is not what I'd call authoritative, but I have NEVER an MC5 song called "Up Against The Wall, Motherfucker", nor is it listed as a song title for the MC5 on allmusic.
The only thing I can think of is that you're possibly mixing it up with the famous MC5 refrain "KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHERFUCKER", which yes, also has the word motherfucker in it, but that, of course, is a totally different (and much more rockin' song) than the David Peel song in question -- which the MC5 have NEVER performed, much less made the canonical version of it, as far as I know (i will be utterly shocked if you can produce such a track, and I'd love to hear it, because, as anyone who's heard the song can attest, it's a total folksie hippie thing and not MC5's style at all).
I only mention this because this thread is already showing up as the top result for "mc5 up against the wall motherfucker", and we're all in the front lines against disinformation together, my friends.
That said, I actually own a copy of the David Peel record in question (have a marijuana), and there's some tunes on there that I like (Happy Mother's Day is a goodie). My father bought it in the sixties, which is odd, because he was a classical music fan. When I questioned him on it, he dismissed it and said "you know, everyone was listening to this stuff at the time".
picturing my father buying that album from a record store is still one of my favorite daydreams.
fwiw i have this album lying around on mp3 if you can't find a copy of it.
posted by fishfucker at 2:11 AM on January 8, 2006
Late to the party, but it's definitely from David Peel and the Lower East Side's LP "Have a Marijuana". I'm surprised that this song would have ever been considered monentarily popular, since radio stations wouldn't play it. A buddy of mine owned a record store at the time, and that's how I heard it.
Rhino apparantly sells a David Peel compilation CD that includes the song in question.
posted by SteveInMaine at 8:07 AM on January 8, 2006
Rhino apparantly sells a David Peel compilation CD that includes the song in question.
posted by SteveInMaine at 8:07 AM on January 8, 2006
He gets royalty checks every three months? Man, I need to talk to my publisher
I suspect there's a trigger amount -- the one actual contract I saw stated that a check would be cut when the amount due exceeded $1000 at the end of a calendar month, or at the end of the year regardless.
"Redneck mother" gets a fair amount of play and has been covered multiple times, so a trigger level would be hit more often.
And, of course, that was one contract. The thing to do is to read yours, and see what the agreement for royalty payments are.
posted by eriko at 9:26 AM on January 8, 2006
I suspect there's a trigger amount -- the one actual contract I saw stated that a check would be cut when the amount due exceeded $1000 at the end of a calendar month, or at the end of the year regardless.
"Redneck mother" gets a fair amount of play and has been covered multiple times, so a trigger level would be hit more often.
And, of course, that was one contract. The thing to do is to read yours, and see what the agreement for royalty payments are.
posted by eriko at 9:26 AM on January 8, 2006
Best cover of it is "Marijuana Motherfucker" by DOA. But yeah, the MC5 claims were totally specious (and that old thread has so much wrong-ass bullshit in it...)
posted by klangklangston at 9:21 PM on January 8, 2006
posted by klangklangston at 9:21 PM on January 8, 2006
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posted by holgate at 2:22 PM on January 7, 2006