A Shadow Lost In The Night / I’m A Sucker For Your Love
Del Shannon: “Drop Down and Get Me” (Elektra)
I am such a fanboy of this man that I am the kind of idiot who, if you put this record in a stack of Herb Alpert records on a soiled mattress in your front lawn, I would think it was a sign from Jehovah himself. I am such a fanboy of this man that I am the kind of idiot who, if you put this record in a stack of 101 Strings albums at the record store, I’d consider divesting my mutual into ownership of said vinyl. But you know what? Besides Jonathan Richman or Let’s Active, not too many records make me drool at the thought. Some records are a no-brainer: a free Bermuda Strollers record? Sign me the hell up. Thanks, Integrity n’ Music of Wethersfield! But basically, who cares about records? Tapes/CD-Rs/MP3s are the obvious progression of the people’s format. Max Tundra is releasing soup, Of Montreal has paper lanterns.
We live in a world where you can dress up a download with another object and call it a physical release. And why not? As much as Of Montreal’s popularity is really getting to me in the worst, and I mean worst way, they have a point. On this tip, it must be noted that Del Shannon is a man of records. A cassette tape might exist of this, but I’d like to guess the rarity of that might even preclude the vinyl. Maybe Collector’s Choice made it available on CD, but currently, shit is out of print on anything digital. Call me old fashioned, but if I want to hear a piece of the pop culture puzzle and a couple double-douches don’t want me to because they can’t immediately make money off of it, why shouldn’t I download when the downlobin’s good? This album is one of the finest I have ever heard, I’m sure Del Shannon didn’t shoot himself in the fucking head because he wasn’t a superstar billionaire. He just wanted to get by and not have to scrimp on the jacuzzi and shit like that. He deserved a platinum grill at least, if not one to spare, hidden in a ruby tabernacle somewhere in his lover’s basement.
“Life Without You” might be the kind of vampiric melodrama reserved for Cruella Deville or M. Bison. By the time “Out of Time” makes the rounds, we can all safely presume Del has stolen the tune from the Rolling Stones forever. Del is the kind of guy who is more than capable of making “It’s worth it just to hear you lie / than not to hear you at all” seem like a plaintive love song. But it’s beyond plaintive in any stretch of the word. It’s naked, ridiculous straightforwardness. Fuck, it’s the kind of shit that, if manipulated properly, wins elections. And to his credit, his idea of romance involves some give and take. He might revel in any double entendre of the title “Drop Down and Get Me”, and maybe his audience couldn’t put two and two together, but it doesn’t take a retard in a diaper sling to hear him pleading for love on his lame old rock dinosaur knees. His vibrato doesn’t allow for that. And, hell, he’s scorching some rock on some tracks on this bitch, too. Tom Petty, thank you for crafting this album. This guy was a fucking nutcase.
