Sex, Drugs & Rock and Roll
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Sex & Drugs & Rock and Roll - Ian Dury & the Blockheads — 1977…
Dury insists this is not a punk anthem. Rather a suggestion to live beyond the 9 to 5 world.
Sex — Walk On the Wild Side - Lou Reed — 1972…. Nothing says sexy like music about the transgendered, male prostitution, and oral sex. All of the characters in the song are based on real people from the Andy Warhol studio of the day.
Drugs — White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane — 1967 ….
Grace Slick insists it’s not about drugs. Just about embracing experiences, particularly the psychedelic ones.
RnR — Rock Lobster - B52s — 1978 ….
“Upstairs, they were playing disco, and downstairs I suddenly heard 'Rock Lobster' by the B-52's for h the first time. Do you know it? It sounds just like Yoko's music, so I said to meself, 'It's time to get out the old ax and wake the wife up! '”John Lennon-Nov 27, 2024
Sex — Can’t Get Enough of Your Love - Barry White — 1974….
Everything Barry sings sounds like sex.
Drugs — Monkey - George Michael — 1988 …
a funky disco-like dance hit about trying to help your friend with their addiction.
RnR — Rock and Roll Never Forgets - Bob Seger — 1976 …
a great tribute to the power of Rock and Roll. How music remains and can bring us back no matter how far our lives move on.
Sex — Freak Like Me - Adina Howard — 1995 …. American Billboard magazine wrote, "The G-funkiest R&B smash of the '90s, using a Bootsy Collins interpolation, a Sly & The Family Stone-sample and a Chronic-styled synth hook to attract that kind of man (because Adina Howard's that kind of girl)."
Drugs — Mother’s Little Helper - Rolling Stones — 1966 …
a lovely folky light rock song addressing the rise in middle class dependency on pharmaceuticals.
RnR — We Were Rock and Roll - Janelle Monae - 2013 ….
a fast rock n roll jam that remembers a past love story. I love the imagery that “we were rock and roll”
Sex — Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band - 1976 …
as well as cowriting a number of John Denver’s biggest hits, the band hosted a variety show, The Starland Vocal Band Show, that ran on CBS for six weeks in the summer of 1977. David Letterman was a writer and regular on the show.
Drugs — Captain Jack - Billy Joel — 1973 …
A testament to how easy it is to become addicted to heroin. Captain Jack was the local dealer and Joel tells the story of a pathetic loser who escapes his privileged suburban life to get high.
RnR — Rockin’ Me - Steve Miller Band — 1976 …
The song is meant to emit an Everyman quality, showing how music can keep you positive even in life’s unpredictability.
Sex — Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood — 1984 …
the band denied it was sexual. The S&M video seemed to dissuade that. And besides, the lyrics do offer excellent advice.
Drugs — Mary Jane’s Last Dance - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers — 1993 …
The band is very sketchy on whether this is actually about drugs. Of course she’s a girl named Mary Jane. And the video is choreographed with Kim Basinger playing a dead woman, but is it about drugs? You make the call
RnR — Rock and Roll Fantasy - Bad Company —1979….
described as the ultimate portrait of living as a star in the music business.
Sex — Gett Off - Prince — 1991 …
Billboard wrote that "this delicious sleaze-speed funk dish cuts deep with an intense bass line, vocal shrieks, and racy lyrics."
Drugs — Cocaine - Eric Clapton — 1977 …
Clapton insists it’s an anti-drug song (don’t they all), though he was deep in his addictions when the song came out. After he got clean, he stopped playing the song.
RnR — Rock the Casbah - The Clash — 1982 …
Though certainly written for the storytelling and humor, this song is actually based on Iran’s decades long ban on Western music.
Sex — Physical - Olivia Newton John — 1981 ….
The song was originally written for Rod Stewart or Tina Turner, but was deemed too risqué for their images.
Drugs — Sleeping powder - Gorillaz — 2017 ….
Most interpretations of this song say it’s about antidepressants and ketamine. No matter what, it’s definitely a look at the inner and outer faces we all show.
RnR — I Love Rock and Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts — 1981…
I was surprised to learn this was a cover. Original version by the Arrows in 1975
Sex — I Touch Myself - Divinyls — 1990 …
Melody Maker quote “Yes, it is about what you think. It's a song about female obsession, gratification, frustration and masturbation. It's a song about giving, and giving as much as you can: tantalising, without being titillating. Musically, it's straight-down-the-line mid-American rock”
Drugs — Rehab -Amy Winehouse — 2006 …
Alas, her public battle with drug and alcohol addiction, and subsequent death, have contributed to the song's popularity. It was also the song that thrust this amazing voice into well deserved popularity.
RnR — Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo - Rick Derringer — 1973 …
Just an ordinary hard rock sound of the 70s. And you know you all know you’re rocking along with it.
Sex — Let’s Talk About Sex - Salt n Pepa — 1991 …
Hooray for popular music talking positively about safe sex.
Drugs — Lust For Life - Iggy Popp — 1977 …
Iggy had taken about 3 years off as he recovered from a heroin addiction. Co-writing this piece with David Bowie brought him back to music.
RnR — Rock and Roll Suicide - David Bowie — 1974 ….
The song is a closing piece to the legend of Ziggy Stardust and his final collapse.
Sex — Erotic City - Prince — 1989 …
Some people, including Sheila E, defend that they are saying “funk”, and that did get them radio play. But we all know the word is fuck.
Drugs — Gold Dust Woman - Fleetwood Mac — 1977 …
Nicks in ‘97 “Everybody was doing a little bit. We never bought it or anything, it was just around—and I think I had a real serious flash of what this stuff could be, of what it could do to you ... 'Gold Dust Woman' was about how we all love the ritual of it, the little bottle, the diamond-studded spoons, the fabulous velvet bags. For me, it fitted right into the incense and candles and that stuff. And I really imagined that it could overtake everything, never thinking in a million years that it would overtake me.”
RnR — Rock On - David Essex — 1973 ….
This is lauded as a an “avant- pop” song. It used then innovative productions to make a ballad into a rock song.
Sex — S&M - Rihanna — 2010 …
Rihanna explained "S&M" is "a very metaphorical song" about her relationship with the media: "It's about the love-hate relationship with the media and how sometimes the pain is pleasurable.
Drugs — One Toke Over the Line - Brewer & Shipley — 1970 …
“When we wrote it I think we were one toke over the line,” Shipley once explained “I considered marijuana a sort of a sacrament… If you listen to the lyrics of that song, ‘one toke’ was just a metaphor. It’s a song about excess. Too much of anything will probably kill you.”
RnR — We Will Rock You - Queen — 1977 …
Other than the last 30 seconds, when Brian May does a guitar solo, the whole song is a cappella. A great way to show innovation in rock music.
Sex — Damn, I Wish I Were Your Lover - Sophie B Hawkins — 1992 …
Many listeners miss the fact that this is a song about a woman lusting after another woman and wanting to save her from an abusive situation. Hawkins describes herself as omnisexual. Love is love, baby.
Drugs — Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix — 1967 …
Hendrix described this as a love song, not a drug-induced experience. Of course he also says the original lyrics are longer and describe a mythical mind journey.
RnR — Rock and Roll Girls - John Fogerty — 1985…
This is intended as a study of how teenagers approach rock music. How it becomes a secret code shared by friends in that way kids navigate their changing world. The name is a tribute to his daughter and her friends.
Sex — Sweetest Taboo - Sade — 1985 …
The artist says this song describes a relationship that is so deeply desired that you must ignore society’s norms and potential consequences and embrace the intoxication.
Drugs — Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue - Ramones — 1976 …
You gotta have something to do
RnR — I’m Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band - Moody Blues — 1972 …
The idea they had for this song was to embrace how rock and roll can bring people together and at the same time comment on the complications of the world being too big for music to solve.
Sex — Let’s Get it On - Marvin Gaye — 1973 …
The original lyrics were religious. Then rewritten as a political statement. In the end, they got back to what was really going on.
Drugs — Doses and Mimosas - Cherub — 2012 …
Though up beat, the undertone tells a story of a band feeling beaten down, mostly by women, and hiding away with alcohol and LSD.
RnR — Jailhouse Rock - Elvis — 1957 …
One of the originals. Shake your hips and enjoy.
Sex — Sugar - Bikini Kill — 1993 …
When a Riot Grrl wants it, she’ll tell you. Enjoy just how explicit a song can be when the women tell you what they want.
Drugs — Got to Get You Into My Life - Beatles — 1966 …
McCartney has confirmed that it’s a love song. A LOVE SONG TO POT! It’s about his desire to incorporate marijuana into his daily life.
RnR — Rock’n Me - Steve Miller Band — 1976 …
One of the great tunes that talks about music keeping us together no matter where we are.
Sex — Toro - Remi Wolf — 2024 …
Enjoy the multitude of layered sounds in this tribute to loud hotel sex.
Drugs — Smoke two joints - Sublime — 1992 …
This is actually a cover of the Toyes version from 1983. That version is reggae.
RnR — Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions — 1984 ….
In 2000, the Scorpions performed "Rock You Like a Hurricane" with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Neato!
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