Skip to main content

Posts

Featured

2000 Great Songs #1428: My Name Is Jack

Much like Fleetwood Mac, who similarly (and presciently) took their name from a member other than the frontman, Manfred Mann (named for its keyboardist) went through myriad iterations and huge stylistic changes over the decades as singers/songwriters came and went. After their early years as an R&B-flavored British Invasion act fronted by Paul Jones, new singer Mike d'Abo ushered in a few years of more baroque psych-pop. While that era is probably best known for their cover of Dylan's " Mighty Quinn " (a.k.a. "Quinn The Eskimo"), no less compelling is the jubilant "My Name Is Jack." The 1968 single, penned by US record producer and sometime-songwriter John Simon, is pure bubblegum, with a wickedly insinuating sing-along chorus, while the lyrics seem to portray the various inhabitants of--a school? An orphanage? An asylum? A little of each? I don't think the song got much attention in the US--I never heard it on oldies/classic rock radio, u...

Latest posts

2000 Great Songs #1427: Temporary Beauty

2000 Great Songs #1426: Against Pollution

2000 Great Songs #1425: You Can Call Me Al

2000 Great Songs #1424: Bertha Butt Boogie

2000 Great Songs #1423: It's Too Bad

2000 Great Songs #1422: The Kirwan Song

2000 Great Songs #1421: Nights On Broadway

2000 Great Songs #1420: Live To Tell All

2000 Great Songs #1419: Romeo Had Juliette

2000 Great Songs #1418: Red Barchetta

My Summer Project: Distilling The Dead

2000 Great Songs #1417: Teacher Teacher

2000 Great Songs #1416: I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar

New-ish Releases: Les Big Byrd