November 7, 2016 - Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded By the Light (1976)

Blinded By the Light is another magical childhood memory of nighttime car rides through suburban Chicago in 1976, the street light passing over the back seat window of the family truckster as I lay there listening to the radio and feeling hypnotized by the sounds coming from it.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band (frickin long type-twisting name) took one of those early Bruce Springsteen 'zillion rhymes per second' speedfreak tales of the streets and tricked it out as a groovy shag carpeted spaceship bound for the cosmos and beyond.

It starts up with one great blast, the way a spaceship should, right? Spontaneous guitar bass keys drum beat right into solo keyboard as the ship is wrapped revved up like a douche deuce ...twin rocket engine (? I'm reaching) and shoots off through the stratosphere at about 140 beats per minute. When can we start drinking the tang or, if it's on the menu, tranya? How about now? OK. At 0:26 everyone drinks the tranya with little Richie Cunningham's brother, Ron? no Clint Howard? I think that's right. Some guy starts rambling on about a teenage diplomat and drummer bummers and a calliope. Hey, hey he stopped, someone play a jammin electric guitar solo here at 1:06 before he starts up again...nice. Argghhh!!! He turned on the ship's atomic siren! My ears! Ok Ok, we understand...the calliope crashed to the ground already. Geez, did someone over-caffeinate this guy's tranya or what?  Let's try some herbal tranya. (everyone partakes)

Dang, he's running through another verse...well, maybe this new stuff will kick in...now

2:36 and he's finishing up what he has to say, I don't know something about a girl, and at 2:52 ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space....on one giant comfy pillow. The guitar solo is by Dave Flett, and it is the sweetest kind of sonic candy. The bass and drums have that rock bottom 70s tone. Wow, OK, listen to Flett absolutely mangle that wah wah at 3:45, and it's like we are flying. into. the center. of. the sun? Didn't mom say something about this being something we shouldn't do? Who cares, that's where the fun is.

Wow, that WAS fun, thanks Dave Flett!...we passed all the way through the sun, and now we understand what that guy was saying and we join him in his musings about being in the dumps with the mumps, hey we get it now, about the girl...I guess we all got messed up a bit from the tranya. Maybe you will see her again, we think she's gonna make it through the night. ... and the ship continues on its adventure to the great beyond the sun.