The path to enlightenment usually seems to involve water..
237. Rainmakers "Downstream"
The mid 1980's were a weird time to be a music fan. Top 40 radio and MTV was clogged with synthpop and hairspray faux-metal, and rock radio seemed content to replay old clasics until they (almost) lost their appeal completely. There were sparks of life in the college radio underground, but it was still way too diffuse and too content to play for a small clique of hipsters to have much impact.
Every so often, a new band that played honest-to-goodness rock and roll would slip through, usually of the variety known as 'roots-rock,' which generally meant short Chuck Berry-based guitar rock songs laced with some country influences and many times with lyrical attempts at explicating rock and roll's place in the history of American culture. This record by the Kansas City outfit the Rainmakers was my favorite, since it couches it's observations in cockeyed humor and goofball imagery. It's rollicking rythm and guttural guitar evoke the metaphorical river voyage of the title perfectly. But the crowning touch is Bob Walkenhorst's vocals. He deliver's the incredibly sharp (the verse about Harry Truman is a masterpiece) satirical lyrics in a perfectly bent crazy-drunk-telling-a-tall-tale voice that always seems just this side of breaking into a chuckle. Maybe that's what author Stephen King heard when he made a verse from this number the epicgram of his novel The Tommyknockers. Or maybe he was just exhibiting good taste and wanted the band to sell a few records. Either way, compliments on your taste, Steve.
The mid 1980's were a weird time to be a music fan. Top 40 radio and MTV was clogged with synthpop and hairspray faux-metal, and rock radio seemed content to replay old clasics until they (almost) lost their appeal completely. There were sparks of life in the college radio underground, but it was still way too diffuse and too content to play for a small clique of hipsters to have much impact.
Every so often, a new band that played honest-to-goodness rock and roll would slip through, usually of the variety known as 'roots-rock,' which generally meant short Chuck Berry-based guitar rock songs laced with some country influences and many times with lyrical attempts at explicating rock and roll's place in the history of American culture. This record by the Kansas City outfit the Rainmakers was my favorite, since it couches it's observations in cockeyed humor and goofball imagery. It's rollicking rythm and guttural guitar evoke the metaphorical river voyage of the title perfectly. But the crowning touch is Bob Walkenhorst's vocals. He deliver's the incredibly sharp (the verse about Harry Truman is a masterpiece) satirical lyrics in a perfectly bent crazy-drunk-telling-a-tall-tale voice that always seems just this side of breaking into a chuckle. Maybe that's what author Stephen King heard when he made a verse from this number the epicgram of his novel The Tommyknockers. Or maybe he was just exhibiting good taste and wanted the band to sell a few records. Either way, compliments on your taste, Steve.
