July 10, 2011

Ray Stevens: Nostalgia Valley, Part 26...

Practically everyone knows of "The Streak", the multi-million selling single from Ray Stevens in 1974 spoofing the fad of streaking. What most people don't know about, except the dedicated fans perhaps, is Ray's song about a flasher. I'm sure people know what a flasher is. It's someone who flashes portions, or all, of their nude body in public places. They're not running or sprinting as they do this...therefore it's technically not considered streaking.

Ray released a comedy album in 1974 titled Boogity-Boogity. The title comes from the phrase heard throughout "The Streak". The album features 9 songs...some were previously released in the late '60s. There were 6 brand new recordings on the 1974 album and those were: "The Streak" (obviously); "Heart Transplant", "Just So Proud To Be Here", "Don't Boogie Woogie", "The Moonlight Special", and the other streaking song, "Smith and Jones". The 3 other recordings on the 1974 album are 1969's "Freddie Feelgood" and "Bagpipes, That's My Bag", plus 1970's "Bridget the Midget".

Alert! Alert! The following is a short review of "Smith and Jones". For those who hadn't heard the song, yet, the following will contain spoilers and so if you want to be surprised when you get the Mp3 single you should skip the following paragraph.

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"Smith and Jones" is literally a story song...it features Ray playing the part of a storyteller who tells the story of a CIA agent named Smith and an FBI agent named Jones who are hot on the trail of a flasher. Neither agent knows the other is on the case and they both confuse one another as the flasher through a chain of funny events. The case has some high consequences as neither the CIA nor the FBI will vouch for their respective agent's should anything happen to damage the investigation. Stakeouts like streaker stalking is top secret of course!! As mentioned, through a chain of funny events "Smith and Jones" spring to action and apprehend one another near a public fountain which leads to some more ironic events when the actual flasher shows up. Ray delivers the story in the same exaggerated southern drawl that he used on "The Streak" when he was portraying the eyewitness warning Ethel not to look.

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Those interested can purchase the digital download of Boogity-Boogity from Amazon's Mp3 store. You can purchase either the full collection or you can purchase "Smith and Jones" by itself for 99 cents.

1 comment:

  1. always loved the line at the end..."how do you like that rocking band?" The joke could have been that the "band" was Ray and Ray only.

    ReplyDelete

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