Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)
By: Reunion
(Norman Dolph-Paul DiFranco-Joey Levine)
1974B. B. Bumble and the Stingers, Mott the Hoople, Ray Charles Singers
Lonnie Mack and twangin' Eddy, here's my ring we're goin' steady
Take it easy, take me higher, liar liar, house on fire
Locomotion, Poco, Passion, Deeper Purple, Satisfaction
Baby baby gotta gotta gimme gimme gettin' hotter
Sammy's cookin', Lesley Gore and Ritchie Valens, end of story
Mahavishnu, fujiyama, kama-sutra, rama-lama
Richard Perry, Spector, Barry, Rogers-Hart, Nilsson, Harry
Shimmy shimmy ko-ko bop and Fats is back and Finger Poppin'Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldieFM, AM, hits are clickin' while the clock is tock-a-tickin'
Friends and Romans, salutations, Brenda and the Tabulations
Carly Simon, I behold her, Rolling Stones and centerfolder
Johnny Cash and Johnny Rivers, can't stop now, I got the shivers
Mungo Jerry, Peter Peter Paul and Paul and Mary Mary
Dr. John the nightly tripper, Doris Day and Jack the Ripper
Gotta go Sir, gotta swelter, Leon Russell, Gimme Shelter
Miracles in smokey places, slide guitars and Fender basses
Mushroom omelet, Bonnie Bramlett, Wilson Pickett, stop and kick itLife is a rock but the radio rolled me
Life is a rock but the radio . . .Arthur Janov's primal screamin', Hawkins, Jay and Dale and Ronnie
Kukla, Fran and Norma Okla Denver, John and Osmond, Donny
JJ Cale and ZZ Top and LL Bean and De De Dinah
David Bowie, Steely Dan and sing me prouder, CC Rider
Edgar Winter, Joanie Sommers, Ides of March and Johnny Thunder
Eric Clapton, pedal wah-wah, Stephen Foster, do-dah do-dah
Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda, Surfer Girl and Little Honda
Tighter, tighter, honey, honey, sugar, sugar, yummy, yummy
CBS and Warner Brothers, RCA and all the othersLife is a rock but the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldieListen (remember) they're playing our song
Rock it, sock it, Alan Freed me, Murray Kaufman, try to leave me
Fish, and Swim, and Boston Monkey, make it bad and play it funky(Wanna take you higher!)
LONGER VERSION, ADDITIONAL LYRICS:
(I only have fragments -- it's very hard to decipher!)Freddie King and Albert King B.B. King and frolicking
Get it on and Nat Gerardi, Capalardi, Len and Hardy(Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music)
Randy Newman . . . and I need a breather
Aretha!
Uptight, everything is all right
ANDY RATING:
Not wrapper, but Bubblegum rap. The verses are much better than the choruses or the Spector-esque ending. The end-of-the-line chew-chew train containing the Classic Bubblegum era came into the station with this song.
NOTES:
. . . a one-off hit for Joey Levine . . . not much of a "reunion": no one was reuniting and the "group" never released an album . . . beware: there's a contemporary group floating around with the same name . . . "rap" parts of song not sung all-at-once; parts were edited or "punched-in" . . . never performed "live" due to degree of difficulty and the fact that Joey never went before an audience . . . thought I could imagine Ice-T doing a hip-hop remake . . . the B-Side to this RCA 565757 single, Are You Ready To Believe, is a simple flute and acoustic guitar reggae ditty . . . gum fan "Andy R." suggests that the Bare Naked Ladies -- who need another hit after One Week -- should cover this song . . . great idea Andy! . . . Paul M helped clarify a few thing including giving a definition to "centerfolder" . . . it's a machine used to fold a single ply of thin plastic film in half like a record album back in the day . . . thanks Paul!
A SPECIAL CLASSIC BUBBLEGUM MUSIC MEMORY:
Darrell (70's Top 40 Guru)
Thank you so very very much for providing the lyrics to "Life is a Rock."
When that song first came out, we couldn't afford a tape recorder to tape
it and write down the lyrics, so my brother would listen to it every time
it came on the radio and wrote down what he could remember. He finally got
it all written down. Now is that dedication or what. Of course that was in
the early 70's, and those notes are long gone.
I've searched everywhere for these lyrics.When I read the lyrics on your page, I read them as I was playing the mp3, and it felt just like I was sitting in my bedroom with my headphones on at 15 years old. I love the simple melody it has, and the beat and all. I also like the way the lead singer takes a deep breath at the beginning as if he's taking a breath to say all those lines without taking another breath. I can pin point just about every part where they cut into it so he could take another breath. :) Back when I was a kid, I actually thought he did it without breathing. :) Or rather editing the song without taking another breath.
I know I'm rambling, but you just really made my day when I found your web site. That song has always been a mystery to me until last week. And the words I couldn't understand make so much sense. I was laughing out loud as I sat there and read for the first time what that guy was really saying. :)
Thanks again for a wonderful site, and thanks so much for replying. :) Darrell
