This is a tune (S for me) that will make me sit in my driveway for 3 or 4 minutes when I get home from the grocery store. This thing comes on, and I can't not listen all the way thru. Really good choice, guys.
They also covered Springsteen's Spirit In The Night. Oh, and a Deuce is a Deuce coupe, a cool hot rod . And that piano piece (in the solo) is called Chopsticks. I just love the fat Rickenbacker bass tone. The solos, the choir, this song has it all.
The Deuce is also "The Devil." You'll find that in old (40s and 50s) stuff. And a tongue in cheek scene from Buckaroo Banzai (can't find it online, but where he went to where the thermal pod crashed.).
@@pattyliedel6485 in the original Springsteen version, it’s “cut loose like a Deuce.” It’s a reference to hot rods, like a 1932 two-door…aka - a deuce. 😉
I was a teenager when this was released on the radio. It was played over and over. The soundtrack to a couple of great summers! P.S. "Deuce" refers to a Deuce coupe, which was a specific type of hot-rod back in the day as per the Beach Boys "Little Deuce Coupe" song. Peace.
This song reminds me of my best friend since we were teens in the 70s. I can still hear her singing, "But Mama..." She passed 3 years ago. Miss you, Lorraine. Thanks for the memory, guys.
This was written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen in 73. Crazy lyrics, but it's one of those songs you crank up when it comes on in the car. Enjoy your videos A & A!
Bruce said he wrote this in a style to try to sound like Bob Dylan lyrics. He wrote the song with a Rhyming dictionary and that is why some of it is nonsensical.
@@coolworx No both Blinded and Growing Up are songs Bruce wrote about life on the Jersey shore, as well as For You which is another Springsteen song that Manfred Mann also covered. The first line of Blinded "Madman drummer bummers and Indians in the summer" refers to "Madman" Vini Lopez (Bruce's first drummer) as well as the Indians, which was a summer league baseball team Bruce played on while growing up...
@@John_Locke_108 Nope. Anyone who does a Springsteen song sounds better than Bruce who puts on a strong show for people but writes garbage and sounds like crap. Of course, opinions vary.
He sure made a ton of progress in just a few years, from the ‘60’s pop classics like “Do Wah Diddy” and “The Mighty Quinn” to this extended instrumental epic with a full-on ‘70’s rock edge.
@@tomlemery8490 it is Manfred Mann's Earth Band, which is the third iteration of Manfred Mann. The first was with Paul Jones as lead singer and had hits like Doo Wah Diddy Diddy, the second iteration was with Mike D'Abo as lead singer and had hits like The Mighty Quinn. MMEB weren't a different band, just a different iteration of them.
@@tomlemery8490 they were anything but one hit bands. I named one hit each of the first two iterations, but they had many hits. The first iteration had other hits such as Pretty Flamingo, Come Tomorrow, 5-4-3-2-1, If You Gotta Go, whereas the second iteration of the band had other hits such as Fox On The Run (not to be confused with the Sweet song of the same name) and Ha Ha Said the Clown. They were quite a prolific band in the 60s and one of the British bands that recorded a lot of Bob Dylan songs. Manfred Mann was also the keyboardist/organist of the band and not the lead singer and was South African by birth.
Hoping you’ll see this since I’m early, my dads almost 60 and he watches you guys and I’m almost 16 but me and my dad have the same reaction to watching you guys and it’s great, love you guys, love classic rock
Ya know, I’ve never heard this full version of the song until today that I remember, it’s always been the radio cut. This totally blew my mind when that guitar solo came in and it’s almost like a whole other song’s length before it finally ended. Man I totally loved it, hell I always like the shorter version for that matter. Awesome review guys.
I don't if I ever heard a radio cut of this. Most classic rock stations I've listened to play the full version. It's one of the long "DJ needs a bathroom break" songs.
The inner portion of the longer album version was retroactively shoehorned into the shorter version, which *came first*. If you listen to the lyrics carefully, you'll hear a chorus-repeat of "the calliope crashed to the ground" coming after a different set of (retro-inserted) lyrics. That's the place where the inserted part ended and it resumes the original track.
Let me tell you how ubiquitous this song was in the 70s. Kids where blasting it from their Firebirds and Camaros. Parents were from their station wagons. I still remember keeping my transitor radio close waiting anxiously for it come on. Timeless masterpiece.
This song has always felt like an artwork to me, close your eyes and imagine. I was lucky enough to see them live in 1975 at Winterland S.F. with Journey (pre Steve Perry).
I decided at the last minute not to go to the '75 Winterland concert, and I've always regretted missing a chance to see Manfred Mann. I saw Journey several times pre Steve Perry, what a great band they were!
You’re really lucky! Journey, pre-Steve Perry, was an absolutely amazing band. Unfortunately, I never got to see them. As far as I’m concerned, they were completely different band with the same name as another band.
All-time favorite! For some reason triggers very specific memories. It’s seventh grade, I’m riding the bus to school in the winter, doodling in the frost on the window. Or I’m in history class. I felt it important to share that.🥱
One day, I was with my friend Ginger and the radio was on. The song Bad Moon Rising by CCR came on and we were singing along. Where the song says "There's a bad moon on the rise" with all the confidence in the world, she sings "There's a bathroom on the right." She honestly thought those were the lyrics. We laughed about that for years. R.I.P Girlfriend, I smile and think of you every time I hear that song. As far as THIS song is concerned, I definitely had to look up the lyrics when this song was popular. I would rate this A because it was a bit too redundant to rate it higher, also I am still tired of it from all the radio overplay it had the two times this song was charting, first time by Springsteen.
When Blinded by the Light came on the car radio... could not help but floor on the accelerator... another 15 MPH's. Less a song and more a musical journey... WOW!!!!
I can't believe this is the first time your guys got to hear this song!?!? Such an iconic song! Definite "roll down the windows and crank it up" and compete with your friends trying to sing along...and get them words right!
Saw them do this live.I was about half way back in the concert hall and they had a bank of lights that came on when they hit the Blinded by the light part and you could feel the heat!! The people upfront musta got a sunburn.They were opening for some band called Boston.......
Featuring the incomparable drumming of Chris Slade, who also played on classics ranging from It's Not Unusual by Tom Jones, to Thunderstruck by AC/DC, and a ton of other great stuff in between.
He also sings the verses on the outro while the lead singer is belting the chorus. They tore this up on The Midnight Special and I was shocked finding out it was Chris doing that part.
What I love about this cover is it is so different from the Springsteen original. They swung for the fences and it works. That being said, I like the Springsteen version a little more, but both versions are crank it up songs.
Two other covers that eclipsed the originals, Kris Kristofferson's Me and Bobby McGee is my favorite version of his song, but Janis Joplin made it hers. Bob Dylan famously said that the first time he heard Jimi Hendrix play All along the Watchtower he knew it wasn't his song anymore.
I think this version works better because the musical styling really plays up the psychedelic, stream-of-consciousness nature of the lyrics. Springsteen's version seems a bit too straight-laced to really fit the weirdness of the lyrics, IMO.
When have you heard "Chop Sticks" played in the middle of a rock song, either? Always LOVED that part!! 👍😁 MY VOTE for misunderstood lyric was CCR "Bad Moon Rising" - Instead of "there's a bad moon on the rise" it sounds like "there's a bathroom on the right". 🤣 This was FUN guys, please do it again!! ❤️
If I remember correctly Weird Al Yankovic recorded that CCR tune and changed the words to "bathroom on the right"... I knew the correct phrasing from the original release but loved the rewrite when I first heard it.
@@DianaJG8 I’ll try and find it but I was reading through the comments and a guy mentioned that he was driving in a car with his then girlfriend and she confidently sang the lyrics “there’s a bathroom on the right” and they laughed a lot about it when he told her the real lyrics. I’ll come back and edit if I find it. Oh I found it. Sherry Heim. So probably not a guy. Found a few others who also heard it that way so must be a common misheard lyric. My fave misheard lyric was my friend who thought the line in the B-52s song Love Shack was Batman on the door baby which had us both in hysterics when I explained it was Bang bang on the door baby.
The tune you recognized on piano is called Chopsticks and is widely known because for many people it's the first thing they learned to play on piano. In the show Quantum Leap, the protagonist (Sam Beckett) Jumps into the bodies of people in different times. One episode he jumps into a concert pianist at the start of a concert. The only thing Sam knows is Chopsticks and plays that to a packed concert hall.
I remember that episode! He actually leaped into the pianist right at the *end* of the concert; the audience is applauding and, of course, Sam finds himself sitting at the piano on stage with no idea where he is or what's happening. When the applause dies down and he realizes they're obviously waiting for something, he plays Chopsticks as the "encore", and gets away with it because the audience assumes the concert pianist is doing it as a joke, and not because Sam's swiss-cheesed memory can't come up with anything else to play. :-)
If you can try to imagine it's summer 1976 and you are attending an outdoor party with lots to drink and bag loads of treats...🌿 Then someone came to the party with a cassette of Manfred Mann's Earth Band version of " Blinded by the Light " and slipped it into a nice BIG BOOM BOX with great sound for the day. Man did we trip to this song. Those were some kind of times my friends.
It looks like Andy analyzes the music as it's happening, perhaps scientifically (I couldn't think of a better word) overthinking it while Alex lets the music overwash him, enjoying the moment without so much cognitive analyzation, just letting the flow go. Alex's approach seems more liberating. I love the blend of different approaches, yin and yang, the perfect counterbalance. Keep up the great work gents.
The term for mis heard lyrics is "Mondegreen" , there was actually a song based on this idea. It was "Judy In Disguise (with glasses)" by John Fred and His Playboy Band , it was based on "Lucy In The Sky with Diamonds" - great song.
@@MoMoMyPup10 there's a few Elton John songs on that list. Did you ever have the book called 'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy, And Other Misheard Lyrics? I had it and got such a kick out of all the different songs in the book. Sadly lost it in a fire, and I've never found it again.
Do you know root of the term "mondegreen"? If not, it's from an old Scottish poem featuring the line "laid him on the green" which people confused for "Lady Mondegreen."
@@badkitty4922 I did! Some of the mondegreens were hilarious. Steve Miller's "Bingo jet had a light on," Peter Gabriel's "She's so funky, yeah," and the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic "There's a bathroom on the right" were particular favorites.
@@mc76 yes! It reminds me of a story on how Mexicans started calling white people Gringos because of a song in that era called Green Grows The Grass. Or, maybe it was a lyric, either way I thought it was kinda cool.
Have to hit the Springsteen original to appreciate how different these two songs are. It’s like how Hendrix made All Along the Watchtower his song even though it was a Dylan song.
@@nunyabizz3357 I believe "Spirit in the Night" as a 1977 version was added to the later bluish vinyl of The Roaring Silence, after "Blinded" became a radio hit. I have the original flesh-tone vinyl cover shown here, without "Spirit."
They covered another Springsteen song “Spirit In The Night”. You might enjoy it. As just Manfred Mann they covered a Dylan song “Mighty Quinn”. Good top 40 hit.
I love this album and Manfred Mann's version of Blinded by the light (much more than Bruce's), but I also loved "Singing The Dolphin Through" and "The Road to Babylon" from this just as much.
In my opinion, one of the best and most transformative covers that I have ever heard. I heard the Bruce Springsteen version years later, and while the lyrics are all there, the song is drastically different (and I would say inferior on all levels - sorry Bruce). I have been watching you guys for some time now - love your thoughtful reactions.
I agree, really builds on the original! Two other awesome covers in this vein are Elton's "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "Under My Thumb" by Streetheart!
Are the lyrics the same? I always thought that Manfred Mann sang “revved up like a deuce” while Springsteen sang “cut loose like a goose”. I’m a Jersey guy, born and bred, and I love Springsteen - but I do like this version better.
I lived in Germany for a while, and this song is still very popular. My German co-worker asked me "what means wrapped up like a douche". I laughed my ass off before explaining the whole "revved up like a deuce".
Incredible classic song. I've been listening to it since it first came out. I heard "douche" and couldn't get it out of my head! Its the way the singer sings the word, especially at the beginning. You have to remember, back then, lyrics weren't nearly as easy to access as they are now.
Saw this band live in the early seventies at a small venue in England and they were good probably an A rating. Being young in England in the seventies was amazing there was virtually a rock band on every street corner such great times. Still no country like it for progressive or rock music.
Deuce comes from the hot rod, drag racing vernacular of the fifties and sixties. It refers to the 1932 Ford coupe, a favorite car that hot rod enthusiasts used to build from. The Beach Boys had a song called Little Deuce Coupe. One of the most famous examples of the car is the yellow hot rod in the movie American Graffiti.
Love Chris Thompson's vocals and inflections in this song. Greatly underappreciated artist. He also did Runner with the band and was a collaborating vocalist in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds.
This was another of those songs that, back in the day cruising around with your buddies on a summer afternoon in your 1970 Impala, if it came on the radio, the volume was instantly turned up. Manfred Mann took Springsteen's original and launched it into orbit.
I'd just started college when this song exploded onto the radio in 1976... and I loved it _immediately._ There was so much good music at this time (Boston, too, was just exploding onto the scene), that I never owned the album version. (I"m saying funds were limited in college, and this was not an album that I, or anyone on my dorm floor, happened to own.) So ten mins. ago was the absolute first time I've ever heard this long version, *and I love it!* How cool to get this bonus _48 yrs. later!_ (Personally, I rate it an *S* -- it really feels perfectly put together, and with so many interesting elements. It kicks butt throughout, and is a song I may never tire of hearing.)
I remember taking music in grade school and the first thing I learned on piano was "Chopsticks." When this song hit the radio, that middle piano section of "Chopsticks" is the first thing I really noticed. Plus, the rounds they sang at the end also reminded me of music class as we learned how to sing rounds with a song like "Row Your Boat." Lesson: Music class can be fun.
Hi Riley and Alex! If you ever wanted a song that had all of everything, this is one of them! Haha!! You probably know by now, the piano riff is "Chopsticks", what most kids learning piano learn first, and what Tom Hanks did in "Big".
Yep... just another one of the great songs playing of the radio growing up. I've said it before but it's true: at the time, we had no idea how great the soundtrack to our childhood was.
This was Manfred Mann’s big hit, but you really ought to explore some of their earlier music as well. This turn towards a radio-friendly song came after years of interesting and creative music.
Remember we wearnt sitting listening to.our music We were getting ready for school, doing homework, hanging out in our bedrooms, dances, 6vminites is nothing. Music was our life, not just a small part. Gen X, " we have the legends.,:
You have to hear the original Blinded by the Light from Springsteen. His is so crazy good! I was a teenager when Manfred Mann’s version came out but when I heard Springsteen’s original I was blown away. Greetings from Asbury Park is like the craziest debut album. I couldn’t believe the creativity it displayed with the best lyrics. I became a devoted Springsteen follower after that.
I saw them many, many moons ago at Long Beach Auditorium in Long Beach Ca. in 1973 maybe. Whereas Kiss was the opening act for their debut and Manfred Mann was second bill, then Savoy Brown was top Bill. Under $10 a ticket then.
The piano little piece is called "chopsticks" a kids first piano lesson drill. Mannfred Mann ( the keyboardist) was often criticized in the younger days of his career, by Rock critics etc, for simplistic keyboard work on "Do Wah Diddy Diddy do" and earlier hits. Rolling Stone magazine said: as a musician, Mannfred Mann isn't good enough to play (chopsticks)" But he was a phenomenal keyboard and synth player. So in the middle of this song, with intricate and sophisticated keyboard work, he threw in a 4-bar "chopsticks" to basically flip off the critics. A real "look at me now, motherfuckers, moment.!!!!
If you know the tv show "The Wonder Years" (old version). The woman who played the sister (Olivia D'Abo) her dad is the lead singer of Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
I never get tired of hearing Manfred Mann's version. All hail the Dylan-esque lyrics by Springsteen but the MM version is so superior musically. That middle break is so hypnotic. So much is happening in the song and there are so many changes of pace. Having the prime vocal fade out and having the backing vocals come to the forefront is very unusual. This has always been S-tier for me. P.S. There is a blasphemous radio edit that cuts out the legendary break.
A tremendous band in all its different guises. They do a great live version of this from Midnight Special around 1977 ish. Also try listening to their song 'California' a beautiful song with an incredible guitar solo too.
Brought me back to '77, Northern Minnesota snowy Christmas Eve cruising in my cousin's truck with Manfred Mann blaring out the radio. Thanks for the memories. Epic song.😍 P.S. I always thought it was douche, too!
Have you ever listened to a song on your channel and it was so complex and complicated and amazing you decided to go back and listen to it again? I would love it if you did that
Yup... that's what we thought. lmao. I thought that maybe the high hat was coming in at the end of the word 'deuce' contributing to making it sound slurred . Another one which you already reacted to was "Bad Moon Rising" by CCR. It says "there's a bad moon on the rise" but many, including me, thought it said "there's a bathroom on the right." Enjoyed this!
In 1977 this song turned me on to the original writer - Bruce Springsteen. I'm hoping some day you guys react to "Darkness on the Edge of Town" Totally iconic. 👍👍
I'm guessing you want them to do the whole album? I mean, the song "Darkness on the Edge of Town" is pretty cool, but it's hardly the only worthy cut on the album. (My favorite is "The Promised Land".) And yes, IMO that is Bruce's BEST album, start to finish. (I'm tempted to plunk for "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle", but I really only love 5 of the 7 tracks on that one.)
Never had a problem with this verse, of course you have to be old enough to know what "Revved up like a Deuce' actually means.....This has always been an "S" tier song for me.
Bruce Springsteen wrote this from 1972, hence the "deuce" car reference, and "another runner in the night." I still own this remarkable 1976 gem of a concept album, in the original flesh-tone color as you displayed here, rather than the later bluish re-issue. They also do a great cover of Bruce's spectacular song, "Spirit in the Night." But every cut on this comback album, The Roaring Silence, is a worthy listen. You should also take a dive into their early hit career from the 1960s. Definitely one of the overlooked bands for the channel.
Funny how most people forget Manfred Mann's first hit was in 1964 with the monstrous epic classic rock song "Do Wah Diddy Diddy"...and then 1968s "The Mighty Quinn". The band split up and Manfred Mann started the Manfred Mann Earth Band in 1971, and blinded By the Light (written by Bruce Springstein) was his hit in 1977.....15 YEARS after he had started Manfred Mann.
Manfred Mann was a great British rock band from the 60's. They had some great songs including "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" "Pretty Flamingo", "Mighty Quinn", "5-4-3-2-1" & "Sha La La". Manfred Mann's Earth Band is an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann later in 1971. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You", "Spirit In The Night" & "Blinded By The Light" which was a big hit for them in 1976. Interesting Note: Manfred Mann changed part of the lyrics in the the chorus, where Springsteen's "cut loose like a deuce" is replaced with "revved up like a deuce. The lyric is a reference to the 1932 V8-powered Ford automobile, which enthusiasts dubbed the "deuce coupe".
This was popular when I was a teenager. This brings back so many great memories! I always wondered what the lyrics were and read them once. Who knew? 🤷♀️ But, this song just makes me happy.
