@AirplayBeats reacts to Steppenwolf’s The Pusher Like comment and subscribe Join our Patreon for exclusive videos and to get your requests done faster: patreon.com/user?u=81569817
I find it increasingly difficult to watch other music reactors. Your appreciation for good music is unparalleled. And most importantly you two GET THE MUSIC of my generation. Intelligent, insightful, there is no one in the same area code with you two. Let alone the same plane. Keep it going.
I agree, watching people react to music you love and hearing it for the time is fun! But so many don’t know that much about music or they’ve heard everything and play it off like it’s the first time - fake. They check both boxes, they know music, they’re hearing this genre mostly for the first time, and they’re fun to hang with and they’re pretty damn cool guys ! I haven’t watched another reaction since them. Still unclear of their actual names.
The Pusher is by Hoyt Axton a great song writer, along with his mother...original is kind of a country song...its deadly...I took this to a high school party and they wouldn't let me play it....God Damn
The song was written in 1967, by Hoyt Axton (surprise there), and released in 1968. It was made popular by the movie Easy Rider. The lyrics of the song distinguish between a dealer in drugs such as marijuana-who "will sell you lots of sweet dreams"-and a pusher of hard drugs such as heroin-a "monster" who doesn't care "if you live or if you die".
This was the second album that I ever bought ,I loved it at 16 .My father was not impressed with all of the God Damns ringing out from my room,had to do a little explaining and he as ok.
Hoyt Axton also wrote Joy to the World a number 1_hit for 3 Dog Night .While his mother penned Heartbreak Hotel .This made them the only mother and son combo that wrote #1 hits
I met Hoyt Axton in the early 80's at a taping of "Nashville Now" while visiting Nashville. He was one of the friendliest celebrities I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.
@@alhaskell242 I was born in ‘59 and had to explain to my Dad when I was about 15 there is quite a difference between hearing ‘someone is f’n crazy’ and ‘someone f@(ks like a beast’ and leave it at that. 😅
You guys need to hear Monster by Steppenwolf. The live version is AMAZING! I love how you guys get into Steppenwolf. One of my favorite bands of the 60's and 70's.
Great choice and reaction. You guys are good. 1968.... I'm 14 years old, manage to get into the Cavern Club in Hollywood to see "Iron Butterfly" and "Steppenwolf" live together, We smoked some of mother natures finest and I was only 20 feet away for this song live and many others like "In-A-Gadda-Da-Veda" 50 minute version. Never forget that experience
At about the same time, I was in very rural NW Washington State near the Canadian Border. No where a club. I am jealous! Steppenwolf were Canadian metal progenitors. I had to find a cool FM Radio station off Vancouver Island with my one speaker click radio.
Playing pool listening to this on the juke box. Smoky game room with foosball tables and Pinball machines.Reeking of both cigarettes and weed. Man, I miss the 70s.
Wow, I forgot about this song. This is a lying on the bed with headphones, eyes closed song. Like other songs of the era, it flows through your blood. Usually when Steppenwolf comes up, I always think of Magic Carpet Ride. It was GREAT to hear this again! Thank you!
Really enjoyed this. I was so happy the way you found the distinction of a difference between a dealer and the pusher. Most young people don't get it. Just an old biker here so I have listened to Steppenwolf my whole life. One of my top bands. Thank you so much.
He's a immigrant from Germany I believe. His mother escaped and fled here from the tyranny happening in Germany. Am a big fan from the 60's. And Snowblind Friend.....Keep on Rockin'!!
Saw Steppenwolf live in 86. I was tripping on the heaviest acid trip I ever had. There was a dearth on weed that summer...very strange. But two bikers at the show sold me a couple joints they had. The acid had sound effects and all. Great show, truly. Thanks for your reaction guys.
The voice does not get anymore gritty or bluesy than John Kay of Steppenwolf. If you like great blues rock with a mesage, and this shows you do, you must hear their song Monster - one of the great forgotten protest songs of the 60’s. Awesome transitions, with a message that still resonates.
I was surprised to find out that John Kay was German. He came to Canada with his mother when he was 14. His teachers couldn’t pronounce his name (Joachim Fritz Krauledat) so they just called him John K and it stuck.
@@BumblebeeElectron Yes you`re right because the song "The Pusher" was written by Hoyd Axton and he left the band before it was played in the movie "Easy Rider". The song "Born To Be Wild" was written by John Kay and yes - he was born as a german guy before he visit to canada. Best wishes @all from hamburg (germany)
This song was written by Hoyt Axton and covered by Steppenwolf in 1968. Three Dog Night had hits with two other songs; "I've never been to Spain" and "Joy to the world". Hoyt's mother co-wrote "Heartbreak Hotel" for Elvis Presley. Hoyt Axton also played the father in the movie "Gremlins".
Easy Rider. I sat in a little cinema in my market town in the countryside in the uk as a 17 year old and loved this . Such a different world for a young girl about to experience the cultural revolution of the 60's and London.
When I was an in seventh grade, my choirs teacher would let us bring our Albums on Friday and let us play them. He would nap during the class. I played the Pusher Man and the teacher almost fell out of his chair 😂😂
Back in 1993-1995 I used to play drums for a band located in Annapolis MD and I’d make an hour drive at least once a week or so to rehearse. I must have played this in my cassette player driving down at least a dozen times, usually at sunset which made for a surreal drive down. Their best of CD/tape etc. is really good.
Back in the day there were two types. One was your friendly neighborhood dealer sharing and selling sweet dream pills and love grass wanting to keep his returning clients happy. The other was the heartless pusher that preyed on people's addiction by selling contaminated hard drugs that slowly killed the soul before killing the person. A pusher is like a parasite that simply lives off another organism and keeping it's host alive long enough to benefit from it before it weakens and dies
I came home from Nam to find my younger sister strung out. Sent her to a friend's house outside of Belton Tx. to get clean. The guy that sold the junk to her disappeared and nobody ever heard from him again.
Understand the impact of this song. In a time where television could not show a man and a woman in the same bed. The foulest thing said on TV was, "Darn" Any type of perceived, offensive lyrics was pulled from radios and record shelves. "God Dam the pusher man" broke through. The message so powerful had to be aired. I remember my local AM station playing it and beeping out the GD part. After a while they gave up. And yes, I am old enough to remember a time before FM radio and TV had 3 channels turning off at midnight.
Welcome to the 1960's. There is much that can be learned from it. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Look around and ask this question, do you see this song playing out around you?
I was born in '67 and I had an uncle who was around 8 years older than I. I remember when I was in elementary school and he was in high school/early 20s he had a lot of friends die due to overdosing or accidents when they were high. Heartbreaking...
I was lucky my dad was a DJ and just loved music. He was always playing music. Could tell you arrest, song title, album and year of just about any music of his generation. I grew up on Beatles, Allman Brothers, CCR, Steppenwolf, Doors, Cream, Yard Byrds, James Gang (dad is good friends with the drummer Jimmy Fox), Grand Funk Railroad (dad knew them too), Foreigner, April Wine, Journey, REO, Boston....all that good stuff. 60s-70s were maybe the best time for music...the 80s was good too, more my generation. My sister hung out with Ready For the World once after a show at Atwood Stadium, my first real concert. Guy gotta do some KISS, Black Sabbath, some Greta Van Fleet, White Strypes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather...lot of good music coming up right now in Michigan, MOWTOWN, Flint Town....
IMO The music mimics the "feeling"...slow, floating away into space... Life-taking, isolating, Down a dangerous rabbit hole. RIP to MY friends who couldn't find their way out. 😱🪦😭🥀 Another great Reaction👍🏻You break it down so well!
Ya know, at 60, and hearing this for the last 45 years.....I dont think I have never heard "tombstones in their eyes" used......mind blown. I was young but my uncle left his shit layin around...
At it's core this is a 12 bar blues song. John Kay made a powerful statement about the impact of drugs on society which wasn't really the subject of many songs in 1968 other than Curtis Mayfield in 1972.
We had a record player in Band Class! When I was in High school in 1967! I played this song! While the teacher was out of the room, but he had a inter com in his office! He heard it came storming out with a panic look on his face! That was priceless !😲😳😱!..3 day suspension! for that one Took my drums away!🙄! Not so much about the drug content! But the words God Damm! Yep class clown! Shows now in my SSI payments!!😅🥰
I was 9 years old when I first heard this song in 1968. I heard it from my neighbor's older brother album. Never heard anything like it before. I grew up in a small town in the mid-west, where everyone knew each other. The music I listened to was on the AM radio band and mostly pop. However, there was "acid rock". I bought 45 rpm records like Illusion - Did you see her eyes and later, Alive N Kichin - Tighter and Tighter written by Tommy James (of the Shondells fame). Both are great tunes. I still have both 45s! Thanks for the blast from the past...
My quick and easy definition... A dealer is practically a trusted buddy who you call when you're looking for a little smoke, maybe some shrooms or milder pills. A pusher is out out there trying to sell anything he can, to anyone at all, with no regard for life or damage... especially those that hook you so you have to depend on him to get through your day, even if it kills you.
Everytime I hear this song it takes me back to the weekly update on "Vietnam casuaties". I also think on the leather vest biker gangs cruising the USA, different days. Drugs were hard and they were available.
The leadsinger was born in Tilsit/Prussia! That's funny 'cause this country doesn't even exist anymore. The family moved to Canada. Greetings from Germany! Your channel really slows me down (in a good way)
They are all over looked with the two exceptions. One of my faves is Move Over - two great vocal performances and a rockin song. Ley Lawdy Mama, Snow Blind, etc. etc. etc. Their Greatest Hits Album is a gem. They deserved more fame for sure.
Nope wasn't that great....it was a hey we need money and when their music went downhill...kinda like when Joe Walsh did that stupid song about his masarati... an awful song sloppily done to sellout for the money
@Rob Johnson nope okay but this and Born to Be Wild only good songs they did... maybe Magic Carpet Ride but other songs were weak but top 40 garbage overplayed them
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN I guess we'll just disagree. Perhaps I'm just older, and can (or have) place(d) their contributions in perspective to other music at the time (and there was sooo much good music). I Hopefully you've heard enough of their music to form this opinion. If you have - respect.
Great reaction. This came out in 1968 and I believe the Curtis Mayfield song came out in 1972. I don't think Curtis ripped these guys off though. Maybe influenced? The songs have a similar theme but are very different otherwise. Also this song was actually written by Hoyt Axton, though he never put it on an album and the Steppenwolf version is the definitive version.
Thanks again fellas! great reaction. In those days "grass" was "drugs". Now cannabis is one of the best non-toxic medical interventions on earth (and has been for thousands of years).
So.....I was the one that requested that you guys react to "the Pusher," because I saw the response that you guys had with Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride," which was recommended to you from your father wh has great taste in music btw....he is in my age bracket, and thought that you guys would ge a kick out this group and it's message,,,,,very street....The Steppenwolf were one of th pioneers of Heavy Metal Rock and I seen them once in concert on my 21st birthday but that is another story. so I am looking forward to your reaction to this song!!!!
Released in 1968, a very dark time in America (Kennedy and Martin Luther King murdered, Viet Nam in full swing, etc etc). I love the guitar work and the sobering lyrics as only john Kay can deliver them. Thanks for reacting
Yeah, we didn't hear this song on the radio back then. You had to hear it on the album. It was a heavy song. We had to make sure our parents didn't hear it when we played it! This song was on the move Easy Rider.
One of the most intense, important and visceral rock songs, both for its message and the incredible haunting backing from this great band. I saw them in the front row, about 5 feet to the left of John Kay, when this song started there were audible gasps in the audience, it truly was one of the most hair raising crowd reactions I was ever a part of. Great band, another epic from them that, like the Pusher, that is also still relevant today, is Monster, another classic. Great choice guys and reaction! Enjoy. 🎵🎸🎤🎹🎶
"I'd cut him if he stands and /I shoot him if he'd run and/ I'd kill him with my bible /And my razor and my gun." Love that line. So glad ya'll did this one. Mostly AM radio back then, and it was a big deal saying curses like GD on the air. I think some stations may have not played this because of the cursing. Not sure. Some sure did though.
Hey guys from Ned in Spain again. Me and the wife love Steppenwolf and the Pusher is one of their best but it is a cover song. It did precede Curtis' song " Pusherman " by about 4 years. Hoyt Axton the writer of this masterpiece and many other songs had some hits like with this one and for 3 Dog Night and was a sometime actor. He was Randall Peltzer in Gremlins, the guy who buys Gizmo in Chinatown. His version is of the song is kinda different but heavy too ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6-7WpPk00jA.html
Janet just to add another one Hoyt wrote the "" No No No Song"" that Ringo Star sung years back , Janet maybe if you like read about the Singer/Songwriter Laura Nero and all the songs she wrote for other people , you will recognize, maybe you have heard of her, Thank You.
@@drohegda Hey, no problem but I'm actually Ned, my wife is Janet. I do know Laura Nyro's songs that she and groups like 5th Dimension, 3 Dog Night, Streisand, BS&T, recorded and had hits with. She was also a huge influence on Todd Rundgren
