For the love of rock
Vol I, Issue 12 – First hit (15 Dec 2016)
Name of song– First hit
Band- Arrows
Album– First Hit
Writer– Jake Hooker, Alan Merril
Release year– 1976
Similar artists– Mud, Badfinger, Sweet, Smokie, Suzy Quatro,
First hit
Reviewer-Bikash Shrestha/Nirab Kayastha
The Arrows, a British American band based in London is an amazing band in the history of rock music. They could be taken as a prototype seventies rock band lost in the glory of themselves. It was formed in 1974 with 3 people, Alan Merrill (Vocals/bass), Jake Hooker (Guitars) and Paul Varley (Drums) and disbanded in 1977. For many, it is a surprise fact that the song “I love rock ‘n’ roll” which was a chart topper for Joan Jett & The Blackhearts in 1982, is actually the single by the Arrows produced in 1975.
The Arrows’ short spanned career had lots of interesting stuffs. They had only one album, “First Hit” (1976), only 6 singles and among them, many were 30 UK chart hit singles, two 14-week television shows in UK titled “Arrows” and no records released during the run of either the series! Actually, they had only 21 recorded tracks but 28 TV shows!! In 1976, they even had their book produced titled “Arrows: The Official Story” written by Bill Harey who was also the biographer for the Beatles!!! They are probably one of the very few bands who even had a weekly cartoon strips in Music Star magazine!!!! In 1976, they added on the fourth member to their group, Terry Taylor on guitar. His addition made the Arrows sound more sophisticated for the second series of TV shows, however, they never produced any recorded tracks with him. All in all, this band did leave an amazing legacy in the rock music.
The song “First hit” is taken from their only officially released album in 1976. Written by Merrill and Hooker, this song is one song which is perhaps underrated in the field of seventies rock. For those, who are listening to it for the first time, my suggestion is, wash your mind, plug in your ears and close the eyes and submerge yourself into the fantasy of those heydays of rock. I promise you won’t regret.
The song starts with a nice solo drum beat, adding on with rhythmic percussion and then enigmatic bass and rhythm guitar joins in, creating a charismatic aura. The soft, rocky voice of Merrill then comes in to complete the mesmerizing theme of the song. The teenager lyrics then drive into the nostalgia of those long gone forlorn days. The song continues in the same charismatic mode with minimal addition of electric guitar in the following stanza. The simple, yet attractive lead guitar played by Hooker suits exactly the flavor of this teenager’s rocky number. At the end stanza, the song as if ends abruptly, and then the whole thing restarts slowly and finally fades away with the main chorus stanza. The song describes about the good old days, of the school, involving fun, parental guidance, smoke, crush, money, tragedy and all one can think of. This song is an example where a simple acoustic guitar with good bass and percussion can create a fantastic rock number.
Although the Arrows remain as an underrated band with fabulous singles and amazing epic legacy, they are still able to arouse interest after decades. And this song, “First hit”, definitely justifies the attention they always deserved.
Happy listening!!
Resources– Wikipedia.org, Allmusic.com
Youtube video link – https://youtu.be/P5u5sjcf0Js
First hit
When I was just a boy,
My mama said to me,
Keep your hand out of the fire,
Involve you in misery,
Well, I had to learn the hard way, (Hard way),
As you smack me across the face, (Across the face),
But the pain instead,
No it didn’t hurt a bit,
I had my first hit, the first hit of my life, (First hit of my life),
First hit, (First hit of my life)
First hit, (First hit of my life)
First hit, first hit of my life
Do you remember school,
They tried to board me out,
And we produced,
Smoke curling out of my mouth,
I cried my eyes after the dream,
It was almost a good enough act, (Good enough act)
And I look at thirteen,
Man I just have to admit, it was my first hit
The first hit of my life, (First hit of my life),
First hit, (First hit of my school life)
First hit, (First hit of my life)
First hit, first hit of my life
Then I fell in love,
Sure enough, taste of sweet,
We had it all together,
This thing was shown off me,
Worked to give up my money, (My money)
Gave her everything I had, (Everything I had)
For better or bad, where one day she just split,
Another first hit,
First hit of my life, (First hit of my life),
First hit, (First hit of my love life),
First hit, (First hit of my life),
First hit, first hit of my life
(First hit of my life), first hit
(First hit of my school life), first hit
(First hit of my life), first hit
(First hit of my love life), first hit
(First hit of my life), first hit
(First hit of my school life), first hit