Review Revue: George Thorogood and the Destroyers - Bad to the Bone

Review Revue
03/14/2013
KEXP

You might not think George Thorogood and the Destroyers would be the most obvious choice for rotation at a scrappy college station in the early '80s, but there are a couple important points you should remember:

1) Before "Bad to the Bone" had been played into the ground by rock radio, then classic rock radio and every cheesy commercial and movie soundtrack ever, it was just a kickass piece of blues rock by some guy from Delaware (who, OK, had released a few albums and toured with the Rolling Stones, but was still relatively unknown compared to his subsequent ubiquity.)

2) George and his band were an inspiration to college radio darlings The Melvins in their recent 51 day tour covering all 50 states and Washington, DC. The Destroyers actually went beyond that in 1980, cramming DC and Maryland into one day, and thus doing the whole thing in 50 days, but either way it's an impressive feat. 30-plus years later, perhaps it's time to try and listen to George and Co. with fresh ears.

"I wanna cut myself with George's strings . . ."

"No-no-no, no-no no-no-no-no, no, no no no no . . . YEAH."

"Yeah is not sufficient! 'No Particular Place to Go' also rocks and burns!"

"Must be hard to play something that's been burnt Neil."

"Holy smokes! It's just an expression."

"'Bad to the Bone,' although popular, is an excellent blues-rock tune." [Gotta love that phrasing: "It may be enjoyed by a large number of people, but it's actually good!" Ah, college radio . . .]

"This album is just too fucking good. It really Shakes the Shack." [And yes, that comment is by the one and only Dr. Leon Berman.]

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