Thursday, July 19, 2012

Dr. Hook--Sylvia's Mother (1972)

     Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show got it's start in 1970 as the three members of the group, The Chocolate Papers broke up, than reformed with new lead singer Dennis Locorriere. The name of the group came from one of their first gigs when a club owner said they needed a name for a poster that would promote a gig that night. Guitarist George Cummings made a sign that said, "Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: Tonic For The Soul". The name Dr. Hook was a play on bandmate Ray Sawyer's eye patch (he had lost an eye in a 1967 car accident).
     An early enthusiast of the group was songwriter Shel Silverstein. Some of Shel's songs were chosen for the 1970 movie, "Who is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me" (no kidding...that was the name of the movie) Silverstein suggested that Dr. Hook would be the perfect band to perform the songs in the movie. The movie was less than stellar at the box office, but it would lead Ron Haffkine, who was musical director of the movie to become their manager.
     They were signed to CBS records in 1971 and Silverstein wrote their first single. "Sylvia's Mother". The song was autobiographical was Shel wrote about a failed relationship he had with a woman named Sylvia. He called her mother to attempt to rekindle things, but to no avail. The song reached number five in the summer of 1972, and launched Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show to stardom. They just became Dr. Hook in 1975, and had a stellar career for the rest of the 70's. By the way, although "Cover of the Rolling Stone" is their signature song, "Sylvia's Mother", and 1980's "Sexy Eyes" were better sellers.


      

1 comment:

  1. I had been meaning to post this song on A Bit Like You And Me for a while now, but I had never seen this version before. Very cool. It's a great song.

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