But a sitcom that bucked this trend considerably during its run was The Drew Carey Show. During its first season it used a brief ditty called "Moon Over Parma" with a caricatured sketch of the show's titular star. It wasn't long and evidently didn't need to be. By the time it wrapped in 2004 (it was on for that long?), it had been using "Cleveland Rocks", a song originally by Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople but which had now been covered by the Presidents of the United States of America, a band I had quite happily forgotten all about. By this time, Drew and the gang were doing what amounted to a giant flashmob all over the streets of the Ohio city. It sucked but by that point the show wasn't all that good anymore either.
It was the show's second theme that is of primary concern here because they used "Five O'Clock World" by The Vogues. The song didn't reference Cleveland or Ohio — and The Vogues came from a town just outside of (gasp!) Pittsburgh, a longtime nemesis of the home of Rock 'n' Roll — but it seemed perfect for the show's knowing blend of the working class grind and escapist absurdity. While viewers who were Carey's age or older were likely familiar with it, the vast majority of the show's younger following had no idea what this was. I daresay most of us never knew who The Vogues were, unless - at best - they happened to pick up a copy of Cleveland Rocks! Music from The Drew Carey Show (I didn't; I don't remember it coming out, I wasn't that big of a fan of the show and there was always something off about soundtrack albums for TV shows). The first time I saw this intro, I figured it was a gimmick that was meant to be part of that particular epsiode, not a permanent fixture of the show.
As 1965 progressed, it seemed like more of an effort was being made by pop stars to address issues and concerns beyond love and heartbreak. The Beatles finished off the year with arguably their most pivotal album release, Rubber Soul. The opening track is a supposed comedy song about a wannabe starlet who drafts in a young man to be her chauffeur. It's followed by a confessional tale of spending the night at another woman's place albeit with the narrator lying that nothing happened. The idea that the Fab Four would have crafted songs like "Drive My Car" and "Norwegian Wood" would have been unthinkable even a few months earlier. While Rubber Soul would prove to be deeply influential even to this day, it seems that many in pop on both sides of the Atlantic were moving away from simplistic love songs independent of each other. Folk music may have had a long tradition of song about unemployment but the topic of being overworked and stressed had been largely untapped.
There's a great deal to admire in "Five O'Clock World": it tells a good story, it's easy to get into and it feels like a party is about to kick off. That said, I don't quite love it. Spector-esque production was already becoming passe by 1966, especially when it didn't involve Phil Spector. I mean, if you're going to go with that wall of sound then by all means go to the master to get the desired results. I still may not like it but he would've been the one to turn to. Copying what is already a hit-and-miss production style isn't the best idea. In this case, lead singer Bill Burkette is at times downed out by his fellow Vogues and/or the Nashville session crew backing them. It doesn't help that there's just too much going on and it's just as easy to get swamped in the dense arrangement as it is to bask in all its glory.
And then there's the fact that I'm just sick of it now. Having reacquainted myself with "Five O'Clock World" for the first time since I was nineteen or twenty and still considered myself a fan of The Drew Carey Show, I was at first taken with it all over again. That was a week or so ago. Now, I'm beginning to understand why Carey opted for yet another theme song after just one season of using The Vogues' signature tune. Sure, replacing it with shouty American indie rock was a poor decision but I sympathize with why they wanted to be rid of what they'd been using. With the RPM chart of the mid-sixties being entrenched in a series of one-week number ones, I often find myself wondering how some great singles weren't able to stay on top for longer. In this instance, however, I definitely get it: seven days was more than enough.
Score: 7
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Can Con
Born in New York and raised in Bermuda, Debbie Lori Kaye came to Canada in the early sixties so she was either a citizen or a permanent resident by the time her version of "Soldier Boy" made the RPM chart. This week it reached number twenty-six; it would peak at a respectable sixteen a couple weeks later. "Soldier Boy" has already come up in this space. In that review, I mainly discussed just how realistic these pledges of fidelity were when young men were being sent to serve in the American military. The Shirelles sing it in a way that made me convinced that there's little long-term hope for the majority of these separated couples. But here, Kaye delivers the lyrics with a good deal more hope. She actually sounds proud of her boyfriend going off to serve his country — and well she might. Their relationship was probably going to sour too but she doesn't have know what's about to come down. In any case, Kaye has a sweet voice, one that could have been put to good use on anything from country to soul. One to look out for assuming she comes up again.
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