For this Father’s Day, I’m dedicating today’s song of the day to my father. I miss you, Dad.
He was a hard-headed man He was brutally handsome, and she was terminally pretty She held him up, and he held her for ransom in the heart of the cold, cold city He had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude They said he was ruthless, they said he was crude They had one thing in common, they were good in bed She’d say, ‘Faster, faster. The lights are turnin’ red.” Life in the fast lane Surely make you lose your mind, mm Are you with me so far? Eager for action and hot for the game The coming attraction, the drop of a name They knew all the right people, they took all the right pills They threw outrageous parties, they paid heavenly bills There were lines on the mirror, lines on her face She pretended not to notice, she was caught up in the race
Out every evening, until it was light He was too tired to make it, she was too tired to fight about it
Life in the fast lane Surely make you lose your mind Life in the fast lane, everything all the time Life in the fast lane, uh huh Blowin’ and burnin’, blinded by thirst They didn’t see the stop sign, took a turn for the worse
She said, “Listen, baby. You can hear the engine ring. We’ve been up and down this highway; haven’t seen a goddam thing.” He said, “Call the doctor. I think I’m gonna crash.” “The doctor say he’s comin’, but you gotta pay him cash.” They went rushin’ down that freeway, messed around and got lost They didn’t know they were just dyin’ to get off And it was life in the fast lane Life in the fast lane
Songwriters: Joseph Fidler Walsh / Glenn Lewis Frey / Donald Hugh Henley
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, Crockett and Tubbs head down to Colombia and learn about the smuggler’s blues!
Episode 1.16 “Smuggler’s Blues”
(Dir by Paul Michael Glaser, originally aired on Feb. 1st, 1985)
Someone is blowing up drug dealers and their families in Miami. Homicide Detective Jones (Ron Vawter) doesn’t know why anyone cares about a bunch of smugglers being killed but DEA Agent Ed Waters (a youngish Richard Jenkins) is concerned that a vigilante is on the loose.
If there is a vigilante on the loose, who could it be? Well, we know that it’s not going to be any of our regular cast members, even if Castillo does seem to be kind of tightly wound. So, that really leaves Jones and Waters as our only two suspects. Looking over the notes that I trotted down for this episode, I see that I immediately said that Waters had to be the killer because, when the killer anonymously called the Department towards the end of the episode, I instantly recognized Richard Jenkins’s voice. Of course, it turned out I was totally wrong. Detective Jones turned out to be the killer and apparently, I have no idea what Richard Jenkins actually sounds like.
Anyway, before Detective Jones can be revealed as the murder, Crockett and Tubbs have to go to Colombia so that they can go undercover as dealers and purchase a large amount of cocaine. The idea is that the vigilante will target either Crockett and Tubbs or they’ll go after Trudy, who is undercover as Tubbs’s wife. Working on their own, Crockett and Tubbs recruit a pilot named Jimmy Cole (Glenn Frey) to fly them to Colombia.
Former Eagle Glenn Frey was specifically cast in this episode because the plot was largely based on a song that he had written, Smuggler’s Blues. (The episode’s script was written by Miguel Pinero, who played Calderone earlier in the season.) The song is played throughout the episode, the lyrics hammering home one of Miami Vice‘s key themes. The war on drugs can never be won because there’s way too much money to be made in smuggling and selling.
It’s a good episode, one that features a likable guest turn from Glenn Frey and plenty of action. When Crockett and Tubbs land in Colombia, they find themselves having to fight off both enforcers and cops. Their only ally is Cole, a man who they would normally be expected to arrest, (In a nicely acted scene, Tubbs and Cole bond over the fact that they both served in Vietnam.) Back in the United States, Crockett, Tubbs, and Cole have to fight off a thief, played by Richard Edson. And after all that, it’s still up to Tubbs and Crockett to save Trudy from being blown up in a trailer and this leads to wonderfully tense bomb disarming scene. In the end, Crockett and Tubbs score a victory but we are left with little doubt that it will only be a temporary one. That’s the politics of contraband, to quote both the song and the show.
Today’s music video of the day is from Glenn Frey, who was born 75 years ago on this date. This song was written for Miami Vice. The music video features Glenn not in Miami but New York, where he crosses paths repeatedly with one woman who belongs to the city.
The woman is played by Lisa Parker, who appeared in a handful of films in the 80s.
What if Glenn Frey never joined the Eagles and became a superstar before pursuing even more success as a solo artist?
This video imagines that Glenn would have been the type of talented bar musician who had his fans but who was still able to sit down and have a drink in peace between performances. In this video, Glenn finds somebody at the bar and they leave together. It’s a simple video that probably made a lot of 1982 teens wish they had a job singing at a bar.
This song originally appeared on Glenn’s debut solo album, No Fun Aloud. Despite the title, this album was all about mellow fun in the California sun.
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 10 pm et, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix! The movie? 1986’s Let’s Get Harry!
When Mark Harmon is taken hostage, the U.S. Government proves that it was just as worthless in 1986 as it is in 2022! Fortunately, Harmon’s friends are going to let him be forgotten. Enter Robert Duvall as a soldier of fortune! This film also features Glenn Frey, Rick Rossovich, Thomas F. Wilson, Gary Busey, and David Hess! Director Stuart Rosenberg requested to be credited as Alan Smithee. That’s always a good sign, right?
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! I’ll be there tweeting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Contrary to popular belief, Smuggler’s Blues was not inspired by Miami Vice. Instead, the exact opposite was true.
As Glenn Frey explained in the book, Behind The Hits, he based the song on some of the dealers and smugglers that he met while both a member of the Eagles and during his solo career. “You don’t spend 15 years in rock and roll without coming in contact with entrepreneurs. I’ve wanted to write a song about drug smuggling for a long time, but I’m glad I waited for this one. It says everything I wanted to say on the subject. I’m proud of the lyrics – it’s good journalism.”
The song appeared on Frey’s second solo album and was heard by Miami Vice‘s executive producer, Michael Mann. Mann requested that one of the show’s writers, Miguel Pinero, adapt the song into an episode. That episode, which was named after the song, premiered on February 1st, 1985. The song was played throughout the episode and some of the lyrics were even included in the dialogue. Glenn Frey himself appeared as a pilot. As a result, the episode not only helped to make Smuggler’s Blues a hit but it also launched Frey’s acting career as well.
The video, which was cinematic at a time when many bands were still releasing simple performance clips, was directed by Duncan Gibbins. Gibbins went on to direct a handful of thrillers before his tragic death in 1993. Gibbins was staying in Southern California when a wildfire engulfed the house that he was renting. Gibbins narrowly managed to escape from the house but then saw that a cat had been trapped inside. He went back in and, while he did rescue the cat, he suffered severe burns at a result. Gibbins jumped into house’s swimming pool. not realizing that the burns would allow the chlorine to enter his bloodstream. Gibbins died later that day at Sherman Oaks Hospital, still asking if the cat had survived. (Other than a few minor burns, the cat was unharmed.)
Gibbins work on Smuggler’s Blues is impressive and still influential. The video was honored as “Best Concept Video” at the 1985 MTV Music Video Awards.
Check out my weather forecast for the next few days:
That’s right! Today and tomorrow, the temperature is supposed to get up to 109 degrees! Then on Monday, it’ll only get up to 108 and we’ll finally get some relief on Tuesday when the high plunges down to 101!
Indeed, the heat is on.
(It could be worse. Yesterday, they were saying that the high would hit 110 on Saturday. We’ve gone down a degree! Yay!)
Seriously, the heat in Texas is so bad that, on Thursday, I could barely even drive home. I had to steer with my finger tips because it was literally impossible for me to grip the steering while without burning my hands! If I have to spend this summer driving with oven mitts on my hands, I’m not going to be in a good mood…
As for the song, it was written for the 1984 film, Beverly Hills Cop. The video features clips from that film, mixed in with footage of an editor working in the heat and the band bringing the heat.
Anyway, on a serious note, be careful out there everyone. Keep your pets inside. It might be a good idea to keep yourself inside too. Usually I hate the idea of wasting a weekend but, when it’s this hot, you really don’t have much choice but to spend a few days being lethargic.
Let’s Get Harry opens deep in the jungles of Columbia. The newly appointed American Ambassador (Bruce Gray) is touring a newly constructed water pipeline when suddenly, terrorist drug smugglers attack! The Ambassador, along with chief engineer Harry Burck (Mark Harmon, long before NCIS), is taken hostage. Drug Lord Carlos Ochobar announces that both the Ambassador and Harry will be executed unless the U.S. government immediately releases Ochobar’s men. However, the policy of the U.S. government is to not negotiate with terrorists. As grizzled mercenary Norman Shrike (Robert Duvall) explains it, nobody gives a damn about a minor ambassador.
Nobody in a small blue-collar town in Illinois gives a damn about the ambassador either. But they do give a damn about their friend Harry! When its obvious that the bureaucrats up in Washington are not going to do anything, Harry’s younger brother, Corey (Michael Shoeffling, Sixteen Candles), decides that he and his friends are going to go to Columbia themselves and get Harry! Helping him out are Bob (Thomas F. Wilson, Back to the Future), Kurt (Rick Rossovich, Top Gun), Spence (Glenn Frey!), and Jack (Gary Busey). If Jake Ryan, Biff Tannen, Slider, Buddy Holly, and the guy from the Eagles who wasn’t Don Henley can’t get Harry, then who can!?
There were a lot of these “American rescue mission” movies made in the 80s, everything from Uncommon Valor to The Delta Force to the Rambo films. Plotwise, Let’s Get Harry adds little to the genre. It’s about as simplistic and implausible as a Donald Trump campaign speech. A bunch of terrorists are holding American hostages and making us all look bad while the establishment refuses to do anything about it? Don’t worry! Here come a bunch of heavily armed, no-nonsense American citizens to save the day and make America great again!
There are two things that distinguish Let’s Get Harry. First, Let’s Get Harry is one of the many films to have been credited to Alan Smithee. From 1968 to 2000, Alan Smithee was the official pseudonym used by directors who wanted to disown a project. Smithee has been credited as directing everything from Solar Crisis to Morgan Stewart’s Coming Home to The O.J. Simpson Story. In the case of Let’s Get Harry, Smithee was standing in for veteran director Stuart Rosenberg (probably best known for Cool Hand Luke). Rosenberg originally only planned for Mark Harmon to be seen only at the end of the film, much like Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan. When TriStar Pictures demanded extra scenes featuring Harmon being taken and held hostage, Rosenberg took his name off the film.
(Before Rosenberg signed on to direct, Let’s Get Harry started out as a Sam Fuller project and he received a story credit on the film. With the exception of some of the scenes with Harmon, which may have been shot by a different director, Rosenberg’s direction was adequate but Let’s Get Harry really does cry out for a director like Sam Fuller.)
Secondly, there is the cast, which is a lot more interesting than would be typically found in a low-budget, 80s action film. Not surprisingly, by respectively underplaying and overplaying, Duvall and Busy give the two best performances. Meanwhile, lightweight Mark Harmon gives the worst. Perhaps because of the conflict between Rosenberg and the studio over his character, Harmon spends the entire movie looking lost.
As an exercise in patriotic wish fulfillment, Let’s Get Harry is pure 80s hokum. It may be dumb but it is also entertaining. After all, any film that features not only Robert Duvall, Gary Busey, and Ben Johnson, but also Glenn Frey is going to be worth watching. Let’s Get Harry has never been released on DVD and is currently only available on VHS. Somebody needs to do something about this.
Time for the latest “Song of the Day” and this one has grown on me with each passing year: “Hotel California” by The Eagles. It also continues an impromptu mini-series of songs with some of the greatest guitar solos. The previous entry, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird”, gave us an extended triple guitar solo that never seems to end.
I must admit that the group was never a favorite of mine growing up. I rarely listened to them and when they came on the radio I used to change the station. But as the years passed I began to give them more of a chance. I think part of it comes from the fact that this band is one of my Dad’s favorites. So, I gave them a chance in my advancing years. I guess with age does come wisdom since I began to really dig the band that I’ve dismissed as typical “adult contemporary” music in my youth. This just goes to show that the adage that sometimes “youth is wasted on the young” has some truth to it. My Dad’s probably looking down at me right now wherever he is and giving me that smirking smile that says “I told you so.”
“Hotel California” is my favorite of all the songs The Eagles have ever made. It’s not just catchy but the song also plays out like some sort of tale being sung by bards of old. Well, bards of old until we get to the dueling guitar solos by Don Felder and Joe Walsh which forms the climactic finish to the song. Guitar solos that I must say earns its place in rock pantheon as one of the best. That’s fact and not hyperbole.
FACT.
Another reason why this song of The Eagles is a favorite of mine is just the sense of the ominous just below the surface of the song. The lyrics does play out like a story, but a story tinged with a sense of malice and just a hint of the supernatural. It’s no wonder some of the more religious-minded fans of the song consider “Hotel California” as a song that details a time spent inside the Anton LeVay purchased San Francisco hotel called Hotel California which was converted into what would become the Church of Satan.
Lastly, I just plain love this song for the fact it paints my home state of California as something more than just a place to live and work in, but a place half in and out of reality. Maybe the song will convince Lisa Marie that California isn’t that bad of a state to be in.
Hotel California
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself, ‘this could be heaven or this could be hell’ Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say…
Welcome to the hotel california Such a lovely place Such a lovely face Plenty of room at the hotel california Any time of year, you can find it here
Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the captain, ‘please bring me my wine’ He said, ‘we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’ And still those voices are calling from far away, Wake you up in the middle of the night Just to hear them say…
Welcome to the hotel california Such a lovely place Such a lovely face They livin’ it up at the hotel california What a nice surprise, bring your alibis
Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice And she said ‘we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’ And in the master’s chambers, They gathered for the feast The stab it with their steely knives, But they just can’t kill the beast
Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back To the place I was before ‘relax,’ said the night man, We are programmed to receive. You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave!
Through the Shattered Lens 