07/05/2024
On This Day (Earache My Eye (Song) Cheech and Chong (July 1974)
https://youtu.be/VJW67QN24SA - (Video)
https://youtu.be/9bwEy8BQBfk - (Earache My Eye) Live 1978
https://youtu.be/XqyegIAGlmk - (Earache My Eye) (Audio)
"Earache My Eye" is a comedy routine and song by Cheech and Chong from their 1974 album Cheech & Chong's Wedding Album.
The skit is about a teenager (played by Tommy Chong) who wakes up and listens to a song by "Alice Bowie" (Cheech Marin), while his father (also played by Marin) yells at him to get ready for school.
The song, unnamed in the skit, was released as a single under the name "Earache My Eye" and gained surprising popularity, reaching the top 10 on the charts in the United States and Canada.
It has since been covered by many artists most notably Widespread Panic, Korn and Soundgarden.
The song had its music written by Gaye Delorme and was performed by session musicians including Delorme on guitar and Airto Moreira on drums. It is best known for its guitar riff.
History;
The routine first appeared on Cheech & Chong's Wedding Album (1974). It was later included on the greatest hits collections Cheech & Chong's Greatest Hit (1981) and Where There's Smoke There's Cheech & Chong, the latter a double-CD anthology from 2002.
Cheech and Chong lip sync to the recording (with Chong behind the drum kit) in their first movie Up in Smoke (1978).
The song has been featured repeatedly on the Dr. Demento radio show, and it is included on the Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection.
According to Tommy Chong's autobiography, the famous guitar riff is played by Gaye Delorme, who also composed the music for the song.
Additionally, Chong states that drums on the song are played by famed international percussionist Airto Moreira.
The song was released as a single in 1974 and reached #9 on the Billboard charts and #4 in Canada.
In Chicago, it topped the charts at the powerful and influential Top 40 radio station WLS (AM), holding the #1 position for one week in September 1974, in the middle of an eleven-week run on the station's top 40 airplay charts.
The song also reached the top spot for one week on the West Coast's biggest Top 40 radio station, Los Angeles' KHJ-AM.
The B-side, "Turn That Thing Down", features the remainder of the musical track from the point of Marin's monologue about his wealth, without the actual dialogue, complete to its conclusion.
It is possible to assemble the full-length version of the song by editing the two sections together.
The version featured on Cheech & Chong's Greatest Hit fades out before reaching the skit as it appears on the single and the Wedding Album LP.
Once the song hit its peak on the charts, radio station managers and owners, especially the AM stations, pulled the song off the air following multiple complaints.
Phone calls and angry letters came from parents, teachers, psychologists, clergy, principals, school administrators and counselors.
Complaints stated that this song mostly appealed to junkies, dropouts, drug addicts and drunkards as well as students playing hooky from class, giving them a bad model for their behavior.
Those who opposed the track threatened to boycott the stations unless the song was permanently withdrawn.
"Oldies" station AM 1110 KRLA banned the track, and some radio managers threatened to fire any disc jockey who played it.
Sponsors threatened to pull their advertisements unless the song was completely removed from playlists.
The AM stations threatened to fire any radio station employees who accepted requests or discussed the track on the air.
http://www.cheechandchong.com/
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