As you have read numerous times on this blog, I'm a big fan of 80's movies. Throw in a classic dance sequence or high school prom scene into an 80's movie, and that movie has just improved so much more. The cheesy dances that should you ever want to recreate at your local bar or your best friend's wedding, be prepared to feel the embarrassment when everybody is laughing at you and not with you. The stylish hair cuts filled with tons of mousse, gel, frizz, and whatever other hair product was trendy back then. The neon-colored tuxedos and bright pink dresses. The overuse of make-up. But it's all for naught without a great song to make the scene more enjoyable. A great example of what I'm writing about is the high school prom scene in Just One Of The Guys (a movie that you have already read about numerous times and will continue to read about on this blog!). While we see my boy Clayton Rohner doing his best James Brown impersonation, William Zabka getting his groove on, and Teri Kiser attempting to dance like a guy, a rockin 80's tune is being played by the house band. The song is called Hard Way and the house band performing it was Brock/Davis. When I spoke to Clayton Rohner a few months ago and mentioned I might be one of only ten people on the planet who had the song on his iPod, he smiled and told me I should probably not announce that out loud. He also provided information I didn't know that Brock/Davis was actually Rod Stewart's touring unit that year. Hmm, interesting because I could not find any information at all online about Brock/Davis.
If you are looking to find this song in your local record store, don't even waste your time. My brother had to bid and win the Just One Of The Guys soundtrack on Ebay in order to first get the song a few years ago. The soundtrack is out of print, not available on itunes or any other on-line music service, and no chance of obtaining it on a peer to peer network. Seems to be a running them in these Out There! articles, eh? Now, you can pull tunes from Youtube with specific software to make getting songs like these for your collection. Got to love the internet! Otherwise, this song is nearly impossible to get. The song might be very obscure, but it's got a great rocking melody, and due to having watched Just One Of The Guys numerous times over the past twenty something years, it has kind of become an anthem for me. Hard Way was never released as a single, and Brock/Davis haven't done anything else in their career based on the lack of trivial information available about them on the web. Better to have a hit song from a 80's movie than to not have a hit song at all.
Ladies and gentlemen... "Hard Way" from Just One Of The Guys by the most obscure band I've written about so far, Brock/Davis.
Brock/Davis is Tony Brock and Jay Davis, the drummer and bass player of Rod's 1984 touring line-up. The rest of the band was indeed there in the movie, as well. http://www.rodstewartfanclub.com/about_rod/tour/tour1984.php This link has info on all of 'em. Great song. Since they're the only two credited, I'm aassuming Brock/Davis wrote it.
I was in that prom scene and got invited to a party by J. Davis of Brock-Davis, who was a really cool guy. Couldn't go though. My friend's grandma was on her way to pick up my friends and me. We were also a lot younger than we let on. Lol
Tony Brock & Jay Davis were in Rod Stewart's band! Jay Davis is super cool and funny. He co-wrote Baby Jane with Rod Stewart and was in the band Axis with Vinnie Appice and Danny Johnson, and in bands with Mick Ronson. Tony Brock was drummer for The Babys. I hung out with Jay on the set one night during the filming of the prom scene. I was an extra, one of the prom goers. Six cold November nights, in the middle of the night, on an Arizona beach (AZ beach? lol), dancing to The Hard Way, often with no music on, so the actors could say their lines. . . . I wrote a whole bunch about that experience, but when I hit 'publish,' it all disappeared. . . .
Brock/Davis is Tony Brock and Jay Davis, the drummer and bass player of Rod's 1984 touring line-up. The rest of the band was indeed there in the movie, as well.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rodstewartfanclub.com/about_rod/tour/tour1984.php
This link has info on all of 'em.
Great song.
Since they're the only two credited, I'm aassuming Brock/Davis wrote it.
I was in that prom scene and got invited to a party by J. Davis of Brock-Davis, who was a really cool guy. Couldn't go though. My friend's grandma was on her way to pick up my friends and me. We were also a lot younger than we let on. Lol
ReplyDeleteTony Brock & Jay Davis were in Rod Stewart's band! Jay Davis is super cool and funny. He co-wrote Baby Jane with Rod Stewart and was in the band Axis with Vinnie Appice and Danny Johnson, and in bands with Mick Ronson. Tony Brock was drummer for The Babys. I hung out with Jay on the set one night during the filming of the prom scene. I was an extra, one of the prom goers. Six cold November nights, in the middle of the night, on an Arizona beach (AZ beach? lol), dancing to The Hard Way, often with no music on, so the actors could say their lines. . . . I wrote a whole bunch about that experience, but when I hit 'publish,' it all disappeared. . . .
ReplyDelete