In the grip of punk rock in 1978 and going to endless parties where they played Bowie and Kraftwerk I still found myself listening to artists none of my group of like minded inner city rock dudes were taking any notice of.
Warren Zevon was big on the radio with a track called Werewolves of London which I found 'too' funny. Never caring for funny songs longer than the one play when I would get the joke. So I wrote him off. Kinda. There was something in the piano playing and the casual looseness of the recording that I liked. The fondness bore fruit when I was at a teacher party in 79 (the kind of parties I would avoid because I found them quite alien to me) and someone sat me me down and said "you're in a band, you like good music, listen to Warren Zevon"..or something along those lines.
The wine was flowing from the casks. I was feeling alright so I thought I would give it a go. The first thing I heard was Excitable Boy and not only was the music great but I couldn't get over the lyrics. They were not only humorous but incredibly macabre. and the backing and the feel just got you singing along to these nasty doings by this serial nutter.
I ended buying the album and collecting his other stuff. It also made me like a few things Jackson Browne did after I learned of his connections to Warren Zevon.
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