I spun my copy of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins What That Is the other night. My god, what a nut! It’s an old school blues / rock record but what sets it apart is Hawkins’ mad lyrics. “Feast of the Mau Mau” – “Take the fleas from the knees of a demon”, or “Who Do You Love” “Do you really love me baby? Like a rat loves cheese!” Then there’s “Constipation Blues” which is absolutely gross!!!
What That Is!!!!!!!!
I was in Paris in the early ’90’s and caught Screamin’ Jay in a hotel bar. I walked in and he was already on so I sat down and took the show in. He was great! He had these props on stage like a flashlight with a skull over the lens. He’d point it at the audience and its little red eyes would glow. There were also rubber snakes and other campy horror / voodoo stuff. To this day, whenever I’m in a drugstore around Halloween, I cruise the costume / novelty isle and think of Sreamin’ Jay.
Anyway, I was enjoying Hawkins’ set and the waiter came up and asked me what I would like to drink? I ordered a double Wild Turkey on the rocks. He came back and told me the price in Francs. I did the conversion to dollars in my head and it was $45!!! Hawkins was so good, I ordered another drink!
In Other News: I’m in Roll Call today about the Oscar’s and Instant Runoff Voting. Here’s a piece I wrote about some of the criticism in the article.
