I Want a New Nugent – An Xperience Article

I Want a New Nugent – An Xperience Article – by Rob Skane.

Ted Nugent owned a pretty good chunk of guitar hero real estate in the 1970’s. He played guitar like he was insane. He sang like he was insane. And, Key-Reist… he even looked insane. Check the album cover photo on “Cat Scratch Fever.”  Actually, don’t, it may freak you out and you’ll need time in a safe space with a fidget spinner. Anyway, when rock n’ roll was scary, Nugent was next level.

The music was proud and furious. The playing was incendiary, and the Fender Super Twin amps made Uncle Ted sound as loud as an airplane. Derek St. Holmes had a fantastic rock n’ roll voice. He kept the vocals “upstairs” – which was standard operating procedure when it came to rocking hockey rinks down to the ground. Let’s not forget that St. Holmes was no slouch in the guitar slinger department either. Rob Grange held down the bottom end on bass and Clifford Davies beat the ever-loving daylights out of the drums. These dudes were blazing. Stormtroopin’ through your town and melting faces. They were truly an American Band, ya heard?

September of 1975 brings us Nugent’s first solo wax – “Nugent.” Brilliant, right? The first two songs on Side One, “Stranglehold” and “ Stormtroopin’,” just about made my brain melt out of my ears. Either that or it was sweat from the headphones because I probably listened to Side One about a dozen times in succession, who knows… And a year later we have platter number two, “Free-for-All.” “Dog Eat Dog” was/is mind-blowing. Fun fact, those first two records went platinum. This was when people brought albums and the FM radio played everything. Yeah, there was payola too, but so what? The records were UH – MAZING. Saint Ted of Nugent toured forever behind those records and people went bananas when he played. So did he.

Check it, kids, eight months after album two we have the legendary “Cat Scratch Fever” lp. Eight months … not three years of meditating and chanting the evil spirits out of your Gibson Byrdland hollow-body electric guitar. The Nuge was working it. Playing gigs and writing naughty rock n’ roll songs, who said “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang?” He kept on chooglin’ all day, every day and everywhere. This record goes triple-effin’ platinum, by the way.

So … three years and three studio albums brings us to the Motor City Madman’s finest hour, sorta. “Double Live Gonzo!” Holy buckets of sheep shit, this record is phenomenal. It’s got the best Woofah Goofah Mama Toofah-inspired stage raps ever, bar none. “… I know that ain’t nobody out there came to be mellow tonight, now did ya?” And the sensitive and caring dedication of a “love song” to all that Nashville … ummm. Yeah, go listen to the record, ok?

Uncle Ted was important. He made rock n’ roll fun and bawdy and over the top, in a different way than KISS did. He flew around the stage like he was no stranger to Peruvian marching powder, you feel me? He hit the stage, all the time, like a man who spent three weeks in a tree stand eating apples and bow hunting the Great White Buffalo. See, this is what we need now. We need another Nuge. Another Uncle Ted. Let’s make rock n’ roll absolutely crazy again.

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