Song Of The Day 7/8/2014: Edison Lighthouse - "It's Up to You Petula"

Sub-Hit Wonders – The '70s: Edison Lighthouse was an open-and-shut case: "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)." That's all she wrote. Wham, bam, thank you Don Kirschner. Move along, nothing to see here. "Love Grows" was the first song on Rhino Records' legendary Have A Nice Decade: The '70s Pop Culture Box, so indelibly did it kick off the whole sensational next ten years, and how diligently Edison Lighthouse were carded for the duration of their stay.

Despite her reputation as fertlizer for the soul, Rosemary wasn't the only name in The Lighthouse's little black book. "It's Up To You Petula" was a savage referendum on the free-wheeling sexual exploration of the era. And by "savage," I mean "blithely polite and string-driven." I thought I'd go for their appearance on an unidentified pop music broadcast of the era, to catch all the unpredictable fireworks that are part and parcel of your typical Edison Lighthouse lip-synching performance. Note drummer George Weyman's constant fondling of his yielding ride cymbal. If you played the ride cymbal that constantly in the actual recording of your song it'd sound like a drunken one-night stand with an Ace Hardware tool belt. Not for the squeamish.