Song Of The Day 7/9/2014: Starbuck - "Benny Bought the Big One"

Sub-Hit Wonders – The '70s: Starbuck was from Atlanta, and came into existence less than three years after their more profitable coffee-sellin', basketball-team-losin' pluraized namesakes from 'round these parts. Between the two of them, Starbuck the band had a bigger reign on the pop charts with the quirky "Moonlight Feels Right." Starbucks Coffee responded somewhat with a riveting compilation of Jason Mraz's favorite smooth jazz songs as re-recorded by alt-country bands in a hermetically sealed environment. I'm kidding, of course. I'm just jealous. But back to Starbuck, Le Band: "Moonlight Feels Right" was a weird but catchy little number, combining the spacy infra-red signals of tasteful analogue synthesizers with plucky xylophone, a beanie and an arsenal of heavy-duty Burt Reynolds mustaches. Rides were way more than a dollar with the Starbuck crew.

Then next year came, and the clamor for Starbuck the Band was starting to ebb a little, just as our nationalized espresso fetish was waiting in the wings. Starbuck made an album called Rock 'n' Roll Rocket, containing today's gem "Benny Bought the Big One," a remarkably sanitized, comforting string essay which appears to be about a guy named Benny who's now dead. Unless it's a metaphor for something else, but I doubt it. I think Benny's dead. Dead as dead gets, and ain't no mochaccino gonna revive his sorry ass. Please drive forward.