Dyn-O-Mite!
Stormy - Classics IV (Blast from the Past Sunday)
I love cable television. You really never know what you’ll find when you flip around, especially if it’s late at night. I used to spend almost every Saturday at a family friend’s house, and my friend, my sister and I loved nothing more than to find the goofiest stuff to watch as our parents talked in the other room. This is how we wound up watching endless episodes of Storage Wars and the little known Who Wants to Date a Comedian. After a particularly rough episode of the latter, starring Jimmie “Dyn-o-mite” Walker, we ended up switching to an advertisement for a “Best of the 60s” CD box set. This was much better, and it wasn’t just because we had such a dud to compare it to. I loved watching minuscule clips of bands and artists come across the screen, making mental notes of the songs I liked so I could go back to them later. However, no song got me that night more than Classics IV’s “Stormy”.
I have a feeling one of the only reasons I still remembered the song was because of the band’s name. Having a roman numeral in the name is pretty classy, if I do say so myself, though it does cause me to read “IV” as the actual letters instead of “four”, as you’re supposed to. But I digress. “Stormy” is a song that has a stronger ambience than any other, a tune that takes you out of the present and straight to their past. Despite the name, I think the song captures more of the calm before the storm, with a laid back tempo and backing “ooos” like a gentle wind. The beat is crisp and steady throughout, laying the foundation for the rest of the band to go ham.
If you’re wondering what I mean by the rest of the band, I’m mainly referring to the saxophone solo. Uh-huh. Yeah. SAXOPHONE SOLO!!! Hopefully my capital letters can accurately translate the joy that I feel writing that. I love saxophone, especially when it’s a surprise addition towards the end. It fits so well, giving a soulful touch to an already emotionally charged song. After all, what’s a rainy day without a bit of jazz?
“Stormy” is only one out of many Classics IV songs I’ve loved over the years, but its the one that I think about the most. I listen to it when it’s rainy in the air or in my heart, and it never fails to calm me down and let me escape from reality for a little while. In an interesting twist of fate, the adjective I think describes “Stormy” the best is none other than “Dyn-O-Mite”!
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