ROCK Sex: "Rumble" - Link Wray > Adam Ant > TWIN PEAKS

ROCK Sex says "That gum you like is going to come back in style."

Today, a riot in the streets or a tumble in the sheets? Here's a song full of secrets both sexy and dangerous.

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It started with a dance in the late-'50s called The Stroll; crowds would line parallel while couples vamped spontaneous dances in the walkway between them. This was often done to easy shuffles like Chuck Willis' remake of the perennial blues, "C. C. Rider".

A Canadian quartet called The Diamonds had a huge hit on the trend with "The Stroll", turning it into a sensuous slow-grind with raunchy sax and an air of menace underneath.

THE DIAMONDS -"The Stroll" (1958)



Guitarist Link Wray was jamming with his band to work out an instrumental take of "The Stroll" for a live gig. They emphasized the grinding edge and came up with a new original which was a smash with the crowd, who demanded they play it five times. Link punched holes in his amp speakers to replicate that live buzz when it came time to record it.

It is the only instrumental ever banned on the radio because of conservative fear that it would trigger gang riots! Instead, it unleashed a style riot that never ends. The song is hailed as the dawn of feedback and distortion in Rock music, opening the way for Garage Rock, Heavy Metal, Punk, Industrial, and Grunge later.

LINK WRAY & HIS RAY MEN- "Rumble" (1958)



Adam Ant and his great guitarist Marco Pirroni modified the "Rumble" riff for their own song of menace.

ADAM AND THE ANTS -"Killer In The Home" (1980)



"Rumble" is the spiritual and sonic father of this song by the acclaimed composer Angelo Badalamenti for the soundtrack, TWIN PEAKS: Fire Walk With Me (1992). In the film, troubled teen queen Laura Palmer gets into a night of debauchery in The Pink Room, a dangerous backroom in a sleazy bar. (The room portends the hinge to The Red Room, the ultimate crux of the TWIN PEAKS series.)

Slow, edgy, sexy, lethal...

ANGELO BADALAMENTI -"Pink Room" (1992)


Here is an alternate extension, released later...

ANGELO BADALAMENTI -"Blue Frank" (1992/2007)

*****NOTE:
If you are new to TWIN PEAKS, watch the original two TV seasons first, and then the follow-up film TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME after them.
[Then watch the new series, TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (2017)].
Though the film is a prequel, it is deliberately meant to be seen after the first two seasons for dramatic context.*****



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 30 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!

• "MOONLIGHT SONATA" - Beethoven > The Beatles > Piero Umiliani > En Vogue > TWIN PEAKS

• MAGRITTE = The Beatles > Jeff Beck > THE EXORCIST > Jackson Browne > Styx > TWIN PEAKS


• The Pedigree of PETER GUNN, with Music Player!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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