ROCK Sex: "25 Miles" - Wilson Pickett > Edwin Starr > The Three Amigos

ROCK Sex has gotta keep on walkin'!

Today, how one great riff leaves footprints through many great tracks.

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In this more obscure song, Wilson Pickett paves a rough trail with the funky riff on the verses, but wanders away on the chorus.

WILSON PICKETT -"Mojo Mamma" (1967)



This Reggae cover senses that the real trail was in the verses.

SOUND DIMENSION -"Mojo Rocksteady" (1968)



But it took Edwin Starr to go all the way, making a bold trail out of that verse riff as the whole swing of a new song.

EDWIN STARR -"25 Miles" (1968)



Here's DON VARNER walking in Wilson Pickett's shoes but clearly on Edwin Starr's road.

DON VARNER - "Mojo Mama" (1969)



As a smash hit, the song becomes a standard with paths for interpretation.

LONNIE SMITH -"25 Miles" (1970)



This Rock'n'Soul band renames Edwin Starr's road and broadens it.

THE MOB -"Give It To Me" (1971)



Here comes HipHop to electric boogaloo down Broadway.

COOKIE CREW -"Got To Keep On" (1989)



And not long behind is a Big Beat band who keeps on trucking!

THE THREE AMIGOS -"25 Miles" (2001)





© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• SHAKE AND FINGER POP! Soul Music and the Interior Truth, with Music Player!

• The Temptations > Love and Rockets

• "You Can't Hurry Love" - The Supremes > Iggy Pop > The Jam > David Bowie


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

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ROCK Sex: "Sugar Sugar" - The Archies > Wilson Pickett

ROCK Sex is back showing how pop culture links up.

Here's how the Bubblegum Pop hit "Sugar Sugar" turns into sultry Soul.

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ARCHIE, the popular comic book character, had a cartoon series in the late '60s. To stay hip with the youth, the cast formed a band and performed songs throughout the show in the tradition of The Monkees.

Beyond all absurdity, they scored a #1 hit that gets in your head and never goes away.

The vocals were actually sung by Pop journeyman Ron Dante, with a bit of an all-star cast of studio stalwarts, including Girl Group scribe Elle Greenwich and Country star Ray Stevens.

THE ARCHIES -"Sugar, Sugar" (1969)



Wilson Pickett had an incredible knack for covering other folk's songs and surpassing the original.

First off, he was Wilson Pickett. And secondly he was usually backed by the Stax Records house bands or the Muscle Shoals bands.

Here's another sterling example of Wicked Pickett taking ownership of a song.

WILSON PICKETT -"Sugar Sugar" (1970)



Other unlikely but interesting versions were done by Bob Marley, Kurt Russell (yes, the actor), Sinn Sisamouth, Gladys Knight And The Pips, The Germs, BIG YOUTH, Praga Khan (Lords Of Acid), and Cornershop!

You have to admit, the song is too catchy, it's got a swing in it, and the lyrics are subversively kinky.


"Like the summer sunshine pour your sweetness over me
Oh sugar, pour a little sugar on it honey
You are my candy girl
And you've got me wanting you"

(They may have also had an influence on Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me".)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "Time Is Tight!" - Booker T > The Clash > Elvis Costello > Squeeze

• "I Thank You" - Sam And Dave > ZZ Top


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

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