TOE JAM MONDAYS: The Heavy
You know when you buy a new shirt and you love it? You wear it every day and wonder how you ever left the house in anything else. Then time passes and one day you remember about this shirt you wore every day and wonder what happened to it. How could it end up in a ball in the back of your closet when you were once obsessed with it? Or did it get lost in the laundry abyss?
This happens to me a lot – both with clothes and music. I find an album that I listen to all day, every day and everywhere. Then I find something else that steals my attention and this album gets lost somewhere in the musical abyss. But, like that well-worn shirt, once you find that old gem, you remember why you loved it in the first place.
One of those albums for me is Great Vengeance and Furious Fire by UK band, The Heavy. I remember hearing this album and thinking “I’ve never heard anything like this!” It has a little of bit everything but in all the right proportions. Not too much R&B, just enough rock ‘n’ roll and a little bit of softness.
The songs “Colleen” and “Sixteen” off of their first and second releases, are party playlist staples. The opening horns on “Colleen” are party gold and the opening sample of “I Put a Spell On You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins on the song “Sixteen” always get the blood pumping.
The Heavy – Sixteen
Although these British boys – well men, actually – offer a brand of soulful rock ‘n’ roll that was new to my ears, their song “Stuck” off of their second release The House That Dirt Built is a favourite slow jam of mine. Of course, I love the words to this song – like “There was a frost when you left this mornin’, but there will be fireworks when you get home” but the melody is what really gets me.
The Heavy – Stuck
But, it wasn’t until I saw the movie The Fighter that it sparked a memory and helped clear the cluttered closet that is my mind and reminded me how much I once loved these albums. Their song “How You Like Me Now” was featured in the movie and once it was finished, I immediately searched my library – after I searched for real-live clips of Dicky Eklund of course – and revived our love affair.
Fun fact about this song – When the band performed it on The Late Show with David Letterman, they were the first band in the show’s history, that Letterman asked for an encore. They played the song again and this time Letterman and Paul Schaffer joined in.
The Heavy – The Heavy – How You like me now
I guarantee you’ll love these albums and make sure you click HERE to buy them.
Happy Listening!