Song of the Day 8/23: Primitive Radio Gods, “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand”

Another one-hit wonder from the ’90s, “Phone Booth” traveled a long road to No. 1 on the modern rock chart in 1996. It started several years earlier, when songwriter Chris O’Connor was fronting a band called the I-Rails in southern California. They recorded four albums to little attention and O’Connor was recording material for a fifth album when the band called it quits. O’Connor put away the tapes until 1994, when he was cleaning out his apartment and found them again. In one last attempt at a contract, O’Connor sent copies to every record company he could think of. One A&R man at Columbia heard this track, built around a B.B. King sample, and thought it could be a hit. He was, of course, absolutely correct.

What I find most interesting is the source of the sample: B.B. King’s live performance of “How Blue Can You Get” at the Cook County jail in 1971. The lines O’Connor lifted come at about the 2:50 mark, but as you can hear, they sound nothing like they do in “Phone Booth.” O’Connor managed to find two lines that, out of context, sound a whole lot more forlorn than anything in King’s “blues” performance. His appearance at Cook County jail, BTW, was the first time he ever played at a prison. He was so struck by the conditions there that he began playing free gigs at any prison that would have him. He performed at more than 50 by the end of the century.

As for Primitive Radio Gods, they’re still at it, despite having been dropped by several record companies along the way.