Song of the Day 4/28: Henry Gross, “Shannon”

You don’t have to be an animal lover to find yourself aghast at the Kristi Noem dog-killing story – not just that she did it in the first place, which is horrifying enough, but that she’s actually trying to defend her behavior. Even Michael Vick had more sense than that.

Americans treasure two animals above all others: Man’s Best Friend, and His Noble Steed. These are the only animals people write sentimental songs about, and they write a lot of them, like this schmaltzy 1976 hit by singer-songwriter wonder Henry Gross.

Gross was a founding member of Sha Na Na – he was just 18 when he played guitar with the oldies act at Woodstock – but had been trying to establish a solo career for several years by 1975, when he found himself on tour opening for the Beach Boys. He was hanging out with Carl Wilson when talk turned to dogs. They learned they each had a dog named Shannon, and Wilson’s dog had recently been killed by a car.

It was a few weeks later, Gross said, when during a writing session, “my thoughts drifted to Carl, The Beach Boys and with a glance at my girl Shannon, the indescribable sadness that losing such a beloved partner in life must be. The song seemed to write itself, taking no more than ten minutes.” It rose to No. 6 on the Hot 100, making Gross a one-hit wonder, though he did later have another song reach No. 37.