Tag Archives: One Hit Wonders

Motorcycle Mama

18 Jun

I am a sucker for one-hit wonders.  But one-hit wonders with a concept album?  Well that’s something even more special.

Sailcat was a group who had a hit in 1972 called “Motorcycle Mama.”  The album that this song was on tells the story of a motorcycle drifter who steals, falls in love, settles down, but is still the same person at his core.  Each song had a motorcycle-related drawing to illustrate it.  “Motorcycle Mama” is a kind of breezy ’70s tune that somehow seems like it would fit right into a soundtrack from that era.

Fast forward nearly 20 years to 1990, when Elekra Records celebrated its 40th anniversary with a compilation, Rubåtiyåt.  That album was actually an interesting concept in itself.  It featured then-current groups covering songs made famous by past Elektra/Asylum artists.

The SugarCubes covered “Motorcycle Mama” and I think their version is a more compelling one than the original.  But download ’em both and see what you think.  In either case, I wouldn’t mind seeing the world from someone’s Harley right now. Not as much as I’d like to see it from a Ducati, of course, but the Harley view might be more comfortable.