Song of the day: Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons – "I Will Return"

Here is/are Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, a band that started off life as an R&B combo in the late 1970s and then morphed into Elvis Costello soundalikes before moving on to whatever new sound was in at the time. (They even went all Kid Creole and The Coconuts there for a while).

This is the band in their Elvis Costello phase:

Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons – “I Will Return” (1980)

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Song of the day: Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons – "So Young"

Today’s song is “So Young” by Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons. It has a slightly ska, slightly Elvis Costello vibe* until, at precisely the one-minute mark, you’re presented with a Monster Guitar Riff. For me, the best thing about this song is that Monster Guitar Riff:

Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons – “So Young” (1978)

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“So Young” originally appeared on a 1978 mini-album of the same name. The song was re-recorded for the band’s Screaming Targets album a year later. The 1979 version is much poppier but I’m not keen on it (the newer version, with its ‘poppier’ sounds, obscures the Monster Guitar Riff):

Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons – “So Young” (1979)

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And here’s a live version which puts the Monster Guitar Riff front and centre:

Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons – “So Young” (live) (1979)

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By the way, Elvis Costello liked “So Young” so much that he had a crack at it. I think it’s by far the worst version:

Elvis Costello And The Attractions – “So Young”

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(*Jo Jo Zep And The Falcons weren’t the only ones – plenty of other Australian bands at the end of the 1970’s were sounding a lot like Señor Costello.)