John Fogerty - "Rock and Roll Girls"

(Debuted March 16, 1985, Peaked #20, 12 Weeks on the Chart)

After several years away from the spotlight, John Fogerty was back with a vengeance in 1985. The former Creedence Clearwater Revival front man came out with a great album called Centerfield that gave many of us who were too young to have heard that band a taste of what we were missing. The LP's three singles were each different, but all were great in their own way. The first was "The Old Man Down the Road," which sounded so much like a CCR track that it would lead to a lawsuit from the group's copyright holder. The title track was an homage to baseball, a topic that is as near and dear to me as music.

The other single was "Rock and Roll Girls," a song that recalled late 1950s/early 1960s rock & roll at a time when I was really becoming interested in rock's roots. It was a three-minute blast of sound punctuated by a wailing sax solo that really stood out among the other stuff on the radio during its all-too-brief time on the charts. It was written and produced by Fogerty, who also played all of the instruments himself on the recording.

It also helped one certain young fan want to see what else was out there. Granted, I really didn't need much of a push...but it helped tip me over the line.