FIRE, FIRE, EVERYWHERE....

I would venture an educated guess that the guy who, more than 2 million years ago, figured out how, by striking the right rocks together, he could make fire, had no idea the wealth of material he was giving to those of his relatives to come when it came to writing songs. First – I'm relatively sure he didn't call it “fire.” It was bright and hot and dancing around. He probably called it “ouch” and, most assuredly only touched it once. Songs about fire have been around almost as long as there have been songs, although, probably not as long as there has been fire. Music may have been around before there was fire as our earliest ancestors hit a stick with another stick in a cadence to warn of an oncoming mastedon or saber-tooth. The naming of those cadences with, what became known as, song titles was still a few years off. Whether music actually did come before fire, however, is merely speculation on my part. Don't take my word as gospel. I wasn't there. I, too, was still a few years off. Since we have begun naming songs, fire has shown up in many ways, shapes and genres in a plethora of different tunes and groups. Earth, Wind and Fire is a prime example of the naming of a group. A group that, apparently, wasn't at all interested in being creative with the naming process. In a moment of laziness, they used the elements of earth, wind and fire because, I suppose, rock, paper, scissors was already taken. Over the course of my career in radio, I had the opportunity to play a lot of music about fire. The first one I remember putting on the turntable was called “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis. Just the title frightened me. As my imagination began to run amok, I always made sure to have a glass of water ready to pour down my pants. It was right about that time that I learned an extremely important lesson. Stop taking things so damned literally. A few years later James Taylor gave us one of his early masterpieces - “Fire and Rain”.....a great lesson in coexistence. There were a lot of song that were simply called - “Fire.” Jimi Hendrix, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, The Pointer Sisters, Bruce Springsteen, The Ohio Players, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Pete Townshend, Chris Brown, 50 Cent, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Yngwie Malmsteen, to name just a few. These prompted a hit song from Aretha Franklin. It was released as “Who's Zooming Who,” but, few people know that the original title was “Who's Suing Who.” The label printer had a bad phone connection and heard “suing” as “zooming.” It may not have been as big a hit if the printer had had a better phone. The Average White Band and The Kinks both had songs called - “Fire Burning.” Bob Seger and Cher both released records named - “The Fire Down Below.” Steely Dan and Van Halen both did - “Fire in the Hole.” Bob Seger was apparently such a fan that he not only released “Fire Down Below,” but, “Fire Inside” and “Fire Lake” as well. This was from, what he refers to as, his “Fire Period.” Even Spongebob Squarepants had a song called “Campfire Song,” “Fireworks” was featured on Schoolhouse Rock and “Fire Engine” came to us from those twin titans – Mary Kate & Ashely Olsen. Fire has a tendency to permeate, be it through music or a house that's in flames, but, to paraphrase one Mr. William Joel - “We Didn't Start the Fire,” we just report it. It has given us an enormous library of great music over the years. It even showed up as I ended my career on the radio when the boss called me into the office after my show and uttered those two words that shaped my ensuing years - “You're fired.”