This is for a project I've had in mind for a few years now.

There are so, so many songs that use the name "Johnny" in them. It's to the point where, it seems to me, that Johnny could be a Rock and Roll archetype or perhaps even a person.

That got me to wondering one fine day, is it possible to construct a "biography" of this Rock and Roll person named, Johnny? That is, through existing songs, follow Johnny's life from childhood to his death?

Obviously, Johnny is a Rock Star. There are too many songs about a Rock Star named Johnny. But what else about his life can be determined?

I would eventually like to make a tape or CD out of this.

Here's what I'm looking for: songs that mention the name Johnny, or any variation thereof (you know like, John). But I don't just want the name of the song. I want to know what part of his life is mentioned in the song. Is it his childhood? His marriage? His death? His life as a Rock Star?

Afterwards, we can go over the list and see if we can put them in chronological order. And to keep it a nitpicking task, make sure the story told by the songs is consistent.

I'll start it off with the very obvious choice, the probable centerpiece of Johnny's biography: Chuck Berry's classic, "Johnny B. Goode".

So, is anyone else interested in contributing? Any more suggestions?

And just to keep from violating my own rule for this topic, "Johnny B. Goode" chronicals part of Johnny's childhood and his rise to fame.

Johnnie Get Angry by Joanie Sommers
Johnny Jingo by Hayley Mills
Johnny Angel and Johnny Loves Me by Shelley Fabares
Johnny Will by Pat Boone
All from '62. He was a busy guy that year.
Johnny, Are You Queer? by Josie Cotten, 1982
Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny) by Elton John 1982
John and Marsha by Stan Freberg sometime in the 50s.
Lightning Strikes by Aerosmith from I don't know when.
Hide Your Heart by Ace Frehley, again I don't know the year.
There was one from the early 70s that had the line "And I'm still sittin' with my next door neighbor saying 'where'd you get the gun Johnny?". I can't remember the song title or who did it.

Let me clarify, I'm not looking for the year the song was released. Years do not matter. I'm looking for stages of Johnny's "life". It won't matter what song was released before which one. It's where does it fit in Johnny's life story. That might make it a little more difficult.

One more thing I forgot to mention, something like Paul Simon's "The Late, Great Johnny Ace" or Neil Young's "Hey, Hey, My My" ("This is the story of Johnny Rotten") or Dexy's Midnight Runners ("Poor old Johnny Ray") do not count. They are about specific people. Elton's "Empty Garden" is about John Lennon, but it's vague enough that I have thought of using it.

I got the lyric a little wrong but the song I couldn't remember is Rain Dance by The Guess Who

Johnny Angel, Johnny Loves Me, Johnny Jingo, Johnny Will, and John and Marsha could be a period where he tried dating a lot of different girls but nothing seemed to last. This led one girl to wonder "Johnny, Are You Queer?"
Johnny then became depressed leading a friend to wonder "Where'd ya get the gun John?"

Is that more what you had in mind Benn?

Pretty much. You could call it his "teenage/pre-stardom days", too. But, yeah, that's pretty much it. Sorry to be such an a-hole about it.

Not a problem. I'm just glad to get a chance to use all this random knowledge I've got rolling around in my head.

Just for the record, the events that happen in Butch's songs concerning his early girlfriends, would probably take place more or less simultaneously with some of the events of "Johnny B. Goode". I don't mind overlapping events.

Johnny Strikes up the Band -- Warren Zevon

If I remember correctly, my mother's beloved Everly Brother's sang a song about Johnny being a "Bird-dog," trying to steal one of the Brother's girls or something.

I don't know if you could use this, but Billy Joel mentions that "John at the bar is a friend of mine, and gets me my drinks for free," in "Piano Man." I don't know if this would be Johnny or not.

Perhaps these three selections by Lesley Gore are a period in Johnny's life during his teenage years and/or rise to stardom years as seen through the eyes of his "love-'em-and-left-'em" girlfriends ...

"Johnny Angel"
"It's My Party"
"Judy's Turn to Cry"

Also ...
Depending upon how you wish to write Johnny's biography ... Here is a song depicting his death, namely the classic Country-Western song by Jimmy Dean titled "Big John".

Johnny also apparently went to LA at some point to become a Star, got screwed over, and left vowing never to return (cf. Say Goodbye to Hollywood, Billy Joel)

Bad Company's "Shooting Star" gives a brief overview of Johnny's rock star career, focusing on the circumstances of his death. We know he must have been born sometime in the 50's because he was a schoolboy "when he heard his first Beatles song".

And Blue Oyster Cult's "The Marshall Plan" probably fits into the chronology somewhere.

If there is a song about a Johnny in a war, you could use "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" for his return. If not, then the lyrics are vague enough that he could just be returning to his hometown after becomming a star.

Derf, "Johnny Angel" is by Shelley Fabares, not Leslie Gore. I mentioned it in my 1st post here.

I haven't posted much, yet. I'm kinda seeing what everybody else comes up with. Then I'll start making comments and suggestions.

As I've said, I'd like to make a tape or CD out of this. To do that, a chronology or canon for Johnny's life will have to be established. This isn't to discourage suggestions, because there's no telling what other good suggestions will be made (and so far, they have been very good suggestion. Thanks.)

Eventually, it'll come time to look at what contradicts what. Bear in mind that I am not ruling out any song at this point. But I can't help but notice that "Big Bad John" and "Shooting Star" contradict each other in terms of how Johnny dies. In one he dies in a mining accident (while saving the lives of others). In the Bad Company song, IIRC, it's a drug overdose. One would have to be more "canonical" than the other.

At the same time, Blue Oyster Cult's "The Marshall Plan" has Johnny becoming a Rock Star as revenge for his girlfriend leaving him to become a groupie for Johnny's favorite band. In "Shooting Star" he's influenced by listening to the Beatles. These may not be mutually exclusive, but it is close.

Admittedly, the final selection may (and probably will) play fast and loose with the "Canon". I'm willing to go along with that, so long as a fairly decent reconstruction of Johnny's life can be made.

BTW, isn't "Johnny Angel" about a dead person? This could be the last track on the tape/CD. Kind of an elegy for Johnny.

I will be looking for help for making the final track selections, by the way.

Oh and I have no problem with country songs be listed. One excellent one I can think of is the Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". The Johnny in that song plays violin (well, okay, the "fiddle"). But there's no reason Johnny can't play more than one instrument, that I know of.

Butch Brookshier: Derf, "Johnny Angel" is by Shelley Fabares, not Leslie Gore. I mentioned it in my 1st post here.

Dear Sir,
My web sources list her name as LESLEY GORE ... http://www.patswayne.com/lesley/ and also list "Johnny Angel" as one of her song credits ... http://hayjd110.tripod.com/LGore.htm ... I was just regurgitating this info in my above post, so I could be just as WRONG as they are ... please forgive me if I inadvertently spewed forth incoherencies.

Checking the All Music Guide website I find that the following people have recorded "Johnny Angel":

1. Patrick Arena
2. The Carpenters
3. James Darren (?)
4. Shelley Fabares
5. Flirtations
6. The Ventures
7. Faith and Disease

Checking their listing for Leslie Gore failed to turn up an album where Ms. Gore did record the song. That doesn't mean she didn't. Just that she didn't have a hit with it. Shelley Fabares' is the best known version of the song and aside from her appearance on One Day At a Time, is the only thing she's really famous for.

np - Do Something - various artists

So ... Benn (or Butch),
After visiting the above website (the second one ending in LGore.htm) and listening to the recording of "Johnny Angel" ... would you say that it was really Shelley and NOT Leslie? And if so, how could the person who constructed the website be sooooo wrong, apart from just hearing the song and assuming it was Leslie? Because it is the tune and singer I remember ever since I first heard it.

Okay. I've listened to the Leslie Gore version. It does sound like the version I've always heard on the radio. I then went to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004WJZD/qid=1050354559/sr=1-34/ref=sr_1_34/002-4596904-8448041?v=glance&s=music to hear a 30 second clip of Shelley Fabares's version. For further comparison, I listened to Leslie's "It's My Party". I'm familiar enough with Leslie's "California Nights" that I didn't need to play it.

Shelley's voice seems to be deeper and more sultry than Leslie. Gore's voice strikes me as being girllish and kittenish (appropriately, as she appeared in an ep of Batman, playing Catwoman's sidekick. ) So, vocally, I'd say "Johnny Angel" doens't sound too much like Gore.

More importantly, Derf, mi compadre, the two 30 second Fabares clip sounds like the full Leslie Gore version.

So, what's the explanation? Have you ever gone to Kazaa, Napster or other shareware site to download a song? Have you ever noticed how many idiots can't get either the name of the song or the artist who recorded them right? The classic example, which Butch has pointed out, is "Weird Al" Yankovic. If you go to download a parody song, it doesn't matter who really recorded it (or if it's clearly a woman singing it) it'll be credited to Al. Leslie is probably more famous than Shelley and was at the peak of her career at the time that Fabares recorded "Johnny Angel". It may simply be a matter of someone just not knowing what they are talking about.

Then again, it could be that I'm the one who doesn't know what he's talking about. It has happened before.

Oh, one thing about listening to Leslie Gore's "It's My Party", it turns out that Johnny may have been there.

He definitely was Benn, but the rat left with Judy though he went back to Lesley. I refer you to "Judy's Turn to Cry" for the whole story.

Derf, after A-Bing the version of "Johnny Angel" on the 2nd site with the version I have on a compilation CD, I'd say the person who runs the site got Shelley's version by mistake somewhere. Sorry about spelling Lesley's name wrong. All I had to do was look at my hit collection of hers to get the spelling correct but, did I? NOOOOOOOOOOO!

AAAaaaaalrrrightey then! ... I would be willing to wager that Shelley's recording was attributed to Leslie via the above referenced website AND that the actual spelling of Lesley/Leslie's name is yet in question due to the nature of "websites-as-a-repository-of-knowledge" status ...

There was one by Chuck Berry - can't remember exactly what the title was but it might have been "Johnny Be Good"

You mean that one by Marty McFly?

Chuck Berry is what I said and Chuck Berry is what I mean.

Uh, Paul, in my original post, I cited "Johnny B. Goode" as the centerpiece of this project.

Hey, Benn, when you finally make this compilation, is "Johnny" going to become a rock opera like Tommy or S.F. Sorrow? Maybe you can eventually turn it into a movie or a broadway show . . .

Yeah, I could be the new Pete Townshend. "Johnny can you hear me?"

np - The Wall - Pink FLoyd

>np - The Wall - Pink FLoyd

How coincidental, just when we were speaking of rock operas

>> Uh, Paul, in my original post, I cited "Johnny B. Goode" as the centerpiece of this project. <<

And to think I scanned the bloody thread TWICE to make sure it hadn't already been mentioned!!

I'd say I was getting old, if it weren't for the fact that I'm only 18.

By the way, are we all die-hard music fans here? 'Cos I haven't heard of 85% of the bands and singers that've been mentioned here at NitCen!

"How coincidental, just when we were speaking of rock operas. " - Todd Pence

Ain't it though?

"And to think I scanned the bloody thread TWICE to make sure it hadn't already been mentioned!!

I'd say I was getting old, if it weren't for the fact that I'm only 18. " - Paul Joyce

Don't worry about it, Paul. I'd be very surprised if there wasn't any duplication of titles here.

"By the way, are we all die-hard music fans here? 'Cos I haven't heard of 85% of the bands and singers that've been mentioned here at NitCen!" - Paul Joyce

Well, I am. Can't speak for anyone else, though. I used to say that music was a drug for me. But I've come to realize that it's more accurate to say that music is soul food for me. My soul very definitely feeds on it.

Still, it shouldn't matter how knowledgeable you are about music. Any and all comments and opinions are equally valid here.

np - Hello - poe (Hey, Derf! I like this album. Thanks!)

No problemo, bro! ... now I gotta get you a copy of the last "Refreshments" album titled "The Bottle and Fresh Horses" ... it has some interesting tunes in it that use previous lyrics (from the album "Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy") and also a unique Country-Western tune simply titled "Horses".

Abraham, Martin and John, Dion (formerly of Dion and the Belmonts)
Johnny 99, Bruce Springsteen
John, I'm Only Dancing, David Bowie
Frankie and Johnny, Elvis Presley
New Kid in Town, The Eagles (Ok, so it's not about a guy named Johnny but just someone who's a "Johnny-come-lately", if ya wanna be really nitpicky about it )

First of all, Mark, the John in "Abraham, Martin and John" is John F. Kennedy, so it's disqualified. As for the others, well, where do they fit in Johnny's life?

>> First of all, Mark, the John in "Abraham, Martin and John" is John F. Kennedy, so it's disqualified. As for the others, well, where do they fit in Johnny's life? <<

And the other two are Abraham Lincoln and Martin McKinley, yes? Wow, I never realised that.

>> Abraham, Martin and John, Dion (formerly of Dion and the Belmonts) <<

Ah, didn't see the original post. Who did the original, Dion or Marvin Gaye?

Just so you'll know, Paul, the Martin was Martin Luther King, Jr.

As far as I know, Dion's was the original. It's the one that's commonly played on the radio.

np - Making Movies - Dire Straits

"It's all one song." - Neil Young

And the "Bobby" mentioned at the end is Robert F. Kennedy.

Does the Thin Lizzy rock opera album Johnny The Fox fit into this anywhere?