Rock jams have been inspired by news headlines, movies, books — you name it. That said, it’s surprisingly uncommon to find classic rock songs inspired by the TV shows (and other made-for-TV programs) you know and love — but they do exist. Rush’s sci-fi inspired “The Twilight Zone,” a one-hit-wonder birthed from a line in “The Beverly Hillbillies,” and a couple others were hiding right behind the shuffle button on your playlist.
It’s not rare to hear music inspired by television today — it probably has something to do with the amount of TV produced and the ease of access granted by our smart phones — but this was unusual in the classic rock era. Even David Bowie didn’t get around to releasing “Slip Away” until 2002, a song with several references to 1970s’ The Uncle Floyd Show.
So, next time you listen to these classic pieces of nostalgic radio and they recall a whirlwind of media from years gone by, treasure them. Songs like these are few and far between.
The Twilight Zone
Trying to divine the hidden meaning behind classic rock songs can be a headache, to say the least, but with “The Twilight Zone” by Rush, it’s about as easy as it can be. Geddy Lee, the band’s frontman and bassist, told Music Radar they threw the song together “because [they] were big fans of the ’60s TV show.” And throw it together, they did.
This sci-fi jam featuring a three-eyed man wasn’t a masterpiece with months or years of composition and development behind its groove. Rush hadn’t so much as touched the song until they were actively in the process of recording their “2112” album. It started as a way for them to fill out the album, but it was more than that. As Lee alludes in the interview, the song serves as an homage to the “the creativity of the person who used to write that show.”
You can tell from drummer Neil Peart’s lyrics — Neil Peart wrote most of the lyrics for Rush — that they were true “The Twilight Zone” fans. The lines “Wake up lost in an empty town / Wondering why no one else is around / Look up to see a giant boy / You’ve just become his brand new toy” describe the plot of season 5 episode 30 “Stopover in a Quiet Town” to a tee. Well, with the only exception being that the giant child in the episode was actually a girl, but they were close enough.
Games Without Frontiers
Peter Gabriel is a powerhouse of classic progressive rock. His induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 certainly backs that up, but being the O.G. frontman of Genesis is enough to earn a serious reputation on its own. Gabriel started off on a solo career in 1975 and released “Games Without Frontiers” on his third album in 1980. And while the song has some obvious political undertones — social commentary about politicians starting wars — it was also influenced by a European TV gameshow.
After a short instrumental prelude, the voice of Kate Bush rings like the chiming bells of a medieval seance, sounding almost holy with words you’re likely to mishear without first looking up the lyrics. “Jeux sans frontières” is repeated throughout the refrain before Gabriel’s vocals enter the track, which is French for “games without frontiers.” It’s also the name of the gameshow previously mentioned — called “It’s a Knockout” in English-speaking regions — where teams compete in a series of comedic physical games designed to have you rolling with laughter at their misfortune.
You can hear these gameshow themes throughout some of the song’s lyrics, such as “Andre has a red flag / Chiang Ching’s is blue” and “Dressing up in costumes / Playing silly games.” But make no mistake: Just because this Gabriel song was inspired by a gameshow doesn’t detract from its seriousness. It’s meant to speaks of nations posturing and politicians putting people’s lives at risk with pointless wars at its core.
Hot Smoke and Sasafrass
Bubble Puppy might not be a household name in classic rock these days, but if you lived through the psychedelic era of the ’60s and early ’70s, you’re likely familiar with “Hot Smoke and Sasafrass.” The band might be the definition of a one-hit-wonder — having only released one album — but nobody can deny that the song was a hit.
“Hot Smoke and Sasafrass” reached No. 14 on the Hot 100 in April 1969. Before that, Bubble Puppy was a band that skipped around Texas, with a name they’d nabbed from the pages of an Aldous Huxley novel and no national or international following. Their biggest accomplishment had been opening for The Who at a local show. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, their blend of psychedelic and hard rock was blasting across the airwaves all around the globe.
The lyrics for “Hot Smoke and Sasafrass,” as well as its misspelled name, were inspired by The Beverly Hillbillies of all things. Bubble Puppy guitarist Todd Potter told The Austin Chronicle that they needed “some words” for an instrumental they’d already put together in the studio, and the character Granny exclaiming, “Hot smoke and sassafras, Jethro, can’t you do anything right?” is where they found them.
Only the obscure, creative minds of musicians could write a psychedelic jam from a single line of a TV comedy about rich hillbillies and use it to climb their way to an American Bandstand performance in 1970.
Kreen-Akrore
“Kreen-Akrore” from Paul McCartney’s debut solo album was directly inspired by a 1970 made-for-TV documentary called “The Tribe That Hides from Man.” The film documents a journey to find a tribe believed to be extremely violent toward outsiders, known currently as the Panará and previously as the Kreen-Akrore.
From the press release for this album , it’s clear that McCartney had watched the documentary and felt for the indigenous tribe as urban and industrial expansion encroached upon them. It inspired him to try to capture the “feeling of their hunt.”
The track includes several unconventional sounds to portray the atmosphere of the Brazilian jungle — an arrow loosed from a bow, animals trampling, snapping twigs, and, awkwardly, McCartney and his late wife Linda making their own animal sounds. The song itself is an interesting blend of hand drums, self-produced jungle noise, classic rock guitar, piano, and scant vocals. But whether or not the tune truly captured the essence of the Panará people’s hunt is a matter of interpretation. We’ll let you be the judge.
