As the legend goes in 1958 P.F. Sloan, aged 13 at the time, got an impromptu music lesson from Elvis Presley after meeting him in a music store in Hollywood, California. And at the age 16 he was hired by the biggest song publisher on the west coast at the time Screen Gems.
By the time the mid 60's rolled around he had scored impressive portfolio of tunes as a songwriter for other bands. "Let Me Be" and "You Baby" by The Turtles, “Where Were You When I Needed You” and "Things I Should've Said" by The Grass Roots, the standard for many a garage rock band "That's Cool, That's Trash" (check out the Kingsmen's version and an even more teenaged sounding/almost proto-punk take by the Street Cleaners) and the Fifth Dimension's "Another Day, Another Heartache" were all penned by him.
He's best known for "Eve Of Destruction" and "Secret Agent Man." The former, which Barry McGuire had a #1 hit with in 1965, was one of the early examples of social commentary of the era to go to the top of the charts (and the line "You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’" was often used rallying cry by supporters of the Twenty-sixth Amendment.) Johnny Rivers took the latter to #3 in 1966. The song has been done by many people since. Tonight let's check of Devo's take of it from 1979.
P.F. Sloan died from pancreatic cancer this past Sunday night in his home in Los Angeles, California. He was 70 years old.
What are you listening to tonight?
