The J. Geils Band's Greatest Hit Illustrates A Strange, Transitional Moment In Pop
J. Geils Band co-founder and guitarist John "Jay" Geils, Jr. passed away on Tuesday at age 71 in Groton, Massachusetts, an hour-and-a-half northwest of Boston. His namesake group has in the days since been fondly remembered for its decade-straddling career and its unlikely journey from Boston bar-rock heroes to '80s hit-makers. But there's one song, from the band's 1981 album Freeze Frame, that truly embodies the seismic musical and cultural shifts, and the links, between the classic rock and MTV eras, for the both the band and the world at large.
The year of 's release, the number-one pop song in America was "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes, who had been knocking around since the early '70s to middling success. The song had, who co-wrote and recorded the country-swing original in 1974. But Kim Carnes' slick synthesizer arrangement made it a massive hit — and a harbinger of changes to come.
