SOLVED: Please Help ID Rock Song from the 1970's!!!

Thread: SOLVED: Please Help ID Rock Song from the 1970's!!!

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  1. rpr13 said:

    Default SOLVED: Please Help ID Rock Song from the 1970's!!!

    This has been driving me absolutely crazy, I am trying to identify a song that I used to listen to in the early 1980's.

    I don't think it was a new release at the time, so I believe it dates back to the late 1970's.

    All I remember is that it had a Uriah Heep (The Wizard) or maybe Ronny James Dio type of sound to it and it included the following lyrics, or something very close to this:

    "...and we went up the mountain and met the enemy, and the enemy was us".

    I have been Googling for weeks to no avail.

    Please help!
    Last edited by rpr13; 06-13-2015 at 12:46 PM. Reason: Solved
     
  2. jp12345 said:

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    Don Henley - Building The Perfect Beast

    "It's Olympus this time-Olympus or bust
    For we have met the enemy-and he is us"
     
  3. rpr13 said:

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    Thanks, that's not the song I was looking for though. Big diff in sound between Henley and Dio/Heep. There was a reference to a mountain in the song I'm thinking of.
     
  4. atmaestro's Avatar

    atmaestro said:

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    Try "One Tin Soldier" by The Original Caste (performed by Jinx Dawson and Coven in the 1971 movie "Billy Jack")
    Them that can, do; them that can't... memorize Artist and Title
     
  5. rpr13 said:

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    Interesting! That song is basically the storyline I remember, valley people vs. mountain people, but it does not contain the line "and the enemy was us" and Jinx' and Coven's version is not the one I recall listening to. Their sound is much more folky...I recall a heavier overdone rock Uriah Heep/Dio type production.

    Makes me wonder if it was rerecorded in the late 1970s/early 1980s with some liberties added on the lyrics, but I can't find any evidence of this.

    Thanks for mentioning this track, the storyline is so close it's remarkable, but no cigar.
     
  6. atmaestro's Avatar

    atmaestro said:

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    Here are some of the non-folk cover artists for the song, "One Tin Soldier" :

    Killdozer (1989)
    Me First and The Gimme Gimmes (1997)
    The **** Nixons (1995)
    Them that can, do; them that can't... memorize Artist and Title
     
  7. rpr13 said:

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    Thanks, none of them are the song though. I remember listening to it during the same time as Utiah Heep's
     
  8. rpr13 said:

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    Sorry, Uriah Heep's "The Wizard". Doesn't mean they were released at the same time, but they were both being played on the radio at the same time.

    It's probably not One Tin Soldier, but it's a similar storyline.

    My OCD is getting the better of me here, I need to figure this out.
     
  9. Wyrmb8 said:

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    Band was Shooting Star. Song was Last Chance. Can you still hear the electric violin?
    Last edited by Wyrmb8; 06-08-2015 at 08:28 PM. Reason: Spelling
     
  10. Wyrmb8 said:

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    The band was Shooting Star. The Song was "Last Chance". I can still hear the electric violin. Found your query while trying to remember the same song. Didn't grow up in the Detroit area did you? That was the only place I ever heard that song played.
     
  11. rpr13 said:

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    I think that's it!!! There is no "the enemy is us" lyric but that's the message, and it does have the Lyric "I have been upon the mountain".

    I am 90% certain that this has to be the song I am recalling from over 3 decades ago. I was starting to think it had to be a lesser know perhaps local band because Google was not finding it.

    I grew up on Long Island, but the local rock station at the time was big on playing lesser known local bands...anyone remember Zebra?

    Thanks so much, I think my OCD can finally be put to rest in this.

    Well, maybe not because I'm sitting here considering calling the local rock station on Long Island which still exists to see if they could confirm if this song was on their play list over 30 years ago. Hah!
     
  12. Wyrmb8 said:

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    You can find it on you tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5BqpvcWuyo
     
  13. atmaestro's Avatar

    atmaestro said:

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    Just in case you are having second thoughts about Wyrmb8's suggestion, try "The Pinnacle" by Kansas (1975).
    Them that can, do; them that can't... memorize Artist and Title
     
  14. rpr13 said:

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    Nope, Shooting Star's Last Chance is without a doubt the song I was looking for. The " I have been upon the mountain" is the clincher, and the more I listen to it the more I remember it is definitely the song.

    I also found some posts on a Facebook thread about old places on Long Island that don't exist anymore and one member mentioned that he saw Shooting Star at an old poplar nightspot on LI. So the band used to play local bars where I grew up, that's apparently how the local radio station became familiar with them and started to play their stuff.

    Wyrmb8: I can't thank you enough, this has been bothering me so much. I didn't think I would ever figure it out. Thank you!