The Horizontal Bop

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"The Horizontal Bop"
Horizontal Bop Cover.jpg
Single by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
from the album Against the Wind
B-side "Her Strut"
Released1980
Recorded Criteria (Miami)
Genre Rock
Length
  • 4:03 (Album version)
  • 3:20 (7" version)
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s) Bob Seger
Producer(s) Punch Andrews, Bob Seger
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band singles chronology
"You'll Accomp'ny Me"
(1980)
"The Horizontal Bop"
(1980)
"Tryin' to Live My Life Without You"
(1981)

"The Horizontal Bop" is a song written by Bob Seger that was first released on his 1980 album Against the Wind . It was also released as the fourth single from the album, backed by "Her Strut." The single did not perform as well as the earlier singles from the album, stalling at #42 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Contents

Music and lyrics

Unlike the earlier, more successful singles from Against the Wind, "Against the Wind," "You'll Accomp'ny Me" and "Fire Lake," "The Horizontal Bop" is not a ballad but a fast rock and roll song. [1] [2] Roy Trakin of The Daily News felt it lacked the drive of the more popular, slower songs from Against the Wind. [3] Music critic Herb Ditzel describes it as being a "tongue-in-cheek devil-may-care basic [rocker] that has its roots in hundreds of songs." [4] Ed Padgett describes it as a "Chuck Berry style song." [5]

The subject is having sex. [1] Music journalist Jimmy Guterman and arts editor Owen O'Donnell describe the song as being a "huffy song about sex" as well as a "safe song about sex" that was issued long before the age of safe sex. [6] Music critic Ron Kroese views it as displaying Seger's sense of humor and describes the lyrics as presenting "a night of wild partying and dancing as merely sustained foreplay before the real bop can begin." [7] Seger felt that "The Horizontal Bop" added something new to his live shows that other songs didn't provide. [8]

Reception

Musician Alix Dobkin criticized the lyrics of "The Horizontal Bop" for promoting activities which could lead to harmful ramifications for women, such as unwanted pregnancy. [9] Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh felt it was "hollow." [10] Guterman and O'Donnell rated it as one of the 50 worst rock and roll singles of all time. [6] They particularly criticize the fact that in their opinion it could be sung by high school boys to bond with other boys over their fear of girls, while high school girls could sing it as a "goofy song" about having sex without any dirty words. [6] Roysdon considered it one of the most fun songs on Against the Wind. [1] In 2004 Brian McCollum called it one of "a handful of frisky numbers" from Against the Wind "that remain audience faves." [11] On the other hand, Billboard described it as being "graced by sterling guitar work, a hot sax solo and Seger's gruff rock vocal." [12] Record World called it a "suggestive rocker [with] enough guitar flash and piano punch for multi-format radio." [13]

Although the previous three singles from Against the Wind reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, "The Horizontal Bop" only reached #42. [14]

"The Horizontal Bop" has been performed live on several Bob Seger tours with the Silver Bullet Band. Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed received praise for his performances on this song during Seger's 1980 tour. [15] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Seger</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1945)

Robert Clark Seger is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, breaking through with his first album, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in 1969. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the 'System' from his recordings and continued to strive for broader success with various other bands. In 1973, he put together the Silver Bullet Band, with a group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful on the national level with the album Live Bullet (1976), recorded live with the Silver Bullet Band in 1975 at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. In 1976, he achieved a national breakout with the studio album Night Moves. On his studio albums, he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, which appeared on several of Seger's best-selling singles and albums.

<i>Night Moves</i> (album) 1976 studio album by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

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<i>Against the Wind</i> (album) 1980 studio album by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Roysdon, Keith (March 22, 1980). "Latest Bob Seger Album Up to Past Standards". Muncie Evening Press. p. 24. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  2. Kot, Greg (March 21, 1980). "The Principled Bob Seger". Quad City Times. p. 49. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  3. Trakin, Roy (September 7, 1980). "Bob Seger, Rock Survivor". The Daily News. p. 130. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  4. Ditzel, Herb (April 26, 1980). "Seger and Silver Bullet Band's Michigan Sound Blows Quite a Storm". Courier-News. p. 24. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Padgett, Ed (May 21, 1980). "Seger Pours It On". The Folsom Telegraph. p. 8. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 Guterman, Jimmy & O'Donnell, Owen (1991). The Worst Rock n' Roll Records of All Time. Citadel Press. pp. 22–24. ISBN   9780806512310.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Kroese, Ron (April 4, 1980). "Sounds '80". Rapid City Journal. p. 24. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  8. Heron, W. Kim (January 7, 1982). "Seger Tools Up for New Release". The Daily News. p. C21. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  9. Levoy, Gregg (December 18, 1980). "Are Rock Songs the Building Blocks of Bias and Violence?". The News Journal. p. 48. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  10. Marsh, Dave (1985). Fortunate Son . Random House. pp.  130–132. ISBN   0394721195.
  11. McCollum, Brian (March 14, 2004). "On the Records". Detroit Free Press. p. 70. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.
  12. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. November 8, 1980. p. 62. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  13. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. November 8, 1980. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  14. "Bob Seger Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
  15. Dunkin, Zach (June 4, 1980). "Seger Concert Is the Best". The Indianapolis News. p. 55. Retrieved 2018-11-07 via newspapers.com.