Dwight Twilley is an American power pop icon from the pre-Ramones/Cheap Trick era that slipped though the cracks due to bad management decisions and the entanglements of the major label record business. Despite his debut single "I'm On Fire" hitting the top 20 on the Billboard charts in 1975, he's still unfortunately not a household name. Some called him the American T. Rex and others the missing link between Big Star and Tom Petty, but any way you cut it, Tulsa, OK's pop hero has risen he's and ready to knock you back to high school. He's appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand several times as well as the esteemed Don Kirschner's Rock Concert TV series the SAME NIGHT as the infamous Sex Pistols episode in 1977, therefore it never aired.
HoZac Archival is back with the second 7” single from the Dwight Twilley Band vault, this time with two sparklingly powerful rockers, the first time for both on vinyl, culled from the Great Lost Twilley Album, and thrust onto a 45rpm disc for your pleasure. By now you don’t even need to second guess the raw power of the Dwight Twilley/Phil Seymour connection, and with that warm early Summer breeze wafting through your open windows, it’s clear that these good times belong to this sound, and this sound is right at your fingertips. The two tracks are from 1980 and 1977 respectively and deliver that impossibly tight pop sound you just can’t get enough of, the kind that can turn a small outdoor get together into a raging party, and the kind that can turn a bad day into yesterday’s news.
“Firefly” is yet another would-be hit which should have been resting at the top of the charts in 1980, yet contractual complications as well as inner turmoil knocked it out of contention, despite the appearance of the Cowsills’ Susan Cowsill on backup vocals, and one of the catchiest choruses in their entire catalog. Either way, we’ve got it here on the single that it always should have been, and backing up that massive hit is the uproarious lost 1977 track “Living’ In the City” with Phil Seymour on lead vocals, and some of the wildest backup vocals these guys ever laid down on tape, a true party going on if there ever was one, and yet another smashing pop hit you won’t tire of hearing any time soon. City Rock defined? Most definitely, and there’s nothing like a smash hit single from the Dwight Twilley Band to kick your summer into gear.
Order a copy HERE or look for it in your favorite local record store/mailorder spot soon!
STREAM the summer classic "Firefly" from 1980, never before released on vinyl, right here:
