I had thought that my classic rock band and song discovering days were long behind me, but lo and behold, a rocking classic recently came out of the mist and into this writer's life. And when I say out of the mist, I mean quite literally, as you'll see in the music video below.
You can't get much more seventies than this music video. The mystifying mist, the striped pants, and the fuzzy quality...it's a seventies music video, through and through.
But the lyrics are seventies, too. These guys are searching for a sign in the middle of the night (as if that weren't already mysterious enough and as if seventies rock bands weren't already rock gods). It could be a metaphorical sign I suppose but it is indeed a literal sign. According to bassist/vocalist Derek Holt, those were the days before the band began using tour buses and when they were traveling on the road in a car late into the night and finally saw an old Holiday Inn sign, it meant they could go to bed (thank you SongFacts and Wikipedia!). I do love historical significance!
And have you ever seen a lead singer of a rock band who rocked out with...not a microphone, not a guitar, not the drums...but a saxophone. Very cool, in my opinion.
Not to mention it's just awesomely catchy (I kept on looking for a way to take me through the ni-igh-ight). Take a listen and be transported back to a wilder time. If I was searching for a hotel in the middle of the night, this would be the song I would be singing.
