Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Lifeguards - C'Mon and Swim



So there's Bobby Freeman performing his 1964 hit, apparently written by Sly Stone and... some other guy named Thomas Coman. And this post is about The Lifeguards' 1964 album starting with a nearly identical song.

So what's the deal here? I have no idea, this is just some album I found and the internet isn't helping me. I can't find any references to original writers or even band members on this album, all I've got is Wynecote Records. But if the Lifeguards are ripping Bobby Freeman off they're putting a lot of effort into selling this new dance craze of theirs. All 10 songs here include the word swim and more than one are describing just how to do this dance. And more importantly, they're actually pretty catchy and energetic, to the point where I really don't have a preference between this version of "C'Mon and Swim" or Bobby's (assuming it's a different band). The rest of the songs, while not matching that single, are all pretty worthy, especially Slow Swim

My copy's in pretty good condition, though there's some pretty loud crackles between tracks for whatever reason. But I'll give you a present: while it's downloading, listen to this excellent cover of C'Mon and Swim by The Flakes. And wonder what "Licorice Swim" could be about.

The Lifeguards are here

And the Flakes:




3 comments:

Lyn Nuttall said...

Hope you can clarify this for me: I've been writing about this song at my website, linked to you http://bit.ly/sHZi9Z. Are the writer credits on The Lifeguards record the same as for Bobby Freeman's song (Coman-Stewart)? You say it's a "nearly identical song to Bobby Freeman's": do you think it is a version of Bobby's, or a different song that is modeled on Bobby's? (Hope this makes sense.)

Radio Nowhere said...

I realize it's quite a while since the original post, but if there a chance you could re-up this album? I had it as a kid and hadn't found it anywhere until today. Mostly because I couldn't remember the name of the group...getting old sucks...

Anyhow, if you could that'd be great. If not, I understand as well...

Anonymous said...

hahahaha I had this record and just for sheer kitsch value am sorry that it got lost somewhere along the road of life