Lovedrive
the original album cover for Scorpions “Lovedrive” 1979 album

In 1979, I was a rocker. AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin… you name it, I liked it and listened to it. A friend of mine told me about this band called Scorpions and I went to seek out some of their music.

Of course, back then, it was albums and cassettes that I bought and played. Our local Music Plus and Licorice Pizza record stores had quite the selection. I actually worked at Music Plus for a few months in 1982. But going back a few years, I spent a lot of my time there. And obviously, some of my money, too.

I asked the manager if they could put on a Scorpions album called Lovedrive and he quickly complied, explaining that it was an amazing album. Of course for a teenager, the cover alone was an instant draw. But it was the hard rock that made this album into a long time favorite.

    Side one

  1. “Loving You Sunday Morning”
  2. “Another Piece of Meat”
  3. “Always Somewhere”
  4. “Coast to Coast”
  5. Side two

  6. “Can’t Get Enough”
  7. “Is There Anybody There?”
  8. “Lovedrive”
  9. “Holiday”

Eight tracks later, I bought the album and took it home. First, I had to make sure my mom wasn’t home. I was still very much into pot, coke and alcohol at this time, so getting high was important. Not to mention that my mom hated my music, and would regularly find ways to dispose of my LPs and cassettes. The opening song “Loving You Sunday Morning” started things off hard. “Lovedrive“, “Coast to Coast” and “Can’t Get Enough” brought guitar and vocals that instantly grew on me.

I tracked this album many times over the next few years. It would find it’s way into one of the albums that defined my later teen years. In the early 80’s, I used to DJ for church dances and most would look forward to a slow song. At the time, Journey’s “Open Arms” was a staple and expected to be played at every dance. I decided to mix it up and introduce another slow song – “Holiday” which is the final track of this album. It was over 6 minutes of slow dancing goodness. While it never replaced “Open Arms”, it did gain some fans over the course of a year.

Tracking the album today brings back many memories of rocking out, smoking pot, slow dancing and feeling good. That’s Lovedrive at it’s best.