Misfits and Slow Learners Track 2: Did You See Her Eyes by Cub Lea as Hot Spot Last updated 12/04

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	Credits:	Words, music: Ritchie Cerniglia & Mike Ricciardella, arrangement & production by Cub Lea, 11/87
	Players:	Cub Lea (all instruments)
	Drums:	Roland TR-505 digital rhythm composer
	Notes:	Cover of a vastly underrated 1969 semi-hit by The Illusion

Concept

If you didn't notice that the lyric only has about ten words (my songs tend to have far more words than average) and you were one of the three people who really knows my catalogue, you could be forgiven for believing that I wrote this track. I didn't - it was a 1969 semi-hit by a Long Island "proto-glam" band called The Illusion - but I sure wish I had. I was lucky enough to grow up in the shadow of CKLW, without question the greatest AM radio station in North America from 1966-72, and this, along with The Bubble Puppy's Hot Smoke and Sassafras, was part of their limited range of staple "psychedelic nuggets". Steed Records, The Illusion's label, very likely had a special arrangement with K-Tel, because this and virtually every other Steed hit that made the top 30 in any market managed to find its way on a K-Tel compilation during the label's short life.

The original version of this song was an absolute monster three-minute rave-up. The album-length version doesn't quite cut it, and the two-minute K-Tel edit was too little a taste of this gem. Since about the age of twelve, when I first really listened to Jimi Hendrix' Cry of Love album and had a sense that this might be an interesting way to make a living, this has been one of the songs I've really, really wanted to cover on record. Its simplicity, and the ease with which I was able to translate the feel even on cheap four-track gear, made it a natural.

This is also the song that made me fall in love with cowbell.

Execution

If you know the original song, you'll hear some marked differences between this and the original. It's by no means a faithful reproduction, and that's exactly what I intended. I wanted to turn this song into something that sounded like it was written in the late 1980s, and I think I succeeded, given my limited musical abilities.

The guitar line borrows a hell of a lot from U2's Edge, of course, spare and stark, and I am probably happier with the playing on this track than on any other track on the album. The mix, sadly, ended up bass-heavy, a consequence of the gear I was working on at the time...the instrumental balance I was hearing as I mixed put the guitars front and center, and they're certainly not there in this mix.

I also took liberties with the lyric. I know my lyrics very often have to carry some overly-sparse and strained playing, and I wanted to inject just a bit more depth into what was, really, nothing more than a dance anthem whose lyric was an afterthought. Kind of cheesy, but hell, even Jim Morrison had off days. (I know, I know...the Jim Morrison comparison was also cheesy. Sue me.).

I still believe this is a killer song all around that has an excellent chance at reincarnation as a chart hit. I keep hoping someone somewhere will redo it and add the same individual style to it that Bulletboyz did to (In the Name of) Money; it just doesn't seem to happen though.

Did You See Her Eyes
(Cerniglia & Ricciardella; lyrics in red by Cub Lea)

I said here she comes
She's got an open wire
She's got a broken man
With his head on fire

Did you see her eyes?
Did you see her eyes?
Did you see her eyes?

I said here she comes
She's got the perfect time
She's got the key to the town
But she'll never get mine

Did you see her eyes?
Did you see her eyes?
Did you see her eyes?

Spoken:
Uh huh
Park it a little closer to me babe
That's right
Don't know who your man is
Uh huh
Get up a little closer to my pride

She could take up all your time now
(She could turn you inside out)
Better snatch her up
Cause she won't be mine, no

Ah ya-ya-ya-ya

I said there she goes
She just walk on by
She never say hello
She never caught my eye

Did you see her eyes?
Did you see her eyes?
Did you see her eyes?

Copyright ©1969 Steed Music