A song about the masturbation & teenie bopper magazines of the 60's and 70's was the idea of Jim Moran, whose band the Peecocks included Joe Harvard as a member [& producer of their local parody fave "Pets Who Died']. JH came up with the musical bed for the song by mashing Modern Lovers & Eddie Cochran riffs together in the key of D & viola! 'Tiger
Beat' was born.
After the demise of the Peecock's & Jim's announced retirement, the song would pop up at live shows JH was playing, but there was a problem: Jim's lyrics lean toward the other side of the Sexual Preference Fence, so in order to bring the emotional conviction required for effective delivery Joe changed a lyric here & there, morphing the tune into a paean to female self-help. Same idea, basically, but as "A Cougar is Born".
lyrics
JH's "straight" version
He's the cutest little thing on the Tiger Beat
He looks kinda young, he looks kinda sweet
You took him home from the newsstand at the shopping mall
Then you took out all the staples and you hung him on the wall.
He's lookin' down on you while you're in bed
It'll have to tide you over till you get some head
Lookin' kinda young, lookin' kinda neat
He had you doin' that Tiger Beat.
Back then the Tiger Beat cuties was all the rage
They wore more clothes than the Blueboys,
and were underage
Had them cheeks so red, and you never saw a pimple
Caus' they took out an airbrush and stuck in a dimples
You always had a boy on your bedroom wall
Your own poster boy, your little pinup doll
Lookin' kinda young, lookin' kinda sweet
He had you doin' that Tiger Beat.
Tossin' & turnin' in your teenage sleep
Countin teenage cuties instead of sheep
Now you're all grown up & thirty-two
And those teenage boys fantasize about you
Now you've always got a tiger lyin' next to you
He's your Number One ... 'til the next issue
He looks kinda young, he looks kinda neat
That boy could be in Tiger Beat.
And now you're both gettin' off to the Tiger Beat
Yeah you're both getting off ... etc
----------------------------------
Jim Moran's original lyrics:
He's the cutest little thing on the Tiger Beat
He looks kinda young, he looks kinda sweet
I take him home from the newsstand at the shopping ma-all
Then I take out all the staples and I hang him on my wall.
He's lookin' down on me while I'm in bed
It'll have to tie me over till I get some head
He looks kinda cute, he looks kinda neat
He's got me doin' that Tiger Beat.
Well the Tiger Beat cuties are all the rage
They wear more clothes than the Blueboys,
But they're underage
With those lips so red, and they never get pimples
Caus' they take out an airbrush and put in some dimples.
Now I've always got a boy on my bedroom wall
He's my poster boy, my little pin-up doll.
He looks kinda young, he looks kinda sweet
He's got me doin' that Tiger Beat.
Shaun and David, Bobby Sherman-
They were kings of their ages
Yeah, those were the days of some sticky pages
Leif Garrett and Menudo, now there's Hanson too-oo!
For a couple of dollars, you can take them home with you
They're the Tops of the Pops-
A real groupie's delight
They look really hot, Man, they look outta sight
They look kinda young, they look kinda neat
Those are the boys of the Tiger Beat.
I saw a little cutie walkin down the street
He looked kinda hung he looked kinda sweet
He turns tricks for the trade, but he's mine for free-ee
And when he gets off work he's gonna come home with me
Then I'll always have a boy lyin next to me
He'll be my number one, he'll be my fantasy
He looks kinda young, he looks kinda neat
That boy could be in Tiger Beat
And now we're both beatin off to the Tiger Beat
And now we're both beatin off to the Tiger Beat
And everybody's beatin off to the Tiger Beat
And everybody's beatin off to the Tiger Beat
And all the world's beatin off to the Tiger Beat
Bab-ba-ba ba, ba, ba ba-ba-ba (4x)
Tiger Beat!
credits
from Dumpling House, NYC,
released October 4, 2002
written by Joe Harvard & Jim Moran.
Joe Harvard: Vocal, Telecaster, Charvel Surfcaster w/GK2a p/u thru Roland GR30 gtr synth ["horns"], bass.
Marco Giovino: drums.
Prod & eng by JH
"VU & Nico" author, producer-artist-musician
LP creds: Dinosaur, Jr, Pernice Brothers, Throwing Muses
etc; spiritual midwife to tons more as co-founder/owner of Fort Apache '85-'93.
An East Bostonian based [One Banned Man, Dub Proof, Doctor Danger, Cockwalkers] in NJ & MOTH NYC Storyslam Champ '01; loves cats. Asbury Music Awards: Top Americana '09/Top Multi-Instrumentalist & Top Avant-Garde '10....more
This LP has a nicely boisterous cover of the Modern Lovers' "New England", plus some cool bell timbres & a neat story line on "Ballad of Hollis Mason Wadsworth Jr". The other tunes are cool too. Joe Harvard
117 is the brainchild of Ben Ross, & Hopelessness aptly provides the same gritty, powerful, often wry material their live sets have become known for. Joe Harvard
Nashville’s Passion Fruit Boys nail the effervescent janglepop of ’80s college radio with bright guitars and immediate hooks. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 1, 2022
Soulful guitar interplay form the heart of this lovely Americana collaboration from Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 2, 2018