• Track: Men Without Shame
• Artist: Phantom, Rocker & Slick
• Album: Phantom, Rocker & Slick
• Year: 1985

Lyrics:

There’s a certain breed
Who feel the need
To put people in their place,
Not a bad bunch of guys
Don’t hand ’em no lies,
So stay off their case.

People with angles
Never should tangle
With the boys who kill with words
You don’t stand a chance,
You’ll lose your pants,
This act is for the birds.

People with angles
Never should tangle
With the boys who kill with words

(chorus)

Don’t try to please ’em
Don’t try to please ’em,
They know the game– the men without shame
Don’t try to tease ’em
Don’t try to tease ’em
Men without shame, men without shame.

Flowers just won’t work,
We’re all going berserk,
Rip ’em up like weeds,
All over town
Running ’em down,
Fulfilling their nasty deeds.

There’s a certain breed
Who feel the need
To put people in their place,
Not a bad bunch of guys,
Don’t hand ’em no lies,
So stay off their case.

Don’t try to please ’em,
Don’t try to please ’em,
They know the game– the men without shame,
Don’t try to tease ’em,
Don’t try to tease ’em,
Men without shame, men without shame…

So, today, we’re going old-school 1980s rock—and by eighties rock, I don’t mean hair bands. No, Phantom, Rocker & Slick were an honest to goodness trio of rockers who cranked out a pair of balls out rock records before disbanding in 1986. If a couple of these cats look familiar, it’s because they (drummer Slim Jim Phantom, and vocalist/bassist, Lee Rocker) comprised two-thirds of rockabilly royalty, the Stray Cats (see Stray Cat Strut and (She’s) Sexy + 17).

Clearly, Phantom and Rocker weren’t getting to sew their rock and roll oats with Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats, so they set out on their own and cut one of the finest pure rock and roll, guitar-driven singles of the decade.

Don’t dismiss these guys for their looks or for the era from which they came. These boys could rock. Men Without Shame easily makes my Top 100 rock songs of all-time and is an immediate Turn It to 11 song when it comes on in my car.

Phantom and Rocker went back to the Stray Cats after parting ways with Slick.

As for the rest of the band:

• Slim Jim Phantom is now in a little-known (at least to your DWB curator) band, the Kat Men.
• Lee Rocker went on to release a number of solo albums, and in 2013, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bass Player magazine, He also teaches master-level bass classes in London and Los Angeles.
• Earl Slick has gone on to play with a number of other artists. He’s appeared on a number of David Bowie albums and toured with him for years. Most recently, he became a member of The New York Dolls. Almost unbelievably—again, at least to the staff here at DWB Radion—Slick also played on John Lennon’s Double Fantasy record.
• Brian “Unimaginative Name” Setzer continues to make really bad music with The Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Fire this one up and listen all the way through. If this doesn’t make you want to roll the car windows down, rub a handful of grease in your hair, and leave ribbons of burnt rubber on the pavement behind you, you might be dead.

Trust me, my babies, this is six minutes and 18 seconds of pure rock and roll badassery. Have I ever steered you wrong?

P.S. Phantom, Rocker, and Slick are pictured in order on the album cover, which pleases my general sense of orderliness.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDKewcYs4gM

Here’s an audio-only version that sounds a little better than the video:

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