Reckless Audacity
Now we know why the band used the name America.
I originally wrote this blog two years ago. Then, last month, I went to a concert by a tribute band (Ventura Highway) and it reminded me of this piece. It is definitely an interesting backstory….
( October 23, 2023 )
Sister Golden Hair Surprise, put out by the band ‘America’ in 1975, had no business becoming so successful.
The song was really just a cute little ditty about an adolescent male’s attraction to a really hot blond. In the song, the guy is infatuated by, but by no means ready to make a commitment to, a young woman. He is pleading for a chance to share some quality time with no strings attached. Pretty much what most young twenty-something guys do when they are playing the field.
It is a little known fact that although the band’s members were Americans, they all attended a high school in England. Their dads were all Air Force members stationed in London. Various formations of the band have continued to perform right up until the advent of the Corona Virus threat. They will always be remembered for songs like Ventura Highway, Muskrat Love, I Need You and A Horse With No Name.
America was somewhat of an unexpected success story.
They had no heritage or personal connections that gave them any advantage in the recording industry. They were essentially a garage band that made it big.
What they did have was a sense of reckless audacity.
They were playing and perfecting their trademark harmonies when discovered in London. Then they took on the name America because they wanted to become successful in America and didn’t want anyone to think they were an English band. They thought if the name Chicago could do well than America could do even better.
The point is, they took chances, took work, displayed spunk and definitely had talent. Their first worldwide hit A Horse With No Name was originally titled Desert Song, and was changed at the suggestion of their new manager. It led to their first album that went platinum. So they were obviously coachable, too.
America seemingly came out of nowhere. Right in the middle of the historic musical renaissance of the Beatles, the British Invasion, Motown and the San Francisco psychedelic-rock revolution, here comes a little band with smooth vocal harmonies to challenge Crosby, Stills and Nash.
Astonishing!
Now we know why the band used the name America.
How did the new nation The United States of America become known as America? And it’s citizens recognized as Americans when the truth is the whole western hemisphere was named in the 1500’s after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer by map maker Martin Waldseemüller.
Most historians have resigned to accept the misappropriation of the actual name The United States of America is simply an act of laziness. Ironically, the band America, who admired the success of Chicago, were perhaps unaware that their original name was Chicago Transit Authority. That it was abbreviated to make it more memorable.
By any measure, the nation of America surpassed everyone’s expectations, especially those who criticized the explorers, the colonists, and the Founding Fathers.
The British Empire considered all of them to be traitors and maniacs. They had nothing but disdain for the explorers and the original colonists. Most of the Queens sycophants believed they would all perish, either en route or shortly after landing on the shores of the Eastern coast of the undeveloped continent.
Humans have some unexplainable genes. Some just charge ahead, driven by unseen forces and irrational confidence. But almost all at least dream of exploring unknown horizons. Of pushing the envelope and wandering into the dark. No matter how scary it is, some people, for example, can’t resist watching terrifying horror films.
America, as a nation, had no business becoming the most important force for human freedom in the history of mankind.
Same for the band of young British high school graduates. Both America’s had nothing less than audacious tenacity.
From their song Lonely People, the band summed up their determination:
This is for all the lonely people, thinking that life has passed them by
Don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup
She’ll never take you down or never give you up
You’ll never know until you try