It's puzzling that a song I last heard on the radio 42 years ago won't leave my mind. I was never that crazy about the J. Geils Band's "Flamethrower," but its harmonica refrain is a solid riff around which to build.
"Flamethrower" also stands out as one of the last sort-of-R&B-but-not-really tunes I heard on KMJM before it went completely R&B in 1982. Even prior to the format change, the song, to my ears, didn't blend well with the station's general sound.
Certain Hall & Oates, Doobie Brothers, and Steely Dan tunes work in an R&B context. "Flamethrower" just doesn't--but I still remember it more than four decades later.
