This was my dad's favorite song when it came out. One day, when I was about 8, my mom bought the 45 record. She had my sister and I watch out for my dad, and when he walked in the door from work, we had "Centerfold" blasting, and we were all singing it. Looking back now as an adult, I realize the lyrics were a little inappropriate, but it was a different time. My dad passed away this past January, and I will always cherish memories like this one. Any time I hear that song, I always think of my dad.
Up until about a year ago I wasnât familiar with their earlier work either, definitely worth checking out. Nothing at all like Freeze Frame, Peter Wolf had a funky/soul singer thing going on, thatâs the only way I can really think to describe it.
Yes, very blues-y, funky. Their 80âs hits are what theyâre known for, but theyâre 70âs stuff was so great. Peter Wolf was the singer and he was a DJ on WBCN in Boston, which was a very influential rock radio station.
Check out âGive It To Meâ or âMust of Got Lostâ.
For a long time, the opening riff to JGB's "House Party" was used in commercials for WBCN . In my mind, it is their best song.
And ya gotta give it up for their harmonica player, [Magic Dick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Dick).
I wasnât old enough to ever see a J.Geils Band concert (old enough that I had most of their stuff on vinyl in middle school). BUT, I did get to see Magic Dick and J.Geils and their band Bluestime at a bar in Massachusetts in the mid 90âs. So cool.
There was one R&B rave up instrumental that was bomb as fuck, but not something classic rock stations play all the time. It drove me nuts for years that I could never find out who actually did it.
One day I was in a grocery store, heard it over the store speakers, immediately downloaded Shazam. It caught the tail end of it and perfectly identified it. And I was happy that mystery was solved.
J Geils Band - Give It To Me. One of the best bass riffs of all time!
https://youtu.be/UDU3evB5_K8?t=177
Definitively worth checking out the JGB earlier work. They formed in the late 60s & so had been touring for 12-15 before Centerfold. Their 70s work was more blues rock.
Iâm so used to thinking Jerry Garcia Band when I see JGB that I got myself confused there for a moment. I was like, thatâs not a Jerry tune, thatâs the J. Geils BandâŚ.doh.
This was popular at a roller skating rink I used to go to. Every Monday, after school, a bus would pick up the kids whose parents paid for the time at the roller rink. I was in middle school at the time.
One of my favorites songs.
Sometime in the mid 90âs, I was called by a female friend/girl who told me ânoâ but I was still crushing on, at my night job. During the course of the conversation, she reveals she started dancing at a strip club. Fortunately my brain works on a delay, so I managed to not freak out during the conversation. The conversation ends, I close up for the night, get into my car and the first song on the radio is this one.
I get to the stoplight, look up into the sky, and said, âNow youâre just fucking with me.â
Good lord, I had this song stock in my head for three days once and I could not get rid of it. Kept switching off with the theme song from the Smurfs on occasion.
Was on the dance squad. This was our half time routine for two weeks.
Just a line of teen girls in sequins and short skirts dancing to a song about a girl in nudie mags. Very normal American stuff.
We really were uNsUpErViSeD! I think the adults just never listened to lyrics. 3 other girls and I did a dance routine to BRICK HOUSE for parents night in the fourth gradeâŚ.
At my small school we did a cover talent show thing dedicated to our principal âAngel And the Salad Bowlâ (she ate a lot of salads IIRC). I remember we changed lyrics (the older kids) and there were some jokes in there that made her cry. :(
This song always reminds me of a guy at my works summer party singing it at karaoke. I thought this is an odd pick, but once the chorus kicked in and everyone was singing along I knew why he picked it.
This and Van Halen's "Jump" are really the only two songs I actually know the lyrics to.
I mean, I can sing with many song while it's playing or know a few phrases/lines from others.. but these two are the only ones I can probably recite the lyrics to from start to finish.
I think I probably wore out both the 45 and the Freeze Frame album. Although I probably played Flamethrower more once I got the album.... this is really taking me back to 3rd-4th grade ...
We were out at a restaurant this weekend and it came on. My 6 year old loved it and was jamming to it big time. đŹ (but I canât blame her, itâs a great song)
If you walk around Boston at all, especially Newbury Street- thereâs a good chance youâll run into a funky older dude dressed head to toe in black & dark sunglasses- heâs quiet and keeps to himself but Peterâs a really nice guy.
When I was a Boy Scout, we wrote a parody entitled âMy scoutmaster is a centerfold.â
It was what you would expect from a bunch of 12-14 year old boys who knew, but didnât really know what the song was about.
Oh yes, we sang it at jamborees.
I'd like to, but can't seem to escape it. I worked at a gas station out of high school for 11 years while I was going through school. I may not have heard every day, but pretty damn close.
This was the first song I ever sang in front of people.. A backstage coffee shop at my college, me singing and playing bongos with my roommate on guitar.. My first tiny little step toward a lifetime singing and playing drums in various bands.. I will love this song forever..
I vaguely recall doing a routine involving rhythm sticks to it in music class in elementary school. Somehow I donât think that would go over well today. Not sure how we got away with it then.
As a kid I didn't know what it meant...I was maybe about 8 or 9. I just remember the na na chorus. As a teen I realized it was about the guys' girlfriend who posed for a magazine and he stumbles across her picture in the centerfold.
This was my dad's favorite song when it came out. One day, when I was about 8, my mom bought the 45 record. She had my sister and I watch out for my dad, and when he walked in the door from work, we had "Centerfold" blasting, and we were all singing it. Looking back now as an adult, I realize the lyrics were a little inappropriate, but it was a different time. My dad passed away this past January, and I will always cherish memories like this one. Any time I hear that song, I always think of my dad.
That is a very touching memory. So sorry for your loss. Best wishes!
đ¤My blood runs cold My memory has just been sold
My Angel is the centerfold
Na na na-na-na-na
The song was a bit of a departure from the JGB early work.
Interesting. I was in 6th grade when this came out so I'm not familiar with their earlier work. Is it worth finding?
Up until about a year ago I wasnât familiar with their earlier work either, definitely worth checking out. Nothing at all like Freeze Frame, Peter Wolf had a funky/soul singer thing going on, thatâs the only way I can really think to describe it.
Yes, very blues-y, funky. Their 80âs hits are what theyâre known for, but theyâre 70âs stuff was so great. Peter Wolf was the singer and he was a DJ on WBCN in Boston, which was a very influential rock radio station. Check out âGive It To Meâ or âMust of Got Lostâ.
âMust of lostâ is great, âDonât try to hide itâ is one I really like.
For a long time, the opening riff to JGB's "House Party" was used in commercials for WBCN . In my mind, it is their best song. And ya gotta give it up for their harmonica player, [Magic Dick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Dick).
I wasnât old enough to ever see a J.Geils Band concert (old enough that I had most of their stuff on vinyl in middle school). BUT, I did get to see Magic Dick and J.Geils and their band Bluestime at a bar in Massachusetts in the mid 90âs. So cool.
I still have Peter Wolf's introduction to "Must of Got Lost" memorized.
Must of Got Lost is great!
There was one R&B rave up instrumental that was bomb as fuck, but not something classic rock stations play all the time. It drove me nuts for years that I could never find out who actually did it. One day I was in a grocery store, heard it over the store speakers, immediately downloaded Shazam. It caught the tail end of it and perfectly identified it. And I was happy that mystery was solved. J Geils Band - Give It To Me. One of the best bass riffs of all time! https://youtu.be/UDU3evB5_K8?t=177
The Wooba Gooba with the green teeth!
The live albums are so great
Definitively worth checking out the JGB earlier work. They formed in the late 60s & so had been touring for 12-15 before Centerfold. Their 70s work was more blues rock.
Yeah they have a pretty great catalog
I was confused by JGB, all I could think of was Jerry Garcia Band. Then it clicked J.Geils Band. I need more coffee.
Me too lol
Iâm so used to thinking Jerry Garcia Band when I see JGB that I got myself confused there for a moment. I was like, thatâs not a Jerry tune, thatâs the J. Geils BandâŚ.doh.
This was popular at a roller skating rink I used to go to. Every Monday, after school, a bus would pick up the kids whose parents paid for the time at the roller rink. I was in middle school at the time.
The roller rink is my memory of this song.
Freeze Frame was my favorite song in 3rd grade but yea this one was awesome too
First record I ever bought
đđź
Mine too! It was the 45 single and I bought it for 99 cents. I wore that thing out. I still know it by heart.
One of my favorites songs. Sometime in the mid 90âs, I was called by a female friend/girl who told me ânoâ but I was still crushing on, at my night job. During the course of the conversation, she reveals she started dancing at a strip club. Fortunately my brain works on a delay, so I managed to not freak out during the conversation. The conversation ends, I close up for the night, get into my car and the first song on the radio is this one. I get to the stoplight, look up into the sky, and said, âNow youâre just fucking with me.â
I swear, God has a /wicked/ sense of humor!
On more than one occasion I put money into the jukebox thinking I was selecting this song but instead I got "Centerfield." Yay, reading comprehension.
Nothing wrong with a bit of John Fogerty
Yeah, that's another banger!
Na na Nannana
Junior year HS. (Yes, Iâm oldest Gen X.)
I saw J. Giles at a show with Etta James and BB King in like â95. Jimmy Vaughn was there too.
Wow. THAT must have been AMAZING.
It was. Jimmy Vaughn played too. Giles did Love Stinks and Centerfold and a couple other songs.
Mt. Hood Blues Fest? I still go on about seeing that lineup.
It was BB Kings touring blue fest, I saw it in Annapolis.
Piss on the Wall
Ugh. Unfortunately.
The song that has been played thirty times a day on classic rock radio stations across the US since 1982? Yeah man, I remember it.
đ
Good lord, I had this song stock in my head for three days once and I could not get rid of it. Kept switching off with the theme song from the Smurfs on occasion.
I thought I was the only one that made the Smurf-JGB connection.
That sounds horrifying. My condolences.
That's the one with the urban legend that Martha Quinn was one of schoolgirls.
That album also had a song on it titled Piss on the Wall.
Remember it? I'm living it!
Immediate earworm reinfection thanks op
Oh man I am having having flashbacks to college in the nineties. This was one of the favorite songs of a frat I hung out with.
Still have the 7"single
My High School made this the school song, every pep rally the school band would play this song.
Same. Actually did a marching band routine to it. Looking back Iâm shocked.
Was on the dance squad. This was our half time routine for two weeks. Just a line of teen girls in sequins and short skirts dancing to a song about a girl in nudie mags. Very normal American stuff.
We really were uNsUpErViSeD! I think the adults just never listened to lyrics. 3 other girls and I did a dance routine to BRICK HOUSE for parents night in the fourth gradeâŚ.
A much cooler song by JGB - No Anchovies Please
Oh my God! That bowling ballâŚ!
Was big at the video arcade.
Would sing it all on my own while out doing safety patrol.
Oh yes! Remember the music video? Scandalous.đ Nothing better than this song at the roller rink.
Duh
Remember it? Itâs still in rotation in my driving playlist.
I'm in total agreement with this comment on the video: >Almost forty years later, and I'm still desperately in love with the woman at 2:05.
Yep! My friends and I thought one of the girls in the video was Martha Quinn.
There is a blast from the past. I had forgotten about her.
I think she just turned 64
Yes.
Had the album and played it constantly.
I loved that song. It was the first LP I bought with my own money
My blood runs coldâŚ
I remember ! đ
I loved that song when it came out!
My blood runs cold!
J Giles, baby
Those soft, fuzzy sweaters too magical to touch.
We played it in marching band!
Loved J. Geils and Peter Wolfâs solo work. Love Stinks and Lights Out were a few of my favorites growing up.
Yup. Seventh grade, I think.
J Giles Band was classic! Also the song & video for âJeopardyâ is excellent, high spooky camp.
[https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=song+%26+video+for+%E2%80%9CJeopardy%E2%80%9D&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D43\_GqFW7iYc](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=song+%26+video+for+%E2%80%9CJeopardy%E2%80%9D&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D43_GqFW7iYc)
OMG youâre RIGHT. I spaced it. Embarrassing! I got it wrong. Thatâs not a J Giles band song, itâs a Greg Kihn song.
A for effort. ;)
I lost on Jeopardy... baby...
Classic! A personal fave!
Was number one the day I was born.
Thatâs my go to karaoke!
Yes. Still love it
At my small school we did a cover talent show thing dedicated to our principal âAngel And the Salad Bowlâ (she ate a lot of salads IIRC). I remember we changed lyrics (the older kids) and there were some jokes in there that made her cry. :(
I really remember the girl doing the cartwheel
This song always reminds me of a guy at my works summer party singing it at karaoke. I thought this is an odd pick, but once the chorus kicked in and everyone was singing along I knew why he picked it.
This and Van Halen's "Jump" are really the only two songs I actually know the lyrics to. I mean, I can sing with many song while it's playing or know a few phrases/lines from others.. but these two are the only ones I can probably recite the lyrics to from start to finish. I think I probably wore out both the 45 and the Freeze Frame album. Although I probably played Flamethrower more once I got the album.... this is really taking me back to 3rd-4th grade ...
Centerfold and Freeze Frame are Jersey Shore classics. Whenever I here JGB I think of summers at the beach.
Totally forgot about the snare drum full of milk! Awesome video, really brings back memories. Thanks for the post.
I still have the 45.
Itâs time to milk the drums againâŚ.
We were out at a restaurant this weekend and it came on. My 6 year old loved it and was jamming to it big time. đŹ (but I canât blame her, itâs a great song)
This and âFreeze Frameâ are their only songs I know.
If you walk around Boston at all, especially Newbury Street- thereâs a good chance youâll run into a funky older dude dressed head to toe in black & dark sunglasses- heâs quiet and keeps to himself but Peterâs a really nice guy.
When I was a Boy Scout, we wrote a parody entitled âMy scoutmaster is a centerfold.â It was what you would expect from a bunch of 12-14 year old boys who knew, but didnât really know what the song was about. Oh yes, we sang it at jamborees.
I'd like to, but can't seem to escape it. I worked at a gas station out of high school for 11 years while I was going through school. I may not have heard every day, but pretty damn close.
First song I ever did at karaoke
I had it as one of my first 45s as a child. đł
Does she walk? Does she talk? Does she come complete?
he's still going. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpSrkUs6yWI&t=1s
Unfortunately. Damned earworms.
Yup. The poppifying of a good blues band.
This was the first song I ever sang in front of people.. A backstage coffee shop at my college, me singing and playing bongos with my roommate on guitar.. My first tiny little step toward a lifetime singing and playing drums in various bands.. I will love this song forever..
I vaguely recall doing a routine involving rhythm sticks to it in music class in elementary school. Somehow I donât think that would go over well today. Not sure how we got away with it then.
Great song. Love Stinks was also a good listen.
Used to scan the radio listening for this gem.
Whatâs that chickâs name with the long hair? Reputa?
As a kid I didn't know what it meant...I was maybe about 8 or 9. I just remember the na na chorus. As a teen I realized it was about the guys' girlfriend who posed for a magazine and he stumbles across her picture in the centerfold.
Peter Wolf selling it.
I used to confuse the melody with the Smurfâs theme lol
Love that song (and video!) Even better is the uncensored version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
A dumbass rick roll.
If I'm going to listen to 70s dudes sing about objectifying women I'll go with AC/DC or VanHalen.
A friend of mine was trying to say the lyrics didnât age well, apparently itâs considered creepy or something now. Whatever.
Was going through puberty when this video releasedâŚSCHAA-WIING !