Smokin’ In The Boys' Room

The Zoo Crew is spinning the classic anthem Smokin’ In The Boys’ Room by Brownsville Station, a track from their 1973 album Yeah!, and the Zoo Freaks are surely digging the rebellious vibes. This song, written by Michael Lutz and Cub Koda, captures the thrill of sneaking cigarettes in the school bathroom, inspired by Koda’s teenage memories of smuggling smokes into the men’s room at the Clinton Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan. According to Koda, the theater’s “old duffer” owner would chase them but never caught them in the act, a story that fueled the song’s cheeky defiance. The track’s raw energy, complete with blaring guitars and a harmonica solo, made it a teen anthem, hitting #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold disc for over two million copies sold. Fun fact: when Mötley Crüe covered it in 1985, they swapped the lyrics to name-drop their band members—“Sixx, and Nick and Tom”—but fans on Reddit often argue the original’s garage rock grit outshines the Crüe’s glammed-up take.

Another tidbit from the song’s history comes from its recording at Media Sound in New York City, where the band captured its signature sound in a converted church. Drummer Henry “H-Bomb” Weck played in a “drum cage” of gobos to isolate his 1960s Ludwig kit, but he later griped that the studio’s church acoustics were underused, giving the track a cleaner sound than their live, hard-rocking shows. Fans on Reddit still rave about Cub Koda’s showmanship, with one recalling his “Diamond Dave goofiness” and wild stage antics, like the band changing clothes mid-performance. A user shared a wild memory of seeing Brownsville Station open for Johnny Winter at Winterland in 1972, only to get booed offstage and pelted with coins as the crowd chanted for Winter. Despite the rough night, the song’s legacy endures, even popping up in pop culture, like the King of the Hill episode where the band reunites for a fictional “Still Smokin’ in the Boys Room” tour.

Brownsville Station got their start in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1969, formed by guitarist/vocalist Cub Koda, guitarist/vocalist Mike Lutz, drummer T.J. Cronley, and bassist/vocalist Tony Driggins. Inspired by 1950s rock and roll giants like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Jerry Lee Lewis, they carved out a gritty, high-energy sound that stood apart from the politicized Detroit scene of bands like MC5. Their early gigs in clubs and colleges between Chicago, Detroit, and Ann Arbor—described by Lutz as their “Hamburg” akin to The Beatles—honed their raw stage presence. They dropped their debut album, No BS, in 1970 on Warner Bros., mixing covers with originals, but it was Smokin’ In The Boys’ Room from Yeah! that catapulted them to fame. Koda, the band’s heart, later became a music historian, writing for Goldmine and the All Music Guide, and even co-authored Blues For Dummies before his passing in 2000. The band’s influence lingered, with Koda’s antics inspiring rockers like Alice Cooper and Peter Wolf.

While Brownsville Station doesn’t have an official website or active social media today, fans keep their spirit alive online. You can check out their legacy on Facebook, where posts celebrate milestones like the song’s 1973 release. Instagram has fan-shared content under the #brownsvillestation tag, though no official band account exists. On X, searches for “Brownsville Station” turn up fan posts and retro music accounts hyping the song’s nostalgic kick. For deeper dives, fan communities thrive on Reddit’s ClassicRock subreddit, where users swap stories and praise the band’s underdog status. There’s no dedicated fan website, but Last.fm offers a solid bio and track info for Zoo Freaks wanting to explore more of Brownsville Station’s catalog.