Angel Say No

Hey there Zoo Freaks, the Zoo Crew has got this one spinning on the turntables right now and it is a real sleeper from back when power pop was just starting to flex its muscles. Angel Say No by Tommy Tutone off their self-titled debut album is the kind of lean, muscular little number that sneaks up on you. Written by Jim Keller and Tommy Heath, it climbed to number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1980 as the lead single, with The Blame riding on the B-side. Mark Deming over at AllMusic once said it recalls Tom Petty’s earlier sides with that pleading lyric and tight arrangement, and he was not wrong. The narrator is urging his Angel to say no, to stay put because she is better on her own, warning her that the guys waiting outside are nothing but trouble. It is a straight-up plea dressed up in new wave edges and classic rock & roll drive, the kind of track that feels like it was cut for late-night album rock radio before the programmers took over.

Tommy Heath has talked about how the song just kind of arrived. In one interview he called it a five-minute number that felt like he was interpreting it more than writing it, a teenage Angel story with a twist. He would even mess with the bridge on stage, swapping in lines like I heard that your daddy died or I heard that your poodle died just to keep things loose. There were several tunes like that on the first album, simple almost country songs that somehow locked in with the band’s quirky edge. Before Angel Say No even hit, their track Cheap Date had already become a national AOR favorite in those days when a DJ could lock himself in the studio at midnight and play a whole record. The band went from a little bar in Ukiah up to opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on the Damn the Torpedoes tour, complete with Petty sending his lighting guy up to check them out. That is the kind of rock & roll fairy tale that makes you want to crank the volume on the speakers here at THE ZOO.

Tommy Tutone the band got its start in San Francisco in the late seventies when Tommy Heath, who had grown up in Philadelphia, Texas, and Montana, landed there during the Summer of Love looking to live the hippie life. He had already been around the block with all kinds of outfits, surf bands, soul groups, country western, even a fifties rock & roll art project back in college called Tommy and the T-Tones. Everybody in those little northern California towns had a nickname, and his stuck after an old jacket and a two-tone Chevy. He partnered up with guitarist Jim Keller and bassist Terry Nails, and they started refining the sound, narrowing the focus after years of playing everything from Boz Scaggs to country bars. Heath has said they were a quirky band that did not really rock in the usual way, they just sounded different. Somebody asked them to open a showcase for a hotter San Francisco act, the L.A. people showed up, and the next thing you know Columbia signed them. That is how a shy guy who once daydreamed about publishing songs for other people ended up fronting his own group.

The debut album Tommy Tutone dropped in early 1980 and Angel Say No opened the record, setting the tone for that power pop with a new wave wink. Personnel included Heath on rhythm guitar, lead vocals and keyboards, Keller on lead, Nails on bass, and Micky Shine on drums. Producers Ed Thacker, Brian Leshon and Phil Jost kept it lean. The single spent eight weeks on the Hot 100 and gave them their first real taste of national airplay, even if the big number would come a year later with Jenny. Heath has never claimed they were one-hit wonders in the usual sense, and Angel Say No proves the point. Fans still dig it for the guitar and piano work, the way it sits somewhere between Joe Jackson’s Look Sharp era and straight-up American rock & roll. You can check out more of the story and the current scene over at the official site mr8675309.com, where the band keeps the lights on and the shows rolling.

Catch them on the socials too. The official Facebook page is right here at therealtommytutone, and the verified band page sits at Tommy Tutone. Instagram is locked in at therealtommytutone, where they post the new singles and tour shots. There is even an active Facebook group for the fans at Tommy Tutone group where folks share the old tracks and the new videos. The whole crew is still out there doing the unplugged story-and-song sets and the full-band rock shows, proving that the same restless energy that drove Angel Say No never really left the building. So keep those dials locked on the Zoo Crew, because this is the kind of deep cut that reminds you why freeform album rock still hits different.