Hard Charger

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Tyler Durden
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Hard Charger

#1 Post by Tyler Durden » Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:42 pm

Anyone know why the song "Hard Charger" was scrapped from inclusion as the title track for the renamed Good Gods Urge album?

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Re: Hard Charger

#2 Post by Hokahey » Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:27 pm

Tyler Durden wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:42 pm
Anyone know why the song "Hard Charger" was scrapped from inclusion as the title track for the renamed Good Gods Urge album?
According to JA.org it was supposed to be the name of the Jane's follow-up to Ritual? I don't think I knew that.

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Re: Hard Charger

#3 Post by Tyler Durden » Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:42 pm

Hokahey wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:27 pm
Tyler Durden wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:42 pm
Anyone know why the song "Hard Charger" was scrapped from inclusion as the title track for the renamed Good Gods Urge album?
According to JA.org it was supposed to be the name of the Jane's follow-up to Ritual? I don't think I knew that.
I definitely didn't know that. But I do remember reading an article in some rag (it might have been RIP or something) around 1995 and they said that Porno's forthcoming sophomoric album was going to be called Hard Charger. So I guess the track existed in some form or another at this point. :noclue: If they essentially had the song in the can (again, I'm speculating), why on Earth would they not have included it on their second album? It has some silly lyrics...but that track overall is on fire.

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Re: Hard Charger

#4 Post by Larry B. » Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:08 pm

The extended version of that song is bliss.

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Re: Hard Charger

#5 Post by Tyler Durden » Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:38 pm

Larry B. wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:08 pm
The extended version of that song is bliss.
:worship:

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Re: Hard Charger

#6 Post by bman » Fri Jul 31, 2020 8:40 pm

Yeah I remember the article too. GGU definitely was originally scheduled to be called Hard Charger.

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Re: Hard Charger

#7 Post by bman » Fri Jul 31, 2020 8:41 pm

And, wasn't Aqua supposed to be on it?

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Re: Hard Charger

#8 Post by Hokahey » Fri Jul 31, 2020 8:53 pm

Tyler Durden wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:42 pm
Hokahey wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:27 pm
Tyler Durden wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 12:42 pm
Anyone know why the song "Hard Charger" was scrapped from inclusion as the title track for the renamed Good Gods Urge album?
According to JA.org it was supposed to be the name of the Jane's follow-up to Ritual? I don't think I knew that.
I definitely didn't know that. But I do remember reading an article in some rag (it might have been RIP or something) around 1995 and they said that Porno's forthcoming sophomoric album was going to be called Hard Charger. So I guess the track existed in some form or another at this point. :noclue: If they essentially had the song in the can (again, I'm speculating), why on Earth would they not have included it on their second album? It has some silly lyrics...but that track overall is on fire.
I read that too in Hit Parader. Except I swear they called it something slightly different, like Super Charger.

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Re: Hard Charger

#9 Post by clickie » Sat Aug 01, 2020 7:34 pm

That doesn't sound right Perry calling it Super Charger. You might be thinking of Rob Zombie

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Re: Hard Charger

#10 Post by Hokahey » Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:06 pm

clickie wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 7:34 pm
That doesn't sound right Perry calling it Super Charger. You might be thinking of Rob Zombie
No, I'm definitely remembering it correctly because it really stood out to me and I was super excited for it. Then when hard charger came out I remembered it and figured they changed the name. What probably happened was the stupid magazine just got the name wrong.

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Re: Hard Charger

#11 Post by kv » Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:43 am

Ya the mag prob botched it

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Re: Hard Charger

#12 Post by bman » Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:27 am

According to JA.org,

Hard Charger was the working title as well as an unrecorded song for the planned follow up to Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual de lo Habitual album. It was eventually recorded and released by Porno For Pyros with Dave Navarro and Flea performing alongside Perry Farrell, Peter DiStefano and Stephen Perkins. The song was recorded for the 1997 autobiographical Howard Stern movie Private Parts. It appears on the movie’s soundtrack and was released as a single.

Porno For Pyros, along with Flea and Dave Navarro, performed Hard Charger and the Jane’s Addiction seminal tune Mountain Song, at the movie premiere for Private Parts as well as several promotional appearances for the film. Although the five musicians had previously worked together on the Porno For Pyros song Freeway, this was the first time that Perry, Steve and Dave had worked and performed together simultaneously since Jane’s Addiction split up in 1991.

Porno For Pyros had also originally planned on recording the song as well as using the name for their second album. However those plans were never realized, and the song didn’t even make it onto the band’s Good God’s Urge album.

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Re: Hard Charger

#13 Post by Hokahey » Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:51 am

"Citation needed."

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Re: Hard Charger

#14 Post by bman » Sun Aug 02, 2020 7:01 am

But is this true?
Hard Charger was the working title as well as an unrecorded song for the planned follow up to Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual de lo Habitual album.

Was there even ever a working title for a ritual follow up? Gotta to ask Eric.

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Re: Hard Charger

#15 Post by intertwoven » Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:59 am

Here's what I got on SDW:
"Hard Charger" was supposedly conceived during JA's heyday as well. (At a show in Rhode Island in 1990, Perry said "I'm a hard charger" for some reason. And at a show in Ottawa '89, Perry introduced Eric as "that hard charger, himself." But "hard charger" is a surfing term, so that might not mean much.) It was later recorded by P4P with Dave Navarro and Flea for Howard Stern's Private Parts movie soundtrack in '97. But it's still disputed when it was written. Perry said he wrote it specifically for Howard's movie.. And when asked about his involvement with the song, Dave said "I simply helped record it......about three-four hours work at best"... so that would suggest it couldn't have been a Jane's tune originally.

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Re: Hard Charger

#16 Post by Hokahey » Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:58 am

intertwoven wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:59 am
Here's what I got on SDW:
"Hard Charger" was supposedly conceived during JA's heyday as well. (At a show in Rhode Island in 1990, Perry said "I'm a hard charger" for some reason. And at a show in Ottawa '89, Perry introduced Eric as "that hard charger, himself." But "hard charger" is a surfing term, so that might not mean much.) It was later recorded by P4P with Dave Navarro and Flea for Howard Stern's Private Parts movie soundtrack in '97. But it's still disputed when it was written. Perry said he wrote it specifically for Howard's movie.. And when asked about his involvement with the song, Dave said "I simply helped record it......about three-four hours work at best"... so that would suggest it couldn't have been a Jane's tune originally.
This makes more sense. I am betting it was never a Jane's song, but because it felt a bit like one they used it for Private Parts.

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Re: Hard Charger

#17 Post by Tyler Durden » Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:41 pm

All of that being said, the song likely had to have existed in some form by 1995-96 if "Hard Charger" was the working title for GGU...at least, you'd think. Kind of hope that's not the case and that they wrote it in 1997...because not including that song on GGU is inexplicable to me. Not knocking GGU, but I think Hard Charger is better than anything on that album.

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Re: Hard Charger

#18 Post by drwintercreeper » Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:22 pm

blasphemy! i'm kidding, of course, but i would put porpoise head, 100 ways and tahitian moon above hard charger. good gods/urge lyrics are beautiful; freeway is another i would rank above hard charger just because the groove is killer. and bali eyes - gotta give respect to a good mushroom song.

i will always love love love this album.

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Re: Hard Charger

#19 Post by Hokahey » Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:09 pm

Tyler Durden wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:41 pm
All of that being said, the song likely had to have existed in some form by 1995-96 if "Hard Charger" was the working title for GGU...at least, you'd think. Kind of hope that's not the case and that they wrote it in 1997...because not including that song on GGU is inexplicable to me. Not knocking GGU, but I think Hard Charger is better than anything on that album.
It's a great track, but it didn't necessarily fit in on that album. It could be the reason they left it off.

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Re: Hard Charger

#20 Post by Noonesshocking » Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:08 pm

Isn't there a boot from the 80's where Perry introduces Eric as the "hard charger"?

Also, maybe I'm alone in this, but I prefer the edit/remix version. It just has more energy to me, and it's in the same key they played it live I think.

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Re: Hard Charger

#21 Post by nausearockpig » Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:45 pm

Hokahey wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:09 pm
Tyler Durden wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:41 pm
All of that being said, the song likely had to have existed in some form by 1995-96 if "Hard Charger" was the working title for GGU...at least, you'd think. Kind of hope that's not the case and that they wrote it in 1997...because not including that song on GGU is inexplicable to me. Not knocking GGU, but I think Hard Charger is better than anything on that album.
It's a great track, but it didn't necessarily fit in on that album. It could be the reason they left it off.
Yah agreed. it's way too rocky for GGU.

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Re: Hard Charger

#22 Post by Tyler Durden » Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:50 pm

nausearockpig wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:45 pm
Hokahey wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:09 pm
Tyler Durden wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:41 pm
All of that being said, the song likely had to have existed in some form by 1995-96 if "Hard Charger" was the working title for GGU...at least, you'd think. Kind of hope that's not the case and that they wrote it in 1997...because not including that song on GGU is inexplicable to me. Not knocking GGU, but I think Hard Charger is better than anything on that album.
It's a great track, but it didn't necessarily fit in on that album. It could be the reason they left it off.
Yah agreed. it's way too rocky for GGU.
Sure, but if you were to substitute it for one of the more acoustic tracks, it would generally fit in among Tahitian Moon, Freeway, and Dogs Rule the Night.

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Re: Hard Charger

#23 Post by nausearockpig » Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:10 pm

Tyler Durden wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:50 pm
nausearockpig wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:45 pm
Hokahey wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:09 pm
Tyler Durden wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:41 pm
All of that being said, the song likely had to have existed in some form by 1995-96 if "Hard Charger" was the working title for GGU...at least, you'd think. Kind of hope that's not the case and that they wrote it in 1997...because not including that song on GGU is inexplicable to me. Not knocking GGU, but I think Hard Charger is better than anything on that album.
It's a great track, but it didn't necessarily fit in on that album. It could be the reason they left it off.
Yah agreed. it's way too rocky for GGU.
Sure, but if you were to substitute it for one of the more acoustic tracks, it would generally fit in among Tahitian Moon, Freeway, and Dogs Rule the Night.
Happily... :bigrin:

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Re: Hard Charger

#24 Post by astro » Mon Jun 13, 2022 8:59 am

bman wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:27 am
According to JA.org,

Hard Charger was the working title as well as an unrecorded song for the planned follow up to Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual de lo Habitual album. It was eventually recorded and released by Porno For Pyros with Dave Navarro and Flea performing alongside Perry Farrell, Peter DiStefano and Stephen Perkins. The song was recorded for the 1997 autobiographical Howard Stern movie Private Parts. It appears on the movie’s soundtrack and was released as a single.

Porno For Pyros, along with Flea and Dave Navarro, performed Hard Charger and the Jane’s Addiction seminal tune Mountain Song, at the movie premiere for Private Parts as well as several promotional appearances for the film. Although the five musicians had previously worked together on the Porno For Pyros song Freeway, this was the first time that Perry, Steve and Dave had worked and performed together simultaneously since Jane’s Addiction split up in 1991.

Porno For Pyros had also originally planned on recording the song as well as using the name for their second album. However those plans were never realized, and the song didn’t even make it onto the band’s Good God’s Urge album.


Image

Not sure how correct the info from JA.org is about Hard Charger being a JA song. I checked JA.org show history for PFP 2022 and it states, "Stephen Perkins was part of practices for the show, but he was not present for the concert, apparently having to skip it due to an infection. Nick Maybury filled in on drums."

Nick Maybury is a guitar player. Mike G. filled in on drums.

I can't see that Hard Charger was played at all other than on the Letterman Show and the Howard Stern PP Premier. Why? Hard Charger is one of the greatest, probably the best song PFP ever recorded. Then they keep touring that year (1997) and don't play it. I don't get it.

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Re: Hard Charger

#25 Post by intertwoven » Mon Jun 13, 2022 10:03 am

astro wrote:
Mon Jun 13, 2022 8:59 am
I can't see that Hard Charger was played at all other than on the Letterman Show and the Howard Stern PP Premier. Why? Hard Charger is one of the greatest, probably the best song PFP ever recorded. Then they keep touring that year (1997) and don't play it. I don't get it.
The thing is they only play it when Flea and Dave are in tow, for whatever reason. (Perry is obviously not above playing bastardized versions of his songs, so not sure why this song stays behind glass.) I think the only non-televised performance of "Hard Charger" was February 28, 1997 Roseland Ballroom, NYC, while Flea and Dave were still in town from Letterman and the Stern thing. By the performance the next day in DC, Dave had left, and so no Hard Charger in the set (or ever again up to this point). The rest of the '97 gigs were mostly stripped down with no bassist, then the big Relapse news broke, with JA easily stealing the spotlight and knocking P4P into the shadows. All adds up to arguably their best song being forgotten about.

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