Rocktober Deep Cut T: "Toughest Street in Town" by Thin Lizzy

I have likely said it before, and I will likely say it again:  Thin Lizzy is criminally underrated, at least in this country.  Phil Lynott was a fantastic songwriter, writing interesting stories in the Irish tradition.  Like with Springsteen, I think a lot of his songs would make great short stories or even movies.  The band's use of twin lead guitars (for most of their existence, anyway) was both revolutionary and influential, especially in the hard rock and metal world (see Iron Maiden and Judas Priest).  As Henry Rollins (a huge Thin Lizzy fan) once said, "If you like big rock music with great vocals and tremendous guitar, there's at least five Thin Lizzy albums which you need to run out and get, like right now."  I agree.

In the UK, the band had 9 Top 10 albums (including live albums and compilations), to go along with 13 UK Top 40 hits (including 4 Top 10), as well as 12 Top 20, 6 Top 5, and 2 #1 songs in their native Ireland.  However, as a result of some bad luck and illness while touring the States back in the '70s, the band never made it as big here as they should have.  Only three of their singles charted on the Billboard Hot 100 -- "The Boys Are Back In Town" (#12), "Cowboy Song" (#77), and "Do Anything You Want To" (#81) -– and only one album cracked the Top 20 on Billboard's album charts (1976's Jailbreak).  Chances are, other than their two classic rock radio staples –- "The Boys Are Back In Town" and "Jailbreak" –-many American listeners have never heard a Thin Lizzy song.  Frankly, I can think of only one or two times when I've heard a Thin Lizzy song other than one of those two on the radio, and I think that's a damn shame.

When choosing a Thin Lizzy deep cut with a dark theme for Halloween week, I had a few options, but ultimately decided to go with "Toughest Street in Town" off of the band's 1979 album, Black Rose: A Rock Legend (which I reviewed on this here blog during the first year I did Rocktoberfest).

"Toughest Street In Town" is one of my top 5 favorite Thin Lizzy songs.  It's a look at the underbelly of society in the bad part of town.  Drugs, prostitution, muggings, murder, upper class apathy.  It's all there, placed on top of a frantically paced rock song.  The opening twin lead guitar riff is gritty, the drum fills are perfect, the guitars during the song are catchy at times and blazing at others, and Lynott's singing is typically soulful, complemented by the backing vocals on the chorus.  When I hear this song, I really can't figure out why these guys weren't more popular.  Good shit, for sure.  I strongly urge you to follow Henry Rollins's advice.