Photo: David Gans, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Our Top 10 Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen Songs list looks at the great songs of a band out of Ann Arbor, Michigan.The rock and roll career of Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen began in 1967. After working together as a bar band for a few years, the group signed a record deal and released their first album in 1971 entitled Lost in the Ozone. The group would release 10 more albums on and off over the years right up to 2019. In between George Frayne would form different groups under the Commander Cody name and continue to release records separate from the Aiman releases. This Top 10 Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen Songs list will focus mainly on the Airmen songs with a few exceptions.
# 10 – Truck Stop Rock
We open up our Top 10 Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen Songs list with the song Truck Stop Rock. The song served as the opening track to the album Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers Favorites. The album was released in 1972. It was the second album released by the band Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen. A little dixie land, a little country and a taste of some Grateful Dead all blended together into a sound that was undeniably brilliant.
The band on the album featured musicians George Frayne also known as Commander Cody on piano, keyboards and vocals, Billy C. Farlow on harmonica and vocals, Bill Kirchen on guitar and vocals, John Tichy on guitar, Lance Dickerson on drums and vocals, “Buffalo” Bruce Barlow on bass and vocals, Andy Stein on violins and saxophone and Bobby “Blue” Black on pedal steel guitar and vocals.
# 9 – It’s Gonna Be One of Those Nights
Continuing with our Top 10 Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen Songs list we turn to the great track “It’s Gonna Be One of Those Nights.” This great song is fueled by a Bill Haley & The Comet’s groove that Commander Cody and his band shine mightily on. The song was an original Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen piece. It was written by George Frayne, Bill Kirchen and Billy C. Farlow. It appeared on the 1975 album Tales From The Ozone.
# 8 – Seven Eleven
How could you not love a song about stealing some beer and wine from a 7-11. It’s just so brilliant. The song “Seven Eleven,” was released on the 1977 album Rock ‘n Roll Again. The album release was credited to the Commander Cody Band.
# 7 – Rock That Boogie
Well, we could listen to that rock and roll boogie piano playing all day and night long. At number seven on our Top 10 Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen Songs list is the great rocking track “Rock That Boogie.” The song was written by George Frayne and Bruce Farlow. “Rock That Boogie,” was released on the album Country Casanova.
# 6 – Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)
The classic country swinging song “Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette),” was issued on the album Country Casanova. The album was the third release from Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen. The album was released in 1973. The song “Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette),” was released as the album’s only single. It broke both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Country music charts peaking in the 90s on both charts. The song was written by legendary country music songwriters Merle Travis and Tex Williams in 1947.
# 5 – Riot in Cell Block #9
At the halfway point on our Top 10 Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen Songs list we present the live version of the classic 1950s song Riot in Cell Block #9. The version presented here was recorded by Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen and released on the album Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas. The album was released
# 4 – Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar
There are so many musical genres that inspired classic rock and roll. One of them was the concept of boogie and blues that was very popular in the 1940s. Commander Cody was very much in tune with music of the first half of the 20sth century. Cody shows off his boogie piano playing chops on this great live version of the song “Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar.” The song was written by Don Raye, Hughie Prince and Ray McKinley. Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen released the song as a single in 1972 off the Lost In The Ozone album. The song broke the Billboard’s Hot 100. The version below was recorded live in 1977 and featured Nicolette Larson on vocals.
# 3 – 2 Triple Cheese (Side Order of Fries)
The very Jimmy Buffett sounding title “2 Triple Cheese (Side Order of Fries)” is one of Commander Cody most popular songs. The song was released on the album Lose It Tonight. The album was released in 1980 under just the Commander Cody name.The song was released with an iconic, very strange, but also very cool video that got some play on MTV during the channels early days. Hands down, this is one of our favorite music videos of all time. This was from a time when bands had fun making videos before the genre morphed into high end productions featuring beautiful models that had nothing to do with the bands or the music.
# 2 – Don’t Let Go
In one of our final spots on our top 10 Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen songs list we present the song “Don’t Let Go.” This great rockabilly number was released in 1975 on the album entitled Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. The song was first released in the 1950s by Roy Hamilton. “Don’t Let Go,” was written by Jesse Stone. Roy Hamilton had great success with then song as it was a top 10 hit on the Billboard R&B charts and a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The great somewhat retro sounding Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen version also did well on the charts peaking at number 56 in 1975. We love Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen’s version. So did many others.
“Don’t Let Go,” is one of the most covered songs in classic rock history. The song has been covered by a very diverse list of artists including Jerry Garcia, Jeff Lynne, Cliff Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, The 4 Seasons and many others.
# 1 – Hot Rod Lincoln
We close out our top 10 Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen songs list with the song “Hot Rod Lincoln.” No other song that Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen ever released came close to matching the commercial success that the song “Hot Rod Lincoln,” had. “Hot Rod Lincoln,” was released as a single in 1972 off the album Lost in the Ozone. It was the group’s first charting single of their career. The song Hot Rod Lincoln,” became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number nine. The band never broke the Billboard Top 40 again for the rest of their career. And that’s alright because Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were not a singles band. They were just a great rock and roll jam band pretty much ahead of their time.
Top 10 Commander Cody Songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
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I don’t know how any list of Commander Cody best songs can overlook “Down to seeds and stems again blues”
Hey how about, thanks for publishing a list of Commander Cody songs and by the way another great song is “Down to seeds and stems again blues.” But I guess it’s just easier to be rude…..
my thought exactly…seeds and stems should be at least on the list, if not number 1. the version with nicolette larson on youtube is incredible…
What? No Seeds & Stems? No Mama Hated Diesels? Can’t list their top ten without those gems or else you would need to extend the list to include them!