Remember when you were little and you only just heard tell of those dirty dirty words that had the power to shock adults more than eating bugs ever did? Now that profanity has lost much of its magic, there isn’t a lot people can say that’s truly shocking, but when I first heard “Hot Nuts Pt.1″, I felt just like when I first found out that the F-word was like a secret password to my mom’s nerves.
Doug Clark And The Hot Nuts were popular in the fifties for playing fraternity parties six years before their first record Nuts To You came out in 1961. They are known for their double entendres, their supposed lack of clothing at their legendary concerts, and risque lyrics. Their single “Hot Nuts” is actually pretty demure compared to some of their later songs, but it starts with the line ‘Now in the garden of Eden sat Eve and Adam, had his hands in the loins of his madam’. Which is around the time I hurt my jaw when it hit the floor. I had never heard about them or their reputation, so I did not expect that from a fifties band. When I heard the rest of the song I learned they were just getting started. In between the seemingly innocent chorus, they describe all kinds of stuff involving the twisted ways men have injured their nuts and a particularly silly but funny line about what girls are ready for straight out of high school.
Their naughty lyrics make sure you don’t confuse them with any of their fellow catchy Rhythm & Blues playing contemporaries. Though they’re mostly known as a novelty frat band, I think these pioneers of raunchy deserve to be lauded for the sheer balls (or nuts) they had to not give a hoot and sing like they only played in men’s locker rooms at a time when uptight was a way of life. However, in spite of the witty sex talk, the most Rock ‘n Roll thing about this band is that their albums were one of the first to have an adult content warning, and a special branch of the Jubilee label, the Gross Label, had to be set up especially for them, to cloak Jubilee’s associations with the band. This gave them the freedom to do and say whatever they wanted, and their album cover, on which Doug Clark flips the bird to the audience, is just a little intro to what’s to be expected of the inside. They’re un-PC, kooky, dirty, the PMRC’s worst nightmare, and totally amazing!
Doug Clark & The Hot Nuts – Hot Nuts Pt.1
