“Magnet & Steel” Meets “Rake & Widget”

Everybody’s heard it, the great hit song “Magnet and Steel” by Walter Egan, from his 1978 album “Not Shy.” But my favorite of his songs has long been ”Tunnel O’ Love” from his debut album, 1977’s “Fundamental Roll,” perhaps the raunchiest song I’ve ever heard (with the lovely Stevie Nicks wailing in the background like a sexy banshee). About a year ago I started devising a strange singing duo, Rake and Widget, to appear in a story sequence I was working on called NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS (which should be coming out from Dark Regions Press in 2010). Well, for some reason I had the strange idea to have Rake and Widget cover the song “Tunnel O’ Love” (you’ll have to wait until the book comes out, and you meet Rake and Widget themselves, to see why this might be funny). Then I had a stranger idea, yet. What if I made Walter Egan a character in that story, who is invited to watch Rake and Widget shoot a video of the song? So I found Walter Egan’s official web site and shot off an email to ask if I could use the song’s lyrics, and Walter himself, in the story — not sure if he’d actually get my message himself. Sure enough, he did, and replied, “I got your note and would be happy to allow the use of the lyrics, and my persona should you like to use it. Sounds like fun.”  Wow! I was bowled over, I can tell you.

Well, the story (if not the entire story sequence) is now complete, and its title is…”Waltered States.” I let Walter read it a couple days ago, and he said: “I must say I loved the story, your slightly twisted alternate, er, walternate reality brought a smile and some out loud chuckles as I read it. What a trip!…How very cool…I can’t wait to see the entire Nocturnal Emissions in print.” Double-wow! Long-time fan that I am, it was a thrill to not only get Walter’s blessing, but to win feedback from him like this. I hope the book’s general readers will find “Waltered States” fun, too. In the meantime, you can get your dose of Walter Egan himself at:

His official site: http://www.walteregan.net/

A great fan site called “Walternative” (its name taken from the clever title of his 1999 CD): http://walternative.com/

Walter’s own MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/mistermagnet

His Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Egan

And of course you can hear his music/see his videos over at YouTube:

TUNNEL O’ LOVE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_C3C9o598M&feature=PlayList&p=ED6999E2F85F5734&index=6

MAGNET AND STEEL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GYyEaQnT60&feature=PlayList&p=ED6999E2F85F5734&index=1

FOOL MOON FIRE (Walter as a werewolf!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP7AFXFFKwI

And so on. And please do check out the Walter Egan store at Amazon.com, too: http://www.amazon.com/Walter-Egan/e/B000AQ1H4C/ref=ntt_dp_epwcd_0

I can tell you, this guy rocks! Thanks so much for the “collaboration,” Walter!

P.S. – And it’s not too late to buy a little Walter Christmas music; he’s also long been a member of the surf sound band Malibooz, and they have an album called “A Malibu Kind of Christmas,” to be found at Amazon, here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000GWX6/?tag=jeffreythomas-20