Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way

Years ago, I remember watching City Limits and seeing True Men Don't Kill Coyotes and thinking, "Who the Hell are these dudes?" But as the years passes, like most folks of my age (35+) the Peppers became a band to watch. Mixing funk and guitar rock was still a novel thing back then, and how could you hate them for making Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground a hit again.

Years later I remember seeing a commercial in Toronto that had a black screen accompanied by a rock song, slowly fading up. I remember jumping up on the couch and thinking, "This is amazing! Who the Hell are these guys!?" And the words flashed across the screen "Red Hot Chili Peppers New Album" and then a date. For some unknown reason, I never got the CD or knew the name of the track. And finally after some very coincidental events, I'm now here watching this video, and realizing that the Chili Peppers were one of the greatest bands of their generation, and I'm seriously bummed I wasn't a bigger fan back then.

The chorus captures some of the trepidation and excitement of meeting your friends at a rock concert, before cellphones and tv reviews let you know exactly how the night was going to unfold. This was all a secret business, especially if the band wasn't mainstream. No one knew the band, no one knew the songs. Only you and your friends were cool enough to find the truth in such out of the way places. The video can be summed up in 4 words: Flea to the RESCUE!!