Cover of the Rolling Stone - Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show, 1973

 
 

(ah ha ha I don't believe it... hey Ray, hey Sugar, tell 'em who we are)


Well, we're big rock singers, we got golden fingers, and were loved everywhere we go.
(That sounds like us)
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth at ten thousand dollars a show.
We take all kind of pills to give us all kind of thrills but the thrill we've never known
Is the thrill that'll getcha when you get your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone wanna see my picture on the cover -
Stone - wanna buy 5 copies for my mother -
Stone - wanna see my smilin face
on the cover of the Rolling Stone


(That's a very good idea)


I got a freaky old lady name a Cocaine Kitty who embroiders on my jeans.
I got my poor old gray-haired daddy drivin' my limousine.
Now it's all designed to blow our minds but our minds won't really be blown
like the blow that'll getcha when you get your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone - wanna see our pictures on the cover-
Stone - wanna buy 5 copies for our mothers-
Stone - wanna see my smilin' face
on the cover of the Rolling Stone.
ROCK AND ROLL!


(Aw, that's just beautiful)


We got a lotta little teenage blue-eyed groupies who do anything we say
We got a genuine Indian guru who's teachin' us a better way
We got all the friends that money can buy so we never have to be alone
And we keep getting richer but we can't get our picture
on the cover of the Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone - wanna see my picture on the cover -
Stone - wanna buy 5 copies for my mother -
Stone - wanna see my smilin' face on the cover of the Rolling Stone
On the cover of the Rolling
Stone - wanna see my picture on the cover -
Stone - wanna buy 5 copies for my mother -
wanna see my smilin face on the cover of the Rolling Stone


(Man, I can see it now there we are on the front, smilin')

 
---
 

When founding member George Cummings was asked by a club owner to name the band, he came up with "Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show". This was in reference to the traveling medicine shows of the wild west. The somewhat silly name backfired on the lead singer, Ray Sawyer. After a serious car accident in 1967, he was forced to wear an eye patch. Many naturally assumed he was "Dr. Hook".

This song is a tribute to one of the most influential popular culture magazines, Rolling Stone (although it could be argued it's influence has diminished over the years). But this was back in the early seventies, man, and the counter-culture was thriving. To be featured in Rolling Stone was a huge stepping stone in your career...

...and they did, of course, get their picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone - 3 months after this song was released. However, they appeared as caricatures, and the caption read "What's Their Names Make The Cover."

ANY publicity is good publicity, right?