Best Ted Nugent Songs, Ranked

Hello, listeners. Welcome to Past Times at 80s High. This is AJ. We're going to do a quick uh top seven for you tonight, little test cast. Trying to test out some new equipment here and whatnot. So, what we're gonna do is we are gonna do our top seven Ted Nugent songs. Now, we're gonna cover his entire career. So, whatever band he may have been in. This guy is a guy that I feel is just such an underrated guitarist. He never gets his credit where credit is due. I think a lot of it has to do with his politics, and that shuns him out of a lot of things. But um, we are here just to talk about his music tonight. So I have Mark and Kevin here with me today. How are you doing, Mark?

I'm doing pretty well today, man.

Excellent. And you, Kev? Very well, sir. Thank you. Perfect. And we have an absentee today in Donald. Um, he may, if he has time, call in later. He had a prior engagement. Anyway, we'll just get going right out of the gate like normal here, not to waste any time. And I think, Kevin, you are gonna have the on hairs today.

All right, number seven was a difficult one because I really didn't leave anybody want to leave any of the great ones out. Kind of gotta go with Wang Dang, sweet Poonchang. Wang Dang. Just a classic, just uh Ted Nugent sexual innuendo and loud guitars and and thumping bass.

How dare you say that?

Awesome. Well, he was at church the other day.

Oh, such a great, great song, man. Unbelievable. So um that brings it up to me then from my seven, which this is probably gonna be my only kind of deep one here. I'm really uh, well, I won't go there now, but uh my number one is from 1970. One. Sorry, my number seven, I'm going backwards here. I gotta remember that.

Thank you.

Uh 1976 off of Free For All with Mr. Meatloaf singing, and it's called Writing on the Wall. I don't know what it is about this song, it makes my hair stand up. Just the groove and the the flow of the song. I think it's great, I think it's epic in my own mind, and that's why I have to go with it. And Meatloaf's just awesome anyway. God rest his soul. But I know just a great, great tune. All right, so I guess that brings us to you, Mark, for your number seven.

Okay, uh it's uh it's a song that is the first song that got me into rock and roll. Um it's not my favorite Uncle Ted song, obviously, because I have it at number seven. Cat scratch fever. Yes, sir. We were living up living up in Littleton, and you know, I I just like either I like fast music over slow music at that point. I was what, 13? And hanging out with Freddie and Kevin and Joel and all the gang, they started playing Cat Scratch Fever, and it's like my eyes lit up like a friggin' uh flashlight or whatever you want to call it. And it's like, oh and that just got me onto a new life, and I was so excited, so friggin' excited.

Those are the important things, man.

And you know, and I just wanted to make sure I never got that cash scratch fever because it sounded pretty bad. And I now I I think I had puberty at that point, but I just uh that was my song that got me into rock and roll and legends. That's huge, brother.

That's huge. Yeah. It's the hard to say the epitome of just that high end that that Ted had, that like metal scraping kind of guitar sound that just yeah, it was grungy.

I mean not grungy, it was dirty, it was yeah, dirty, thank you.

Yeah, dirty. But he had that there's something about his his his high end that just like just shy of putting the the ice pick through your ear, kind of and just love that like just and like grabs you.

Like, sorry to interrupt, but Gene's like Gene Simmons, he was one million percent sober, and his drug was sex. And hunting. Well, I mean, it's drug. When I say drug, I'm kidding. The rock and roll. I mean, you don't go hunting after a concert, I guess you do, but it's kind of like between the legs, if you will.

Yes.

All right. So awesome pick. Awesome pick. All right, Kev, that brings us to your number six.

That brings me to fist fighting son of a gun. Which is just such a cool song. I mean, it it's musically, lyrically, it is just again, it's Ted. A little bit funk, a little bit dirty, a little nasty. Funk is Motown.

Motown, exactly.

Yep. Little bit of uh God, who's he always praising? Chuck Berry, thank you. Always praising Chuck Barry.

And that would that one is actually very closely tied to those.

Yeah, and Bo Diddley. Bo Diddley, yeah. Always chatting about that. Uh all right, my number six. Yes, it's an obvious one. I have a reason for it. And 1976 yet again. And below it I have written, and that's free for all. It's a classic, it's an obvious one, it's one of, you know, the few Ted songs that I mean, I shouldn't say a few Ted songs that get played on the radio because he actually does get some love on the radio, but it's really XM only. XM radio. Either Hair Nation or Ozzy's Boneyard. But uh, you know, this is just the obvious one they play all the time. They do do some of my others on the list. I don't want to bring them up now, but there was something to be said about being a little boy listening to his older brother's records and getting the giggles when someone said shit. You know, and I just remember being like, hee hee, and it was just, I don't know though, but fucking shake a tail feather in my face, no telling what I'll do. Just it's a fucking great groove, great riff, everything about it. I just love it. But anyway, that brings us to you, my brother.

Okay, number six. Uh, it's a song that you can actually go online to see. They I think it was the midnight special they did it live on, and that's Need You Bad. And at the time I did not know that Derek St. Holmes had left the band. Yeah, they had uh some disagreements, if you will. And the guy's name that was singing that sounded a lot like uh Derek St. Holmes was a man named Charlie Hoon who ended up becoming the lead singer of Foghat. And uh he looks a little like a young Aussie if you look up the video, but it was just a very riffy song, and I just love it when Ted does uh harmony guitar playing with um his other guitar player in the band. One of my favorite songs is my favorite song on that weekend Warriors record, and a lot of great guitar playing, which I'm a guitar player, I love guitar, I love solos. I I think Ted Nugent, again, between him and Ace really were my two biggest influences on guitar. He's so tasteful with his guitar playing.

Absolutely.

I know everyone thinks he's so rough and all that, but so that's my number six, my Ted Nugent.

Great tune. Great tune. Alright, so what are we up to here? That brings us to you, Kevin, for number five.

Number five has to be Wango Tango. Oh, yes, and I obviously don't have the depth of knowledge that you and Mark have. I've I've always been kind of a casual fan and and really respected Ted. Um but that song is just it's off the hook. Oh it's just you know, it's it's madness.

Off the hook, and nor do you require a lot of knowledge. Uh, but anyway, oh unbelievable song. Love it. I mean, just uh I'll get into it, but I don't want to at this juncture. You'll get it. But I will now pick I will now because my next one is Wango Tango, which I just swapped with my number five because I figure I might as well continue chatting about it. But I mean, let's just have it. You take her left ankle out, you take her right ankle out, you put her belly up, or you put her belly down.

You take her down another.

I mean, it's unbelievable. It's fucking hilarious and just the gibber jabber that Uncle Ted is so, so famous for. That that dude can ramble like nobody else, and that whole midsection of the song Maserati Maserati. Everything in there is just spectacular. So I'm gonna swap that to my number five just so we could continue the chat on it, and I'll bring five to you, my brother.

Okay, uh, this is a song by Dan Yankees. It's called Don't Tread on Me. Awesome, folks. Uh, Jack Blaze is the lead singer of the song, and Tommy Shaw comes in. And you'll hear a lot of uh great singers when I talk about these songs. Oh, yeah. Um I mean, so far we got well, Uncle Ted's Charlie Hune, and now uh Jack Blaze from Night Ranger.

Don't forget we had Meatloaf in there. Also from Ubicorn. Right? Yeah, it's just unbelievable.

And uh Tommy Shaw from Styx. What a I mean, their harmonies were incredible. Unbelievable. And it is such a rock and driving song. Oh, it's awesome. One thing I want to bring up about Ted Nugent's songs is that you know, they he comes in with lead guitar all through the songs. I've had a lot of people say to me about my songs, you can't play lead throughout this song. Well, you know what? I say bullshit. Life was so simple back then. We I don't know. Let's see if we can get laid out, let's see if we can pay our bills. Nothing if you want to call that simple. Yeah, it was simple. How many beers are we gonna drink tonight?

Probably more than we should have, but am I gonna beat my brother up because he took my last keystone? Oh Asian, that's a that's a long story. All right, but uh one thing I want to just say. It was a Schaefer.

It was a Schaefer beer, and damn it, those are good beers.

Yeah, I don't care, they're not that high in alcohol. $2.99 for a stupid things are five percent. Those things were like 4.2. Schaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one. So yeah, they were damn good, and he stole like five of them. You think you're gonna put up with that shit? I was not happy.

Damn it, AJ. You give your brother five beers right now. Oh, I got a knife.

I was like more than one that night.

I think I still have a handprint on my back from when he smacked me when he got him. All right, so just something I wanted to say about that pick, man, and this is for the audience out there because I think this should happen. But I mean, you taught you take Night Ranger, Sticks, and Ted Nugent, and you put them on a uh on a shed bill to play like the amphitheaters for the summer, and then you have them finish off with a damn Yankee set. It's a no fucking brainer to me.

Oh, you mean right now?

Yeah, I don't know why they haven't done it. It's been talked about a lot, but that would just be unbelievable.

I mean, not gone, but just like but in the interest should be as as deflated as their wallets at this point.

Yeah, right. I would think they're still playing sheds, but they're all on to do it, they're all on a festival, you know. If they're playing alone, every one of them's in a friggin' club. You know, I don't think they were stupid with money.

Yeah, no, no, anyway, probably not, but so but everybody seems to be grabbing because you can you can make more in a short tour this summer than you did for the whole first 20 years touring because it's eight hundred and seventy-five dollars for a lawn seat, exactly, you know outside the stadium right now.

It is yeah, absolutely close to the truth. It's ridiculous.

All right, so in the one thing that I wanted to throw in before you before you bounce off, AJ, is is that song Tread on Me. If I recall, don't tread on me. Don't you tread on me. I felt like there was a lot of Tommy Shaw in that.

They both sing it.

Oh, absolutely. No, I'm I meant the the the structure of the song, the writing. Yeah, absolutely. It definitely had some Tommy Shaw kind of the the chanting, Don't You Dare, Don't You Tread On Me, a vibe to that definitely to me reminded me of of Tommy Shaw sticks.

Uh yeah, of course. I mean, look at the influences in that band, it's unreal.

Yeah, I know.

Ah. All right. So that brings us to wow, we're up to four already, Kev.

We've done four already, but now we're steady. So we're going right back to free-for-all. Um, and all I can say about it that hasn't been said so far is that as a small child, I can't believe that you were giggling over shit, but you weren't giggling out over when in doubt I whip it out.

When a doubt I whip it out, got me a rock and roll band. It's a free for all.

I didn't know what it meant. A rock and roll band. Because that's what I was giggling at.

Eat me, beat me, come on and eat me.

Like a lot of similarities with um ACDC, you know, as far as dirty limbicks said to crazy music, amazing music.

Oh so now that brings me to my five, which or my four, which I'm now swapping, but my number four is a song that comes off Spirit of the Wild. That's Fred Bear. The song touches me. It's about him with his hunting partner, and what was Fred Bear? He's a famous uh he was a guide. He made bows, he made bows, yeah, and he was also a hunting guide, and just everything he talks about in that song, you know. Uh, you go up on that ridge there, and and then I'll be in the tangle down below. Just I fucking love that song. Um, I think that may be my newest song on the list, but that song touches my heart. David loved that song. When uh before we were starting out for this cast tonight, I had David's CD book and loaded in some songs, you know, for the intro outro and made me think of him, and I just love that fucking song. It's unbelievable. So that's my number four, brother. Nice that takes it to you.

Alright, well, this is from the Amboy Dukes. It's it's great. White Buffalo. I mean, I should probably should have gone first because I'm extremely passionate about Ted Nugent music. It's from that record, uh, one of the Amboy Dukes records, and it's a lot different on Tooth Fang and Claw. Tooth Fang and Claw is the name of the record, and it's a lot different than my favorite version of the song. Agreed. I mean, it's uh in the uh and the studio version, they go through that. The magic seemed to be missing. It looks like a burial ground. And uh my favorite version was in Germany, I'm not sure the year. I think it was like 77 maybe. And back then he he let his other guitar players uh well, other guitar players, Derek St. Holmes. Also, what needs to be known, he's a great guitar player too. Absolutely. I mean I mean, Ted has you know, he's got a big ego when it comes. He's got a big ego, we know that. And that's that version in Germany. Derek St. Holmes comes in and starts playing his version of the solo. It was awesome. Yeah, it was great. I mean, it was a lot of you know, you know, standard stuff, but it was great. And then Uncle Ted comes in, just melts the guitar. He melted it, he melts it, and they don't go through that bridge where you know the magic seems to be missing and all that. But it's just I watch it and I am so inspired to pick up my guitar. So that would be my number my number four.

Nice, and I'll agree with you. My favorite versions have always been the live ones that I've heard over the studio track.

Um I'll just say one thing also, AJ. Uh, I had David put together a uh a rock and roll cassette. Back then it was a cassette, and that was one of the songs, it was the studio version. And so I, you know, there's a lot of songs that on that cassette that just are special to me because of brother David, and just my life was pretty damn good at the time. Awesome.

Wake up today.

Awesome. So then that takes us to you, Kevin, for number three.

So number three is off Cat Scratch Fever again. And this one, I just if a song was gonna break through for him into mainstream, I don't know why Live It Up didn't do it. That has every element that a rock song at that time that and was, I think, ahead of what everybody else was doing.

And like the hook in that chorus drills into your head, and I'm pretty sure if I'm not mistaken, it's been in some commercials because when I played it today, it hit me right away. I'm like, I remember this, you know. So I think it's been out there and in some circulation, believe it or not.

It's it's kind of odd to be in an age. Coming from where we grew up to see Judas Priest go in a minivan. Right, yeah, exactly. Right. No, I never grew up, but just the span of time that we've been through. It's like I remember, you know, I mean, our parents were, I don't know about yours, but mine were a little bit, and a lot of the parents around were like very much opposed to the music we were listening to. And remember the PMRC and the devil and and Tippigore and all that. It w it was all you know it was all gonna be the end of the world, and we were gonna sell our souls to Satan and all that and whatever else. And now it's a it's a Honda Odyssey.

Oh my god. Mark, the reason I cut you off is because I wanted Kevin to be able to finish that, and now I'll let you continue on the X's on our albums and the posters and whatnot.

Okay, well, you know, uh I don't know.

Get ready, Kevin.

My parents were going to my parents were going to prayer meetings all the time, and I'm not disparaging the Christian religion whatsoever, but they kind of took it a little far. And back in the day, the you know, rock and roll was just verboting. It was all from Satan. I had a temper tantrum and pulled all my kiss and Ted Nugent posters down and the bedroom, me and David's bedroom. That was you. That was me. I was so angry.

I was like, what the hell is this? There was one that took like a half of a walk.

Mark, do you know what that poster's worth right now? I fucking think about that constantly. And I will edit some of this, but it was the Alive 2 poster that was like six feet tall and had several different pictures on it. And I thought dad got upset and went in and ripped him down. I can't fucking believe you're the one who did it. No, David must have wanted to kill you.

I lost my temper, AJ. I got tired of it. Clearly. All right. What are we on here?

All right. My number my number three is cat scratch fever. It's already been taken, but just the riff, the beginning riff alone is so powerful. We've already spoken of it, but that's just my feeling of it.

Hey, well that's nice of you to, you know, let me know.

Nothing more to say. Yeah.

So that's number three to you, Mark. Oh, you're oh, no shit. No shit. Stranglehold. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, all right. Stranglehold is his signature song. I know everyone thinks it's cat scratch. Derek St. Holmes freaking vocals on that song. The lyrics, got you, and a stranglehold, baby.

I'm gonna crush your face.

You know, and the guitar solo is just it melts in your mouth.

Oh just come on come on, come on, baby.

Even after even after the solo, bam, now, no, no, and then it's like what, an eight-minute song? And if that doesn't like Ted's Ted Newt just said about KISS, if that doesn't get your motor running, you need to get your heart checked, or whatever the hell these are.

Exactly.

Well, if that song doesn't get you going, you need to get your motor checked. Sorry, I got it wrong. I mean, I got the saying wrong. It's quite okay. I get fired up.

With that being said, we're gonna go to you, Kevin, for your number two.

So, number two, there's nothing more to say about because we've all said it, and that would be cat scratch fever. Because I got it from some kitty next door.

Yes.

I know that was a bitch, you know. I but I but I went to see the doctor and he gave me the cure. I think I got it some more.

I went to see the doctor and gave me the cure. I think I got it some more.

I mean, there's nothing else to say about it. Well, what's the cure? Another chip. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think move on to the next one.

It's the one thing that we all want to try to get.

Yeah, you don't want to get it. All right.

So number two to me. And once again, already been spoken about, and off 1974's Tooth Fangin' Claw with the Amboy Dukes. It's great, White Buffalo. Just such a touching song talking about the whole Indian nation and the white men coming in fucking destroying it. It's just unbelievable. And like we talked about before, just the live version, you know, almost in all occasions is unbelievable. Um, and I would choose a live version over the studio as well. But there's my number two, and that brings us to your number.

Oh, go ahead, Kev. Hold on, what's it? I was just gonna say that I as I was going through on my drive back from Maine, and as I was going through some of these albums that I may not have heard in a while, um was it Great Gonzo? Yes. It it's it's double live gonzo. Double live gonzo.

Oh, yeah, that was a wreck is a I missed that one.

Some of those live albums, the recording was almost shameful, but in some way kind of represented being at the concert more than the stuff that we get later on that's off the board and is like the studio clarity. Polished. Polished, exactly. Those older albums, I mean, let's face it, the recordings are pretty bad. But again, to me, it it felt like before I went to a concert, it felt like, oh, this is what a concert feels like. You knew what you were getting like. Right. It had that energy from the room or the stadium or whatever that you don't get on, you know, something where somebody's got one of these iPads and and they've got 9,000 cables and every every string on the guitar and every Pro Tools and fucking all that. Every hair on the leaf. So they can make it sound like basically they they went from recording music in a stadium to making a stadium a recording studio.

Absolutely. In your in your fucking bedroom, if need be. You know, but back then, I mean, just to go further on it, I mean Kiss Alive, I'm gonna bring that up. Same idea. It was all about being raw, and they were all touched up, you know, to get that crowd in there. And the sounds they would use for the crowd were not the not the actual crowd because the producers would say you can't get that vibe, but the whole point was to put you in that seat, exactly like you said, Kevin. Right. Well, yeah, yeah, you're number two, brother.

Yeah, AJ, you picked it before, but the song is spiritual to you and I, and probably you too, Kevin. Fred Bear. Oh, what a great song. What an incredible song. Incredible. It's spiritual, he's talking about a great friend of his, Ted Nugent. I I mean, I don't know if he's a bigger musician or a hunter. It's hard to tell the difference. I think he's I'd say he's equal. Probably uh equal. If I put an edge on it, I would say Hunter. And that song, you you put yourself with him out in his hunting trip, and Fred Bear was an incredible bow hunter. He made bows.

Spirit of the woods is like an old good friend. Makes me feel warm and good inside. And I knew his name, and it was good to see him again.

The guitar solos. I mean, even Derek St. Holmes comes in and starts singing some some backups and that. I just that song puts goosebumps on me. Absolutely. So that's my number one. I mean, two, pardon me.

And what a contrast in lyrics from you know some of the other stuff that we've talked about. Wang dang, sweet poon dang. Yeah, right.

No, I mean he's he's he's almost got like two or three different personalities. Right.

He's got the the hunting side, the political side, and the woman side, the pussy side, exactly. So Fred Bear. All right, so Kevin, number one to you, which is gonna be the same number one as me.

Go ahead. Stranglehold. I mean, it is just, and and I know a lot of people like the cursory glances, catch, scratch, fever, but stranglehold, I don't care where I am, the volume goes to nine hundred. Yeah, and I'm 12 years old again, and I'm banging my head, and I'm just out of control, and it's just I mean, it there's a handful of songs in my life as much as I love music. Robin Trowers, Bridge of Sighs. I mean, you put that on, you're in that mood, you're there. Stranglehold, I don't care if you're high, low, in between, whatever, that song comes on, it controls your mood because it grabs you by the short hairs and pulls. Fucking right. The only other thing that I can say that kind of cracks me up about Derek's Derek St. Holmes.

Derek St.

Holmes is well, and you'll understand in a second why I'm stumbling on it. Because I almost think that, at least name-wise, that Spinal Tap took that for David St. Hubbins. Yes, Michael McKeon's character. But but that always and and somewhere in my mind always gets confused with David St. Hubbins and Derek St. Holmes. Oh, and just a little spinal tap connection there.

It's definitely a connection to it.

Not to take away what a what an absolutely incredible song that is, and by far um my my favorite Ted song, and and propels him into a different stratosphere.

And of course, that's my number one as well. You know, I I was almost trying to shy away from it and put it down on my list, but I cannot um penalize something for fatigue, and for me, that's something that never has fatigue anyway. I can hear it 10 million times. It's one thing we can all say about Ted Nugent is there's not a lot of fatigue out there, like I said earlier.

But unless you go to a concert, just the energy you spent. Sorry, AJ. Yeah, the energy you spent at one of his shows, you go home and you're exhausted.

Oh, yeah. I'm gonna finish my stranglehold, then I'll continue with what I was gonna say. But uh Stranglehold is about the defiance that he had and all the record companies turning him down, and that's what that fucking song's about, and it's just so kick-ass. It is probably it's gotta be in the top 10 most played, most uh what's the word I'm trying to find, used songs in movies or shows. It's in radio shows everything, but no TV shows. I'm talking, you know, I mean it's in so many movies, TV shows. It's just it is so catchy, it is so ballsy, it is so fucking kick-ass. Every aspect about the song, the riff, the soloing, the the vocals, just everything about that. But what I wanted to say when we were talking about that is that's what people don't understand now, the people that go out and hear Ted Nugent and they're they shun him because of his views or whatnot or his hunting. But Ted Nugent was a fucking stadium act in the 70s and early years. Oh, you kidding me? Mark, we're up to your number one.

Okay, AJ. You already picked this, which I was a little surprised at. Talk about a match made in heaven. Ted Nugent, Meatloaf. And if you really want to go further than that, if we really could have got it good, put some bacon on the meatloaf. And it would have been incredible band. Oh yeah. But he said I I forgot the name of the other song.

Rats uh Street Rats.

Street Rats. And the guitar comes out just ripping at the beginning of the song. And this is a song that I would lay in bed as a teenager and just I mean, I the I don't know how to describe it. It just made me fantasize about life, and it's just a great song. And a lot of people call it uh Stranglehold's uh sequel.

Uh uh. You know, I can see that too.

I actually like it better than Stranglehold, and that's why it was my number one. I listened to it when I'm out there doing the the cooking and stuff like that. I put that on. That's one of the songs on my little cue. Uh and it's just such an incredible song.

Unbelievable song. I mean, for just for meatloaf to be on the album, and like I said, God rest his soul. It was just it was unreal.

What year was that?

That was nine seventy six. I got it right in front of me here. Seventy seventy sixty six, wasn't it?

Yep. Because that that was so you you're you're talking about writing on the wall, but he also did I love you so I told you to lie. Yeah, and street and street rats. And street rats, yeah. So I'm just curious, I need to look now because what what year did Meatloafs what year did bat out of hell come out?

Oh boy, that I don't know. Not much later.

It was a year later. Yep.

Maybe that maybe maybe if those were reversed, you know what I mean? Because that fucking took off, may I say, like a bat out of hell.

Like a bat out of hell. So he must have he must have met Jim Steinman not too long after that, and and uh and did bat out of hell.

Awesome, guys. That was great. So there's our top seven Ted Nugent songs, and I'd like to thank you all very much. Thanks for joining us, and good night to all.

Hope you enjoyed the show, people. Good night.

All right. Well, I had a great time. I'm sure 20 or 30 more of these, and I'll get it all figured out. And uh really had a great time joining in with you guys and hope to do it again soon.

Awesome. Thanks for joining, boys.

Never before I have to not you when you don't be.