City Boy Ambition on HQ Vinyl with Lyrics in Description

Track 8 from their fifth album “The Day the Earth Caught Fire” released in 1979 copyright Atlantic Records. It was recorded at Island Record’s Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas. The band from Birmingham, England began as a four member folk group but went electric in ’75 with the addition of Mike Slamer on guitar and Roger Kent on drums. Kent left the band and was replaced by Roy Ward in ‘78 before their fourth album was recorded. The band had a close relationship with South African producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who effectively became a seventh member. He had been recommended to the band and their debut album was his first production credit after moving to England from South Africa. He went on to produce four more albums with them before becoming one of the most popular producers of the Eighties. He worked on several albums for both AC/DC and Def Leppard, helping them to create their biggest-sellers. This album received above average reviews and the title track became a minor hit that reached No. 67 on the U.K. chart. Disappointed by their lack of success, founding members Steve Broughton and Chris Dunn left the band. The remaining members released two more albums that didn’t chart before disbanding in 1982. Recorded from the original vinyl. Written by Lol Mason, Steve Broughton, Mike Slamer, Max Thomas, Roy Ward & Robert John Lange and produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange. RIP Lol Mason. Featuring:

Lol Mason – Lead & background vocals
Steve Broughton – Lead vocals, acoustic guitars & background vocals
Mike Slamer – Lead & rhythm guitars
Max Thomas – Keyboards & background vocals
Chris Dunn – Bass & acoustic guitars
Roy Ward – Lead vocals, drums, percussion & background vocals
Special Guests:
Huey Lewis – Harmonica on “It’s Only the End of the World”
Tim Friese-Greene – Synthesizer on “Ambition: Rev-on (The Crunch)
Robert John “Mutt” Lange – Bass & background vocal on “It’s Only the End of the World”
Kendal Stubbs – Bass & percussion on “Modern Love Affair”
Derek “Calorie” King - Piano

I - Ambition
Tell me it's wrong for a man to want to be
Much better known and twice as big as World War III
I've been on my knees, a transition is easy to see
'Cause ambition you're drivin' me

(So big in America) and I'm (so huge in Japan, man)
(So big in America, I say) you got to (get it) while you can
My name is (all over Albania, all the rage in Iran and)
(Sold out in Australia, I say) you got to (get it) while you can

Open the door, me and my Tarot hold the key
I may be unsure but only temporarily
What will be will be and all the fools agree
That ambition, you're killin' me

(So big in America) and I'm (so huge in Japan, man)
(So big in America, I say) you got to (get it) while you can
My name is (all over Albania, all the rage in Iran and)
(Sold out in Australia, I say) you got to (get it) while you can

II – Me And My Tarot
Unfamiliar doorway, crazy figures on the floor
Faces in the hallway starin' daggers through the wall
I was at the party but I wished I'd never been
The stranger at the scene, the guest in someone's dream
The room was growin' smaller with the guests pourin' in

"Take a card," they said, "you need your fortune read" (need your fortune read)
"Take some good advice and leave when you are led" (leave when you are led)
The Queen of Broken Hearts had come to (warm my bed)

It was getting later but the clocks all stayed the same
Everyone was gathered round to play the party game
Someone shouted "Suicide!" and everybody laughed
The game had gone too far and I drew the Hangman's card
Then they turned the lights back on and left me in the dark

"Take a card,"' they said, "you need your fortune read" (need your fortune read)
"Take some good advice and leave when you are led" (leave when you are led)
The Queen of Broken Hearts had come to (warm my bed)

(We love a hero gone beyond the reach of our applause)
(We scream his name and call "encore")

III – Rev-On (The Crunch)
(C'mon Rev-On) it's a big, black highway
(Rev-On) they can say I did it my way
(C'mon Rev-On) got a monster beneath me, yeah, c'mon
(Rev it along) gonna smash me to smithereens, I'm after

(Headlines, headlines) oh, gimme, gimme them
(Headlines, headlines)
"Golden Boy Rides Bike Off Interstate One-Five" (five, five, five)
No chance of comin' out alive (no chance of stayin' alive)
Poor kid was cut off in his prime (he rode his bike off One-Five)
Almost a legend In his time

Red light (can't come back)
Green for go, there's rubber on the road (too hard)
Two wheels and ignition, that's all I know (can't come back)
One way to Paradise when you've been bitten by (too damn hard)
By ambition

(Rev-On) you can call me a yo-yo
(Rev-On) but can you tell me a better way to go, no
(C'mon Rev-on) Wasn't I the wild one
(Rev it along) Like a bullet to oblivion, I'm after

(Headlines, headlines) gimme, gimme
(Headlines, headlines)
"Golden Boy Rides Bike Off Inter-State One-Five" (five, five, five)
No chance of comin' out alive (no chan...

[janmikkelsen]

This is definitely one of the best City Boy song - which is saying a lot. Amazing.

[macastro]

Amo essa banda maravilhosa
Junho 2024/interior de SP/Brasil❤

[DM-hkcw]

Never heard of them. Sounds cool: almost a Styx, ELO, Queen, Sweet vibe on this one. Eclectic.