This one dates back to my short-lived enthusiasm for heavy rock in 1973, a brief period that also introduced me to Nazareth.
I had always assumed that Montrose, like Nazareth, were Scottish, probably because a lowly football team of that name was a fixture of the Saturday evening results read out by James Alexander-Gordon on the radio. In fact they are from California.

Listening now, I suspect the main thing that attracted me to buying this single was the throaty roar of a motorcycle revving up at the beginning.
The singer is Sammy Hagar, who I know is a big name in heavy metal circles and went on to sing with… googles… Van Halen, but the band is name after its guitarist, Ronnie Montrose.

He was a seasoned session man, who played on Van Morrison’s seminal album Tupelo Honey, as did bass player Bill Church. Montrose also recorded with Herbie Hancock, Boz Scaggs and The Edgar Winter Group, playing on their solitary hit Frankenstein.

The other two – drummer Danny Carmassi and singer Sammy (then plain old Sam) Hagar – were recruited from local covers bands in San Francisco when Montrose and Church teamed up again with Tupelo Honey producer Ted Templeton, who helped them get a record deal.

This is the only song I know, and the band didn’t last long (1973-77), perhaps due to Montrose’s insistence that all band members abide by a strict policy of drug-free an alcohol-free performances – a rule he introduced after his own near-fatal amphetamine overdose during his stint with Edgar Winter.