Page 4Lester the Lobster
"Ihave had a sort of mini-hit, as I like to refer to it, a little thing called"Lester the Lobster", and that fool thing took off for me like crazy. Imean, of all the goofy things! I write some pretty good songs from timeto time, like ecology songs, something with a little bit of guts to itand, oh, ordinary working-class-type songs. And just out of a goofy notion,I write this stupid song called "Lester The Lobster". A red lobster ofall things, from Prince Edward Island. Big deal! And I got this trombonein the background going, blurp-blurp-blurp-blurp. something rediculouslike that - a novelty song that caught on like crazy.
"And nobody comes roaringup and says, "Hey Stevedore Steve, you're the guy who wrote 'Cat Trackson the Mountains' or 'Big Money in Polution'." Oh no, it's: "Hey, there'sthe guy that wrote Lester The Lobster".1
When "I've Lived" came out,Stevedore Steve was banking on it putting him over the top. With well knownmusician and producer Freddy McKenna at the helm and a decent budget fromBoot which enabled them to purchase some great studio talent, it was analbum couldn't fail. It was much tighter and better sounding than 'HardWorkin' Men', with a more varied scope of subject matter. StevedoreSteve was stepping it up a bit, hoping that this album would make an imprintin the Canadian country music scene. He still had his truck driving songs,a few of prison songs to show that he was still a blue collar type, butadded into the mix were songs about the environment (Cat Tracks), the difficultiesof dealing with a failed ego (Big Wheel), and human rights (Fellow Man).Also on this album was a jazzy, smokey song called Walkin' Easy; the poignantheartbreak of "Sittin' By The Window" and the whimsical "Ballad of Kateand Luke", complete with an honest Newfy sparkle in the eye. But it wasthe 'stupid song', Lester the Lobster, that caught everybody bysurprise.
Lester the Lobster was the firstsong in the Boot corral not by Stompin' Tom Connors to make it big,receiving a substantial amount of airplay. Released as a single, Lesterwas only played because of listener demand; the radio stations had no intentionof making it the hit that it became. As The Stevedore catagorically stated,"this stupid song, Lester The Lobster from the shores of PEI" caughton for him much the same way as Bud The Spud did for Connors. Was it becauseof some endearing quality about little PEI that made these two songs solikeable? Whatever it was, it put Prince Edward Island on the map in faraway places like Wawa, Ontario, Brandon, Manitoba and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.The song caught on so much so that Steve was dogged at every performancewith demands for the song two or three times a night.I'mLester the Lobster from PEI
An ugly little bug withbeady little eyes
I can tackle anything upto twice my size
I'm Lester the Lobster fromPEINow some people hold to thesilly little notion
That every single lobsterin the big wide ocean
Is as green as can be untilthey're boiled
But I'm as red as PrinceEdward Island soilAn Amzain' crustacean that'swhat I am it's plain
The first little lobsterto bring the island fame
I was hatched on the shoresin the PEI mud
And the colour of the Islandsoil has gotten in my bloodWell I'm grown up now andlooking for a mate
A quaint and dainty lobstermiss who would co-habitate
With a great red lobsterfrom the shores of PEI
But my little lobster misswould have to be as red as IWell I'd like to send a messageto the people of the world
If anyone should come acrossa little lobster girl
Who's as red as Prince EdwardIsland, sittin' in the sea
Just crate her up and shipher here, and send her C.O.D2
It bothered him, at first,that Lester was so well received, over-shadowing his more thoughtful works,but Steve was smart enough to know a good thing; it's success was the icingon his career. Because of this song, people were exposed to his greaterrepertoire. The song was put into public school music books and eventuallyhit the "Reader's Digest top 100 best childrens' songs". It received airplayall over the world and became the theme song for the early morning "Peteand Geets" show on alternative rock music station CFNY-FM in Toronto.
The Lester phenominon wassuch that Steve landed his weekly television program over the new Torontocable station, CITY-TV, (channel 79 in those days), the beginning of MosesZnaimer's broadcasting empire. Known primarily for its 'Baby Blue' moviesat the time (films such as 'I am Curious Yellow' were shown uncut, uncensored),CITY was game for local features which were inexpensive to produce. Airedon Sunday afternoons and featuring champion Maritime fiddler June Eikhardin the house-band (Shirley's mother), the feel presented was 'aroundthe old wood stove' of which there was one, complete with fake fire.
(Promo shot for the StevedoreSteve Show.
A picture currently resides on the wallof the CITY-TV studio in the CHUM-CITY building, Queen St. West, Toronto)
Iremember this one guest - and Gini can back me up on this one; I didn'tknow the guy from Adam. Here we are shooting - and in those days we didit live-to-tape - and this fella non-chalantely opens the door of the stoveand spits into it! 3
The shows were shot, sometimesthree in a day, in the old CITY studios at 99 Queen Street East, in Toronto,the same building which once housed the short lived Electric Circus. Propswere the stove, a red lobster on Steve's mic stand, a fake church gothicwindow for the Spiritual (or 'God Song' as Steve would call it) - and littleelse. There was always a special guest star - usually a Canadian countryor folk musician, much like Steve was himself, who would get up and singone song after a short interview by the fake wood stove. Nearly everythingdone in one take, live. But the program had its special moments and gaveThe Stevedore a window into living rooms throughout the greater Torontoarea.
It was by watching theseweekly television programs that I was convinced that Stevedore Steve, inhis own way, was every bit as talented as Stompin' Tom Connors, long mypersonal God of CanCon. It was through these programs that I learned aboutso many other Canadian artists or got to see them perform for the firsttime. It aired for two seasons: 1974 - 75. Then things began to sour forStevedore Steve.
1. From Singin' About Us
2. Published by MorningMusic
3. Conversation with SteveFoote, by Steve Fruitman
To go read about the demise of the careerof Stevedore Steve, clickHERE
© 1999 & 2010 bySteve Fruitman for Back To The Sugar Camp ®
