This is fast-shuffling country rock with vocals in a deadpan narrative style. I bought this as a single when I was 12 and I enjoyed listening to it again just now.
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were from Ann Arbor, Michigan. They formed in 1967, migrated to California in 1969, and released their first album in 1971. "Hot Rod Lincoln", a track on this album, reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 nationally in Canada.
"Hot Rod Lincoln" was written by Charlie Ryan; it was originally an answer record to Arkie Shibley's "Hot Rod Race", which was released in 1950. Ryan recorded versions of it in 1955 and 1960; the 1960 version was also a one-hit wonder.
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen didn't have any significant success after this and disbanded in 1977. Band co-founder George Frayne IV recorded a number of solo albums under the Commander Cody name and had a successful career as a visual artist before passing away in 2021. The band's version of "Hot Rod Lincoln" became a Legendary Michigan Song in 2008 and the band was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2009.
Created October 28, 2026.