Legendary Michigan Songs

28.) Smokin' In The Boy's Room - Brownsville Station

Artist Name: Brownsville Station
Year Inducted: 2009

"Smokin' In The Boy's Room" (C. Koda, M. Lutz) - Brownsville Station;  Big Tree label,  # 3 Billboard Hot 100 - 1974.  Inducted in 2009.

Michael Lutz and Cub Koda co-wrote the ode to an act of rebellion common to all high schools, and it became Brownsville Station's biggest hit in early 1974. Koda reportedly got the idea for the song from his own experience with childhood friends of smoking cigarettes in the restroom of a local movie theatre in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He and Lutz then switched the setting to a high school.

The song was recorded quickly - the basic track was completed in just two hours. Michael Lutz remembered the session in an interview: "It was recorded the way it was written - fast, which is a good sign; it means we were comfortable with it. We knew we had a good song, but we didn't expect it to blow up the way it did".

"Smokin' In The Boy's Room" earned Brownsville Station its first Gold Record and helped blast off a tour that would see the band play 347 dates that year. 

YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oksTiOIuhHA