George Thorogood & The Destroyers ‘Bad to the Bone’ Turns (almost) 40

August 9, 1982. Delaware-by-way-of-Boston blues rocker George Thorogood releases his fifth studio album in as many years and finally breaks through.

• Bad to the Bone

  

  When George Thorogood & The Destroyers started releasing studio albums in the late ’70s, they were based in Boston. So naturally, they were recording here, too. Bad to the Bone was recorded at Boston’s Dimension Sound Studios in late ’81 and early ’82.

• Nobody But Me

  

  Sure, the title track was the “hit.” But before the album dropped, the band previewed what was to come with lead single “Nobody But Me,” which released in July of ’82.

• Bad to the Bone Single

  

  Cribbing heavily from Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy,” “Bad to the Bone” became Thorogood’s biggest hit and signature song, thanks in big part to the number of commercials it wound up in throughout the ’80s and ’90s.

• MTV Love

  It didn’t hurt that “Bad to the Bone” dropped in the early ’80s: the video was a staple during the first year of MTV, which had launched the previous August.

• The 50-50 Tour

  It didn’t hurt either that George Thorogood & The Destroyers supported Bad to the Bone with a tour that saw them play all 50 states in 50 days. Their California stop at Candlestick Park survives online in full-show form.

• George Speaks

  I had the pleasure of chatting with George last December and he had a lot to say about his years in Boston. Listen.