By ParaMhor
“Do yourself a tremendous favour and go to a record store today. The relatively mild exertion of getting off your fat, computer-shackled ass and venturing out to find the object of your desire, the thrill of moving through actual space and time, through row upon row of records, and the tactile ecstasy of fondling the quested treasure—all this will augment and enrich the mental associations the music invokes in you for the rest of your life.” – Grinderman (aka Nick Cave and Warren Ellis)
“Vinyl has gotten to the point where it’s exclusively for the collector, I guess.”– Josh Homme
Well, this was a minefield. At one point thought I might run out of unzedded songs to put in the A list, but the hive mind came through and am very happy with the result. Though one of my favourite songs leads off the Bs. Early on I thought would divide into As for great (unzedded) singles and Bs for those not so great. That fell down early, but the last few (four) on the Bs are in the ‘why did they do that?’ category. Sorry Carpgate, but that Dexys song was included there.
I have never used Discogs so much and really didn’t think I would need to. Then I came up against my own ignorance. So, here we go.
Primitives – Through The Flowers. First single before the polishers got a hold. Thanks to MussoliniHeadkick for this one.
The Blue Hearts are new to me but a welcome addition. Active between 1985-95, the single version has an a cappella beginning and doesn’t let up from there. Linda Linda is a classic Japanese punk anthem, and many thanks to Tarquin Spodd.
The Move went through many iterations. Later on, Jeff Lynne joined from the Idle Race and formed a partnership with the wonderful Roy Wood to lead to the Electric Light Orchestra. They also covered this song, which ShivSidecar admits he prefers, but I’m happy with the original B side to California Man, so give it up for Do Ya (cowbells and all).
Uncleben puts the next one best. Miraculously unzedded, “Brian Wilson decided [Help Me Rhonda] could become a single and they re-recorded it with a bouncier, less pedestrian feel and more guitar.” And no ukulele. Another deserved number one for the Beach Boys.
Buddy Rich worked with Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and myriad other bandleaders before starting his own big band. A drumming legend, he takes a back seat here to Hal Blaine on drums and his 12-year-old daughter, Cathy, singing on a lovely take on Sonny and Cher’s The Beat Goes On. As pejepeine notes, the single brings in the horns from the start and is a marvel.
So to Bowie. Quite a few this week, often as examples of bad edits. The Prettiest Star was originally released in 1970 as the follow up to Space Oddity, but did no business. A love song to his then wife, with a young Marc Bolan on guitar, it is much lighter and more charming than the version that ended up on Aladdin Sane. Thanks again to Tarquin Spodd for this one.
Another glam supporting actor in this one. The The released Perfect as a single in 1983. It was added to later re-pressings of Soul Mining in a longer (and inferior) version. With thanks to Nilpferd, here’s the original. Oh yeah, David Johansson on harmonica.
Thanks to Carpgate for a great run through of Dexys Midnight Runners early singles. As he says, “the ever insecure to the point of paranoia Kevin Rowland was unhappy about releasing it as a single, so he wrote completely new lyrics. He had picked up that a lot of people were commenting approvingly on the emotion in Dexys music, so thought ‘I'll show them emotion’. He has said that he thought it would be a no 1 hit - it bombed completely ending their run of chart success for a bit.” Dexys Midnight Runners – Keep It (Part Two).
Next up, nosuchzone suggested the majestic single from The Undisputed Truth, you + me = love. Made in 1976, a disco classic. As he says “trimmed by Norman Whitfield – the only begetter of the song’s mammoth album effort – to three and a bit minutes of pure psycho-soul-a-delic-a-disco yumminess with bacofoil shoulder pads.”
On to one of my favourite songs. Stones in essence, this song was originally released on Sticky Fingers, but later in an alternate version as B-side to Wild Horses. With thanks to AltraEgo, here is Sway in all its glory. Hope you’re watching amylee!
Not strictly a single, but when are we going to do EPs? Belle & Sebastian recorded The State I Am In before their first album Tigermilk, so this is the original version, though released a year later. Think I have that right. Thanks to Uncleben for this one.
Finally, a pair of songs that were edited down from much longer album versions by Herbie Hancock. A side Crossings, a ‘mad funky slice of outer space’ nominated by BanazirGalbasi complemented by the B side, Water Torture, ‘freaky as hell, but the thinner slice has a nice measured creep to it’, from nosuchzone.
Ending by breaking all the rules. I could not for the life of me find the single edit of this one. So, with apologies to Chris, will have to stick with the live version of the magnificent Sugar Magnolia (from which the single was taken) to finish.
The Altered A-Side Playlist:
The Primitives – Through The Flowers (MussoliniHeadkick)
The Blue Hearts – Linda Linda (Tarquin Spodd_
The Move – Do Ya (ShivSidecar)
The Beach Boys – Help me Rhonda (Uncleben)
Buddy and Cathy Rich – The Beat Goes On (pejepeine)
David Bowie – The Prettiest Star (Tarquin Spodd)
The The – Perfect (Nilpferd)
Dexys Midnight Runners – Keep It (Part Two) (Carpgate)
The Undisputed Truth – you + me = love (nosuchzone)
The Rolling Stones – Sway (AltraEgo)
Belle & Sebastian – The State I Am In (Uncleben)
Herbie Hancock – Crossings (BanazirGalbasi)
Herbie Hancock – Water Torture (nosuchzone)
The Grateful Dead – Sugar Magnolia (Chris7572)
The Be Different B-List Playlist:
Wire – Outdoor Miner (ShivSidecar)
XTC – This Is Pop (pejepeine)
The Go-Betweens – Man o' Sand To Girl o' Sea (Nilpferd)
The Beatles – Love Me Do (Uncleben)
Doll By Doll – Caritas (TatankaYotanka)
Roxy Music – Angel Eyes (Carpgate)
The Isley Brothers – That Lady (Part One) (BanazirGalbasi)
Ringo Sheena – Watashi Wa Neko No Me (I’m Free) (ajostu)
Van Der Graaf Generator – Refugees (TatankaYotanka)
The Rolling Stones – Country Honk (Isabelle Forshaw)
Velvet Underground – All Tomorrow’s Parties (Tarquin Spodd)
Miles Davis – Miles Runs The Voodoo Down (Nicko)
Dexys Midnight Runners – This Is What She’s Like (Carpgate)
David Bowie – Rebel Rebel (ShivSidecar)
Guru’s Wildcard Contrasting Single Good ‘n Bad Picks:
Boston – More Than A Feeling
The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
Just no.
Subway Sect – Ambition
Before it was given synths.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: Singular differences: 7-inch releases that contrast with album versions. The next topic will launch on Thursday after 1pm UK time.
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