Brilliant debut singles part 3

 Welcome to part 3 of my new regular feature on brilliant debut singles. When bands/artists appear with a song that is absolutely perfect.

Part 3 features 2 of my favourite bands - Teenage Fanclub and LCD Soundsystem, along with Boston, The Box Tops and Depeche Mode.

I've started a Spotify playlist HERE

Part 1 featured; The Doors, The Undertones, Pet Shop Boys, Stardust and Tracy Chapman

Part 2 featured; Booker T & The MG's, The Jackson 5, Kate Bush, Radiohead and The Sex Pistols

Part 3 features 2 of my favourite bands - Teenage Fanclub and LCD Soundsystem, along with Boston, The Box Tops and Depeche Mode.

11. Everything Flows by Teenage Fanclub

Released in 1990 by Dave Barker's Paperhouse Records, Everything Flows lay down a marker and set a high bar for Teenage Fanclub. 

Everything Flows kicks in like it has already been going for a while, like we have burst in on a Fanclub jam. Norman Blake sounds wise beyond his tender years as he sings with poignancy about the passing of time; contemplative and reflective, with honesty and soul.

You get older every year

But you don't change

Or I don't notice you changing

I discovered Everything Flows the following year, just before the band released Bandwagonesque. The chorus still rings so true all these years down the line. I didn't have a plan at 15, I don't really have a plan at 48!

I'll never know which way to flow

Set a course that I don't know

Everything Flows is only 2 verses and choruses (with the second repeated a few time) and then, from 3-minutes 25 seconds, things kick into overdrive with the glorious sound of Norman and Raymond's dueling guitars for almost 2-minutes. They could go on for 2-days and I don't think I'd tire of it. 

Teenage Fanclub close their live shows with Everything Flows. It's a chance fof fans to attempt to pogo like days gone by, for the band to jam on (their 2014 Bandstand version seemed to go on for 10-minutes) and for both to unite in the the sublime sound of raw melodic guitars.

Bonus - reminiscing about the Bandstand show caused me to search YouTube and look what I found!

Live on The Beat Room

Live at Kelvingrove Bandstand 2014

12. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem

Everything about this song is cool, clever and funny. Murphy's spoken word, the vast variety of synth sounds, the beats and the way it somehow all hangs together and sounds brilliant.

Over 8-minutes Murphy tells a tale of paranoia - is he losing his edge? 

Murphy highlights what his paranoia is based on - hip young kids from France, London, Tokyo, Berlin and Brooklyn coming through in the music scene, but he then balances that by repeatedly coming back to reflect how hip he was/is. 

I was there in 1968

I was there at the first Can show in Cologne

Is Murphy losing his edge? How can he be? He was there at the first Suicide practices in a loft in New York City, working on the organ sounds. He was the first guy to play Daft Punk to the rock kids at CBGB's and everyone thought he was crazy.

The squelchy synth bass is slightly distorted, sounding super cool as Murphy yells I was there! 

Murphy goes on, trying to convince himself as well as those listening. He's never been wrong, he heard everything first, he was in the DJ booth at Paradise with Larry Levan.

Yet then there are better-looking people with better ideas and more talent. Paranoia that we all face as we get older! 

As the song develops, through Murphy's inspired rant, the music builds in tandem, that squelchy distorted bass continues though, underpinning everything.

I heard that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables

I hear that you and your band have sold your turntables and bought guitars

Murphy asks, have you seen my records? Then listing a number of bands and artists ending with The Sonics, The Sonics, The Sonics, The Sonics before the song veers off into a glorious hook you don't know what you really want that is repeated time and time again.

Official video / Full length version / Live at Madison Square Garden

13. More Than A Feeling by Boston

Riding in on a sublime chiming guitar riff, More Than A Feeling is quickly into the bridge to the chorus, with the bridge being an incredible guitar riff following the line;

I close my eyes and it slips away

The chorus is sky scraping with backing vocals repeating lead line and song title.

It's more than a feeling (more than a feelin)

When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)

I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)

'Til I see Marianne walk away

The chorus slows for a final line - I see my Marianne walking away

A fizzing guitar solo kicks in after the second chorus. The guitar playing really is sensational throughout - intro, bridge riff, solo ... it all sounds utterly incredible.

The third verse really hammers home how much the singer/author regret letting Marianne slip away. This was more than a feeling. It was the real deal. What a song!

A little known fact is that this massive HIT was a DIY home production. Songwriter Tom Schulz had a home studio. The production is first class and Schulz also creates a spine tingling feel (pardon the pun).

Official video

Remastered audio

14. The Letter by The Box Tops

Alex Chilton was only 16-years old when he delivered this astonishing vocal performance for The Box Tops debut single. Coming in under 2-minutes, The Letter flows superbly. Chilton sounds like a veteran soul singer, hurting bad as he comes in after a mere 4 second intro.

The structure of the record is incredible. I can't decide what is the chorus. It's like there are two choruses, then a bridge. Chilton and The Box Tops don't pause for breath, it's straight back to the opening chorus, bridge and then the first chorus again. There is a simple and effective introduction of strings over a keyboard riff for a lovely 20-second outro. And that's it, 1-minute and 52 seconds of brilliance. BOOM!

The Box Tops - The Letter (Upbeat TV 1967)

15. Dreaming Of Me by Depeche Mode

Released in February 1981 on Mute Records (Mute 13), Dreaming Of Me starts off quite spacey, as if an astronaut is trying to tune into a frequency (over beats) to speak to colleagues back on earth. Then, 11-seconds in, Vince Clarke starts to play a super catchy synth riff that plays throughout the song after each verse and chorus. 

Dave Gahan's vocals sound just nicely detached, the lyrics to the verses are a little abstract, yet everything comes together as a pop song with the melody, synth riff and the dreaming of me hook in the chorus.

The production (by the band with Daniel Miller) is absolutely exquisite. There is a freshness to everything. This is pure Pop (with a capital P) with Vince Clarke as the conductor. Clarke is an absolute pop genius and he left Depeche Mode by the end of the year, after the release of debut album Speak & Sell to go on and form Yazoo and then Erasure. 

Depeche Mode went down a very different path following Clarke's departure. I guess it is safe to say that it worked out well for both parties. Martin Gore took over the responsibility of songwriting and whereas Clarke's songs were very thought out and structured, Gore would only enter the studio with the words and melody, leaning more into the producer, his band mates and the studio as a tool to create and experiment.

However, as debut singles go, the fact that this still sounds so fresh and interesting over 40-years down the line speaks for the quality of the song and production. Outstanding left field pop music.

Dreaming Of Me (remastered video)