Welcome to part 4 of my new semi-regular/ongoing feature on brilliant debut singles. When bands/artists appear perfectly formed with a song that is utterly brilliant!
Sometimes, this might be with a song that they didn't write! Is that cheating?! Well, no, not if they transform the song and make it their own. Saint Etienne certainly did that with their sublime coverNeil Young's Only Love Can Break Your Heart that is included in this blog.
I'm also pretty sure that I'll be writing about The Byrds Mr Tambourine Man and the likes of Hey Joe by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in future blogs.
Part 4 (below) features Arab Strap, The House of Love, McAlmont & Butler, The Left Banke and Saint Etienne.
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 featured; Teenage Fanclub, LCD Soundsystem, Boston, The Box Tops and Depeche Mode.
16. First Big Weekend by Arab Strap
Funny, emotive, original, soulful and beautifully authentic, Arab Strap's First Big Weekend documents a mid-90's weekend absolutely perfectly. It could easily have been written about me and my mates!
Aidan Moffat begins his tale over raw and sparse acoustic guitar. Like many of my own 90's weekends, Aidan's started on a Thursday. Moffat's was with a quiz where he approached an ex-girlfriends new boyfriend to say there is no issue as far as he is concerned ... he shouldn't have bothered.
Then on Friday night we went through to The Arches
A programmed (basic) drum beat kicks in and Malcolm Middleton then finds a guitar riff and some synth sounds fall in behind. Moffat then continues his tale; the travel through, skipping the queue, dancing, the aftermath, trying to keep going, falling asleep, missing the Scotland v England game, going out again, watching The Simpsons, going out to the pub on Sunday night, meeting up again on Monday night ....
Went out for the weekend and it lasted forever
High with our friends it's officially summer
First Big Weekend was like nothing my friends and I had ever heard before. It was (and is) raw, real, exciting and true.
17. Shine On by The House of Love
With shimmering psychedelic guitars and an incredible chorus that is beautifully simple, Shine On is the defining song of The House of Love.
The piercing guitar riff that introduces the song is infectious, the burst of acoustic rhythm under a short electric guitar at the end of the first verse is glorious. Later on the middle eight leads to a sensational guitar solo by Terry Bickers who was widely considered to be the best guitarist around on the independent scene in the aftermath of The Smiths and pre-Roses.
Originally released back in 1987 on Creation Records, the song failed to reach the top 100. A new version was released in 1990 and got to number 20 in the charts - the bands biggest hit.
The band, led by Guy Chadwick and with Terry Bickers on guitar, were making a mark. Alan McGee became their manager and was determined to get them a major record deal. This episode is reflected on in glorious detail in the legendary book My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize up among the best music books I have ever read.
Chadwick was desperate for a major record deal and a lump sum of money to buy a house, he has lied about his age and is going a little crazy with ecstasy and LSD, while Bickers is having a mental breakdown on tour, while McGee is holed up in plush London hotels conducting interviews with prospective labels. It's a funny yet harrowing read.
The band definitely had something, but never captured the excitement of early recordings after Fontana (who they signed with) ordered multiple re-recordings and remixes in search of 'a hit'.
Listening back to the song, I've never really focused on the lyrics in the verses before! They are quite abstract, I guess it's always been about the guitars and the chorus for me.
She, she, she, she, shine on
She, she, she, shine on
She, she, she, shine on
18. Yes by McAlmont & Butler
And oh how positive it is, McAlmont wrote a verse but couldn't come up with a second, so Butler just told him to repeat the first with the duo hoping to commit something that could be held up as a classic single like those they loved from the 60's.McAlmont's lyrics match the positive surge of Butler's music. The strings soar and instantly sound euphoric, Butler's guitar crashes and provides a constant rhythm throughout, while seemingly simultaneously chiming and riffing.
The lyrics could easily be McAlmont's interpretation of whatever Butler told him about leaving Suede. The title, the simple Yes, is pure positivity, Butler has recovered from the dark post Suede months, he does look better and he does feel alright.
David McAlmont's vocal is exceptional and after a quick 1st verse that sounds like McAlmont relaying a conversation they are into the sky scraping chorus. The about me, about me, about me line that McAlmont yelps out is the perfect bridge into the chorus. Then they do it again for good measure, only they take it even higher and it sounds even better.
Exceptional! Check the outrageous live performance on Later with Jools and the way Butler stomps, whirls and attacks his guitar.
19. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke
In just 2-minutes and 46 seconds, The Left Banke produce heart aching pop music of the highest, purest quality. Everything tugs on heart strings. At the age of just 18, Steve Martin Caro has no God given right to sound so beautifully heart broken, while the strings, harpsichord and flute are utterly perfect, giving a sense of maturity to this band of teenagers.
The poetic lyrics speak of empty sidewalks, where perhaps lovers once walked, of tears, of pain, rain, names in a heart drawn on the wall, of being haunted and of a realisation that the writer can't follow Renee, it's not to be.
Astounding, outstanding, magical.
Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke
The Left Banke were teenagers when they wrote the Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke, especially when you consider that the band were teenagers at the time.
Released in July 1966, Walk Away Renee is one of a number of songs Brown wrote about Renee Fladen-Kamm, then the girlfriend of his friend and band mate, Tom Finn. Amazingly, Fladen-Kamm was at the recording of the single, Brown had to wait for her to leave in order to play his parts.
Remarkably, considering the depth and quality of this song, The Left Banke were all teenagers!
20. Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (with Moira Lambert on vocals pre Sarah Cracknell) transform Neil Young's beautiful Only Love Can Break Your Heart - modernising it, taking it into the future, somehow making it even more timeless than the original.
Recorded in just 2-hours in a makeshift bedroom studio - Saint Etienne's version has a beautifully raw, unpolished quality and it remains a true gem that continues to captivate audiences to this day. It still sounds super fresh and exciting.
Saint Etienne take Neil Young's genius songwriting to new places - clubs! Ensuring that Only Love Can Break Your Heart fitted seamlessly in with the Acid House and ecstasy scene that was gripping the nation at the time of release in 1990.
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