Brilliant debut singles part 4

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 cover of Neil 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

Bernard Butler went quiet after leaving Suede, following a meteoric 3-years encompassing 4 brilliant singles, a landmark debut album and the stand alone single Stay Together. Perhaps, given the ferocious pace they worked at, it was understandable.

There were rumours abound that Butler was going to join other bands, but he surfaced with Yes and a partnership with singer David McAlmont. The two met in the Jazz Cafe in Camden and Butler was soon playing his new friend his first positive piece of music since leaving Suede.

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.

I was always thinking of games that I was playing

Trying to make the best of my time

But only love can break your heart

Try to be sure right from the start

Yes only love can break your heart

What if your world should fall apart

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)

Brilliant debut singles part 2

Hello

Welcome to part 2 of my new series where I look at brilliant debut singles by artists and bands. Songs that left a mark, established identities and inspired people to become fans or start creating music themselves.

Sometimes, bands/artists seem to appear perfectly formed.

I've started a Spotify playlist HERE

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

Part 2 (below) features; Booker T & The MG's, The Jackson 5, Kate Bush, Radiohead and The Sex Pistols.

6. Green Onions by Booker T & The MG's

Talk about capturing your signature sound on a debut! Green Onions is a song that seemed to always be on in cool places like McChuills or the Friday Street soul night that I used to attend in Blackfriars basement. Bands like The Charlatans would reference the song and it appeared on several soul compilations I bought. I eventually tracked down the record on 7-inch vinyl in a long gone record shop in St Andrews.

An instrumental, Green Onions has a dirty groove with bass, guitar, beats and Hammond all riding it. The Hammond is at the centre of everything though. What a delightful sound! 

Released on Stax Records, way back in 1962, Green Onions still sounds remarkably fresh. An energy leaps out of the grooves. Perhaps this is because the song developed from a jam while the band were in the recording studio and it was captured live. There are audible yelps of excitement at times from the band.

Live in 1967

7. I Want You Back by The Jackson 5

Exhilarating soulful pop music that will always sound super fresh, fun and exciting. Timeless! The bass line, the backing vocals and a young Michael Jackson singing his heart out with pure joy. The energy leaping out of this record is breathtaking. 

Michael Jackson was just 11 years old when he sang this song, released by Motown in 1969. Yet his youthful voice contains so much emotion as he sings of a lost love that he wants back.

The bass riff is absolutely sensational, it must be one of the best of all time. And Michael's brothers backing vocals are an integral part of the song, almost like a second lead. 

Pure Pop perfection. An absolute 10/10 record.

Live - Ed Sullivan Show

8. Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush

Kate Bush was still a teenager when she introduced herself to the world with the impeccable Wuthering Heights . Remarkably, Bush was the first female artist to reach the top of the UK charts with a self-written song! I find this quite staggering.

Inspired by the film and book, Wuthering Heights begins with a short, beautiful piano intro, but it's when Bush starts singing at 9-seconds in that you sit up, listen more closely and think, what is this?! Who is this?!

Out on the wily, windy moors, we'd roll and fall in green

You had a temper like my jealousy, too hot, too greedy

How could you leave me when I needed to possess you?

I hated you, I loved you, too

Wow! This still sounds fresh, urgent and vital almost 50-years later. What must it have sounded and felt like in 1978?! No wonder Bush captivated so many.

Bush' lyrics are, on the most part, relatively simple. Words like; jealousy, leave, hated, loved, bad dreams, fight, home, cold, dark, lonely and the hook on the chorus let me in your window.

Combined with her voice and the way she stretches her melodies, it is incredibly moving, exceptionally powerful, utterly captivating. Bush recorded the vocals in one take!

Official video

9. Creep by Radiohead

Thom Yorke boldly and openly declared I wish I was special, so f**king special on Radiohead's debut single and teenagers across the world found a song, singer and band they could relate to.

Creep sold only 6,000 copies when it was originally released in September 1992, but upon re-release a year later, the song took Radiohead into the top 10 and gave them national exposure that they built on with their stunning second album The Bends. It's safe to say, Radiohead have never looked back and they have always looked to push boundaries, explore sounds and textures to keep stretching themselves as musicians and artists.

Greenwood's crunches into gear after the aforementioned I wish I was special, so f**king special line, as Yorke goes on to sing but I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo.

Perhaps it's the second verse that was most (and remains) most relatable.

I don't care if it hurts, I wanna have control

I wanna perfect body, I wanna perfect soul

I want you to notice, when I'm not around

So f**king special, I wish I was special

After the second chorus Yorke goes full on falsetto, building to a huge raaaaaiiiiinnnnn, raiiiiiiiiinnnnn where he holds the notes in a way no-one else was doing, or could even dream of doing.

Official video

10. Anarchy In The UK by Sex Pistols

A band that conquered against all the odds. They somehow managed to unite and divide. They inspired love and hate. That's precisely why they are still talked about today, The Sex Pistols stood out a mile. Jonny Rotten was like no-one before him and God knows how many people have tried to imitate him since.

Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook backed Rotten with a punk update on Spector's Wall of Sound, creating a glorious racket that energized teenagers across the country and appalled parents. Just read and listen to the opening lines, spat out with total commitment and glee by Rotten. 

I am an antichrist

And I am an anarchist 

Don't know what I want

But I know how to get it

I wanna destroy

Raw, pure, defiant and original, the song was banned by several radio stations. No-one knew how to take The Sex Pistols, no-one (not even their celebrated manager Malcolm McLaren) really knew what to do with them. But they demanded attention. And they got it!

Watch the official video to see why. 

Brilliant debut singles part 1

Back in April, Oasis marked the 30th anniversary of Supersonic by declaring, in a typically brash and confident manner, that it was 'arguably the greatest debut single of all time.' 

There is no doubt that Supersonic got its hooks into me and I fell for the band big time, but even as an Oasis fan,  I don't think it is anywhere near the greatest debut single of all time.

Of course, that is entirely personal and debatable. 

With a view to writing a blog, I started thinking about incredible debut singles, where bands/artists seemed to appear fully formed with a perfect song. 

I then started some research and quickly formed a list of 50 brilliant debut singles! So this blog is part 1! Parts 2, 3, 4, 5 ... and so on will follow! And more if I keep researching! 

I've also started a Spotify playlist HERE

Get in touch with suggestions of brilliant debut singles.

1. Break On Through (to the Other Side) by The Doors

Right from the off, The Doors got their image and messaging absolutely perfect. All in just 2 minutes 25 seconds! The first verse and chorus are delivered in less than 30-seconds! Jim Morrison sounds like a man on a mission, his band sound like loyal lieutenants determined to help him deliver his goal- there is a spark, an urgency, an energy ....

Try to run, try to hide

Break on through to the other side

Morrison is poetic, he is mesmerising, as are the beats, melodies and riffs underneath him. Outstanding.

2. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones

Power punk pop perfection. Slamming into a ferocious guitar riff, The Undertones roar through verse-chorus-verse-chorus in under a minute, beginning with the incredible line a teenage dream's so hard to beat.

Teenage lust, desire and innocence pour out of the song. Fergal Sharkey delivers an exceptional vocal performance, audibly shaking with intensity at times and I still love the way he yells alright after the second chorus, into a short 15-second instrumental - just the same driving power chords.

Then the band just rip through the song again leading into another short instrumental followed by one more chorus. It's all over in under 2 and a half minutes. It's electrifying pop, the energy is infectious, the way the band just rip through the song is sensational, even on first listen you'll be singing a-long.

Teenage Kicks is simply sensational and must surely be one of the best debut singles of all time.

Full blog from 22/08/21

3. West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys

Originally released in 1984, West End Girls made a mark in in clubs across the globe, but it didn't trouble the charts, only reaching the heady heights of number 133. 

Pet Shop Boys had something though and EMI signed them up, Neil Tenant and Chris Lowe went into the studio with Stephen Hague and re-recorded the song. Re-released in October 1985, the song eventually hit number 1 in early 1986 and paved the way for a string of classic pop singles and albums.

Everything about West End Girls is distinctive; Tenant's spoken word/rap through the verses, the moody synth chords that underpin everything, the exceptionally catchy synth bass riff and the chorus contrasting East and West.

In a West End town in a dead end world

The East End boys and West End Girls

West End Girls

West End Girls is exceptional pop music. It still sounds fresh, it's not euphoric by nature, but the chorus is so super catchy that it lifts everything. An absolute classic.

4. Music Sounds Better With You by Stardust

Not just a debut single, Music Sounds Better With You was the ONLY song released by Stardust! This was despite Virgin offering Stardust $3 million to produce an album! Allegedly, there were a few other songs kicking around as demos, but Stardust resisted the temptation to record and release anything else.

Stardust was; Thomas Bangalter (one half of Daft Punk), Alan Braxe and Benjamin Diamond. The trio created Music Sounds Better With You around a guitar riff sampled from Chaka Khan's Fate, the song is remarkably simple and totally catchy.

Is the song about listening to music with someone you love, or listening to music on ecstasy? This was a popular debate at the time. It could be either.

Music Sounds Better is one verse that cleverly (thanks to the I feel so good last line) leads back into itself over and over again. Diamond said that the lyrics were "like a mantra ... something everyone could understand." 

He was absolutely right and it's the same with the groove, the repetition is infectious with instruments fading in and out. 

I love the fact that Stardust released something so perfect and so successful and then just left it at that! 

Ooh baby

I feel like

The music sounds better with you

Love might, bring us back together

I feel so good

5. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman

Released when Chapman was 24, Fast Car has a remarkable mature feel to it. Riding on a slow and melodic acoustic riff, Chapman sings of escaping a challenging life to anywhere else - any place is better, starting from zero, got nothing to lose

Chapman's voice is deep and souful and she continues to tell her tale, of saving a little from her job in a convenience store, wanting to head across the border to the city to see what living is really like. 'Cause it doesn't sound like she has had much of a life; her Dad hit the bottle, her Mum left, she had to quit school and essentially care for her Dad.

It doesn't take much for Chapman to dream, she just wants to escape;

You got a fast car

Is it fast enough so we can fly away?

Still gotta make a decision

Leave tonight, or live and die this way

That last line is equally beautiful and heartbreaking, she really lays it on the line.

Then the chorus explodes into life;

So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car

Speed so fast, I felt like I was drunk

City lights lay out before us

And your arm felt nice wrapped around my shoulder

And I, I , I had a feeling that I belonged

I, I, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

Official video - Fast Car