The Kinks - Better Things

Arista (UK) 415, 1981

A late-period classic. Throughout their tenure with Arista, The Kinks seemed perpetually on the verge of reclaiming their former greatness. The albums from this period were uneven (with the exception of the near-perfect Sleepwalker), but each one contained at least a few solid gems - such as the song presented here for 1981's Give The People What They Want.

This tune is vintage Ray Davies. A deceptively upbeat opening verse (clever how it's the only part that repeats) gives way to the song's more bittersweet sentiments as the melody builds to a stadium-size chorus. I can't imagine this song being much out of place on one of their early LPs- Kontroversy, perhaps.

Released as a single in early '81 in advance of the upcoming LP, apparently without much notice in the charts anywhere.  The single version here is slightly longer than the LP - longer fade.

listen

Del Shannon - Led Along

Liberty 55961, 1966

An advance release from an album Del was recording in England, with Andrew Loog Oldham producing. Unfortunately, the single failed to chart, and the label shelved the finished LP (which would remain unreleased for another ten years).

It's a great song, written for Del by Immediate Records staff writer Billy Nicholls. A classic slice of mid-'60s pop, with production reminiscent of Andrew's other project at the time (see Between The Buttons).

Loy Clingman - It's Nothing To Me

Dot 15567, 1957

Another Lee Hazlewood-related entry. This one from Lee's sometime record engineer/songwriter/business partner Loy Clingman.

The song is a classic '50s Country ballad, full of barroom badassery and menace, wherein our gentle protagonist's cautionary advice goes unheeded. Tragedy ensues.

The song, written by Leon Payne under a pseudonym, would eventually be covered by many other artists - most notably Johnny Winter, in the early '70s.

John Kongos - He's Gonna Step On You Again

Elektra 45729, 1971

Most of you will recognize this from the Happy Mondays cover, though it may take a while. It's interesting how Happy Mondays internalized the original's anti-colonialist political message (Kongos is South African) and reinterpreted it as an anthem of junkie paranoia - in other words, making it their own.



The original presented here is pretty incredible. An international hit in its time, an ingenious mash-up of Glam and World pop and likely the first hit single ever to have used a sample-based beat (the entire track seems to be built around a tape loop of African drumming).