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Howard Monk | Things I am embarrassed about – Number one in a series

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Suede signed photo

By Howard Monk

If we’re real music fans, we might even displace a prototype in favor of another based on knowledge that we gain. Take, for example, the song ‘Twist And Shout’. You might have heard it countless times by live bands in various bars and Holiday Inns, and you might also have heard the recordings by The Beatles and The Mamas And The Papas. One of these latter two versions may even be your prototype for the song. But if I tell you that The Isley Brothers had a hit with the song two years before The Beatles recorded it, you might reorganise your category to accommodate this new information.
Daniel Levitin – This Is Your Brain On Music, Atlantic Books 2008 p159

Having gone on a bit in response to THIS, listing a load of stuff I was not embarrassed about not liking in fact (so fuck you). Like Nirvana (at first), Labradford (who I love), 2001 A Space Odyssey (still yawning) … but those are surely just DEAD OBVIOUS. Sure, there’s a lot of peer pressure when folks who become uber influential mention they’re huge fans of the Houghton Weavers, then everyone’s all over them. So you’ll have these obscure bands being lauded, and mortals like us trying to figure out just what it was that XXXX found in their music.

What’s REALLY embarrassing, for me, given the above paragraph from This is Your Brain on Music, is my knowledge of some of the finest songs, in fact one of my favourites ever, comes from some, well, questionable sources.

I’ll just come out and say it OK. I’ll give you three.

I first heard Motley Crue’s version of ‘Helter Skelter’:

I first heard Suede’s version of ‘Shipbuilding’:

And I think it was the Guns N’ Roses version of ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’ that I heard before old Bob. Ouch:

I actually think I have been more prepared to be uncool in my list. I mean at least Erika was on about some real cool stuff. I could go on about more embarrassments. Like some baaaad gigs.

But as a friend of mine who shall remain nameless said to me just yesterday: The First Rule of Goth Club – you do not talk about Goth Club.

For the record I still think two of those versions above are alright.

Coming soon … Things I get annoyed about (issue one featuring posh west London bands, and girls (and now BOYS) doing that annoying pixie singing)

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