We love all kinds of tunes and tracks but often there’s a particular which gets us in the ear or the heart or the guts. That bit that goes…
Maybe the scream from Won’t Get Fooled Again. Or the horns building in Beyonce’s Crazy In Love. Or the forlorn defiance of the line “Fuck me up” from Ryan Adams’ Come Pick Me Up.
A recent post about David Ruffin reminded me how much I love. love, love the husky falsetto he breaks into at several moments in Walk Away From Love.
He can’t go higher you think – and then he does.
Heard to good effect at 1′ 33″ in version below.
So, what’s your favourite bit from a favourite choon?
That bit you love. You know, when it goes…
How funny, i’ve got a playlist on Spotify called “The bit that goes…” Still only 4 tracks long at the mo, and two of those REM, but here it is.
Holy cosmic coincidences Batman!
Nice one Walt.
On the Interpol track it’s at 3:21, with the falsetto refrain “She puts it away”, that i had originally thought was “She takes the weight”.
I’ll try and break down the other 3 for you too. (lucky you) 😉
Common people. The bit that goes – “Are you sure”?
good idea!
Iggy & the Stooges – I’m Sick Of You – the hi-hat before the solo, at 4:17
On “Fall On Me”, it’s at 1:27, when Stipe sings “don’t fall on me-e-ee” with a deeper darker intonation than in the rest of the song.
At 2.38 – 2.42 there’s a little guitar lick. Fab, tis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssXFJ1ZKsQg
On “Let It Grow” it’s at 3:35 where Clapton does something that i’m sure musicians have a proper name for…could it just be a guitar solo or breakdown?….i won’t embarrass myself anymore, but that spirralling instrumental summing up near the end, does it for me.
Tis rather good. Seen some words of this being a Stairway to Heaven rip-off but I wont have it. Its Dick Sims’ ARP Synth that follows EC’s and George Terry’s guitars. lovely stuff, great album.
Kevin Rowland – Rag Doll. 6:38
The talking bit “that beautiful choir, all singing for you, they’re singing for you .. that’s yours, it belongs to you …. it’s great, it’s telling the truth … Truth and the Word … it’s over, bad stuff’s over … here we go …” – the way his voice breaks on “that’s yours”, and the feeling that this is him talking himself up and out ….
O, good call for a post! My fave ever ever (part whatever) is at on this corker, that starts off an average quasi Bowie 70s reject song before a burst into glory at 2.23, at a single moment making me understand house and smileys. Still smiling now…….
The bit (2:38) at the end of the Middle 8 when Chrissie’s voice goes up a note & holds it:
Hell yeah
Or the descending sustain and fade – sex on a stick – of the title words of Talk Of The Town
Around 0.48″
Pretenders – Talk Of The Town:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATCkwNxYz0k
Also, the bit at 3:59 where the horns start to repeat the string riff, adding an extra layer of sass to what is already an outrageously slinky track:
Returning to the REM theme, this already apocryphal (or do I mean apocalyptic? Hell, both!!!) song, already astonishing, breaks my spleen at 2.14 as the organ breaks free from its earlier subliminal simmer into tears again, day or night.
When the judge laid it all to rest. My wife, now ex-wife in one taxi. Me in another. Opposite journeys. The cabbie wanted to talk. I didn’t.
Got home. The home that used to be ours. Poured a long one and played this loud. Over and again. That electric taste in my mouth. The chorus that goes
aluminium, tastes like fear
adrenaline, it pulls us near
I’ll take you over
it tastes like fear, there
I’ll take you over
For the first time, life scared.me What the fuck happens now?
R.E.M; E-bow The Letter
Yesterday I realised I hadn’t heard this song in years, dug it out and listened to it a few times, letting its uneasy beauty wash over me. Today I read this. I can only imagine what that must have felt like.
Oh, and is that a deliberate reference to The River?
Yes it is .
I have two
The first is from ELO’s Out of the Blue. Summer & Ligntning. At about 3.15 into the song there’s a nice breakdown that comes out into the final part of the song, and just ‘explodes’ back into the strings and drums. Every time I hear it, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end
The second. More obscure. JM Jarre’s Zoolookologie 12″ extended mix goes into a false fade, then it comes back out into a second section with drums and some rather cracking Marcus Miller fret less bass-slaps before that sort of stuff became a bit of a cliche.
Both fabulous
Alabama Shakes – Don’t Wanna Fight 0.38; that weird hoarse half missed yell by the singer:
The Commodores were not really my thing, but there are a couple of moments in Easy which always make me sit up. First the tricksy little bass figure at 1:14, then of course the eruption of the guitar solo at 2:49.
Talking of guitar solos, 1:09 – a little grunt, then POW!
3 min 20 sec, when Planty’s vocal comes back in after the solo, & the whole thing swells……
7 min 09 sec; the clot thickens is pretty mad anyway, but Hammill’s pronunciation of the word Guinevere just pushes it (and me) over the edge…
Something different. What happens at 0:37 is one of the most sublime moments in all music. I first heard it one Saturday morning driving home from Sainsburys, and I was so gobsmacked I had to pull over and recover. The rest of it’s not half bad, either.
https://youtu.be/Jx2pnPI18yI
Try again. He was 15 when he wrote this, by the way.
1. On ‘Don’t Give Up’, the final part of Kate’s vocal at 5.18 – “Don’t give up, ’cause I believe there’s a place/There’s a place where we belong…” Chills.
2. After the cacophonous opening, Ferry’s sighed ‘Oh’ at 1.33 leading in to the glory of Mother Of Pearl’
I’ve posted this link on here many times but not for a while…the bit at 1.30 when the slow groove kicks into the fast groove on two clicks of the drumstick, best heard on the vinyl version of The Name of this Band is… album and scandalously edited out of the expanded(!) CD version. This is the most exciting moment in recorded music history on Planet Bamber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g8lFmsCXhg
and the bridge in this Radiohead song at around 2.50 when the arpeggios just take off in a new direction – gets me every time…
Re: ‘Jigsaw Falling into Place’- I know exactly what you mean; but it’s at about 3: 07-11 for me. It doesn’t matter how many hundreds of times I hear it, still thrilling.
Ooooh this is a great thread.
@bamber
@rubyblue
This is my favourite Radiohead song.
The bit that starts at 2:18…”The beat goes round and round…” as the track moves up a notch is what I love about this track.
Talking of Radiohead, I also love the 3:30 section onwards in Let Down that fools you into thinking the song is finished but then slowly lifts back to “You know, you know where you are with….”
Wonderful
Yes, that’s my next favourite bit, together with ‘Before you’re lost between the notes…’
Sir David of Bowie
The monumental entry of the bass driven killer riff at 0.32 . That and the handclaps turn an otherwise slight song into an Alien Disco Beast
The Secret Life Of Arabia
James Carr: That’s The Way Love Turned Out For Me
The growl, the break, as he testifies in torment
“…and I ain’t got nobody! Nobody to turn to y’all…and that’s the way love turned out for me”
Around 1′ 10″
King Crimson LTiA pt.1, when it all kicks off.
Villagers – In Pieces
After proclaiming that he has been in pieces at 3.42 the singer feels that proclaiming is not enough so he starts howling like a dog.
Bollix. This is the link:
I’ve posted this before, but here goes again….
Genesis / Cinema Show – from 9:32 to 10:05 where Tony Banks keyboards build to a climax (no idea what this effect is called so won’t embarrass myself)…
I’ll add one more – R.E.M / World Leader Pretend – at about 2:45 when the rest of the instruments stop and the solo piano kicks in….
Its from a specific performance of a song that I love (Future Islands – “Seasons”) on the David Letterman Show
At 2:29, “I’ve been hanging on you” sung as a growl.
Its sung in a I don’t give a fuck kind of way, and obviously the dancing is testament to that too. Its a great moment.
Love that too
From one of the great old Cuban singers, Roberto Torres. Between 2:50 and 3:00, there’s that glorious instrumental buildup that resolves with a slowed-down, pounding set of triplets. From there the chorus kicks it into an entirely different gear. It’s one of those moments when music seems to defy temporal laws and achieve liftoff.
The Dead Weather: ‘Blue Blood Blues’.
Everything is fucking great about this track, especially the dirty, filthy guitar/bass. But the bit at about 3: 13 onwards is wonderful. The final ‘You’ll never see me again’ and then just about everything drops out apart from the backing vocals, which build and repeat, to a final dead stop.
If there is a sexier record than this, I haven’t heard it.
Oh, Roobs – gotta say that the central riff is perilously close to Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein.
Whaddya think?
Yeah, I see what you mean.
But Jack White, plagiarist? *coughs* ‘Steady as She Goes/’Is She Really Going Out With Him’ *coughs*
Allegedly.
Inspiration only , surely.
Great to see another Dead Weather fan on the blog. Their new album is out soon. I can’t wait!
Crowded House’s Into Temptation, a song about, well, temptation. After ‘experience is cheap’ Finn sings ‘but the cradle is soft and warm’ and the strings swell with perfect loveliness, comfortable as morphine and natural as cotton, leading him into the ‘wide open arms of hell.’ The rest of the song is the singer fighting the urge to stray. That chord change is the moment he gives in.
Oh yes, great choice.
I’m a sucker for a bit of glissando – about 1:26 in
in rosalita, bruce sings “i promise to love you forever” with a tone of astonished disbelief, as if the idea is so ludicrous even he can’t fake it. a perfect detail in a perfect album. the whole song is right there in that one word.
Also in Rosalita – “The record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance”. The delight in that line!
In Metallica’s none-more-stadium-bouncing signature, “Enter Sandman”, the bit where the bass and drums drop out and it’s just Hetfield hammering the riff, then “GUH!” and it all slams back in again.
4:25 here:
At 2.32 Clapton goes to a major 7th chord and producer Jimmy Miller pushes the sliders to eleven and adds maximum compression as Eric plays that killer wah-wah motif which is twice as loud as everything else on the record.
Then you can actually hear the sliders come back down as the guitar solo kicks in. No one makes records like that anymore.
And look-they’ve put little stickers over the girl’s nipples. I mean, it’s not like everyone in the civilized world hasn’t already seen it after 46 years.
I know that eBay is still a bit squeamish about this LP and will remove it from sale on the flimsiest pretext. But that’s another thread.
At our music lesson in school, we were allowed to take in an album and play one track. A mate arrived with the brand-new Blind Faith LP which none of us had heard and played ‘Presence of the Lord’. As I heard it for the first time, I remember thinking it was rather pleasant, but nothing earth-shattering. Then the bit you mention kicked in. Bloody hell, it blew everyone away. You could feel the electricity going through the room.
‘Sea of Joy’ is probably my favourite track., particularly when Stevie comes back in vocally after the instrumental break.
‘Do what you Like’ should have been jettisoned, though and a bit more time spent writing.
It’s also a shame that Baker turned up and inserted himself into the band. I could have done with a bit more Blind Faith and a lot less Delaney and bloody Bonnie.
Well said Ian.
I was torn between the Blind Faith moment and the part on Led Zeppelin II where the orgasmic part of Whole Lotta Love reaches a, er, climax and Page plays that amazing compressed guitar part.
It was life changing in 1969 and it’s still amazing today.
Baker was right in the bloody front in Hyde Park. From where I was grooving just about all I could hear was drums.
Very low-energy gig from the evidence available. Clapton admits in his autobiog that he just didn’t want to be there.
Like Mike, I was there at Hyde Park too. I remember enjoying the day, but watching the DVD now it’s a very lacklustre affair.
I took some photos of the stage at the end which I think I posted on the old site.
Stevie Wonder – “As”
The bit I love comes at about 3:45.
The track has been lolloping along at a pleasant, sunny mid-tempo for three and three-quarter minutes when the song suddenly surges, moves up a gear, as Stevie’s vocals – and lyrics – acquire a rougher, more urgent edge, at:
We all know sometimes lifes hates and troubles
Can make you wish you were born in another time and space …
Ah so many Stevie moments from the lovely phrasing of “Suzy was in pigtails …” in I Was Made To Love Her to the impossibly funky opening to Superstition to – oh like a million things.
Another favourite is the way he sings the word “Love” higher than the preceeding lines and soars into an altered version of the central refrain around 2′ 30″ into
Ribbon In The Sky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT7TqecZ00k
Madness: Our House – the “Vroom Vroom” on the bass as the introduction properly kicks in.
Rilo Kiley: Portions for Foxes – “Come here…”
Weezer: Buddy Holly – the really really high pitched widdly bit before the last chorus where everything else drops out.
Aerosmith: Love in an Elevator – when the chorus comes back in again after it breaks down into a jam session.
Father John Murphy: Chateau Lobby #4 – the Mariachi band!
Any song featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica: when Stevie Wonder starts playing the harmonica.
Love it!
One for the jazz buffs. This is 30 minute jam session featuring many of the hottest jazz players of the day.
At around 9:30 Roland Kirk takes a solo which after about 20 seconds goes into a free form section which absolutely takes the mick (Im sure with a generous spirit) of the previous soloist – George Adams who was one of the rising young turks of the free form scene. Kirk goes on to play one of the greatest tenor solos ever and remind everyone else on stage who is the boss (excusing Mingus of course). You need to listen from about 8 minutes in to get the ‘joke’.
Bruce counting the band back in on Born To Run.
At the beginning of Moody’s “In Search Of The Lost Chord” where he says “and they use them to help us to find…” and the drums come in and we’re into Ride My Seesaw (blistering solo on that track too).
The wah-wah pedal bit on the Roses’ “Waterfall.
Mr Zoot Horn Rollo hitting that note on Big-Eyed Beans From Venus and letting it flow (float?).
A misplaced guitar note.
“1 – 2 – a – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4”
Clive Burr’s drum roll and Steve Harris’s bass run at 2:53
My favourite Richard Thompson album, my favourite performance from it, and a couple of bars at 4:24 which mean more to me than the whole recording history of many lesser artists. I doubt playing that couple of seconds without the build up leading to their glorious release would make much sense, but knock yourself out if you want to try.
The piano from 3:19 to the end. Strangely ignored when Top Gear did the “Best Driving Songs”
Lyrical favourite:
Kinks – Lola
“Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man,
But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man,
And so is Lola”
Jilted John: “Ere we go. 2 – 3 -4”
(also (knowingly) used by Stiff Little Fingers in Here We Are Nowhere)
Ramones – KKK Took My Baby Away
The rattling of the guitar strings on the fretboard on the opening verse
(similar trick utilised on Queen’s We Will Rock You)
Going Underground has a moment where Weller sings the title at 1.50 after a a build up “This boy shout and this boy scream” that makes my heart stop. Can’t explain it but it does now like it did when I was 15. Fuck me I love The Jam…..
I have the same reaction to this song, and can relate to the bit you say. I actually consider this song ‘day one’ for me musically. Oh, i’d liked other music before this , but this was different, this was my music. Yes, still utterly thrilling! Good one Dave.
Radio One didn’t really play it, it wasn’t really promoted on TV – but it arrived at Number One in its first week. At that time only a handful of songs had done that.
I love the fact that Weller seems to not have enough space to express his anger and can barely get the words in. I visualise a deep breath and…we’re off! Must be very difficult to sing live.
My favourite single ever is Italian and from the late 60s; “Non ti amo più” by Christophe. It’s only on YouTube as part of a full album (or in the French version of that single, which isn’t nearly as good) so you’ll have to go to 22:05 for the beginning of it.
All of it is fantastic, proper mime-into-a-hairbrush-while-gesticulating-dramatically stuff, but the best bits are at 22:52 when the oh-so-very-60s cembalo-type tinkling starts, 23:30 when the strings fill the same role in the next verse, and at 23:56 plus all of the ending, when Christophes voice almost crack from emotional desperation…ah – I loooove this track!
Very excellent.
Ride – Polar Bear
A bit hard to explain this one, but i’ll give it a go. You’d hardly call this a love song, that’s the preserve of Dionne Warwick and the like, isn’t it? But deep in the sonic soup that is what we are made to call ‘Shoegaze’, or nobody knows what you’re talking about, lies this gem.
At about 2:36, he jumps in with “Why should it feel like a crime, if I want to be with you all the time? Why is it measured in hours? You should make your own time, you’re welcome in mine”. ….thereby cutting through shmultz and cliche of the usual affectionate lyric and making it genuinely something we might all have felt. As much as i love Pulp and Jarvis, he does real life as gritty and with a humourous kitchen sink delivery. Here, Ride stack the harmonies and wall of guitar noise against a conversational lyric to great effect i think.
One of my favourite moments in pop is in Elvis’s ‘Girl of my Best Friend’. He glides through the song, singing beautifully and effortlessly. At around 1min 40, just after the line ‘I could never face either one again’, he throws in an insouciant ‘uh, huh huh’.
It kills me every time. It’s the quintessence of Elvisness.
I hadn’t even been aware it was a cover version until I heard it about a year ago when driving in California. Elvis’s completely transforms the song with his exceptional performance of it. A little gem.
Magic moment indeed. But (can’t resist this, but it’s a genuine question) don’t you think he sings flat? That thought has been niggling away at me since 1960…
Where do you think Elvis sings flat Mike? The whole song or just the middle eight under discussion?
I just listened to the song and couldn’t pick it.
Singing flat never did Johnny Cash any harm though, did it? (Ooh, controversial) .
First time I hear it is ‘pretend’ at 0:24. Worst bit to my ears is ‘what if she got real mad’ at 1:24. Also the ‘I can’t help it/will I always be’ bits.
According to some bloke on t’internet, Elvis didn’t really want to record the song, so maybe he wasn’t trying. Alternatively, of course, my ears may not be alight…
Yeah, it’s only a gnat’s whisker but now I can hear it on “What if she got real mad…”
I’m normally right onto off-key stuff, but never noticed it before.
I’m a huge folk music fan but I can’t listen to Shirley Collins because to my ears, it’s ALL flat. But most other people I speak to can’t hear it and think she has a great voice.
Ditto most (but not all) of Johnny Cash’s output.
Never heard it with Sinatra, though.
Never did Sinatra any harm either. 🙂
I hadn’t really thought that, Mike, though I can see where you’re coming from. I think I’d rationalised the way that particular phrase tumbles (rather flatly) from his lips down to his interpretation of the line; i.e. his fear that it would all explode in his face. Probably over-thinking it, but it would make a little sense, given his gorgeously mellifluous rendition of the rest. Have you heard the original? I’m not surprised he may have been reluctant to record it. He completely transforms it.
I agree about Cash also, but he gets away with it for some reason.
As for the Mafia bootlicker, I watched the (very average) reboot of ‘Robocop’ recently and, at one point, there’s footage of Frankie baby groaning away. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fast-forward as I had to listen to the dialogue. God, it was excruciating.
I hadn’t heard the original until you mentioned it – I had no idea either. I rather enjoyed it, but Elvis is so firmly embedded that it’s impossible to see it as anything other than another cover version. While I was looking for it I came across a truly appalling version by none other than Freddie Starr, mugging away in front of a quartet of rather geriatric Jordanaires. That was an unhappy moment.
As ever, we’ll have to agree to disagree about the Mafia bootlicker. You’re not alone, it turns out. Came across this great quote while I was, er, researching that:
“Look, I know you have a lot of Italian friends. But you don’t know Italians the way Italians know Italians. Italians tend to break down into two kinds of people: Lucky Luciano and Michelangelo. Frank’s an exception. He’s both.”
– anonymous anecdote by an Italian-American musician
That’s a very astute comment by the, understandably, anonymous musician.
Frank still sings flat though.
Keep Your Distance, Richard Thompson. Can’t find it on YouTube, but just towards the end when the steel pedal kicks in – the finest moment in pop music (and I’m never really sure I actually like Richard Thompson)
Bo Diddley – You Can’t Judge a Book – the part about 1:00 where he says “you’ve got your radio turned down too low, turn it up!!”
Welcome to the Pleasuredome – at 10.25, as the gorgeous muted jazz guitar comes in over the sequencer, giving an endlessly layered song an extra sheen of loveliness.
Almost every moment of this song is perfect but the lovely French Horn phrase first heard at around 53 seconds in, makes me wistful for both the life I have lived and for another life that I might have lived.
The Rolling Stones: You Can’t Always Get What You Want
The guitar break at 1:34 always makes me smile.
A couple: When Colin Newman ( I think!) says a deadpan ‘Chorus’ halfway through “Map Ref. 41°N 93°W”
And the bit in Todd Rundgren’s ‘Hello It’s Me’ where he forgets the words and mumbles until he gets back on course.
Love’s You set the scene. The bit where the first part of the song ends, there’s a crash on the drums and the horns come in. Then the tempo changes and Arthur starts singing “This is the …..
This fine live version really pins it. Magic.
http://youtu.be/wBidwdGUekc
That’s a great call, KFD.
It makes me want to investigate the “Forever Changes Concert” DVD.
I presume that some Afterworders own this DVD. Is it worth having?
Glad you enjoyed it Duke.
One of the great joys of recent years has been seeing older artists, like Arthur Lee and Brian Wilson, playing with stupendous bands of younger musicians who have really done their music justice.
Forever Changes was the must-have album of my 6th form days. Never thought then that I’d one day see him play those songs live in a ginormous tent in Denmark.
Brilliant. Another great joy, now I come to think of it, is 23 years of Jools on YouTube. Although it’s become fashionable to diss him for larding his piano all over stuff (well, wouldn’t you?) and just generally being annoying, it’s a fantastic resource (or time-waster, depending on how you look at it). Here’s another old-timer enjoying himself:
Sunshine Anderson: Head It All Before
Love the way she echoes the title line, call and response, just a minute or so in.
Massive tune!
Haven’t thought about this record in years: thank you!
Depeche Mode’s Stripped ends with a ticking clock and distant thunder. Ooh. But as far as I am concerned Depeche Mode’s entire output has several hundred moments like that.
Oy Toy with the Unforgettable Fire (song) has a sublime sequence -the last minute or so – Bongo sings Ohhh Ohhh and then there’s dramatic orchestral swooshes and then it goes calmer – “and if the mountains should crumble or, er, disappear into the sea….”. The coda lingers pleasingly.
But the one that springs immediately to mind are the storm noises in Storms in Africa by Enya. Yes, Enya.
The Harlem Shuffle – Bob & Earl.
The first ragged handclap after the fanfare intro. From that moment it’s absolutely cooking…
Incidentally, a brilliant touch how the handclaps throughout are sort of ragged. Gives the song a real live, party feel.
So i was listening to this weeks Pick of the Pops on my ipod today. 1970 and 1990. A song came on, not a classic but for some reason 25 years ago I really liked one little hook and always looked forward to it when it came on the radio. Listening again today for the first time it years it still gives me the same “hit.” Not sure why but I like it.
The Farm – Groovy Train 1:52-2:07 “You’re special, oh so special,” the guitar and bass behind it. Only happens once in the song but THAT is the hook for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In75rgGsp4A
14 seconds in, James Brown counts in 1,2,3
You can feel the tension , the amps cranked up, band poised, fingers touching strings between 2 and 3.
And then Bam!
Steely Dan: Doctor Wu
The line “the last piastre I could borrow”
Just over 40 seconds in
Listen to the whole thing though. Gives the lie to the notion that the Dan lack soul. Souls more tortured are hard to find in the world of pop. Disregard the feint of gloss and smart alec demeanour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVetTbHiwjw
House Of Pain: Jump Around:
The brilliant sample of Harlem Shuffle (the original being as fine an opening as any in the annals of pop) and then that electrifying initial screech. Impossible to stay still. Not dancing is not an option:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZaz7OqyTHQ
There’s a great bit on Roxy’s “Viva” album…goes for about 4:50….called Both Ends Burning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdiuV49toFs
Actually, there are several other great bits on that LP.
“Horses, horses, horses, horses, horses …”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhbnZfAwiCc