Stray Cats : Rock This Town
In the first week of February 1981, three remarkable singles entered the UK singles chart that, at the time, was topped by John Lennon's "Woman". Coming in at #35 is "Rock This Town" by the American rockabilly band Stray Cats. The single would peak at UK#9 within three weeks. The Cats would open three dates for the Rolling Stones on their 1981 North American tour.
Eventually "Rock This Town" would hit the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at US #9 in September of 1982.
The Jam : That's Entertainment
Released as a single in Germany, so many British fans bought The Jam's "That's Entertainment" b/w a live version of "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" as an import that it entered the chart at UK#47. It would peak at UK#21 by the end of the month and remains one of the bands most famous songs.
In an interview with Absolute Radio Paul Weller said: "I wrote it in 10 mins flat, whilst under the influence, I'd had a few but some songs just write themselves. It was easy to write, I drew on everything around me."
Talking Heads : Once In a Lifetime
Entering the chart at UK#63, "Once In A Lifetime" would eventually peak at #14. Only the UK#6 "Road to Nowhere" is a bigger hit for Talking Heads on that side of the pond. The song emerged from studio jams by the band influenced by funk and Fela Kuti.
David Byrne's lyrics make more and more sense as we listeners age:
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, "Well... how did I get here?"
Byrne gave his take on this song to NPR:
“We’re largely unconscious. You know, we operate half awake or on autopilot and end up, whatever, with a house and family and job and everything else. We haven’t really stopped to ask ourselves, ‘How did I get here?’”
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