“A song that was not originally released as an album single, or never became a single.” That is what Jim is asking us to play for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, as his post Should Have Been A Single tells us. Boiling that down, I think that means “play a good album track,” which leaves us a pretty wide playing field! Having seen how others often play hard and fast with Jim’s themes, or ignore them completely, I’ve decided to cheat a bit myself this week. I’m playing you two songs, both of which are superb album tracks but did actually appear on the 7 inch vinyl format. One was a B-side, and the other was actually released as a single, but only in the Netherlands, so I’m kind of treating that as not having happened. There’s nothing on Wikipedia about it having been a chart hit, so I think I’m safe!
I’m leading with that Dutch non-hit:
And playing by the “rules” here are the lyrics:
As the video shows, Dirty Work was a track on Steely Dan’s debut album, Can’t Buy A Thrill, which was released in November 1972, the month after I started at uni, although we didn’t get it here until January 1973, and it became a huge part of the soundtrack to my three years there. To my ears, the album is a masterpiece, which I’ve loved ever since I first heard it. I have owned it on vinyl, cassette, CD and now it resides in my Apple Music library. Ten tracks of absolute musical perfection. If you haven’t heard it, what have you been doing with your life! It is, quite frankly, the best debut album ever (maybe a suggestion there for a future theme, Jim?). It reached #17 in the US and #38 in the UK, and has been certified Platinum in the US and Gold in the UK. The album’s cover features a photo of a line of prostitutes in Rouen, in France, though it was banned in Spain, where a photo of the band was used instead. That was hardly the worst thing that General Franco did, though!
Messrs Becker and Fagen ‘borrowed’ the title from Bob Dylan: it is the opening line of his song It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry. As per Wikipedia, the song’s lyrics describe an affair between a man and a married woman, sung by the man. The singer recognises that the woman is using him, but is too infatuated to end the affair. The second verse lyric “Like a castle in its corner in a medieval game” references the rook, aka castle, a piece in chess – a hobby of Walter Becker’s. Dirty Work has featured in an episode of The Sopranos, in the movie American Hustle, and in several other tv shows. Wikipedia lists a number of cover versions, none of which I have ever heard, nor do I intend to: I really hate to think what Kenny Rogers did to it, though his record company had the decency to release it only in New Zealand. I’ll stick with the original, thanks!
The second tune I’m playing you today was first released as the closing track on the Boomtown Rats’ third album, The Fine Art Of Surfacing, in June 1979:
This was another album that I bought when it first came out, and still love to this day. It peaked at #7 here in the UK and has been certified Gold, and even got to #73 in the US, no doubt on the back of the publicity surrounding the opening track of side two, a little ditty called I Don’t Like Mondays. The band toured extensively in the US prior to the album’s release and a couple of its tracks reflect their views on American society. When The Night Comes was the B-side to the single version of Someone’s Looking At You, another track on the album, which was released in January 1980 and reached #4 in the UK. So yes, maybe I’m cheating a little for today’s theme, but why not? Two great songs, one by one of my favourite bands and the other by a band who I think deserved far more success than they achieved in the US.
That’s it for today. I’ll see you again for Tuesday Tunes, where I’ll be playing more songs in my current mini-series 😊
Nice post ✍️
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Thank you 😊
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2 more for my Spotify…it seems there are some great debut albums Thank you, Clive 🙂 xx
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Glad to have made some more introductions for you 😊 xx
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It’s only wrong if you get caught and I’m not turning you in. Hard to believe ‘Dirty Work’ wasn’t released as a single; I guess hearing it so much, I just assumed it was. It’s one of my favorite SD tracks. I’m not familiar with the Boomtown Rats song. I like your idea about debut albums. I gave Jim some suggestions for themes and he ran with them; now you’ll be seeing my name all over the place. So embarrassing. Just kidding, Jim!
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It’s ok, Jim let me off! I’m glad you liked Dirty Work, and not surprised you didn’t know the Boomtown Rats one – they didn’t do much in your charts. Jim didn’t mention that idea – probably too busy preparing for your March takeover 🤣
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Yes. My debut should be set for the Ides but the dates didn’t coincide. 😂
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Could have been worse: you’ve avoided Mad March Hare day too 🤣
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Wonderful choices👏 its always great to listen to new music. thanks for sharing 😊
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I’m glad you enjoyed them 😊
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Two excellent choices in what could a category that could easily last a year. Since I like both groups, but never owned either album, these were pleasant surprises.
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*Two excellent choices in a category that could easily go on for a year. (I’m sure you got my babbling drift.)
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I did!
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I’m glad you liked them, Pete. Steely Dan are obviously well known but the Boomtown Rats went under the radar for most over there, so I’m pleased to have picked them for you to enjoy.
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I bought that album as a young kid at JC Penny in Seattle, when they had a music department! Brilliant from beginning to end but then again, I love everything Steely Dan released, even after the exploration into jazz fusion…terrific song choice but my favorite is still the closing track “Turn That Heartbeat Over Again!”
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Glad you’re a fan too, John. That is still one of my favourite albums, more than fifty years on. And your example just goes to show how many great tracks there are on it!
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Yep, I play them all the time…Gaucho has become a favorite as well and of course Pretzel Logic blew my mind when I first heard it and that’s never changed!
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There isn’t a bad one in their catalogue, is there. I go back to them still, too.
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Great choices Clive. ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’ is one of my favourite and most treasured vinyl albums. As you say there isn’t a duff track on it. Midnight Cruiser is just as deserving as a single. I haven’t heard the Boomtown Rats song for years but I agree it is a solid potential single. I saw them live and they were bloody good!
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Thanks, Paul, I’m pleased you liked them. I would have played Midnite Cruiser but used it for another SLS theme last year, so decided against a repeat. I never saw the Boomtown Rats but I can imagine how good they were.
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Raw but very energetic and charismatic!
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I bet they were!
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This track was featured semi recently in the movie, American Hustle… A friend took me to see Steely Dan on my birthday a couple years ago, at a great venue in The Palace in Louisville Kentucky. It was fantastic!😎🎹🎷
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That movie was 11 years ago: time flies! I’m glad you enjoyed the show – it’s good to know they still have it.
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Steely Dan had some good songs. I don’t remember this one though. And I never heard of Boomtown Rats. I like that name – haha , and I like their song. The singer’s voice reminds me of Tom Petty. 🙂
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Dirty Work was just an album track so may not have had much airtime. I think it’s a great song. If you remember I Don’t Like Mondays that was the Boomtown Rats. This is one of their gentler songs 😊
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It’s truly astounding this song was never released as a single (except half a world away.) I’m a long-time fan of the Dan and love all of their music. This is one of their (many) perfect songs. Great choice, Clive.
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I guess they didn’t see themselves as a singles band. Only two were released from the album: Do It Again and Reeling In The Years, but there were several others that could have been. It’s a stupendous album, and I’m glad to have found another fan 😊
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🙂
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‘Dirty Work’ is my top SD song, and it has a lot of other great songs by them to beat out. But the simplicity shines through on this song.
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It’s a great song, but I’m not even sure that it’s my favourite on that album! That’s how good they were.
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I like that Steely Dan song. Not a fan of the Boomtown Rats though.
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It’s a great song, isn’t it. The Rats weren’t to everyone’s taste but I think this one shows that they did have a melodic side 😊
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Beautiful lists. I always love music to spend my boredom 👌well shared 👌
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Really nice selections Clive and playing it loose is fine with me as I don’t want to police what songs people choose. I really like it when someone contributes a post that is worth reading like you always do, but that is not a requirement either. I want people to have fun with the theme and although there used to be rules, now there are only suggestions. Great picks today and both of your songs should have been played more than they were.
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Thanks, Jim, glad you liked them. And I agree they deserved more airtime. I know that’s your view and respect it – I just wonder sometimes how people can think that they are responding to your prompt!
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I have enough things to do, and my life is easier if I don’t worry about others that I have no control over. Music is such a broad category, and everyone has different tastes, so in order to be a respectful host, I have to listen to a lot of music that I actually don’t care for. I enjoy hosting this challenge because it brings people together and every week I do learn new things.
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That’s absolutely the right way to do it. We all have our own tastes and our ways of sharing them, and there would be no point in stopping people from taking part.
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Yes, ‘Dirty Work’ definitely should have been a single worldwide. The whole album is great though. I wasn’t expecting to see that Boomtown Rats album though Clive. Like yourself, I bought that one when it first came out (as I did with all the others). I haven’t played them in ages though! I didn’t bother when Bob went solo 🙂
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I agree, and I think Midnite Cruiser would have been a great single too. Happy to have surprised you – I think Boomtown Rats missed a trick when they used that one as a B-side. I didn’t bother after Bob left, either.
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My older sister had The Boomtown Rats album, but guess what is the only song I remember…Nice guitar work in that selection!
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Not a hard guess to make! The guitar work is one of the reasons I like this song so much.
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I’d say that I love this choice of Steely Dan songs, but that wouldn’t be saying much because I pretty much love all of their music. Even the songs with the hidden meanings that I don’t understand. As for Kenny Rogers version, his group, The First Edition, did a straight cover of the song.
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One of my favourite bands too – glad you enjoyed it. I just can’t stand the thought of Kenny Rogers growling his way through it!
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It’s before he became “Kenny Rogers”, back when he was just singing in a rock band so it’s not as bad as you might think.
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Thanks for the tip. I may try and find it 😊
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Yes, there’s the New Edition Pop Kenny and then there’s the (sadly) more well known Country Kenny. I’d personally rather listen to ‘Somethings Burning’ or ‘Tulsa Turnaround’ than hear the local Classic Hits Golden Oldies MOR/Country inflected radio station churn out ‘The Gambler’ for the ten thousandth time. Or ‘Lucille’ for the five thousandth.
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The guy not only made a fortune with that one song, but built an empire. I wonder a lot if that’s not every musician/artist’s deep down dream?
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Yup indeed 👍👍
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I’m still a big fan of Steely Dan love this song.
Never heard the second one but never been a Bob Geldof fan…. Not a bad song as their music goes. 💜
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I’ll take one and a bit out of two 🤣
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both of these songs, I’d never heard, so thanks for introducing me to some new music!
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Always good to hear some new music 😊
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