THE 100 SINGLES YOU MUST OWN

16. THE KINKS: You Really Got Me/ It's Alright (1964)
Thanks to Dave Davies' guitar distortion, You Really Got Me is credited with inventing heavy metal. It's equally a paradigm of visceral '60s beat economy. Its primeval riff, clipped verses and stomping chorus cut a swathe through the docile jangle of 1964 pop. Of course, distortion had been around since Link Wray's Rumble and three-chord pop nirvana since The Champs' Tequila, but nobody had  put the two together before. Whatever the historic nuances, any public airing of You Really Got Me will dare you not to bawl along.
Availability: The Ultimate Collection Sanctuary CD
15. THE EVERLY BROTHERS: Walk Right Back/ Ebony Eyes (1961)
Walk Right Back should never have been a hit. Intended as the flip to Ebony Eyes, it ended up higher in the charts than the original A-side, probably because it was a lot more fun, Penned by Sonny Curtis of The Crickets, and given to the Everlys shortly before Curtis entered the armed forces, it was really a work in progress, half-finished and lacking a second verse. But Don and Phil recorded what they had and, thiygh the song was basically about being lonesome, it had an upbeat, feel-good energy,making it an instantly infectious hit.
Availability: Walk Right Back WARNER BROS CD  

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CULT RECORD: MINUTEMEN: "DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME" (1984)

The Minutemen made punk rock that sounded like overheard conversation, with brief, angular song fragments flowing together in thew rhythm of babble. Guitarist/ vocalist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley mixed and matched these fragments with the surgical precision of beboppers, splicing their hardcore rant with folkie didding and jazz skronk. But they never sounded arch about it; their songs were earthy and almost always funny, the handiwork of three regular corndogs from San Pedro, lifelong friends who wore ugly black computer watches and didn't worry about their cholesterol intake. They accepted propaganda into their conversational mix because it was part of their language, and they let their fragmentary rhythms dramatize the chaos and internal contradictions of their propaganda. Their music always generated its own chatty energy, from Boon's guitar blurts to lyrics like "Force-fed sifted tin can turn handle puppet (pull toy)."
Double Nickels on the Dime is overkill at its most humane, pilling on the babble, cracking jokes, submerging intense musical climaxes into the "Spillage" of urban routine. The Minutemen haven't gotten the hang of writing songs about other people ("Jesus and Tequila" is facile satire worthy of Joe Jackson), but they nail down the details of their own lives, whether it's the rage of "This Ain't No Picnic," the loneliness of "Storm in My House," or, most importantly, the loyal fellowship of "History Lesson (Part II)." The splendidly titled "Do You Want New Wave (Or Do You Want the Truth?)" (answer:yes) admits the role of doubt and confusion in their politics, and when Boon sings "fuck advertising," it sounds like "fuck Eric Clapton." A jovial masterpiece that made its own unique place in a season that also produced Zen Arcade, Let It Be, and Meat Puppets II.

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CULT MOVIE: TROUBLE MAN (1972)

"So man if you don't dig this super cool black... stay away from the box office you motherf--." That, at least, was how one critic greeted the arrival of the original Mr T-- not the A-Team star, but the hero of this blaxploitation film. Another reviewer obviously felt threatened by Hooks' bullet-proof private eye ( who can close halls with a stern glance), complaining that the character looked " so cool as to make one suspect it isn't Coke he is constantly drinking but antifreeze". The soundtrack is by Marvin Gaye and it's a pity he didn't write the script. It's a pity somebody didn't write the script.
Director: Ivan Dixon Cast: Robert Hooks, Paul Wonfield, Ralph Waite

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THE 100 SINGLES YOU MUST OWN

18. THE SMITHS: How Soon Is Now/ Well I Wonder (1985)
Sire boss Seymour Stein called it, "the Stairway To Heaven of the '80s" which may well be on the money. Certainly, it's expansive, ambitious--and, importantly, formed the musical backdrop to many a teenage night out. In that sense, it's a great Saturday night record-- but only if you've endured the kind of minor nightmare that was Morrissey's meat and drink:" There's a club if you'd like to go/ You could meet somebody who really loves you/ So you go and you stand on your own/ And you leave on your own/ And you go home, and you cry and you want to die." Lyrics apart, its most remarkable aspect is the musical backdrop created by Marr, Rourke and Joyce; the former's Bo Diddley-gone-sci-fi guitar part in particular. It was recorded under light bulbs by minds taken to the next level by heavy weed intake-- an unlikely example of Moz-assisted stoner rock The B-side is a falsetto-strewn ballad, bolstered by one illustration of Marr's grasp of jukebox aesthetics: the grafted-on sound of a downpour, inspired by The Ronettes' Walking In The Rain.
Availability: Hatful Of Hollow WEA CD
17. BETTY WRIGHT:Clean Up Woman/I'll Love You Forever Heart And Soul (1971)
Miami-born Wright was only 17 when she cut this delectable slice of sun-kissed Florida soul for Henry Stone's Atlantic-distributed Alston imprint. Co-written by the eminent southern soul man and TK Records' in-house tunesmith, Clarence " Blowfly" Reid, the song's distinctive rhythm guitar reflected the influence of cheery Caribbean music on the Miami soul sound. Wright, who evinces an astonishing maturity, claimed to have disliked the song on first hearing. Ironically, it proved her biggest US hit.
Availability: The Best Of Betty Wright Rhino CD

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CULT RECORD: PRIMUS: "FRIZZLE FRY" (1990)

If the Melvins had chops, if Rush did acid, if the Police were skatepunks and smart enough to like metal-- well, none of them could have been Primus, a band as hopelessly original as Don Knotts or the platypus. Such invocations are useful, though, if only to derail the more looming one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom theb Bay Area trio shares little more than bass slaping and blame for the early-'90s plague of post-punk minstrelsy known as "thrash funk." Actually, Primus play funk simply to the degree that leader Les Claypool's phenomenal bass playing gobbles up local influences like Larry Graham.
Frizzle Fry reveals Claypool the urban raconteur and fisherman. Folksy ruminations about late-night TV and crackhead acquaintances borded "John the Fisherman" and "Too Many Puppies,' slightly more straight-faced rock songs that bring Claypool's nasally operatic, Ethel Merman-meets-Mr. Magoo wail to the fore. It's not a pretty thing, but then neither is Primus, whose fan club has copyrighted the slogan, "You suck!"

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CULT MOVIE: AI NO CORRIDA (1976)

This tale of obsessive sex between an innkeeper and a servant was seized by US customs in the year of its release, hit by an obscenity charge in Japan and only came to British cinemas in 1991. The appeal may pale if your passion for onscreen passion doesn't match the director's but this is no porn film. For once, the sex really is vital to the development of the central characters as it takes over their lives until, finally, violence has its way.
Director: Nagisa Oshima Cast: Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda

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