WHO IS THIS ON THE RADIO?
MARION McMULLEN LOOKS AT THE DEBUT SINGLES THAT INTRODUCED US TO BRITAIN’S BIGGEST BANDS
Rolling Stones didn’t exactly rock the world with the release of their debut single 60 years ago.
They chose a cover version of Chuck Berry’s Come On for their first record and brought it out on June 7, 1963.
They even changed the lyrics from “some stupid jerk” to “some stupid guy” so it could be played on the radio, but it still only managed to reach number 21 in the UK singles charts.
When they performed the track on TV show Thank Your Lucky Stars the producer told Stones manager Andrew Oldham to “Get rid of that vile-looking lead singer with the tyre-tread lips.”
Luckily he ignored that bit of advice. Mick Jagger himself once said: “I came into music just because I wanted the bread. It’s true. I looked around and this seemed like the only way I was going to get the kind of bread I wanted.”
The Beatles fared better with their debut single Love Me Do. It was one of the band’s early songwriting efforts and reached number 17 in the charts in 1962. Re-released in the US in 1964 at the height of Beatlemania, it topped the charts across the Atlantic. Drummer Ringo Starr later described it as a turning point for the group saying: “That first piece of plastic. You can’t believe how great that was. It was so wonderful. We were on a record”.
The Who brought out Zoot Suit/ I’m the Face under the name High Numbers, but they reached the top 10 with their first single when they were going by The Who.
I Can’t Explain was written by Pete Townshend and reached number eight in the UK charts in 1965, but only managed to make it to 93 in the States. Jimmy Page played on the track as a session guitarist and The Who followed up its suc cess with further hits like My Generation and Substitute.
Pete Townshend remembered: “Some of our early work was two minutes 20 when it actually came out on vinyl, very, very very short. Sometimes if you made a three-minute record they would make you do an edited version for radio, particularly in America.” Roxy Music released their debut single Virginia Plain in 1972 and saw it rocket to number four in the UK charts. It was written by frontman Bryan Ferry, but did not feature on the group’s self-titled debut album. Bryan has said “when you get words and music together, that can be a very powerful thing”.
Queen guitarist Brian May was behind the group’s debut single Keep Yourself Alive, in 1973, but it failed to capture the public’s imagination and remains the only Queen song to have not charted in the UK. The band went on to support Mott The Hoople on tour later the same year and ended up on Top Of The Pops in 1974 with their second single Seven Seas Of Rhye.
Brian May, who was knighted in 2005, once said: “I was actually perfectly happy when I had no money, which lasted right up until we had a hit with Killer Queen in 1974. I never wanted for anything.”
Duran Duran made their mark in 1981 with the release of their first single Planet Earth. It reached number 12 in the UK and number eight in Australia.
It led to their Top Of The Pops debut and they also performed the single on the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop hosted by Noel Edmonds. They were among the biggest bands of the 1980s and have gone on to sell more than 100 million records.
The Smiths only managed to reach number 124 with the debut single Hand In Glove in 1983. They had to wait until later in the year for chart success with This Charming Man.
Hand In Glove was written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr.
A remixed version of the track featured on the band’s debut album the following year and Sandie Shaw recorded a cover version with some of the members of The Smiths as backing musicians.
Oasis made the music world stand up and take notice with the release of their debut single Supersonic in 1994. It was recorded in just one session at the old Pink Museum Studio in Liverpool and also featured on their debut album Definitely Maybe.
Noel Gallagher wrote the track and said in the Supersonic film documentary: “Someone sent out for Chinese or something. I went in the back room and, as bizarre as it sounds, wrote Supersonic in about as long as it takes six guys to eat a Chinese meal”.