You know how you get to know a song and can't stop playing it, then you get so sick of it you never want to hear it again?
Here are five examples:
These Boots Are Made For Walking/Nancy Sinatra Though I was always aware of this song, I didn't properly discover it until I found it in a junk shop when I was a student. I was heavily into trawling the world for singles, and when I came across this it completely blew me away. Sixties foxes in knee boots made me 'feel funny', which helped. I must have put it on every compilation and played it until it would play no more for at least 12 years. Then one day I simply went off it. The same must be said for Somethin' Stupid by Nancy and Frank, which really bit the bullet when Robbie Williams covered it in a very poor version with Nicole Kidman. Now, I can barely listen to either song. Shame, cos Boots is a stomper.
Spill The Wine/Eric Burdon & War I heard this on a gold station in New York in 1998. I'd never heard it before but I had heard of it, and always wondered what it might be like, as it was a great title and I liked Eric Burdon. On this first hearing, I was totally captivated by its latin rythmns and psychedelic imagery, and it was perfect on a warm Big Apple evening, cocktail in hand. It was a mainstay for probably about seven years. Now, it bores me.
Sour Times/Portishead Hearing this in what was then Tower Records just before Christmas (probably) 1993, I shouted over to Mrs F-C that if she was looking to buy me something for Christmas, then whatever this was would do. It turned out to be Portishead. I thought this spy thriller chiller, with its ghoulish vocal and mournful lyrics was right up my street, which it actually moved into for the next four years. One day, it did a moonlight flit.
For America/Red Box I always liked this song, but I never bought it when it was first released in '86, but I found it in a second hand record shop in '89 and realised how much I loved it. What a great song it was, with a superb intro and ending, those shared vocals, the flag-waving TOTP appearance, etc. It rarely left my turntable for the next 15 or so years. We parted on bad terms in 2004.
Sunshine Superman/Donovan I thought Donovan was just great when started discovering his oeuvre in the early 80s. I came in with novelty pop sensation Mellow Yellow, soon discovering there was so much to the folk-pop Dylan than met the eye. This particular number ruled my world, probably until last year when it was never off the telly thanks to a Magners ad. Our love affair is over. Still like everything else he's done though.
