Tuesday Tunes 170: Intros

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I opened up last week’s post by playing Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water, and remarked that it had one of the most recognisable intros in the history of rock. Pete picked up on this when he commented on it, and out of that a germ of an idea formed. There have been many great intros in rock music, so why not play a set of them? As is often the case I ended up with a list that is far too long for just one post, so this one may be on repeat. And feel free to contribute your own suggestions – if they are to my liking and not already on the list I’ll add them in. Obviously, having played Deep Purple last week that one is out for now, as is Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run, which I played last year when this was a theme for Song Lyric Sunday, but consider them both as honorary members of this collection!

Let’s get things going with an instantly recognisable all time great, shall we? This is the full version, which was originally released in single form abbreviated for radio play. On the album you get it in its full glory in one take:

Derek & The Dominos was the band that Eric Clapton formed with Bobby Whitlock and Duane Allman after leaving Cream, having played for a while as part of Delaney & Bonnie And Friends. Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs was their only album – a double record – released in November 1970. It peaked at #16 in the US but didn’t chart in the UK at the time: rather surprisingly, it has only spent one week in the UK Albums chart – at #68, in 2011! In its single form, Layla was released in March 1971 as a radio edit at less than half its full length, and made #51 in the US, again not charting in the UK. It was reissued as a single at full length in 1972, and made #7 in the UK and #10 in the US. Re-released in the UK ten years later, in 1982, it peaked at #4, which is where I think it deserved to be in the first place!

Fancy another blast? Try this one:

I’ve played tracks from that DVD before, and never cease to be amazed at the seething mass of humanity that is the crowd, who look incredible – from the aerial shots in particular. AC/DC released Thunderstruck on their twelfth album, The Razor’s Edge, in September 1990. It reached #1 in Canada, #2 in the US, #3 in their native Australia, and #4 in the UK and Germany. It has sold more than 5m copies in the US and 1m in Germany. The track was released as the lead single from the album a couple of weeks prior, and peaked at #13 in the UK. It didn’t make the main chart in the US but got to #5 on their Mainstream Rock listings, which are based on radio airplay.

This next one is the sole British-only one in today’s set. I’ve always loved the intro to this, which sounds fantastic when played on headphones:

Some Might Say was released as a single by Oasis in April 1995, and it became their first of eight #1 singles here. It didn’t make the US chart, though: few of their singles have. It then featured on the album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, which came out in October 1995, and also made #1 here – in fact, all seven of their albums topped the UK Albums chart. The album was also #1 in several other countries, and was their first big break in the US, peaking there at #4. It has sold more than 4m copies in the US, but our much smaller market beat that: just the 4.9m copies here, which is a phenomenal figure. It has sold over 22m worldwide and is the third best selling studio album of all time in the UK, rated at 16x Platinum. People accused them of being a Beatles rip-off band, but I think they were great in their own right, even if the Gallagher brothers are two of the biggest plonkers ever to grace the UK charts.

A slower, bluesier one for you next:

Complete with its long instrumental play out – today’s second – Free Bird was the closing track on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album, Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd, which was released in August 1973. It peaked at #27 in the US and #44 in the UK, but has sold steadily and has achieved 2x Platinum in the US for 2m sales, and Silver in the UK for 60k. This track was eventually released as a single, in November 1974, and got to #19 in the US and #21 in the UK, and has become one of the band’s signature songs. You may know of them from their tragic history: in October 1977 two of the band, plus their backing singer and several others, were killed in a plane crash, and the other band members were seriously injured. The survivors went on hiatus for ten years, engaged in other projects, but reunited in 1987 and made a further nine albums. The band still exists, though Gary Rossington became the final original member to pass away in March of this year. I remember them for their peak period, though, especially the little dig they had at Neil Young in Sweet Home Alabama – a response to his Southern Man song.

I’m aware that these are mostly audio-only clips this week. My apologies, but in most cases there isn’t an official video for the songs. There is one for today’s final song, but it cuts out most of the intro! Here is the full version:

Bat Out Of Hell was Meat Loaf’s first album, released in October 1977. It wasn’t a huge success at first, eventually reaching #14 in the US and #9 in the UK. It has continued to sell about 200,000 copies a year, though, and has sold an estimated 44m copies worldwide, including 14m in the US, 3.3m in the UK, and over 1.8m in Australia. It has led to a stage show, which is rather apt as it developed from another musical that Jim Steinman had written, and has been a spectacular ongoing success: it is recognised here as one of the best selling debut albums of all time. Sadly, we lost Meat Loaf last year, but his musical legacy lives on. I posted my little tribute to him at the time, in R.I.P Mr Loaf, if you’re interested.

That’s all for today though, as I said at the outset, I have a list of more tunes I could play for this theme and you are welcome to suggest others. These five tunes come in at a combined total of 35 minutes and 48 seconds, so you can’t accuse me of not giving you your money’s worth! I’ll see you again in a few days: until then, have a good week! 😊

46 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 170: Intros”

  1. Pingback: October Passed Me By | Take It Easy

  3. Wow!, Clive there are certainly some rousing intros here…you saved the best for last…that crowd though you are correct the size of it not sure I’d want to be in the middle of all those people that was certainly some audience…Have a great weekend, Clive xx

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    • I went for mostly loud and rock for this set, Carol, but might mix it up a bit more next time: there are a couple of obvious slower ones I could play. Every time I look at the list I’ve made I remember something I’ve missed, and it just gets more difficult to decide! You have a great weekend too xx

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  6. Very fun series to do well known intros to songs. It’s fun to immediately know the song as soon as you hear the first few notes. I know of a lot, but I’m sure you have them on your list already. 🙂

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    • The fun part for me is finding songs I think everyone will know and then finding out that they don’t! The list is growing all the time: currently at 25 but I keep thinking of more to add, and I’m getting a lot of help 😊

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  7. The last two songs are new to me. I like especially the Meat Loaf song since I so loved his voice. I know AC/DC has been a very successful band for decades and I like Highway to Hell. But most of their songs make my throat hurt after the first minute listening… 😂

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    • I’m amazed you didn’t know the Meat Loaf one – where have you been? It’s a rock classic!

      Sorry to hear that AC/DC afflict you like that. I think the best cure would be to listen to a lot more of them! Or maybe try some covers: the Finnish bluegrass band (yes, really) Steve ‘n’ Seagulls do this one well, along with several others.

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  8. Great choices, Clive. I find it quite interesting that there seems to be a connection between recognizable intros and longer songs. This theme could go on for weeks as there are probably hundreds of tunes that immediately make us feel good when we hear the opening riff.

    There used to be a game show on our side of the pond called Name That Tune. I’m betting you had something similar if not the exact thing. Two contestants would bid against each other that they could “name that tune” within a certain number of notes. They would bid back and forth until the notes got so few that one contestant would challenge the other one. I could see something similar with your idea.

    Thanks for the shoutout. Of course, I’m a sucker for anything rock. As you might imagine, I had not heard the Oasis tune before, but I can see why you like it.

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    • Thanks, Pete. I already had more than enough in my list for three posts, and thanks to those who have commented I’m now up to five. And that just feels like the tip of a very large iceberg! I guess if your intro is two minutes you can’t really finish the song in three minutes, can you!

      You’re welcome on the shoutout: I might have got there without your help but you certainly deserve the credit for confirming the idea. Oasis didn’t have much joy over there with their singles so I’m not surprised you didn’t know that one. That album is worth exploring.

      We had Name That Tune here too, but it was our version rather than importing yours. It was a fun watch.

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  11. A great hook for a story and I love the other examples that everyone is sharing…it’s an opening hook that immediately connects you to a song, like “Start Me Up” by The Stones, or even “Sgt. Peppers” – or the whimsy of “Werewolves Of London” or the soft groove of “Free Fallin'”…music, isn’t it great?

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    • Intros really can make a song, can’t they. Thanks for these – I’ve played Werewolves of London several times and it will be making its annual appearance soon, but I’ll add the others to my list 👍

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      • There are so many great hooks to choose from…the person who added “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was spot on….by the way, I was a huge fan of Oasis and a shame they went off the rails…”Be Here Now” is better than remembered, just wall to “wall of sound” hurt the nuance that existed before…

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      • I already had Sweet Child on my list – I’m thinking of doing a set of songs which have been banned in guitar shops, and that would be one!

        Oasis just came to the end of their natural life, with all the arguments between the brothers causing them to break up. I still think Morning Glory is one of the best albums – by anyone – of the past 30 years.

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  13. Musical intros are like a book’s good opening line, they hook you right of the bat. Some intros (and sometimes the complete song) I used to be able to play and are instantly recognizable: Sweet Home Alabama, Rock and Roll (and Stairway of course), Highway to Hell, Sweet Child o’ Mine, Time of Your Life.
    You are right in that there are many, many other great ones. (Oh, Wish you Were Here is another!)

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    • Good point. They make you want to keep listening, don’t they. I could probably do this every week! Three of your seven are on my list, as are others by all of those bands. I’ll add these in, thanks 👍

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