“She’s a Lady” (1971) – Tom Jones


“She’s a Lady” (1971) – Tom Jones * Written by Paul Anka * 45: “She’s a Lady” / “My Way” * LP: Tom Jones Sings She’s a Lady * Produced by Gordon Mills

Tom Jones’s biggest hit of the seventies—no. 2 on Billboard—distinguished itself by serving up the phrases “she always knows her place” and “she’s never in the way” during the glory years of women’s lib. Even so, its heavy airplay on easy listening stations indicated that the minor-key discotheque broiler likely had a wide female listenership and jibed with older generation values. Paul Anka, in his autobiography My Way, singles out the song as “chauvinistic” and his least favorite among everything he’s written. In a 2013 duet with Jones, he would alter the lyrics of the first verse. Jones’s version of “My Way” on side B of the original 45 turns the disc into something of an Anka tribute. (The She’s a Lady album cover presents Jones as fashion doll “Tom,” a friend of Barbie and rival of Ken.)

“Lambaya Puf De” (1973) – Barış Manço


“Lambaya Puf De!” (1973) – Barış Manço * Traditional arrangement of “kolbasti” song by Osman Pehlivan * 45: “Lambaya Puf De!” / “Kalk Gidelim Küheylan” * Produced by Barış Manço * Label: Yavuz Plak

A celebrated rock ‘n’ roll pioneer in Turkey, Barış Manço essentially took his culture’s wandering minstrel tradition, grew its hair out, put rings on its fingers, and plugged it in. His “Lambaya Puf De” is a sexy hypnosis single from 1973 that translates to something like “blow the lamp out by going ‘poof’.” Turkish radio declared it too erotic-sounding for airplay, which prompted him to release an  instrumental version with kazoo and jaw harp in 1975 called “Tavuklara Kışt De” (say kshh to the chicken). Manço adapted the song from a melody popularized by the tanburist Osman Pahlivan called “Anadolu Kaşık Havası,” which has since surfaced with some regularity in recorded Turkish folk music. The label lists the song as a “kolbastı” dance song. That’s an acoustic Turkish saz you hear sizzling from start to finish.

“Beautiful Stranger” (1999) – Madonna

“Beautiful Stranger” (1999) – Madonna * Written and produced by Madonna and William Orbit * CD single: “Beautiful Stranger”/ (Victor Calderone remixes) * LP: Austin Powers: The Spy Who  Shagged Me (single) * Label: Maverick

Anyone familiar with Love’s “She Comes in Colors” (1967) heard its twisty hook (IIIb – VIIb – IV – VIb) in Madonna’s “Beautiful Stranger” right away. Rhino Records’ Gary Stewart took note of it in Entertainment Weekly, with a sky-is-blue response from a spokesperson that Madonna had never heard of Love. It was likely co-writer William Orbit, though, who drew from the psych-rock cult record to juice the sixties genetics of this particular Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me assignment. The single’s movie tie-in odor, though, was out of Orbit’s hands.

“After the Roses” (1980) – Kenny Rankin


“After the Roses” (1980) – Kenny Rankin * Written by Kenny Rankin and Teddy Costa * LP: After the Roses * Produced by Don Costa * Label: Atlantic

The jazzy Manhattan singer-songwriter Kenny Rankin took the candlelight dinner route on his After the Roses LP, with its Don Costa string arrangements and tuxedo photo on the back. Its spare title track, though, is the one that lingers, thanks to the suspended-chord musical uncertainty that fits his insecure words like a wrinkled tailored shirt. “I’ve been talking to myself again,” he sings at the 39-second mark, immediately after an endearing guitar flub.

“Ajetaan Tandemilla” (1976) – Freeman


“Ajetaan Tandemilla” (1976) – Freeman * Written by Leo Friman (aka Freeman) * 45: “Ajetaan Tandemilla” / “Mystilliset Kyyneleet” * LP: Freeman * Produced by Hector * Label: Love

Deceptively complex Finnish hit single. The synthesizers and falsetto vocal hooks suggest spaceships on the go, but the title translates to “We Ride a Tandem Bicycle.” Accordions join in at the end of each chorus to reinforce this odd future vs. tradition juxtaposition, of old world culture slowly warming up to new world sounds. So colorful are the lyrics—about a traveling man who’s back home and ready to marry his lady—that they’re almost untranslatable, but they do offer up rewards like this: “In the summertime goddamns ring through the trees.”

“Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” (1972) – The Allman Brothers Band

“Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” (1972) – The Allman Brothers Band * Written by Gregg Allman * 45: “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” / “Melissa” * LP: Eat a Peach * Produced by Tom Dowd * Label: Capricorn

This contemplative Allman Brothers anthem written by Gregg Allman is loaded with contextual poignancy in that it’s the leadoff track to Eat a Peach, the band’s first album after heroin rehab (for some of the members) and after losing guitarist Duane Allman to a motorcycle accident. In Alan Paul’s One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band (2015), Gregg declares that writing this song was, in fact, his first response to losing his brother, which explains its unique balance of resignation and resolution.

“What Do I Get” (1977) – Buzzcocks


“What Do I Get” (1977) – Buzzcocks * Written by Pete Shelley * 45: “What Do I Get” / “Oh Shit” * Produced by Martin Rushent * Label: United Artists * Charts: UK (#37)

Self-pitying shrapnel flung out from the British punk maelstrom of 1977. Inward woes come off as outward blows. Pete Shelley’s resigned vocal atop his band’s roar can strike a listener as mockery, true pain, or anger, all three of which make for therapeutic listening if you’re feeling shafted. Here were the early stirrings of Gen-X “get” consciousness, which were what the Buzzcocks were all about, and made them seem more of a band of the future than, say, the Clash, whose bigger-picture social concerns were the last gasps of a passé school of thought.  

“I’ll Be Back” (1964) – The Beatles

“I’ll Be Back” (1964) – The Beatles * Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney * Produced by George Martin * LP: A Hard Day’s Night (UK), Beatles ’65 (US)
 
“I’ll Be Back” is one of three minor-key flamenco-flavored tracks, along with “And I Love Her” and “Things We Said Today,” that give the Beatles’ Hard Day’s Night album a dusky flavor and, seeing how it contrasted with the cheerful image their debut film reinforced, a sense of maturity. Ian MacDonald, in his Revolution in the Head, reports John Lennon crediting Del Shannon’s “Runaway” as an inspiration, but the Shadows too, who the Beatles alternately loved and loathed, had been making moody Latin sounds on British hit radio with “Apache,” “Man of Mystery” and others. Forging invention from imitation was one of the Beatles’ many gifts, and “I’ll Be Back” is a good example of this. Recognizable building blocks end up sounding quintessentially Beatle-esque. A good part of the mystique in this track (and “Things We Said Today”) is the minor key shifting to major and back again. It’s a touch of sophistication that San Francisco’s Beau Brummels would adopt for their first two singles, “Laugh Laugh and “Just a Little”—distinctive albeit clearly inspired by you-know-who. The version American listeners heard on Beatles ’65 had some of the echo added on by Capitol producer Dave Dexter Jr., an infamous move that did, however, give the track even more atmosphere. It was missing noticeably when the UK version of the Hard Day’s Night album greeted US listeners as a CD in 1987.

“Racist Friend” (1983) – The Special AKA


“Racist Friend” (1983) – The Special AKA * Written by Dick Cuthell, Jerry Dammers, and John Bradbury * 45: “Racist Friend” / “Bright Lights” * LP: In the Studio (1984) * Produced by Dick Cuthell and Jerry Dammers * Label: Two-Tone

With its loping reggae stride and crystal clear message (“If you have a racist friend, now is the time for your friendship to end”), this 1983 single by the Specials’ post-Terry Hall incarnation was built for mnemonic efficiency. Contrary to songs like Wilbert Harrison’s oft-covered “Let’s Work Together,” “Racist Friend” presents an approach to social synergy that speaks to those of us who know certain levels of futility when we see them.

“The Letter” (1958) – Don and Dewey

“The Letter” (1958) – Don and Dewey * Written by Don Harris and Dewey Taylor * 45: “Koko Joe” / “The Letter” * Label: Specialty

Little Richard label mates Don and Dewey, from Pasadena, California, were apparently too cool for mass appeal, but they inspired successful admirers such as the Righteous Brothers and introduced material that became better known when sung by others (“I’m Leaving It Up to You,” “Big Boy Pete,” and “Farmer John,” to name a few.) The B-side of their Sonny Bono-penned “Koko Joe” is a Johnny Ace-flavored Dear Jane weeper they wrote themselves called “The Letter,” and it features one of the worst apologies on record: “Throw away my picture/ Darling, forgive me/ I wrecked your life/ But, then, you let me.” In return for the “Koko Joe” favor, Sonny covered “The Letter” with Cher in 1965.