Entertainment For Lively Minds
1 2 3 4 : The Greatest 30 Second Song Intros Ever Recorded?
Posted by Y.I.Man on 8 April 2010 - 10:27pm.
The first thirty seconds of a tune that grab you and never let go .
What's your favourite intros ?
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I'll get the ball rolling
I'll get the ball rolling
This still does it 25 years later.
I agree
Those were the best days of my life!
Nevermind...
...the likely fact that Mr Adams was only ten-years-old in 1969, it's still a good song. Poetic license, eh?
There She Goes
by The La's.
Black Sabbath
Neon Knights.
Reaches out of the speakers, grabs you by the throat and bangs your head on the floor. Repeatedly. But in a nice way.
oh no
here it comes again...i agree with you as well!
Dragons And Kings....
RJD - pipes o'gold....
California Girls
I used to play the intro over and over. Not much to do with the rest of the song but more special, somehow. Roll it...
When I saw the headline this came to mind
It hasn´t got much to do with the rest of the song and yet somehow leads the way perfectly.
Here's a corker:
At the risk of stating the bleedin' obvious
How Soon Is Now has a pretty good intro too.
(And to add to the New Order post lower down the thread, I can still remember putting Blue Monday on the turntable for the first time, never having heard it before, and thinking "Wow!" as *that* intro kicked in.)
I was never a great Smiths fan, but...
... listening to the singles collection the other night I realized they had some cracking intros.
Na-nana-nana-nana
Angus!
Malcolm !
It's Criminal!
Power Surge !
Add Highway To hell, Thunderstuck, Let There be Rock, Dirty Deeds, Hells Bells, For Those About To Rock, Shot Down in Flames randomly plucked from their back catalogue .
These boys really know how to hit you with a high voltage stunner of an opening !
Are You Gonna Be My Girl?
I seem to be doing a lot of recommending Aussie bands these days. Must get that looked into.
This is..
.. a subject that is regularly discussed at length in my regular drinking clique.
I am firmly of the persuasion that New Order are the kings of the intro.......
Especially
All 15 minutes of Thieves Like Us.
Another Girl Another Planet
Cue rush to dancefloor
All that is brilliant about Abba's Dancing Queen is already there in the intro.
Reelin' in the Years...
Elliot Randall's blistering guitar solo on the Steely Dan song just demands your attention. By the way, Elliot was interviewed on the R2 Johnnie Walker show on 04/04/10 and talks about how he did that solo straight off. It's still available on iplayer for a couple of days.
Another vote here...
...for Reelin' In The Years.
And that opening solo lasts for exactly 30 seconds before the rising chord change and the vocals come in. Sealed!
is she really going out with him?
drums, guitar, yelp, punk rock
New Rose - The Damned
This little bit of harmonica...
... still sends shivers down my spine every time
And, it's not just the harmonica...
...everything about that first 30 seconds is a grabber. The slow start with the piano backdrop, and the way it kicks up a gear. And, then:
The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves.
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays.
"Do you want Jam on it?"
Love You More - Buzzcocks
But, by then, more than a quarter of the song is gone. So, may as well stay for the rest.
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned the Stones yet
I'm not a huge fan of the Rolling Stones, but, in "Gimme Shelter", "Honky Tonk Women" and "Sympathy for the Devil" they surely have three of the best intros ever recorded, don't they?
McLaren's boys
Quick, quick, slow
Changes in tempo are always good...
"Geno" by Dexys Midnight Runners:
"Clark Street" from "The Man with the Golden Arm" by Elmer Bernstein:
"Stay With Me" by The Faces:
"1, 2, aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh FREAK OUT!"
Le Freak, c'est Chic!
Low Rider
by War.
Spoken bit to be ignored;
intro kicks in proper at 1.01 and doesn't really let up...
Overblown? Nah...
Some of my favourites...
Race with the Devil by Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps
The Magnificent Seven by The Clash
Chase the Devil by Max Romeo
The Rhythm of the Heat by Peter Gabriel
Superstition by Stevie Wonder
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
but my topermost of the popermost is probably Bad Neighbourhood by Ronnie and the Delinquents. It's on Spotify but it's not working at the moment. I'll try to post a link later.
Best intro ever??
"I'm in the phonebooth, it's the one across the hall,... if you don't answer i'll just ring it off the wall,.... i know he's there, so i just gotta call....
(preceeded by phone noise of course)
A Hard Day´s Night
CHRIIING! It´s a G7sus.
not quite...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hard_Day's_Night_(song)#Opening_chord
gimme me anorak, will ya!
According to Ian MacDonald it is
But who am I to question George Harrison?
Should we settle it with a fight or check some more sources first?
think we'll leave it at that...
If i pissed you off with my response, I'm sorry - it certainly wasn't my intent.
I just remembered reading somewhere that it had mystified musicologists for yonks as to what *exactly* the chord was and that nobody had gotten to the 'nub' of it. If I recall correctly, the matter came up *relatively* recently (with no input from either McDonald or Harrison as both were dead at this point) as some boffin had nailed what exactly the opening chord was, or what notes made it.
It wasn't anything as 'simple' as G7sus.
I wasn´t in any way pissed of and I mean no harm
Damn this irony thing!
I´ve been sitting with my guitar and going through some of the chords suggested in your link. Harrison´s suggestion comes close, at least to my ears. Well, he DID play it after all.
I just assumed that MacDonal was right being that A Revolution In The Head seems to be pretty accurate when it comes to most issues, even if I don´t agree with him on his slaughter of Across The Universe.
With "check some more sources first" I meant just that. I´m a academic and enjoy this sort of digging for fact.
I have that very academic muso book mentioned in the Wiki link
The Songwriting Secrets of The Beatles by Dominic Pedler and would recommend it wholeheartedly . It has a whole thirty-odd paged chapter devoted to the opening chord of A Hard Days Night, and it still doesn't reach a definite conclusion, the best name the author can come up with for the chord is G11/D.
Vacancy!
Hoppas alla har det bra. Fantastisk väder här. Solen skiner och jag har just kommit hem från middag och fika med två vänner.
Ta hand om er!
See also...
the first guitar chord in The Police's Walking on the Moon. I hear it as the same but cleaner and more spacey - no pun intended.
Nah,
that's a minor 7th - nothing like 'A Aard Day's night opener'
Nah,
that's a minor 7th - nothing like 'A Hard Day's night opener'
You Hit The Nail On The Head by Funkadelic
Best intro EVER!
I hear this and I picture capes, afros, smiles, I even picture Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Just brilliant
ain't it funky now
nice one centurion
Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
Probably influenced by anticipation of what's to come. But what could be better than this tight and compact intro.
Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
Another vote for New Rose - amazing
The intro to this is amazing, then the rest of the song absolutely terrible:
RHCP - Can't Stop
How's about this then
and.....
my favourite. great song too
Hit the Road Jack
...amazing how many questions Hit the Road Jack is the answer to.
Others, off the top of my head, Johnny B Goode, Shaking All Over, Say Mama by Gene Vincent - and, come to that, Sweet Gene Vincent.
This one...
...and that one
Most of my first thoughts have gone
so I offer the following
Clash - White Man In Hammersmith Palais
Not much more than 'dink' 1-2-a-1-2-3-4
Status Quo - Whatever You Want
Its its its
Are you ready Steve?
Uh-huh !
Andy?
Yeah !
Mick?
Okay !
Well alright fellas - let's go .....................
Way and, indeed, aye.
Fine call. Proper exciting.
I see your Ballroom Blitz and I raise you..
Heads Down
legs apart no-nonsense boogie...
Naaah, you're all wrong...
...'Baby I Don't Care' by Transmission Vamp. Crunchy guitar riff swiftly followed by a thrilling scream of intent.
Second place... 'Like A Prayer' by Madonna. And I'm not even a Madonna fan.
Was gonna choose Rock n Roll
But that is my answer to every question...
Sampled from Harlem Shuffle of course.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Up Around The Bend"
Clash City Rockers
Adrenalin squared
I can't believe we got this far
and no one has mentioned the Ramones 1-2-3-4 !!
Well Spotted
It was in the blog title !
And many of their intros were inspired too, such as Rockaway Beach, and Rock and Roll Radio.
But this is the biscuit winner :
Hey Ho, Lets Go
Hey Ho, Lets Go
Hey Ho, Lets Go
Hey Ho, Lets Go
Even without the Reservoir Dogs connection
A bit of an odd one
Personally I love this one: "2000 Places" by The Polyphonic Spree.
An All-Time great
Sweet/Queen
Ant Music
Always used to try playing it with pencils as drum sticks on the desk at school.
Just remembered this one
Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
Right Now . Right Now. Its
Right Now .
Right Now.
Its Time To Kick Out The Jams, Motherfuckers !!
Curtis!
I'm surprised I'm the first one to mention Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield.
Instant grin on your face, feet starts dancing. Everything that was wrong with your life a minute ago is now gone.
Crosstown Traffic
A great intro and some freakin' brilliant backwards sounds from 30 seconds in.
I'm sorry but...
Chuck was a massive inspiration to Bruuuce...
consequently The Boss now spies on women in toilets with great aplomb.
Ah, but can he...
...perambulate with the wildfowl?
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Gets me every time.
How Does It Feel ?
Slade had many hit singles where the intro grabbed you by the shiny top hat and stomped about in its platform shoes.
Well Alright Everybody ! Let Your Hair Down !