It’s the 8th December already. Is time moving faster at the moment? Is there something amiss within the space-time continuum? On top of that can you believe that it is 23 years to the day that John Lennon was gunned down in New York? Which brings me to the first song choice in todays number themed With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent post. I bring you a classic Beatles track, “Eight Days A Week”.
The song was I believe a first for rock music in that it began with a fade-in intro. It was taken from 1964’s Beatles For Sale’ album. Whilst it was never released as a single in the UK it was in the USA where it went to number one in 1965. It also hit the top spot in Canada and the Netherlands. Back in the 60s there was also an Extended Play (EP) chart and the ‘Beatles For Sale’ EP including “Eight Days A Week” went to number one on that chart in the UK in 1965. It wasn’t a popular song among the Beatles themselves. John Lennon apparently once called it lousy. The band never played it live, although Paul McCartney has played it on his ‘Out There’ tour earlier this year. It has been subject to many cover versions including; Procol Harum, Libertines, Joan Jett, the Supremes, the Runaways and Alma Cogan.
The second song for today is another 60s smash hit. “Eight Miles High” by the Byrds. It was taken from their 1966 album ‘Fifth Dimension’ which was their third long player and was written by Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn. It went to number 14 in the USA and number 24 in the UK in 1966. Some American radio stations refused to play the song because they claimed it was laden with drug references. The band strongly denied that at the time but later suggested that there was some truth in the story. A drug that could get you eight miles high? Wow that might be worth a shot! Don McLean’s classic track “American Pie” refers to the Byrds song in its lyrics with the following line; “The Birds flew off with a fall-out shelter/Eight miles high and falling fast”. It has also been covered by a number of acts including; Roxy Music, Husker Du, Ride, Robyn Hitchcock and Golden Earring. The latter recorded a 19 minute version of the song.
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 