Great Side-2 Lead Tracks
One of the things that I love about the vinyl LP is the running order, or sequencing, of songs. Sequencing is one of the underappreciated components of an album; to me it’s as important as selecting the track to be featured as the single. With the vinyl LP you get the added bonus of essentially a second lead track on your record. This feature faded in the CD and MP3 eras, and it has most assuredly diminished further in the streaming era. I actually like getting up to flip the record. And there are some side-two lead tracks that are so great they inspire me to start with side two when I listen to those records.
“Here Comes the Sun” – The Beatles
from the album Abbey Road
George finally got the single (“Something”) and he also got the second lead track. This was the very first tune I learned to play on guitar, so I have a special affinity for it. Not long after the Beatles disbanded George released All Things Must Pass, arguably the best post-break-up release by any band member (with apologies to Ringo’s Ringo). So George obviously had a lot of great material that the Beatle machine was ignoring. His lone contribution to Sgt Pepper, “Within You Without You,” gets an honorable mention. It’s all right…
“Detox Mansion” – Warren Zevon
from the album Sentimental Hygiene
This was an inspired comeback record for Warren Zevon. Maybe not a comeback per se, because he never really went that far that he had to come back from (but it had been five years since The Envoy). Overshadowed a bit by the ballad “Reconsider Me” that closes side one, this track kicks off side two with a massive rock groove fueled by David Lindley’s unmistakable lap-steel guitar and punctuated by Bill Berry’s neck-cracking snare. Sends me to the volume knob to crank it every time. It’s hard to be somebody…
“Once in a Lifetime” – Talking Heads
from the album Remain in Light
Video may have killed the radio star, but it also propelled some artists to success they might not have enjoyed without videos. Talking Heads were a cult band that had managed to get in the AOR rotation, but the video for this track, featuring David Byrne’s “same as it ever was” forearm chops, opened the band up to a much broader audience. I love that people who bought this record just for this song also got exposed to stellar Brian Eno-infused tracks like “Houses in Motion” and “Cross-Eyed and Painless.” You may ask yourself…
“Street Fighting Man” – Rolling Stones
from the album Beggars Banquet
Here are a case where the lead track on side two was also the lead single for the album. (It was surprisingly the only single released from Beggars.) This is another early tune I tackled on guitar, and I still get my Keith Richards shrug and stab going as soon as I hear the opening chords. With side one’s “Sympathy for the Devil,” this record has two of the best side-opening tracks of all time. What can a poor boy do?
“You Got That Right” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
from the album Street Survivors
The infamous plane crash that claimed the lives of Ronnie Van Zandt and Steve Gaines occurred three days after this record was released (look for the original “flame” cover). Gaines was new to the band and shared lead vocal and writing credit with Ronnie on this sing-along, air-guitar classic. Overshadowed by side one’s hits “What’s Your Name” and “That Smell,” it is perhaps the perfect AOR deeper cut for this time period. Things I liked I tried ‘em twice...
“You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” – The Cars
from the album The Cars
From their first and quintessential record, this track gets overshadowed by side one’s “Best Friend’s Girl” and “Just What I Needed,” and even the album closer, “Moving in Stereo” (with a nice big assist from Phoebe Cates’s boobs). A great new-wave vocal by spectral Ric Ocasek, who masterminded The Cars’ trend-setting style. I don’t mind you comin’ here…
Lifetime Achievement Award
I want to bring special attention to REM, whose first seven records were released primarily in the vinyl format. These guys definitely understood sequencing and took full advantage of the side-2 lead track. Early REM records were so welled sequenced that they didn’t even call them “side 1” and “side 2,” preferring such nomenclature as “Page side” and “Leaf side.” Frankly, I often forget which was the lead side. Here are the highlights:
“Second Guessing” – Reckoning, 1984
“Can’t Get There from Here” – Fables, 1985 (lead single)
“The One I Love” – Document, 1987 (lead single)
“Orange Crush” – Green, 1988 (lead single)
“Shiny Happy People” – Out of Time, 1991 (second single)
