70s boy Vs. 80s boy. Put 'em up put 'em up!Heston wrote: ↑31 Aug 2020, 11:18amWell it's not like they're radically different. I certainly prefer Kirsty as a singer but I just like the vibe on the Tracey version.Marky Dread wrote: ↑31 Aug 2020, 10:19amDidn't because...Heston wrote: ↑31 Aug 2020, 9:46amI think it is the best version. I know Kirsty is much cooler than Tracey and greatly missed but I thought Tracey's version was more sprightly and she sings it very well. And you get the bonus of Kirsty on very prominent harmonies. It was also the first version I heard as Kirsty's version never charted.Flex wrote: ↑31 Aug 2020, 9:10amThis, to me, is pretty good tiebreaker material (I'm favor of Garbage, to be clear). If the song under consideration isn't even its best version, how can it be on an all time greatest collection?Marky Dread wrote: ↑31 Aug 2020, 8:55amRight though it should make no difference to the outcome.
Here's my view. "They Don't Know" is a cover of which the original is better by a country mile.
"Stupid Girl" is an original song using a sample of a great track.
MacColl's "They Don't Know" reached number two on the Music Week airplay chart[4] without generating sufficient sales to reach the UK Singles Chart - a shortfall blamed on a strike at the distributors for Stiff Records keeping the single out of stores, although its producer Liam Sternberg attributes the failure of "They Don't Know" to ill feeling which developed between MacColl and Stiff Records president Dave Robinson: (Sternberg quote:) "Kirsty and Dave didn’t get along...She didn’t want to sign a longer deal, so Dave didn’t promote the record. [Despite] airplay...they didn’t press any more [so] no records [were] sold because there were no records out there."[1] Promo copies of a followup single: "You Caught Me Out", were pressed in October 1979 but Stiff opted to shelve the single, with MacColl's first release subsequent to "They Don't Know" being her remake of "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" released in 1981 on Polydor.
Kirsty's version is so better than Tracey's it hurts.
It's a great song we can all agree on that much. But my dislike for Tracey puts me out on the Garbage pile.