Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Song of the Day: 'Adventure' by Television


 I was rocking out to Television's "Adventure" (1978) the other day when I realized one of the bonus tracks from the 2003 Rhino reissue was actually the title track -- which wasn't on the original album. I immediately thought to myself -- "You can't omit the title track!" -- which then got me thinking of others that I know of: "Everything" was left off the Bangles' 1988 album of the same name, only to pop up as a bonus track of the band’s greatest hits album the following year. "The Crossing" was the name of Big Country's 1983 album, although the song didn't turn up until "The Wonderland" EP the year after, before later being added to the CD of the former. Belle and Sebastian named their 2006 album "The Life Pursuit" but saved the titular tune for the B-side of "The Blues Are Still Blue,” a single from the album. You kind of have to think the band didn't think the song measured up to leave it off yet still name an album after it, no?


And along the same lines, "Revenge" was a song on Eurythmics' little-heard 1981 debut album, "In the Garden," then the title of their 1986 release. The band recorded a very different version called “Revenge 2" but it wasn’t on “Revenge.” although it was a bonus track on the 2005 reissue. And Blondie's most famous album, "Parallel Lines," had a song in the works titled that, only to be downgraded to a poem on the liner notes. Was also thinking about a corollary, where album titles are not song titles, but are lyrics in songs, such as "Kissing to Be Clever,” which was the title of Culture Club’s debut album but later a line in "Miss Me Blind" on the band’s second LP, "Colour by Numbers," and "From Luxury to Heartache," which was the title of Boy George & Co.’s 1986 album and a line in the song “God Thank You Woman.” Debbie Harry called her debut solo record “Koo Koo,” yet only mentioned it in the song “Oasis.” ("… Not the doorbell, not a bird call Koo Koo.") "Another Passenger" was the title of Carly's Simon's sixth studio album and a lyric in the song "Libby" while "Last Splash" was the title of the Breeders' 1993 album and a lyric in their most popular song, "Cannonball." (Oh, and the word "dare" is used in two songs on the Human League LP of the same name, neither being a title track!) Can you think of any others? 

8 comments:

Dan said...

Culture Club also had a song called "Colour By Numbers" that was not on the album, but came out later as a B-side. https://youtu.be/dfNfdOnMW2g

Kenneth M. Walsh said...

@Dan: Yes, thank you! Totally forgot about that one.

BriGuy said...

10,000 Maniacs' The Wishing Chair album does not contain a song by that name, but the first track on the album, "Can't Ignore The Train" ends with the repeated lyric "..sitting in the wishing chair."

BriGuy said...

PJ Harvey's debut Dry didn't feature the title song, which showed up on her second LP.

BriGuy said...

The Pixies' Doolittle LP takes its title from their song "Mr. Grieves" - "Pray for a man in the middle / One that talks like Doolittle"

BriGuy said...

Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True (1977) - a lyric from the hit Alison.

jp_dj_taffy said...

The song Sheer Heart Attack isn't on that Queen album, but on News Of The World. And the OMD album Sugar Tax doesn't have the song Sugar Tax - it's a b-side on one of the singles from the album.

Dan said...

Oh, and Tears For Fears.. the album was "Songs From The Big Chair" but the song titled "The Big Chair" was a B-side (to "Shout," I think?) Anyway "the big chair" isn't referenced in the lyrics on the originally released album.