Friday, March 14, 2014

UK Indie Hits: 1980-89 (No. 45)

I'm counting down my top 50 singles from the golden age of the UK Independent Charts.

45. McCarthy - "The Well of Loneliness"

Other Contenders: "Frans Hals," the band's first charting single, just about grabbed this spot.

Chart Entry: Oct. 10, 1987

Peak Position: No. 10

Comment: Comrades, if Depeche Mode at No. 48 on this list is one end of the intellectual spectrum, McCarthy at No. 45 is so far on the other end (the left side, obviously) Dave Gahan would need a GPS device to find them. Their song titles sounded like university papers ("The Procession of Popular Capitalism," "Should The Bible Be Banned," "The Vision of Peregrine Worsthorne," to name few), and I admit I didn't know who or what they were singing about much of the time, but I sure felt intelligent as I was schooled on Dutch painters, obscure authors and Marxist views... all to a catchy jangle-pop soundtrack. McCarthy might be known to many as merely a stepping stone to Stereolab, but I always had a soft spot for this earlier incarnation.

Buy "The Well of Loneliness" on 'I Am a Wallet.'

2 comments:

george said...

A cracking band who could be relied on to create some fine jingly jangly tunes. Excellent choice. Excellent series.

Brian said...

Thanks, George. My favorite album of the band's was always I Am a Wallet. That's the one that has been listened to with regularity all of these years later... that's why this single got the nod.