(Top 50 Countdown!!!) 21. Tommy James & The Shondells - "Crystal Blue Persuasion"

The whole first side of their “Crimson & Clover” LP is fantastic: “Crimson & Clover”, “Kathleen McArthur”, “I Am A Tangerine”, “Do Something To Me”. That’s pretty much game-over, everybody else can go home. It’s even where I got my name, and we did “Do Something To Me” on “Multiple Orgasm”. But track one, side two… that’s even better! We used to try to justify our own carrying on in the face of this near-perfection by all agreeing that yes, after this one, the album kinda peters out quite badly. Look: straws, clutching, I know. Port. Storm. Anyway, in an effort to work through our obsession with “Crystal Blue Persuasion” we took to playing some kinda version of it live during the 1991 “Great White Wonder” gigs, to accompany the great record-giveaway section of the show (if you were lucky, you went home with “Costafine Town” by Splinter).  

"Think Bubble" is an album (LP only) of 1995 demos for an unreleased Pooh Sticks album. See 'About Me' for details.