17 Comments
Sep 26, 2023Liked by Brad Kyle

Does anyone know who played the bass line on the 1983 release of "They don't know". I've been trying to find out.

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"They add up to an aural pastiche that, while a dangerous inch away from “cluttered,” give a fitting yet subtle nod to a Phil Spector side (or, at the very least, a Tokens-produced Laurie Records/Chiffons track)."

Thank you for putting "cluttered" and Phil Spector in the same sentence, even though I think you separated them by a "dangerous inch." I was just taking last night with a colleague about structural space in Beatles songs as one of their features, and compared Spector's Wall of Sound to a hoarder house in which there's not room for the listener to "walk around." Which brought the conversation inevitably to Let It Be -- it's hard to think of a more mismatched pairing than Spector and (esp) the '69 Fabs. No wonder Paul was pissed off.

Anyway, that's a digression into my land, but I just thought it was synchronistic that clutter and Spector popped up here as well.

And thanks for a fun article. I'd forgotten about that song entirely (and every time I read the title, I kept adding "it's Christmas" to it in my head until I got that sorted...)

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This was a great song back in the day. The Tracey Ullman Show was also criminally underrated. it's also one of the few places viewers can see Simpson's voice actors Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner acting in front of the camera.

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Feb 3, 2022Liked by Brad Kyle

I adore this song and Tracey's version. Thanks for this!

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Enjoyed this look back. Thanks for sharing!

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