Songs with no intro

Vox come in on the first bar (a capella numbers don’t count, obv)

Big Thief - Rock and Sing
Stone Temple Pilots - Days of the Week
Kansas - Carry on My Wayward Son
Barenaked Ladies - One Week
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Whale - Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe (not sure this counts, there’s a drum beat first)

Guided by Voices - The Official Ironman Rally Song

Husker Du - Standing in the Rain

Led Zep - What Is and What Should Never Be
Steve Harley - Seeking a Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2vpaO8UHL0

Dead Kennedys - Nazi Punks Fuck Off (if we're not counting the stick clicks)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyc62g7YQM0

Smash Mouth's All Star, duh!

Circle Jerks - Deny Everything
Circle Jerks - World Up My Ass
Urinals - Sex

Pavement - Gold Soundz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPvhKV3Yg2k

Robyn - Be Mine

Husker Du - Standing in the Rain

Does the few seconds of rain storm before the songs starts not count as an intro?!

(^plus, there’s a little riff, too?)

VU - White Light/White Heat

"I Am The Cosmos," Chris Bell

Lindstrøm & Christabelle - Lovesick

It's not really a riff, two chord crunches maybe, but yeah I concede. Should this really be called "songs where the vocal starts immediately"?

I love how the likes of the Urinals and Lindstrøm & Christabelle are what's occurring to people instead of say "Heartbreak Hotel" or "Hey Jude"

Syd Barrett - No Good Trying

the Who - "Christmas"
Elliott Smith - "Amity"
Aretha Franklin - "All The King's Horses"
Sly and the Family Stone - "Stand!" (unless the drum roll counts)
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "...And In Every Home"
Otis Redding - "I've Been Loving You Too Long"

"It Won't Be Long" - The Beatles

Help! too, right?

I realised the reason I don't really appreciate 'Rock and Sing' is because the melody is very reminiscent of Tom Waits' 'In The Neighbourhood'

Should this really be called "songs where the vocal starts immediately"?

That’s fair... I would also buy the argument that the Kansas & Queen songs I posted don’t really fit my own premise, as the a capella parts sort of serve as “intros” (but my basic idea was that a radio DJ couldn’t crossfade into any of these songs).

The Ronettes - Silhouettes

first thing that comes to mind is Serena-Maneesh - Un-Deux

I was just listening to an episode of the podcast "Switched On Pop" this morning that talked about this -- with the revenue model for streaming, artists are better off keeping their songs short, and one of the best ways to do that is to just lop off the intro.

Their example was Kodak Black, "Calling My Spirit":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppSY98RGyBU

(interestingly, that youtube video has an 2 bars of intro which aren't on the spotify version)

Jesus And Mary Chain - "The Hardest Walk"

Hop Along - "The Knock"

Roxy Music - "Do The Strand"

Even restricting this to Number One singles of 1966 you get

We Can Work It Out
Good Lovin'
Monday, Monday
Paperback Writer
Winchester Cathedral (vocal intro)
Good Vibrations

Does 'Drain You' by Nirvana count?

Silver Jews have 3 songs in a row on American Water that do this - 'Send In The Clouds', 'Like Like The The The Death' & 'Buckingham Rabbit'

^wow, nice catch

I’ll accept “Drain You,” I think my “vocals are the first sound you hear” idea may be too draconian

Elvis Costello, Accidents Will Happen - starts with vocal and it is already the verse. Does that count?

XP - n that case more than half of American Water qualifies!

Also Sundays, I Feel

“Good Vibrations” is such a wonderfully pure example of a “no intro” song, tho

The Fabs did this constantly; No Reply, Penny Lane, Hello Goodbye..

Another classic of the genre;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WngGeI9lnA

“Good Vibrations” is such a wonderfully pure example of a “no intro” song, tho

IDK, that opening verse always felt like an intro to me. 'Gold Soundz', though, there's a song that just drops you straight in there from the first beat!

Weedking by GBV always stumbles in awkwardly due to the lack of intro

A good variation on this is "they've been playing this tune for half an hour and you've just walked into the room"

for example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-T9pMqzHf4

xxp It’s funny I didn’t think of “Gold Soundz”; it’s one of the best songs by one of my favorite bands, lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZswHWIv_eo

ramones - now i wanna sniff some glue
the byrds - 5d

A good variation on this is "they've been playing this tune for half an hour and you've just walked into the room"

That's how Funkadelic's "One Nation Under A Groove" struck me when I first heard it.

or similarly,
The Modern Lovers - “Pablo Picasso”

^On the opposite tip, one for the thread topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcjK1dKa15E

Weeper - Buddy Holly

Weezer even

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP2d8yZzhdM

Belle & Sebastian open their first four LPs like this. Either the voice is the very first sound you hear or it comes within a second of a quietly strummed guitar. Several singles too: "Slow Graffiti", "I'm Waking Up To Us", etc.

Leonard Cohen does it a bit. ("Bird on a Wire", "Sisters of Mercy", "Is This What You Wanted?") Probably not uncommon where the singer is wielding an acoustic guitar. Maybe Smog and a bunch of folk singer types too?

Smash Mouth - All Star

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTaM6XD-cAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j85MhM_gCTQ

re: Smog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67yAOOXE7d8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah5FpgT6N4E

Vampire Weekend’s « Step » (among others of theirs)

napalm death - you suffer

plus about a million other grindcore songs

Kate Bush “The Big Sky”, “Cloudbusting”
“Hounds of Love” almost

Quite popular circa 2003. eg.THIS and THIS

awopbopaloobopawompbamboom

...is the intro

I mean I guess it's also the chorus, so never mind, I'll allow it

Rush "Red Lenses"
Urge Overkill "Jaywalkin'"
Big Star "Give Me Another Chance"
Jawbox "His Only Trade"

tubthumping

lol n/m

i knock myself down but i get up again

lotion - dear sir

Bob Dylan & the Band - I’m Not There (...and probably other Basement Tapes songs? The Mighty Quinn?)

Royal Trux - The United States vs One 1974 Cadillac El Dorado Sedan

Royal Trux - Every Day Swan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=098IhhIOJeY

Beach Boys, "Do You Wanna Dance" - but not the Ramones, or Bobby Freeman for that matter.

"Somebody to Love" - Jefferson Airplane
"Delta Dawn" - Tanya Tucker; Helen Reddy
"Rich Girl" - Hall & Oates
"China Girl" - Iggy Pop
"Le Freak" - Chic

A lot of these begin abruptly but not necessarily in medias res.

"lizard lady" and "semolina" from duck stab/buster and glen by the residents

probably some others, i'm listening to "weight lifting lulu" now though, it's good

Hop Along - "The Knock"

― may the force leave us alone (zchyrs), Friday, January 3, 2020 10:21 AM (eleven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

This was the first one that came to mind when I saw this thread. Love that song.

I keep thinking about The Fall, but MES so often just utters something ("Pink press threat!", "Who makes the Nazis?", etc) upfront, followed by what is otherwise a musical 'intro' passage. Still, "In the Park" clearly fits the bill. And the likes of "Mr Pharmacist", "Dice Man" and "Kicker Conspiracy" commence with the chorus.

Yeah, those are good ones. "Kicker!"

Pixies - Distance Equals Rate Times Time

^ good one... no intro, drops right into the action, and also no real chorus

Dexys Midnight Runners, "Plan B"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8QI69ifsiY

... and others I suspect.

genesis with peter gabriel did this shit all the fucking time

looking for someone
supper's ready (which gets bonus points for being a _23-minute epic_ with no intro)
dancing with the moonlit knight

there are some other songs that are very close, like "lillywhite lilith" and "the lamia"

Buncha Sam The Sham songs: "(I'm In With) The Out Crowd"; "Medicine Man"; "How Do You Catch A Girl?"; "Ju Ju Hand"; "Ring Dang Doo"; "Lil' Red Riding Hood" (if the wolf howl counts)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A9GIgghiP4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfK1_FBTMtA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sMGSj_t_1U

Need a subthread of songs that start with an a cappella rendition of the chorus, before launching into a musical intro…

Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA7XqnHMIwQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQtqwIqnvE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4IG0YOGiV0

W.A.S.P. - "I Wanna Be Somebody"

Beach Boys "Heroes and Villains"

Joanna Newsom has a lot of these

Pretenders - Stop Your Sobbing

Beach Boys - "Here Today"

the cowsills - start to love
dennis wilson - thoughts of you

Madness: "Rise and Fall"
(which btw is an album opener)

Beach Boys "Heroes and Villains"

at least half of the smiley smile tracks do this.

CSNY - "Our House"
Paul McCartney - "No More Lonely Nights"

Fiery Furnaces - Pricked in the Heart
Fiery Furnaces - Turning Round
Fiery Furnaces - Up in the North
Fiery Furnaces - Police Sweater Blood Vow (this one has an opening chord)

Misfits - Bullet owns this category:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiTgDBNQ3lU

beatles -- maxwell's silver hammer

anthology version has a nice lil piano intro that i think actually would've improved the song, emphasizes the silly/vaudeville tone of the number

Another Beatles obvious one : « Hey Jude » (but indeed they have plenty)

Super Furry Animals - If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You & Demons, probably more

I remember seeing them in early days, Gruff introduced IYDWMTDY with "This one's called" and then immediately starting the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpAI8YOh0K4

Love that song....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTWpAsMJMX0

Rolling Stones: "Mother's Little Helper"

Minor Threat “out of step”

Elvis Costello, Accidents Will Happen - starts with vocal and it is already the verse. Does that count?

EC's first three albums all start with just his voice, already in the verse: Welcome to the Working Week, No Action, Accidents Will Happen.

Steve Hillage: Wait One Moment
The Cramps: Tear It Up
Johnny Thunders: Little Bit of Whore

Toni Braxton - Dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgA6hdK0gq4

Courtney Barnett - Elevator Operator

Haddaway - What Is Love

Heaven Is A Place On Earth - Belinda Carlisle

i would argue that the kind of acapella chorus shouting of that song and "you give love a bad name" is an intro, even though it starts with vocals.

anyway, dababy's "off the rip" is a hip-hop example, along with a bunch of his other songs

Yeah, I probably should have titled the thread "songs where the vocal comes in immediately" (and then there is also a distinction btw. songs with an "vocal intro" and songs that jump right into the verse).

"Road to Nowhere" by Talking Heads is an interesting example: an a cappella intro which is unrelated to the rest of the song.

another obvious example of that is "bohemian rhapsody," though themes from that intro recur throughout the song

felt Abba must have these, because they have a way of going right into their choruses...

(see also this thread: the CVC formula: songs with choruses as intros)

...so I scrolled thru the 59-track Abba Gold Anniversary Edition and found these:

“Take A Chance On Me”, “Super Trouper” (both start with the chorus sung acapella tho); “Our Last Summer”, Kisses Of Fire”. “I Am Just A Girl” has just one guitar strum, “Rock Me” has two drum beats.

probably more to be found on their albums