Ultimate Battles: "Hitsville U.K." Vs. "A Town Called Malice"

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Let it begin.

― Voodoo Child, Sunday, 4 September 2005 19:16 (twenty years ago)

I wonder whether the present ilm consensus will have much to say about this, but I think it's a pretty interesting battle - though the '60s pastiche/homage that Jones is doing is sort of a lark, isn't it, a co-opting of a trope for critical purposes, whereas with Weller the pursuit of that big '60s sound is at that point in his career an end in itself. Certainly "Hitsville" is the sadder, more wistful of the two; "Town Called Malice" has this angry edge but Weller's on his way to the Style Council positivity imperative, so it's a jubilant-feeling anger. I take "Hitsville" just because while it's borrowing sounds and styles and tones from a previous era, it still clings to the present in some way - it has its feet rooted in its day - whereas "A Town Called Malice" is Weller & Co. indulging their fetishism too deeply for me. A terrific tune, for sure, but lacking the long teeth of "Hitsville U.K."

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Sunday, 4 September 2005 19:55 (twenty years ago)

(nb I am assuming that this is a Mick Jones song, not having the credits to hand)

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Sunday, 4 September 2005 19:55 (twenty years ago)

I haven't heard "Hitsville U.K." that much, but you really think it's a better song than "Town Called Malice?" "Town Called Malice" is dynamite, whether someone was "indulging their fetishism" or not. Not sure why the latter factor would matter in this case.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 4 September 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

"A Town Called Malice". It's simply a better song. That said, the Clash bury the Jam nine times out of ten in this capacity.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 4 September 2005 21:47 (twenty years ago)

Mmm, tough call and good match-up. I'm giving the edge to "Hitsville," because it always somehow surprises me when it pops up on Sandinista. (And because I won't penalize a novelty tune for its novelty.) "Malice" is great, of course, but it's the best thing on a spotty record and is also just slightly overwrought.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 4 September 2005 22:29 (twenty years ago)

"Hitsville" is cool, but "Town" takes

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 4 September 2005 23:16 (twenty years ago)

I take "Hitsville" just because while it's borrowing sounds and styles and tones from a previous era, it still clings to the present in some way

What he said. When I was a teenager I quite liked the Jam, but today I find their slavish devotion to the 60s boring in the same way that Jack White's slavish devotion to the 30s boring.

― John Hunter, Sunday, 4 September 2005 23:32 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, because when you think 1930s you think over-amped electric guitar and marimba.

― disco violence (disco violence), Monday, 5 September 2005 00:05 (twenty years ago)

Back on topic: "Hitsville UK" takes it since it's got an interesting duality: definitely retro, but lyrically smack dab in circa-1980 DIY optimism ("a mike and boom in your living room," "no AOR in Hitsville UK," etc.).

― disco violence (disco violence), Monday, 5 September 2005 00:07 (twenty years ago)

Tim, the latter factor matters because it's not just a question of "which is the better melody" - that's not very interesting to me. So many other angles to consider: what was the relationship of the song to the charts of its day? To the tradition in which it placed itself? To its perceived audience? To its actual audience? To the preceding & future work of the band? I think the sound and the melody and the rhythm of "Hitsville U.K." is just more interesting and hard to pin down than "A Town Called Malice," but beyond that, I think Weller's take on his source material just isn't as much fun as "Hitsville"'s, and I think "Hitsville" gets this really rare and subtle and sad mood and just rides it slowly out. I'll generally take the Jam over the Clash but in the case of this battle it seems kinda Batman (Hitsville) vs Superman (Malice): the latter hits harder, but the former's the one I'd wanna have over for drinks.

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Monday, 5 September 2005 00:25 (twenty years ago)

also, I think these two songs compare well precisely insofar as they're representative of their authors' historical fetishes & I take that to be the thread's author's jumping-off point

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Monday, 5 September 2005 00:27 (twenty years ago)

I'd have to hear "Hitsville" again. I do tend to think you're underrating what Weller did with his period of inspiration. Ripping the Kinks or the Who is one thing, but to do this Supremes-like thing and just hit the nail on the head - that's awesome.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 5 September 2005 00:44 (twenty years ago)

I have to go with "Town". "Hitswille U.K." never resonated with me, although I don't mind it. "Town Called Malice" is hardly the Jam's greatest effort to deep into their influences, as Banana cogently pointed out, but there's still some fire there.

As an aside, had the song been "Beat Surrender", it would take me less than a second to declare "Beat Surrender" the winner... "Beat" is a far more interesting, complex song than "Town" -- both doing essentially the same thing as far as indulging their heroes, but "beat Surrender" works much much better.

― donut Get Behind Me Carbon Dioxide (donut), Monday, 5 September 2005 02:51 (twenty years ago)

Wow, I usually find these threads ridiculous, but this is a great battle. I vote Clash over Jam about 999 times out of 1,000 - but "Malice" does, as Tim says, hit the nail on the head. And I give it extra points for becoming a "hit" in the US (in the sense that its extreme licensing has made it familiar to nearly everyone years after its release, despite never being well-known in the first place here.)

"Malice," like much of the Jam's ouevre, makes no attempt to disguise the fact that's it's essentially a plagiarised work, while "Hitsville" seems more like a weirdo tribute experiment that, while it worked, did not work nearly so well as so many other Clash efforts (their various reggae tunes, indulgences into other musical forms such as calypso, and hard-to-classify material such as "Sean Flynn," "If Music Could Talk" and so on). So I'll give the nod to the Jam.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Monday, 5 September 2005 04:12 (twenty years ago)

"Malice" wins for all the reasons listed above. While I do like the song, there's just something a little empty about "Hitsville U.K." whereas "A Town Call Malice" is a full course meal with dessert.

― hector savage, Monday, 5 September 2005 10:36 (twenty years ago)

I am surprised to find myself in the minority here! I agree actually with Hector about there being an "emptiness" but I think actually that's part of the song's point: a corelessness, an attendant weightlessness, a tribute/homage/pastiche that tells the whole sonic truth about its fetish-object. I agree that "Beat Surrender" is something of a masterpiece though "succum-ba" has always rubbed me the wrong way ouch stop hitting me.

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Monday, 5 September 2005 12:22 (twenty years ago)

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