Head On: Mary Chain original vs. Pixies version

jesus and mary chain

jesus and mary chain

pixies

Gonna have to think about this for a day or three.

Pixies. Of course you've got to credit the Reids for writing such an ace song, but their version goes around for one too many choruses (quite a lot of Darklands/Automatic songs have this problem - they'd be much better if they quit while they were ahead).

Gonna have to think about this for a day or three.

^^^^^^^^

Both brilliant in their way. I love how the guitar on the JAMC version goes all twang.

pixies

Still regret not buying the JAMC 7” with the star-shaped metal badge

Jesus and Mary Chain

Love JAMC as much as anyone but the Pixies version has completely replaced the original in my mind and I perceive the Chain's version as the cover.

Pixies by a slight margin. Though I did hear their version first so that probably biases it.

Pixies JAMC by a slight margin. Though I did hear their version first so that probably biases it.

JAMC... and I heard the Pixies version first.

Pixies ... just.

Jesus & Mary Chain. It's their greatest dance record - that "hey-ey-ey-ey-yeah" breakdown and all the repetition makes me think of a house track. Pixies version also brilliant though.

JAMC

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I might as well weigh in on this: Now I absolutely fucking love the Pixies version, especially the perpetual screaming guitars, but I'm more than a little biased toward the JAMC version, as discovering that song & album was the kind of seismic epiphany that can only happen when one is 12 years old. So I can't really comment on it objectively or anything. I wish I still had that kind of emotional reaction to the discovery of new music.

A few observations:

(01) LOL who does that drummer in the video think he's fooling? JAMC got a lot of shit for resorting to a drum machine on Automatic, but I think it gives the songs a sorta-motorik undercurrent which totally suits the songs. Also, was having terrible white-boy dreadlocks a condition for being considered for a slot in the JAMC rhythm section in those days?

(02) I find it curious that B. Francis chose this song to be the flagship single for TLM, especially considering that the only other cover he'd put on any of the LPs was an obscure surf instrumental, whereas "Head On" had been a substantial hit (for those days) just two years earlier. Was it so much that BF just liked the song that much, or was it a case of feeling that he had the tools to take a song which had potential and do it properly - you know, take it out of the hands of the limey posers and give it the attention it really deserves. Whatever his motivations, he did do right by it & you really can't go wrong with either version.

I eventually had to go with JAMC here. I don't know if it's because that was the first version I heard or if it's because it just feels more "complete" in some way. One of my favorite things about the Pixies is when they go apeshit and murder conventional rock music in a beautifully chaotic way, but the JAMC version of "Head On" has a superior arrangement. Automatic is my favorite JAMC album because of how it sounds, and that thick synthesized bassline really pushes a song like "Head On" over the edge for me.

Pixies version is fine, but not essential (in my mind, at least) to what makes them them.

oh no you dint

pixies

I find it curious that B. Francis chose this song to be the flagship single for TLM

All I know is that, in the US, the video for "Head On" premiered on 120 Minutes w/ Daaaaave Kendall shortly before the album came out. That is all I know.

There's a fairly obvious reason why it wasn't the UK single for Pixies...

ha lol, I never thought about that

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I can't believe that I missed this poll the first time around. This is one of my top five all time favorite songs. I love both versions but have to go with JAMC as my fav.

Both brilliant, I guess JAMC since I loved it first for so long. What a weird and wonderful thing that the Pixes covered this.

Makes you wanna feel
Makes you wanna try

Makes you want to pull the stars from the skies

and i cant stand up i cant cool down
i cant get my head
off
the
ground