Album: Stoneage Romeos
Year: 1984
Here’s what I’m hoping: there is somebody reading this — maybe one of those Millennials that are all in the news these days — who has never heard of the Hoodoo Gurus, and will click on this post and hear this song and fall in love with it the same way we all did back in 1984.
Perfectly straddling the line between power pop and garage rock, Australia’s awesome Hoodoo Gurus felt like a breath of fresh air; in the 30-odd years since then, they’ve never stopped churning out high-quality rock ‘n’ roll.
In my review of Stoneage Romeos — one of my very first published reviews ever — in The Daily Collegian, I described them thusly:
The Hoodoo Gurus’ debut album Stoneage Romeos falls into the un-category of “Guitar Bands That Play Loud Pop Music That Is Sort Of Familiar If You Like The Sixties But Is Still Fresh And New For Right Now. Oh Yeah, Lots Of Fun, Too.”
And, in fact, a song like “I Want You Back” still sounds fresh. And nothing like the old Jackson 5 single with which it shared a name.
Instead, it kicks off with a tangle of electric and acoustic guitars, a big bouncy bassline, as lead singer Dave Faulkner describes a relationship gone sour.
The guitars build and ring throughout the verse until they’re jangling every which way when suddenly the song breaks down into a stop-time part with the drums rumbling all around as Faulkner sings:
That’s her, I’ll never believe her again.
She might have deceived all my friends
I know they will see in the end
What it all means when she says (yeah!)
And this point, the song builds into its indelible call-and-response chorus, which rang loud and true from every college radio station in the country that fall.
(I, I, I) want you back
(I, I, I) want you back
(I, I, I) I want you
She says (she says)
She says (she says)
She says (she says)
She sayyyyyyyys yeah yeah!
That’s lead guitarist Brad Shepherd singing with Faulkner on the chorus, while also providing guitar commentary throughout the song, including a great twangy solo after the first chorus just to calm everybody down a bit.
In 1984, I was still hopeful that a song as well-conceived, catchy and brilliantly performed could become a massive hit single all over the world, which of course it wasn’t, except in the same universe that it followed “I Will Dare” “Hero Takes a Fall” and “So. Central Rain” to the top ten.
In any event, “I Want You Back” was a helluva start to their career.
“I Want You Back”
“I Want You Back” performed live in 1987
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