Released
45 years ago today, on October 10, 1979, it's Public Image Ltd's third
single, Memories. The A-side song is wailing denunciation of misplaced
sentimentality. Wobble's thunderously insistent bass line drives the
track against a furious disco beat, courtesy of former 101'R, Richard
Dudanski, who filled the kit briefly during the Metal Box sessions.
Keith Levene layers in Spanish Flamenco influenced guitar chords with
what sounds like organ flourishes (no, it's all guitar), while Lydon's
vocals swoop in, warbling and whooping through the song. "It should be
clear by now" that this is one of PiL's all time best songs. The single
mix is different from the Metal Box version, which inter-cuts two
different mixes together in an alternating back & forth oscillation.
The single version, however, sticks to the mix with the heavy bass,
driving it home all the way through.
The
B-Side features the track, Another, which would only be included on
Metal Box in a radically different instrumental mix called, Graveyard.
Wobble would also "steal" the backing track and remix it again for the
instrumental, Not Another, on his first solo album, The Legend Lives
On... Jah Wobble in "Betrayal". The vocal mix on the single is a
perfect match-up for the A-side, reinforcing the overall "haunted house"
vibe of the record.
The front
cover features a series of black & white photos of a moustache
wearing Lydon in a wedding scene to someone who looks like Jeanette Lee
(she looks too short to be Nora), with the scratches and saturation
making it look all worn and forgotten. The back cover is a shot of a
spiderweb covered oval mirror, reflecting the PiL logo, that was at
John's Gunter Grove house in London. It can also be seen on the front
cover of the Flowers of Romance single from 1981.
The
single would peak at #60 on the UK charts, but along with the previous
single, Death Disco, it would provide a tantalizing sneak peak at the
behemoth Metal Box album that was right around the corner.
