Fort Worth five-piece Fate Lions just dropped a new three-song 7-inch and and are celebrating with a show at the Kessler on Friday. With that in mind, I asked guitarist Jerko Dabelic and singer/guitarist Jason Manriquez about some of their favorite 45s growing up.
Jason Manriquez
Barry Manilow "A Nice Boy Like Me"/"I Write the Songs" At two years of age I can remember sitting transfixed and running around the house chanting, "I write songs, I write songs..."
The Turtles "Happy Together"/"Like the Seasons" To this day I can hear the hiss and crackle from my folks' worn disc.
The Mamas & the Papas "California Dreaming"/"Somebody Groovy" Growing up in California, I'd always wondered at the mystique and allure of a state that seemed to hold such a varied mix of people.
The Carpenters "Ticket to Ride"/"Your Wonderful Parade" Actually my first exposure to this Beatles classic. We owned many Carpenters LPs but had this 45 for whatever reason and I loved Karen's voice on this.
Crystal Gayle "Somebody Loves You"/"Coming Closer" Couldn't get enough of that "Na na na na" outro.
Weird Al Yankovic "Eat It"/"That Boy Could Dance" It was funny, my friends dug it and it was the first disc I paid for myself when I was 11. Met him years later at a Renaissance fair. He was cool.
Velocity Girl "My Forgotten Favorite"/"Why Should I Be Nice To You?" My tastes began to be influenced by college radio and magazines like Option.
Bauhaus "Telegram Sam"/"Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" Where glam and goth meet.
Kenny Rogers "Coward of the County"/"I Want to Make You Smile" Love the song's story except for the rape. Young guys think revenge is cool.
Bikini Kill "Rebel Girl"/"New Radio" Raw three chords and the truth sort of thing that gives me goosebumps to this day. Love, love, love it. Joan Jett produced, so there you go.
Jerko Dabelic
Murray Head "One Night in Bangkok"/"Merano" This was the first 45 I ever bought. The synths with the bass hooked me instantly. I never understood what the hell the song meant at a young age, but I didn't care. I liked the juxtaposition between the tin-canned phone-line rapped verse vocal and the chorus line.
The Cars "Tonight She Comes"/"Just What I Needed" Another favorite from my youth. It's about as perfect a pop song as anyone could hope to write. I love the ambiguity of the title. You don't know if she's going to climax or she's meeting you for dinner and a movie. "And sometimes she passes through me just like a breeze," is a lyric I wish I would have written. Elliot Easton's guitar solo is sublime.
The Cure "Fascination Street"/"Babble" The Cure taught me the importance of mood and how to use the opening of a song to set it. The lyrics don't come in until one minute and 20-something seconds into the song. Simon Gallup's bassline is epic and Robert Smith weaves his guitar majestically. The B-side, "Babble," always makes me feel claustrophobic. The Cure have always been masters of the art of the B-side.
Tripping Daisy/Centro-matic "Bedhead"/"Love Has Found Me Somehow" Listening to the Daisy song makes me feel nostalgic for a bygone time and a bygone band that was just reaching their full potential when Wes Berggren died. The song ends abruptly, much like Tripping Daisy did. The Centro-matic tune is a feel-good gem from Will Johnson that they like to close their sets with, and is only available here on wax.
