BILLY IDOL There wasn’t a lyric sheet with the original Horses. And “Kimberly,” I had no idea that it was about a sister of hers. I thought that she was singing to, you know, sisters as in feminism or whatever. The interplay of the musicians was fantastic. You can hear it in “Horses,” you can hear it in Television. In England we were watching what was going on in the States, and we wanted a scene of our own like that.The structure of the song is very classic. All the different parts, the way it builds up, it’s almost got a ’60s thing to it. They’re taking guitar music and refreshing it, but at the same time not falling back on prog-rock. It flows really great, but it has all those different hooks. As the song progresses, each little verse changes it.
JOHNNY MARR The first song that the Smiths ever wrote, “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” was inspired by “Kimberly.” I knew Patti Smith was our common ground.
Well, THAT's interesting.
Seriously, I listened to Horses obsessively back when it was new -- it's not exactly a state secret that I've been a fan of Smith's since forever --
-- but I hadn't thought about "Kimberly" in ages, in part because I've never really cottoned to John Cale's production of the album. Which struck me then, as now, as being on the anemic-sounding side.
Still, it works on "Kimberly," which I have always found unaccountably and fiercely erotic, despite its subject matter.
BTW, I'm not 1000 percent sure, but I think that picture of Patti and your humble scribe at a Stereo Review Record of the Year party dates from early 1976, i.e. when we were giving Patti an award for Horses for 1975.
And in case you're wondering, the button I'm holding says "Back to Mono." 😎
Oh -- and I should add that the Horses reissue package, which features a newly remastered edition of the original album and lots of studio demos (most of them drummer-less) is available as either a 2 CD or 2 LP package.
If you're thinking of getting me a Christmas present, the vinyl would be nice. 😎😎
2 comments:
Kimberley is a perfect song. The hooks, the bass line, Patti’s phrasing are just right. Redondo Beach, Break It Up, and Kimberley are the songs that made me listen until I understood what was going on in the longer pieces.
- Paul in DK
LURVED Patti, lurved Horses. Played it obsessively. Saw her many, many times in the 70s. At CB's, the Palladium. I've kind of fallen out of love with her now, but that doesn't dim or tarnish her early work in the least.
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