Excitable Boy
Asylum K53073
£1
Filed between Young Fresh Fellows 'This One's For The Ladies' and The Zombies 'Odessey And Oracle'.
October 1995, close to Halloween, at the Engine Room in Camden for the famously difficult music quiz. Frequented by NME & Melody Maker journalists, the only time we ever won a prize was for best team name (on the day Britain’s biggest boyband split up we went for ‘Take That And F**k Off’).
On this particular night the themed intros round had so far included the likes of ‘The Monster Mash’ and ‘There’s A Ghost In My House’ when this mid-tempo, piano-led intro kicked in. To my surprise and confusion all my fellow team-mates immediately went for ‘Werewolves Of London’ by Warren Zevon, a song I’d never heard. I was convinced they were wrong – it was surely ‘One Of Those Things’ by Dexys Midnight Runners. No question about it. Okay, so it didn’t fit the theme for the round whereas their answer did but ... it WAS Dexys.
Once the answers were revealed they were proved right – and on subsequent re-issues of ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’, the Dexys track now carries a co-credit to Zevon (the lifting is also noted in Kevin Rowland’s sleevenotes for the Director’s Cut edition).
I’ve heard ‘Werewolves Of London’ numerous times since, and back in 2004 a BBC poll saw its opening lyrics voted the best of all-time.
I still defend my answer though ...
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