Rolling Stone Australia — July 2017

The Song That Reminds Me of School

Bachman-Turner Overdrive
“Takin’ Care of Business” 1973

“Thatsongreallyremindsmeof
beingintheparkinglotatschool
andmyfriendblastingitoutof
the car speakers, and we’d be
singing along like [in macho voice], ‘Takin’
careofbusiness,everyday!’[Laughs]
ManyyearslaterIwaswatchingThe Simp-
sonsandthatsongcomesontheradioand
Homergoes,‘Woo!Bachman-TurnerOver-
drive,yeah!’Iwaslike,ohmyGod,mycon-
temporaryisHomerSimpson!”

The Song You Wouldn’t Expect
to Find on My iTunes

Lana Del Rey“Ultraviolence” 2014

“Idon’treallylistentodigital
musicsomuch,butIuse‘Ultra-
violence’byLanaDelReyformy
ringtone.Thatmightbeasur-
prisetopeople,thatIluxuriateinthesounds
of Lana Del Rey. I was turned on to her by
mygirlfriend,we[sawher]atthislittlethe-
atreinNewYorkyearsago.Iwasreallyinto
what she was up to as far as standing stock
stillonstageandjustsinging,andtheaudi-
encewasmostlyyounggayboyssinging
along.Therewasalotofweepinggoingon.”

The Song That Made Me
Want to Play Guitar

Sex Pistols“Anarchy in the UK” 1977

“Igotthatassoonasitwasex-
ported to the USA; there was
one record store that was with-
ina45-minutedrivethatIknew
wouldcarrythesethings.‘Anarchyinthe
UK’mademewanttogetmybrother’selec-
tricguitar,aFenderStratocaster,and
somehow figure out a way of wiring from
thejackoftheguitartothebackinputsof
the cheap stereo receiver that was on top of
therefrigeratorinourkitchenin1977,and
it just sounded great coming out of those
littlespeakers.Itwasautomaticallydis-
torted.Istartedplayingandwritingsongs
thatwereinspiredbytheriffin‘Anarchyin

theUK’.Ihadonesong,itwasbasicallya

rip off of Ramones song titles, but it was

called‘IDon’tHavetoMowtheLawnNo

More’ [laughs].”

The Song That Reminds

Me of Touring

Dinosaur Jr.“LittleFuryThings” 1987

“I remember that record playing

alotonatour[inthelateEight-

ies] and thinking, wow, here’s a

band that’s really coming out of

our scene that’s taking it up a notch. And I

remember people who were working with

us doing merchandise listening to it in the

vangoing,‘Thisissogreat,thisisthegreat-

est record’, and I was like, ‘Stop with the so

greatness!You’reworkingwithus,we’rethe

great band! [Laughs] Stop extolling the

virtuesofthisotherband,it’smakingme

really sad!’”

TheSongIWishIHadn’tRecorded

Sonic Youth“Master=Dik” 1987

“Wethoughtitwassobrilliant,

andlookingbackit’slike,maybe

we should have left that in the

bin.ItwaswhenearlyNewYork

hip-hopstuffwashappeningintheEight-

ies, when it was getting to a place where a

band like us could actually do something

with it and think that it was credible. I

guess maybe it was validated by the Beas-

tieBoysturningfromahardcorebandtoa

hip-hopband,soitwaslike,iftheycanhave

fun doing it then I can have fun doing it too.

But employing it in the context of Sonic

Youth may not have been the most endear-

ingsongweeverrecorded![Laughs]”

The Song That Reminds

Me of Growing Up

The Kingsmen“Louie Louie” 1963

“My older brother brought the

seven-inch single home. It was

thefirstrock&rollrecordto

come in the house. Everything

changedthatday.Thewholeuniverseal-

tered. I was struck by how amazing it

sounded.Mybrother[told]methathe

madetherecord,andIwaslike,well,I

guess it’s possible. [Laughs] Anything’s

possible when you’re so young. The B-side

was an instrumental called ‘Haunted Cas-

tle’,andithadabitofamysteriosoorgan

vibe, and that was the cooler sounding

song. To this day I still reference that song.”

The Song That Earned Me

the Biggest Royalty Cheque

Sonic Youth“Kool Thing” 1990

“We were never a single band at

all, but it could be ‘Kool Thing’.

That’s the most recognisable

song from our Nineties era. I

would imagine that song had the most

valueasfarasrevenue.Peopleaskme,‘How

many records did you sell?’, and I have no

idea. I can’t even begin to give you a num-

ber.Butthatwasourhit[laughs].”

TheSongI’mProudestOf

Thurston Moore “Exalted” 2017

“Thefirstsongon[newalbum]

Rock N Roll Consciousnessis

this10-minutesongwhereIac-

complishedsomethingI’veal-

ways wanted to do, which is sit down and

work on a song that goes from section to

sectiontosectiontosectionwithoutever

returning to a previous section, and still

work as a really engaging song. And it ac-

tually came out just how I wanted it.”

The Greatest Song Ever Written

Harold Arlen“Over the Rainbow” 1939

“It’s a song of longing and wish-

ingandhasamelodytodiefor.

It’s perfectly orchestrated, and

it’s also supposedly the model

forDavidBowie’s‘Starman’[singstheline

‘there’s a starman waiting in the sky’ and

then ‘somewhere over the rainbow’]. When

thatsongplaysandyouhearJudyGarland,

it doesn’t get much heavier than that. That’s

oneof the greatest songs.”

MY SOUNDTRACK

28 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com July, 2017

R&R

Thealt-rocklegendonroyaltycheques,hisrelationshipwith

HomerSimpson,andthesonghewisheshe’dneverrecorded

BY ROD YATES

Thurston Moore

VERA MARMELO