Song of the Week 2/25/05

The Rolling Stones - “Loving Cup”

I have been on a huge Stones kick over the past month. I’ve listened to lots of Stones music over the years since I first got a disc player in 1987, but nothing as intense as the past four weeks. It all started when I got the new album from The Gentlemen. Brass City Band features some of the best Stone-inspired tunes I’ve heard in ages, especially “Flame for Hire” and “No Need to Leave,” both of which remind me of tracks I had heard years ago from the Stones 1976 album Black and Blue. Never having owned the album, I found myself compelled to buy it during a visit to Tower Records one night. Listening to “Hand of Fate” and “Memory Motel” made me want to listen to Sticky Fingers, which for some reason I didn’t have anymore. So one night at J&R I bought Sticky Fingers and -- just because it was on sale -- Goat Head’s Soup. And then I heard “Tops” (or maybe it was “Heaven”) from Tattoo You at the bar, so I had to listen to that album again.

All of this quality Stones time led me to make a Stones mix for the bar during the week. And just to be different, I put together 16 of their more mellow songs, like “Memory Motel,” “Winter,” “Moonlight Mile” and “Loving Cup.” On Friday I was meeting someone for drinks at the International Bar in the East Village, and before they showed up the jukebox went silent. So I grabbed a couple of bucks from my wallet and decided to play some songs from Exile on Main Street. I meant to play “Shake Your Hips,” but somehow goofed and played “Loving Cup,” which I already heard twice that day while giving my Stones mix a test spin. No big deal, I thought, I still enjoy that song. The person I was meeting showed up, and 20 minutes into our coversation someone went over the jukebox to play some songs…and played “Loving Cup.” And then 30 minutes later, “Loving Cup” was played again. And toward the end of our time at the bar, someone else played it too. And all I could think was, “Has there ever been a more obvious candidate for Song of the Week.” I would think not.