My Top 1000 Songs #892: Other 99

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Big Audio Dynamite never seemed to get the recognition they deserved, and their third album--1988's Tighten Up Vol. 88--in particular felt unfairly overlooked, both at the time and certainly since (where's the expanded remaster we deserve??). After a pair of groundbreaking records which merged pop, rock, and electronic dance music, chock full of samples and occasional raps, this record saw Mick Jones leaning a little more heavily into the melodic pop he brought to Clash tracks like "Train In Vain" and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go."

"Other 99" was probably the band's most straightforward pop-rock track, ridiculously catchy and relying less on Don Letts' production flourishes and more on an infectious tune and earnestly humbled everyman lyrics. It was the sort of song that, on first listen, I figured everyone in the world would be singing along with all the time. But I think I was the only one.

Live 2011: