My Top 1000 Songs #900: Sleepless

Wow, we've made it 90% of the way through this project! During which time Blogger changed its algorithms, and I've largely abandoned the horrifically Nazified Twitter where I used to promote these posts, so the number of daily readers has dropped from several thousand to basically one guy in Pittsburgh. But, hey, momentum!

Anyway, weren't we just talking about King Crimson last week? Indeed we were; but that was a very different King Crimson (as they pretty much all are), and this time we're in 1984, when the Adrian Belew iteration of the band actually managed something of a sorta-hit single! Alas, Three Of A Perfect Pair was the end of that formation's 3-LP run (still, probably the longest-lasting studio incarnation of any of the countless Kings Crimson). But they went out with some serious bang.

"Sleepless" managed to get an old prog band to cross over into college radio territory, with what may even be fairly be classified as a party/dance song(?), largely on the strength of Tony Levin's astounding bass playing--probably his most distinctive track ever?--and some catchy Belew hooks. Plus, the radio-friendly remix, even if Robert Fripp was apparently not a fan, gave it some punch that made it perfect to crank up on your car's tape deck.

Live 1984. I mean, c'mon Tony Levin, holy shit!

Belew/Levin, just last year...