My Top 1000 Songs #916: Special One

[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.]

Short-lived US alt.rockers Ultra Vivid Scene managed three mostly-forgotten LPs in the late 80s & early 90s. They weren't bad, just a little tough to pigeon-hole--a varied stew that drew from 80s college radio jangle and Cure-like goth-pop, maybe some Velvet Underground and pre-shoegaze My Bloody Valentine here and there. But, honesty, it's hard to say--I like their records, but these days they feel both of-their-moment and a little lost in time.

But one track did leap out, albeit it's a bit of a cheat. For "Special One," off 1990's Joy 1987-1990, the band got Kim Deal (who also branched out from the Pixies for the first Breeders LP that same year) to add her sultry vocals, catnip for every indie fanboy on the planet. The song itself is actually pretty solid, some jangly, mellow indie pop with an infectious hook, but it's Kim's "how do you think it feels?" chorus that made a stray track from a little known band endure in my imagination for 35 years.

Alternate video, more Kim: