2000 Great Songs #1302: City Kids

I've never quite figured out what to do with the Pink Fairies. Are they a psychedelic band? Prog? Heavy metal? British guitar boogie? Punk? Given the number of iterations the British band has gone through over its on again/off again half-century-plus history, maybe all of these? I can't say I'm much of a fan, but 1973's Kings Of Oblivion did a decent enough job of mashing up these disparate styles. And lead-off track "City Kids" was probably the closest they'd come to an almost-radio-friendly pop-rock song. A catchy, driving number that could be a great lost Pretty Things or Status Quo track (with some Iggy/Stooges in the mix), it's maybe too weird for basic hard rock, or just a little too proto-punk for classic rock... just a cool little rocker that defies pigeonholing.

Larry Wallis, the singer/guitarist on that album, went on to help form Motorhead (with Lemmy from Hawkwind), and brought the song with him for the first Motorhead LP, 1979's On Parole (recorded in 1975).

Live:

Motorhead version:

Lunar Vibe psychedelic cover:

See the entire Top 2000 to date in a sortable database!