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I got into YFF back in the early ’90s when This One’s For The Ladies was released. It was a good couple weeks. The week before I had bought the dubut album by The Stone Roses and was blown away. YFF’s I bought on a whim because I liked the artwork and thought song titles like “Taco Wagon” sounded right up my alley. Needless to say it made me a fan, and largely because of their cover of The Kinks’ “Picture Book” as we see here. I was not aware that it was an old Kinks track at the time. When I finally did hear the original version, I was disappointed. YFF gave it punch and buzz. I came along to liking Ray Davies’ version, but never as much as this one.
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My sentiments exactly on “Picture Book.” Heard YFF’s version first, and the Kinks version still sounds of stiff to me. I remember how excited I was when Deb brought home this YFF album, only this song was nowhere to be found, despite the artwork and track listing. It’s as if she got a completely different album.
And I’ve seen that happen. I’m working at a record store in 1988, and a guy comes in with Billy Squier’s Don’t Say No, saying “This isn’t Billy Squier.” I’m skeptical, until I play the tape: it was Crowded House’s Temple of Low Men instead (they were both on Capitol at the time), which hadn’t even been released yet. I tell him, “Keep this tape, it’s a collector’s item.” “No thanks, I’d rather have Billy Squier,” he said. And because it’s a return, I can’t keep it. Sigh.