Wednesday, March 31, 2010

My version is better than yours part 10: Big Secret vs. Jacki Baaron –It’s on My Mind



Big Secret – King Kong/It’s on my Mind –Finger 2046 038 (1973 Ger)

Jacki Baaron – King Kong/It’s on my Mind –Poplandia P-30569 (1973 Portuguese issue)

Based on the first nano seconds of spinning the Big Secret version, you could be fooled into thinking that you were listening to a demo of Holidays In The Sun...but no, the guitar then goes off on a tangent, the beat kicks in and the track turns into a mighty fine T.Rex-type tune where an organ swells behind snazzy female lead vocals. Regardless of your cover girl preference; there’s no denying the obvious fact that Enri and July win hands down sonically. The Big Secret mix is clearer, the reverb on the guitar and drums more potent and the separation works well...plus the vocals hit the spot whereas Jacki sounds somewhat deflated.

Both the A and B side backing tracks are identical and from the same production team,. So what was the big idea? King Kong was Big Secret’s follow up to the superb Ride Captain Ride. The girls were well implanted in Germany with their Les Humphries Singers TV appearances which was as good a springboard as any to solo continental success.

I don’t know who Jacki Baaron was, but she may have been Spanish. Perhaps it was felt in some quarters that mini-skirted dancing Pilipino girls wouldn’t maximise a single’s potential across all territories?

Hear a full version of Big Secret




Hear a full version of Jacki Baaron




Hear Big Secret's King Kong

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

great song, both versions. i'm confused though...what song is it? the A-side "King Kong" or B-side "It's on My Mind"?

Robin Wills said...

I think the clue is in the bit where they sing..."it's on my mind"...

Anonymous said...

Haha, yeah I'm an idiot...but I got confused when I looked up the single and a glam site had a few lines from "King Kong" which included the lyric "What's on My Mind" which is so close to "It's on My Mind"...how is the other side anyway?

Robin Wills said...

OK...just upload Big S's KK...Hard to believe it's not a Linsey De Paul number...

Anonymous said...

Alright! Why tell me about it when you can let me hear it for myself :) Thanks Robin, you're the best! The song lives up to its cool title, too!

Erotic Architectural Poetry said...

Big Secret's version is just so good. Been collecting up their other singles. Nothing quite as good of course, but I'm a fan! Thanks again purepop!