Best Debut Singles Evah!

Except without the cod-Marxist lyrics, thank God.

Kinda hard to pull that off with a straight face when your band shamelessly pursues the filthy lucre (see:Interpol).

As for this question:

"Party at Ground Zero" by Fishbone

oh god, this is where I reveal myself to be a little too much of a Tori nut. MAAG was released first, with SATY as a b-side, then deleted (no idea why). Then it was re-released with the same artwork, same b-sides etc. but with SATY as the lead track.

Alicia Keys - Fallin'
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls

ha, amateurist I wrote that then erased it - is it really The Impressions absolute first release?

did anyone actually kinda do this?

Well sure, Charlie, but Pulp weren't really known in the US, then. If anything, they were barely a blip. It did take a while for people to stop saying, "Who the hell are they"?

"Anarchy in the UK"

which band/artist's first single was their best song of their career? (please name band/artist)

The Who: "I Can't Explain."

here's where the comparisons don't really work due to the lyrical facility mega-evident in "I Luv U" and "Virginia Plain"

now if "The Message" had been a debut... ("Has It Come To This" anyone?)

"Fight For Your Right to Party"

Absolutely. And I wanna nominate one of the forgotten gems of the '80s, Londonbeat's 9 a.m. (The Comfort Zone). Why it isn't regarded as one of the all-time great soul songs, I'll never understand.

"Doo Wop (That Thing)" by Lauryn Hill

We should be ashamed not to have mentioned "Hit Me Baby (One More Time)" yet!!!!! (Why do all my choices have parentheses??)

Buzzcocks - "Orgasm Addict"

Spiral Scratch was the debut

Scissor Sisters - "Comfortably Numb"

was the b-side of the first single, not an a-side until their third

Hanson - "MMMBop"

Dust Brothers version was released after they'd had two albums, including one with another version of MMMBop on it. That said I'm almost inclined to accept this, as approximately zero people would ever have heard those albums without hearing them live, first.

Courtney Barnett - "Avant Gardener"

this was a track on her second EP, and another track from that EP was sold as a digital single a year earlier.

I was pretty rigorous, when making this list, with consulting Wikipedia and Discogs (and in a few cases, CD liner notes), so I can only imagine that these were just the results of shoddy research on my part. Spiral Scratch I knew about, and I cannot imagine how I forgot it. "Avant Gardner" might have been the result of some incomplete info on Wiki, but you're right--the song doesn't even appear until a year after her first release! As for "Comfortably Numb," I suppose I could count the b-side of a debut single, but (I see now) the song wasn't released as an A-side until their 3rd single, so I'm not counting it either.

Erasing those three from my playlist, but keeping "MMMBop" for the reason you mention: those first two records don't really count. Also, adding "Take On Me," which I just remembered after seeing it on Alfred's list.

The Saints - (I'm) Stranded

^ otm

yeah, Comfortably Numb could actually fit Paul's theme, in that one might have heard it before anything else. I definitely heard Laura first though! (maybe on mp3 blogs initially, but it charted slightly in Australia the year before Numb was a single, and it also placed on a Big Deal annual youth radio listener poll of best singles of the year)

Hank Williams - Move It On Over

The Teddy Bears - To Know Him Is To Love Him

Commodores - "Machine Gun"

Discogs says their first single was released in 1969, four years before "Machine Gun".

I actually like Laura better than Comfortably Numb and love it as a single.

Hank released four singles prior to "Move It On Over" (though it was his first chart hit).

i guess his first would be "Never Again (Will I Knock On Your Door)"? still a great song.

Thanks Tuomas, re: “Machine Gun.” Wikipedia strikes again!

I like “Laura” too, but it still isn’t their first single; something called “Electrobix” is.

The first one that came to mind upon seeing the thread title was 'New Rose', but I knew someone would have said that already as it's so thoroughly, undeniably classic. Surprised it took so long for it to get mentioned, though.

I like “Laura” too, but it still isn’t their first single; something called “Electrobix” is.

yes, that's why I said that Comfortably Numb was their third

(was noting that as far as singles go, it's not like Laura didn't make an impact well before Numb)

singles that stand out as leaving me instantly in love with the artist when they came out:

Neutral Milk Hotel - Everything Is (wrote Jeff Mangum a letter and he left me an answering machine message (never talked))

Cornershop - Waterlogged

and a couple already mentioned, Upside Down and Ohio River Boat Song.

SULTANS OF SWING

RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE

Change - The Glow Of Love

this was released as a single well after both "a lover's holiday" (the only single to have come out before the album did) and "searching". imo "a lover's holiday" is an incredible debut single tho!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A29BMj3v86w

Metallica - Whiplash
Slayer - Raining Blood

If "You Send Me" really is Sam Cooke's first (solo) single, then that