Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Gotta See Jane

 

From 1967, or 1968, or 1970, here is Canadian singer-songwriter R. Dean Taylor, most famous for his 1971 hit "Indiana Wants Me," with a very unlikely addition to Motown's mid-60's roster, "Gotta See Jane," a song that sounds more suited for a Nuggets compilation.

Co-written by Motown legend Eddie Holland and Taylor, it seems this track was first released in 1967 on Motown's subsidiary V.I.P. Records, re-released two times again, until it finally appeared as the opening track on Taylor's 1970 debut, "I Think, Therefore I Am." I personally, had not heard it until yesterday when my pal Sal Maida said, "You gotta listen to this track. It sounds like the Electric Prunes."

He's not wrong.

So while I was digging this track, my digging took me to a cover version by The Fall, which may or may not work, depending on how you feel about The Fall. I don't mind it, but I prefer the original.


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Canadian accent is evident. I remember the first time I heard this. It was sandwiched between Albert Flasher, Treat Her Like a Lady, Rainy Days and Mondays, It Don't Come Easy, One Toke Over the Line and Brown Sugar on one of those Top 40ish FM Stations. I'll never forget because me and my beau were cruising up the Coast Highway towards Laguna in his red '68 Barracuda and singing along with the selections. Till Gotta See Jane came along. My boyfriend knew it and sang it solo between the bookends of tire screeches. I thought, "What was this?" I guess it was a hit but I never listened to that station. It's a great song. Love the strings and arrangement. The wordiness doesn't bother me. Never owned it but it's still in the cobwebs.

Fall version is OK. Seemed like someone else would have covered it by now.

VR

Anonymous said...

The song is new to me, but I very much like to original. It doesn't sound like Motown which is fine by me.

The Fall's cover isn't bad, but it lacks the weirdness of their best material; perhaps if they had covered it during the 80's when they had a really top bunch of players, it would have been better.

- Paul in DK

Anonymous said...

My best friend growing up (and still my best friend!) had a jukebox in his basement that his mom got in the early/mid 70s, so lots of stuff from the 60s and early 70s on it. Indiana Wants Me was one of the 45s on it, and we used to play it a lot. It had similar realistic background sounds--sirens and so forth.

This one is new to me--thanks for sharing!

Bill

M_Sharp said...

Good song! I like the screeching tires and the cello. Definitely prefer R. Dean's original to The Fall's cover.

Whattawino said...

I Like It!…and agree that it sounds Prunes-esque to me too. The Fall’s fell flat, imho.

Sixtyacres said...

Top tune from 1968 and a number 17 hit in the U.K.!

Ralph said...

Great song!

Love the Fall version, although it’s their lesser R Dean Taylor cover. Never one I saw them play live, unlike There’s a Ghost in My House. Always got the impression from interviews that MES was a real fan.

Anonymous said...

Incredible timing with this - just last week, I pulled up a podcast of Ben Vaughn's Many Moods of Ben Vaughn radio show and Gotta See Jane was one of the tunes he spun. I've got over a hundred shows of Many Moods and damned if this was the one I chose...

Randy

Radio Tower Records - Berlin said...

Wonderful stuff; Gotta See Jane, Ghost In My House & Indiana were all given good airplay in the UK when I was a teenager. There are a couple of LPs where all three of these feature and The Complete Motown Singles also of course has them. Nice.

Christine said...

What a goddam great song! I love it! Not so much The Fall's version, though.

Why didn't you know about this sooner? ;)

dogbreath said...

Loved the R Dean Taylor song way back when and it's got to be considered a pop classic now, at least on this side of the pond perhaps. Took my (dog)breath away when I read you'd not heard it until recently. Cheers!