| "Kicks" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byPaul Revere & the Raiders | ||||
| from the albumMidnight Ride | ||||
| B-side | "Shake It Up" | |||
| Released | February 1966 (1966-02)[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:26 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Barry Mann,Cynthia Weil | |||
| Producer(s) | Terry Melcher | |||
| Paul Revere & the Raiders singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Kicks" is a song composed byBarry Mann andCynthia Weil, best known as a 1966 hit for Americanrock bandPaul Revere & the Raiders.
Mann and Weill wrote the song forthe Animals, but the band's lead singerEric Burdon turned it down.[3] Instead, Paul Revere & the Raiders recorded and released it as a single in 1966. The single was a number one hit in Canada, and reached number four in the United States. "Kicks" was included on the band's fifth album,Midnight Ride, released in May 1966. A live version of the song was recorded on the band's 1996Greatest Hits Live compilation album.
Considered one of the earliest anti-drug songs, "Kicks" was composed and released during an era in which pro-hippie, pro-experimentation, and othercounterculture themes were gaining popularity on U.S. FM radio stations.[4] The song's message was consequently perceived as outdated by the emerging youth counterculture, as popular artists ranging fromthe Beatles toJefferson Airplane had written songs whose themes sharply contrasted that of "Kicks."[4] However, the song has received generally positive reviews by music critics in the decades since its release.[5][6][7] In 2004, "Kicks" was ranked number 400 onRolling Stone's list ofThe 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
After the Animals had chart success with the 1965 single "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," producerTerry Melcher asked the song's writers, Mann and Weil, to compose a similar song for Paul Revere & the Raiders.[8][9] The result was "Kicks", a song originally offered to the Animals, but turned down by lead singer Eric Burdon.[3] Mann and Weil wrote the song as a warning to a friend about the dangers of drug use.[9][10]In the song, a narrator pleads with a girl that drug use causes addiction and thatsoft drugs can lead to the use ofhard drugs,[4] though the lyrics never explicitly mention any of those things; ultimately the lyrics conclude that her real problem is psychological ("you'll never run away from you") and that there is "another way" to face the trials of life.
Musically, the song's lead guitar lines recall the Beatles, while its bass figures are similar to those popularized bythe Byrds.[10] The song containscloser harmonies and a more euphonious melodic arrangement than the band's previous single, "Just Like Me".[11]Lead singerMark Lindsay'sR&B vocal style, combined with the song's guitar and organ instrumentation, is reminiscent of British bands such asthe Kinks andthe Yardbirds.[12]
In March 1966, "Kicks" entered the U.S.Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 62.[13]The song peaked at number four in May,[14]and spent 14 weeks on the chart.[15]Within two months of its release, the single had sold 500,000 copies.[16]It was the highest-charting U.S. hit to that date for Paul Revere & the Raiders, later eclipsed only by 1971's "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)," which reached number one."Kicks" became the band's first Canadian number one single when it topped theCanadian Singles Chart in May 1966.[17] In Sweden, it reached number 14 onTio i Topp.[18]
The song is considered the first with an anti-drug message to become a U.S.hit single.[4][19]With the passage of theCommunications Act of 1934, theFederal Communications Commission was chartered to monitor the radio and TV industries, meaning broadcasts were subject to censorship.[20]Some censors, based on the song title alone, mistakenly believed "Kicks" to glorify drug use.[20]Despite the song's commercial success, its lyrics were soon perceived as outdated[11] by young people, as they increasingly experimented withmarijuana andLSD.[4] Meanwhile, songs emerged from popular artists who praised, sometimes cryptically and sometimes overtly, the use of psychedelic drugs.[4] These acts included the Beatles,the Rolling Stones, theGrateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Byrds.[4] The messages contained within hit songs such as "White Rabbit," "Along Comes Mary" and "Eight Miles High" were antithetical to that of "Kicks," which contributed to a perception by members of the burgeoning youth counterculture that Paul Revere & the Raiders were part of theEstablishment.[4]Singer–songwriterDavid Crosby, then a member of the Byrds, was upset with the success of the song, particularly as it came just after his group's "Eight Miles High" had been boycotted by many U.S. radio stations.[21]Crosby described "Kicks" as "a dumb anti-drug song" that took "a falsely adopted stance. With 'Eight Miles High', we were talking about something very near and dear to our hearts."[21]
On the other hand,Beach Boys founderBrian Wilson singled out "Kicks" as one of his favorites of Terry Melcher's works.[22]Music critic Chris Brown ofCrawdaddy! praised the song's vocal, saying "the use of harmony is well-timed and wonderfully executed; and the power in the vocal as the last word of each verse stretches into the chorus is undoubtedly what sells the song."[5]Bruce Eder ofAllMusic called it "a great song that managed to be cool and anti-drug."[6]In his 2009 book,Everybody Must Get Stoned, authorR. U. Sirius named "Kicks" the number one rock song against drugs.[7]Sirius said, "With clear and concise lyrics by the famous Mann-Weil songwriting team, there's no cheese on rock's first anti-drug platter."[7]The song was ranked number 400 onRolling Stone's2004 list ofThe 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[8]The song placed 36th onPaste Magazine's 2014 list of the "50 Best Garage Rock Songs of All Time".[23]
Paul Revere & the Raiders performed a live version of "Kicks" on the band's 1996Greatest Hits Live compilation.[24] Lindsay, with the Mark Lewis Trio, re-recorded the song on the 1990 albumLooking for Shelter.[25]A live version appears on his 1999 albumLegends Live: Mark Lindsay & Friends.[26] Former bass guitarist Phil Volk, with his band Fang & the Gang, performed the song on the 2005tribute albumFang Reveres the Raiders.[27]Mann and Weil revisited the song in their 2004Off BroadwayrevueThey Wrote That? The Songs of Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil.[28]
Singer-songwriterDel Shannon recorded a version of "Kicks" for his 1966 albumThis Is My Bag.[29]Surf rock groupthe Challengers covered the song on their albumCalifornia Kicks, also released in 1966.[30] TheLeathercoated Minds, a studio band featuringJ. J. Cale on guitar and production, performed the song on their 1968 albumA Trip Down the Sunset Strip.[31] Rock bandNazz covered the song for a compilation album which ended up being cancelled, but their recording eventually saw release onNazz III (a collection of archival Nazz recordings) in 1971. Nazz guitaristTodd Rundgren recalled, "We thought the song was ok, but Paul Revere and the Raiders were funny. So we had to break it down in the middle and do something moreMothers of Invention."[32] In 1974,John Mellencamp was signed toMCA Records after Mellencamp recorded ademo on which he performed the song.[33] Rock bandEarth Quake recorded a version of the song on their 1977 albumLevelled.[34]Leif Garrett covered "Kicks" on his 1979 albumSame Goes for You.[35]
Naz Nomad and the Nightmares, aside project featuring members of punk bandThe Damned, covered the song on their 1984 albumGive Daddy the Knife Cindy.[36]The Monkees included their version of the song on their 1986 greatest hits compilationThen & Now... The Best of The Monkees.[37] Rock band theFlamin' Groovies released "Kicks" as a single from their 1986 albumOne Night Stand.[38] In 1999, jazz guitaristMimi Fox released the albumKicks, on which her rendition of the song appears.[39]Garage rock bandthe Gants added a version of the song on their 2000 greatest hits albumI Wonder.[40]Everclear covered the song on their 2008 albumThe Vegas Years.[41]
Paul Revere & the Raiders
Session musicians and production staff
| Chart (1966) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| CanadianRPM Top Singles[17] | 1 |
| Sweden (Tio i Topp)[18] | 14 |
| U.S.Billboard Hot 100[14] | 4 |
| U.S.Cash Box Top 100 Singles[45] | 3 |
| U.S.Record World 100 Top Pops[46] | 5 |
