When was "Thursday" written? Cause man, they have got to be sick of that song.

I don't know precisely when it was written, but I'll relate the bits of history that I've been able to gather. In May, 1998, the Spongebath website was reporting that the band was "recording with Richard Dodd... for their new album due out early fall." This, I believe, is a reference to the "Mississippi sessions," which produced the version of "Thursday" that was released on vinyl.

When the band played on Thunder 94, Matt introduced the song with, "This song is a song called 'Thursday.' It's a newer one." Unfortunately, no one has been able to tell me when this show was recorded. I've learned that Thunder 94 stopped broadcasting on August 29, 1997, so it must have been before then.

Based on all of this, I would guess that it was written in the first half of 1997. In any case, they have certainly been playing it for a long time. However, on Friday night, they put some tremendous energy into the song, and it was more entertaining than its been in many, many months.

(Edited by Tom Foolery at 3:23 pm on Dec. 15, 2002)

not sure when it was written, but it was already the set closer in 1997 when i saw them open for reel big fish. one of the features' brothers played the "la da da da" response on trumpet, if i remember correctly.

reel big fish was, um, ska-tastic.

(Edited by 6969hOoBaInCuBuS420 at 7:03 pm on Dec. 16, 2002)

I remember only a short while without Thursday. I think i remember it coming around in '96. Christ, what a long time ago. Back when "Your Smile" and "Treehouse Club" were still big songs for them. Thursday was a bit different then but not too terribly much. There are some extra drum parts now toward the end and the middle seems a bit faster. Don used to do the back ups in the opening part. The end had them doing the "heys" and and the finale "ahhhh"s.

Oh another thing I remember about Thursday. Matt used to always tear up his hand while playing that song for a while and there would always be blood dripping off his hand and on the guitar. It was very rock n' roll, I once fancied he rigged some apparatus to do that but I think he actually was injured. heh...such a trooper.

Ya know, I miss Don Sergio. He was a great performer and a pretty good musician too. Also, I miss all those old songs. Extension cord (i think it was), the one where Matt had this toy siren around his neck and played it, Treehouse club, Antigravity, Standing by, radio 1. Tis a shame they don't bring them out every now and then. I think it's because their either too old or they needed that extra guitar to play them. I remember seeing them for quite a long time when it was matt, don, roger, parrish and jason. I feel old!

-holey peacoat



-holey Peacoat

(Edited by holeypeacoat at 12:03 pm on Dec. 17, 2002)

Man, I am not a fan of the old songs. I've heard most of them and I can understand how they could have been good when that's all the world had heard of The Features, but for me they just don't compare today. "Your Smile" takes like 2 minutes to get to the chorus. It's just not the same without Rollum.

I feel about the same way. It's not the chorus thing that I don't like about the song though. I just don't like the way it sounds alltogether. I'm not saying it's bad, but I just can't listen to it.

You two shouldn't make any plans for this weekend because the spirit of brianeno2 will probably strike you dead for your blasphemy.

I'm not even sure if "Your Smile" is 2 minutes total! hehehe... I'll have to go home and listen to it. Yeah, you're certainly right. The songs are much better and more complex these days. I think out of all the old songs "Your Smile" is probably my least favourite. But there's a bit of charm in the simplicity of a lot of the old stuff. Over the past seven years of going to Features shows regularly, I would dare to guess there's been around 8 albums worth of material played (including covers I'm A Boy, Psycho Killer, Laid, I Heard It Through The Grapevine), possibly more. It would just be nice or maybe even a small trip back in time to see an "oldie" at some point. Hehehehe...the Features have "oldies."

-holey

(Edited by holeypeacoat at 9:10 am on Dec. 18, 2002)

I prefer the Features' newer material to the older stuff, too. BUT I would still LOVE it if they sprinkled in "Your Smile" or "Anti-Gravity..." or "Roger's Theme" or some such oldie every once in a while at their shows.

I also dont find anything fantastic about the old songs...they just dont seem to go anywhere....not very mind-blowing....the songs that they write now are much much better, and very mind-blowing indeed....compare a song like "your smile" to "me and the skirts", the growth of the songwriting is breathtaking....

you have to start somewhere..........were the beatles making records like sgt pepper in '63? nope. you can see where the newer or more recent songs evolve from when you hear the older tunes.

No. You need to write amazing hit songs from the beginning or give up and work at Burger King.

Well, there are a few threads in this forum "Every Single Features Song" and "Something Useless but Fun" that give certain documentation on this fact, but here's what we've got:

66 total Features songs
85 Features songs including covers
35 Features songs (excluding covers) that have been played in the past 3 months.

So 8 albums might not be too far off.

Will

I will also agree that the newer stuff is better than the older stuff. Treehouse Club and Extention Cord, Antigravity Class of 93 and Engine Debris, non of them hold up like Action, Someway Somehow, or Moonlight (to use entirely random examples of both old and new). Still, that doesn't alter the fact that I think "Your Smile" is an amazing song and still a favorite of mine or that, as jamie said, some old songs in the set every now and again would be nice.

Could Your Smile be brought back by fan demand as Harold was? That would be something.

Will