THAT Song. Again And Again!

I had another blog post ready for today, but this idea occurred to me during this morning's commute, and I wanted to run with it instead:

What single track have you owned the most? What song have you acquired over and over again, across formats, more than any other song? I'm not necessarily talking about live takes or alternate versions (though that would be fair game if you like), but what song have you just purchased and re-purchased (or even received as a gift) in LPs, singles, tapes, CDs. flexi-discs, the backs of cereal boxes, whatever, on best-of sets and various-artists collections, original pressings and simulated-stereo reissues, in such volume that your stack of just THAT song would be taller than your stack of any other song?

For me, I'm not going to try to answer empirically. My gut says that CC's most-repeatedly-acquired track would have to be "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks.

The knee-jerk response might have been something by The Beatles or The Monkees, given how many copies of Rubber Soul and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. have been in my possession at various times. But no, I think my single-song king has gotta be "You Really Got Me." I think.

My first copy of "You Really Got Me" was on The History Of British Rock, a 2-LP Sire Records compilation I picked up in 1977. I actually had the second volume before that (which made "All Day And All Of The Night" my first-ever Kinks holding). The "You Really Got Me" U.S. 45 on Reprise Records was a subsequent flea-market purchase. So, two copies of the song early on. A modest beginning.

But girl, that really got me goin'. These followed over the ensuing months, years, and decades:

The Kinks' Greatest Hits! used LP
The Kinks: The Pye History Of British Pop Music LP
Golden Hour Of The Kinks cassette
Time-Life: Classic Rock 1964 various-artists CD
The British Invasion: The History Of British Rock Vol. 1 Rhino Records various-artists CD
Kinks Rhino CD reissue
Kinks Essential CD reissue
The Anthology 1964-1971 Sanctuary five-CD box

That brings us to ten "You Really Got Me"s in my memory, though I'm pretty sure I forgot an additional compilation appearance or two (or more), almost certainly at least one Mojo or Uncut magazine disc. This doesn't count live versions on The Live Kinks, One For The Road, and my two copies (single disc and double disc) of To The Bone, nor TV lip-sync appearances on VHS or DVD collections.

Hmmm. Ten copies isn't a huge number when dealing with a pop obsessive such as yours truly. Maybe I was mistaken? Let's try another much-loved track for comparison: "I'm A Believer" by The Monkees.

More Of The Monkees Colgems LP
The Monkees' Greatest Hits Arista LP
Stardust original movie soundtrack LP
Colgems 45 (I think--I had the picture sleeve, but I can't recall for sure if I had the record)
Monkeemania Australian 2-LP compilation
Then & Now: The Best Of The Monkees LP
Then & Now: The Best Of The Monkees CD
Time-Life: Classic Rock 1967 various-artists CD
More Of The Monkees Rhino CD
More Of The Monkees expanded Rhino CD
Listen To The Band boxed set
I'm A Believer And Other Hits Rhino Flashback budget CD collection
Greatest Hits Rhino best-of CD
The Monkees Anthology Rhino 2-CD set
50 Rhino 50th anniversary 3-CD set

Yeah, I guess I'll give this one to the Believers. And that's also not counting a million live versions, nor however many times the track appears on my DVD and Blu-ray sets of The Monkees TV series. That said, I do play "You Really Got Me" way more often than I play "I'm A Believer." How about you? What song have you owned the most?



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