| "Kicks" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Paul Revere & the Raiders | ||||
| from the album Midnight Ride | ||||
| B-side | "Shake It Up" | |||
| Released | February 1966[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 by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, best known as a 1966 hit for American rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders.
Mann and Weill wrote the song for the Animals, but the band's lead singer Eric 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 1996 Greatest 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 other counterculture themes were gaining popularity on U.S. FM radio stations.[4] The song's message was consequently perceived as outdated by the emerging youth counterculture, as popular artists ranging from the Beatles to Jefferson Airplane had written songs whose themes sharply contrasted that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 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
- ^ Savage, Jon (2015). 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded. London: Faber & Faber. p. 555. ISBN 978-0-571-27762-9.
- ^ Pig Gold, Gary (1998). "Paul Revere & the Raiders/Paul Revere & the Raiders featuring Mark Lindsay/Raiders/Pink Fuzz". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 938–939.
- ^ Dominic, Serene (March 9, 2000). "Phoenix Music – Paul Revere & the Raiders". Phoenix New Times (New Times Media). Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
- ^ a b Perone, James E. (2004). Music of the Counterculture Era (1st ed.). Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 113–4, 117–8. ISBN 978-0-313-32689-9.
- ^ Brown, Chris (March 1966). "Record Reviews". Crawdaddy!. Vol. 1, no. 3. pp. 16–17.
- ^ "Paul Revere & the Raiders – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
- ^ Everybody Must Get Stoned. New York City: Citadel Press. 2009. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-8065-3073-4.