You’re Living Inside My Head – John Ireland
You’re Living Inside My Head – John Ireland (And here’s the bill for your rent)
John Ireland, Thinking Aloud
People my age probably only liked John Ireland, but those a few years older had him living inside their heads, and for the slightly younger of us, we were a little taken aback at the pounding disco beat that emanated from our speakers once we stopped tittering at the suggestiveness of ‘I Like…’ and tracked down Mr Ireland’s earlier hit.
‘You’re Living Inside My Head’ blends an old tune (Greensleeves – remember that one from 1580?) with sci-fi whistling sounds and mirror ball spinning beats to create a floor-filler that incorporates both space and time. Ireland’s voice varies between almost whispered and at times somewhat creepy as he ‘Think(s) of you so much, you must be living inside my head’. He also manages to add a confident ‘big brother’ commanding tone that gives an overall edgy effect that leaves one feeling slightly ill at ease, yet intrigued.
The song peaked at Number 8 on the SA Top 20 in 1978 and remains one of the great SA disco tunes of the late 70’s. It’s hard to imagine King Henry VIII to whom Greensleeves is (wrongly according to Wikipedia) attributed, strutting his stuff in his white suit to this song, but I think I can picture Anne Boleyn pulling him onto the dancefloor saying, ‘You have to dance to this.’
John Ireland, Thinking Aloud (German pressing) 1978
Where to find it:
Thinking Aloud – John Ireland (1978), Teal, JIC9999 (vinyl only, unreleased on CD)
Disco Fever – Various Artists (July 1999), Gallo, CDREDD 627 (Out of print, so you may struggle)
Disco Fever
Website:
John Ireland at the SA Rock Encyclopedia
Video:
Single Edit Version
Full Length Album Version
Reblogged this on Brian Currin and commented:
One of my all-time favourite South African songs.