10 Greatest Debut Singles Of All Time
Where were you when the world changed?
It’s a tale as old as time, and a song as old as… well, Irving Berlin’s “I’ll Never Smile Again”?
It's the first ever #1 hit on the Billboard chart, trivia fans.
No matter how hard streaming tries, the single will never lose its power. The debut single, doubly so.
There is still nothing like the thrill of an all-or-nothing statement of pop intent kicking the door in and demanding your attention. A manifesto writ across verse, chorus, and middle 8, stopping your heart beating for 168 seconds, and your brain from thinking about anything else until it's over.
You can tell how important they are by the utter legends that whiffed them in years past.
Madonna, Daft Punk, Black Sabbath, The Beatles, all acts that do not make this list, because this is all about the acts that got it right first time; the bands who realized their potential right on the first attempt, and in some cases, were never bettered.
10. Let’s Shake Hands – The White Stripes
Kicking off with something of a rarity, 1998 saw Jack’n’Meg announce themselves with a squall of slide guitar and a scudding riff The Gun Club themselves would have chewed a toe off to write.
Scything along to Meg’s caveman drum line, pretty much everything we love about the Detroit siblings/couple/divorcees/whatever is there from word go.
From the red and white cover art and shrieking, treated guitar solos, to the surprisingly subversive gender politics in Jack’s agonised howl begging a partner to end a relationship while they can still stand each other.
It places low on this list because it was by no means a hit, and The Stripes themselves would develop into something more sophisticated and strange over time.
As far as sheer thrills go however, there’s a reason this was their standard opener in concert all the way up to their final days.