Bo Diddley – Pills (1961)

I think the first version I ever heard of this was by The Lurkers. Soon after, I heard the New York Doll’s fantastic rendition which appears on their eponymous debut LP of 1973 (which is, of course, Morrissey’s favourite album of all time) – plenty of New York Dolls to come on this blog in due course ….

However, always worth checking the original for what was in the composer’s head. Released as a single in 1961, “Pills” found Bo 6 years or so into his career and, while the hits were starting to dry up, this is a triumphant return to form with classic twangy guitar and a well researched early critique of the vagaries of the US Healthcare system. Costs were clearly spiralling out of control as pills are handed out with remarkable abandon and with scant regard for price or clinical effect - this is what Obama is still battling with today ….