SONG OF THE DAY

“Conquest” by The White Stripes (Icky Thump, Warner Brothers/ XL Records, 2007). Written by Corky Robbins.

WHY TODAY?

We always have the entire White Stripes discography on an MP3 CD in our car, and today I decided to rock out to it because it’s my birthday and I felt like rocking out! WOOH!

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

– “Conquest” is a song written by Corky Robbins and popularized in the 1950s by Patti Page.

– “Conquest” was covered by The White Stripes on their 2007 album Icky Thump, which features Regulo Aldama on trumpet.

– Patti Page’s version of “Conquest” was featured on an EBay commercial in the autumn of 2007.

– “Conquest” was released as the third single from the album in December 2007, and serves as their final single. It was released as a series of 7-inch colored vinyl singles, each containing the track “Conquest”.

– The tracks “It’s My Fault for Being Famous,” “Honey, We Can’t Afford to Look This Cheap” and “Cash Grab Complications on the Matter” appear on the black, white and red version of the records, respectively, with the latter featuring an acoustic Mariachi version of “Conquest”.

– Each single includes a trading card featuring famous matadors El Sloth, El Bianca Rosa or El Perdador.

– Despite the sound of a trumpet section, Nashville-based mariachi trumpeter Regulo Aldama played his part multiple times, and Jack overdubbed the recordings.

– The single peaked at #30 in the UK Singles Chart; although this made it The White Stripes’ lowest charting single to date, it charted reasonably high considering it wasn’t released as a CD single.

– A large portion of the “Conquest” vinyl singles have been mislabeled. The red and white sticker/seal on some of the sleeves actually reads “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)” the seal of which belongs to their previous single of that name. Also, the B-Side of the red vinyl which features the song “Cash Grab Complications on the Matter” reads “Honey, We Can’t Afford to Look this Cheap” on the record, which is the title of a separate B-Side on the white vinyl. The black vinyl featuring “It’s My Fault for Being Famous” is mislabeled as well, with “Cash Grab Complications on the Matter” being listed as the B-Side.

– The Best Buy exclusive cd version features the matador being charged at by a bull.

– Jack White first liked the song when he would listen to Page’s hits album while working in his upholstery shop. He had wanted to cover the song for ten years when he finally did in 2007.

– The band also released a Spanish version of the song on CD, 7″ vinyl and download on various dates through January 2008, re-titled “Conquista”.

– The music video for “Conquest” features a bullfighting theme, directed by Diane Martel in Artesia, California. It won a VMA for Best Cinematography in a Video.

– Icky Thump is the sixth and final studio album by US alternative rock band The White Stripes, and their only album on Warner Bros. Records.

– Icky Thump debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 with 223,000 copies sold. By late July, it was certified gold in the United States.

– The album won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

– Icky Thump marked a return to the punk, garage rock and blues influences for which the band is known. Additionally, the album introduces Scottish folk music, avant-garde, trumpet, and bagpipes into the formula, whilst simultaneously reintroducing older characteristics such as the first studio recording of the early White Stripes song “Little Cream Soda”.

– Icky Thump was recorded and mixed entirely in analog at Nashville’s Blackbird Studio by Joe Chiccarelli. According to Chiccarelli in an interview with HitQuarters, the band had already rehearsed and demoed around half the album, with the rest being conceived in the studio.

– The album took almost three weeks to record—the longest of any White Stripes album to date. The recording differed from previous albums in that White had the comparative luxury of recording to 16-track analog rather than his usual 8-track. Chiccarelli said: “We spent a little more time than he is used to experimenting and trying different things on that album, whether it was different ways to record the drums or the vocals, or different arrangements, or cutting takes together.”

– Jack White said that the album would appeal to fans of the band’s self-titled debut, suggesting a stripped-down garage rock sound. A statement on the band’s official website (spuriously attributed to “Kitayna Ireyna Tatanya Kerenska Alisof” of the “Moscow Bugle”, a reference to the 1966 Batman film) humorously claims that: “The White Stripes have completed the recording and mixing of their sixth album. It is entitled Icky Thump, and is their first album to include a title track, which curiously (and not ironically) has the same words in it’s [sic] name. Though some residents of northern England might almost recognize the title, the Stripes stress they are spelling it wrong intentionally just for “kicks” and “metaphors,” and to avoid a possible lawsuit from the estate of Billy Eckstine.”

– Furthermore, the album placed #17 on Rolling Stone’s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.

VIDEO OF THE DAY