The Monochrome Set clearly thought very highly of this song, as they recorded it at least four times that I know of. (Don't forget Tracey Thorn's lovely cover of it on the flip of her "Plain Sailing" single, either.) However, the canonical version for me has always been this take, originally on their 1980 debut album Strange Boutique. Continuing a Little Hits mini-trend of songs that mine almost unbearable tension from a simple voice and guitar format, this version of "Goodbye Joe" is the tensest by far. For all of the Monochrome Set's early image as a wacky, zany band, this is an exceedingly dark song that's made all the more unsettling by the oblique lyrics, which create an atmosphere of menace without ever spelling out who Joe is or what he's done that Bid's so wound up about. Finally, the absolutely genius way that the clattering, reverb heavy guitar line slowly fractures into a kaleidoscopic dub mix of itself -- with a sinister bit of circus music creeping in just to complete the sense of unease -- before snapping right back for the final verse is one of my favorite musical moments of the entire UK post-punk scene.

-Stewart Mason