The Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files: A Trip With Drugstore

Time for yet another installment of the Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files, where we blow the dust off of a forgotten favorite and give its lack of chart success a once-over.

Artist: Drugstore Song: “Say Hello,” 1998 What happened: The dreamy British band Drugstore released its second album, White Magic For Lovers, in 1998; it had walls of guitars and circus-tent flourishes, with the smoke-wisp voice of lead singer/bassist Isabel Monteiro leading the way. “El President,” the album’s lead single, gained the band some notoriety because of its stridently anti-Pinochet lyrics; the vocal turn by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke helped it land on the UK’s singles chart. Why it should have been a hit: “Say Hello,” which opens White Magic, is a clarion call to cast-offs, complete with a pealing harmonica that gives way to a blast of mariachi horns; while it doesn’t quite reach the cello-driven heights of “El President,” its rally-the-freaks moxie gets us right in the part of our hearts that still wears Doc Martens.

Drugstore – Say Hello [MP3, link expired] Drugstore featuring Thom Yorke – El President [MP3, link expired] Drugstore [MySpace fan site]