Mirage: Side 1 or Side 2?

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Never understood why Hold Me was put where it was, but I love side 2 because of it.

I think it was strategic. They knew it’d be a hit and its placement on side two therefore would familiarize casual (“hit”-based) fans with album tracks around it. How many people, beyond fans, would have even tried to listened, for example, to “Straight Back” if it were buried in the sequencing among other non-hits?

For the same reason the lovely opening to “Only Over You” is more widely known because it followed “Gypsy.” Whether one stayed tune or not...well, I can’t say. But they were aware of it unless they bolted to the tuning arm.