The song pays homage to two rock groups: firstly to The Velvet Underground, with the song "Sister Ray" being directly referenced (OMD had previously covered "I'm Waiting for the Man" as a B-side to 1980 single "Messages"); and secondly to The Who, with the line "people try to drag us down" being near-identical in melody and lyrical content to the opening line of "My Generation".
British power-punk band Buzzcocks formed as a result of a classified ad placed by founding member Howard Devoto seeking musicians to collaborate on a version of "Sister Ray".
It also follows the Velvet Underground stylistically by counterpointing and transposing jarring feedback-driven rock with tough and tender ballads, melodic distortion of a magnitude not heard since the "Sister Ray" days.
Ray Charles | Ray Bradbury | X-ray | Man Ray | Satyajit Ray | Stevie Ray Vaughan | Ray Milland | Ray Liotta | Ray Davies | Sugar Ray Leonard | Billy Ray Cyrus | Ray Stevens | Blu-ray Disc | Ray Winstone | Ray Kurzweil | X-ray crystallography | Ray Brown (musician) | Ray Bolger | Ray Mears | Sugar Ray Robinson | Ray Anderson | Nicholas Ray | Lexemuel Ray Hesler | Sugar Ray | Sister Sledge | Ray | Ray Manzarek | Ray Brown | Ray Anderson (musician) | Mother Father Brother Sister |
It was also well known for its independent record shops especially through the 1990s into the early 21st century (including Vinyl Junkies, CD City, Sister Ray, and Mr Bongo's), however many have closed due to the emergence of digital downloading.