The Bartender and the Thief (2:55)

“The Bartender and the Thief” is the first single from rock band the Stereophonics taken from their second album Performance and Cocktails. It was released on November 9, 1998. It reached #3 in the UK charts.

The song is track 2 on Performance and Cocktails. A live version from Cardiff Castle is available on CD2 of “The Bartender and the Thief” singles. Another live version from Sheffield Arena is on the “Moviestar” single. A bar version of the song is on CD 1 of the “I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio” single.

The music video features the band playing at a Vietnamese army base, and is based on the Francis Ford Coppola movie, Apocalypse Now.

During live performances of this track, vocalist Kelly Jones has been known to utilise the two bars without vocals before the final chorus to reference the Motorhead song “Ace of Spades”. The lyrics therefore are “THE ACE OF SPADES. THE ACE OF SPADES. The bartender and the thief were lovers…”

Strangely the songs full length intro only featured on the CD1 single (and in the music video), it was edited off on the Performance & Cocktails album.