The White Stripes “Lafayette Blues” b/w “Sugar Never Tasted So Good” 1998. 45 rpm. Today, December 10th, is Stripes drummer Meg White’s birthday (b. 1974). This single is the second release by the band, though this copy is a reissue on Third Man Records; the original appeared on Italy Records.

The lyrics to “Lafayette Blues” list a number of French street names in Detroit, where the White Stripes were “ready to rock and roll” with their stripped down sound, powerful garage blues guitar and primal beat. “Sugar Never Tasted So Good” appears on their first full-length album The White Stripes, released in 1999.