Here's a lovingly crafted playlist for you, I'm calling it 'The Capital Years' - it's, roughly speaking, songs I'd hear when I was listening to Capital Radio, to men like Martin Collins, Mick Brown, David "Kid" Jensen and Pat Sharp. This is basically 1989 to 1993, before I had a "taste in music", when I began to realise I wanted to be into something but this wasn't it.
This isn't, as such, the good stuff. There were some major musical movements during that time, including iMadchester, Grunge, Golden Age Hip-Hop, Proto-Britpop, Shoegaze, Acid Jazz. This, mainly, ain't that.
It's the chart stuff, the stuff that has not fed into what I've been into ever since, but it's, from within that unpromising idea, the songs that, if I hear them now, give me a warm glow and a relief that I haven't stayed a music snob forever.
It's across various styles, and I guess a few of them are not that far from "cool", but never quite there.
Of all of them, I think 'Would I Lie To You' is my favourite. I've a sneaking suspicion it may actually be one of the best pop songs of all time. Oh yeah!
https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/the-capital-years/pl.u-aZJdvFvWEd8
- These Are the Days of Our Lives - Queen
- Back to Life - Soul II Soul
- Oh Carolina - Shaggy
- Two Princes - The Spin Doctors
- Sweet Child Of Mine - Guns N' Roses
- Unbelievable - EMF
- Here Comes the Hotstepper - Ini Kamoze
- Whatta Man - Salt N Pepa featuring N Vogue
- Too Many Walls - Cathy Dennis
- Sweetness - Michelle Gayle
- Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Summertime - Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
- Deeper and Deeper - Madonna
- River of Dreams - Billy Joel
- My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style - Dream Warriors
- Out of Space - The Prodigy
- Size of a Cow - The Wonder Stuff
- I'm Too Sexy - Right Side Fred
- Tease Me - Chaka Demus & Pliers
- Pump Up the Jam - Technotronic
- Promise Me - Beverley Craven
- Would I Lie To You? - Charles and Eddie
- Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
- Sleeping Satellite - Tamsin Archer
- Don't Know Much - Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt
- It's Alright - East 17
- Babe - Take That
- I Wonder Why - Curtis Stigers
- Dub Be Good to Me - Beats International
- Goodnight Girl - Wet Wet Wet
- Too Young to Die - Jamiroquai
- Ride on Time - Black Box
- Fall at Your Feet - Crowded House
- Jump Around - House of Pain
- That's The Way Love Goes - Janet Jackson
- Doin' the Do - Betty Boo
- Always - Bon Jovi
- Birdhouse in your Soul - They Might Be Giants
- Jump - Kris Kross
- Boom Shack-a-Lak - Apache Indian
- What Is Love - Haddaway
- Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) - Sub Sub
- Can I Kick It? - A Tribe Called Quest
- Good Morning Britain - Aztec Camera
- Right Here - SWV
- Sit Down - James
- Don't Be a Stranger - Dina Carroll
- People Everyday - Arrested Development
- All Around the World - Lisa Stansfield
- Nothing Ever Happens - Del Amitri
- Manchild - Nena Cherry
- Set Adrift on Memory Bliss - PM Dawn
- Informer - Snow
- Ebenezer Goode - The Shamen
- Friday I'm in Love - The Cure
- Step It Up - Stereo MCs
- Stay - Shakespears Sister
- Too Blind To See It - Kym Sims
- No Rain - Blind Melon
- My Brave Face - Paul McCartney
Funnily enough I've just made one of these playlists for myself lately, although my Capital years show me as signifcantly less cool by spanning 1992-1996 more or less. Neil 'Doctor' Fox was a big feature.
ReplyDeleteaah foctor dox and his bookjox - i did probably listen to capital much later than 93, i just feel like it's getting into a different era - soon as definitely maybe and parklife come out, or as soon as i'm listening to the jam, or something, i'm still listening to the capital but my ears have gone elsewhere in spirit
DeleteI guess it would've been 1994 when I first came across Oasis and Pulp not through Capital, but the even less cool 'Chart Show' on ITV on Saturday morning (no doubt when the cool kids were handing out racist taunts on a rugby tour bus). Babies had an excellent video. Shakermaker was pretty bland. I don't remember any of the other music played which may or may not mean anything.
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