Thursday, October 18, 2007

They're on the list

On the evidence of that covers album it hardly deserves it - pretty much every one of those songs is a note for note reproduction! What's wrong with bands now? Don't answer that - but we continue our tribute to forty years of Radio 1 by thinking you'd like to see the daytime playlist issued on this day ten years ago:

A List

All Saints - Never Ever
On its way to number one, with the video that suggested all four had been out with the same bloke. Which is entirely possible, of course. "A few questions that I need to know" indeed.

David Arnold/Propellerheads - On Her Majestys Secret Service
The least subtle CV placement in history, Arnold made an album of Bond theme reinterpretations and promptly got called up to do every Bond theme since. Propellerheads still going and with a Rufus Wainwright vocal in the can, it says here.

Ash - A Life Less Ordinary
Charlotte's first with the band. In light of her departure the ten years with the one band that can be relied upon to make Jamaica's Hedonism II resort want to pack up and all go home we saw her the other night - review on the Myspace blog tomorrow, hopefully - and she showed few outward signs of being worse off for the experience bar her onstage drink being Jack Daniels. In a plastic glass, mind.

Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me

Beck - Deadweight
From the film A Life Less Ordinary, which set Ewan McGregor on the path from massive UK film star to where he is now (doing innumerable documentaries about motorbikes)

Black Grape - Get Higher
Shaun and Bez both seem to have written this bit out of their CVs, and probably lives. Disintegrated at the end of Britpop and all the drugs that implies, ie the same amount as usual for Shaun.

The Charlatans - Tellin’ Stories

Dannii - Everything I Wanted
And who knew Dannii would be having a career revival in 2007?

Double 99 - Ripgroove
Ah, speed garage. Later bastardised into UK Garage, then two-step, then about a million sub-genres like a Big Bang of dance genres that hit overground and promptly dissipated.

Embrace - All You Good Good People

Eternal - Angel of Mine

Faithless - Don’t Leave (Hard Mix)
The one that doesn't sound much like Faithless.

Hurricane # 1 - Step Into My World
Andy Bell, as we know, with a song that finished with the full three minutes of guitar solo. It was a British guitar band in 1997, what can we say.

Jay-Z feat. Babyface and Foxy Brown - Sunshine

The Lighthouse Family - Raincloud

LL Cool J - Phenomenon

Pulp - Help The Aged

Jimmy Ray - Are You Jimmy Ray?
1997 was a bloody odd year for the major label marketing machines, as stung by just how big the Spice Girls were becoming they threw everything at a wall in case some of it stuck. Jimmy Ray, for example, a Fullerfied rockabilly-influenced potential teen idol who made it to two singles. He ain't no window cleaner, apparently.

Revival 3000 - The Mighty High
Blame Oakenfold.

Rialto - Monday Morning 5:19
Double drummer widescreen melodrama from him off Kinky Machine, who famously contrived to be dropped twice by the same label

Sash! feat. La Trec - Stay
One of the DJ's five UK number twos without ever having a number one. And they say Westlife chart feats are forgettable.

Smash Mouth - Walkin’ On The Sun
The actual one hit by the All Star lot fronted by a man with an objectionable goatee. Kevin Greening's breakfast fill-in record of the week in Diana death week.

Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
This whole shite is drawing inexorably closer, isn't it? Especially with every single gossip magazine running some cover headline SPICE FEARS story, which makes a change from their usual POSH FEARS lead.

Byron Stingily - Sing A Song
Michelle Weeks - Don’t Give Up
Both have probably forgotten themselves who they were.

B List

911 - Party People Friday Night
With the boy bands starting to wane the weakest would be taken down first. At least it wasn't the secret weapon-proffering Bodyshakin'.

Jon Bon Jovi - Janie, Don’t Take Your Love To Town
Probably not a rewritten cover.

Brand New Heavies - You’ve Got A Friend
Probably not rewritten.

Cast - I’m So Lonely

Changing Faces - I Got Somebody Else

Roy Davis Jr. - Gabriel
The first big star of speed garage, 'they' said. 'They' are wrong more often than many would admit.

Death In Vegas - Rocco
Not on their proper Best Of, tellingly.

Deep Dish - Stranded

Dust Junkys - Non Stop Operation
Radio 1 saw big things for this lot, fronted by MC Tunes, but they should have hung out a few years for rap-rock to properly take hold.

Echo And The Bunnymen - Don’t Let It Get You Down

Echobelly - Here Comes The Big Rush

Fatboy Slim - Everybody Loves A Carnival
What was the difference between this and Everybody Needs A 303?

Hanson - I Will Come To You
The third single and already well on the wane from "one of them must be a girl?" heights.

Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
A playlist debut for the song that became a cause celebre when Chris Evans realised the writing credits weren't in Imbruglia's name, not that anybody else cared.

Lil’ Kim - Crush On You

Natural Born Chillers - Rock The Funky Beats

Ocean Colour Scene - Better Day

Puff Daddy - Been Around The World

Radish - Simple Sincerity
Ben Kweller's band, sold on the fact he was a 16 year old frontman. Tell that to music writers of today and they'd laugh. And then commission a lead feature for the Observer Music Monthly on them.

Stereophonics - Traffic
Ah, the good Stereophonics song.

Sundance - Sundance

Supergrass - Late In The Day

The Supernaturals - Prepare To Land
A band whose main fan page features a link to "similar artist Elliott Smith", singer James McColl is now the driving force in the Hussy's. Blonde keyboardist Ken's location is less certain.

Texas - Put Your Arms Around Me

Travis - Happy
From their driving Scotrock phase, not their big Coldplay-preceding hit balladry one.

C List

Peter Andre - Lonely
It's plastic, y'know.

Aqua - Barbie Girl
Insert own joke here.

Gary Barlow - Open Road

Toni Braxton - How Could An Angel Break My Heart

Celetia - Special

Ether - She Could Fly
See, this was the sort of thing post-Britpop glory days that Radio 1 put its faith in only to be instantly forgotten. Welsh trio, we think.

Goldie feat. KRS One - Digital

Lynden David Hall - Sexy Cinderella

Mandalay - This Life

North And South - Breathing
North And South! Had a Children's BBC series and a green-haired guitarist, neither of which endeared them much to ver kidz in the end.

Olive - Miracle

P F Project feat. Ewan McGregor - Choose Life
Just a sample of the Trainspotting speech over sub-Underworld beats.

Primal Scream - Burning Wheel

Roni Size - Brown Paper Bag
It's the sound of the future.

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