Saturday is radio day so I’m going to give you a rundown of the playlist from this afternoon’s show.
The La’s, “There She Goes”
There were a few anniversaries to commemorate this week, starting with the release of one of my favourite albums of all time. Might as well celebrate the moment with one of the best songs of all time.
Blur, “Star Shaped”
Normally I’m restricted to playing singles on the radio but exceptions can be made when a deep cut makes its way onto a gig’s setlist, or when someone requests it on TikTok. This was the latter. Hope Callum was listening.
Pulp, “Begging For Change”
For the second year running, Pulp are going to be performing down the road from me in Newcastle, playing at the Utilita as part of the Mercury Prize award. Last time around, it was for their album More, this time they are representing the folks who came together to make War Child’s Help(2) record. Be nice if they won but my hopes aren’t high given the competition. Great single though, definitely the most punk Pulp have ever been. And who says you can’t be anti-establishment in your 60s?
Welly, “Skinny Boy”
Talked about this yesterday, go back if you want to read my thoughts on it.
Supergrass, “Seen The Light”
Another anniversary, this time from 2002 when Supergrass released their fourth album Life On Other Planets. Might be a bit country for a Britpop show but hey it’s Supergrass, who’s complaining?
Suede, “Like Kids”
I went through each of the Big Four of Britpop’s albums on TikTok, to work out what my favourite song is to play from them all. In the middle of it, I realised to my horror that I’d played songs from every single record except Suede’s Night Thoughts. At the risk of sounding like a fraud when it comes to being Spark Sunderland’s Britpop expert (certified, got the badge and all), I don’t actually own Night Thoughts. Never ordered it nor found it out in the wild.
Luckily there was a show that used to be on the air called The Juicebox and they’d added “Like Kids” onto our system. When I found it, I discovered it hadn’t actually been played in a decade. Better late than never, eh?
The Verve, “Lucky Man”
Not a lot in terms of traditional Britpop up to this point, so why not play some Verve?
Shed Seven, “The Centre of My Everything”
Second new single of the week and as with “Skinny Boy”, my thoughts on it can be found on yesterday’s post.
Oasis, “The Shock of the Lightning”
As we anticipate and speculate over Live ’27, one thing under scrutiny is the setlist for next year’s shows. Will it be the same set of songs as it was for Live ’25, or will a few things be changed here and there? According to Liam, we will see some changes as he helpfully explained to us in football terms – We’ve gone through the first half with the same starting squad, now that we’re in the second half, some substitutions will be made. Is there anything about dodgy finances and ill-gotten silverware in this metaphor?
But anyway, if Oasis do want to bring on some subs then I would love to see them try one that is a comparatively young, fast-paced rocker with fire in the eyes. And with Liam’s vocals at the level they are today, it would be great to hear Oasis finally do it justice on the stage.
Robbie Williams, “Spies”
I don’t know what came over me. I was preparing to talk about Kevin Shields being a conspiracy nut and labelling Britpop a government-funded plot, and needed a song to lead into that. For some reason my mind defaulted to one of Robbie’s singles from last year.
The Auteurs, “Show Girl”
If for argument’s sake Britpop was all one big government conspiracy, then I guess it might explain Luke Haines’ resentment of the term.
Manic Street Preachers, “Kevin Carter”
Last of the anniversaries for the day and this is a song that I had as my ringtone for a while. Funnily enough, I did get a call while this was playing. Didn’t answer it in time but I’m 99% sure it was one of those spam calls doing the rounds lately – ‘I have a part time job for you, please add my number on WhatsApp’. It’s not a very well thought out scheme is it?
I am looking forward to the day I’ll be live on the mic and the phone rings though.
Rialto, “Dream Another Dream”
Been a hot minute since I played some Rialto. Good way to end things, methinks.
And we’ll do it all over again next Saturday.
