Stuart Maconie,
Radio 2,
The People's Songs
128K - 50 mp3s of 50-55 Mb each Total Size 2.54 Gb
A year ago, almost to the day, I sat in a kitchen in a rented cottage in the Lake District and waited, eagerly but with a bottom note of trepidation, to the first in a series that had occupied my time (and several other people’s) for the best part of the preceding year. Late in 2011, Bob Shennan, the controller of Radio 2, asked me to write and present a history of pop. With what some might call chutzpah and others might term cheek, I asked if I could do something quite different; a social history of Britain since the second world war told through pop singles and, crucially, the voices, memories and opinions of the people who bought, lived with, loved (or maybe even loathed) them. No experts, no critics. A People’s pop history which came to be called The People’s Songs.
The People's Songs is the story of modern Britain in 50 records. In the company of the Great British public, I aim to tell the story of the last seven decades via the records that sound-tracked this dramatic and kaleidoscopic period; a period of conflict, social change, parties, prosperity, plenty, poverty, peace and war. For running alongside the social history of Britain is the story of popular music, the single and album, the charts, the clothes, the haircuts and thus this island’s obsession with pop music.
This is not a dry academic rock history, which has been written many times.
It is not the views of musicians and rock journalists, but the views of the people who bought and loved these songs.
These are the songs that people listened to, laughed to, loved to and laboured to, as well as downed tools and danced to.
King's Arms Salford King's Arms Salford
In the autumn of 2012, myself and producers Ian Callaghan and Lorna Skingley sat down in the Kings Arms in Salford (above - now run by Paul Heaton) and drew up a long list of the kinds of songs and topics we wanted to include. I was adamant that this shouldn’t be the same canonical list of revered classics that gets trotted out in every broadsheet and magazine listathon. I wanted this to be a series that would place equal value on Y Viva Espana (the British go on holiday to Spain) or My Boy Lollipop (the sound of the commonwealth coming to Britain post Windrush) or Goth or Northern Soul or Heavy Metal as any of the critically sanctioned sacred cows.
As soon as we began to tell people of our intentions, we struck a chord. Just short of 200 people were interviewed, from nuclear submarine commanders to Greenham Common protestors and the result is, I think, a brilliant mosaic of music, analysis, reportage and testimonies spanning 50 hours and as many years of British Life.
In that kitchen in North Cumbria, a year ago I heard the first show go out – Vera Lynn, We’ll Meet Again and the Second World War – and felt both elated and a little drained. I thought that we had done a brilliant job. But I also knew we had 49 more to go and the thought was as daunting as it was challenging and exhilarating.
And now we have. The People’s Songs is over. And I am as proud of it as it is possible to be, and grateful to everyone who made it happen.
Tagged with:
The People's Songs 01 We'll Meet Again - Britain in World War II
The People's Songs 02 Two Tribes - The Threat of Nuclear War 2013
The People's Songs 03 She Loves You - 'You never had it so good'
The People's Songs 04 Rock Island Line - Britain's first DIY pop
The People's Songs 05 God Save the Queen - When Punk Rocked Jubil
The People's Songs 06 My Boy Lollipop - The Caribbean Comes to Br
The People's Songs 07 Rehab - The Price of Modern Fame 2013-02-13
The People's Songs 08 Whiter Shade of Pale - Britain Skips the Li
The People's Songs 09 Ebeneezer Goode - The Second Summer of Love
The People's Songs 10 Je T'Aime - Sex Please, We're British 2013-
The People's Songs 11 Starman - Androgyny Arrives in the Living R
The People's Songs 12 Smalltown Boy 2013-03-20.mp3
The People's Songs 13 Brimful of Asha - The British-Asian Experie
The People's Songs 14 Ghost Town - Post-Industrial Decline 2013-0
The People's Songs 15 Part of the Union - We All Stand Together 2
The People's Songs 16 Things Can Only Get Better - Cool Britannia
The People's Songs 17 Coronation Rag - God Save the Queen 2013-04
The People's Songs 18 Bonkers - The Sound of 21st Century Britain
The People's Songs 19 Telstar - The Sound of the Future 2013-05-0
The People's Songs 20 Are 'Friends' Electric - A Dystopian Vision
The People's Songs 21 I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - Soc
The People's Songs 22 Can't Get You Out of My Head - Manufactured
The People's Songs 23 Paranoid - The Birth of Heavy Metal 2013-06
The People's Songs 24 Y Viva Espana - The Advent of Package Holid
The People's Songs 25 Cigarettes and Alcohol - Lad Culture 2013-0
The People's Songs 26 Dedicated Follower of Fashion - Swinging Lo
The People's Songs 27 Gold_-_Thatcherism_and_the_aspiration_of_th
The People's Songs 28 Tubthumping - Environmentalism and Anti-Glo
The People's Songs 29 Light Flight - The Folk Revival.mp3
The People's Songs 30 Wannabe_-_Girl_Power_and_Feminism.mp3
The People's Songs 31 How_Soon_Is_Now_-_The_Sound_of_the_Post-Ind
The People's Songs 32 Give_Ireland_Back_to_the_Irish.mp3
The People's Songs 33 The_Ying_Tong_Song_-_Comedy_and_Popular_Mus
The People's Songs 34 Bleeding_Love_-_X_Factor_and_Talent_Shows.m
The People's Songs 35 Dont_Cry_for_Me_Argentina.mp3
The People's Songs 36 Shipbuilding_-_The_Falklands_War.mp3
The People's Songs 37 World_in_Motion_-_The_British_Love_of_Footb
The People's Songs 38 515_-_Youth_Tribes.mp3
The People's Songs 39 Move_It_-_The_British_Take_on_Rock_n_Roll.m
The People's Songs 40 Bye-Bye_Baby_-_Pop_Heartthrobs.mp3
The People's Songs 41 Do_They_Know_Its_Christmas_-_How_Pop_Found_
The People's Songs 42 One_Day_Like_This_-_The_Music_Festival_Expe
The People's Songs 43 You_Should_Be_Dancing_-_Living_for_the_Week
The People's Songs 44 The_Love_Cats_-_A_Peculiarly_British_Style.
The People's Songs 45 Another_Brick_in_the_Wall_-_The_Best_Days_o
The People's Songs 46 Living_in_the_Past_-_Progressive_and_Art-Sc
The People's Songs 47 Our_House_-_Home_Is_Where_the_Heart_Is.mp3
The People's Songs 48 Solsbury_Hill_-_Our_Love_of_the_Countryside
The People's Songs 49 Radio_Ga_Ga_-_A_Celebration_of_Radio.mp3
The People's Songs 50 Merry_Xmas_Everybody_-_The_Peoples_Choice.m
Stuart Maconie,
Radio 2,
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