1997, Y2K was becoming the buzzword and were you compliant? Minion mode was engaged as most of us went, “Oooooh” at the predicted chaos which would ensue. The End Of The World As We Know It, indeed.
But in pop culture, the Grim Reaper had a busy year. Before that, we said “Hello” to Maisie Williams, Teletubbies, Channel 5, Jonathan Creek, I’m Alan Partridge, Midsomer Murders (total to date: 643, making it the murder capital of the world), Brass Eye, Kipper the Dog,
We said “hello again” to Top of the Pops, which time-warped from 1982 with Blondie, Echo & the Bunnymen and Depeche Mode all reforming. It turned out that Harry Potter was messing around with his wand as he drew everyone into his adventure with the Philosopher’s Stone. Blankety Blank returned to our screens
Still at least we recognised them. You wouldn’t recognise Kylie Jenner now – I’ve had the whole Kardassians thing explained to me – apparently. This photo has something of the Carlos the Jackal or Pablo Escobar about it; a scary 70s or 80s villain.
Perhaps it’s an artistic genre?
1997 also said “Ciao” to:
- Big Audio Dynamite,
- Michael Hutchence got fed up with hanging around and belted up,
- Fela Kuti,
- Bill Berry as REM’s drummer and for the most part, the musical output went downhill from here;
- Billy Mackenzie, proving it was something rather than nothing;
- Sportsnight;
- Give Us A Clue;
- The Brittas Empire;
- Brian Glover;
- Colonel Tom Parker pulled on his blue suede shoes one last time;
- Brian Connolly – that’s Mr Taggart’s brother to you, sonny! Sweet;
- Terry Nation was exterminated;
- Allen Ginsberg;
- Baltazar;
- Laurie Lee supped his last pint of cider;
- Robert Mitchum;
- Jimmy Stewart;
- Diana, Princess of Wales;
- Mother Teresa;
- Jeffrey Bernard really was unwell;
- Burgess Meredith was foiled by Batman for the last time;
- Stig Anderson began negotiations for the Great Abba Reunion Tour in the sky;
- Jimmy Witherspoon really had the blues about dying;
- John Denver wished he’d taken the country roads home rather than flying;
- Shirley Crabtree had one last Big Daddy splash;
- Billy Bremner slid into one last tackle and lost; and,
- Denis Compton got hit for six.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that the film Titanic was released, the number one singles included genuinely awful releases by Spice Girls, Tori Amos, Aqua, White Town, Oasis, Blur, U2, LL Cool J, No Doubt, R Kelly, Michael Jackson, Fat Boy Barlow, Olive, Eternal, Hanson, The Police Faith Evans and Puff Daddy, Will Smith, Elton John, Teletubbies, and the Children in Need version of “Perfect Day”.
Redemption was at hand when the Chemical Brothers made it to the top of the charts, and the Verve as well. But two weeks out of 52? You can do better than that, people.
Well, let’s see if I did with this lot!
Title | Artist |
Travellers Tune | Ocean Colour Scene |
Fighting Fit | Gene |
Science | Paul Weller |
The Drugs Don’t Work | The Verve |
Nightbird | The Men They Couldn’t Hang |
15 Years | Levellers |
Bum | Tanya Donelly |
Ready Or Not | Sarah Cracknell |
The Boy Done Good | Billy Bragg |
Elysium | Portishead |
The Private Psychedelic Reel | The Chemical Brothers |
Dadi Waz A Badi | Black Grape |
Brimful Of Asha – The Norman Cook Remix | Cornershop |
1999 | The Seahorses |
Beat Him Up | Helen Love |
Spice Girls (Who Do You Think You Are?) | Period Pains |
Lazy Line Painter Jane | Belle & Sebastian |
Don’t Die Just Yet (The Holiday Girl) – Arab Strap Remix | David Holmes |
Burning Wheel | Primal Scream |
4 1/2 Inch | The Fall |
The International Language Of Screaming | Super Furry Animals |
Bitter Sweet Symphony | The Verve |
How Can You Leave Us | The Charlatans |
Block Rockin’ Beats | The Chemical Brothers |
I Want To Be There – When You Come | Echo & the Bunnymen |
Thatcherites | Billy Bragg |
In Pursuit of Happiness | The Divine Comedy |
Motorhead | Primal Scream |
Ticker Tape Of The Unconcious | Stereolab |
North Country Boy | The Charlatans |
Chubacabras | Super Furry Animals |
Coastal Town | Sarah Cracknell |
Sonnet | The Verve |
Hit | The Wannadies |
Late In The Day | Supergrass |
Love Is The Law | The Seahorses |
Get Higher | Black Grape |
Pretty Deep | Tanya Donelly |
I’m All You Need | The Divine Comedy |
Into My Arms | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds |
Brakhage | Stereolab |
Sun Hits The Sky | Supergrass |
Free Will And Testament | Robert Wyatt |
Sugardaddy – Moodswings Remix | Billy Bragg |
Oh Yes (It’s a Mess) | The Wannadies |
Brompton Oratory | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds |
Hundred Mile High City | Ocean Colour Scene |
Peacock Suit | Paul Weller |
Desert Baby | Sarah Cracknell |
Ain’t That Enough | Teenage Fanclub |
YW please can you describe how one might follow your Spotify account to access the playlist through the app?
Cheers
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Alex
In the app, search for YWACLF. I’m the only profile listed with that name.
Cheers
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