British Music
From The Beatles to The Rolling Stones, Elton John to Take That, Scouting For Girls to The Arctic Monkeys, The Kinks, Biffy Clyro, Portishead, Little Mix, Spandau Ballet, or Will Young there's something for everyone in British Music, so my question is, which band or singer is your favourite? What song, hymn, or piece of music would you recommend for the new Anglophile, or what little known gem holds a special place in your heart?
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I have had a soft spot for Kate Bush since catching Wuthering Heights the very first time it was played on the radio. The DJ, the late Kerry Juby, spent a long time apologising for what he was about to play - but I was totally smitten by what I heard when he got there.
But there is so much to choose from, Small Faces, Jilted John even, Tom Robinson is rather amazing live, Alex Harvey, Petula Clarke ...
Kate Bush and Alex Harvey are winners!! Good choices!
Pink Floyd was my first love of British music and is still at the top, which is hard because I love so much other Brit music as well
I’d recommend two pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams as a classical introduction to the ‘sound of England’ - ‘The Lark Ascending’ and my personal favourite ‘Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis’. Both to me sound very English, or what you’d imagine it should sound like!
I’m not sure it is quintessentially English as quintessentially Northern English, given it’s brass band accompaniment, but The Unthanks version of ‘The King of Rome’ has made me desperately homesick when I’ve played it through my headphones to while away a long journey in foreign parts. The Unthanks ‘Mount The Air’ has pretty much the same effect although as a Yorkshireman it’s almost our birthright to be overwhelmed by brass bands!
Nice to see mentions of the genius of Kate Bush and also the late, lamented Alex Harvey. I mean he could scare you half to death (check out his version of Brel’s (I think) ‘Next’ and see how the SAHB turn ‘Delilah’ from a jolly sing along to a properly sinister murder ballad!) but boy, he and his band, were brilliant.
Visitors to England should always try to find a trad music session in a pub, sit down, have a few ales ( not lager) and enjoy the music and song. They happen all over the place, mainly outside London though, just ask around.
Its not just the Irish who have trad music!
love uk glam rock, slade,sweet, t.rex, etc etc 😊
A few months ago, while checking out some old 70's and 80's Youtube videos, I happened upon one by Slade. I was immediately slayed by them (pun intended). I am now a certified Sladeophile. I have purchased several CD's including their 43 hit Cum On Feel the Hitz double CD. Also have a Slade T-shirt that I wear just about everywhere. Case in point, last weekend I was at the Tartan Days South Car Show and Festival in Cayce, SC, and I wore it with a utility kilt. I received lots of comments and thumbs-ups for the shirt. People still remember them here in the states with great fondness. Even the DJ had a few songs on his computer that he played for the crowd. Slade were great musicians and awesome showmen in their own right. I never thought I'd be hooked on glam rock, but here I am extolling their music. Rock on forever, Noddy!
I love British music but mostly I'm into the 80s punk and new wave scene. Depeche mode, Duran Duran, Roxy Music and Sex Pistols 🙂