In the week prior to the release of S&B's second long player, Only Smith and Burrows is Good Enough, Tom and Andy were the featured guests on Ken Bruce's Radio 2 show. Each day they chose some music to play that was special to them, as well as giving an explanation behind the selection, and this will be the place to catch up if you missed them. I collected and posted each day as we went along, and then created a single file on Friday which includes the whole week. All officially released material has been removed, but the chat has been left intact. I've also added some links to the songs that were picked. Enjoy ;)
Day 1 - 8th February 2021
Andy's Choice
White Room - Cream
Tom's Choice
It's Too Late - Carole King
Day 2 - 9th February 2021
This was the second day of Tom and Andy's brief gig as contributors to
Ken Bruce's "Tracks of my Years" feature, as part of his Radio 2 morning
show. Parliament Hill got an airing prior to their slot, and this time
Tom went first with his choice of Mountains O' Things by Tracy
Chapman. Andy chose a Prince track from the Purple Rain album, I Would
Die 4 U. The background stories to their selection today are really
interesting, although Tom is right, the world is definitely not ready.
This one got me into a bit of trouble, as Prince's people get mad even
if you oly include a faded out 6 second clip from one of his tracks. Had
to remove it completely to avoid the worldwide block that I got on my
first attempt. Bootleggers, eh? Am I right?
(cough)
Day 3 - 10th February 2021
Day 3 of Smith and Burrows appearing on the Ken Bruce show as part of
his "Tracks of my Years" item. This was a fraught one. As I was setting
up to record and waiting for them to appear, I had to sit through a sea
shanty. A sea shanty, for goodness' sake. I'd rather eat other people's
toenail clippings for a week than ever do that again. Somebody
definitely owes me for my pain and suffering, and Radio 2 should expect a
lawsuit at some point in the future.
Another day of great choices, with Andy picking something by Squeeze and
Tom playing a track from a record I remember being seen as quite
controversial at the time of its release. What's the Frequecy Kenneth
from the Monster album by R.E.M. was the follow up to Automatic for the
People, which had been a mainstream-dominating collection of songs. The
postman could whistle tunes from that record. Monster, however, is more
electric and dirty around the edges, and I think it turned a lot of the
casual fans they'd picked up off. Which is fine, because it's still a
great record. Plus, there were a lot of stories around and involved in
that album and it's certainly a product of the culture that birthed it.
The death of Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
doing guest vocals, the band signing a 25 million dollar record deal
with Warners, a song about oral sex etc etc. Monster was scorned in some
quarters on release but it's really worth checking out.
Andy's Choice
If It's Love - Squeeze
Tom's Choice
What's the Frequency Kenneth - R.E.M.Day 4 - 11th February 2021
This was the 4th instalment of Smith and Burrows choosing their "Tracks
of my Years" on Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 morning show. Given the massive
popularity of their singles, Tom went with the more obscure pick of Talk Tonight by Oasis, which was the b-side of Shakermaker if I'm
remembering rightly. Wasn't Acquiesce on that single too? What a
songwriter Noel Gallagher is. Amazing stuff. Tom would have been just
into his teens at the time of its release, so it's appropriate that it
was one of the first songs he learned to play.
Andy chose Welcome to the Cheap Seats by The Wonderstuff, and that
doesn't surprise me in the slightest. He's always had that slightly
grebo vibe to him, but always with a foot resolutely in the pop arena.
When he played Nothing with Editors on one of their more recent tours
he was a crazy Fraggle-like mess of strumming and hair going crazy, so
visually he was a perfect fit for that genre too.
Welcome to the Cheap Seats - The Wonderstuff
Day 5 - 12th February 2021
The final stop on a five day journey into the songs that shaped Mr Smith and Mr Burrows' lives, as part of Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 morning show. Today we got some Sade courtesy of Andy and then the final word went to Radiohead, as it always should.
Listening to this show all week got me thinking; are there any rules in place to prevent anything really weird or "challenging" being selected for broadcast in situations like this one? Are there things you just aren't allowed to play? Aside from obvious ones like some of the more dubious 90s gangsta rap tracks or death metal, things that would probably cause offence to the BBC. Obviously you need to know your audience, but what about things that are just a little bit...askew of the mainstream? How much slack rope are you allowed to take before they either release you or pull you back in?
Tom and Andy were on fairly safe ground all week with their choices, although signing off to Radio 2 morning show listeners with one of Radiohead's more morose tunes was a nice touch, but what if they'd gone slightly leftfield and requested something like Upside Down by the Jesus and Mary Chain, or some Aphex Twin, for example? Surely there must be some kind of guidance/friendly warning given at the start to stop troublemakers like me who would definitely go that route if I were in this position. I'd love to know.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the broadcasts. All officially released material has been removed but the chat has been left intact. Enjoy ;)
Andy's Choice
By Your Side - Sade
Tom's Choice
No Surprises - Radiohead
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love ;) x
