61GIRLS TALK (1979)
DAVE EDMUNDS
Later to appear on Elvis Costello’s Get
Happy!!, Girls Talk is a near fl awless
slice of power pop.
FINAL DAY (1980)
YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS
A deceptively minimalist and soft
single that, as it unfolds, turns out to
deal with the horrors of nuclear war.
MARIE MARIE (1980)
SHAKIN’ STEVENS
Not a standard as many suppose, but
a song written by Dave Alvin of US
roots band The Blasters.
JACQUES DERRIDA
(1982)
SCRITTI POLITTI
A jolly, jaunting tune and a song named
for the French philosopher who gave
the world deconstructionism.
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE
HEART (1983)
BONNIE TYLER
Own up, you love it. Jim Steinman
and Tyler’s worldwide No.1 hit sold
60,000 copies a day for a while.
KISS (1988)
THE ART OF NOISE WITH
TOM JONES
The suprising collaboration that came
about after Jones added the song to
his Las Vegas show.
MOTORCYCLE
EMPTINESS (1992)
MANIC STREET PREACHERS
That glorious melody serves as the
delivery method for a typically wordy
critique of consumerism.
THE MAN DON’T GIVE
A FUCK (1996)
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS
A single that includes the f-word more
than 50 times, reason enough in itself
to include it here.
I AM THE MOB
(1997)
CATATONIA
A Godfather-powered declaration of
confi dence – “I put horses’ heads in
people’s beds...”
WARWICK AVENUE
(2008)
DUFFY
Duffy daringly Bakerloo-lines the
imperious spirit of Dusty Springfi eld.Wales
POP^ HERITA
GEPOP (^) HERITAG
E
SO MUCH TO
ANSWER FOR
BEST 10
TRACKS
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LISTEN UP!
Take a listen to 10
classic Welsh tunes
Da iawn! spoti.fi /2rsQ8SZ
In 1998, the band released International
Velvet. It reached No.1 and spawned
two Top 10 hits in Mulder And Scully
and Road Rage. Much of this was down
to singer Cerys Matthews.
Charismatic, gobby and, at the height
of Catatonia’s success, boozy Cerys
fascinated the tabloids, but in truth
seemed relieved to walk away from pop
stardom when the band split in 2001.
Stereophonics also enjoyed their fi rst
UK Top 10 single in 1998, with The
Bartender And The Thief, from second
album Performance And Cocktails.
Formed in the former coalmining village
of Cwmaman in 1992 and fronted by
songwriter Kelly Jones, the band have
rarely been out of the charts since and
recent album Keep The Village Alive
(2015) was another UK No.1.
It’s tempting to see the fame of both
bands – and the success enjoyed by
Feeder and 60 Ft. Dolls – as a case of
Welsh guitar rock being some kind of
default setting.
But this misses Matthews’ eclectic
knowledge of music. Or the way Jones’
best songs, from the days of Local Boy
In The Photograph and the tragic tale
of a lad who commits suicide, have
so often been pop-tinged, kitchen-sink
vignettes of working class life.
During the Noughties the pop charts
was suddenly bothered by an unlikely
source in Welsh wonder woman
Charlotte Church. As an 11-year-old,
classical music prodigy, Church was
dubbed the “Voice of an Angel”, but
growing up in the public eye wasn’t
easy. Continually criticised and hounded
by the press, the singer hit back in
2005 with Crazy Chick and found
herself at No.2 in the charts.
Now a well-respected political activist
and mother, she continues to entertain
with her Pop Dungeon (see our live
review on page 112).
In 2008, working among others
with former Suede guitarist Bernard
Butler, Gwynedd-born Duffy became an
overnight sensation with Rockferry. Here
was an album of blue-eyed soul that
told of heartbreak and angst,
but with a very British spin, as
evidenced by the hit single
Warwick Avenue, named
for the Tube station.
Indirectly, we’re
back to the place of
roots music, the way
that rock’n’roll, folk, blues
and soul so often seem to
reassert themselves within
Welsh music.
When this works at
its best, it’s hugely
creative. In 1988,
one Tom Jones
reinvigorated his
career by covering
a fl oor-fi lling funk-soul
belter in ebullient style.
No surprise there,
except the song was
Prince’s Kiss and
he recorded
it with Art
Of Noise.
Duffy’s debut LP
Rockferry entered
the UK Album Chart
at No.1, and became
the UK’s best-selling
record in 2008
CP30.SoMuch_Wales.print.indd 61 07/06/2017 17:23