Details:
This compilation celebrates forty years of Radio 1, featuring a track from every year since 1967 (The year Radio 1 was established, hence the title) covered by a contemporary act. The Kaiser Chiefs kick things off with their version of ‘Flowers in the Rain’ (The first track to be played on Radio 1) and are the first of many mediocre indie bands delivering uninspiring covers on this compilation, but certainly not the worst; that accolade goes to The Kooks warbling ‘All That She Wants’, although Keane’s ‘Under Pressure’ is pretty horrific, they shouldn’t be allowed to make their own music let alone mangle classics!
Others making a mess of things are The Streets mundane take on ‘Your Song’, as Mike Skinner is adept at being emotive in an understated way this had potential to be quite striking but has turned out disappointingly empty. Tom Fletcher’s nasal tones make McFly’s ‘Town Called Malice’ even more irritating than the original and Just Jack makes ‘Lovefool’ dull, droning his way through what should be sweetly melancholic.
It’s not all bad though; Amy Winehouse doing ‘Cupid’ and Lily Allen covering ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’ are faultless and ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena’s rendition of ‘Fast Car’ is a perfect fit and really shows off her distinctive vocal. Other pop highlights come in the form of Kylie delivering ‘Love Is The Drug’ with a sultry swagger and Girls Aloud providing backing vocals on Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Sound And Vision’ (As well as covering ‘Teenage Dirtbag’).
The sparkling instrumentation on Mark Ronson’s ‘You’re All I Need To Get By’ makes it a stand out track and ‘Crazy For You’ by Groove Armada featuring Alan Donohue (From The Rakes) has all the longing of the original, combined with a new, almost sleazy quality that’s brilliant alongside the “ba bah bah ba baa” backing vocals.
Overall its hit and miss, let’s be honest, mostly miss and who really cares about forty years of Radio 1 anyways?
Listen: www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/established1967/feature/40artists.shtml
Tracklist:
Disc One:
1 - Kaiser Chiefs - Flowers In The Rain (The Move) 1967
2 - The Fratellis - All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix Experience) 1968
3 - Amy Winehouse - Cupid (Johnny Nash) 1969
4 - Robbie Williams - Lola (The Kinks) 1970
5 - The Streets - Your Song (Elton John) 1971
6 - Sugababes - Betcha By Golly, Wow (The Stylistics) 1972
7 - The Feeling - You’re So Vain (Carly Simon) 1973
8 - Foo Fighters - Band On The Run (Paul McCartney & Wings) 1974
9 - Kylie - Love Is The Drug (Roxy Music) 1975
10 - KT Tunstall - Let’s Stick Together (Brian Ferry) 1976
11 - Franz Ferdinand - Sound And Vision (David Bowie) 1977
12 - The Raconteurs - Teenage Kicks (The Undertones) 1978
13 - Mika VS Armand Van Helden - Can’t Stand Losing You (The Police) 1979
14 - Kasabian - Too Much Too Young (The Specials) 1980
15 - Keane - Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie) 1981
16 - McFly - Town Called Malice (The Jam) 1982
17 - James Morrison - Come Back And Stay (Paul Young) 1983
18 - Gossip - Careless Whisper (George Michael) 1984
19 - The Pigeon Detectives - The Power Of Love (Huey Lewis & The News) 1985
20 - Lily Allen - Don’t Get Me Wrong (The Pretenders) 1986
