101 Songs Birmingham Gave the World

101KickSongs

As part of our making our 101 Things Birmingham Gave the World book, we promised to make an ‘album’ – an album of 101 songs that Birmingham gave the World.

Our rules were simple — the songs couldn’t have existed in this form without the city of Birmingham. That means Brummie songwriters, musicians, instruments, recording studios or subjects. Where the connections are a little more tangential, well we’ll let you work those out, and you can hassle us and each other in the comments. The other rule: it had to be on Spotify, so no Funky Moped, or Brummie moptops The Beatles.

We’re not saying that it’s the best 101 songs that Birmingham has produced*, but it’s a fantastic 6 hour listen — and of course it will finish with Mr Blue Sky.

101 Songs Birmingham Gave The World: Now that’s what I call Paradise Circus.

See the full 101 rundown here:

1

Dexys Midnight Runners – Tell Me When My Light Turns Green

2

The Lilac Time – The Girl Who Waves At Trains

3

Go-Kart Mozart – We’re Selfish And Lazy And Greedy

4

The Wonder Stuff – It’s Yer Money I’m After, Baby

5

The Move – Blackberry Way

6

Swell Maps – Let’s Build A Car

7

The Prefects – Barbarellas

8

Napalm Death – You Suffer

9

Massive Attack – Paradise Circus

10

Stephen Duffy – Kiss Me

11

Fuzzbox – Rockin’ With Rita

12

The Applejacks – Tell Me When

13

Fairport Convention – Walk Awhile

14

Menswear – Being Brave

15

Broadcast – Black Cat

16

Kelli Ali – Willows Song

17

Plone – On My Bus

18

Ian Campbell & Lorna Campbell – I Loved a Lass

19

Stephen Duffy Featuring Nigel Kennedy – Hotle End Hotel

20

Misty’s Big Adventure feat. Noddy Holder – Fashion Parade

21

Justin Hayward – Forever Autumn

22

Paul Jones – I’ve Been a Bad Bad Boy

23

Cliff Richard & The Shadows – Jesus

24

Breakthru – Adventures Highway

25

Duran Duran Featuring Melle Mel & Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – White Lines (Don’t Do It)

26

SpizzEnergi – Where’s Captain Kirk?

27

Fine Young Cannibals – Good Thing

28

Toyah – I Want To Be Free

29

Blue Ox Babes – There’s No Deceiving You

30

Denim – Middle Of The Road

31

Electric Light Orchestra – Showdown

32

Bentley Rhythm Ace – Midlander (There Can Only Be One…)

33

Mousse T. – Horny

34

Slim Whitman – Birmingham Jail

35

Go-Kart Mozart – Mrs. Back To Front And The Bull Ring Thing

36

The Mixtures – Push Bike Song

37

Wizzard – See My Baby Jive

38

Janice Nicholls – I’ll Give It Five

39

The Redcaps – Talkin’ Bout You

40

Fuzzbox – International Rescue

41

The Quads – There Must Be Thousands

42

Marmalade – Ob La Di Ob La Da

43

The Smiths – Panic

44

Pickettywitch – That Same Old Feeling

45

Friends Of The Stars – Dragonfly

46

Adventure Club – The Train

47

Sleeping Through Sunday – Treat ’em mean… Lose ’em

48

Paul Weller – I Walk On Gilded Splinters

49

Plastic Factory – She

50

Ocean Colour Scene – The Riverboat Song

51

The Charlatans – One To Another

52

The Beat – Mirror in the Bathroom

53

Table Scraps – Foot of Our Stairs

54

The Cardigans – Iron Man

55

Traffic – John Barleycorn (Must Die)

56

Harvey Andrews – Good Old Brummagem

57

Malkit Singh – Gur Nalon Ishq Mitha

58

Sneaker Pimps – 6 Underground

59

Cleopatra – Cleopatra’S Theme

60

Jamelia – Superstar

61

Musical Youth – Pass The Dutchie

62

Pato Banton – Don’t Sniff Coke

63

Apache Indian – Boom Shack-A-Lak

64

Duran Duran – Ordinary World

65

Credit to the Nation – Teenage Sensation (12″ Mix)

66

UB40 – One in Ten

67

The Idle Race – Morning Sunshine

68

The Spencer Davis Group – I’m A Man

69

Arbor Lights – El Arborlito

70

The Wonder Stuff – The Size Of A Cow

71

Janice Nicholls – The Wednesbury Madison

72

Broadcast – Come On Let’s Go

73

The Sea Urchins – Pristine Christine

74

Julie Walters – Take A Chance On Me

75

Dexys – Nowhere Is Home

76

Fleetwood Mac – Don’t Stop

77

Nancy Sinatra – Flowers In The Rain

78

Dodgy – Good Enough

79

Pink Floyd – See Emily Play

80

Felt – Primitive Painters

81

Ghosts of Dead Airplanes – …Hair Metal Shame

82

Youth Man – Heavy Rain

83

The Streets – Turn The Page

84

Bosting Steve Austin – The Barry Fry Song

85

Kelly Osbourne – Papa Don’t Preach

86

Fine Young Cannibals – She Drives Me Crazy

87

THUNDERBIRDS – Main Titles

88

Pop Will Eat Itself – Def Con One

89

God Damn – Red Checker

90

Judas Priest – Breaking the Law

91

Black Sabbath – War Pigs

92

King Adora – Smoulder

93

The Streets – Going Through Hell

94

The Nightingales – Crafty Fag

95

Driver 67 – Car 67

96

London Philharmonic Orchestra and David Parry – Pomp and Circumstance, Op. 39: Land of Hope and Glory

97

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Jerusalem

98

The Moody Blues – Nights In White Satin

99

Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky

100

The Lilac Time – Paradise Circus

101

Cliff Richard & The Shadows – Brumburger (Finale)

*It does contain the best song Birmingham has given the world, of course. But maybe not the worst.

Author: Howard Wilkinson

Director of Satire, Paradise Circus. Howard adds stability at the top, taking a strategic overview of operations whilst also stepping in from time to time in a caretaker author role.