I love a dash of 1950’s American retro music, especially if there’s something weird, wonderful and esoteric about it. For this Spotify playlist, I’ve put together 15 tracks of pure throwback guitar and rock’n’roll magic from originals from Chuck Berry, Little Richard to odd cuts like the Vigilantes’ ‘Man In Space’ (which features on this rare comp I picked up), up to the amazing title song from the Scarlett Johansson/Thora Birch/Steve Buscemi 2001 film Ghost World, to some Detroit rock at the turn of the century that isn’t Jack White-related and up to a mix of Irish retro throwbacks The Strypes, Imelda May, The Pacifics and the UK trio who are reliving the era for the first time – Kitty, Daisy & Lewis. Let it rip!
Tracklist
- Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – ‘Going Up The Country’
- King Khan & The Shrines – ‘Welfare Bread’
- Mohammed Rafi – ‘Jaan Pehechaan Ho’
- The Dirtbombs – ‘Chains Of Love’
- The Detroit Cobras – ‘Hey Sailor’
- Vigilantes – ‘Man In Space’
- Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers – ‘Egyptian Reggae’
- The Strypes – ‘Blue Collar Jane’
- Chuck Berry – ‘Johnny B. Goode’
- Melt Yourself Down – ‘Fix Your Life’
- Elvis – ‘I Need Your Love Tonight’
- Imelda May – ‘I Wanna Dance’
- Little Richard – ‘Tutti Frutti’
- The Pacifics – ‘Bird Dog’
- Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – ‘Baby, Bye Bye’
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
