My life in Birthday Number Ones

[James from London]

The first thirteen years - fun & unpredictable; teens & 20s - generic in a Radio 2/supermarket check-out way (exceptions: Chaka, Eddy, Pato, Blondie, Billy, Meat); 30-60, a fistful of wimpy ballads aside (three Westlifes, two Robson & Jeromes and an X-Factor Finalists), pretty much poptastic.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Oh wow. This is amazing.

It's really quite fascinating to see the thread all these mostly unrelated songs form. Did you compile it yourself or is it a tool on your music app?

There are quite a few of those titles that take me back to different times and places - some generally and some more specifically. I'd say pretty much all of them from your 14th-34th hold some memory. I'm probably going off on a tributary here, but there are two tracks (your 11th and 14th birthdays) that are part of a small-ish group of songs that resonate particularly strongly with my nostalgia hard-wiring. I always react physically to the intros even though I can't explain why, or even remember specific associations. Funny how music can do that.

It's also quite cool to see what I assume is your play count.

And finally... Happy Sixtieth Number One, James. And many more to come.

 

[James from London]

Did you compile it yourself or is it a tool on your music app?

I did it like a sort of musical advent calendar. For each of the fifty-nine days leading up to my birthday, I looked up a year and added the relevant song to the list.

I'd say pretty much all of them from your 14th-34th hold some memory.

Interesting. With a few exceptions, the 14-31 section is probably the least resonant for me. I know those songs really well, probably too well, and starts to feels like I'm listening to a generic oldies radio station rather than a group of specifically chosen songs. Once I get past the hump of Robson and Jerome, things start getting interesting again. (Full disclosure: to make the playlist fully listenable, I allowed myself to exchange the wimpy ballads I mentioned above for the songs that were number one either a week (or weeks) earlier or later. So out went Westlife, R&J and X-Factor, in came 'Earth Song', 'Say You'll Be There', 'Because I Got High', 'Dirrty' and 'Put Your Hands Up for Detroit'. Much better!

Happy Sixtieth Number One, James. And many more to come.

Thanks a mil, Mel!

 

[Jimmy Todd]

This is wonder! Happy birthday, @James from London !

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I did it like a sort of musical advent calendar. For each of the fifty-nine days leading up to my birthday, I looked up a year and added the relevant song to the list.

That's great. I love it even more now that I know it was a long-ish term project.

With a few exceptions, the 14-31 section is probably the least resonant for me. I know those songs really well, probably too well, and starts to feels like I'm listening to a generic oldies radio station rather than a group of specifically chosen songs. Once I get past the hump of Robson and Jerome, things start getting interesting again.

I completely understand that, and you're right... this period has a lot of the material you find on Best Of The [Insert Decade Here] compilations.

What swung it for me was seeing these songs in this context, where one song represents one year. These were the years when chart music/radio play was a part of my life most heavily, and seeing them in this kind of isolation - as opposed to grouped in with other songs from the same year or similar songs from the same artist - gives a very specific focus to the nostalgia they induce, which in turn makes the song more meaningful (to me, at least).

 

[James from London]

What swung it for me was seeing these songs in this context, where one song represents one year. These were the years when chart music/radio play was a part of my life most heavily, and seeing them in this kind of isolation - as opposed to grouped in with other songs from the same year or similar songs from the same artist - gives a very specific focus to the nostalgia they induce, which in turn makes the song more meaningful (to me, at least).

Yes, context is everything. I have a similar response from 5 to 13 ('Coz I Luv You' to 'Rat Trap'). That was probably when I was most immersed in and open to everything that was in the charts and on the radio.