Wednesday, January 03, 2018

Nothing to be ashamed of?

As its author Sam Richards suggests, if this BBC article about songs that subsequently cause their creators acute embarrassment had been pulled together only a few years ago, you could have guaranteed the featured Radiohead track would be 'Creep'. But, against all the odds, they've recently chosen to embrace their past and start playing it live. Instead, Richards picks 'Pop Is Dead' - a standalone single, thankfully, in that it doesn't spoil any of their albums.

Also (inevitably) mentioned in the article are David Bowie's 'The Laughing Gnome' and Beastie Boys' 'Fight For Your Right To Party', though Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is a notable exclusion. There's a Stone Roses song too - though, personally speaking, I would have felt embarrassed to be associated with anything they did...

Los Campesinos!, not mentioned by Richards, are a band who have disowned much of their earlier material, including 'International Tweexcore Underground' and 'You! Me! Dancing!'. The latter was their 'Creep', an unexpected hit that propelled them to popularity (albeit not quite the same level) and ultimately proved a meal ticket when they sold it to Budweiser. For me, it's disappointing that they were so soon heartily sick of a song I loved (and continue to love), but I guess that's the artist's prerogative. It'll be interesting to see if they ever do a Radiohead and come back round to playing it - though I suspect that's unlikely, not least because only three of the seven original members remain.

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