'Rip It Up And Start Again' playlist

There are other fine playlists based on this book available (82 tracks, 64 tracks, 44 tracks) but I wanted a playlist that I could have listened along to while reading the book.

So my playlist is in order that the songs are mentioned in the book. I’ve included every track that is described in a sentence or more (so not if it’s only mentioned by name, in passing). I’ve tried to balance that completist attitude by not swamping the playlist with too much of one artist or one album at a time.

The track listing below is split into chapters and also includes the tracks I couldn’t find on Spotify. The book isn’t chronological — each chapter is about a particular scene or idea — but this makes for a better playlist as groups of songs go well together.

Anyway, if you’re on Spotify, and have 14 hours to fill, listen away!

Chapter 1

• Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
• Dr Alimantado - Born for a Purpose
• The Wailers - Get Up Stand Up
• PiL - Public Image
• PiL - Fodderstompf

Chapter 2

• Buzzcocks - Boredom
• Magazine - Shot by Both Sides
• Magazine - Permafrost
• Magazine - Stuck
• Subway Sect - Parallel Lines
• Subway Sect - A Different Story
• Subway Sect - Ambition

Chapter 3

• Pere Ubu - 30 Seconds Over Tokyo
• Devo - Jocko Homo
• Devo - Satisfaction
• Devo - Whip It

Chapter 4

• Teenage Jesus & The Jerks - The Closet (or Orphans, failing that)
• James Brown - Super Bad, Pts 1 and 2
• James White and The Blacks - Stained Sheets
• James White and The Blacks - Almost Black
• Contortions - Contort Yourself

Chapter 5

• The Pop Group - Thief of Fire
• The Pop Group - She is Beyond Good and Evil
• The Slits - Shoplifting
• The Slits - Typical Girls
• The Slits - Newtown
• The Slits - Ping Pong Affair
• The Pop Group - We Are All Prostitutes
• Linton Kwesi Johnson - Fite Dem Back
• New Age Steppers - Fade Away
• Mark Stewart & The Maffia (Adrian Sherwood) - Jerusalem

Chapter 6

• The Desperate Bicycles - Smokescreen
• The Desperate Bicycles - The Medium Was Tedium
• The Normal - T.V.O.D
• The Normal - Warm Leatherette
• Thomas Leer - Private Plane
• Swell Maps - Read About Seymour

Chapter 7

• The Mekons - Never Been in a Riot
• Gang of Four - Damaged Goods
• Gang of Four - Love Like Anthrax
• The Mekons - Where Were You?
• Gang of Four - At Home He Feels Like a Tourist
• Delta 5 - Mind Your Own Business
• Delta 5 - You
• The Au Pairs - Come Again
• The Au Pairs - It’s Obvious

Chapter 8

• Talking Heads - Don’t Worry About the Government
• Parliament - Flashlight
• Talking Heads - Take Me to the River
• Talking Heads - Life During Wartime
• Talking Heads - I Zimbra
• Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
• Talking Heads - Listening Wind
• Wire - 106 Beats That
• Wire - Ex-Lion Tamer
• Wire - Outdoor Miner
• Wire - I Should Have Known Better
• Wire - Map Ref. 41° N 93° W
• Wire - Lowdown

Chapter 9

• The Future - Future Religion
• The Future - Dancevision
• The Human League - Dance Like a Star
• The Human League - Being Boiled
• The Human League - Blind Youth
• Cabaret Voltaire - The Set Up
• Cabaret Voltaire - Sluggin for Jesus

Chapter 10

• The Fall - Industrial Estate
• The Fall - Bingo-Master’s Break-out
• The Fall - Fiery Jack
• Joy Division - Digital
• Joy Division - Walked in Line
• Joy Division - She’s Lost Control
• Joy Division - Atmosphere
• Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Chapter 11

• Scritti Politti - Skank Bloc Bologna
• Scritti Politti - Is and Ought the Western World
• Scritti Politti - Hegemony
• Scritti Politti - P.A.s
• The Flying Lizards - Money (That’s What I Want)
• Alternative TV - An Alternative to Nato
• This Heat - 24 Track Loop
• The Raincoats - Off Duty Trip
• The Raincoats - Only Loved at Night
• Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
• Prefects - Going Through the Motions
• The Cravats - Precinct
• Furious Pig - I Don’t Like Your Face
• Notsensibles - (I’m in Love with) Margaret Thatcher
• Spizzenergi - Where’s Captain Kirk
• Family Fodder - Playing Golf (with My Flesh Crawling)
• Killing Joke - Pssyche
• The Tiller Boys - Big Noise from the Jungle
• Fatal Microbes - Violence Grows
• (And The) Native Hipsters - There Goes Concorde Again

Chapter 12

• Throbbing Gristle - Persuasion
• Throbbing Gristle - We Hate You (Little Girls)
• Throbbing Gristle - Very Friendly
• Throbbing Gristle - United
• Throbbing Gristle - Weeping
• Throbbing Gristle - Discipline
• 23 Skidoo - Porno Bass

Chapter 13

• The Residents - Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life
• Tuxedomoon - Holiday for Plywood
• Flipper - Sex Bomb
• Flipper - One by One

Chapter 14

• PiL - Death Disco (or Swan Lake, failing that)
• PiL - Memories
• PiL - Poptones
• PiL - Four Enclosed Walls
• PiL - Under the House

Chapter 15

• The Specials - Gangsters
• The Specials - Stupid Marriage
• Madness - The Prince
• The Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
• The Beat - Too Nice to Talk to
• Madness - Grey Day
• The Selecter - On My Radio
• Madness - House of Fun
• Dexys Midnight Runners - Dance Stance
• Dexys Midnight Runners - Geno
• The Specials - Stereotypes
• The Specials - International Jet Set
• The Specials - Do Nothing
• The Specials - Ghost Town
• The Specials - Friday Night, Saturday Morning
• Dexys Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen

Chapter 16

• Bow Wow Wow - W.O.R.K. (N.O. Nah NO! NO! My Daddy Don’t)
• Bow Wow Wow - C-30, C-60, C-90 Go!
• Adam & The Ants - Prince Charming
• Bow Wow Wow - Sexy Eiffel Tower
• Bow Wow Wow - Fools Rush In
• Bow Wow Wow - Chihuahua
• Bow Wow Wow - Go Wild in the Country

Chapter 17

• The Undertones - My Perfect Cousin
• The Human League - The Black Hit of Space
• Tubeway Army/Gary Numan? - Down in the Park
• Tubeway Army - M.E.
• Ultravox - MySex
• Ultravox - Vienna
• Pete Shelley - Homo Sapien
• The Human League - Sound of the Crowd
• The Human League - Love Action
• The Human League - The Things that Dreams are Made of
• The Human League - I Am the Law
• The Human League - Don’t You Want Me
• Japan - Ghosts
• Soft Cell - Bedsitter
• DAF - Der Mussolini
• The Human League - (Keep Feeling) Fascination

Chapter 18

• Orange Juice - Falling and Laughing
• Orange Juice - Blue Boy
• Orange Juice - Simply Thrilled Honey
• Orange Juice - Consolation Prize
• Velvet Underground - Rock ‘n’ Roll (live in 1969)
• Josef K - It’s Kinda Funny
• Josef K - Endless Soul
• The Fire Engines - Discord
• The Fire Engines - Candyskin
• The Associates - Boys Keep Swinging
• The Associates - White Car in Germany
• The Associates - Q Quarters

Chapter 19

• Scritti Politti - The “Sweetest Girl”
• Scritti Politti - Jacques Derrida
• Scritti Politti - Faithless
• Scritti Politti - Asylums in Jerusalem
• Heaven 17 - (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
• Heaven 17 - I’m Your Money
• Dollar - Mirror Mirror
• ABC - Poison Arrow
• ABC - The Look of Love
• ABC - All of My Heart

Chapter 20

• The B-52s - Rock Lobster
• Coati Mundi - Que Pasa/Me No Pop I
• Was (Not Was) - Wheel Me Out
• Material - Bustin’ Out
• Bush Tetras - Too Many Creeps
• Liquid Liquid - Cavern
• New Order - Confusion

Chapter 21

• The Associates - Party Fears Two
• The Associates - Club Country
• The Associates - Skipping
• The Associates - 18 Carat Love Affair
• Altered Images - Happy Birthday
• Simple Minds - Promised You a Miracle
• Orange Juice - Rip It Up
• ABC - That Was Then But This Is Now
• Heaven 17 - Crushed by the Wheels of Industry
• The Human League - The Lebanon
• Scritti Politti - Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)
• Scritti Politti - The Word Girl
• Scritti Politti - Perfect Way

Chapter 22

• Siouxsie & The Banshees - Suburban Relapse
• Siouxsie & The Banshees - Icon
• Siouxsie & The Banshees - Painted Bird
• The Birthday Party - Mutiny in Heaven
• The Birthday Party - Release the Bats
• Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi’s Dead (1979)
• The Sisters of Mercy - Gimme Shelter
• The Sisters of Mercy - Temple of Love

Chapter 23

• Echo & The Bunnymen - All I Want
• The Teardrop Explodes - Reward
• The Blue Orchids - The Flood
• The Blue Orchids - Dumb Magician
• U2 - I Will Follow
• U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
• Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon

Chapter 24

• Black Flag - Damaged I
• The Minutemen - Paranoid Chant
• The Minutemen - The Glory of Man
• The Minutemen - History Lesson (Part II)
• Hüsker Dü - Statues
• Hüsker Dü - Reoccurring Dreams
• Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song
• Meat Puppets - Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds
• Meat Puppets - Oh, Me

Chapter 25

• Psychic TV - Just Driftin’
• Psychic TV - Stolen Kisses
• Psychic TV - Message from the Temple
• Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock
• Cabaret Voltaire - Just Fascination
• Psychic TV - In the Nursery
• Coil - Tainted Love
• Scraping Foetus off the Wheel - I’ll Meet You in Poland Baby
• Einstürzende Neubauten - Yu-Gung (Feed My Ego)
• Die Krupps - Wahre Arbeit - Wahrer Lohn
• Einstürzende Neubauten - Eisenmolekul
• Immaculate Consumptives - Body Unknown
• Depeche Mode - Everything Counts
• Depeche Mode - People Are People

Chapter 26

• Malcolm McLaren - Buffalo Gals
• The Art of Noise - Beat Box
• The Art of Noise - Moments in Love
• Propaganda - Dr Mabuse
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax
• The Art of Noise - Close (to the Edit)
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes (Annihilation Mix)
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood - The Power of Love
• Propaganda - Duel
• Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm

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