The winners’ iPodium
Playlist for the Olympic ceremony leaked
Published: Today at 02:35
IT’S a soundtrack like no other you will ever hear.
The Eton Boating Song, Elgar and Handel — with the Sex Pistols’ infamous God Save The Queen and Prodigy’s anarchic Firestarter.Olympic officials won’t confirm that a leaked 86-track playlist will be the musical accompaniment to the Olympic Games opening ceremony — but it smacks of the genius of Danny Boyle and it’s the absolute essence of British music.
London Calling by The Clash and Simon May’s EastEnders theme are there for obvious reasons for the London Games.
Land Of Hope And Glory, Jerusalem and the Dambusters March are natural choices for that patriotic feel.
Radiohead’s Creep, meanwhile, might be a surprise to some and Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s once-banned Relax might not be everyone’s choice to get Her Majesty toe-tapping along as she officially opens London 2012 in front of a global TV audience of a billion on July 27.
But I trust Slumdog Millionaire director Boyle and his old mates Underworld — the DJ duo whose classic 1996 dance track Born Slippy featured on his cult film Trainspotting — to have got it right.
Oscar-winning Boyle, 55, the man chosen to plan the £27m extravaganza, has unveiled his plans to transform the Olympic stadium into a British countryside scene for the show — to be witnessed in the flesh by 62,000 spectators.And no Boyle production would be complete without a top soundtrack.
Iggy Pop, Primal Scream, Blur and Pulp were integral to Trainspotting’s success.
Moby, All Saints and Underworld, again, were equally important to the Boyle-directed smash The Beach, and the A.R Rahman score to Slumdog Millionaire won two Oscars, a Golden Globe and a Bafta.
It makes sense that an eclectic mix would be the hallmark of Boyle’s opening ceremony and the set he is planning will include a Glastonbury-style “mosh pit”.
He has said he wants it to feel like the live recording of a movie.
Sugababes, Roll Deep and especially The Sex Pistols may seem like unusual choices to ring out around the Olympic stadium.
God Save The Queen, released in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee year, 1977, was originally banned by the BBC, as was Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Relax in 1984 — but this is 2012 and we’ve all grown up a bit.
Mixing 86 tracks together means most songs will only get a brief play, not long enough to cause offence, and with Underworld mixing it should be seamless.
Including newer tracks from Arctic Monkeys, Dizzee Rascal, Emeli Sande and Muse alongside The Beatles, Queen, Happy Mondays, Led Zep and Pink Floyd classics is a great move.
There are lots of London acts on the list, which makes sense, but Scotland is represented by Franz Ferdinand, The Specials from Coventry are in there and Woking’s finest, The Jam, will ring out.
Every decade and genre is represented, from the Madchester scene, with Happy Mondays and New Order, to UK rap acts Tinie Tempah, Rizzle Kicks and Kano.
Just as likely to raise eyebrows are some names that are NOT on the list.
But many sang at the Jubilee concert and Boyle may be making an effort to make his representation of Britain a different one from the Jubilee celebrations.
Some may also be performing live at the opening ceremony.
An Olympics spokesman would not confirm the accuracy of the playlist, apparently leaked by a “music industry source”.
She said: “There is endless speculation about the content of the show — much is simply guesswork — and we are keeping the rest of the show under wraps.”
The whole watching world will look forward to this medley being unwrapped.
Additional reporting: ANTHONY FRANCE
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