The Popdust Weekend Playlist, Uber-UK Olympics Edition

For those of us who have been caught with Olympic fever the last week-plus—and really, who can resist such feuds as Lochte vs. Phelps, South Korea vs. North Korea, and Team USA Basketball vs. the social faux pas of totally embarrassing your opponent?—it’s been All UK Everything recently. Yes, the Union Jack has taken over for us, and the music in the Popdust offices has been adjusted accordingly. If you’re like us, and you can’t get enough Cool Britannia of late, then enjoy our Uber UK Weekend Playlist, featuring some of the most quintessentially British music ever recorded. Oi!

THE SEX PISTOLS, “ANARCHY IN THE UK”

The definitive song of the late ’70s UK punk movement, featuring one of the all-time great British sneers, courtesy of spitting, snarling Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten. The Queen’s still probably not a particularly huge fan, but unfortunately, she doesn’t get a vote on this one.

BLUR, “PARKLIFE”

Voiced mostly by cockney Quadrophenia actor Phil Daniels, “Parklife” is so fucking British that it’s basically an entirely foreign language for Americans. “John’s got brewers droop, he gets intimidated by the dirty pigeons.” “Who’s that gut lord marching?” “It’s got nothing to do with your vorsprung durch technique you know.” Yeah, it can be a bit of a confusing karaoke choice, but it all comes together for that singalong chorus: “All the people / So many people / And they all go hand in hand / Hand in hand through their…PARKLIFE!” What’s a “parklife” you may ask? I dunno, man, ask the Prime Minister.

CHER LLOYD, “WANT U BACK”

Of all the recent UK imports currently laying waste to the US pop charts—One Direction, The Wanted, Adele, Ellie Goulding, etc.—Cher Lloyd is by far the most obvious Limey, a snotty, brash Worcestershirian whose accent more than shines through on lyrics like the spoken “Remember all the things that you and I did fiiiiiirst? / And now you’re doing them with HERRRR???” As one of the year’s most addictive pop singles, though, Cher’s certainly not doing anything her country wouldn’t be proud to be represented by.

THE JAM, “DOWN IN THE TUBE STATION AT MIDNIGHT”

You might not quite need a translator for this one like you do for “Parklife,” but a glossary would certainly help for terms like “takeaway curry,” “Wormwood Scrubs,” and if you’ve never had the pleasure of taking UK public transportation, “Tube station.” If you don’t have one handy, though, just groove to that popping punk-funk bass line and you should be good to go just the same.

THE STREETS, “FIT BUT YOU KNOW IT”

The first breakout UK rapper of the 21st century never quite broke in the States the way he should have, likely due in no small part to just how damn British Mike Sinner was, merciless to Americans in his slang, accent and general ethos. “Fit But You Know It” might have been his definitive moment, a stomping beat with a chopped-up guitar hook and a story about a bird (not the Ornithological kind) who Skinner thinks is “really fit — but my gosh, don’t you know it?” How “fit” didn’t become a thing in this country immediately afterwards is something of a travesty.

For lots more super-duper-Britishness, including The Kinks and Lily Allen Rose Cooper, click NEXT.

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