These Fragile Things – The Soundtrack

After being interviewed by the wonderful Jen Campbell for her blog, the greatest number of comments I received was about my musical tastes. Music is one of the few things that instantly transports you to a time and place in your life so, although I find I difficult to work with any background noise, it is always a source of inspiration.

Music was what made sense of my teens, and I was a teenager in the eighties, which is my setting for These Fragile Things. These are the songs that I used to get into the correct mind-set and they somehow crept into the storyline: 

‘Souvenir’ was a 1981 single by OMD, taken from their album, Architecture and Morality. (Like Judy’s, my copy had the hole punched off-centre. I liked it so much I didn’t return it to Sam’s in Raynes Park) 

‘Oblivious’ was a 1983 single by Aztec Camera taken from the album, High Land, Hard Rain. (Pebble Mill at One: remember that? And looking so young!)

‘Nightporter’ (Elaine’s Waltz) was a 1982 single released by Japan. (It doesn’t sound quite the same without the scratch on the record.)

Tommy sings ‘Reel Around the Fountain’ by The Smiths.

‘Just One Kiss’ appears on the b-side of the 1982 single ‘Let’s Go To Bed’ by The Cure. It doesn’t appear on an album, so enjoy!

‘Relax’ was the debut single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in late 1983 and reaching number one in January 1984. Frankie Goes to Hollywood appeared on Top of the Pops before Mike Read refused to play it and the BBC banned it. A trend in t-shirts followed. I have always found it embarrassing to dance to ‘Relax’ in public.

‘Here Comes the Rain Again’ was a 1984 single by The Eurhythmics, taken from the album, Touch. Still absolutely stunning.

‘A Day at the Races’ is a 1976 album by Queen. (Not an eighties track but, as it turned out, an essential element in the storyline. On this clip, someone seems to have looped the Shepherd Tone, which is precisely what Judy failed to do on a tape to tape recorder).

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