Andy Burnham ist seit Ende Juli Nachfolger von Keir Starmer als britischer Premierminister. Während seiner Tätigkeit als Bürgermeister von Manchester befragte ihn das britische Online-Magazin „The Quietus“ zu seinen Lieblingsplatten – und wie es sich für jemanden gehört, der eine Musik-Welthauptstadt wie Manchester führt, hat Burnham eine bemerkenswerte (& für einen deutschen Politiker kaum vorstellbare) Auswahl vorgelegt.
Hier einige Auszüge, den ganzen Text findet man bei The Quietus:
The Smiths – Hatful Of Hollow
„I remember everyone at school going on about The Smiths on Top Of The Pops, it was a massive thing when that happened. (…) I listened to that to death. It was the first indie record I ever bought. (…) that was the record that changed everything.“
The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy And The Lash
„The Pogues always affected me on quite a deep level, I really responded to them. I remember going to watch them at Liverpool University in 1988, I was 18 and the song ‘Poor Paddy’ – I remember Shane MacGowan being on the stage and deliberately playing up the lyric “In 1844 / I landed on the Liverpool shore”. (…) I always say to my son, in my more bleak moments, play ‘The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn’ at my funeral.“
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
„I remember being on my bike, cycling around Cambridge, thinking that this is the band I’ve waited all my life to hear. I still think about that album in that way. That summer, I got home from university and was working in Manchester in 1989 – I went into Piccadilly Records at lunchtime, bought a ticket for The Stone Roses at Empress Ballroom in Blackpool. I immediately bought those tickets. I remember it really vividly, it was one of those gigs you are at where you know it’s a really important gig. How lucky to have been there at that time.“
The Wedding Present – George Best
„I played this to death, I loved it and it had everything for me. (…) It’s the pinnacle of guitar music.“
The La’s – The La’s
„Everyone just thinks of ‘There She Goes’ but there’s songs on that record that are just phenomenal. (…) Them and The Stone Roses stand out as burning brightly and never heard of again. That’s a matter of regret to me. They were so great in that moment. What we lost, somehow, there’s a poignant feeling around that record for me.“
Radiohead – OK Computer
„I loved The Bends so I bought this but I didn’t relate to it straight away. They played Glastonbury in 2017, and I remember sitting on my sofa watching it, and hearing all the crowd singing along to Karma Police and I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s a good album actually.’ It was just after losing the leadership to Corbyn, and I was planning leaving Parliament. It was a delayed love of OK Computer, which now for me is one of the all-time truly outstanding albums.“
The Strokes – Is This It?
„It’s almost like The La’s, it’s a perfect album. (…) As a first album, it’s of such 24-carat purity. It’s unbelievable. For me, it’s one of those albums where you just absorb it for ages and ages.“
Big Thief – Capacity
„I think they’re one of the best bands around. The quality of those first two albums. It’s funny, I haven’t really chosen many bands with women singers but I used to love Everything But The Girl in the old days, I could have easily put one of their albums on, or the Massive Attack album with Tracey Thorn on. Adrienne’s like that to me, she’s got this rare sort of voice.“
New Order – Power, Corruption And Lies
„We’d been at the Bluedot festival at Jodrell Bank, this was just before the pandemic, late summer 2019, and it was one of the last gigs I saw before lockdown. (…) It’s that type of music, it takes you to slightly different places, all the images flashing up on the screen and Bernard playing his recorder. There are moments you remember, and that was one of them. All through the lockdowns, I’d listen to this album.“
