The Backbeat Band: Backbeat - original soundtrack

John Peel played a lot of tracks from this when it came out. I didn't entirely get what was so great about it at the time — though I loved Backbeat at the cinema (not least for having Sheryl Lee in a beret, the next best thing after Jean Seberg in A Bout de Souffle).

But six years later I saw it in Fopp for £3 (£3!), and it was a no-brainer. The second time around, the music bit me. I caught the raw wildness of it, which was a thread running through many of Peel's favourites.

Play just about any track at a party and I guarantee there will be something of a dance floor invasion. I probably don't have to tell you that. I played one or two at D's 40th — went down better than Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man, anyway.

Who was the smart cookie that had the presence of mind to assemble a band like this to record a fresh (in every sense of the word) soundtrack like this? Good work. I'd like to see the film again to see how the music sounds from within it.

MusicBrainz entry for this album