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Heading your way .. Julian Cope as Mr Squbbsy in London, 1990.
Eccentric historical figures to those who are currently out there, black sheep to persons offbeat, songs that express the outsider/insider paradox, this week let’s open our doors to songs about difference
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What's cooking in the Song Bar foundry? Silvery and other sounds are in this week's melting pot
Things are hotting up at the Song Bar foundry, as guest alchemist TatankaYotanka, filled with treasures from last week’s nominations, smelts up a priceless recipe of musical riches ready to play to you
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Sounds of silver …
Leaving aside gold, steel and iron, let’s dig out songs that lyrically refer, in literal or metaphorical terms to the poetic or practical qualities of silver, copper, brass, tin, aluminium, tungsten, magnesium and much more
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Yowsah! Yowsah! Yowsah! It's Chic extending the dance, dance, dance …
Yowsah! Yowsah! Yowsah! This week your feet, 12 inches long or otherwise, will not be able to stop moving as guest playlister DiscoMonster extends an invitation to enjoy his pick of last week’s many great nominations
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Where do these musical steps lead?
Watch your step! This week’s playlists lead in all directions – into the mysterious, fearful dark, and the upbeat light. Inspired by last week’s topic, playlist guest writer attwilightlarks gets our feet and feelings moving
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Perhaps these steps will lead you to the right key …
Steep, sweeping, stone, wood or metal? This week we're exploring how music give us a certain kind of lift – through lyrics that describe all ways to up or down, on foot or via mechanical means, actual or metaphorical
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Float this idea. Keats revisited …
Bakelite to early Bjork, polystyrene to Pink, plastic Jesus to Barbie, this week’s polycarbonates and vinyls come in all shapes from last week’s topic, wrapped in a clever Keats ode by playlist writer EnglishOutlaw
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Recycled plastic beach sculpture in Rio
It’s multi-shaped, everywhere, and incredibly flexible and versatile, but it’s also an eco nightmare. But how is it represented in song? Fake, cheap, inferior, comical, colourful or weirdly fashionable? Time for a straw poll …
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Sly and the Family Stone … more than happy to stay on this playlist
Bowie to Dylan, Sly Stone to Suede, this week’s playlists, picked perfectly by this week’s guest Amylee, from a mountain of timeless nominations, is hanging around here for good, a monument to staying
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Last four couples in a 1930s dance marathon
We’re not leaving, but showing endurance, fortitude and steadfastness. There’s a whole lot of staying power going on in this week’s topic, from physical to mental strength …
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Antelope Slot Canyons, Arizona.
A rocky entrance to cool, calm caverns, deadly and beautiful tales of coal miners to digging dwarves, guest playlister takeitawayGuru, inspired by hundred of nominations, takes us on a fantastic underground musical journey
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The astonishing Marble cave, in Rio Tranquilo, Brazil.
This week it's time to dig deep in your record collections for find all things subterranean, whether that's in the beauty of natural geology, to man-made caverns or even the metaphorical underground
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Feeling better yet? It's all part of the service …
Hospital care, pills, patients and patience, we’ve got a musical medicine cabinet of the finest healthcare for you, administered by guest playlist writer Dr Severin and readers nursing great song suggestions
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NHS founder Nye Bevan visits Park Hospital, Davyhulme, Manchester, in 1948.
This week we’re giving it the special treatment to mark the NHS 70th anniversary, but also looking for music that mentions any kind of medical care, especially nursing, and its emotional effect in lyrics
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Irreplaceable: The Modern Lovers
Replacements for players, soldiers, husbands, lovers, even robot sex – it’s all going on this these superb playlists chosen by our guest lister Marco den Ouden, who also replaces some of his words with those by nominators
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The real thing or substitutes? The Beatles at Madame Tussauds
Are they meant to be better, or not as good, artificial or the real thing? From sport to food, people to plans, work to worries and distraction, let’s explore substitutions in life and music
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The men from CIA? Fugs-style.
Who are they? Where are they? And what are they doing? Are the answers in songs nominated? It’s time to burrow deep with our mystery guest playlister Deep Throat-Singer to see how the plot plays out …
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Meeting of metaphor or the literal? Well, it's all a question of scale …
No, it’s not the World Cup. Or is it? This week let’s delve into music’s interpretation of the murky world of imagined or otherwise undercover plots from Roswell to JFK, 9/11 to Russian interference, and er … lizards
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How does Two Suns end up? Bat For Lashes is joined by Scott Walker
Where will it all end? With medicine, moonlight, sleep or a starship? All of these and much more, as our guest playlist writer ParaMhor picks two superb sets of conclusions to hundreds of nominated songs
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Sunset ending? Not every ride goes so smoothly …
No – it’s not the World Cup. This week we’re looking at all kinds of ends of albums and other songs – from surprising, sudden, or summing up, to those that are ambiguous, serious, comical or take us to a new place
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