Quite apart from the quality of their music, the Stone Roses had a huge impact in 1989 because they embodied the moment. Much club and rock culture in the mid to late 80s was inward-looking (C86) or tight-arsed (Rare Groove). Photogenic, savvy and coming off a sequence of great singles that climaxed with Fools Gold, the Stone Roses caught a new mood in pop: an expansive, inclusive neo-psychedelic fusion of rock and dance that sounded like freedom – an open window after all that stuffiness.
The three playlists below are nothing more than a personal attempt to distil the best of that era – roughly 1988 to 91 – into an enjoyable sequence. Omissions may be accidental, or in the case of early Blur, deliberate. If you don't like them, compile your own.
There are some forgotten heroes – Shack, Baby Ford – as well as familiar hits. There's a lot of Andy Weatherall, as there should be, and two cuts by A Guy Called Gerald, whose Voodoo Ray remains as astonishing and futuristic as the day it was released.
Jon Savage's baggy playlist: part one
The World According To … – Sly and Lovechild
Only Love Can Break Your Heart – St Etienne
Voodoo Ray – A Guy Called Gerald
W.F.L. (Think About the Future Mix) – Happy Mondays
I Know You Well – Shack
Box Set Go – The High
Full Fathom Five – The Stone Roses
Slip Inside This House – Primal Scream
So Hard (Red Zone mix) – Pet Shop Boys
Soon – My Bloody Valentine
Regret (Fast n Throb) – New Order
What Is Love? – Dee-Lite
Jon Savage's baggy playlist: part two
Place of Dreams and Magic – Baby Ford
Get The Message (DNA mix) – Electronic
Pacific State – 808 State
Blow Your House Down – A Guy Called Gerald
Hallelujah (Club Mix) – Happy Mondays
Soon (Weatherall Mix) – My Bloody Valentine
A Desert Storm – Joi
She's a Rainbow – World of Twist
Shall We Take a Trip – Northside
The Only One I Know – The Charlatans
This Is the One – The Stone Roses
Like the Swallow – Saint Etienne
Glowing Trees – Meek
Jon Savage's baggy playlist: part three
Rockin' Over the Beat – Technotronic
Take 5 – Northside
Hippy Chick – Soho
Filthy – St Etienne
Groovy Train – The Farm
Regret (Slo and lo) – New Order
The Sound of the Atom Splitting – Pet Shop Boys
Number 9 Bad Acid – Dimensional Holofonic Sound
Let Yourself Go (D50 mix) – 808 State
Begging You – The Stone Roses
Clock Factory – Sabres of Paradise
Higher Than the Sun – Primal Scream
.png?w=600)
