This Town soundtrack: All songs in the BBC drama
The soundtrack features songs from artists including Bob Marley, Ray Charles and UB40.
Prolific screenwriter Steven Knight has always known how to utilise a strong soundtrack in his projects, but This Town is a particularly noteworthy example as music plays a "central" role in the story.
Set in the 1980s across Birmingham and the Midlands, the story follows a young poet named Dante (Levi Brown), who forms a band that quickly finds itself at the centre of a growing yet volatile music scene.
The soundtrack includes a diverse list of iconic artists that really breathes life into the era, from Bob Marley to Blondie and from Talking Heads to Toots and the Maytals – it really is a stellar line-up.
Alongside the jukebox of timeless hits, This Town has also enlisted several contemporary artists to provide cover versions of popular tracks as well as to lend their vocals to original songs penned by Dan Carey and Kae Tempest.
Read on for a full list of the songs featured in This Town – and everything you need to know about the original soundtrack.
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This Town soundtrack: All songs in the BBC drama
This Town episode 1 songs
- Jamaica Ska by Byron Lee & The Dragonaires
- You Can Get It If You Really Want by Desmond Dekker
- Food For Thought by UB40
- Broadway Jungle by Toots & The Maytals
- Fly Me to the Moon by Tom Jones
- Don't Stay Away by Phyllis Dillon
- Take This Longing by Leonard Cohen
- The Tide Is High by Blondie
- I Think It's Going to Rain Today by UB40
This Town episode 2 songs
- Pressure Drop by Toots & The Maytals
- Chase the Devil/Croaking Lizard (feat Prince Jazzbo) by Max Romeo & The Upsetters
- Many Rivers to Cross by Jimmy Cliff
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland (performed by Michelle Dockery)
- Enjoy Yourself by Prince Buster
- Son of a Preacher Man by The Gaylettes
- I Can See Clearly Now by Ray Charles
This Town episode 3 songs
- Are 'Friends' Electric? by Tubeway Army & Gary Numan
- Fu Manchu by Desmond Dekker & The Aces
- The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals
- A Message to You Rudy (feat Rico Rodriguez) by The Specials
- Clampdown by The Clash
- Love of the Common People by Nicky Thomas
- Cissy Strut by The Meters
This Town episode 4 songs
- The Foggy Dew by Odetta
- When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman by Dr Hook
- On My Radio by The Selecter
- Israelites by Desmond Dekker
- Sun Is Shining by Bob Marley
- Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie and the Banshees
- Danny Boy by Jackie Wilson
- Since You've Been Gone by Rainbow
This Town episode 5 songs
- Heart of Glass by Blondie
- Dream Baby Dream by Suicide
- 007 (Shanty Town) by Desmond Dekker
- Take Me to the River by Talking Heads
- 54-46 Was My Number by Toots & The Maytals
This Town episode 6 songs
- Papa Was a Rolling Stone by Jackie Robinson, George Agard and Sydney Crooks
- Stand Down Margaret (Dub) by The Beat
- Jezahel by Shirley Bassey
- Three Little Birds by Bob Marley and The Wailers (performed by Michelle Dockery)
- Rock & Roll by The Velvet Underground
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Who composed the soundtrack for This Town?
As well as featuring a host of well-known popular songs from the '80s and before, This Town also features a number of covers and original songs composed for the series.
Six major artists provided covers for the show, each of whom feature over the credits of the episodes. These artists are: Celeste, Gregory Porter, Olivia Dean, Ray Laurél, Sekou and Self Esteem.
Meanwhile, the original songs for the series have been written by Dan Carey and Kae Tempest, and the show has been co-produced with Mercury Studios (part of the Universal Music Group), which has, according to the BBC, "helped create the musical backdrop for Knight’s incredible story".
Carey is a producer who has worked with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, Sia and Franz Ferdinand, while Tempest is a poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright.
The show has been described as a "love letter to Birmingham and the Midlands" by star Shyvonne Ahmmad.
She added: "And it's a love letter to that time. So those who grew up during that time, or even children of parents who grew up in that time, it's so exciting to get to step into it."
She went on to say that "it's all about self-expression, it's all about figuring out who you are. So step into it, I'd say for audience members, and remember who you were trying to be at that time and who you thought you were".
"And if you are still figuring out, like all of us, I think it's a lifelong endeavour to try and figure out who you are and what you want and who your tribe is," Ahmmad continued. "Step into it and just enjoy it."
Her co-star Ben Rose also explained to RadioTimes.com how the show is both similar and different to Peaky Blinders, saying: "It’s just the writing. Steven Knight, the writer, he has a really incredible sort of voice, I think, and he's able to create really grounded, naturalistic characters who all speak in poetry, and all have a heightened sense of reality within this really gritty, very earthly world.
"His language is sort of otherworldly. And the way Peaky uses contemporary popular music to contrast with the era, our show kind of has the opposite, because it's using music of the time, of the era, to make you feel even more immersed in that world."
This Town is available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Sunday 31st March, while the first episode airs on BBC One at 9pm.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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