A collection of The Jesus and Mary Chain frontman Jim Reid’s favourite songs
In the mid-1980s, shoegaze was looming. But long before My Bloody Valentine would release their seminal record Loveless and Slowdive unleashed Souvlaki, a Scottish band called The Jesus and Mary Chain were paving the way for fuzzy soundscapes and abrasive guitars to thrive. Filling the gap in guitar music with their raucous live presence and inflated egos, The Jesus and Mary Chain forged their cult reputation, one that still remains to this day.
When frontman Jim Reid was approached by an interviewer following a live show they had given in London in 1985, he was asked the question, “Why are people so excited about you?” and neatly responded, “Because we’re so good. Because we’re so much better than everybody else. Because so many other people are complete rubbish that people have gotta pay attention to us. It’s pretty obvious, really.”
It’s a statement that could evoke dislike from audiences, one that might make the frontman seem narcissistic and dismissive of his peers, but Reid wasn’t far off with his claims. The 1980s were flooded with electronic music, and synth-pop was king. The Jesus and Mary Chain’s fuzzy feedback was a far cry from the music of the moment, and their debut record Psychocandy, stood out like a sore thumb, despite being one of the best albums of the year.
But The Jesus and Mary Chain collated a cult following (as well as a couple of venue bans) through their live shows and began to inspire other bands with an interest in guitar effects and pedals. Their presence can be found across the music of My Bloody Valentine and Ride, as well as in the record collections of indie kids.
As a consequence, Reid has become one of the most important names in alternative music, providing a reference point for budding guitarists. Reid’s own musical interests span the classics, his alternative peers, and more modern musicians, as he once revealed in a curated playlist of his favourite songs.
There are some staple choices that would likely feature in every musician’s playlist – The Beatles, David Bowie, Nirvana – but there are also some more interesting picks. Reid includes fellow dreamy shoegaze predecessors Cocteau Twins’ ‘Lorelei’, the iconic Sonic Youth hit ‘Teen Age Riot’, and even shouts out the synth-poppers he was working against with the debut single from The Human League.
Reid’s more up-to-date picks include Angelo De Augustine’s gorgeous, folky ‘Time’ and Babe Rainbow’s psychedelic ‘Peace Blossom Boogy’. The rest of his picks range from Neil Diamond to Magazine. Find the full list of Jim Reid’s favourite songs and listen to the official playlist below.
A collection of The Jesus and Mary Chain frontman Jim Reid’s favourite songs
- ‘On the Road Again’ by Memphis Jug Band
- ‘isagodaman?’ by The Snivelling Shits
- ‘The Autumn Stone’ by Small Faces
- ‘Midnight Moses’ by Alex Harvey
- ‘We’re All Stars’ by Liam Lynch and Dhani Harrison
- ‘Black Rooster’ by The Kills
- ‘Babes Never Die’ by Honeyblood
- ‘City of Fun’ by England’s Glory
- ‘The Sun’ by Go-Kart Mozart
- ‘Dixie Fried’ by Carl Perkins
- ‘Working Class Hero’ by John Lennon
- Where Have All the Good Times Gone’ by The Kinks
- ‘Oh Jim’ by Lou Reed
- ‘Sunday Sun’ by Neil Diamond
- ‘Unknown Legend’ by Neil Young
- ‘Something In The Way’ by Nirvana
- ‘Consolation Prize’ by Orange Juice
- ‘One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)’ by Frank Sinatra
- ‘Crippled Inside’ by John Lennon
- ‘I’m A Boy’ by The Who
- ‘Detroit’ by Tim Timebomb
- ‘Iris’s Song (Version Two’ by Vashti Bunyan
- ‘I Won This Dog At The Driftwood Reunion Carnival’ by The Olivia Tremor Control
- ‘Tribute To Hank Williams’ by Tim Hardin
- ‘Like the Sun Feeds From Flowers’ by Anthony Reynolds
- ‘Lil’ Devil’ by The Cult
- ‘Seconds Too Late’ by Cabaret Voltaire
- ‘Debris’ by Faces
- ‘Breaking Up: Wfuv’ by Violent Femmes
- ‘Cocaine Habit Blues’ by Memphis Jug Band
- ‘Anti Love Song’ by Betty Davis
- ‘The Sunnyside of the Street’ by The Pogues
- ‘Sleep on the Left Side’ by Cornershop
- ‘O Lucky Man!’ by Alan Price
- ‘Three Is A Magic Number’ by Bob Dorough
- ‘Soul Desert’ by CAN
- ‘Like a Bad Girl Should’ by The Cramps
- ‘Kebab Träume’ by DAF
- ‘Some Weird Sin’ by Iggy Pop
- ‘Bad Boy’ by The Beatles
- ‘Ring Ring’ by ABBA
- ‘Rock the Blues Away’ by AC/DC
- ‘Luney Tune’ by Alice Cooper
- ‘Time’ by Angelo De Augutstine
- ‘Island Song’ by Adventure Time and Ashley Eriksson
- ‘(What’s so Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding’ by Brinsley Schwarz
- ‘Incident on 57th Street’ by Bruce Springsteen
- ‘Southern Girls’ by Cheap Trick
- ‘I Fall In Love Too Easily’ by Chet Baker
- ‘Let’s Dance’ by Chris Rea
- ‘Pale Sun’ by Darker My Love
- ‘Let Me Sleep Beside You’ by David Bowie
- ‘Stardust’ by David Essex
- ‘Panik’ by Métal Urbain
- ‘Sehnsucht – Zitternd’ by Einstürzende Nebauten
- ‘Too Bad, (That’s Sad)’ by Edwyn Collins
- ‘Check My Heart’ by The Pastels
- ‘I Can;t Stand My Baby’ by The Rezillos
- ‘Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues’ by Skip James
- ‘Oh Bondage! Up Yours!’ by X-Ray Spex
- ‘Being Boiled – Fast Version’ by The Human League
- ‘Warm Leatherette’ by The Normal
- ‘Homosapien’ by Pete Shelley
- ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour – Alternate Version’ by Ultravox
- ‘Delicious’ by Shampoo
- ‘Overground’ by Siouxsie and the Banshees
- ‘Wild Youth’ by Generation X
- ‘Victoria’ by The Kinks
- ‘The Groover’ by T. Rex
- ‘Nag, Nag, Nag’ by Cabaret Voltaire
- ‘The Light Pours Out Of Me’ by Magazine
- ‘Me, I Disconnect From You’ by Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army
- ‘Mercy Seat’ by Ultra Vivid Scene
- ‘Lorelei’ by Cocteau Twins
- ‘Teen Age Riot (Album Version)’ by Sonic Youth
- ‘Only Shallow’ by My Bloody Valentine
- ‘Dead and Buried’ by Alien Sex Fiend
- ‘Tunnel Music 2’ by Angus MacLise
- ‘Little Hands’ by Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence
- ‘Et moi, et moi, et moi’ by Jacques Dutronc
- ‘Peace Blossom Boogy’ by Babe Rainbow
- ‘(I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again’ by The Barracudas
- ‘Heart of the City’ by Nick Lowe
- ‘This Is Tomorrow’ by Bryan Ferry
- ‘Bad Time’ by The Vibrators
- ‘Madame George’ by Van Morrison
- ‘Buzzin’ Fly’ by Tim Buckley
- ‘Glory’ by Television
- ‘I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives’ by Television Personalities
- ‘Let’s Build A Car’ by Swell Maps
- ‘He’s Misstra Know-It-All’ by Stevie Wonder
- ‘How You Satisfy Me’ by Spectrum
- ‘Can You Get to That’ by Funkadelic
- ‘Introduction / The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ by Gil Scott-Heron
- ‘Frozen Warnings’ by Nico
- ‘Chance Meeting’ by Josef K
- ‘Don’t Let Your Son Grow up to Be a Cowboy’ by Jazzateers
- ‘Out Of The Question’ by Doctor Mix and The Remix
- ‘Roxy Roller’ by Nick Glider
- ‘Listening To Marmlade’ by Go-Kart Mozart
- ‘Passing Through – Live’ by Leonard Cohen
- ‘Say You Never Knew Me’ by The Cobbs
- ‘Used To’ by Wire
- ‘Rock & Roll’ by The Velvet Underground
- ‘You’re Supposed To Be My Friend by 1990s
