This Town soundtrack – all the artists you hear in Steven Knight's new BBC drama

New BBC Birmingham drama This Town has a blistering soundtrack for Ska and Two-Tone fans. Added to classic hits from the 1980s, there is also a modern twist in the show by Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight.
Fresh cover versions by the hottest contemporary artists will play at the end of each of the six episodes. Among music from those newer acts are Grammy Award-winning Gregory Porter and Celeste, the 2020 BRITs Rising Star award winner and BBC Sound of 2021 winner.
There’s a full list of the artists that feature in This Town throughout the first season below. Set in 1981, it is at a time when Two-Tone bands like The Specials and The Beat were first breaking on to the music scene in Coventry and Birmingham.
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There’s far more eclectic sounds that feature in This Town as the era was also when Reggae and Ska was becoming more popular with records arriving from Jamaica to British dancehalls and pubs. A time when UB40 first emerged.
There’s even Leonard Cohen music as the main character, Dante, is an aspiring poet who is inspired by Cohen’s work. One of his most famous tracks was Hallelujah.
Here is what music fans can look forward to in the first BBC series of This Town, which starts from Sunday March 30 at 9pm and is also on iplayer.
Who are the six contemporary artists singing at the end of each This Town episode?
A BBC spokesperson said that six leading modern-day artists had been selected. They have each recorded a cover version which will play over the end credits of a This Town episode.
The six artists are:
Celeste
Gregory Porter
Olivia Dean
Ray Laurél
Sekou
Self Esteem
The Ray Laurél song he performed at the This Town premiere in Birmingham was a cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, renowned for being sung by Judy Garland in The Wizard Of Oz. This hints that it will be the song featured at the end of a This Town episode.
Celebrities on red carpet for This Town premiere at Birmingham Town Hall
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What music is in BBC’s This Town?
The classic artists from the 1980s and earlier whose music is featured in This Town are:
Bryon Lee and the Dragonaires
Desmond Dekker & the Aces
Leonard Cohen
Tubeway Army
The Clash
The Animals
Jimmy Cliff
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Prince Buster
Blondie
Stiff Little Fingers
Talking Heads
The Selecter
Velvet Underground
What music does the band in This Town play?
Although This Town is a drama about a fictional band that Dante forms with friend Jeannie, their music has been created specially for the show. Writing and performing the songs were celebrated producer Dan Carey, Kae Tempest, a Brit and Mercury nominated musician, novelist and poet, and singer-songwriter ESKA.
Actors Ben Rose playing Bardon Quinn and Freya Parks playing Fiona are musicians as well as actors. The other actors, Levi Brown, Eve Austin and Shyvonne Ahmmad – starring as Dante, Jeannie and Matty – all learned to play their instruments especially for this drama
This Town was co-produced with Mercury Studios – part of the Universal Music Group – which enabled music talent to get involved in creating some of the score.
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This Town will premiere on BBCiplayer and BBC One on Sunday March 31.

Categories: Music