Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You…

Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You…

… is the brilliant second single from Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires who we exclusively introduced to the world back in February 2025.  Ged Babey had the idea to ask the band, their friends, labelmates and contemporaries:

Is there a particular ‘Song On The Radio’ that reminds you of your ‘true love’?

The only stipulation being that it had to be a ‘drive-time’/commercial radio song, so that the choices wouldn’t be obscurer-than-thou cult-indie songs.

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Listening to the radio is probably a generational thing that’s fast dying out seeing as various devices and platforms give us far more choice and the ability to playlist and personalise our listening experience. Consequently, most of the contributors are Indie Elders but there are a few exceptions from current Indiepop bands Jeanines, The Cords and  Sassyhiya, the last of whom bought an old banger to learn to drive in, with no stereo and a radio ‘forever stuck on Radio 2’.

Something that was very pleasing is how people interpreted the question – song which remind you of your ‘true love’. Wives and partners were the obvious choice, but much-missed dads, brothers and nans feature, a bouncing baby and a dearly loved ‘best friend’ from childhood. So the question became…

Is there was a particular ‘Song On The Radio’ that reminds you of a Loved one?

These are their replies:

Rob Pursey (Catenary Wires, Heavenly, Swansea Sound)
Yesterday Once More by The Carpenters

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When I was really young my Dad used most of his savings to buy a really good stereo system. He mainly used it to blast out Django Reinhardt albums at top volume but, I suspect under instruction from my Mum, he also bought a couple of easy-listening records that could be played as background music when family came to visit.

I remember gazing at the cover of ‘Now and Then’ by The Carpenters while Karen Carpenter’s sweet vocals eased out of the speakers, marvelling at these two exotic Americans in their expensive red car, with their strangely melancholy faces, as they pulled up to some gated Hollywood mansion. While my Dad poured out the home-made elderflower wine and the adults got animated, I concentrated on Karen’s voice. I liked watching my Dad enjoying himself, it was infectious. But at the same time, the poignancy of the song somehow made me understand that one day this image of him would only be a memory. The lyrics were prophetic: all my best memories, come back clearly to me, some can even make me cry…

More recently, while singing along to Yesterday Once More on the car radio with Amelia, I learned that she also loved it when she was a little kid, and like me, knew all the words. It’s like we knew each other before we’d even met. While I was sitting next to the big hi-fi speaker in my Mum and Dad’s house, quietly singing along, she was in the back of her Dad’s car, doing exactly the same thing.

Brian Bilston (Poet)

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Mr Blue Sky by ELO  At the age of eleven, my brother joined the ELO fan club. I watched on as he’d take delivery of the quarterly newsletter, or come home with a new record to add to his collection. One of them featured a brightly-coloured spaceship on the cover. It all seemed terribly exotic, especially in Birmingham. I was a couple of years younger than him; my Tufty Club membership no longer seemed adequate.

But he was busy growing up and leaving childish things behind. He soon left ELO behind, too. He got into The Jam, became a mod, and in those days of musical tribalism, his old association with ELO became an embarrassment. The newsletters were thrown out, the records sold. ELO fell out of fashion and were forgotten about, and not just by my brother.

A quarter of a century later, a song blasts out at St Andrews, the home of Birmingham City, the football club we have both supported since forever. The song has become a pre-match staple and the first time I hear it through their squeaky tannoy system, I think of my brother and how much he loved it. In recent times, we’ve started to go to games together again. We sit beside each other and join in with the thousands of others singing along: Mr Blue Sky, why did you have to hide away for so long?

Amelia Fletcher (Catenary Wires, Heavenly, Swansea Sound)

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Antmusic by Adam And The Ants When I was 15 and my little brother Mathew was 11, I was just getting into (what I thought of) as cool music, and he fell head over heels in love with Adam And The Ants. He played the Ant Music single on his new record player at top blast. Latterly, we were all treated to the first three albums too. He plastered loads of posters and magazine interviews on his bedroom walls, obliterating no-doubt very expensive William Morris wallpaper.

Mathew took to wearing a white stripe across his nose and dressing in Adam And The Ants t-shirts. He even persuaded my parents to take him to a hairdresser to have his hair cut like Adam. (Given that he was 12, tubby, and blonde, the likeness was only imperfectly achieved). The whole family went to see the band play at the Dominion on Tottenham Court Road (annoyingly missing support band, Altered Images).

Then, a year or so later, Mathew got into the Damned instead. He turned all of his Adam And The Ants stuff into a bonfire, and set light to the lot. His walls were re-adorned with Damned posters, he wore mini-bondage trousers, and he even made a pilgrimage to Croydon to try and find Captain Sensible’s house. But it remains Ant Music that most reminds me of Mathew. Don’t tread on an ant, he’s done nothing to you!

Ian Button (Catenary Wires, Swansea Sound…)

Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix  My nan (Ada, my dad’s mum) lived with us when I was growing up – she was born in 1892, my grandad had died in the ‘50s, and by the mid ’60s Nanny Button was already in her mid 70s. I spent a lot of time with her, watching TV, listening to records and the radio – a weekly highlight was watching Top Of The Pops with her, where she’d sometimes ‘tut’ at the antics of people like Jagger or (Reg) Presley – but with a glint of cheeky admiration too in her eye – I think she liked the naughty looking pop singers on the quiet.

She’d sing a lot around the house – lines from pop songs – and if ever me or my sister were larking about in her way as she was squeezing past trying to get to the kitchen or somewhere, she’d always say “..’Scuse me…….” (brilliantly timed pause, then over her shoulder) “…..while I kiss this guy…” and we’d all crack up.

It’s now a classic “misheard lyric” – but Hendrix definitely seems to mime it like that on the old TOTP clip….and my nan was hip to it straight away. She wouldn’t have that line any other way….. So If I ever hear Purple Haze now I think of my nan, and wonder what song lyrics I’ll be taking the mick out of when I’m 75 (not long!)….

Duglas Stewart (BMX Bandits)
Always on My Mind by The Pet Shop Boys.

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For me this is the ultimate version of this classic love song, it’s so full of passion, longing and poignancy. There was a time, about a decade ago, when my partner Chloe and I weren’t seeing each other and it felt like my soul inside was singing this so much of that time that we were apart. During that period I was asked to do a solo show in a second hand clothes shop and I mainly said yes because I felt I needed to sing this out loud. It felt good getting it out of my system. Thankfully Chloe and I got back together. Whenever I am away from home, from Chloe and our little daughter Lucy I will sing this to myself to remind me that no matter where I may be I will soon be going back home to them and that they are very much always on my mind.

Cathy Rogers (Heavenly)
My choice is Baby I Need Your Loving by the Four Tops. It reminds me of Jason (my partner of nearly 25 years). When we first started going out, we had a very early phase where we were worried we didn’t have much in common. So we seized on anything that felt shared. Somehow this song got caught up in that. There was a misunderstanding where we both thought the other one really liked this song. Both of us (separately and secretly) thought ‘Hmm weird choice’ but gave it a go. And we each decided it was ok – and so it kind of became ‘our song’ – with each of us thinking we had chosen it to please the other one. It was only very recently we discovered that neither of us had originally liked the song and were only making efforts to be nice. So there’s the secret of a long relationship!

Phil Wilson (The June Brides)
Ventura Highway – America

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It’s a song about a road, so couldn’t be more drivetime.I was aware of the song as a youth, but totally indifferent to it – just another boring Californian country rock song. But then, in 2008, my wife and I embarked on an epic road trip – driving along the West Coast from Vancouver to Los Angeles. One of the best holidays of my life – full of brilliant scenery, lovely people and grand adventure. After 3 weeks, we were near the end of the journey – driving along the Ventura Highway into Los Angeles, when this song came on the radio. And, all of a sudden, music that had felt lifeless and dull in concrete grey Coventry, made perfect sense in warm sunshine with the car windows open. I could feel the warmth, see the bright blue sea, and smell the flowers contained within the music.

So now whenever I hear the song, I am instantly transported to the California coast, cruising down the Ventura Highway with my beloved wife. I just feel lucky that it wasn’t The Eagles on the radio….

Helen and Kathy (Sassyhiya)

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Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac  After an aeon of us both trying to learn to drive, Kathy was successful a couple of years ago and we inherited my sister’s old little red car. The main thing which excited me was the thought of choosing the tunes – revisiting special albums, making drivetime playlists. We got an adapter for the old stereo but it didn’t work, so no streaming. After many failed attempts to add 6 Music, we were forever stuck on Radio 2 but you know what – we realised it’s pretty good (shout out Rylan and Sara Cox). One song they play a lot (already a fave) is Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham and Nicks get all the props but Christine McVie was their secret weapon. So simple yet enigmatic sounding, so melodic, so beautiful and so perfect for being with your partner on a long journey. I want to be with you everywhere old red car. I want to be with you everywhere Radio 2. I want to be with you everywhere Christine McVie. I want to be with you everywhere Kathy.

Helen McCookerybook
Mine would be Feel Like Makin’ Love (Roberta Flack version). I remember walking by myself in the park in Sunderland singing it in my head on a beautiful sunny day. I was at Sunderland Poly doing Art Foundation, and all of us young women were ‘in love’ with a chap we nicknamed Handsomely Gorgeous. It was a combination of obsession and a sense of freedom. I was out of my strict home and into the world, where there was unlimited art, music, fun, friends- and men. We kissed at the Christmas party: sweet, innocent and perfect, just like this track.

Shaun Charman (Jetstream Pony)
Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush reminds me strongly of my late Dad. It was No.1 and on Top of the Pops for weeks.. Every time it came on, Dad (who was a big fan of Modern Jazz) would behave like he’d never heard it before, exclaiming how terrible he thought her voice was and looking grimaced throughout. The following week, the same would happen all over again, as if the previous week hadn’t happened. I don’t mind it myself and appreciate how original it was. It always makes me smile, thinking about Dad and his weekly pained reaction. Obviously he never actually left the room, just moaned about it!

Micko Westmoreland (Micko & the Mellotroncs)
David Bowie, Kooks.  I remember hearing this song when I was about 11 and fell in love with it. For me, it spoke of unconventionality, it sounded like the greatest kind of fun! Its literal interpretation of course lends itself to a charitable gay couple but it’s not a far cry from an ode to personal freedom, that’s free from judgement. From a young age I experienced and was interested in queer culture, through my brother who is gay and at the time was at University in Newcastle. We ventured to clubland where anything goes, which for most provided a haven, set against the grim reality of clause 28 Thatcherism. Overall, I really dig the songs accepting nature. When I was lucky to find love, my partner afforded me that very same luxury. Now as a father the song resonates as there’s so much out there in life that you can learn from through diverse experience and a permission you can allow yourself.

Mark Tranmer (Montgolfier Brothers, GNAC)
With A Little Luck – Wings   20 years gone, I still love my Dad, and I often think of our relationship around music. Hearing this song recalls vivid memories. May 1978, the Top 20 Show: Wings’ “With A Little Luck” is on the car radio. “That’s proper music!” says Dad, which I took as disapproval of me listening to bands like The Stranglers. Although when it was released a few years later, Dad told me he liked The Stranglers’ “Golden Brown”, as he tried to work out the time signature.

Robert Rotifer

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You Get What You Give – New Radicals   I know I’m not the only musician who listens mostly to Radio 4 and no music stations. Not because we’ve got some idea of ourselves being sophisticated but because you don’t want to hear other people’s music while trying to keep your own musical ideas in your head. It’s a real danger. You can have half a song written, then they’ll run a news feature with some annoying music in it, and that little germ of a tune that was going to change your life is gone forever. So I only hear drivetime radio randomly when I’m in a taxi or in a café, but in a way this makes the rush of recognition even more intense when it happens. And while there are many songs that remind me of my true love, the one that springs to mind now is “You Get What You Give” by New Radicals, which came out in late 1998 just before we had our first baby. We used to love watching him respond to music. My wife would bob him up and down on her knees and sing “You’ve got the music in you”, and he would make these beautiful joyful noises. Every time I hear that intro and Gregg Alexander screaming “one two three four” I have to think of this, and it absolutely tears me up.

Emma Anderson
Never Let Her Slip Away – Andrew Gold   It was early 1978, and I was in my last year of primary school. My best friend was Kathy — we were inseparable, always round each other’s houses, goofing around, with music at the heart of it. Punk and post-punk hadn’t entered our lives yet, but we devoured whatever was in the charts. I first heard Andrew Gold’s ‘Never Let Her Slip Away ‘on Top of the Pops and loved it. When I realised Kathy’s brother Mark had the 7”, we nabbed it from his room and played it in hers — over and over again, probably driving the rest of her family mad.

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The song still sounds fantastic today largely thanks to its simplicity. The drums are just a basic beatbox pattern — no cymbals, no variation — topped with a soaring, uplifting vocal. It already hinted at what we now call Yacht Rock, with blasts of saxophone, rich harmonies, with the video displaying those unmistakable ’70s images: guys with beards and waistcoats, grinning inanely, clapping and clicking their fingers.

Kathy and I are still in touch, though she lives in Norwich now. But whenever I hear that song on the radio, I’m right back in her flat in the spring of ’78, two 10/11-year-olds playing her brother’s record on repeat.

Mo Quinn (Action Painting!)
The Ronettes Be My Baby as it’s just the best song ever and our first dance song at our wedding.

Mo is married to…

Andrew Hitchcock (Action Painting!)

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Our Lips Are Sealed by Fun Boy 3.  I guess it’s cos it’s an outsiders anthem and we are both outsiders, we didn’t fit into our respective scenes and we kept our relationship quiet for quite a while. There was a bit of shock we when we announced we were engaged. Some people were lovely but you always get those that resent your happiness.

Hazel Winter (The Jesus Bolt)
Whenever Mamma Mia comes on the radio I am transported back to one of the first gigs Starkie and I played together after becoming a couple . It was at Henleaze Swimming Club Centenary Celebration marquee 2018 where we were on a bill that included a Hula Hoop troupe and a Brit Pop casualty doing a cover of That’s Entertainment with a cob on because he couldn’t use his own amp. I remember our huge sense of relief as we left the stage to make way for the headlining Ukelele band who kicked off their set with the Abba classic.

Eva and Grace (The Cords) 
Maggie May by Rod Stewart  The 1st time we heard Maggie May was when our Granny, Vera, who we wrote the song Vera about, used to sing it to us when we were only wee, when we would go off on adventures through the woods, up the hills, in the car or just randomly sitting in her house. She used to get all the words mixed up and we used to all find it so funny. We bought it on CD for her so we could all sing it (badly) in the car. Sadly she passed away in January this year, but hearing the song reminds us of all the great fun we used to have with her.

Jed Smith (Jeanines)
Mirrors by Justin Timberlake  Around 2013, Alicia and I were in a grocery store in Queens, and Mirrors came on. It might have been the second or third time I heard it but it sort of leaped out at me this time, and I realized I kinda liked it. I told Alicia, and she laughed and said she did too, and we bonded over the slight embarrassment of it because it’s fairly…. grocery store-ish. Mid 2000s mainstream pop music was not something either of us generally loved so it was kind of an outlier, and the fact that it was kind of corny and we both liked it kind of made it our song. The thing that really grabbed me about it was the maximilism of the multipart harmonies in the chorus, and how it hits the relative minor chord briefly in the chorus at the “it was eaaasssy.” That little lift of the major 6th in the vocal above it all gives a melancholic lift that is kind of unexpected. Really shows how one tiny moment in a song can sorta redeem the corniness/sameness/car commercial blandness surrounding it. That part gives the song all its pathos, is what I’d say if I were maybe 15% more pretentious. Anyway, to this day, Alicia and I still text each other whenever one of us hears it. So yeah. I hear “Mirrors,” I think of my best friend. Still gets me.

Beth Arzy (Jetstream Pony)
April Skies – The Jesus And Mary Chain Ever since I moved to the UK in 2000, I’ve really missed my friends back home. When I hear April Skies I can’t hold back the tears as it reminds me of my pal Ginny, who’s the Jim to my William!

Iain Key (LTW writer/editor)

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Pulp – Something Changed. It’s the lines, ‘When we woke up that morning we had no way of knowing/ That in a matter of hours we’d change the way we were going…’ Getting ready for my first date with Gill, having a few last minute nerves when I got a text to say she was on her way to where we were meeting… I remember thinking ‘this could be the first day of the rest of life’… and it was…

Ged Babey (LTW writer/clickbait compiler)

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There are a few songs that come on the radio that remind me of my wife, but by the same token, they remind her of me. One of Keane’s early hits, the name of which escapes me is one. There is a section in it where the singer drones, ‘ Oh simple thing…. where have you gone?’. As it plays I add a response or counter vocal like this (to be imagined in the voice of Vic Reeves) : Oh simple thing…. ‘Hello!’ (Salutes) Where have you gone? ‘I’m over here!’ (Waves) The first time I did this it amused Mrs B so much her fits of laugher almost caused her to lose control of the vehicle and end up in a ditch.

Calvin Johnston (Beat Happening / K Records)
Kylie Minogue – Love at First Sight  Total abandon Kylie style this is what falling in love at first sight is all about things get blurry and then crystal clear this could have been a Ramones song but actually Kylie’s version is impeccable soaring through love and being together wow it feels good do it!   (In typical Calvin-style – Rob Pursey)

Brian Bilston
Islands in the Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.
Not long after I first met her, Kate told me how, when she first heard it, she thought they were singing about Ireland’s industry. I can’t hear the song now without thinking about that.

The Final Word goes to Rob Pursey … who basically did the bulk of the work on this piece contacting everyone in his address-book…

Thanks to everyone who contributed a drivetime song choice – they are wonderful things to read.  I think what I expected was a series of funny anecdotes.  I certainly wasn’t prepared for the stories to be so moving, all inspired by some of the most mainstream songs ever created.  Maybe these drivetime songs get under our skin when we are too innocent to have worked out what’s cool and what isn’t?  Before we get all self-conscious and try to work out what ‘taste’ is?  I don’t know.  But songs do seem to be the places where we store our most important memories.   I’m glad that we can still access them.   

I also want to say thanks to Ged for having the idea, and to wish him every success with his new slot on Heart FM. 

“Strange how potent cheap music is.”
― Noel Coward, Private Lives: An Intimate Comedy in Three Acts

Spotify Playlist of all the songs featured. 

‘Sounds Made By Humans’ is out on Skep Wax Records 9 May 2025, CD/DL/Vinyl

Brian Bilston website

Skep Wax Website

Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires will be performing song-poems at selected UK venues in November 2025.

Skep Wax Records (the label run by Rob & Amelia) have announced their London Weekender will take place July 17-20. The label will showcase 12 bands across four nights at The Islington Assembly Rooms and The Lexington in North London. Playing their only UK show of 2025, Heavenly will headline at the Islington Assembly Hall on Saturday July 19.  The line-up is as follows:

17 July – Jeanines, Sassyhiya, Panic Pocket – The Lexington
18 July – Swansea Sound, The Orchids, Would-be-goods – The Lexington
19 July – Heavenly, Lightheaded, Crumbs – Islington Assembly Rooms
20 July – The Gentle Spring, Special Friend, Marlody  – The Lexington

Event Page    Tickets 

Devised and Compiled for LTW by Ged Babey – with a huge amount of help from Rob Pursey.  

• Source: NEWHD MEDIA