Olympic Fireworks. Photograph from @OlympicUpdates
The London 2012 Opening Ceremony was a triumph from director Danny Boyle as he celebrated the best of British from across history, industry, science, and the arts. And with the help of Underworld, the music of the spectacular piece of theatre really demonstrated to the world just how much of the most inventive, ground-breaking, and popular music of the last century came from our sceptred isle. Shakespeare was ever accurate in the Tempest as he wrote “This isle is full of noises”.
We haven’t seen the full playlist from Boyle & co yet, but from what we managed to distinguish during the event here are the songs we think we spotted. I’m sure we missed some, however, so do let us know in the comments.
Amy Winehouse – Valerie
Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Blur – Song 2
David Bowie – Starman
David Holmes – I Heard Wonders
Dizzee Rascal – Bonkers
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax
Fuck Buttons – Surf Solar
Happy Mondays, Step On
Led Zeppelin – Trampled Under Foot
London Symphony Orchestra – Chariots of Fire
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells
Millie Small – My Boy Lollipop
Muse – Map Of The Problematique
Muse – Uprising
New Order – Blue Monday
OMD – Enola Gay
Pink Floyd – Eclipse
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen
Sex Pistols – Pretty Vacant
Soul II Soul – Back To Life
The Beatles – Come Together (Covered by Arctic Monkeys)
The Beatles – Hey Jude
The Beatles – She Loves You
The Beatles – The End
The Clash – London Calling
The Jam – Going Underground
The Prodigy – Firestarter
The Rolling Stones – (I Cant Get No) Satisfaction
The Specials – A Message To You Rudy
The Who – Baba O’Riley
Tinie Tempah – Pass Out
Underworld – Born Slippy
Here’s a Spotify playlist of most of the tunes (thanks NME)
It was such a breathtaking event that even the disappointing vocals of Paul McCartney couldn’t halt the nation swelling with pride and sing-a-long to one of the world’s most-loved Beatles’ pop songs.
