Episode 14

2014

Published on: 26th May, 2020

Indyref, Benefits Street, Tower of London poppies...

Tracklisting:

  • Donald Trump does the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
  • Pharrell Williams – Happy
  • UKIP and Nigel Farage win at European elections
  • Magic – Rude
  • Nude celebrity photo iCloud hack
  • Ed Sheeran – Sing
  • Ukraine revolution / Russia annexes Crimea
  • Ariana Grande – Problem
  • Bake Off‘s Bingate
  • Ella Henderson – Ghost
  • Rocket lands on comet 67P
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Robin Williams dies
  • Mr Probz – Waves (Robin Schultz remix)
  • Teacher Ann Maguire killed
  • Sam Smith – Stay With Me
  • Scotland votes to stay in the UK
  • Clean Bandit – Rather Be
  • Facebook buys Whatsapp
  • Benefits Street
  • Lewis Hamilton wins second F1 Championship
  • Rory McIlroy wins two Majors
  • Meghan Trainor – All About that Bass
  • World Cup: England out at group stage, Luis Suarez bite, Germany thrash Brazil, Germany beat Argentina in final
  • Sigma – Nobody to Love
  • Philip Hughes death
  • Nico & Vinz – Am I Wrong
  • Streaming included in charts
  • True Detective
  • Max Clifford jailed / Rolf Harris jailed / Bill Cosby allegations
  • Katy Perry – Dark Horse
  • Solange vs Jay Z elevator fight
  • Iggy Azalea & Charli XCX – Fancy
  • Peaches Geldof dies
  • George Ezra – Budapest
  • PewDiePie on YouTube
  • Taylor Swift – Shake it Off
  • Hong Kong’s umbrella revolution
  • Ferguson protests / Black Lives Matter
  • Route 94 & Jess Glynne – My Love
  • Flight MH370 goes missing
  • Flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine
  • Sia – Chandelier
  • Ebola outbreak
  • Barack Obama warns of global pandemic
  • John Legend – All of Me
  • Boko Haram kidnap schoolgirls
  • Rise of ISIS
  • Kiesza – Hideaway
  • Boris Johnson to stand as MP
  • Take That – These Days
  • Tower of London poppies
  • Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud
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About the Podcast

The Sounds of the 21st Century
An audio time machine from 2001 onwards.
An unofficial continuation of BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the 21st Century.

If you’ve found this podcast, then chances are, like me, you were a massive fan of BBC Radio 2’s Sounds of the 20th Century.

Created by Trevor Dann’s Company, the original series ran from 2011 and 2012. Each episode was an hour of one particular year’s biggest moments (news, TV shows, films, sports etc), alongside that year’s memorable hit songs. It was similar to the Rock and Roll Years TV shows from the ’90s, which broadcasting legend Trevor Dann was also behind.

What was particularly awesome about it, was that it didn’t feature any ‘talking heads’, analysis or hindsight. They were simply audio collages of each year, allowing you to work out what was being played, and to make connections to what happened in the following years.

With the series ending after the year 2000, I was left bereft and wanted more. As someone who is obsessed with nostalgia, charts and pop culture, and because the 2000s were my formative years, I decided to give making an unofficial continuation a go myself.

So this series is an ongoing project that will continue the original series from 2001 onwards, with attempts made to keep it in the original style as much as possible (including the theme tune, run-length etc).

Each episode aims to be a 60-minute snapshot of the world (largely from British eyes!), as it was back then. Archive news clips have been taken from various sources (such as BBC News, Sky News, Channel 4, ITV, The Guardian, CNN and other news networks). However, as I only have access to what is available online, some clips, particularly from the early years of the internet, may sound a bit tinny in quality, as they were ripped from incredibly old files (such as old .ram files – remember them?), that no longer exist since I made the first few episodes back in 2012.

NOTE: If you’ve previously downloaded the series – I have since made revisions to the episodes in 2022. Please re-download to get updated versions with improved intros and other new clips.

The series is in no way endorsed by Trevor Dann or the BBC, but was meant as a bit of fun, as a homage to the brilliant series, and to give fans something new. Trevor himself has been kind enough to acknowledge the series, as long as I call it ‘Bootleg Sounds of the 21st Century’.

In 2021, the original series returned as Sounds of the 21st Century. It was in a slightly different style, with Claudia Winkleman replacing original host Jeremy Vine.

I greatly encourage everyone to listen to the original series if you can track it down. The 2021 series can be found here.

Please do get in touch in the comments sections if you’d like to say hello or give feedback – or follow me on Twitter (@eamezey).

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Tom Eames