大象传媒

Ahead of our show from the Sage, in Gateshead, listener Nick Smith - AKA 'Nick of the North' - shares a Memory Tape with tunes from Maximo Park, Pet Shop Boys, Prefab Sprout and Freda Payne.

He says: "Music has always been a huge part of my life, whether it was being forced to listen to my Mam's records when she'd come in from the pub after a few shandies or discovering it myself through Top Of The Pops. Getting older and finding out more about music and its power led me to discover The Pet Shop Boys and finding out they had roots in Newcastle was just mind-blowing to me. The album Actually had the biggest impact and the song What Have I Done To Deserve This? has a special place in my heart as my Mam, being a huge Dusty fan, loved this song and played it to death on her hi-fi. As did I, on mine, in my room!

Going to Shiney Row college in the early 90s had one huge benefit and that was the jukebox in the canteen. In between eating jacket potatoes with cheesy beans, you would hear everything from Kym Sims to Tony Orlando & Dawn, but the song that takes me straight back here and doing my A Levels is Faith No More's A Small Victory. Life is sometimes all about the small victories and in the details and this song always reminds me of that!

As I got older, I started embracing more ambient and leftfield music and I loved Leftfield's Leftism album, particularly the song 'Original' which is with Toni Halliday, and knowing her work from Curve and that she went to school with my Aunty Susan in Washington just made me love it more.

During one of my many trips to the little record shop in the Galleries in Washington (I think it was K&M records or something, I know it later turned into a Volume Records), I saw quite a cool cassette single with some rockets on it for 50p and it was Bass-O-Matic's Fascinating Rhythm and to this day I cannot listen to this track without thinking of the absolute bargain I got in that record shop that day as the track is pretty amazing!

One song that will always remind me of the Quayside in Newcastle is Moloko Familiar Feeling. Me and some friends were at the Evolution festival in 2003 and I was obsessed with Moloko's Statues album. It was so moody, melancholy and bittersweet and when they performed the song live, it just gave me chills! Reminds me of a pretty happy time in my life, popping to Flynn's for trebles in between acts and to use the loo!

I moved to London from up North in 2006 to embark on a new life and career, but I go back quite often and still think of it as home. Whenever I cross the Tyne Bridge on the train, it brings back so many memories and these are just a few songs that take me there when I'm not there in person. A song that would have a special place in my heart is Candi Staton's You Got The Love.

The New Voyager mix was released in 2006, a time where I had lost my Grandad to lung cancer, He had left me money in his will so that I could travel to Australia (a lifelong dream of mine) and it was also a time that I got a job in London and decided to bite the bullet and up and off to the Big Smoke. He said to me in the weeks running up to his death that I had to do it and that it was meant to be, but the first few months were really difficult, as I missed my family and friends up North dearly. That song reminds me that their love is always with me and has got me through some tough times over the past 12 years since living here."

Other songs that remind me of home:
Erasure - Love To Hate You (played to death on the Shiney Row jukebox)
Bjork - Venus As A Boy (I bought both CD singles in my first week at Newcastle Uni and love this track)
Freda Payne - Band Of Gold (one of my best friend from home, Caroline's, favourite songs)
On The Metro - Girls Aloud
Dusty Springfield - In Private (Pet Shop Boys collab. and one of my Mam's absolute fave songs)
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer (always reminds me of my big sister as she loved this song!)
Koto - Visitors (my sister used to work on the Tuxedo Princess and would bring songs from the DJs home and this song always reminds me of her AND the boat!)
Prefab Sprout - The King of Rock n Roll (for the lyrics alone!)
David Bowie and Mick Jagger - Dancing in the Streets (reminds me of my late great Aunty Pat)
Jimmy Nail - On This Night Of A Thousand Stars from Evita
Cheryl Cole/Tweedy/Panini - Fight For This Love
Maximo Park - I Want You to Stay

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