#ThrowbackThursday A January release with a smooth summer feeling, Lancashire trio LMC combined instantly-recognisable samples from U2's With or Without You with the opening lyrics to How Will I Know by Whitney Houston – and some excellent new arpeggios – to create their 2004 number one Take Me to the Clouds Above. The vocalist is Rachel McFarlane, who'd previously sung with N-Trance on the same Blackburn record label All Around the World. An especially warm remix here, which interestingly has been transposed up slightly from F♯ to G.

https://youtu.be/SKCmLW6ZDfE

#ThrowbackThursday Future Islands hail from Maryland but released their breakthrough fourth album on British label 4AD in 2014. Frontman Samuel T. Herring stunned US talk show host David Letterman with his emotive physical as well as vocal performance of the lead single, Seasons (Waiting on You), in March that year.

https://youtu.be/upPl9mZW_zw

#ThrowbackThursday 25 years ago this week, Guillaume Atlan released Starlight under his stage name The Supermen Lovers. In case you've ever wondered if the main riff was his own creation: of course not! This is French house! It's from a 1978 record called The Rock by American disco project East Coast. Vocals on Starlight come from fellow Frenchman Mani Hoffman and Israeli singer Onili, who was living in Paris at the time. What you've probably not heard is this 2025 version with Californian band OneRepublic — and they even reworked the animation!

https://youtu.be/U5A-vrKNQKs

This Italian record from 2002 has suddenly become popular because of TikTok or something like Keir Starmer apparently used it in a video or something. To be honest I don't know what to believe any more. Anyway, point being, it's a banger and has obviously stood the test of time. The guitar riff is lifted from a 1988 song called Streets of Your Town by Brisbane indie rockers The Go-Betweens, while additional unexpected writing credits are Paul and Linda McCartney because the chorus borrows lyrics from Wings' 1975 hit Listen to What the Man Said.

https://youtu.be/xlmJZOxb-Nk

#ThrowbackThursday British singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot has arguably never been mainstream: this Iraq War-inspired record remains her highest-charting single to date, reaching number 14 in 2006. The official video pulls off a serious portrayal of modern conflict in a humorous setting, directed by the prolific Marc Klasfeld whose portfolio is worth viewing at marcklasfeld.com.

https://youtu.be/kKTCScoUFWk

#ThrowbackThursday Roll Deep is a London grime collective founded by Wiley. Former members include Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder, who went on to have successful solo careers. They're perhaps best known for this 2005 hit, The Avenue, built around a portion of the Motown-inspired synthpop song Heartache Avenue by Birmingham one-hit wonder The Maisonettes.

https://youtu.be/K5jkgt9H9oE