Another mixtape I recently re-discovered from the late 1980s was “Driving Away From Home”, compiled for my father who at the time was making a lot of road trips for work. The tape was named after the one-hit wonder by It’s Immaterial. In this case, I chose the demo version, rather than the commercial hit, as I felt it evokes more pathos. There’s also an in-joke as the lyrics mention the M62 motorway, which was a frequent route my father would have driven.

I have no idea whether he ever played it in the car – certainly, it wouldn’t have been his normal choice of listening! But I know he liked instrumental pop music, based on some of the old 45’s in his record collection. (Many of those 7″ singles came from his time doing National Service in Germany in the late 1950s.) And in the late 1960s, his work used to take him to an E.M.I. factory, so on some Friday evenings he would come home with the latest single by The Beatles.

I also recall that as a child, we had a copy of “Telstar” by The Tornados in the house, which got played frequently. Hence Side A predominantly features instrumental tracks, including lots of twangy guitar, with road and travel related songs on Side B.

Like last week’s featured mixtape, there is an overall sense of melancholy. Another connection comes in the form of cover versions of two of the previous songs: “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” (from early in Nick Cave’s cross-over period from outsider to mainstream artist), and “Song To The Siren” (attributed to This Mortal Coil, but to all intents and purposes a Cocteau Twins track).

I’ve also had the privilege of seeing most of these bands and artists in concert – unlike last week’s tape, where Nico was the only one. That isn’t too surprising, given the time difference between the song selections, and the proliferation of dead musicians. But it also reminds me that the 1980s wasn’t all synth pop, New Romantics, grunge and stadium rock.

Some of this music has never made it to the digital age, so Shazam wasn’t always very helpful in identifying the obscurer tracks which I no longer have on vinyl. But why not take this playlist with you on your next road trip!:

Side A:

1. The Durutti Column – Sketch For Summer
2. Felt – Candles In A Church
3. Felt – Ferdinand Magellan
4. The Smiths – Oscillate Wildly
5. The Smiths – The Draize Train
6. Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – Perfect Blue (Instrumental)
7. The Monochrome Set – Andiamo
8. Yeah Yeah Noh – Penetration
9. Biff Bang Pow! – The Whole World Is Turning Brouchard
10. Virginia Astley – Bell Of New York (from Melt The Snow 12″)
11. Brian Eno – Sparrowfall (1)-(3)
12. The Durutti Column – Prayer
13. Laraaji – Meditation #2 (edited version from “Angels In The Architecture”)

Side B:

1. Echo & The Bunnymen – Bring On The Dancing Horses (12″ version)
2. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – By The Time I Get To Phoenix
3. The Woodentops – Plenty
4. The Mighty Lemon Drops – Splash #1 (Now I’m Home)
5. The Shop Assistants – Somewhere In China
6. The Go-Betweens – Cattle & Cane
7. It’s Immaterial – Driving Away From Home (4-track demo version)
8. Microdisney – Loftholdingswood
9. This Mortal Coil – Song To The Siren
10. The The – Uncertain Smile
11. Yello – Lost Again

Next week: More unearthed mixtapes