RETROchoons v1
Artwork: Queen Street Graffiti Ally
FIND IT ON SPOTIFY
A new wave rewind to commemorate a lot of really, really good times. Artists include Thompson Twins, Simple Minds, OMG, Tears for Fears, Pet Shop Boys, a-ha and The Cure.
My life obsessed with music is chronologically split in half; music before the year 2000 (RETRO) and music after the year 2000 (Y2). The RETRO period is a mixed bag of rock, pop, hip hop and tracks I call “choons.” Choons are new wave, pop rock, alternative, post-punk, ska… a bit of everything I loved to listen to on CFNY over and over and over.
Back in the day, my music addiction was also fuelled by countless hours of Much Music. To me, Triple-Play Boxing Day was equally cool as Christmas. If I wasn’t playing sports, I was listening to music. And often when I was playing sports, I was also listening to music. Good choons always equaled good times and I’ve always had a knack for good times.
These tracks are time capsules of so many crazy-fun memories, but oddly enough, this playlist is inspired by a trip not long ago. I started my RETRO repositories to prep for a trip to Jamaica in 2017. It was the first time I used “think it, find it, play it,” to its full capacity.
Everyday we sat on the beach under the trees, sipping piña colada’s, smoking spliffs and singing choons. Meal times were the only items on the schedule. One particular sunset evening, we kept the karaoke rolling from the beach chairs all the way back to the rooms, with zero inhibitions.
I felt like The Pied Piper with the UE Boom in my side bag and all my closest mates in tow. We blazed Thompson Twins – “Hold Me Now” at the top of our lungs. It was the most epic of moments. I couldn’t have started this series with any other choon…
barney’s choons
This is a grab bag of all the coolest choons on the airwaves. These selections have a certain class. I’d go as far as to say they’re timeless. Even though there’s no rhyme or reason why I’ve compiled these tracks together, they all just work.
RETROchoons consist of the most impactful selections of my youth. Tracks that were the gateway to my obsessions with melody and groove. From one-hit wonders to the best-of legends, these life-loving classics are never-ending and never over-played.
listening pleasure
All barneysUNMIXEDtapes have an intended beginning and end. For optimal listening, it’s recommended you listen to the playlist in the order it’s programmed, NOT on shuffle.
The tracks are obviously UNMIXED, but set the crossfade feature in Spotify’s Playback settings to 10 seconds for smoother transitions. If you’re listening on Sonos, 10 seconds is the default.
track list
Below are links to each track on Spotify, as well as Apple Music where applicable. Please visit and support the artist pages. If you like the tracks and playlist, remember to add them to your favourites and share with friends! If you find a broken link or notice a track is no longer available to stream, please let me know through the Let's Connect page.
- Hold Me Now
1987 Thompson Twins
- Alive And Kicking
1985 Simple Minds
- If You Leave - From "Pretty In Pink"
1986 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
- Something About You - Single Version
1989 Level 42
- Always Something There to Remind Me
1983 Naked Eyes
- Everybody Wants to Rule the World
1985 Tears For Fears
- Always on My Mind
1988 Pet Shop Boys
- Take on Me
1985 a-ha
- The Lovecats
1983 The Cure
- One Thing Leads to Another
1983 The Fixx
- Talking In Your Sleep
1983 The Romantics
- Cars
1979 Gary Numan
- Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go - Extended Version
1980 Soft Cell