"Best Of, The: BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge" - Various Artists

Compilation Album

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Full Track Listing:

Disc One:

  • Chasing Pavements – Adele
  • Love Machine – Arctic Monkeys
  • Fans – Kings of Leon
  • Poker Face – Lady Gaga
  • Pass Out – Plan B
  • Hate that I Love You – Rihanna
  • That’s Not My Name – The Ting Tings
  • Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas
  • She Said – Jason Derulo
  • Little Lion Man – Taio Cruz
  • Ready for the Weekend – Calvin Harris
  • Dirrtylicious – Keane
  • The Man Who Can’t Be Moved / Breakeven – N-Dubz
  • I Kissed a Girl – McFly
  • Since U Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson
  • Sexy Chick – Paloma Faith
  • Beautiful Day – U2
  • Songbird – Oasis
  • One Day Like This – Elbow

Disc Two:

  • Times Like These – Foo Fighters
  • The Cave – Mumford & Songs
  • Valerie – Amy Winehouse
  • Frisky – Tinie Tempah
  • Smile – Lily Allen
  • Lose Yourself – The Script
  • Rehab – Paolo Nutini
  • Many of Horror – Biffy Clyro
  • Halo – Florence & The Machine
  • Violet Hill – Pendulum
  • LSF – Kasabian
  • Love’s Not a Competition – Paramore
  • Family Portrait – Pink
  • Numb – Jamelia
  • Standing in the Way of Control – The Ting Tings
  • Stop Me – Mark Ronson / Daniel Merriweather
  • Billionaire – Travie McCoy
  • Frontin’ – Jamie Cullum
  • Hey Ya! – Will Young
  • Run – Leona Lewis

Background Information

This is a “Best of” compilation collecting performances from the BBC Radio 1 program “Live Lounge” hosted by Jo Whiley that had appeared on five previous double albums. The radio segment “Live Lounge” features artists performing one song of their own and one song by another artist. The performances are often done acoustic. The songs were first collected in October 2006, on the first compilation, and proved to be so successful that there has been another volume in the set released each October. This “Best Of” released in June of 2011. The “Live Lounge” segment is no longer hosted by Jo Whiley and is now hosted by Fearne Cotton.

While promoting the album “No Line on the Horizon” U2 appeared on Jo Whiley’s show. The performance was held on the morning of February 27, 2009, and U2 played four songs. The full set list was “Get On Your Boots”, “Magnificent”, “Beautiful Day” and “Breathe”. To meet the “cover” standard, an extended piece of the Beatle’s “Blackbird” was attached to “Beautiful Day”. The recording found on this album includes “Beautiful Day” and “Blackbird” as one track. “Magnificent” was not broadcast, but was held for a later broadcast on the BBC.

That same night, U2 would return to the BBC, for a performance at the BBC Broadcasting House high above the streets to an estimated five thousand fans below. They had also appeared the prior day on BBC television taping a performance for “Friday Night With the Jonathan Ross” show. They had also taped a performance of “Get On Your Boots” for a Comic Relief Special the following month on the BBC.

Complaints were raised about the prominence placed on the U2 album during these activities, and that things like the “U2 = BBC” graphic, links to the artists websites, and thus to ticket agents, were not in keeping with the BBC guidelines. The BBC would admit that they went too far in the promotion of the U2 album. Regardless, the performance of “Beautiful Day / Blackbird” did make it onto the fifth album in the series, and would later also appear on this “Best Of” compilation for the series.

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