This Town soundtrack: All songs in the BBC drama

The soundtrack features songs from artists including Bob Marley, Ray Charles and UB40.

By James Hibbs

Published: Sunday, 31 March 2024 at 07:00 AM

New BBC drama This Town comes from creator Steven Knight, and like his previous series Peaky Blinders, it features an incredible, ear worm-filled soundtrack.

It makes sense – music plays a huge role in the series, which takes place during the ska and two-tone era in 1980s Birmingham and the Midlands.

The series follows Dante, a young man and aspiring poet who decides to form a band and set his words to music, meaning the show also features some original songs.

Read on for a full list of the songs featured in This Town, and everything you need to know about the soundtrack.

This Town soundtrack: All songs in the BBC drama

This Town episode 1 songs

Levi Brown as Dante Williams and Eve Austin as Jeannie Keefe in This Town. They are sat in a truck, she is driving, and in between them is an empty space suit
Levi Brown as Dante Williams and Eve Austin as Jeannie Keefe in This Town.
Banijay Rights/Kudos/Robert Viglasky

This Town episode 2 songs

  • Pressure Drop by Toots & The Maytals
  • Chase the Devil/Croaking Lizard (feat Prince Jazzbo) by Max Romeo & The Upsetters
  • Many Rivers to Cross by Jimmy Cliff
  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland (performed by Michelle Dockery)
  • Enjoy Yourself by Prince Buster
  • Son of a Preacher Man by The Gaylettes
  • I Can See Clearly Now by Ray Charles

This Town episode 3 songs

  • Are ‘Friends’ Electric? by Tubeway Army & Gary Numan
  • Fu Manchu by Desmond Dekker & The Aces
  • The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals
  • A Message to You Rudy (feat Rico Rodriguez) by The Specials
  • Clampdown by The Clash
  • Love of the Common People by Nicky Thomas
  • Cissy Strut by The Meters

This Town episode 4 songs

  • The Foggy Dew by Odetta
  • When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman by Dr Hook
  • On My Radio by The Selecter
  • Israelites by Desmond Dekker
  • Sun Is Shining by Bob Marley
  • Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie and the Banshees
  • Danny Boy by Jackie Wilson
  • Since You’ve Been Gone by Rainbow

This Town episode 5 songs

  • To be added

This Town episode 6 songs

  • To be added

Who composed the soundtrack for This Town?

Ben Rose as Bardon Quinn in This Town, stood in front of a billboard advertising a car and wearing a brown jacket and yellow t-shirt
Ben Rose as Bardon Quinn in This Town.
BBC/Banijay Rights/Kudos

As well as featuring a host of well-known popular songs from the ’80s and before, This Town also features a number of covers and original songs composed for the series.

Six major artists provided covers for the show, each of whom feature over the credits of the episodes. These artists are: Celeste, Gregory Porter, Olivia Dean, Ray Laurél, Sekou and Self Esteem.

Meanwhile, the original songs for the series have been written by Dan Carey and Kae Tempest, and the show has been co-produced with Mercury Studios (part of the Universal Music Group), which has, according to the BBC, “helped create the musical backdrop for Knight’s incredible story”.

Carey is a producer who has worked with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, Sia and Franz Ferdinand, while Tempest is a poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright.