Playlist: The British Invasion

John Rowley (Frankie’s grandfather) stands in front of a couch covered by the Union Jack while smoking a cigar.

Being across an ocean and on a different continent from my home since the age of six… really did a number on me to be quite honest. I cannot count the number of times  I screamed to my poor parents “I want to go home!” as a child after a fit of hysterics (pro tip to all my parents out there: don’t tell your kids you’re moving to Disney World when you’re really moving to the suburbs of Southwest Florida). Moving to the states at such a young age catalyzed over a decade’s long identity crisis, mainly fuelled by so many people being shocked when I said that I was from Liverpool — like I was born in Liverpool — but not having the accent to show for it anymore (except when I’m around my family or am bombarded with British media).

With the feeling of being a “fake brit” (as the lovely kids in middle school used to say) surging through my veins, I slowly started to return to the classic tunes my dad played in the car rides to school as a way of feeling closer to “across the pond”. In retrospect, this significantly impacted my listening because 99 percent of my liked songs on Spotify consist solely of British artists that are either dead, retired or don’t tour too often anymore… but that’s besides the point. Tuning into the sound waves coming out of my home has helped with my homesickness, especially in the state of the world we’re in that hasn’t allowed me to see the glorious British sun (like most people in England) in almost two years now, and I do not know when I will see it again. 

With all of that, I present to you “The British Invasion” a collection of old, new (but mostly old) artists who remind me of home!

**Side Note: yes, of course The Beatles remind me of home, but we all know and love them. I tried to give something more than JUST The Beatles and co.* *