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Always Check the Label: 50 Years of Rough Trade

Rough Trade's Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee join Huw to celebrate 50 years of the legendary label that's brought us artists including The Smiths, The Strokes and The Libertines.

Huw celebrates 50 years of Rough Trade – the pioneering independent label behind artists including The Smiths, The Strokes and The Libertines.

Joining him are Rough Trade founders Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee, who look back on the label's extraordinary journey from a small West London record shop to one of the world's most influential independent music institutions.

Together they revisit the artists, records and defining moments that reshaped music history, sharing behind-the-scenes stories and reflecting on the independent spirit that has kept Rough Trade at the forefront of music for five decades.

Huw has another brand new quiz created by the Music Quiz Generator, giving one of you the opportunity to win a Music Sounds Better With Huw pinbadge. And we declare that your evening has begun with the Home Run playlist at 5 o'clock.

Plus, Bonobo takes part in this weeks 'Song I Wish I'd Written'.

Produced by BBC Audio in Cardiff for BBC Radio 6 Music.

22 days left to listen

3 hours

Last on

Last Tuesday16:00
BBC Radio 6 Music

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Music Played

  • The Futureheads

    Radio Heart

    • CD SINGLE.
    • NUL.
    • 1.

  • Dream Wife

    Hey Heartbreaker

    • Lucky Number.

  • Tricky

    I'm Yours (feat. Mitch Sanders)

    • False Idols.

  • Naughty by Nature

    It's On

    • 19 Naughty III.
    • Tommy Boy.

  • CeCe Rogers

    Someday

    • Atlantic.

  • Big Truck

    Rebounder

    • Midday At The Middleway.
    • Marshall Records.

  • English Teacher

    The World's Biggest Paving Slab

    • Island.

  • Interpol

    See Out Loud

    • Partisan Records.

  • William Onyeabor

    Fantastic Man

    • World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor?.
    • Luaka Bop.
    • 9.

  • Tierra Whack

    SIREN

    • Interscope.

  • Friendly Fires

    Jump In The Pool

    • CD SINGLE.
    • XL.
    • 1.

  • Man/Woman/Chainsaw

    Get Up And Dance

    • Fiction.

  • Jamie T

    Zombie

    • Carry On The Grudge.
    • Virgin.
    • 001.

  • Strawberry Guy

    Love Me Like You Used To

    • AWAL Recordings.

  • The Libertines

    Can't Stand Me Now

    • Rough Trade Records.

  • Elastica

    Waking Up

    • DECEPTIVE RECORDS.

  • The Coral

    In The Morning

    • Deltasonic.

  • Viagra Boys

    Sports

    • Sports.
    • YEAR0001.
    • 1.

  • Sam Fender

    Hypersonic Missiles

    • Polydor.

  • Robyn

    Sucker For Love

    • Konichiwa / Young.

  • Prefab Sprout

    Cars And Girls

    • Kitchenware.

  • Queens of the Stone Age

    Easy Street

    • Matador.

  • SL2

    Way In My Brain

    • XL Recordings.

  • Ezra Collective

    Well Organised (feat. Lila Iké)

    • Partisan.

  • Bonobo

    Cirrus

    • The North Borders.
    • Ninja Tune Limited.
    • 3.

  • Orbital

    Halcyon

    • Radiccio (2025).
    • London Records (Because Ltd).
    • 2.

  • Ebbb

    Side On

    • Ninja Tune.

  • RIP Magic

    Light Over There

    • Section1.

  • Métal Urbain

    Paris Maquis

    • Les Hommes Morts Sont Dangereux.
    • Cleopatra Records.
    • 9.

  • The 101-ers

    Keys To Your Heart

    • Cherry Red Records.

  • The Damned

    New Rose

    • Big Beat.

  • Television

    Little Johnny Jewel

    • Ork Records: New York, New York.
    • Numero Group.
    • 1.

  • Subway Sect

    Ambition

    • Twenty Odd Years.
    • Motion Records.
    • 6.

  • The Normal

    T.V.O.D.

    • Warm Leatherette.
    • Mute.
    • 2.

  • Augustus Pablo

    Pablo Meets Mr Bassie

    • King David's Melody - Classic Instrumentals & Dubs.
    • VP Records.
    • 3.

  • The Jesus and Mary Chain

    April Skies

    • Blanco Y Negro.

  • The Sundays

    Can't Be Sure

    • Rough Trade Records.

  • The Smiths

    Hand In Glove

    • The Sound Of The Smiths.
    • Rhino.
    • 1.

  • The Fall

    Totally Wired

    • Beggars Banquet.

  • Emma Smith, Laura Moody, Rich Jones, Adem Ilhan, Charlotte Stock, David Kadumukasa, Flora Curzon, Jennymay Logan, Leo Chadburn, Mara Carlyle, Matthew Kerr, Shelley Britton, Zami Jalil, Andrew McKinney, Candida Doyle, Phil Granell, Jarvis Cocker, Rosie Tompsett, Jason Buckle, Sergio De Serra, Mark Webber, Chihiro Ono, Nick Banks, Freya Goldmark, Paloma Deike & Pulp

    Farmers Market

    • More.
    • Rough Trade.
    • 5.

  • Radie Peat

    Still I Love Him

  • Arthur Russell

    That's Us/Wild Combination

    • Late Night Tales: Snow Patrol.
    • Late Night Tales.
    • 10.

Broadcast

  • Last Tuesday16:00
    BBC Radio 6 Music