I have described Postgraduate as “a mixtape disguised as a novel” and “my love letter to ’80s and ’90s alternative music.” I am a music head. I don’t think that anyone would disagree with that. And like most people who are of a certain age, I’ve fallen into a groove of music from my salad days, which was when I was in college. This sets the stage for a 279-page story about a man who is struggling with his mid-life status in 2018.
The music in Postgraduate acts as a second narrator in the story. It sets the mood, it describes what’s happening in the scene, and it indirectly propels Danny to make life decisions.
You don’t have to be beyond your fortieth birthday to appreciate the story, nor are you required to have advanced knowledge of Madchester or the Grunge era to enjoy the book. The tale of Postgraduate has happened all before, and it will all happen again. The stories are the same, but the music will be different.
However, if you aren’t familiar with the music featured in Postgraduate, or if you just can’t get enough of the music of the era, I’ve created a Spotify playlist and liner notes for the soundtrack of Postgraduate.
Listen to the soundtrack, then buy the book!
Cheers!
Ian Shane
30 March, 2019
From “The First Thing We Do…”
“I Am the Resurrection”
Performed by The Stone Roses
Written by Ian Brown and John Squire
From the album The Stone Roses
From “Ring The Bells”
“Ring the Bells”
Performed by James
Written by Lawrence Gott/ James Patrick Glennie/ Timothy Booth
From the album Seven
From “Was It Really Only Twenty Years Ago, Or More”
“Classic Rot”
Performed by Dramarama
Written by John Mills Easdale
From the album Vinyl
From “I Feel Stupid And Contagious”
“Institutionalized”
Performed by Suicidal Tendencies
Written by Louis Mayorga and Mike Muir
From the album Suicidal Tendencies
“Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Performed by Nirvana
Written by Chris Novoselic/ David Grohl/ Kurt Cobain
From the album Nevermind
From “Stand By My Woman”
“Stand by My Woman”
Performed by Lenny Kravitz
Written by Henry Hirsch / Leonard A Kravitz / Anthony Krizan / Steve Pasch
From the album Mama Said
From “These Are Good Times”
“Late Night”
Performed by Paul Shaffer and The World’s Most Dangerous Band
Written by Paul Shaffer
From the album Coast to Coast
“Good Times”
Performed by David Barewald
Written by David Styles / Pamela Sawyer / M. Mcleod / Robert Hankerson / K. Dean
From the album Bedtime Stories
From “The Call Up”
“The Call Up”
Performed by The Clash
Written by Joe Strummer / Mick Jones / Topper Headon
From the album Sandinista!
From “This Is Only A Test”
“Cuts You Up”
Performed by Peter Murphy
Written by Peter John Murphy / Paul Statham
From the album Deep
“A Girl Like You”
Performed by Edwyn Collins
Written by Edwyn Stephen Collins
From the album Gorgeous George
From “Strange Little Girl”
“Strange Little Girl”
Performed by The Stranglers
Written by Jean Jacques Burnel / Brian John Duffy / David Greenfield / Hugh Alan Cornwell / Hans Axel Waermling
From the album Strange Little Girl
From “You’re Not In Kansas Anymore”
“True Dreams of Wichita”
Performed by Soul Coughing
Written by Mark Degliantoni / Michael Doughty / Sebastian Steinberg / Yuval Gabay
From the album Ruby Vroom
From “Be My Yoko Ono”
“Be My Yoko Ono”
Performed by The Barenaked Ladies
Written by Ed Robertson / Steven Page
From the album Gordon
“Mr. Jones”
Performed by Counting Crows
Written by Adam Fredric Duritz / Ben G Mize / Charles Thomas Gillingham / Daniel John Vickrey / David Lynn Bryson / Matthew Mark Malley / Steve Bowman
From the album August and Everything After
From “Two Turntables And A Microphone”
“Where It’s At”
Performed by Beck
Written by Beck Hansen / John Robert King / Michael S. Simpson
From the album Odelay
From “Better Be Home Soon”
“Better Be Home Soon”
Performed by Crowded House
Written by Neil Mullane Finn
From the album Temple of Low Men
“Black”
Performed by Pearl Jam
Written by Stone Gossard / Eddie Vedder
From the album Ten
From “Frank’s Wild Years”
“Frank’s Wild Years”
Performed by Tom Waits
Written by Thomas Alan Waits
From the album Frank’s Wild Years
From “Party At Ground Zero”
“Party at Ground Zero”
Performed by Fishbone
Written by Angelo Christopher Moore / John Norwood Fisher / Kendall Rey Jones
From the album Fishbone
“Where Is My Mind?”
Performed by The Pixies
Written by Charles Thompson
From the album Surfer Rosa
From “Blue Period”
“Blue Period”
Performed by The Smithereens
Written by Pat DiNizio
From the album 11
From “The Emperor’s New Clothes”
“The Emperor’s New Clothes”
Performed by Sinead O’Connor
Written by Glenn Burtnick / Patty Smyth
From the album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
From “Test Flight Of The Pheonix”
“Welcome to The Cheap Seats”
Performed by The Wonder Stuff
Written by Malcolm Roy Treece / Martin Bell / Martin Richard Gilks / Miles Stephen Hunt / Paul Clifford
From the album Never Loved Elvis
“Mama Told Me Not to Come”
Performed by The Wolfgang Press
Written by Randy Newman
From the album Queer
“Talk About the Weather”
Performed by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
Written by Christopher Paul Reed
From the album Talk About the Weather
“Monsters and Angels”
Performed by Voice of the Beehive
Written by Brad Nack / Melissa Jones / Mike Jones / Tracey Kennedy
From the album Honey Lingers
“Reach The Rock”
Performed by Havana 3 a.m.
Written by Paul Simonon / Gary Myrick / Nigel Dixon
From the album Havana 3 a.m.
From “Graduation Day”
“Graduation Day”
Performed by Chris Isaak
Written by Chris Isaak
From the album Forever Blue
From “Say Hello 2 Heaven”
“Say Hello 2 Heaven”
Performed by Temple of the Dog
Written by Chris Cornell
From the album Temple of the Dog
From “Tones Of Home”
“Tones of Home”
Performed by Blind Melon
Written by Brad Smith / Christopher Thorn / Christopher John Thorn / Glen Graham / Howard Beschan / Shannon Hoon / Thomas Stevens / Thomas Rogers Stevens
From the album Blind Melon
From “Town Called Malice”
“Town Called Malice”
Performed by The Jam
Written by Paul Weller
From the album The Gift
From “Our House”
“Our House”
Performed by Madness
Written by Carl Smyth / Chris Foreman / Daniel Woodgate / Graham McPherson / Lee Thompson / Mark Bedford / Michael Barson
From the album The Rise and Fall
From “Maybe Partying Will Help”
“Maybe Partying Will Help”
Performed by The Minutemen
Written by D. Boon / Mike Watt
From the album Double Nickels on the Dime
“Everything”
Performed by Material Issue
Written by Jim Ellison
From the album Destination Universe
From “Accidents Will Happen”
“Accidents Will Happen”
Performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Written by Elvis Costello
From the EP Live at Hollywood High
From “…And It Will All Happen Again”
“This Magic Moment”
Performed by Lou Reed
Written by Doc Pomus / Mort Shuman
From the motion picture soundtrack for Lost Highway
“Minimum Wage”
Performed by They Might Be Giants
Written by John Linnell / John Flansburgh
From the album Flood
“Holding You”
Performed by Naked Raygun
Written by Pierre Kezdy
From the album Raygun…Naked Raygun
From “It’s Happy Hour Again”
“Happy Hour”
Performed by The Housemartins
Written by Ian Peter Cullimore / Paul Heaton
From the album London 0 Hull 4
From “Alma Matters”
“Alma Matters”
Performed by Morrissey
Written by Alain Whyte / Steven Morrissey
From the album Maladjusted
“I Feel Better Than James Brown”
Performed by Was (Not Was)
Written by David Was / Don Edward Fagenson
From the album Are You Okay?
From “Seeking The Living Among The Dead”
“Stop Whispering”
Performed by Radiohead
Written by Colin Charles Greenwood / Edward John O’Brien / Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood / Philip James Selway / Thomas Edward Yorke
From the album Pablo Honey
From “All Together Now”
“All Together Now”
Performed by The Farm
Written by Peter Hooton / Stephen Grimes
From the album Spartacus
“Circle”
Performed by Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians
Written by John Walter Bush / Edie Brickell / Alan Aly / John Houser / Kenneth Withrow
From the album Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars
From “What Kind of Day Has It Been”
“This Is Not A Love Song”
Performed by Public Image Ltd.
Written by John Lydon / Keith Levene / Martin Atkins
From the album This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get
“There’s No Other Way”
Performed by The Blur
Written by GRAHAM COXON / Alex James / DAVE ROWNTREE / DAMEN ALBARN
From the album Leisure
“Come Around ”
Performed by Sugar
Written by Bob Mould
From the EP Beaster
From “Epilogue”
“How Soon Is Now?”
Performed by The Smiths
Written by Johnny Marr / Steven Patrick Morrissey
From the album Meat is Murder
“I Will Dare”
Performed by The Replacements
Written by Paul Westerberg
From the album Let it Be
Ian Shane is the author of In Ten Years, Postgraduate and Radio Radio and creator of the blog, Liner Notes. His “almost memoir,” Sundry Notes of Music, is now available in paperback and Kindle. He currently lives in Denver with his cats.