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The 25 best indie songs of 1988
14 March 2025, 22:28
Radio X takes a trip back to the year of Elephant Stone, Wrote For Luck, Destroy The Heart, Suedehead and more.
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The Fall - Victoria: release date 11th January 1988
Manchester bard Mark E. Smith took on the 1969 Kinks classic and made it to Number 35 in the UK charts. The song came from The Fall's tenth album The Frenz Experiment, which also spawned hits in their cover of There's A Ghost In My House and the classic Hit The North.
The Fall - Victoria HD
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The Sugarcubes - Coldsweat: release date 18th January 1988
The Icelandic band featuring Björk followed up the cult indie hit Birthday with this preview of their debut album Life's Too Good.
The Sugarcubes - Cold Sweat
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The Mission - Tower Of Strength: release date 1st February 1988
The Leeds-based goth rock favourites returned in '88 with their biggest album Children. This was the lead single, which peaked at Number 12 in the UK charts.
THE MISSION - Tower Of Strength
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Echo & The Bunnymen - People Are Strange: release date 8th February 1988
Featured on the Lost Boys soundtrack. the Scouse post-punk band reached Number 29 with this cover of the Doors classic from 1967.
echo & the bunnymen - people are strange(OFICIAL - THE LOST BOYS)
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Morrissey - Suedehead: release date 15th February 1988
The world held its breath when the former Smiths singer went solo. Collaborating with producer Stephen Street and Durutti Column main man/guitarist Vini Reilly, Suedehead was an instant classic, peaking at Number 5 in the UK charts. The video sees Moz visit Fairmount, Indiana, the hometown of his hero James Dean.
Morrissey - Suedehead
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The Primitives - Crash: release date 15th February 1988
Thanks to Morrissey wearing one of their t-shirts, the Coventry band had become an indie success, but this was their biggest mainstream chart hit, peaking at Number 5. Their debut album, Lovely, was released on 28th March 1988.
The Primitives - Crash
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The Jesus And Mary Chain - Sidewalking: release date 28th March 1988
A standalone single that appeared as part of the Barbed Wire Kisses compilation of singles and B-sides. It made Number 30 in the UK charts.
The Jesus & Mary Chain- Sidewalking (Video)
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The Housemartins - Always Something There To Remind Me: release date 18th April 1988
Announced as the very last single from the Hull indie band, this contemplative tune appeared on a Housemartins compilation, Now That's What I Call Quite Good, after which the band split amicably. Members Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway would return the next year in The Beautiful South, while Norman Cook would perform under the names Beats International and Fatboy Slim.
Housemartins - There is always something there to remind me
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Aztec Camera - Somewhere In My Heart: release date 18th April 1988
Roddy Frame formed Aztec Camera in East Kilbride in the early 1980s where they became one of the key acts on the indie label Postcard. By 1988, Frame was signed to the major WEA, releasing a third album under the Aztec Camera name called Knife in November 1987. It spawned the hit How Men Are and this sparkling pop song, which made Number 3 in the UK charts in June 1988.
Aztec Camera - Somewhere In My Heart (Official Music Video)
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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Mercy Seat: release date 6th June 1988
Cave's fifth album since leaving the Birthday Party gave birth to this excellent song, co-written with Bad Seed Mick Harvey. Written from the point of view of a convict facing the electric chair, the song has been covered by no less than Johnny Cash.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Mercy Seat
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Inspiral Carpets - Keep The Circle Around: release date 18th July 1988
The Oldham garage rock revivalists featuring Manchester hero Clint Boon on Farfisa organ issued their Plane Crash EP in the summer of 1988, garnering plenty of airplay from John Peel. The tracks featured the band's original singer Stephen Holt (soon to be replaced by Tom Hingley) and this tune - plus the band's Theme From Cow - was released as a 7" single in its own right.
Inspiral Carpets - Keep The Circle Around
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Pop Will Eat Itself - Def Con One: release date 11th July 1988
The Grebo gurus from Stourbridge mashed up I Wanna Be Your Dog, Funky Town, Crazy Horses and the theme from The Twilight Zone in this indie rock hip hop extravaganza. The track later appeared on their third album This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! the following year.
Pop Will Eat Itself - Def Con One (Video)
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All About Eve - Martha's Harbour: release date 18th July 1988
Chiefly now remembered for a cringe-worthy Top Of The Pops live TV appearance where singer Julianne Regan and guitarist Tim Bricheno couldn't hear the musc playback, this gentle acoustic ballad was taken from the band's self-titled debut album and made Number 10 in the charts.
All About Eve - Martha's Harbour (Official Video)
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Siouxsie & The Banshees - Peek A Boo: release date 18th July 1988
After 1987's covers album Through The Looking Glass, the Banshees returned with another new line-up for their ninth studio album, featuring Jon Klein on guitar and Martin McCarrick on keyboards. The lead single was this very danceable cut up of beats, samples and Siouxsie Sioux's distinctive voice.
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Peek-A-Boo
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The House Of Love - Destroy The Heart: release date 22nd August 1988
Feted as the Next Big Thing from Alan McGee's Creation label, The House Of Love showcased the songwriting of Guy Chadwick and the guitar skills of Terry Bickers. Destroy The Heart topped John Peel's Festive 50 poll for 1988 and the band soon signed to the major label Fontana, while retaining McGee as their manager. By the end of 1989, Bickers had quit and the group split by 1993.
House Of Love • Destroy The Heart (Official Video)
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My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise: release date 8th August 1988
The lead track from MBV's third EP saw them move to the fashionable Creation label and head towards the noise rock sounds that would culminate in their best-known album, Loveless. In later live performances, You Made Me Realise would descend into a 15-minute-plus long barrage of punishing noise, leading gig-goers to be handed earplugs at the start of each show.
my bloody valentine – you made me realise (official video)
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Pixies - Gigantic: release date 22nd August 1988
Originally recorded with Steve Albini for the Boston band's Surfer Rosa album, producer Gil Norton reworked this track and its partner River Euphrates for a single release, which led him to getting the job producing the follow-up LP, Doolittle. Kim Deal claimed that the lyric was based on the drama film Crimes Of The Heart.
Gigantic
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Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene: release date 12th September 1988
The opening track of the American slacker band's third album Bug, Freak Scene was written by frontman and guitarist J Mascis. Bassist Lou Barlow would leave Dinosaur the following year to focus on his own project, Sebadoh, while Mascis would sign the band to major label Sire in 1990.
Dinosaur Jr - Freak Scene
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The Wonder Stuff - It's Yer Money I'm After Baby: release date 12th September 1988
The Stourbridge indie band led by Miles Hunt broke the Top 40 for the first time with this cynical tune, taken from their debut album, The Eight-Legged Groove Machine.
The Wonder Stuff - It's Yer Money I'm After Baby
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The Wedding Present - Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now: release date 19th September 1988
The second of two standalone singles released by David Gedge and co in 1988 - the other being Nobody's Twisting Your Arm. The band's next album, Bizarro, would be released a year later.
The Wedding Present "Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?" promo video
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The Stone Roses - Elephant Stone: release date 3rd October 1988
New Order's Peter Hook produced the Manchester band's first release for the Silvertone label, but this track wouldn't make it on the landmark Stone Roses debut album, issued in May 1989. Elephant Stone is the first Roses vinyl to feature John Squire's Jackson Pollock-inspired artwork.
The Stone Roses - "Elephant Stone"
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The La's - There She Goes: release date 31st October 1988
The Liverpool band featuring Lee Mavers and John Power (later of Cast) released their evergreen single towards the end of 1988. A version remixed by producer Steve Lilywhite would later appear on their self-titled debut album and reach Number 13 in November 1990.
The La's - There She Goes (1988 Single Version)
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Happy Mondays - Wrote For Luck: release date 21st November 1988
Taken from their album Bummed, the Salford outfit featuring Shaun Ryder and Bez kick-started the baggy genre with this shambling tune. It was produced by Martin Hannett, the man behind Joy Division's iconic Unknown Pleasures LP.
Happy Mondays - Wrote For Luck
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New Order - Fine Time: release date 28th November 1988
The influential Manchester band had spent the summer recording in Ibiza (and Bath) and this single was the first result of the sessions. Fine Time would peak at Number 11 and later appear on New Order's next album Technique, released in January 1989.
New Order - Fine Time [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
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The Darling Buds - Hit The Ground: release date 19th December 1988
Hailing from Newport in South Wales and fronted by 21-year-old Andrea Lewis, The Darling Buds were tipped for big things, with the singer appearing on the cover of the first NME of 1989 alongside The Wonder Stuff's Miles Hunt and Guy Chadwick of The House Of Love. This was the group's biggest hit, however, making Number 27 in the main UK charts.
The Darling Buds - Hit The Ground
