Wales: 100 Records by Huw Stephens is a lovingly created collection of Welsh albums, EPs and singles spanning multiple genres and over a century of recordings. Meanwhile, Neil Collins revisits the era when the Manics, Catatonia and Super Furry Animals made Cymru cool with his International Velvet. Huw and Neil got together to chat about their books.
Neil Collins: Was it an agonising process choosing just 100 records?
Huw Stephens: Yes, it could’ve been 1,000! Anybody’s list would be unique, so I’ve gone with my gut instinct and taken a relaxed, non-intellectual approach to selecting just 100. The whole point of the book is like it says in the introduction: “All Wales is a land of song.” There’s not one Welsh sound – there are lots of different stories, communities and elements that make up what we know as music from Wales.
Neil: Your selection features a diverse mix of certainties, culturally important moments, cult classics and curveballs.
Huw: There are some no-brainers. I had to include a Stereophonics album and it had to be Word Gets Around. Datblygu, Bonnie Tyler and Tom Jones had to be in there too.
Some were chosen for the story or the quality of the record itself, while others were selected for the beautiful artworks like Meredydd Evans’ Welsh Folk Songs and Yr Hennessys’ Ar Lan Y Môr.
One of the last records I bought was Man’s Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day, which has got the amazing pop-up sleeve. My favourite Gorky’s album is Barafundle, but I’ve chosen Tatay because I love the artwork – the records I’ve chosen are not necessarily my favourites of each artist. There are a lot of old Sain singles, and there’s a few surprises too like Underworld. Public Service Broadcasting are included because their album Every Valley was recorded in Ebbw Vale and is about the Welsh coal mining industry.
Neil: Which artists narrowly missed the cut?
Huw: I list a load in the introduction – Budgie, Bryn Terfel, Panic Shack, The Bug Club, Feeder, The Darling Buds, Melys, Topper, Charlotte Church, Donna Lewis… I’ve told some people who aren’t from Wales that I’m writing this book, and they named three or four Welsh artists and go “well, who else is there?” But there are so many interesting records that have come from Wales, and this book doesn’t even scratch the surface really! There’s no jazz, classical or choral music, so there’s definitely scope for others to write their own book.
Neil: Wales: 100 Records has really made me re-engage with some classics and discover some hidden gems. Was that the goal?
Huw: Definitely. I hope people will come for the ones they know, and leave with some new finds. It’s for people who love second-hand record fairs, and it’s a really aesthetically pleasing coffee table book.
Neil: Which of the records were particularly informative to your development as a music fan?
Huw: Probably Geraint Jarman’s Gobaith Mawr Y Ganrif. Sobin A’r Smaeliaid were played at home, as were Maffia Mr. Huws, Dafydd Iwan Ac Edward and Heather Jones. Those records are from my childhood, but I didn’t choose a fair number of records from each decade, I just let my selection work its own way out.
Neil: How did you find the writing process?
Huw: Wales: 100 Records came about because I love reading about music, and I was always sad that this book didn’t exist. I wrote a lot of it on the train while listening to the records. It’s been enjoyable and fun, but’s a long process, and that’s where the editor comes in and is very important. Carolyn at Y Lolfa has been brilliant, and she learned Welsh thanks to her love of the Super Furries!
Neil: If you could take only one of the records to a desert island, which would it be?
Huw: Today at least, it would be the Ffrancon album Gwalaxia: Belleville 1315 / Machynlleth 1404. It’s a techno record celebrating that Machynlleth is twinned with Belleville, the home of Detroit techno – and it’s a good one to write to!

Huw: Who was the first band from the era you cover in the book that you fell in love with? And what was it about them you liked so much?
Neil: Definitely the Manics. I was born in 1986, so I was only 13 at the time of [the band’s Millennium Stadium concert on NYE 1999] Manic Millennium and missed it unfortunately, but I watched that DVD so many times growing up. My mother loves Tom Jones and my dad always had a Bonnie Tyler greatest hits cassette in the car and loved male voice choirs! So that was my grounding in Welsh music.
I remember being a bit mesmerised by the artwork for The Holy Bible in press ads, and then I found A Design For Life so powerful with its slogan-heavy video and James Dean Bradfield belting out the lyrics. They became an obsession of mine from about the age of 15, 16 – basing my A-Level Welsh coursework around them, scouring the internet for their live bootlegs and picking up a guitar because of them. Their lyric sheets were like poring over an encyclopaedia, and I loved that they mixed literature and politics with by turns such amazingly melancholic and uplifting music. I’m still an obsessive fan nearly a quarter-century later.
Huw: Which individuals did you enjoy learning about during the writing of the book?
Neil: Putting together International Velvet was a real labour of love and I think I’ve managed to create a really nice narrative arc from beginning to end. Obviously, it would feature the big hitters, so I’ve tried to bring something a bit different my analysis of those bands. Yet, there were so many great stories from some of the artists you hear less about.
I had to include Tigertailz as they were from the tail end of the hair metal era and were a completely different proposition to anyone else in the book. Then there was The Darling Buds titling their album Erotica at the same time Madonna released her record of the same name, Helen Love going to New York to meet Joey Ramone, and Tystion reeling off hip-hop poetry in their mother tongue.
I wanted to include a lot of Welsh-language music, and I love the sections in the early part of the book revolving around Rhys Mwyn and David R. Edwards, through to The Alarm’s embracing of bilingualism and Anhrefn’s alternative take on Welsh-language culture with their project Hen Wlad Fy Mamau / Land Of My Mothers.

Huw: Which bands did you discover during the writing that you hadn’t listened to previously?
Neil: Since starting the Welsh Music Podcast in 2019 and beginning this book two years ago, it’s been a real journey of discovery. Previously, I hadn’t been that familiar with the likes of Y Cyrff and Ffa Coffi Pawb, but I’ve definitely immersed myself in the likes of The Darling Buds, Melys and The Pooh Sticks.
Aptly, for a book on the 90s, it’s 90,000 words in length, but with a little more space I would like to have delved a bit more into bands like Derrero, Big Leaves, The Crocketts and Ether. All four of their debut albums in particular are absolute gems that deserve more recognition. If you haven’t heard them, get listening!
Huw Stephens’ Wales: 100 Records is out now via Y Lolfa. Info: here
Neil Collins’ International Velvet: How Wales Conquered The ‘90s Charts is out on Thurs 25 July via Calon. Info: here