105. Sugarcubes - Birthday (One Little Indian)

Two weeks at number one from 31st October 1987As a kid, I developed a strange fascination for the furthest flung bits of the globe – the sparse, underpopulated areas which contained people I’d never met, whose beliefs and customs I’d never been exposed to. Living in London, I’d been introduced to all kinds of non-British people, even if they were just being irritating tourists in the street, but some places felt deeply enigmatic. I’d nag my Mum about this, initially in seriousness, then eventually just to be an annoying, repetitive arsehole.“Mum, can we go to Greenland on holiday?” I asked.“No. There’s nothing there,” she sighed. “We’ve had this conversation before.”“There can’t just be nothing there.”“It’s as close to nothing as you can get, it’s expensive, and we’re not paying all that money to go there and sit surrounded by snow and ice. If you want to go to Greenland, you’re going to have to pay for it when you get older.”I still haven’t been to Greenland (largely because my wife…