Monday, 4 August 2025

UK Number 40s: Frank Turner - I Still Believe (2012)

 


When punk first broke through to the mainstream in the 70s it was seen amongst other things as the voice of the working class. The aspect turned out to not be all as it seems when it came to light that there were members of The Clash and The Stranglers who were private school educated.

Punk as a genre in the charts died out in the early 80s but enjoyed a revival in the 90s up until we last saw Green Day in the Top 40 in 2009. Since then we've been in an era where acoustic guitars are seen more favourably in the mainstream than electric ones. As such, the nearest you get to punk in the charts in the modern era is someone like Frank Turner.

It's fair to say that Frank Turner is about as far away from working class as they come. He's the son of an investment banker and head teacher and the grandson of a bishop. To top all that though, he was a class mate of Prince William at Eton.

This was his sole Top 40 hit to date which is described as being folk punk. It was originally released in 2010 but didn't chart until 2 years later. It was perhaps helped into the Top 40 by it's appearance on the 2012 Olympics soundtrack.

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