MY PLAYLIST – CHELCEE GRIMES
For this edition we sit down with Liverpool’s own Grammy nominated and Brit Award winning songwriter, Chelcee Grimes!
With over 1 billion streams on songs she has penned, Chelcee’s solo artist project has also been featured in MTV, Cosmo, Wonderland Magazine, Gay Times and more. Have a read below on the songs that have shaped her prolific career so far…
1. Chelcee Grimes – Liverpool
How else could I start? It was my dream to be a football player, I played for Liverpool ladies from ages 9-16. But then I discovered music. My 2 worlds collided when Liverpool won the Premier League after 30 years of waiting – and here is the crazy part – I wrote this song when I was 30 and it became the opening tune for the movie ‘End of the Storm’, which was all about Liverpool winning the Prem. A star aligning moment, and a ‘pinch me’ record – what began as a song about being homesick ended up.
2. The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun
I couldn’t do a playlist for my city without the OGs in here. I travel all around the world and I’ve been lucky enough to visit almost every country writing songs. Once I was in the middle of South Korea and nobody spoke English. I went for a walk to get inspiration for a songwriting session and I stumbled upon a bar called ‘The Beatles Bar’ in Seoul. It was a moment where I was like ‘WOW, I’m so proud to be from Liverpool’. When I walked inside and told them I was from there, I got a free drink and they treated me like royalty. Nice one lads!!!
3. Lady Gaga – Just Dance
I can’t remember how old I was when this song came out, but I knew I had never seen anybody like this in my generation. Back then in the early 2000s, girls were oiled up and very sexualised. Then I saw this woman who looked a bit mad, playing piano, singing dance music. I was hooked. I listened to her first album ‘The Fame’ like the bible and learned about song structure, melody changes, tempo – everything. I wonder if I’d have ever made music if I wasn’t as obsessed with Gaga. One day I got a call when I was in LA to work with Red One, the producer who made this album. I told him I used to tweet him daily to tell him I would work with him, and it happened. Don’t give up.
4. Stanaj – Romantic (NOTD Remix)
I have this tattoo’d on me. It was one of the first songs I had as a songwriter that smashed 100 million streams on Spotify alone. That’s a pretty big number! For me, this is a song I’ll always be proud of. I was invested in the whole lyric as I was going through my first relationship with a girl, and it pulled all kinds of emotions out of me. Something I look back on and smile, thinking about how far I’ve come. Such a happy memory.
5. Mic Lowry – Heart of Yours
I wrote this with Esco Williams, another artist I played so many shows with on the Liverpool circuit when I was coming through. He told me he was working with some lads from Liverpool who can SIIIIING! He wasn’t wrong. This was a record that, as a songwriter, doesn’t happen too often – when you can give an artist a song and they completely turn it into something more than you could ever imagine. Plus, everyone involved is from Liverpool. Love that. It has a special place in my heart.
6. Dua Lipa, BLACKPINK – Kiss and Make Up
For me, this is a memory that reminds me that you shouldn’t give up on a song or in life. Me and Dua Lipa wrote this song before her debut album was released (when we could go to Tesco for a meal deal), then she blew up. This song wasn’t put on the first album but I knew it needed to be released. The labels passed, so many people told me that the lyric was too young for anyone to sing – but I stuck to my guns! I didn’t conform. Then one day, I got a call that the biggest girl group in the world wanted to feature on it. It now sits just under 700 million streams on Spotify… Crazy.
7. Dua Lipa – Love Again
Another one from me and Dua – this song brought many many firsts for me, as well as our last release together. It was my first big record in America as a songwriter. As a girl from Liverpool, it was mad getting a call to say my song was in the Top 10 airplay chart in America. Netflix did a documentary on how we wrote the record (Song Exploder) if you want to check it out. I don’t really know what to say other than this song really changed my life. It also allowed my mum to leave Primark and work with me now 🙂
8. Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers, Pharell – Get Lucky
Soooooo this song is great, but it’s on the playlist because I was recently in Abbey Road Studios (YES I walked the famous Beatles crossing photo then walked into the studio with Nile) WTF! He is a legend! Well and truly, there’s not many of the greats left. He’s a great person, we wrote some great songs. But we played this song in the studio and the rest of his hits! It was a core memory for me. We have plans to write a lot more too!!!
9. Santana – Maria Maria
This is just for my mum. She loves this song.
10. Bonnie Raitt – I Can’t Make You Love Me
One of the songs I wish I’d written. That’s all I’ll say about this song. Hope you enjoyed the playlist. So many memories unlocked!
For more on Chelcee Grimes, follow her here.