50 Favorite Songs
My nephew, Jeremy, recently turned thirty, and to commemorate the event, he compiled a list of his favorite albums and ranked them from 300 to 1. With each entry, he gave a little backstory and insight as to why he chose that piece of music. I have recently turned fifty, plus I am always making lists, so I thought I'd make a ham-handed rip-off of Jeremy's idea but instead of my top 500(!) albums, I'd choose my top fifty songs. So, here it is along with a little intro.
We grew up on AM radio back in the seventies. WLS was our local station and it was strictly Top 40. They played anything so long as it was a top seller or had the potential to be - the genre didn't matter. Any random sampling of the charts would be a crazy mix of country, rock, disco, etc. As a consequence, you could hear a wonderful piece of music written by a talented songwriter sharing the airwaves with a piece of garbage novelty song written by some hack enjoying his fifteen minutes. Regardless of the clunkers, it was great to be exposed to all of these different sounds. Our childhood 45 collections reflect this variety and informs the first few selections on my list.
I also had the good fortune of having my Mom's singles collection from her teenage years basically dropped in my lap. My grandma was doing some cleaning, I guess, and wanted to get them out of her house and brought them to ours. I loved the 50's and 60's singles. It was all so new to me and would be my first exposure to the great girl groups and also to the Brill Building sound that would hatch a couple of my all-time favorites.
In order to make the list, the songs had to pack an emotional punch and generate a feeling of excitement that implores me to either crank up the stereo or to push the headphones to my ears and slip away. Look, I'm thinking too much about this. Here is a bunch of songs that I love - some are goofy, some are light as a feather, but they all have an underlying quality that speaks directly to me. I would never be able to choose a favorite, so here they are in chronological order.
1. One Fine Day - The Chiffons (1963)
I wasn't alive when Goffin and King sat in an office in the Brill Building and wrote this song but I would become very familiar with The Chiffons. They also recorded He's So Fine, one of my Mom's 45's - and the phrase, "doo-lang doo-lang doo-lang", has been forever lodged in my consciousness. Definitely a summer drive with the top down song - love it.
2. Daydream Believer - The Monkees (1967)
Upon researching the background of this song, I discovered it was recorded on the day that I was born. It has held up a lot better than I have, unfortunately. I fell hard for this one when I saw it performed on The Monkees reruns in the 70's. It was written by John Stewart, with the exception of the piano hook that pops up throughout the song which was written by Peter. Remember when you knew the names of everybody in your favorite bands? My wife hated Peter and can't understand why he would be my fav. She loved Mickey. My brother preferred Mike. It was Davy that sang this one, however, and he did it in his tiny British accent. He also busts out some pretty sweet dance moves when performing this on the show.
3. Different Drum - Stone Poneys (1967)
Although this is a wonderful version of the Mike Nesmith song, I actually prefer the Matthew Sweet/Susannah Hoffs cover from 2006. I remember reading an interview with Hoffs where she said that Different Drum was her go-to shower song. After I regained consciousness, I decided to give it a fresh listen. I hadn't heard it in a long time and it was just as wonderful as ever, It was nice to rediscover it so many years later.
4. Oh Me Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby) – Lulu (1969)
Lulu appeared in the hilariously dated, but still touching, “To Sir With Love” in 1967. I liked the title song that she sang in the movie and when I decided to check out the rest of her discography, I stumbled onto this track. It was recorded at Muscle Shoals with the hottest producers of the day. It is melodramatic and over the top, with her raspy voice screaming out over a tear-inducing horn riff. Why do these songs languish, hidden in the middle of artist anthologies? How many great ones are still out there for me to discover? It drives me crazy not knowing.
5. Love The One You’re With – Stephen Stills (1970)
Having spent my entire life being beaten over the head with all things Baby Boomer, I tend to shy away from that generation’s touchstones. Some music sneaks through, however. Among others, I do like the Beatles, some Rolling Stones, a little Hendrix, and this Stephen Stills hit. This song is full of acoustic guitars, percussion, and backup singers but it wouldn’t make my list without the chill-inducing organ solo.
6. Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones (1970)
This song has a specific quality to it that is crucial. Without it, the track would still be good but this element makes it great. That vital piece is backup singer Merry Clayton, or more specifically, a single crack in her voice that happens at 3:01 that still sends shivers.
One time, while riding in my coworker’s car to a party, this song came on the radio. I gave him the whole story about how I loved this particular part, etc. Just as that moment arrived, he turned off the radio and laughed. I had considered this guy a potential friend, but this offense put a blemish on his character that I could not overlook. I would never set foot in his Ford Pinto again.
7. Move On Up – Curtis Mayfield (1970)
There isn’t a single memory or experience attached to this song, it just fills me with excitement the moment it enters my ears and affects my feet. When that happens, I start busting some serious moves in the kitchen while making dinner – providing the blinds are closed and the kids are in another room. If I was allowed to wear fluffy, thermal socks with no shoes to a club and the dance floor was linoleum, I would tear that mother down. There is something about the combination of the percussion, with the horns and the long running time that lets you settle into the groove for a good while. It reminds me a lot of “That Lady” by The Isley Brothers, but instead of horns, they slay with Ernie Isley’s guitar. Oh, the seventies. I used to hate it, now I love it.
8. Go All The Way – The Raspberries (1972)
After texting back and forth with my brother, we could not figure out if we actually owned this 45 or merely listened to it on the radio. In the mists of my mind I seem to remember watching it spin round and round hypnotically on the turntable. Whatever the case, I had some stellar taste as a five-year-old. I haven’t listened to it all the way through for about forty years because it elicits such memories that I’m afraid if I hear it now, I will begin to lose that old feeling. Maybe instead of saying this to you, I should be sharing it with a psychiatrist. I’m going to step away and listen to it right now – be right back.
Just finished. It is still a wonderful song and a near perfect example of what great power-pop should be, but five-year-old Jeffrey was gone. Oh well.
9. I Got A Name – Jim Croce (1973)
While walking into the kitchen one day recently, I heard this song playing in the other room. I asked, “Why am I hearing this? What is happening?” It turns out my son was watching “Django Unchained” and it was the soundtrack to a travel montage. I ended up watching the movie and loving how the song was used.
Croce died in a plane crash in September 1973 and this single was released two months later. As a result, it has a sad feel to it. The vocal and guitar solo were recorded with reverb and it gives it a “beyond the grave” quality.
10. Dancing Queen – ABBA (1977)
Just by admitting my love for this song, I forfeit any shred of manliness that I might possess. Now that that is out of the way, I simply adore this track. We took a family road trip in the spring of '77 and we heard this one from Illinois to Arizona and back again. One radio station would fade out after a hundred miles or so and when the next one faded in, ABBA would be there again. It must be said that ABBA is lame. That is a fact. Do not believe the revisionist history that is going on right now that describes them as actually being cool. Not true, but you do not need to be cool to write a great song. What makes Dancing Queen so special is that regardless of your physical abilities, this song makes you feel like a star on the dance floor. It is undeniable and irresistible.
11. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (live version from The Last Waltz) – The Band (1978)
It was December 23rd, after midnight a few years ago, when I found myself wrapping Christmas presents by myself in a mad rush to finish the gifts I had, and needing to stop to buy more the next morning. My wife was in the hospital with pneumonia and I was trying to inject as much magic into the holiday for the kids as a tired husband could. When I did all I could do that night, I went upstairs, checked on the kids, and then watched The Last Waltz. I had heard this song before but in my exhausted state, it really hit me how stirring, uplifting, and celebratory it was. It was the only tiny spark of holiday spirit that I felt that year.
I apologize that the version that I provided here is not from the movie. ITunes would sell me that one only if I bought the entire album. Not cool, ITunes, not cool.
12. I Want You To Want Me – Cheap Trick (1979)
Two great singles were released in one particularly kick-ass childhood summer. My friends, Donny, George, Greg (my older brother), and I built a tree fort, which became our headquarters during these months. On the last weekend before the summer ended, all four of us went to see Ray Brower’s dead body –oh, wait- that’s the plot of Stand By Me. We actually just sat up in our fort and yelled at passing motorists. We had a transistor radio and we listened to it constantly. We were just overjoyed to have a couple of actual rock songs back on the charts for a once. It was a nice change from all the disco. By the way, and I can only speak for ourselves on this matter, our newfound hatred of disco had nothing to do with any anti-gay or anti-ethnic feelings. Those thoughts never crossed our minds. We didn’t even know that was a thing. In the late seventies, disco was everywhere - weddings, commercials, movies, and cartoons - not to mention that several rock acts were releasing discofied singles. The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Queen, and others had forsaken us already. Thank God for The Knack and Cheap Trick. The latter were local heroes, forming in a city just an hour away from our town. They were fun and exciting, with one great power-pop single after another. The other great summer song is the next one on the list.
13. Cruel To Be Kind – Nick Lowe (1979)
Nick Lowe was a mid-seventies pub rocker and producer in England. He wrote and sang great singles of his own but was also able to coax greatness out of others. I really love “Heart” and “When I Write The Book” from this era but “Cruel To Be Kind” remains the favorite. This song achieved a kind of mythical quality amongst my brother and our friends, and why not? It is a perfect song. When it would come on the transistor radio we would quickly turn it up. It probably maxed out at about two decibels but the actual act of turning it up was the thrilling part. If you haven’t heard it, just push play below, listen to it, and then put it on your own Top 50 List.
14. Annie Get Your Gun – Squeeze (1982)
In my early teens I was a classic rock/heavy metal guy just like my friends, but by the time I hit sixteen, I started to crave something different. Squeeze appeared on SNL in 1982 and I was smitten. They played “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)” and “Annie Get Your Gun”. I bought Singles 45 and Under soon thereafter, followed quickly by Argybargy. I started sporting a Squeeze button on my jacket and searched for more smart pop music. Van Halen and Iron Maiden just didn’t do it for me anymore.
I had never listened to a band so English before. Usually British groups try so hard to sound American but Chris Difford’s lyrics were distinctly Anglo. Here are a few typical lyrics.
“And I give her some old chat”
“I took her rather nifty/To an incubator”
“She had a grace like pleasure/She had a certain style”
“A soap suds stickle back navy”
Umm…what? I would slowly get a grasp of what this all meant, and even if I didn’t, it was still a nice break from the songs about babes and wizards that I was used to. I used to listen to this and jump around my bedroom. I may or may not still do this. I should also add that just about everyone I grew up with knows exactly what songs each of those lyrics belong to and I guarantee that they were singing them out loud.
15. They Don’t Know – Tracey Ullman (1983)
I love Kirsty Maccoll, who originally recorded the song, but I prefer this version. Kirsty still sings backup on it and even yells the iconic “baby!” at the high point of the song. They both recorded on Stiff Records with a bunch of other great artists including, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Pogues, Madness, Devo, Ian Dury, etc. The Stiff Records box set is a lot of fun to listen to. There is a girl group thing going on with this song that made it really stand out from all of the synthesizer music on MTV. The video is also pretty damn charming.
16. My Ever Changing Moods – The Style Council (1984)
If I’m going to go with a Paul Weller tune, I’m supposed to have chosen a Jam song, right? I know I would probably have more cred if I did but I lost that with the Dancing Queen pick anyway so, The Style Council it is. Weller gave up the punkiness of The Jam for something a little jazzier and poppier. You could kind of see it coming after A Town Called Malice, but it still was quite a surprise. The Jam was a better band. I don’t think anyone could argue with that statement. However, none of those great Jam songs could beat My Ever Changing Moods, in my mind at least.
17. Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Tears For Fears (1985)
I’m sorry, I tried to leave this song off of my list. I even tried to put a lesser-known, cooler Tears For Fears song on instead but I just couldn’t do it. I’m trying to make this list honest, no matter how lame my selections may appear to a hipster looking in. Again, I apologize, but this is wonderful in every possible way – the sparkling intro, the surprising early bridge, the uplifting chorus, even a nice guitar solo at the end. It also came out in 1985, the eightiest year of the eighties. This was popular when I graduated from a very “John Hughesian” high school wearing a skinny tie and tapered pants, looking alarmingly in-line with today’s current trends. I’ve heard this song, roughly one billion times and it still works on me. It doesn’t sound dated or kitschy and I will defend this pick with my very life.
18. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. – A-ha (1985)
A-ha is a good band and Hunting High And Low is a great album. I understand that there are a lot of people out there who are very dismissive of this group, but those people are buttheads and I hate them. Maybe that’s a bit harsh. If you’re going to make a poppy synth album, you may as well go all in. Every song is well produced and drenched in drama and that suited me just fine in 1985. I really liked a couple of their 90’s albums but this one can’t be beat. “Take On Me” was the humongous hit from the album but I prefer this one. It sounds like nothing else and the synthy string solo towards the end is still uplifting to me after all of these years.
During college I worked outside at a nursery stacking firewood, selling Christmas trees, etc. The only way to warm up after spending hours frozen to the core was to sit in a hot bathtub where I would pop this cassette in and thaw out for 37 minutes or so. Sorry for that frightening image. There are many records that I once loved that just don’t do it for me anymore, this one still gets me every time.
19. Oscillate Wildly – The Smith (1985)
If I had to name a band as my all-time favorite, it would be The Smiths. The dynamics of this group are very intriguing – there is Morrissey, who is an interesting singer with great lyrics albeit with a limited range, Johnny Marr writes and records the music before Morrissey even steps up to the mic for the first time. Because of his vocal inflexibility, Marr compensates by filling the compositions with so much melody and filigree that it can stand on its own as an instrumental. Add to that a terrific backing band and you really have something. This track, ironically, doesn't feature Morrissey's singing and is a great example of an instrumental that is a complete stand-alone composition. I don't really know why this one is special to me out of their entire, amazing catalog, but it just ignites my senses unlike any of the others.
20. Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House (1986)
This was the song my wife and I danced to at our wedding. It’s been heard so many times and covered by so many artists, that it has become a standard. When it started getting airplay, it was so different from the rest of the Top 40. It stuck out like a sore thumb. Crowded House has no shortage of great songs but this one is just special. Even to this day when the song comes on, whether it be in a supermarket, dentist office waiting room, or the car radio, we look at each other and give that …look. You know that expression that comes over your face when you pull out an item of clothing that your kids used to wear when they were tiny babies? It’s like that.
21. Inspiration – Lone Justice (1986)
The most powerful instrument in this band was Maria Mckee’s voice. It could be quiet and soulful, sometimes extra twangy, other times loud and powerful. It is not to everyone’s taste but if you are on board, it is a wonderful thing. This song builds and builds until you think her voice just can’t take it anymore. In fact, she actually sings, “I can’t contain it anymore”, during the climax. She is a cute and tiny thing who probably sleeps in a teacup, but her voice is gigantic.
22. Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order (1986), Frente! (1994)
Some songs only need a few notes to get people moving. Any place I’ve ever been where dancing is taking place, this track will elicit a cheer and then a rush to the dance floor. Sparkling synths and an uplifting chorus combine to great effect.
Eight years later at the height of a grunge-inspired radio playlist, the Frente! version came out, and again, stuck out like a sore thumb. It was acoustic and topped out at 2:00 and couldn’t have been more different than the original. It showed that if you stripped it of its beats and keyboards and distilled it to its essence, it was still a tidy, perfect gem.
23. Last Time – The Woodentops (1986)
This was one of those bands that felt like my very own. Nobody seems to have heard of them. I had just a limited knowledge. I know that they toured with The Smiths around 1986. That would have been a wonderful show. This track has a great acoustic/electric guitar break. I like how some guy, whose name I still don’t know, from a random band can whip out a sweet bag of riffs. I had transformed into a gloomy college kid with art student hair at this point but I still loved a good guitar solo. In fact, even though I was way into my new “cool” music, I still went with my friends to see David Lee Roth, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd and Van Hagar. Maybe it wasn’t as thrilling to me as it might have been a few years earlier, but I think a little Eruption is good for the soul.
24. But Not Tonight – Depeche Mode (1986)
Depeche Mode considered this a useless pop track and stuck it at the end of their excellent Black Celebration album. I’ve always loved this song but I’m beginning to feel like some sort of Philistine. A note to recording artists: Don’t trash songs from your catalog that people may actually love. Radiohead does this with “Creep” and R.E.M. does it with “Shiny Happy People”. You wrote it, recorded it, put it on your album, and released it. You obviously thought it was good. Don’t feel the need to recant just because it got too popular or overshadowed your more “serious” work.
In the early stages of dating my wife, I remember dropping her off at her house late at night and then driving home with the top down under a full moon, blasting this song and feeling in love.
(What is the deal with 1986? Why so many great songs? It was certainly a fun year. Maybe by attaching themselves to the good vibes I was feeling at the time, these songs benefitted.)
25. Levi Stubb’s Tears – Billy Bragg (do I even have to tell you the year?)
A very sad song about domestic violence and loneliness. Billy Bragg sings in a rough, Cockney accent which somehow makes his songs that much more beautiful and honest. The composition is spare until it plays out at the end, when the bongos and flugelhorn begin to mend the heart that he just spent the last three minutes breaking.
My cousin, Eric, and I were way into this artist. We drove through a crazy rainstorm to see him in 1987 at The Metro, I believe. He stood onstage with just his guitar and sharp wit, in total command. The audience sang along to every song, and in the middle of “A New England” he said, “I hear you, brothers and sisters.” A voice of the people and always about inclusion, that quick, little quote has always stuck with me.
26. Bow Down – The Housemartins (1987)
The first year away at college was a pretty lonely one for me. I had visions of parties with new friends and eager coeds, and there were opportunities to be had, but as a shy, homesick dude, I turned inward instead of embracing the possibilities. I did enjoy my classes, however, and found comfort, as always, in music. If I wanted to indulge my loneliness, The Smiths would be there for me, but that year I tended to listen to more upbeat stuff. Pretty much on the first day of school (September 9) The Housemartins released their second album. I loved their first one and found myself in the lyrics. Even though there were entire days when I wouldn’t utter a word to another human, I was always singing to myself – in the car, while walking to classes, climbing up the stairwell to my 11th floor dorm room (where my voice reverberated like crazy). Why I wouldn’t talk to anyone is beyond me now.
27. King For A Day – XTC (1989)
Two of the greatest singles of the eighties reside right next to each other on XTC’s Oranges & Lemons – “The Mayor Of Simpleton” and “King For A Day”. One of our local radio stations, WXRT, has a show called “Saturday Morning Flashback” where they choose a year to feature for four hours. Sometimes, depending on the year, I’ll just kind of check in once in a while to hear what they’re playing. There are certain years, however, that I will devote the entire four hours to – 1979 is my favorite, but 1989 comes close. This song will always be played. XTC is a wonderful band bursting with ideas and capable of churning out great material with apparent ease. They probably sat down at the kitchen table one morning and said, “Let’s write the catchiest song in the history of the world today”. And then they did.
28. Nobody’s Child – Maria McKee (1989)
Robbie Robertson co-wrote this song and I’m surprised that he has two entries on this list. I am not surprised that Maria McKee does, however. I’ve already written about her earlier with her band, Lone Justice, and about this song in particular elsewhere, so I won’t delve too deeply. If Mitchell Froom, Jim Keltner, and Richard Thompson want to record with her, she’s probably got the goods. It’s just a great headphones song and about as close as I am ever going to get to having her lean in and sing softly into my ear.
29. Lovesong – The Cure (1989)
No song embodies the first few weeks with my wife more than this one, so fresh and exciting. It was released three days after our first date and Disintegration became the soundtrack to that summer. Every generation has a singer that provides a romantic backdrop for a quiet evening in. Maybe it was Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, or Barry White for the older set, but for us, it was Robert Smith. There had to be at least one Cure song on this list to make it valid.
30. Lucy September – The Dream Academy (1990)
This group could not be more distinctly English. Here are the names of the band members – Kate St. John, Gilbert Gabriel, and Nick Laird-Clowes. Try saying those names and not affecting an accent, it’s impossible. So, I shouldn’t be surprised that the single sounds hopelessly British with orchestral pop flourishes slathered over the top of a simple song structure. Overproduced maybe, but it works for me. I like to listen to it while relaxing on my settee with a packet of crisps.
31. The Crying Scene – Aztec Camera (1990)
Roddy Frame, the driving force and primary member of Aztec Camera, is a great guitarist who, when faced with the choice between soft pop and rock-and-roll, often chose the former. That part of his repertoire is solid, but on the rare occasion that he chose a more aggressive approach, the results were much more powerful. I’ve read that at the start of their careers, Johnny Marr considered Frame to be his chief guitar rival and I’m sure he’s just fine with Frame going mellow and fading into the background. This song proves that he could be a force in any genre he chooses. I just wish he would go with this one more often. Nice guitar solo here.
32. Slow Emotion Replay – The The (1993)
Speaking of Johnny Marr…I know Matt Johnson, the only constant member of the group, wrote this song, but it is really owned by Marr, his guitar, and his harmonica. I cannot tire of this one.
I went with my wife, brother, and sister-in-law to see Depeche Mode in the early nineties and I was very excited that The The was the opening act. During their set, some Depeche Mode bandwagoneers sat down behind us and started making fun of them, as they are wont to do. My wife turned and yelled, “Shut the fuck up!” right in their faces. They got up and left. I thought, “I like this woman’s core values.”
33. I Don’t Want Control Of You – Teenage Fanclub (1997)
If you told me this song came out in 1972, I’d believe you. If you said 2012, I’d believe that too. Great power pop is timeless. I will sing along with this song whenever and wherever I hear it, forever.
34. You Get What You Give – New Radicals (1998)
This is another one of those “out of the ordinary” singles that appear on the Top 40 occasionally. This could have been recorded by Todd Rundgren in the seventies. It stood out from all of the “boy bands” and “featuring” singles that were dominating back then. The charts are always ruled by such dreck but the quality stuff survives. Again, no wistful memories with this one, just a good song.
35. Ce matin-la – Air (1998)
I know this sounds like the soundtrack to some company’s 1950s promotional film shown to their stockholders, but I love it anyway. It feels like at any moment, a voice will come on saying, “IBM. Living. Working. Building a better tomorrow.” The title means, “on that morning” and this is exactly what it sounds like. In the late nineties, I sort of got into Burt Bacharach and his smooth, orchestral pop. It was a combination of classic songwriting and sixties kitsch. Air achieved something similar, maybe a more sterile electric version, but still warmly familiar.
36. No Frontiers – The Corrs (1999)
This is a cover of a song written by Jimmy MacCarthy from a live “unplugged” album, which were very popular at the time. The Corrs were three sisters and one brother. They were tiny, beautiful, and talented. Just two of the sisters performed this duet and it is perfect in every way. When this song comes on while I’m writing or drawing, I put down my pencil, close my eyes, and just listen.
37. Killin’ Kind – Shelby Lynne (2001)
This should’ve been a massive mainstream radio hit, and if it was, I probably would’ve tired of it by now. It’s just as well, Shelby is a prickly one with a tragic past and would most likely have bristled at the success. My wife and I saw her at a local theater where she played a spur-of-the-moment show during her tour (her guitarist was from a local town). There were maybe a couple hundred people there and we sat way up in front. She is a magnetic personality that demands your attention and there were times when she was singing, that she looked directly into my eyes. It was sort of thrilling. There was an opportunity to meet her after the concert and my wife asked if I wanted to go. I said, “No way, she terrifies me.”
38. Homesick – Kings of Convenience (2004)
Sounding like a Norwegian Simon & Garfunkel, this song causes my blood pressure to drop significantly within the first few notes. During my intro to this list, I mentioned how my favorites are usually uplifting or exhilarating, but the one word that I neglected, and which keeps coming up, is “comfort”. “Two soft voices blended in perfection” is just what this song is - all the way through to the heartbreaking last line.
39. I Never – Rilo Kiley (2004)
I was really into this band for about a year or two. I like Jenny Lewis’ voice – it is clean and clear, and like Shelby Lynne, it has a lot of Dusty Springfield in it. Any amount of Dusty is a good thing. I always picture this song bringing the house down at the Grand Ole Opry. Love the strings and drums on this one.
40. Everyone’s A V.I.P. To Someone – The Go! Team (2004)
This is one of my favorite bands but I wouldn’t recognize a single one of them if I saw them on the street. They are an entity – a loud, super-fun mass of energy. I heard this song for the first time while at work listening to a cd sampler from a magazine. The person in the room with me crinkled her nose and asked, “Um, what is this?” I answered, “I’m not sure, but I think it might be the best song ever.”
When I was a kid and in bed on a school night, I could hear my parents watching T.V. through my bedroom walls. In the seventies, the television dramas like The Waltons, Little House On The Prairie, or Lucas Tanner all seemed to have a melodramatic, almost maudlin soundtrack. I would just lie there looking at the ceiling and listening. This track brings me back there, but I don’t want to hear it softly through two layers of drywall, I want it as loud as I can stand it in my car with the windows up tight against the cold and a hot coffee in my hand.
41. I Want To Be Buried In Your Backyard – Nightmare Of You (2005)
Another cd sampler discovery. I don’t know if this is EMO or not. The singer sounds like a combination of Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco and Billy Joe Armstrong. Sometimes I have a stupid feeling that maybe I shouldn’t like this so much, I’m too old for EMO, after all. In the end, it doesn’t matter – if it’s good, it’s good. Not everything has to be Dark Side Of The Moon.
42. Pull Shapes – The Pipettes (2006)
I had gotten so bored with the same old Christmas songs every year that I decided to make my own holiday playlist. There are a selection of albums that I play every year in December only and those have become my Yuletide standards – Cocteau Twins, The Go! Team, Whitest Boy Alive, Dido, among others, and this Pipettes album. This group is a concoction made up of its creator, Monster Bobby, his great backing band The Cassettes, and three cute and snarky female singers. It’s supposed to be a throwback to the girl groups of the sixties, a combination of The Chiffons and The Shangri-Las. The songs are all dead-on and a lot of fun. The album they made after this sounds like the seventies and eighties and it’s also wonderful. Their dance moves aren’t top notch and sometimes they don’t quite hit the note they were intending , but the spirit comes through. Like most of these types of bands, they didn’t last long. Lineup changes and waning public interest seem to have played a role in their demise. The last new song I heard from them was in 2011. They remind me a little bit of Fruit Stripe gum– bright, colorful, and delicious, but only lasting for about thirty glorious seconds.
43. Ain’t Never Been Cool – Lucky Soul (2007)
I’m looking over my list and the title of this song sort of applies to it. I feel the need to stop here for a moment to say that…I’m not lame. Really. I mean, I get why someone might come to that conclusion, but…okay, let’s move on.
London’s Lucky Soul is another retro sounding band but not in a gimmicky way. Their albums sound like greatest hits compilations of a bygone era. They are not being cheeky or jokey with their sound, they are skilled and earnest in their delivery. And why shouldn’t they take it seriously, crafting perfect pop singles is a noble pursuit.
44. Say It To Me Now – Glen Hansard (2007)
How many times have I seen Once? Ten, maybe fifteen times? This is the opening song from that movie. It is just a voice, a guitar, and a singer lost in his performance. The strings are a little out of tune and buzzing, which only adds to the effect. Studio gloss and perfection have no place here. After those two and a half minutes you know all that you need to know about this character.
45. Firecracker – Voxtrot (2007)
Voxtrot only put out one complete album and Spotify could barely muster a paragraph for their bio. What happens to these great bands that disintegrate so quickly? Lightning in a bottle, I guess. And yet, I can probably name twenty bands off the top of my head that continue to churn out albumfulls of crap for decades on end.
46. Gimme Sympathy – Metric (2007)
I don’t have much to say about this song except that I love it. It has wonderfully catchy guitar accents during the chorus just like “Firecracker”. It is merely an expertly crafted alt-rock song performed with conviction. I saw them at a festival a while back and enjoyed the performance while I was melting under the obscenely hot August sun. I stuck it out for the entire performance and I’ll bet you can guess which song they didn’t play.
47. Puzzles – The Mary Onettes (2009)
This group is what we refer to as a “one sound” band, meaning that they use basically the same formula and instruments on every song. However, if your one sound is a good one, then you’re all set. I like a lot of bands that could be put into that category – Cocteau Twins, The National, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, etc. Even though I love listening to all of them, I often have no idea which song comes from what album.
The Mary Onettes are from Sweden and that’s about all I know. All of their songs are very good, but this one holds a special place. The synth brings me back to the giant sound of Ocean Rain era Echo & The Bunnymen. It makes me feel very big in my little car. This also has one of my favorite openings to a song.
48. Feel It All Around – Washed Out (2010)
You might recognize this song as the theme for Portlandia. I was familiar with it before the show, but when I heard them paired together I thought, “perfect”. I love the big sky and oceans of cornfields here in Illinois but if I were ever to relocate, it would be to Portland. My wife and I spent our honeymoon there in the nineties. I’ve only been back a couple of times since, but there’s something about the atmosphere there that is laid back and progressive at the same time. These are the same qualities that I find in this Washed Out song. It reminds me a lot of “I’m Not In Love” by 10cc, with the breathy background voices. It puts me in a relaxed and thoughtful mood and acts as a reset button.
49. Prom Night – Anamanaguchi (2013)
I first heard of this band from the Scott Pilgrim movie and its excellent soundtrack. We saw them at Lollapalooza a year or so later, expecting a bunch of dudes on laptops, we were surprised to find an actual band shredding over their trademark Nintendo bank of sounds. I’ve been totally on-board since then.
50. Go! – M83 (2016)
It seems like after Daft Punk released Random Access Memories, other (mostly) electronic acts decided to up their game. Royksopp put out The Inevitable End in 2014 and M83 released Junk a couple years later. The Junk album does have a little…junk on it, but the first four songs are wonderful. I was especially taken with “Go!”. It’s very exciting and catchy, building and building until the final, unexpected, exhilarating guitar solo.
So, that's it! Do you agree? Do you think I'm insane and have no taste? Maybe so, it's quite possible. I tried to be as thorough as I could with the dates, etc., without making myself crazy. If I got something wrong, oh well, I tried. What are your favorite songs? Feel free to put a few, or maybe 50, in the comments.
