Top 100 Songs

• 100 – “Leave Right Now” by Will Young (A strange choice perhaps, but I love the little story that this song tells. Not ashamed to say that I do like Will Young’s voice as well)
• 99 – “Miss Chatelaine” by k.d. Lang (This is the song that, in my early twenties, led me to an appreciation of the female singer/song-writer. Before that my tastes were a little more M.O.R.)
• 98 – “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey (Talking of M.O.R. and before the days of Glee, I used to love my Journey’s Greatest Hits album)
• 97 – “Oliver’s Army” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions (Just a great sing-along number with more and more levels the more you listen)
• 96 – “I Will Survive” by Cake (I do love a good cover version, especially when it adds to or gives a new angle to the original. This one takes a female anthem and looks at it from a man’s view. Genius)
• 95 – “Without Me” by Eminem (Debated whether to have Marshall Mathers higher up in my list as he is one of the greatest lyricists I’ve heard. On top form with this one, and it also, oddly, reminds me of my honeymoon)
• 94 – “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” by The Charlie Daniels Band (How much fun can you have in a song? And you don’t get enough fiddle playing these days either)
• 93 – “Four Minute Warning” by Mark Owen (In between spells with Take That, ickle Mark Owen managed to write this little number. Much overlooked)
• 92 – “Mr Tambourine Man” – by Bob Dylan (The original and still the best)
• 91 – “Somewhere In My Heart” – by Aztec Camera (One of THE favourite songs from my youth. Seems on every level to be a run-of-the-mill 80′s pop number but I love it nonetheless)
• 90 – “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison (I remember this as being one of the first “grown up” songs that I thought sounded brilliant from the first time I heard it. Must be a milestone on the maturing road of my musical appreciation)
• 89 – “Right Said Fred” by Bernard Cribbins (On the other hand, far from maturity, Right Said Fred reminds me that simple almost childlike songs can be quite wonderful too)
• 88 – “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus (A brilliantly youthful track, that jars back and forth between two styles, while never losing the sense of where its going. Great twist in the story too)
• 87 – “Della and The Dealer” by Hoit Axton (Okay, so not the greatest illustration of country music but this is one of those songs that I used to love when I was 8 or 9 years old, and would sing along to in the back of my dad’s car)
• 86 – “You’re Gorgeous” by Babybird (A “college years” classic for me. Reminds me of a long since disappeared time in my life)
• 85 – “Summertime” by Louis Armstrong (Again, this is a song that I rediscovered when I was hurtling through my twenties. Tough call as to whether this version or Ella Fitzgerald would be on my list though)
• 84 – “Dancing In The Moonlight” by Toploader (Infuriatingly catchy slice of one-hit-wonder, pop perfection)
• 83 – “Voodoo Child” by Rogue Traders (I confess, I first heard this one in a Doctor Who episode. Loved it in context but loved it on its own. Reminded me of Underworld’s “Born Slippy”)
• 82 – “Your Momma Don’t Dance” by Poison (I’m not sure whether or not “cheesy heavy metal” is a term oft used by musos. However, this delightfully singalongable ditty from Poison would fit the bill)
• 81 – “Losing My Mind” by Liza Minelli (One of Liza’s later recordings with the assistance of the Pet Shop Boys and it’s a little cracker. “The sun comes up, I think about you” etc)
• 80 – “Clouds Across The Moon” by The Rah Band (Another one-hit winder that you may or may not remember but I seem to recall it was on my Greatest Hits of 1984 cassette [I stand to be corrected on that. Brilliant song with a sci-fi twist)
• 79 – “My Baby Just Cares For Me” – Nina Simone (When you’re a teenager, you love to rebel against your parent’s generation by liking music they dislike. This track broke the trend by being both old and wonderful to this teenager)
• 78 – “Bamboleo” by The Gypsy Kings (Never really got in to Latin music but this is just ridiculously catchy)
• 77 – “Blue Monday” by New Order (Think I must’ve been singing this for the whole of 1988. Great and strange video was memorable too)
• 76 – “Sonic Boom Boy” by Westworld (This was a track on the first CD I ever bought. I hadn’t listened to it for years before it re-appeared on a Sony advert recently)
• 75 – “Valerie” by The Zutons (Brilliantly covered by Amy Winehouse but the original is great)
• 74 – “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues & Kirty MacColl (The greatest Christmas song ever. That is all)
• 73 – “Dry Your Eyes” by The Streets (The album, “A Grand Don’t Come For Free”, tells a story via all the songs on it. In context, this is one the great poignant ballads of recent years. Love Mike Skinner’s delivery)
• 72 – “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty (Pure, unadulterated brilliance with a legendary sax performance. Now, struggling to think why it’s not higher up my list)
• 71 – “Echo Beach” by Martha & The Muffins (The first version I heard was a cover by Toyah Wilcox and I loved it, but the original is even better)
• 70 – “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell (A definitive, stand-out, soundtrack album to my youth)
• 69 – “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” by The Walker Brothers (I was born in 1970, so I don’t get the sixties from the perspective of experience but this is one the finest tunes that I’ve heard from back then)
• 68 – “Sixty-Eight Guns” by The Alarm (Welsh rockers The Alarm mightn’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but 68 Guns is fantastic sliver of metal from my all-too-brief rock years)
• 67 – “Pick Up The Pieces” by Average White Band (No lyrics (unless you listed carefully) but a brilliantly upbeat, danceable, ahead-of-its-time classic)
• 66 – “Virtual Insanity” by Jamiroquai (Really not my typically preferred style of music but there’s something about JK’s band that does the trick for me. Memorable video too)
• 65 – “Mornings Eleven” by The Magic Numbers (Arrived out of left field but an eminently enjoyable album to take with you on a long drive and this is the stand-out track)
• 64 – “Part Of The Process” by Morcheeba (Never discovered the joys of Morcheeba until long after everyone else and probably after they split up too. This one oozes pop quality)
• 63 – “It’s Alright” by East 17 (Cheesy slice of the 80′s but, despite everything that’s wrong with it, it’s more than alright)
• 62 – “Whistle For The Choir” by The Fratellis (Festival favourite that I first heard when watching Glastonbury highlights on the Beeb. Ridiculously catchy)
• 61 – “Music To Watch Girls Go By” by Andy Williams (60′s classic that got a new lease of life in the noughties, probably thanks to an advert for something or other.)
• 60 – “Summer In The City” by Joe Cocker
• 59 – “Crystal Chandeliers” by Charlie Pride
• 58 – “This Charming Man” by The Smiths
• 57 – “Golden Brown” by The Stranglers
• 56 – “Foundations” by Kate Nash
• 55 – “Patio Song” by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
• 54 – “Scooby Snacks” by Fun Lovin’ Criminals
• 53 – “Jimmy Olsen’s Blues” by Spin Doctors
• 52 – “Violently Happy” by Bjork
• 51 – “The Lady Is  A Tramp” by Sammy Davis Jr.
• 50 – “Annie”  by James Blunt
• 49 – “Murder On The Dancefloor” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor
• 48 – “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard
• 47 – “Justify My Love” by Madonna
• 46 – “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen
• 45 – “Sweet Child ‘O Mine” by Guns and Roses
• 44 – “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” by Ella Fitzgerald
• 43 – “Since Yesterday” by Strawberry Switchblade
• 42 – “Smooth” by Santana
• 41 – “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meat Loaf
• 40 – “Him” by Lily Allen
• 39 – “The Blower’s Daughter” by Damien Rice
• 38 – “Parklife” by Blur
• 37 – “Underneath Your Pillow” by It Bites
• 36 – “Something For The Weekend” by The Divine Comedy
• 35 – “Josephine” by Terrorvision
• 34 – “One Day Like This” by Elbow
• 33 – “Run” by Snow Patrol
• 32 – “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)” by Pink Floyd
• 31 – “Livin’ On A Prayer” by Bon Jovi
• 30 – “Love On The Rocks” by Neil Diamond
• 29 – “1999″ by Prince
• 28 – “Common People” by Pulp
• 27 – “Volare” by Dean Martin
• 26 – “F.E.A.R.” by Ian Brown
• 25 – “I Don’t Like Mondays” by Boomtown Rats
• 24 – “Come Undone” by Robbie Williams
• 23 – “Dark Clouds” by Space
• 22 – “Sexual Revolution” by Macy Gray
• 21 – “Mr Rock & Roll” by Amy MacDonald
• 20 – “Summertime” by Will Smith
• 19 – “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette
• 18 – “City of Blinding Lights” by U2
• 17 – “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse
• 16 – “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon
• 15 – “Tripping Up Inclines” by John and Wayne
• 14 – “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush
• 13 – “Bedshaped” by Keane
• 12 – “You’re History” by Shakespeare’s Sister
• 11 – “American Pie” by Don McLean
• 10 – “My Life” by Billy Joel
• 9 – “Walking On Broken Glass” – Annie Lennox
• 8 – “Babylon” by David Gray
• 7 – “A Certain Romance” by Arctic Monkeys
• 6 – “Losing My Religion” by REM
• 5 – “American Life In The Summertime” by Francis Dunnery
• 4 – “Across The Universe” by The Beatles
• 3 – “Rockin’ The Suburbs” by Ben Folds
• 2 – “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis
• 1 – “These Are The Days Of Our Lives” by Queen