2019
A quick look back over my Spotify Wrapped for 2019.
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100:
I Ran – Boga
I got into Boga after hearing their fantastic Nowhere To Run cover that was used for the Baby Driver trailer. It made for crazily good promo for the film that definitely made me want to see it. In fact, here it is…
Anyway, we’re not here for that song today. After hearing that one for the first time I looked them up and found this cover of the Flock of Seagulls classic. In an age of seemingly endless slowed down covers of old up-tempo 80s tracks, this is truly one of the best I’ve heard! I guess it turns out, after having Nowhere To Run, they ran anyway. Ba. Dum. Tish.
99:
Out Of Touch – Hall & Oates
What a banger! Have you ever listened to the lyrics though. I mean, really listened to them.
Shake it up is all that we know
Using the bodies up as we go
I’m waking up to fantasy
The shades all around aren’t the colors we used to see
Broken ice still melts in the sun
And times that are broken can often be one again
We’re soul alone
And soul really matters to me
Take a look aroundErm, what? I like to think I have a pretty decent grasp on working out what lyrics are about, but sweet baby Jesus, what the hell is happening here, other than he clearly likes a bit of soul. Or maybe it’s sole and he has a foot fetish. Who are we to decide! Still a banger though! Incidentally, whilst we go through these songs, if you find yourself wondering why I’ve chosen to just include a video that is audio only and not the music video, it’s usually for one of three reasons. 1. The music video is utter gash. 2. The version of the song in the video isn’t the best version. or 3. It’s simply not available. In this case, it’s 2. The music video edit of the song has a weird bridge bit in the middle that I do not like. At least I think it does from memory. As usual, zero research! A staple of this site that you can count on.
98:
Do I Wanna Know? – Arctic Monkeys
I, am at this point, quite drunk. I like this song. It’s very good. It’s probably their best work, aside from maybe I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor. I, Christopher, despite being an undefeated champion dancer, do not look good on a dancefloor. As afore mentioned, I am actually, a champion dancer. UNDEFEATED no less.
97:
Tell Her About It – Billy Joel
Thankfully, due to the fact that this song has a great video, you get to enjoy it. Taken from An Innocent Man… yadda yadda. You know I love this album! Not the last time we’ll hear from it either I’ll bet. DID I TELL YOU I FOUND IT IN A RECORD SHOP FOR FIVE ENLISH POUNDS! I was very happy about that.
96:
Somebody That I Used To Know – Gotye
Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool! I love this song. Or do I? Have I just been programmed to like it from a young age since it steals it’s basic rhythm from a nursery rhyme I’ve been hearing since I was born? It’s one of those things we’ll never know, I guess! I like the back and forth. I believe the female vocals were added to avoid the song sounding too bitter, which it totally could have. Kimbra has the perfect voice for the conflicting female voice. It’s almost a shame that this has become his biggest hit as it’s not his best work. Still brilliant though, and a great video! In case you’re wondering, Gotye is pronounced like you’re really happy someone has a pretentiously shit beard! GOATEE! YAY! Hope that helps you in the future.
95:
Edge Of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks
Just like the white winged dove, sings a song, sounds like she’s singing. Did we not already establish that the dove is singing? Just like the shirted Chris, cooks some steak, looks like he’s cooking. Is it not already implied?
94:
Every Time The Sun Comes Up – Sharon Van Etten
I love Sharon’s slow drawl. She has such a gorgeous voice. The video for this is very melancholy, but I really like it. It’s a clever one as it both fits the song and totally doesn’t, which is an impressive thing to carry off. I don’t, at this point, remember how I first heard this song. I may have mentioned it last year as I’m fairly sure it made the 2018 Top 40. I could go check, but again, that’d be research. NO!
93:
Say It Ain’t So – Weezer
Ahhh, god I love this song. It’s amazing that a song with such a sad theme can be so fucking great and carry a serious air of coolness about it. Still one of my fave ever solos, still one of the coolest songs ever, and still Weezers finest 4 minutes. I always want to group Weezer with the Pixies. I think it’s because of how timeless they are. Weezer less so than the Pixies, but they always sound like they could have come out 20 years ago or last week. It’s impressive.
92:
Runaway – Houston
First heard this as part of Danny Whatshistits Imaginate video, which, as I think I did last time, you can find below!
The song is a perfect slice of 80s Hair Rock that really could have been just recorded back then and kept secret from us all until recently, it’s that authentic. I say recently, it came out in like 2011, so 8 years ago now. I think the Danny video was 2013..ish. It’s a fucking tune, and a fucking great video.
91:
Speechless – Lady Gaga
I think we can all agree, that this is Lady Gaga’s best vocal performance. This is a good time to point out that when I say “I think we can all agree”, what I’m actually saying is “This is fact and I’m telling you”. Always a good idea to keep that translation at the forefront of your mind. Speechless was added onto The Fame by way of The Fame Monster, which was the extended version that dropped a year after the vanilla album. Not a fan of people doing that, but then this was so good I think we can all agree wink that we can forgive her. I suppose that the only flaw in this song is that, for someone who is speechless, so speechless, she doesn’t half bang on about it. eyeroll.
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90:
Ghost – Halsey
I really like Halsey. The album this was off, the name of which escapes me right now, was pretty solid. I don’t know a whole lot about her though, other than it’s pronounce Hall-sey, not Hal-sey. You know, just in case you ever want to shout at her across a bar or something. Wouldn’t want to get it wrong, would you. You might get Boo-ed. ghost jokes
89:
Green Light – Lorde
Lorde has an incredible talent of being able to simultaneously look like a Hollywood superstar, and that woman who works at Tesco who always has something in her hair and a ladder in her tights. This song is a fucking banger. It’s stupidly good. It’s maybe her best song, yet it’s also from her worst album. YES IT IS! She’s not outdone her debut yet, not even fucking close! If you’re wondering why she hasn’t released an album in a couple of years, she’s cleaning up a spillage on aisle three in a ballgown.
88:
Despacito – Luis Fonsi and some dudes American Dad.
Woop! So, this is all me and not at all Sol. Let’s take a moment to slag off Justin Bieber. I hate artists swooping in to essentially steal other people’s music. Now, people may argue that without the Bieber version of this, the original wouldn’t have taken off. I’m not going to link to the Bieber vid, but it’s had 24 million views. The original has had 6.5 BILLION. If you add the views of both videos together, Bieber accounts for 0.36%. HA! GSomething tells me it’d have taken off anyway. Bieber’s is even listed as Bieber featuring Luis Fonsi. HE WROTE THE FUCKING SONG. Didn’t even give him the curtesy of equal fucking billing. The video for Bieber’s version is just the original video with b-roll of Bieber being Bieber intercut into it. Fucking lazy. Luis Fonsi original version all day, please! What’s painful is, later on in this list we’re going to encounter the Bieber version due to the fact Sol listened to it a fuckton. sigh
87:
When In Rome – The Promise
I find this video akin to watching someone make sausages. I like sausages. I just don’t want to see them being made. I like this song a lot. I don’t like looking at these dudes. There’s some kind of physical mis-match going on that I don’t like. Ha. Still though, this is a great fucking song. It’s very much something I was always going to love. It has every aspect of a solid 80s tune that I love. We all know I love a bit of new wave synth pop!
86:
Vision Of Love – Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey’s debut single, and greatest song. She’s had a few along the way that have come close, but I’ve found the more music she produces the further she gets from what I loved about her to begin with. Her Unplugged album is incredible and worth taking a look at as soon as you get chance. The woman can’t eat crisps properly though, so, you know, if you’d rather just ignore her, I respect that.
85:
Ho Hey – The Lumineers
The defence of the overplayed song. I love this song. I think it’s very sweet and sincere. I think the thing to remember with overplayed songs, is that by and large, they never really expected it to happen. It’s almost not their fault. Songs come along and capture the public seemingly out of nowhere at times. That they become overplayed isn’t the intention of the band. I don’t mind when a song becomes overplayed. I like that the band produced something worthy of our attention to begin with. Ho Hey is a great song. It’s a song that’s worthy of our adoration. It’s a song that deserves to be played and sung along to. I don’t care how many times it gets played.
84:
If You Go Away – Neil Diamond
Who wants to play a game of Mark Ronson or Neil Diamond? Let’s do it. Round 1. Is this Mark Ronson or Neil Diamond…
Yeah, it’s Neil Diamond. Ok. Game over, man. Game over.
83:
Little Tiny Moustache – Stephen Lynch
I’ve written about this song so many times. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, funny songs are funnier when they’re also great songs! This isn’t the last funny song we’ll see on this list. There’s quite a few in fact. Stephen Lynch is a god when it comes to great funny songs. This will always be his finest hour to me though!
82:
Read All About It, Pt.III – Emeli Sande
I can’t be the only person, that when they hear the name Emeli Sande, they think of Sandy Beech and Dusty Rhodes on Atlantic 252, can I? sigh This woman got mad skills, innit! Unfortunately no decent video exists for it unless you want Professor Green murdering it in the conservatory. It’s a very powerful song with a great message, so, you know, I’ll stop making jokes now.
81:
Some Nights – Fun
Interesting fact, Nate Ruess, lead singer of Fun, can fit an entire bus in his mouth. I love this song, I will always love this song. Tell you what I hate though, music videos with a fucking minute long intro. Thankfully for you good people I’ve made it so that it auto starts a minute in! You all don’t deserve me.
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80:
Kayleigh – Marillion
Interesting fact! I have a friend named Kaylee who is named after this song, but her dad, upon arriving at… the baby naming place… couldn’t remember how to spell it! An 80s power ballad classic, Kayleigh is taken from the ’85 classic “Misplaced Childhood”, a concept album held in high regard to this day! (If you’ve never listened to it, it’s kinda about the time Fish got off his tits on acid). At this point we were late into the Fish era of Marillion, which is the best Marillion era in case you’re wondering. Kayleigh, surprisingly to me was never a number 1, despite, in my opinion having number 1 written all over it. Number 2, if you’re interested.
79:
Cold Little Heart – Michael Kiwanuka
It’s not acceptable to refer to this as “The theme from Big Little Lies”. It’s so much more than that, and worth your time. A whole 10 minutes of it to be precise. I didn’t even know it was used as the theme to that show until I accidentally caught an episode of it once. I like long songs that take their time to get where they are going. I especially like songs that change into something else part way through. The switch in this isn’t huge but it’s significant enough to mark a difference in the song. Michael Kiwanuka is worth your time. He’s a phenomenal guitar player and vocalist. ♥
78:
Welcome To The Jungle – Guns N Roses
Must resist the urge to go into a music video breakdown here. It starts with the stupidest visuals ever of Laser Ox getting off a bus with a piece of fucking straw in his mouth so you know that he’s arrived in the big city from the countryside and that’s pretty much where the story ends. Welcome to the fucking jungle, people. sigh
77:
Redbone – Childish Gambino
WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, DONALD?! THIS IS AMERICA WAS RELEASED MAY FIFTH 2018! FUCKING HELL, MAN!
76:
Jump (For My Love) – The Pointer Sisters
Jump Brackets For My Love Close Brackets is fucking classic. I used to listen to it a lot when I was younger, like 3, when it came out. I’ve been into music longer than I could walk! Now, the quality of Jump as a pop song is so fucking stellar that I’d forgive you for thinking it came from The Pointer Sisters first, second or third album. It didn’t. Fourth, fifth or sixth? No. Seventh or eighth?! Nope. NINTH?! NO! It comes from their 10th album, Break Out which was released in 1983. The Pointer Sisters were a fucking machine. From 1973 to 1983, with the exception of ’76, they churned out an album every year. Amusingly, they didn’t really break out until Break Out. It remains their only top 10 album in both the US and the UK. Prior success had been minimal with a couple of albums going gold. By comparison, the incredibly good Break Out went triple platinum! Contrary to popular belief, prior to their musical career they didn’t used to put mortar between bricks. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
75:
Hurt – Christina Aguilera
Not the only time Christreena… Christina will make an appearance on the list I don’t think. I should probably check these things before I go mouthing off, but hey, I don’t make the rules! (I do). Taken from classic Back To Basics… Hmm. Was it a classic? Ok, so I just listened to it. It’s a pretty solid album. Best song on it is obviously Ain’t No Other Man, which is still a banger, and one of those songs that by the time you’re two bars in, you know damn well Mark Ronson was in the room when it was made. Hurt is a more sombre affair and more out of the ordinary for what’s on the rest of the album. I’ve always really liked it, just because I love her voice. I’m not a fan of vocal gymnastics, but, for some reason I’m fine with Chrissy Ag doing it. Having said that, she doesn’t exhibit much of it in this song. Still a great pop song.
74:
Hook – Blues Traveler
From 1994, obviously, all the best songs are from 1994, Hook was a pretty huge fucking hit for Blues Traveller in the US. The song had little to no impact in the UK however, and my knowledge of it only came from seeing it on TV one time. Given what the song is about, I’ve often wondered if they were upset that it did so well. In case you haven’t heard it and don’t plan on listening to it properly, the song is essentially a satire about hit pop songs. Unlucky! It does have some very good lyrics to be fair, with the opening verse serving as a very nice deconstruction of pop. It doesn’t matter what I say, as long as I sing with inflection. It makes you feel I’ll convey some inner truth or vast reflection. But I’ve said nothing so far, and I can keep it up for as long as it takes. AND it doesn’t matter who you are, if I’m doing my job then it’s your resolve that breaks. Jesus. Sounds like my usual blog posts.
73:
Never Tear Us Apart – INXS
Lordy, what do I say about this song?! Actually, what HAVE I said about this song… “Just like to take this moment to point out how much I miss Michael Hutchence. I’d love to hear what music he’d be doing today. INXS were a superb band and I still listen to them often. This song in particular is a perfect example of how good they were as a band and how good he was as a vocalist. Perfection!” I mean. That pretty much sums it up. I also made it the best band/group single of 1988, so, yeah! It really is perfection. God damn, I wish he was still here.
72:
The King Of Wishful Thinking – Go West
See, sometimes stupid music videos can work really well. This is peak decade changing, cheesy fun! Yes, it came out in 1990. Yes, it really did. I want to say it was made more famous by the fact it was used in Pretty Woman, WHICH IS A BRILLIANT FILM AND I WILL FIGHT ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE, but again, I could totally be wrong. Always loved this song, and clearly I still listen to it fairly fucking often. I really like Peter Cox’s voice, here’s the thing though, I’m not sure why. I think it almost feels comforting. I can’t really explain it!
71:
There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) – Eurythmics FEATURING STEVIE FUCKING WONDER! HE RARELY GETS MENTIONED ON THIS BUT ITS HIM PLAYING THE FUCKING HARMONICA
Little known fact, and you probably already knew this, Stevie Wonder plays the Harmonica on this, also Annie Lenox has never sounded better or looked more hot. Also, and here is something that will genuinely blow your fucking mind. THIS is The Eurythmics ONLY number one in the UK. That’s right! BUT WHAT ABOUT SWEET DREAMS BRACKETS ARE MADE OF CHEESE OR WHATEVER CLOSE BRACKETS. Number 2! Yeah, wrap your tiny mind around that!
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70:
Gz And Hustlas – Snoop Dogg Feat Nancy Fletcher
Something that has never dawned on me with this song, and I’ve obviously listened to this song a lot, given that it’s been in the top 40 a few times… Nancy is the dude talking at the beginning. I mean, I’m assuming so, since the only vocals aside from Snoop on the actual song are a tiny bit of backing vocals on a bit of the chorus. So yeah, it just be the dude at the beginning! Pretty generous “featuring” since he’s only speaking for like 30 seconds. SEE HOW IT’S DONE, BIEBER!
Rather excitingly, for some of this post we have a guest Critic…
Sol Says: I don’t like it.
69:
New Sensation – INXS
I really love this song. I think it’s one of INXS strongest. Based on the video, I assume it came out shortly after Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. The third single from Kick, which is yet another in a long list of amazing albums that weren’t number 1. Kick charted at… NUMBER 9. Shocking, really. Fairly sure we all generally consider that album to be a classic. It’s had umpteen releases and special editions, it’s highly regarded by critics, and has Never Tear Us Apart, Mystify, and Need You Tonight on it. It’s essentially pop royalty. Fucking number 9!
Sol Says: This sounds like Billy Ray Cyrus. Is it? Yeah, I like it.
68:
Bye Bye Blackbird – Joe Cocker
Originally from 1926, Bye Bye Blackbird is a great tune. Joe Cocker recorded it for his debut album, With A Little Help From My Friends, in 1969. His voice couldn’t be anymore perfect for it. I mean, his voice couldn’t be any more perfect generally. If you’ve never tried out some Joe ****er, be sure you do!
Sol Says: 2 out of 10. What are you doing?
67:
Sometimes – Erasure
Pop doesn’t get much better than how Erasure do it. Catchy, simple, pop. Perfection. I often wonder how little budget they had to make this video. The special effects used bring into question even using the phrase “Special effects”. If you watch closely, when he’s supposed to be walking along the edge of the building, you see him fall off. I’m fairly sure this isn’t conjecture, but his is how all gay couples do their washing.
Sol Says: Why are you asking me these questions? 9 out of 10.
66:
Youth – Daughter
Last year’s number 12! Such a great song. I still love it and still compare it to Lanterns On The Lake’s Through The Cellar Door. It’s the feeling it gives me when the drums kick in. That change in tempo and aggression. Such a sublime piece of music. Elena Tonra’s vocals, are as always, world class. She’s so crystal clear all the time. chef kiss As I’ve said before… If Kate Nash would reign her fucking ‘Mockney’ in a little bit, this is how good she’d sound.
Sol Says: 9 out of 10. I like the drums.
65:
Sussudio – Phil Collins
Who the fuck is called Sussudio. I mean, is she just called Sue, and he’s extending it with poetic licence. There’s a good chance that it’s not even her name and just a word that Phil Collins uses in the same way that I say Huzzah! There’s even lyrical proof to back this up! Come with me as we take a shallow dive into the lyrics of Sussudio. “I feel so good if I just say the word”. Now, he didn’t sing, “If I just say her name”, it’s “If I just say the word”. PROOVED!
Sol Says about 3 seconds after it started: I like the beat! Funky! 9 out of 10. No, 10 out of 10.
64:
Shine A Light (Flight Facilities Remix LIVE) – The C90s, Emma Louise, George Maple, Katie Noonan, Kurt Kristen, Reggie Watts, Flight Facilities, Own Eyes, Surahn and Touch Sensitive
As well as having to write about Despacito twice this year, I’m also going to have to write about this twice as well. This, however, is all on me. Nothing to do with Sol. The C90s’ Shine A Light was first brought to my attention, like probably anyone else who knows this song (who I didn’t force it upon for I am a prolific musical rapist… Got to be a better way to phrase that…) Where we were… Oh yes, it was first brought to my attention by playing GTA V! The GTA games have long been a great source of music. The soundtracks are so perfectly chosen. This however, wasn’t one of the tracks on the radio stations, it was used for the narrative, after you get drugged by your son and you end up freefalling from the sky for almost the whole duration of the standard song. It’s a great bit of storytelling, music use, and gameplay! The live version we have here was the end of a show where several performers were on the bill and they all came back on stage to sing this with the band. Great performance, great song, great vocals. Reggie Watts is probably the only one you’ve heard of!
Sol Says: I’ve heard this before. I like the beat. Probably like a 7 out of 10.
63:
Two Headed Boy – Neutral Milk Hotel
Slightly worried about what Sol might say here…
Sol Says: I know this song. It’s Two Headed Boy. Yep. I like it. 8 out of 10.
Hey, not bad! I like this song, too. You might not have noticed this, but it’s the name I use! No shit, right! I’m a big lover of this song and the album it’s lifted from, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Lyrically, albums don’t get any better. The whole album is watertight when it comes to brilliant, insightful, cleverly constructed lyrics. Musically, it’s both experimental and tightly performed. It can sound sloppy at times, and well structured at others. It’s such an amazing piece of work. I say this every time I talk about this song and yet I bet no one who reads this has ever stopped to give it a try. You’re not going to like it on your first time through. You’re going to wonder what the fuck you’re listening to. Give it another listen, lose yourself in the lyrics. Listen to what he’s actually saying. It’s so insanely poignant at times, and remember “I’ll be laughing with everyone I see, can’t believe how strange it is to be anything at all”.
62:
Let’s Face The Music And Dance – Nat King Cole
dances I love me some Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers! This is a classic, obviously. I don’t really have much to say about it, it’s just perfect. It’s how well his voice fits the tone of the song. So fucking amazing.
Sol Says: I swear I’ve heard you listen to this. Have you? Classic! 10 out of 10.
Chris: ♥
61:
I’m So Humble – The Lonely Island
Taken from the brilliant “Never Stop Never Stopping” film by The Lonely Island guys, this is a brilliantly perfect song for mocking pop music and the people that sing it. I love a parody. My biggest thing with songs that are funny is that they also need to be well written, well performed songs. The Lonely Island have mastered this craft. See also Flight Of The Conchords, Stephen Lynch and Ylvis.
Sol Says: 2 out of 10.
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60:
Clutch – Power Glove
Number 60 on the list and we find Power Glove. Brilliant name, obviously, but sadly no Lucas Barton in sight. He loves the Power Glove.
See, I wouldn’t lie to you. That joke was just for you, lovers of 1989s The Wizard with Fred Savage! Clutch is exactly my thing and continues this being very much the year for my love of electronic and synthwave music to storm my yearly chart. Taken from their album Playback, if you’re at all into synth or electronica, it’s made for you, it’s almost a love letter to the genre. Also a great song to exercise to. Try it, you won’t be disappointed.
59:
The Winner Takes It All – Abba
Pretty good, innit. Do I need to talk about this again? We all know I think it’s perfect.
58:
Cooler Than Me – Mike Posner
Just gonna copy and paste what I wrote last time! Other than that, I will mention this is last years 16! Belgium! << When I set these posts up, I first write all the songs in with the play numbers and the video embedding code, and then, I go back and write about the songs. Sometimes I put in little bits of text into this bit as I'm doing the first stage so I remember things I want to mention. Apparently I felt strongly enough about Belgium to leave it as a reminder for me. scratches head. I think that I was going to mention that the only country that apparently likes this song as much as I do is Belgium. It was the only country in which it was a number 1! I don't know why it never did better. It's a wonderful slice of electro pop! In my head the beat is very similar to a Gene Serene song that I love. Gene Serene have 4 monthly listeners on Spotify. I think we know why it's only me that seems to love it. Ha.
57:
Way Up – Jaden Smith
JADEN SMITH IS IN MY TOP 100 SONGS! This is great news for two reasons. 1, apparently I have branched out a little. I say that, but the only reason that this is in the list is because it’s from Into The Spider-Verse and I listened to that soundtrack a lot this year. 2, and this is the best, we can recap some of his best tweets. Let’s do it! Ok, so here’s one… “Dying is MainStream #MONEY”… I mean, sure, I’d have to agree, dying is mainstream. It’s not exactly niche is it. Everyone does it. Pooping is also mainstream. Let’s take a look at another belter… “umm who has the floss”… If you ever lose your floss, do like Jaden do and turn to Twitter. It’s clearly where you’ll find it. How about… “How Can Mirrors Be Real If Our Eyes Aren’t Real”… There’s a lot to unpack here. For starters, who puts a capital letter at the beginning of every word, but even putting that aside… Mirrors Are Real. Sorry, mirrors are real. I’ve got one. I can touch it. But then, even putting THAT aside… touches his eyes Yep, real. I get the feeling Jaden had watched The Matrix. “You Must Not Know Fashion”… Yep, don’t do it. Don’t know that fashion. David Bowie knew Fashion and look what happened to him! Heed Jaden’s inspirational advice! Lastly, “If A Book Store Never Runs Out Of A Certain Book, Dose That Mean That Nobody Reads It, Or Everybody Reads It”. The man has a point, if it never runs out of a book, clearly no one is buying it, but by the same argument, they don’t run out because they keep getting more. If only supply and demand existed in order to explain the situation. Also, “dose”! I wouldn’t have thought that Jaden Smith would also lead to one of the longest entries by me on this list, but there we go, we’re all learning.
56:
King (Acoustic) – Years & Years
Last years (& years) number 26, Years & Years also had last years number 15 or so with Sanctify. This is the… RETURN OF THE KING… Boom, LOTR jokes. Sanctify didn’t even make the top 100 this year. King is a sublime piece of writing, and it works perfectly acoustic. I don’t like the proper version anywhere near as much. Olly has an incredible voice and it’s so nice to hear it sound so vulnerable. Here’s something though, I always see them listed as Synthwave, and they’re not. They’re pop. Electro pop at a stretch.
55:
The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
Jesus. Just like Abba I think I’ve written about this song so many times I could fucking burst. I was thinking earlier about how I’d like next years chart to be 90% new entries. Doable but difficult. Especially when since my 2019 top 100 came out, I’ve largely just been listening to the playlist of them all. I say this every time, but this is still a great fucking music video, aside from them having the solo masked with the water sound for a little. It’s a great solo and should be heard!
54:
The Night We Met – Lord Huron
Quite a few songs here that I’ve written about lots. This is an amazing piece of work. I think it helps to try, in your mind, to sever its relationship with the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. Nothing wrong with that series, but it overused it. I’ve always loved how Ben doesn’t try to oversell this. If this was Lewis Capaldi, it’d be sung at the very edge of his range for like most of the song. Lewis likes to hit his growly voice as often as possible, and really it’s not needed. It’s almost the male equivalent of vocal gymnastics displayed by a lot of female vocalists. Ben nails this with great precision. The simplicity of the appregiated chords is sublime.
53:
I’ll Never Let Go – Jeffrey Amor
Oh man, this song. I need this guy to produce more music, because currently so little exists and I’m finding it fucking infuriating. This is an incredible song. The piano is perfect and understated. The beat, the way it’s used in that almost… distant way. Like it sounds further away than you expect it to sound. His voice and the overlay, just incredible. It’s so fucking well put together. You know when something is too nice and you want to crush it with your hands. I feel like that. Please listen to his work, he only has 25k monthly listeners.
52:
Crockett’s Theme – Jan Hammer
I mean, come on, it’s Crockett’s Theme by Jan Hammer! Never really worked out why I love this so much. Managed to pick up a copy of Jan’s TV album on vinyl this year, which made me very happy. If I had to take a guess, I love the synth of it all, and I think it’s the overlay of the electric guitar that they’ve almost managed to make sound like something off Pan Pipe Moods. The whole thing just works. Pan Pipes however, can fuck off.
51:
Despacito – Cuntin’ Bieber
I’m not talking about this. I think I made myself clear earlier.
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50:
Little Bird – Annie Lennox
Genuinely, one of my fave ever songs, when it comes to rhythm. The beat in this song is just perfection as far as I’m concerned. Annie’s voice over the top obviously helps. It’s a perfect slice of pop and is yet another reason why she’s one of the best vocalists we’ve ever had.
49:
Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Tears For Fears
I love this song. This has been a staple of my listening since the 80s. Other songs come and go, but this has been here since the beginning for me. I rely on it. I just think it has it all. Great vocals, a good driving rhythm, great guitar work, decent lyrics. People shouldn’t cover it though, just leave it alone. Unless you’re Lorde. Are you Lorde? No! Leave it alone! Lorde did this song some justice. It’s a great cover. If you’ve never heard it, and I think we’ve taken a look at it before, but what the fuck, here it is…
The only thing I don’t like about the Lorde version is how long it is. Should have been longer. The main drawback of the Tears For Fears version is that fucking ponytail. Just cut it off and stop looking like a twat. ALSO! WHERE THE FUCK HAS LORDE GONE!? That’s a conversation for another time though. I feel like Lorde has pissed on Tears For Fears chips a bit here.
48:
Close To Me – The Cure
WHAT A SONG! Firstly, I’m aware the video is out of sync. I didn’t make it, don’t complain at me. Secondly, WHAT A SONG! The video is a brilliant piece of film making and as far as I’m concerned is up there with the best videos of all time. For me, The Cure are timeless and they will continue to sound perfect for as long as I’m alive. They share that trait with The Pixies.
47:
How We Feel – Panama
Hey! Something new to write about! Panama I got into just this year, they’re VERY good. This is the first of three Panama tracks to make it into the chart this year. They hit 47th, 43rd and then they’ve got one coming up in another part! Exciting. I like the simple beats, good vocals, and the slightly more chilled out vibe to this. It’s a great tune. Panama is essentially a music project of Jarrah McCleary who comes from Australia. After starting in 2010 he seems to have had a great deal of success through pushing music through Soundcloud. We’ve had a handful of EPs so far but no albums. I don’t see that changing to be honest. Seems to be how he wants to work! More soon in this very part of the chart!
46:
Through The Cellar Door – Lanterns On The Lake
softly softly… BANGS DRUMS I love this song. I mentioned why in an earlier entry on the chart and now I have nothing left to add. If you’ve not enjoyed the music of Lanterns On The Lake, then in the style of Jaden Smith… I Suggest You Do With All Capital First Letters! Probably the best thing to come out of Newcastle in recent memory, this song comes from their 3rd album, Beings. I’m a huge fan of this album, it’s brilliant. I highly recommend it. Hazel Wilde is one of my fave vocalists at the moment!
45:
It’s A Sin – Pet Shop Boys
This is yet another song that has very much stuck to me over the years and been a constant go to when I need something to help me feel a bit more motivated. It’s the rhythm, it just cheers me up. I also liked that it was the theme used for the Tour De France for some years. I really like the lyrics. They’re introspective but not over self-indulgent.
44:
Diamonds – Rihanna
A former end of year chart song! Not last year however, this was on the list the year before. It charted at 22 in 2017. I felt like I’d written about this song quite a lot, but apparently, It’s only ever been on my site as part of that chart and I didn’t even write about it as I was struggling to feel inspired. Written by Sia, which I think is painfully obvious, I’m just a huge fan of how it’s sung. Not the tone or anything, essentially just the diction of it. The line “Palms rise to the universe, as we moonshine and molly” is sung in such a way that it flows beautifully. It makes it hard to hear what she’s said, but that’s the Sia of it all, innit!
43:
Your Love (Lift Us Up) – Panama
This took me a while to find a video for as it turns out I’ve been listening to an alternative version of this song. The original is far more up-tempo and dancey. After having heard the original, I vastly prefer this version. I think it works better on every level! As mentioned above, this is the second entry for Panama on the chart with still another to come. I think they second this year in how many songs they have on the chart.
42:
So I met Someone – VHS Collection
Yet another artist I got into this year after taking a deep dive into the kinda alternative electronic scene. These guys manage to span the gap of synth pop and indie rock. They’re very impressive. So I Met Someone exists just as a single. They have an album out, however, and again, it’s worth your time. I need to start putting all these albums into a fucking huge list to enjoy more of because even I’m not giving them the attention they deserve!
41:
I Got 5 On It – Luniz
Now, this has been a mainstay of my music listening for sometime, however, it shot up the list this year thanks to the creepy remix that was done for the US video. It was a genius bit of remixing and worked a treat for that trailer. I can’t be pulled from the original though, and that’s why this is the version you see before you on the chart today!
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40:
Walk Away – Christina Aguilera
I think, THINK this is my fave Christreena song. Did I tell you all I met her? Yep. I met Christina Aguilera. Here we are:
She didn’t do any singing because she said she felt a bit… flat… that day. So. Yes. This is my fave song of hers. It’s just a stupidly good vocal performance of hers. It shows off her range and has her singing at the edge of the limits of her voice, which is my fave Aguilera singing state. The little growl she gets as she hits it. Sublime.
39:
Eyes Without A Face – Billy Idol
Right then. This has appeared on every single chart I’ve ever done. I was contemplating the other day that this might be my fave ever song. Roads, which is what I usually cite as my fave ever song, has only appeared in one or two of the charts. Maybe this has overtaken it and I’ve just never given it the full consideration. I obviously love it, I love to talk about it as well. Interesting fact, that I’ve mentioned before, I’m sure… In the video he was wearing contact lenses, but because of all the fire and how hot it got, they fused to his eyeballs. How lovely. Who doesn’t love a good eyeball fusing.
38:
Kettering – The Antlers
Another song from last years chart. Nope, I’m lying! It was 28 in 2017. Jesus. It’s just dawned on me that we’re about to hit 2020. How futuristic does that sound. The main benefit of this is going to be we can start referring to it as the twenties and be done with people not knowing to call the decade the tens or the teens or whatever. Finally. Don’t even get me started on the “naughties”. Fucking idiots. Anyway, This is Kettering. I’ve spoken about it before. Don’t pester me for musical commentary on songs I’ve already covered. It was Midnight Music 273. Here’s what I wrote… “This is a biggy. This song, by The Antlers, is from 2009 and I’d forgotten about it until I heard it purely by chance the other night. It’s amazing, I can’t believe it escaped me. From the album Hospice which the band self released, later to have it remixed and re-released in the same year, this song, track 2, is definitely the standout song. Never released as a single, which I guess makes sense, it’s incredible. Lyrically incredible, vocally incredible, musically incredible, tonally incredible. Here is, and I don’t feel like I’ve said incredible enought, the incredible Kettering.” Yes. I wrote ‘enought’. Fuck off and get your own website.
37:
Ashes – Celine Dion
Finally fist bumps his chest something new to write about fist bumps chest again. This is the best James Bond song that’s never been a James Bond song. Possibly one of the best pieces of marketing ever as well. Produced for Deadpool 2, featuring a video that was used to promote the film, it’s a masterclass in how to advertise something without it being too in your face. Celine still has it as well! I think this was pretty much right as she left her residency in Vegas where she’d been performing for like 308 years. Interested to see what else she puts out in the coming years!
36:
Mona Lisa – The Lonely Island
Once more, and I can’t stress this enough, if you’ve not seen Never Stop Never Stopping, GO AND FUCKING WATCH IT! It seemed to pass a lot of people by, which is a crying shame as it’s fucking amazing. This is probably my fave song from it. The lyrics are incredible and written in such a brilliant way to make it flow effortlessly. As usual, I always love hearing stuff sung that you don’t normally hear sung. Here we get Garbage Pail Kid, and “You can land a helicopter on that big potato forehead”. I mean, come on, just go and watch it!
35:
I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man) – Kenny Loggins
Firstly, I’d like to point out that Kenny Loves Gin. Couldn’t miss an opportunity to point that out. Secondly, let’s just take a quick look at this video. Something happens in it for a split second, and I’m not willing to let it pass by without piling on some heavy criticism. Before we start, let me clarify that I LOVE this song. It’s a go to on many occasions for me. I love it for getting me motivated and making me feel like I’m ready to do stuff. So, in the video, Kenny escapes from Jail. We don’t really need the details here, but he escapes from Jail. He goes and finds a car to steal and then drives to an area of town where like a load of people are hanging out looking like they’re ready for a dance number in a Michael Jackson video. He asks them where to find this girl that he has a picture of. YES, it is Virginia Madsen, well spotted you! They don’t seem to be that helpful at first, but then this guy is all “I totally know where Virginia Madsen is, I’ll show you”. So then he goes there and breaks in through her window, only to find that she’s a fucking sociopath…
WHO THE FUCK PUTS A BED IN THE CORNER OF THE ROOM POINTING OUT INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM AND DOESN’T HAVE IT NEXT TO THE FUCKING WALL. SOCIOPATHS! THAT’S WHO! Anyway, we’ll deal with the rest of this video another time. I don’t want to get too distracted.
34:
Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel
This is such a great song. It’s long been my fave Peter Gabriel song and if it’s not yours, what the fuck are you doing with your life. Don’t give me that “Steam” bullshit. Actually… hang on, he covered Arcade Fire’s My Body Is A Cage didn’t he. Hmm. This is my second fave Peter Gabriel song!
33:
Shine A Light (Flight Facilities Remix) – The C90s
Think we covered this on the previous post about it. It’s the one that I had the live and normal version in the chart. All I will add is that I really like the video that someone made for this. It’s not an official video or anything and as far as I know, an official video doesn’t exist. I just think it works perfectly.
32:
Northern Lights – Satin Jackets feat David Harks
Another of the indie/synth/electro artists to penetrate the chart this year. I just wanted to say penetrate. Tee hee. Satin Jackets should be on your list of artists to check out.
31:
Waves – Dean Lewis
Last years number 1 has fallen 30 places. I was just going to copy and paste the thing I wrote then, but I literally wrote “It comes and goes, yo”. I’m so unreliable when it comes to helping future Chris from the past. Shame on me. I still love this song. Started to learn it on the guitar, but I need to practice it a lot as it’s fiddly for me to do!
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30:
A Little Respect – Erasure
Tell you what, writing about 100 songs sure takes it out of you. I’m only fucking 71 in as well! I don’t know how much I have left to give. Oh baby, please, give a little respect, tooooooooo meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Every year there’s a song that I don’t remember listening to that much. This year, it’s this. I don’t recall listening to this enough for it to have warranted such a high chart position. Released in 1988, it’s a pop classic, but yeah, just don’t recall listening to it that much this year!
29:
The Comeback Kid – The Midnight
The Midnight have four tracks on this years chart making them my most listened to artist! No surprises there really if you know me. I went to see them live this… last year, fuck, it’s started already. I went to see them live last year and they were incredible! They don’t have a lot of “official” videos, mostly these things people put together using classic 80s films. The obvious choice for this was obviously The Karate Kid, and it actually makes for quite a cool little video. We’ll be visiting them again another 3 times in the run up to number 1 so I won’t say too much right now otherwise I’m going to end up repeating myself more than usual. Are they number 1 though!? Who knows. I know. Also anyone I’ve told knows. Plus you could just listen to the playlist, and then you’d know as well.
28:
I Have Nothing – Whitney Houston
Jesus. Another one I feel like I’ve written about endlessly. Let’s recap what I expect I usually say. Leave this song alone, don’t cover it. It’s her best song. No one can sing like she could. That kinda thing I’d guess. I might watch The Bodyguard again sometime soon. I don’t know why I like it so much, probably just for the music, but I do seem to watch it fairly often. Not seen it this year though, have I! Boom. New Years jokes. I’m willing to bet I’ve made jokes about people leaving the doors open in her house as well, actually.
27:
Destroyer – Panama
Don’t recall how I actually found out about Panama. I mentioned that I only got into them this year on one of the previous posts but I don’t remember at all how I found them. I’m going to just have to assume I heard them in the background of a TV show. I think the other artists on this list that are of a similar ilk came from the discovery of these guys, so I think it’s unlikely I found them through another artist. This is their best song of the work I’ve heard so far. It’s got something about it that always makes me want to listen to Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus. In fact, just for shits and giggles, here that is! Now, go forth and tuck your cock between your legs!
And now here is Panama with Destoryer
26:
Skyscrapers – OK Go
OK Go are pretty much music video geniuses. Never boring, always colourful, they’ve mastered the art as far as I’m concerned. This is one of their most simple videos for one of their best songs. I imagine this took quite a while to film and produce given the clothes that needed sourcing and then the constant costume changes. Finding all the locations was probably quite the challenge as well. Still, it all comes together so beautifully. Great song, great video, great depth. Plus that transition to the chorus. goes weak
25:
To The End – Blur
Another song that has appeared frequently on this list. Blur’s finest moment. Trying to think of stuff to mention about this after writing about it so much is pretty hard. Did you know the French voice you can hear is that of Lætitia Sadier from Stereolab? Probably not. There we go though, not mentioned that before. The video, a pastiche of L’Année dernière à Marienbad has always been a fave of mine and rounds off a pretty perfect song, pretty fucking well!
24:
Old Town Road – Lil Nas X
sigh Sol. Sol’s most listened to song last year, I guess. This is entirely down to him. I haven’t listened to this AT ALL, other than overhearing him listen to it. I mean, it’s not terrible, but my 2019 chart has fucking Billy Ray Cyrus in it. Sorry, I shouldn’t slag him off, wouldn’t want to break his heart, his achy breaky heart.
23:
Falling – Mansionair
The first line of this song kills me every time I hear it. “I think I’ll borrow tomorrow’s happiness for today”. It’s so bittersweet. One of the bands I got into with Panama, VHS Collection etc. I love this song. It’s so beautifully put together.
22:
My Hands – Leona Lewis
22nd most listened to song all because of a joke I made about the perspective of the song. My hands? Her specific hands? Leona Lewis’ hands?!
Has that successfully covered up the secret that I really like this song? Yes? Cool! Here’s a lovely Final Fantasy mashup from FFXIII for you. I think it was part of the soundtrack for the game, or at least one of the FF games. HEEEERRRRRRRRRR HAAAAAANNNDDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSS.
21:
This Night – Billy Joel
Billy Beethoven at his best! I’m not going to write anything else as I’ve written about this and the album it’s from more than anyone cares about!
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20:
Cry Me A River – Justin Timbercake
This one is a combination of Sol and me. As Old Town Road was entirely him, I assume he’s listened to it more than this as some of the plays of this are definitely me. Still a great album overall, Justified gave us some pop classics. It’s very hard to pick a best song from that album. It’s like having to pick the best song off Bad.
19:
Where Is My Mind? – Pixies
Yeah, it’s alright this, innit? sigh What do you want from me?! With your feet in the air and your head on the ground, try this trick and spin it, yeah!? Your head will collapse and there’s nothing in it and you’ll ask yourself where is my mind?! I totally get where this song is coming from. From the same year as A Little Respect. You can totally tell, right?
18:
Full Circle – Hælos
Full Circle by H-AhavingsexwithE-los is a great, great song. I feel like they missed a trick though. I think it’s brilliant, BUT, it could have quite easily ended as it started, meaning you could loop it and it’d sound like it had no gaps, thus being, itself, a full circle. But what do I know?! sigh I really do love this song though. It’s always nice to have a longer song, especially when they’re this good. Brilliant beat, nice electronic sounds, good vocals. Love it!
17:
Mad About You (Live) – Hooverphonic
Hooverphonic, a band whose quality is very much dependent on it’s lead singer, pumped this little tune out in, erm… oh my god, I don’t know. 2000? Yes, it was 2000, I went and checked. This was when Geike Arnaert was the lead singer. They essentially wanted to be the Belgian Portishead. Anyway, as I was saying, all their good stuff is from when Arnaert was the lead singer. All former and subsequent lead singers had little success with the band. They plod on though, I mean, how many different lead singers could they possibly have had? 1 or 2? No. 3? No. 4? No. FIVE?! No. SIX? Finally. They go through lead singers like Spinal Tap went through drummers. Good luck to them! Tell you what is a little bit interesting though, this version, that I prefer to the original 2000 version, is from 2012 when Noémie Wolfs was the lead singer. She does a BRILLIANT job of this, which is why I prefer it! But yeah, with her as the lead singer they never had much success. Weird, yo! Also I now want to listen to 6 Underground.
16:
Tell It To My Heart – Taylor Dayne
Let me just find what I said about Taylor last time… “Terrifying”. On another occasion I wrote… “She’s the slutty looking, pissed up aunt who has re-applied her makeup on a tiny broken mirror at a family wedding she attended after letting her 5 year old daughter do her hair, who thought it’d be a good idea to knock one out on the Karaoke.”
I think I stand by that. I think she looks like if you multiplied Brooke Shields by Brooke Shields. She’s Brooke Shields Squared. Last years number 4 by the way!
15:
Sunflower – Post Malone and some other people
Swae Lee, I know who it is. Don’t piss on my jokes. Crash at my place, baby you’re a wreck. How about if you’re a wreck, stay the fuck away from my place?! Another song from the Spider-Verse soundtrack. Again, if you haven’t seen the film or listened to the soundtrack, sort your life out. Also, whilst we’re at it, if you’ve not listened to Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding, sort you’re life out again. Great album. Still think they could have done more with this video to be honest. What happened to music videos for songs from films where they had the actors or whatever do stuff that was exclusive to the video etc. Like when Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari did the Teenage Dirtbag video. You know, a bit extra. Go above and beyond. Don’t just write your stupid song lyrics over clips from the film. Jesus.
14:
Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin
It’s like, so weird, that you’d associate this with Thor before having seen Ragnarok. Little private joke for you there. Remember kids, don’t do drugs and make sure you listen to the lyrics! Your only goal should be the Western Shore. I don’t think anything I might say could ever do this song any justice. Fairly sure it was handed down from God when he did the commandments or whatever. Like “Hey everyone, don’t kill and don’t sleep with Dave’s wife, also give this to Led Zeppelin, they’ll know what to do”. Totally how it happened.
13:
The Equaliser (Not Alone) – The Midnight
2/4 Midnight songs down, 2/4 to go! Here we go with another mashup video of 80s films. Again though, it works, I’m not mad at it. Always nice to see Coop getting his Dune on. It’s clear from The Midnight tracks that made the chart, I really focussed on their Endless Summer album a lot. I think it’s definitely my fave, although I’m giving the others far more playtime now that I have them all on vinyl!
12:
We Don’t Need Another Hero – Skidmode feat Katie Hightower
Katie Hightower, grand daughter of Hightower from Police Academy (Fact) has the perfect voice for this wonderful pop-synth reworking of the Tina Turner classic, We Don’t Need Another Hero. I’m a fan of the original, but this is so well done it’s impossible not to like it. I’m looking forward to more from her and Skimode. I listened to this a lot in a short space of time I think as it was fairly close to the end of the year that I found it.
11:
Invisible Touch – Genesis
“I can direct videos, Man. I can direct videos. What’s their problem. Pout baby, pout, come on baby, give me all you’ve got” said Phil, unironically. Pretty standard stuff from Genesis here when it comes to the video. The fake “behind the scenes of a music video” music video. The problem with this concept, despite the fact I’ve always liked this video, is that you can’t have a behind the scenes of a music video, music video, because then the music video you were making that you were using behind the scenes footage of, then has to be a music video for something else. If I had a song called Leona Lewis’ Hands, and the video for it was behind the scenes footage, then it would cease to be behind the scenes footage, if that was just the footage. I’d have to have behind the scenes footage from another song, to use as the “behind the scenes” footage for the other song. Got it? It’s like digging a hole inside another hole, and then going, no, they’re totally separate holes… they’re not just one hole.
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10:
Holding Out For A Hero – Bonnie Tyler
As you’d expect from this attractive roofer, the video for this is batshit mental. Now, it’s a lot more tame than the video we looked at for Total Eclipse Of The Heart, and it definitely has a stronger theme running through it, but dear god, what a hellscape. I think its main downfall is the fact it puts a face to the “DO DO DO DOOOOOOOOOOO… AHHHHHH AHHHHHHHH”. When you don’t see them singing it, you don’t really notice how much of an oddity it really is. Yeah, we’re gonna devote like a quarter of the overall song to some women going “Do do do doooooo”. When you put the faces to it though, it highlights. Also, at the 30 or so second mark when Bonnie runs out of the house and drops to her knees, isn’t just badly acted, it’s badly acted by music video standards. That’s a pretty low bar. A low 80s bar no less! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
9:
Synthetic – The Midnight
Whomever thought to mash together some clips from Mannequin to make this video, I salute you! How hot is Kim Cattrall! Schwing! Andrew McCarthy was a great actor, you know, very underated. Still is, to be fair, don’t know why I said was. Anyway, this is song 3 of 4 for The Midnight. Also taken from Endless Summer, this is one of their slowest most chilled out tracks.
8:
Never Enough – Loren Allred
I love a good musical. I hated The Greatest Showman. The problem was that it was super overhyped and hugely overrated. It’s fine. It’s nothing special at all. The standout of the whole thing is Loren Allred’s criminally great voice on Never Enough. I like a song that builds and this is textbook when it comes to layering it up to hit the highs at the end. Tell you what… Lewis Capaldi could take some pointers from Rebecca Ferguson. That’s some A-List lip syncing going on right there. If you’ve never seen the film, it’s about more than just Zac Efron getting into trouble for touching black MJ. The other MJ.
7:
Lovers – Timecop1983 feat Seawaves
Blah blah blah. We’ve been over this.
6:
What’s Up Danger – Blackway feat Black Caviar
Blackway featuring Black Caviar… Isn’t all caviar black? Does it come in different colours? You live and learn! The best song in the Spider-Verse soundtrack by a country mile. What’s up, danger? Cos I like the beat, I like the lyrics and what they do to me, I like the arrangement and how it empowers the visuals. What’s up, danger! Is there supposed to be a comma. What’s up danger, doesn’t seem as correct. YOU CANT STOP ME NOW!
5:
Hungry Eyes – Eric Carmen
Top 5 time. Gotta admit it, this is pretty accurate and on brand this top 5. Not really gonna say too much about Hungry Eyes. I will however paste in what I wrote about it when I went over the music video!
We’re vastly in danger of a video deconstruction here. It’s no secret that I love this song. I’ve talked about it before. One thing we haven’t done though, is discuss the MENTAL music video it has. Now… sigh, here we go. So, one thing that really helps a song is being attached to a big film. Obviously, as we all know, this is from Dirty Dancing, a huge film that happened to turn 30 years old this year [2017]. Let’s take a look at the video then…
Camera reel. Good opening. The classic trope of having a dude sit in a chair in a dark room watching some old home movie on a wall to remember a lost love, kind of thing. Only, they’ve taken the opportunity to sneak in some Dirty Dancing footage. Good move on the whole, and something that’s widely done in music videos from films. They’ll often have the film on TV screens in the background or projected onto a wall. The only problem with what they’ve done is they’ve just made it look like Eric Carmen likes to sit in the dark, watch Dirty Dancing and whack off to the three-way dance screen.
Eric gets up and moves to the window, opens it and looks out to find a woman in a corset kind of thing fucking up his flowers. She then sticks them in a vase or something and instantly changes into a red top and starts rubbing her cleavage. Then, all of a sudden, she’s on the wall, being projected, THEN SHE’S JUST THERE! She strokes his face and leaves. I say leaves, she dematerialises.
Now we’re outside and Carmen is on the wall singing. The woman in red shows up and rolls down a wall. DON’T FORGET THIS IS FROM DIRTY DANCING SO LOOK, HERE’S SOME FILM FOOTAGE!
Back to Carmen for a pull away camera shot that blends into that woman again, now dancing on an entirely white background like they forgot to photoshop something in. Back in on Carmen so he can give us the chorus. Back to the woman because they’ve remembered they were supposed to make it rain in the background of her dancing. Back to Carmen, for the same pull away camera shot, only this time the woman is now there, and she’s wearing gold. Now she’s dancing in gold in front of the rain. WHAT THE FUCK IS ACTUALLY GOING ON!?
Back to Carmen and he’s doing the classic move that people do to scratch their backs when no one else is around. The woman in front of the rain has changed clothes again. Back to Carmen before we get some…. REMEMBER THAT THIS IS FROM DIRTY DANCING! LOOK! MORE FILM FOOTAGE! ONLY IT’S THE SAME FILM FOOTAGE WE JUST SHOWED YOU MORE OR LESS! A quick interjection of Carmen, NOW BACK TO THE SAME FOOTAGE!
Wondering where the woman went… they’ve got you covered! NOW SHE’S GOT A SAXOPHONE. Don’t know where she was keeping that, although given the cut of her dress, I have some ideas. All of a sudden, we cut to a clearly made up café in an alleyway and that woman is back with a dude that looks like he walked off a porn set. She kisses said man and turns Asian. Carmen is back in his whacking off chair, and his video ends.
Answers on a postcard.
4:
I Don’t Care Anymore – Phil Collins
airdrums I’d search my own site for “Phil Collins” to see what I’ve written about this before, but sweet jesus, I don’t want to be horrified by how many posts come up. Unlike Phil, I do care! This probably isn’t his best song, but it’s the one I like the most and it will be that way for the rest of my life (like a handful of years). I know what I like about the song, as with any song I can pick out the exact reason why I like it, but I’ve never been sure what it is that keeps me coming back to it. I kind of lump it in with gin loving Kenny and I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man). It has the same effect on me that has. Some of Phil’s best vocal work appears on here as well. He sounds a lot more emotional during the shoutier parts of this than on almost any of his other songs. He sounds like he really cares. Tee hee.
3:
Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood
WHERE IS OUR DESERVED NIGHTCLUB FIGHT SCENE IN A FILM SET TO THIS!? If anyone knows of a film where it’s happened you need to let me know as soon as possible, I am living for that shit. If the 80s had an overall anthem, this might be it. Take note, everyone, this is how you open a song… Did her tit just bounce out of her top?… Slow fade in with some synth, bit of vocal and drop that beat in. Perfect. We also get to see the number one rule for 80s videos, at some point there’s a trumpet type noise and you need to pretend to play it on something that clearly wasn’t used to make the original noise. Boom. It’s covering all the bases. FYI though, don’t get hit by laser beams.
2:
Jason – The Midnight
The last of the four tracks by The Midnight, and whomever put this mashed up video together didn’t really have any other choice did they! Had to be Friday The 13th. This is definitely up there as a strong contender for my fave Midnight track. There’s a handful that I can’t decide between. One day, maybe, I’ll make a decision. I’ve only been listening to them a short while, so it’ll happen at some point. It’s definitely one of their most pop tracks so far. Ace sax work, brilliant beat, sublime guest vocals. I love it. I’ll you what, actually…. There’s something about the way it’s duetted that almost seems different to duets today. I’m not going to be able to explain this very well, but the way they sing it makes it sound even more 80s. I don’t mean the tone in which they do it, or the lyrics, or the music. I literally mean the way it’s divided up. It’s very 80s. Duets aren’t sung that way very often anymore. I knew I wouldn’t be able to explain it very well. Ha.
1:
Kitsune – Gunship
Numero Uno! Didn’t really expect this to be honest. I expected The Midnight. I did listen to this a fuckton though. Firstly, let’s just address that this is an “official” video. Now, I know they’re using it to mean that they’ve adopted it as the “official” video of the song, which is fine, but some part of me doubts they paid to licence fucking E.T., Flight Of The Navigator, and Short Circuit footage. I do think it works though, for the same reason as earlier mentioned. This track features my fave lyrics I’ve heard this year I think.
You set it alight with your fingertips
As the ice forms around your lips
Try to breathe inThey just really work for me. The whole song does. I love how it builds, I love how it’s sung, I love what he says. It’s synth at its fucking best and one of the reasons I’ve fallen so madly in love with the whole genre.
