Mr Scorsese

We watched 'Mr Scorsese' on Apple, which was enormously enjoyable and entertaining. It was worth watching if only for the unscheduled appearance of the real-life Johnny Boy, Salvatore Uricola, who did not disappoint.

If anything, the disappointment was that it really could have been six or seven, rather than five, episodes. Where the previous three episodes (after the first had overseen his childhood and film beginnings) had taken one decade each, the last episode contained the whole of the 2000s, and a lot of stuff was passed over - there was no mention at all of Hugo, of his TV stuff, of the Dylan documentaries (presumably Dylan decided not to play ball as he was pointedly not mentioned when they talked about The Last Waltz either), or, hardly, of the Stones or George Harrison documentaries.

I felt there were other ends that were not quite tied up too, but these are minor quibbles - these were five thoroughly enjoyable hours of television.

Not sure I've too many insights from it. It was certainly a reminder that Scorsese like, I guess, most great film directors, is an artistic visionary, just capable of seeing things on a scale that other people can't and bringing that to life. It was amazing seeing all his sketched out images from throughout his life.

It reminded you that he can be deemed quite fortunate to be now considered a twinkly paternal treasure, for someone who was, at times, utterly, demonically, mental, but I guess he managed not to do anything so terrible that his reputation was damaged beyond repair.

It reminded that you that his films, films in general, can be incredibly powerful things, that presidents almost died because of one, that bombs were planted because of another, this is serious stuff.

It reminded me, of course, as if I need reminding that De Niro was just something else. Still just the oddest, most unfathomable genius -  there's not just the fact that when we watched clips of him in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull, it was just like seeing anew something exploding off the screen, that, presumably deliberately from Rebecca Miller - contrast between the electric fluid blabbering of Johnny Boy cutting to modern-day Bob's solid grunt and chin jut. There's also the reality that they owe as much to each other. De Niro drove Scorsese's projects and even, possibly, saved his life, a few times. 

Even recently seeing Ben Stiller talking about him doing the fourth Meet the Parents film (what the world needs!) and saying what a lovely man he is, but, of course, there's that darkness inside him, and, you just think, what is that? What even is it? Well cod-psychology, his pretty unlikely unbringing, offers some answers, but who knows?

Anyway, there were great interviews with most of the rest of the Scorsese core - Schrader, Nicholas Pileggi, Jay Cocks, de Palma, and most insightfully, Thelma Schoonmaker, and also Isabella Rosselini and Scorsese's daughters.

There was the proud mention that more women have received acting Oscar nominations in Scorsese films than anyone else's - which really is interesting. But it is also interesting that there isn't the same continuity with women, as with De Niro, Keitel, Pesci, DiCaprio. The only leading actress I can think of who has been in more than one Scorsese film is Barbara Hershey (Jodie Foster has a small role in 'Alice..' so i guess her too). ... well, apart from his mum.

Anyway, there are still Scorsese films I haven't seen, and I have to rectify that, for sure.

Here is my honest five favourite Scorseses ...

Mean Streets

The Last Waltz

No Direction Home

Taxi Driver

Killers of the Flower Moon

Extremely acclaimed songs

Rolling Stone released a list of the 250 Greatest Songs of the 20th Century So Far.

Here it is on Spotify, as the actual list with little write-ups for each song on the Rolling Stone site is staggeringly unwieldy and will freeze any browser it comes into contact with.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2BOseUAL339UOnNInQbF2E

Much as I like to scorn, it can, I think, proudly place itself on the "not too bad" list of lists.

You can tell that, whatever they might say about the democracy of the voting process, it has been done by committee, and I'd say it is pretty carefully put together to cover most bases.

To appease the likes of me, the "indie-alt-country-rock" songs are, usually, the right indie rock songs by the bands in question, or near enough. They got Impossible Germany, they got No Children, they got Such Great Heights, they got Float On, they got Waxahatchee and Rilo Kiley, they are not scorning the 47-year-old kids that matter.

It is also probably the most international of these lists I've ever seen, for better or worse (though saying it, I still think about 3/5 of the songs are American). There's a lot of Latin American songs, there are African songs, Korean songs, there are 20-odd from Britain and Ireland. Is that a decent number? Not really, but it could be worse. I wouldn't really say there are any UK choices that are particularly interesting ... you'd like to suddenly see some Libertines, some Roots Manuva, some Delgados, some SFA ... you know, and, as is always the case with America, there is almost no knowledge of non-white Britain ... just MIA and FKA Twigs.

Slight detour, but America's universal non-recognition of black British (and presumably other countries) culture is perpetual and universal ... here's Idris Elba https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1138554078135003

and it reminds me of when I went to NY and was going to go to Brooklyn and a friend of my host said in a tone of patronising warning "you know, it won't be like anywhere you've ever been before" clearly tipping me off about the fact that there were a lot of black people there, and, well, i lived in South London at the time.

So, yes, anyway, no Little Simz, no Stormzy, Skepta, Dave, Dizzee Rascal, Roots Manuva, Young Fathers, Raye, Kiwanuka etc etc

which is a bit annoying, as, you know, there's quite a lot of pretty wearisome American hip-hop as the list goes on ...

But, anyway, yes, when it comes to the UK, it's the usual suspects, Adele, Coldplay, Sheeran, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Harry Styles, nice high placing for Take Me Out, and weirdly, a song by Two Door Cinema Club, as if to represent the totality of British indie rock.

But, anyway, minor quibbles.

The Top 4 are Get Your Freak On, Maps, Crazy in Love, Seven Nation Army

and I think there are two interesting things about that.

1. They're all from the first few years of the century - in fact 2, 3 and 4 are all from 2003. That's pretty funny, coincidental probably, but maybe shows that Rolling Stone can't resist being a bit old-timey.

2. I love those four songs, and not many would dispute there being near the top of the list, but, they're all "sound" aren't they. People love them for a hook and how they sound in that moment. They're all, even Seven Nation Army, especially Seven Nation Army - now reduced to a five-note football chant - pop songs. The thing about the poptimism, if that's what we're going to call the direction of travel of music criticism this century. and this, I realise, above all, is why it bugs me and why it's by no means an automatic good, is that the sound became everything. Production above "song", in the traditional sense. People love Get Yr Freak On because it sounded like the future and it sounded fun. But, you know, Get Yr Freak On, is "just" a superfun song. It's not Doo Wop (That Thing) or Billie Jean or Like a Prayer or Good Times, which are more than that. 

At 5 is Taylor Swift's All Too Well, which is maybe the opposite of that, it's all "song" especially in the 10-minute version. I was going to be very sniffy about it, but I listened to it again yesterday, and it is good. Then Alright (ironically, just about Kendrick Lamar's simplest, soundiest, song) and, then, the one of the Top 10 i think most deserves to be Number 1, Dancing on My Own, which has got everything a song should have - sound, tune, monster chorus, dancing, melancholy, and "stilettos and broken bottles", some proper poetry.

The actual best song of the century, All My Friends, was at 35.

What was, strikingly, missing? Well, no Joanna Newsom or Sufjan Stevens. The lack of the former in particular does make you question what they mean by "greatest"  and "songs". I mean, they're clearly the best songs, the Newsom songs. That's the obvious song genius of our time, right there, and that's a pretty common thing for people who are really into songs to say, it's not just me. You can tell me that e.g Youngblood by Five Seconds of Summer is greater than Emily ort Time as a Symptom, but, come on ... and Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens is not just the saddest song ever written but it's actually wildly popular too. I don't know how they've missed that one.

No Cave, no Sia, which definitely surprised me, no My Girls, no The Rat, Sleater-Kinney, National, St Vincent, nothing from Disney films or musicals at all, no Get Lucky, Uptown Funk, Happy, Crazy, which were all so monstrously successful and acclaimed at the time, no Empire State of Mind, but there's a lot of other Jay-Z.

No David Berman, no Love It We Made It (surprising as it was Pitchfork's song of the year for 2018), no Girls Aloud, goddammit.

There is actually quite a lot, and this did still surprise me, that I didn't know or hardly knew. I've listened to a lot of it over the last few days, and there are quite a few really good songs, but some I just cannot hear what I'm meant to hear at all. Americans, eh. Reminded how great Cranes in the Sky by Solange is. 

They still found room for one each by Bowie, Dylan (Things Have Changed, though?), Simon, Cash, Springsteen, Cohen, Zevon, John Prine, Madonna and Kylie (is it ungallant to put them in this veteran company?). 

Anyway, as long as their lists for me to go through, I'll be happy.

Extremely popular songs

I'm fairly fascinated, these days, by streaming numbers. As has been said, it's the first time we've really known what music from all of history people are not just buying, but listening to, the most. (Spotify launched in 2008 and began to get big in the early 2010s, so we're talking about the last 15 years or so)

There is both an enormity and a mundanity to it.

I mainly look at the Spotify numbers, even though I myself don't use Spotify, as Spotify is by far the largest streaming platform, and provides a weekly update on figures. I remember, for what it's worth, that Apple released its most streamed songs, and though it was pretty similar to Spotify, there was definitely more hip-hop and r'n'b than there is in the Spotify numbers, for whatever reason. There was a lot more Drake, and the Spotify list already had plenty enough Drake for me ...

What's my headline fact, or deduction? I guess it's that the defining song in pop music history is Take On Me, by A-ha. Well, why not? It's a great song.

By which I mean, not only does Take On Me itself have 2.5+ billion streams, making it one of the most listened to songs first released in the 20th century, but two of the Top 6 of all time, both with over 4 billion streams, Blinding Lights by The Weeknd and As It Was by Harry Styles, are heavily indebted to it.

Take On Me turns out to be the sound. That's rather marvellous really. Could have told you that when I was 7.

What else can I tell you? Well, you know Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood? You know that one, that 2012 single by a US indie band? No? Not the fourth most streamed song of all time? You don't know it? What's wrong with you? Anyway, it's actually an ok song, if you like that kind of thing.

And what else can I tell you? People do actually still love sorry polite British (and Irish) balladeering men.

In the Top 100, there's multiple Sheeran, multiple Styles, Capaldi, Glass Animals, James Arthur (!), multiple Coldplay, Tom Odell, Hozier, Arctic Monkeys (bit different, to be fair), Passenger, not to mention Every Breath You Take, Wonderwall, and presumably to Thom Yorke's bittersweet angst, Creep.

Whither Blunt? de Mumford? Don't worry, they're doing fine, with songs around the billion mark. The world still loves that stuff ... Chasing Cars and Somewhere Only We Know are around the two billion mark...

And, yes, men, and that's slightly interesting. Despite the fact that you'd say most of the superstars of music in the last decade or so, the ones with a crossover enormity, have been women - Taylor Swift, Adele, Beyonce, Gaga, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Carpenter, Rodrigo etc, the Top 100 is dominated by male vocalists - 85 vs 15 by my reckoning. Swift is not as preeminent as one might think, but I think that is mainly explained by the fact she took herself off Spotify for a pretty long time ...

I think the main takeaway is that people still like, mainly, to listen to "nice", dare I say it, boring songs. There aren't lots of dangerous, thrilling, new, youthful styles out there the kids are into. Hip-hop and dance music do fine, but again, compared to Apple, and perhaps to what people might think, are a bit underrepresented.

There are some genuinely fascinating ones - how come The Night We Met by Lord Huron, a US folk group i remember listening to a little bit a decade or so ago, has over 3 billion (i think it's TV). Why is I Wanna Be Yours, an Arctic Monkeys track taken from a John Cooper Clarke poem, their most popular song? What is it with Iris and Mr Brightside? 

Even further down, you get some odd surprises. Most of my core music - Wilco, Rilo Kiley, Waxahatchee, SFA etc - does ok but not great really. But then, for some reason, Fourth of July, Sufjan Stevens' most devastatingly sad song, has over 500 million streams. How did that happen?

And can we settle Oasis vs Blur for good? Well, sure, it's Oasis by a long way, though Song 2 is very much doing a good job for Blur, but, wouldn't you know it, Gorillaz beat Oasis on overall numbers comfortably. Albarn really has had the ultimate challenge. Gorillaz really do continue to be massively listened to group.

Another noticeable thing - the further back it is, the less listened to. This seems somewhat obvious, but perhaps isn't entirely, as it's all "old stuff". But the 2000s are more popular than the 90s which are popular than the 80s which are more popular than the 70s which are more popular than the 60s (Queen bigger than the Beatles) and as for the 50s and further back ... nothing i can see ...

Anyway, there it is - I'd say, overall, knowing what songs people listen to the most is strangely comforting. People are basically the same and basically boring. So be it.

Rilo Kiley

Back on the safest of ground, I want to talk about this band I love again.

Rilo Kiley reunited after more than a decade and a half earlier this year for shows across the USA. Just the USA, unfortunately. A lot of the bands I love are reuniting and sometimes it's my fault I haven't got round to seeing them, but not in this case.

To make up for it, I'm watching a lot of clips of the shows on youtube. You can tell that the audience is ecstatic to see them, the band are thrilled to be performing, and that Jenny Lewis is singing better than ever.

Sitting at home, wishing I was there, I'm quite moved to remember just how much I love this band - maybe, alongside Wilco, the most constant and long-lasting love I have for any of the early 2000s American bands.

I've seen in quite a few places Rilo Kiley being described as primarily a band for millennial American girls/women, which I think is true, meaning that most of their biggest fans would now be women in their late-30s/early-40s, who loved them as teenagers.

One of their biggest fans is Katie Crutchfield aka Waxahatchee, born in 1989, who has a Rilo Kiley tattoo, describes seeing RK perform live as a teenager with her sisters as a life-changing moment, and will be supporting them this week (though, she is probably, at this stage, a bigger act).

Being a British 47-year-old man, I suppose I'm not an archetypal Rilo Kiley fan - the Uncut/Mojo guys went far more fervently for Jenny Lewis solo, especially her first solo album Rabbit Fur Coat. But though I like most of her solo material, and love 2019's On the Line, I do think her greatest songs, and the ones that really hit me hardest, are by Rilo Kiley. I mean, putting aside the songwriting, I do love the clean, dramatic indie-pop sound, I do like Blake Sennett's guitar playing. They're a proper band, not a solo vehicle.

Still, the fact remains, I'm one of a few hundred people watching these videos on YouTube. Rilo Kiley getting back together is something of a thing, but it's not a massive thing. They're one of those bands that get written about like they "hit the mainstream" at some point, but that never really happened. Not the main mainstream.  How many people in the UK could pick Jenny Lewis out of a crowd? One in 500? One in 1000?

Why did Jenny Lewis never hit the big time, she who could get Brie Larson, Anne Hathaway and Kristen Stewart to star in her video, who supported Harry Styles (and got him to appear in her video), who was loved by Lady Gaga, who was (maybe) referenced in song by Taylor Swift.

Maybe the songs weren't poppy and tuneful enough, but quite a few of them are pretty poppy and tuneful, and it wasn't like they emerged in any era when indie-pop wasn't having a moment. Maybe it's because their catchiest song is called Portions for Foxes, their most exultant singalong moment is the line "sometimes when you're on you're really fucking on", maybe it's that their supposed big crossover pop single Moneymaker was some weird squelchy funk song about the porn industry. Maybe it's because they began an album with a song called It's a Hit with the line "Gotta write a hit, i think this is it, it's a hit!" and it was obviously not a hit.

Anyway, love this band, love their songs, wish I could have been there ...

With Arms Outstretched

What a Fool Believes

I decided to write about What a Fool Believes, and then remembered that I'd noted its title as a a draft possibility of a song to write about twice before in the last 15 years.

I've never been able to make up my mind about it. I'm not sure there's another song that I both like and dislike so much at the same time.

I remember there were a few Michael McDonald songs that used to get a fair amount of airplay on Capital and Virgin in the 80s and 90s - On My Own, I Keep Forgetting, Yah Mo B There, Sweet Freedom, and I didn't like any of them, and I didn't like his voice. I couldn't work out quite what it was meant to achieve. I guess they were called blue-eyed soul and yacht rock, and I didn't like either of those things. 

That's how I felt when I first What a Fool Believes. In fact I probably disliked it, initially, more than the rest. But not for long.

First of all, though, who is the song by? It was co-written by Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald, and, in fact, Loggins released his version first, but it's the McDonald version which is the classic one, though, in fact, it's not credited as Michael McDonald, it's the Doobie Brothers, who he was singing for.

There are a few other versions going about. When I first thought to myself "I like this song, but i wonder if there's some better version without the bits I struggle with", i discovered there was an Aretha Franklin version, but in fact, that's not good at all, far too 80s.

After quietly deciding, in around 2000, that I actually quite liked this song, I remember playing it to my flatmates Alex and John. This was NOT the kind of thing we were into, so I knew I was exposing myself to ridicule, and sure enough, the united response was "Jesus, that's awful" and we did not get to the end of the song and the moment was not spoken of again.

I should note that there are loads of cheesy soft-rock anthems I comfortably enjoy unambiguously now, but my slight uneasiness with What a Fool Believes remains.

And yet I have returned to it down the years.

I've been talking around the song, rather than talking about it, so far. What's the bad bit? What's the good bit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKYQNtF11eg&list=RDqKYQNtF11eg&start_radio=1

The answer's quite simple, for me. The "bad bit", the bit I've never been able to fully get over, is the start, the plinky plonky intro, almost like a a child's toy, so time-dated and hard to take seriously, then even the over-involved opening verse 

"tryin' hard to recreate what had yet to be created; once in her life she musters a smile for his nostalgic tale". 

Oof, it feels pretty cumbersome, both lyrically and melodically.

But then, the good bit, the song transitions to something magical. Apparently, that's the bit Kenny Loggins had at the start of the songwriting process, where the vocalist goes to their upper range "She had a place in his life, he never made her think twice", a lovely mid-verse hook.

And, then, the bit I really love, a lightning-in-a-bottle piece of brilliant songwriting/performance.

The song settles, drops, again

"As he rises to her apology ..."

There are so many things I love about the next few seconds of the song 

- the fluency, the fact that each line follows on perfectly from the next, but increases the stakes, the drama and the universality.

- the actual wisdom of it. How many songs are such a gentle, but profound, admonition, of a man in what i believe the kids call the "friend zone", topped off by its own little epigram "what a fool believes he sees no wise man has the power to reason away"? Alright, Confucius! [i should say, for years, I thought it was ""the" wise man" not "no wise man", which can be made to mean roughly the same thing, but "no wise man ..." is definitely better ...

- and McDonald's vocal, which really comes in its own here. It has a kindness and a world-weary sweetness to it here, an older brother admitting he's been the fool himself and trying to stop the subject from making a fool of himself. Of course, alongside that, the song only works, the hook only takes hold because McDonald has spectacular range.

So, there we go, What a Fool Believes - there's a section of it which I genuinely think is one of the best sections of music and lyrics that exists, but I can never quite escape from the cheesy backdrop*. No wise man has the power to reason it away.

* this reminds me a bit of Firework by Katy Perry, which has a terrible, nondescript verse which, as far as i'm concerned, serves only to set up the monster chorus ...

England men's footballers of last 40 years

Another list.

It's pretty much 40 years since I started watching England play international football. Let's round it up to 40.

So, this list is - 

All the male footballers with over 40 caps who have played since the 1986 World Cup. 

There are over 60 of them.

I am going to leave out four; Kenny Sansom, Ray Wilkins, Glenn Hoddle, Chris Woods - the first three because, though I remember very well seeing them play club football in their later years, I honestly can't quite remember them playing for England in all but the sketchiest detail - their distinguished international careers were all nearly entirely before 1986. Those three were all great footballers. The other one, Chris Woods, I have less excuse for not remembering, but, really, I can't place myself properly watching him, even though he was England's first choice keeper at Euro 92. He was second choice to Shilton for a long time, played a lot of his career at Rangers, was clearly a very solid keeper, but I just can't quite do justice to anything I remember him doing.

There are some pretty notable England footballers of this era with fewer than 40 caps - Nicky Butt, Ashley Young, McManaman, Dele Alli, Trevor Steven, Ian Wright, Viv Anderson, Sturridge, Vardy, Merson, and a few others, as well as a few  who haven't got there yet but probably will - Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw, Guehi, Grealish, not to mention the likes of Cole Palmer.

Key parameters - 

-I'm only going to include what they did from 1986 onwards. A couple of England legends will be significantly downgraded because of that.

-This is about how they were for England, not how good a footballer they were. Indeed, if they were a particularly good footballer who never quite fulfilled their promise for England, that will count against them.

- They've all got 40+ caps. They're good enough footballers to keep getting picked for a Top 10 football nation. So, there won't be that much fun in "ha, this guy was rubbish". Most of them are good, and consequently quite hard to differentiate. But, maybe there are a couple of slightly rubbish ones at the bottom ...

There are other reasons it is quite tricky to make solid judgements on this - "Playing well for England" mainly means standing out in major tournaments. Having a few decent games in qualifiers and friendlies just ends up not mattering much. And, obviously, England have failed in major tournaments, though not that badly. So there's not actually that much to go on... but so be it.

There are a few phases, roughly -

86-90 good.

Early 90s bad.

96-2006 pretty good.

2007-2016 bad.

2017-present, very good.

With a few exceptions, that holds pretty well. So obviously players who mainly played in the good eras will mainly be judged higher than those from the not-good eras. 

Let's start.

61. Phil Neville. Has more England caps than Paul Gascoigne, remarkably. Was rarely a first choice, was usually not picked for tournaments, and when he was, in 2000, was responsible for England going out in the group stages. In his later career, he showed he was a really good mid-table midfielder, but, as a fill-in defender, there's no way he deserved to play 59 times for England.

60. Phil Jagielka. Another pretty good player who played more for England than he should have, and was found wanting when he was picked in the main XI.

59. James Milner. More a reflection on England than him. Could easily have 150 caps. As it is, had 46 for the U21s, 61 for the senior side, but was generally treated as an afterthought, so retired from international duty early, after which he played his best club football. Never really did anything notable for England.

58. Glen Johnson. Just a real symbol of the not-good era, remember him being exposed in some big games.

57. Gary Cahill. Truthfully, I veered away from watching England much between 2010 and 2013. It had just all been so crap for so long. So perhaps this is unfair on Gary Cahill, but it just was not a great era.

56. Kieran Trippier. And perhaps this is unfair on Kieran Trippier, who did after all score a magnificent goal for England in an actual World Cup semi-final, but, I don't know, he was just so rubbish, so hopelessly mind-numbingly out of position and ideas, in the 2024 Euros...

55. Phil Foden. As was he. He kept on almost getting there, almost doing something good, at which point the floodgates may have opened, but it didn't happen.

54. David James. Was hardly ever first choice, and was always likely to make a mistake, but, to be fair, looking at his record, did actually keep a few clean sheets in major tournaments.

53. Gareth Barry. Just the memory of the German attacks flying past him in 2010.

52. Joe Hart. Was not good in both 2014 and 2016, and his career never really recovered.

51. Emile Heskey. Had his moments, did the job.

50. Peter Shilton. Yes, yes, I know Peter Shilton was best goalkeeper in the world etc, but he was already 36 by 1986. and he made key mistakes, legendary mistakes, both that year and in 1990. There was no way he was England's best keeper during that era. I'd watch David Seaman and John Lukic on the TV and presumed the latter must be ineligible and the former, well, I don't know. But Seaman should have been playing for England throughout the late 80s and the whole 90s.

49. Martin Keown.

48. Eric Dier.

47. David Batty. A quite good player, forever to be associated with Kevin Keegan's "Yes" ... oh no

46. Gareth Southgate.

45. Theo Walcott. Did score one magnificent hat-trick, but it is hard to remember much else.

44. Bryan Robson. Well, I know this is going to seem like nonsense. as Robson was widely and clearly known as England's best player of the 80s, and his record reflects that, but, the fact is, he got injured early in both 86 and 90 World Cups and England were better afterwards, he played three games in Euro 88 and England lost all three. 

43. Chris Waddle. One of my favourite ever players, and almost did it for England, but, of course, and famously, didn't ...

42. Danny Welbeck. Was really actually pretty good for England. 16 goals in 42 games.

41. Jermaine Defoe. Likewise, scored 1 in 3 for England as he scored 1 in 3 throughout his club career.

40. Mark Wright. Was very good, as I recall, in the 1990 World Cup.

39. Owen Hargreaves. Was really disliked by England fans for quite a few years, then was the team's best player at the 2006 World Cup, just by virtue of working hard and being smart (exposing, dare i say it, some more vaunted midfielders). Injuries meant he didn't play much more after that.

38. Gary Neville. Gary Neville was quite good, but only ever quite good.

37. Teddy Sheringham. Had some fairly glorious moments.

36. Paul Robinson. I really stick up for Paul Robinson. Conceded very few goals for England and truly i think McClaren bowing to public pressure and dropping him for the decisive qualifier in 2007 vs Croatia cost England a place in the 2008 World Cup.

35. Des Walker. Des Walker had about 50 games for England when he was one of the best defenders in the world, but then it all ended a bit disastrously, making three big mistakes which cost England badly for the 1994 WC.

34. John Barnes. Although people will say Barnes' England career was a relative disappointment, and it surely was, he still almost turned round a World Cup quarter-final, and produced a fair few other great moments (including scoring one of the best goals ever in 84), all thw while dealing with his own fans being massively racist to him.

33. Marcus Rashford.

32. Peter Beardsley.

31. Peter Crouch. Now, I think the question 'Of these strikers who all scored more than 20 goals for England a) Wayne Rooney b) Michael Owen c) Peter Crouch d) Alan Shearer, which of them did so at the highest goals-per-game average?' is a pretty enlightening one ...

30. Jordan Henderson.

29. Declan Rice. Was not quite his best at Euro 24. Couldn't quite make it tick. Still think he could be more daring.

28. Bukayo Saka.

27. Terry Butcher. Strong imagery.

26. Paul Ince. Also strong imagery.

25. Tony Adams.

24. Joe Cole. Prodigiously gifted, full of flair and ability to change a game, scored a stunning volley in a major tournament - 10 goals in 56 games for England. This almost exactly describes Paul Gascoigne's England career, but Cole had a much more substantial club career, and yet I'd imagine literally no one thinks Cole was Gascoigne's equal. Funny, isn't it ...

23. Jude Bellingham. I do slightly worry, though, that there'll always be something slightly incompatible about Bellingham. I don't think him and Kane works at all, but I also see it a bit at Real ... I think he takes up other people's space, just like ...

22. Steven Gerrard. Why did England go from so much promise in 2001 to so rotten by 2011 ... o i don't know...

21. Harry Maguire.

20. Paul Scholes. 

19. John Terry.

18. Stuart Pearce.

17. Frank Lampard. Never the problem.

16. David Seaman. A great keeper in his prime. His England career should have run from 86 to 2000 (not 2003), should have played 140 games or so.

15. Alan Shearer.

14. Wayne Rooney. It's hard with Rooney, he had one great tournament, but the fact is 2006, 08, 10, 12, 14, 16, none of them went well for him. That's a lot of big opportunities missed.

13. David Platt. 27 goals in 62 games from midfield. Probably the most forgotten player in England football history., both at international and club level.

12. Michael Owen.

11. Kyle Walker. Really, Kyle Walker being able to run really fast was probably one of the three key reasons England were so successful in the last 10 years.

10. John Stones.

9. Sol Campbell.

8. Raheem Sterling. The actual best player in an actual major tournament, after all.

7. David Beckham.

6. Jordan Pickford. Has not made a single big mistake across four major tournaments, has saved penalties, He has weaknesses - distribution, shots from distance - but has done absolutely as well as he possibly could.

5. Paul Gascoigne. Even I am not immune to the romanticism of having Gascoigne this high. Was he actually that good in 90 or 96 ... maybe not really, but almost ...

4. Rio Ferdinand. I actually, in about 2008, did a statistical study in just how much better England were when Rio Ferdinand was on the pitch than when he wasn't. The difference was staggering. Ferdinand only played in two tournaments for England - the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, due to various misadventures. I genuinely think, in his prime years, he was as good as any centre back has been.

3. Gary Lineker

2. Ashley Cole If anything, Ashley Cole has gone to being a bit over-revered now, it's not like he was perfect, but he was a very good defender for England.

1. Harry Kane. Obviously, by any measure.

101 Songs again and again

Right, I seem to put a list of my 101 Favourite Songs on here every five years or so, and the time has come round again.

Obviously, I've done countless sub-lists in the intervening period, but nice to go back to basics with no parameters.

Apple Music recently offered me my 100 Most Listened To songs of the last 10 years, so here, in the link, is that for comparison. Obviously, that has a significant weighting towards the toddler tyranny of the Disney years, which my own list, mainly, will not.

https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/replay-all-time/pl.rp-bwCb43xN

There is a lot in common, of course. I tend to listen to songs I like. I think, more than usual, I've included passing fancies in this list as much as longstanding favourites, so probably when I look again in five years there'll be a few were I'll wonder what the hell that's doing there ...

Anyway, here's the list. No big surprises, I'd have thought ...

1. From the Morning - Nick Drake
2. When the Haar Rolls In - James Yorkston
3. Can't Do Much -Waxahatchee
4. Pa'lante - Hurray for the Riff-Raff
5. Take It With Me - Tom Waits
6. Something Like Happiness - The Maccabees
7. All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
8. In California - Joanna Newsom
9. She's Your Lover Now (Take 15) - Bob Dylan
10. Diamonds - Rihanna
11. Impossible Germany (Live) - Wilco
12. Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill
13. Caravan (Live) - Van Morrison
14. Head Rolls Off - Frightened Rabbit
15. Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens
16. Witness (1 Hope) - Roots Manuva
17. Being Alive (from Company)
18. My Baby Don't Understand Me - Natalie Prass
19. A Matter of Time - The Leisure Society
20. Love It If We Made It (Live) - The 1975
21. Ruby Falls - Waxahatchee
22. Place to Be - Nick Drake
23. Yes - McAlmont and Butler
24. Dancing on My Own - Robyn
25. Surf - Roddy Frame
26. Losing You - Solange
27. Grace - Jeff Buckley
28. Ignore Tenderness - Julia Jacklin
29. Song for Our Daughter - Laura Marling
30. Famous Blue Raincoat - Leonard Cohen
31. The Mercy Seat (Live) - Nick Cave
32. Would I Lie to You? - Charles and Eddie
33. Good Luck, Babe - Chappell Roan
34. Better Son/Daughter - Rilo Kiley
35. Isis (Live) - Bob Dylan
36. Angela Surf City -The Walkmen
37. Rise to Me - The Decemberists
38. The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon and Garfunkel
39. She's a Jar - Wilco
40. I See a Darkness - Johnny Cash/Bonnie Prince Billy
41. Rainy Night in Soho - The Pogues
42. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
43. The Wild Kindness - Silver Jews
44. No Children - Mountain Goats
45. Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love - Kara Jackson
46. With Every Heartbeat - Robyn
47. The Modern Leper - Frightened Rabbit
48. Moon River - Audrey Hepburn
49. The Rat - The Walkmen
50. Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
51. Hummingbird - Wilco
52. Downtown Train - Tom Waits
53. The Place Where He Inserted the Blade - Black Country, New Road
54. St Elmo's Fire - John Parr
55. She's Got You High - Mumm-Ra
56. Rise - Josh Rouse
57. Au Fond Du Temple Saint - Jussi Bjoerling
58. Alyosha - Susanne Sundfor
59. Danny Callahan - Conor Oberst
60. Green Light - Lorde
61. Redemption Song - Bob Marley
62. Blind Willie McTell - Bob Dylan
63. Under the Westway - Blur
64. Slow Life - SFA
65. Sally MacLennane - The Pogues
66. Stars - Simply Red
67. The Dark is Rising - Mercury Rev
68. Like a Prayer - Madonna
69. Dollar Days - David Bowie
70. Idiot Wind - Bob Dylan
71. Don't Let Go (Love) - En Vogue
72. You've Got a Friend - Carole King
73. So Now What - The Shins
74. The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra
75. All My Happiness is Gone - Purple Mountains
76. Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine
77. Modern Girl - Sleater-Kinney
78. There Must Be an Angel - Eurythmics
79. Right Back to It - Waxahatchee ft MJ Lenderman
80. Young Hearts Run Free - Candi Staton
81. Iceblink Luck - Cocteau Twins
82. Two Princes - Spin Doctors
83. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby Stills and Nash
84. A Woman of Heart and Mind - Joni Mitchell
85. In the End - Linkin Park
86. Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
87. How Far I'll Go (from Moana)
88. Save It for Later - The Beat
89. Sunday - Let's Eat Grandma
90. My Girl - The Temptations
91. Danko/Manuel - Drive-By Truckers
92. Carey - Joni Mitchell
93. Takeover - Jay-Z
94. Werewolf - Fiona Apple
95. Nutmeg - Ghostface Killah ft RZA
96. Llorando - Rebekah Del Rio
97. Party Fears Two - The Associates
98. Back to the Radio - Porridge Radio
99. Still Life - Suede
100. Paper Planes - MIA
101. Bryte Side - Pernice Brothers