2022 Greatest Songs: Part 6 (499-300)

We go on ...

499        For Once in My Life - Stevie Wonder

498        California Dreamin' - Mamas and the Papas

497        Killing Me Softly - Roberta Flack

496        Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers

495        Tired of Being Alone - Al Green

494        Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen

493        No One Know Me Like the Piano in My Mother's Home - Sampha

492        Good Intentions Paving Company - Joanna Newsom

491        The Promise - Girls Aloud

490        Sock it to Me - Missy Elliott

489        Fade Into You - Mazzy Star

488        Violet - Hole

487        Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants

486        Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross

485        Get Ready - The Temptations

484        You Can't Always Get What You Want - Rolling Stones

483        Cloudbusting - Kate Bush

482        Inner City Blues - Marvin Gaye

481        Give Me a Little More Time - Gabrielle

480        Forgot About Dre - Dr Dre ft. Eminem

479        1 Thing - Amerie

478        Two Weeks - fka twigs

477        Sweet Thing - Van Morrison

476        Idiot Wind - Bob Dylan

475        There Must Be An Angel - Eurythmics

474        Letter from America - The Proclaimers

473        Pure Shores - All Saints

472        Le Freak - Chic

471        Geno - Dexys Midnight Runners

470        Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack

469        Holes - Mercury Rev

468        Alone Again Or - Love

467        Carey - Joni Mitchell

466        Galveston - Glen Campbell

465        On and On - Erykah Badu

464        Rock and Roll Music - Chuck Berry

463        Didn't it Rain - Sister Rosetta Tharpe

462        Kiss Me More - Doja Cat ft SZA

A good thing for me is I’m not entirely beholden to the “it’s not like it was in my day” nostalgia when it comes to pop music (i do mean pop specifically here). My day wasn’t 78 to 83, which would have been hard to get over. It was 88 to 93, when there was mainly crap pop music. And I don’t like pop music anyway. I think.

Yet, then, as now, I’ll be thinking “this is all shit” and then I’ll hear something, like Would I Lie to You by Charles and Eddie, like Kiss Me More by Doja Cat & SZA, and think, “that’s pretty great, actually”. Then I’ll get back to the serious music, whatever that is. But I’m ok with modern pop music. Some of it I hate, some of it I don’t.

461        Ride on Time - Black Box

460        Video Killed the Radio Star - Buggles

459        Let it Go - Idina Menzel

458        I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - Wilco

457        Love Machine -Girls Aloud

456        Hurt - Johnny Cash

455        Can I Kick It? - A Tribe Called Quest

454        Firestarter - The Prodigy

453        Down Town - Petula Clark

452        Easy - The Commodores

451        Be Not So Fearful - Bill Fay

450        I Could Have Danced All Night - Julie Andrews/Marni Nixon

449        When Doves Cry - Prince

448        Hummingbird - Wilco

447        Try Again - Aaliyah

446        The Circle Game - Joni Mitchell

445        Rainbow Connection - Kermit the Frog

444        99 Problems - Jay-Z

443        California Soul - Marlena Shaw

442        You Are Everything - Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye

441        Jesus was a Crossmaker - Judee Sill

440        Into the Mystic - Van Morrison

439        Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

438        Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space - Spiritualized

437        There She Goes, My Beautiful World - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

436        Heartbeat - Annie

435        All The Things She Said - TATU

434        When the Revolution Comes - The Last Poets

Slightly contradicting something I wrote earlier, I hadn’t realised that ‘The Revolution Will Not be Televised’ was an answer to, and entirely modelled on, this earlier track, or if I did, that it really takes everything from it. This is the greater song. TRWNBT suffers from knowing more about it.

433        My Favourite Things - Julie Andrews

432        Hurricane - Bob Dylan

431        Rock N Roll - Mos Def

430        Everybody Hurts - REM

429        Here, There, and Everywhere - The Beatles

428        I Got Rhythm - Gene Kelly/Ethel Merman

427        Come Rain or Come Shine - Ray Charles

I’ve been listening to the playlist of Bob Dylan’s 66 Songs from The Philosophy of Modern Song (haven’t got to the book yet, it sits misogynistically, fraudulently upon my shelf). It’s a reminder of how little pre rock’n’roll and early rock’n’roll I really know. There are whole worlds of popular song I’ve barely dipped my toe into, when it comes to early country, blues, soul, rock’n’roll, the stuff which is clearly Dylan’s lifeblood. I already knew about half the songs on his list, which is not bad going. I guess he could have chosen 1000s more I had no idea about.

I’m quite enjoying the songs I don’t know, but I wouldn’t say anything is blowing my mind. Dylan loves the pop music of his youth, just as most people love the pop music of their youth. But I don’t necessarily know that there are vast quantities of hidden masterpieces, in terms of how they relate to what a great song is in the here and now.

I retain the belief that Beatles/Dylan/Motown began something greater than what went before, expanded the possibility of song. There were great songs before, and many of them are on this list. But I do believe the possibilities of song increased in the 60s and have continued, by and large, with some caveats, to increase, and that’s a good thing.

Also, take Tutti Frutti. One thing that makes it great is the influence it’s had, sure, but the reason it continues to rank highly on Greatest Song lists is because it’s a great, exciting, song RIGHT NOW, whenever right now is. It doesn’t date, or lose its lustre. I’ll have to figure out if I’m contradicting an earlier point here. Maybe a little.

This (above) is on Dylan's list, and I rather like it.

426        You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes

425        Cry Baby - Janis Joplin

424        I Am the Walrus - The Beatles

423        Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond

422        Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones

421        We Are Your Friends - Justice Vs Simian

420        I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys

419        Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper

418        The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy

417        Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers

416        I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye

415        Paint It Black - Rolling Stones

414        I Shall be Released - The Band/Bob Dylan

413        Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and his Comets

412        Stagger Lee - Nick Cave

411        B.O.B. - OutKast

410        King Kunta - Kendrick Lamar

409        Deceptacon - Le Tigre

408        Free Fallin '- Tom Petty

407        Every Grain of Sand - Bob Dylan

406        Dance To The Music - Sly and the Family Stone

405        Be-Bop-a-Lula - Gene Vincent

404        Five Years - David Bowie

403        Jackie - Scott Walker

402        Silly Games - Janet Kay

401        Shine on You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd

400        Get Happy - Judy Garland

399        I Will Dare - The Replacements

398        The Sound Of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel

397        It's Your Thing - Isley Brothers

396        Rock'n'Roll Suicide - David Bowie

395        Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk

394        Nightswimming - REM

393        Born Slippy - Underworld

392        This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us - Sparks

391        Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

390        Stars - Simply Red

389        Standing In The Way Of Control - Gossip

388        Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out of - U2

387        Without You - Nilsson

386        IDGAF - Dua Lipa

385        Baggy Trousers - Madness

384        The Winner Takes It All - Abba

383        Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head - Dionne Warwick/BJ Thomas

382        Cry Me A River - Julie London

381        What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

380        Wouldn't It Be Nice - Beach Boys

379        Don't Interrupt the Sorrow - Joni Mitchell

378        Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids

377        Fantasy - Earth Wind and Fire

376        (You Make me Feel) Mighty Real - Sylvester

375        Firework - Katie Perry

374        Super Bass - Nicky Minaj

Nicki Minaj, the Carry On franchise of modern music. You might think Nicki Minaj has one bit, one trick, but she has an astonishing number of singles and guest slots on singles – this one I rather love.

373        A Design for Life - Manic Street Preachers

372        Eye Know - De La Soul

371        Ghost Town - The Specials

370        Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin

369        Lola - The Kinks

368        If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

367        Eleanor Rigby - Beatles

366        The First Time Ever I Saw your Face - Roberta Flack

365        Juice - Lizzo

364        The Parting Glass - The Clancy Brothers

363        Bye Bye Love - Everly Brothers

362        Proud Mary - Ike and Tina Turner

361        I Got A Woman - Ray Charles

360        Let's Face the Music and Dance - Fred Astaire

359        I Want You - Elvis Costello

358        Party Fears Two - The Associates

357        Monkey Gone To Heaven - The Pixies

356        Lust for Life - Iggy Pop

355        Teardrop - Massive Attack

354        More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley

353        Don't Let Go (Love) - En Vogue

352        Dollar Days - David Bowie

351        Mr November - The National

350        Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) - Spiller ft Sophie Ellis-Bextor

349        I Used to Love H.E.R. - Common

348        Animal Nitrate - Suede

347        Everyday People - Sly and the Family Stone

346        Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading

345        Something - The Beatles

344        Lucille - Little Richard

343        Video Games - Lana Del Rey

342        Paranoid - Black Sabbath

341        Many Rivers to Cross - Jimmy Cliff

340        Back To Life - Soul II Soul

339        The Drugs Don't Work - The Verve

338        Time For Heroes - The Libertines

337        Diamonds - Rihanna

336        The Whole of the Moon - The Waterboys

335        Me Myself and I - De La Soul

334        In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins

333        Twist And Shout - The Isley Brothers

332        A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall - Bob Dylan

331        The Way We Were  - Barbra Streisand

330        Search and Destroy - Iggy and the Stooges

329        Always on My Mind -Willie Nelson/Elvis Presley/Pet Shop Boys

328        Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin

327        Here You Come Again - Dolly Parton

326        (You Make Me Feel) Like A Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin/Carole King

325        First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes

324        Blinding Lights- The Weeknd

323        Uptown Top Ranking - Althea and Donna

322        A Little Respect – Erasure

When you think of mainstream British culture, and you think how “groundbreaking” a gay TV kiss was in the 90s, you think how rare it’s always been for a mainstream film star to come out, how it’s only fairly recently there are mainstream gay films, you think that vanishingly few professional male footballers, male sportists in general, have come out, it is quite notable, between 1970 and 1990, how British pop and rock music was absolutely dominated by huge gay icons.

Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Bowie, Boy George, George Michael, Pet Shops Boys, Erasure – the absolute biggest stars. And no, of course, it wasn’t a case of all of them saying “here I am, world, I’m out and proud” but it is nevertheless a striking thing in the buttoned-up, masculine, openly homophobic culture it was that those were very much the pop stars it wanted.

Earlier on, I pondered whether gay/straight was a significant dividing line in music taste, and I initially thought “no, that’s a stereotype, and also, clearly, the gay performers were so utterly mainstream, so universal, that line doesn’t seem to exist” but I suppose you can look at some genres – glam, disco, new romantic, high energy pop – that were clearly suffused with camp and/or had their origins in gay culture, and others – metal, punk, hip-hop etc, that traditionally weren’t (yes, i know there are many exceptions), and think, actually, wanting camp, androgyny and gay in your music or not might very well be a dividing line for some.

You were perhaps thinking earlier, Erasure? Really? At the end of that list of megastars, Erasure stick out a bit as a league or so down … but it’s Erasure and gayness I want to talk about. I loved Erasure when I was a child – I bought the Crackers International single, the album Wild!, had a picture of Andy Bell on my wall. However I, a prepubescent homophobe (homophobe too strong a word for what I was, but you know boys back then…) worried that Andy might, maybe, be a bit gay. As I stared at him on my wall,  I did accept he looked a little bit gay.

Once, Andy and Vince were on Going Live! and were being asked about the famous story of their forming via an ad in Melody Maker, and Andy said “yes, that’s how we first met, and over time, we’ve come to love each other”, thus, in my mind, confirming said gayness (though of course, in that case, he was doing no such thing) and I may be retrofitting, but I’m pretty certain I thought “well, there you go, that’s nice” and that might have been my first good step to not being what most clueless boys in the late 80s were, a bit befuddled and scared of gay.

I always loved Erasure more than the Pet Shop Boys, I think I really loved the effort and vulnerability in Andy Bell’s singing. Which reminds me of another nice little Erasure half- memory I have. When I was in Kenya (and I can’t quite remember if this was in a Nairobi record store, a newspaper, or in conversation with a friend) I distinctly remember Erasure being categorised as “Soul” and I probably thought, no, Erasure aren’t soul, they’re pop, soul is music made by black people. But actually, it’s rather beautiful that the soulfulness in Andy Bell’s singing was recognised and categorised differently in that different cultural setting. So, here’s A Little Respect, a bit littler than Respect, but still, an absolutely classic.

321        Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl - Bessie Smith

320        Rock And Roll Music - Chuck Berry

319        Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson

318        How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths

317        Losing You - Randy Newman

316        Waterfalls - TLC

315        Suzanne - Leonard Cohen

314        Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight And The Pips

313        Your Cheatin’ Heart - Hank Williams

312        Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan

311        In My Life - Beatles

310        Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor

309        Thriller - Michael Jackson

308        Song for our Daughter - Laura Marling

307        This Year - Mountain Goats

306        Takeover - Jay-Z

305        With Every Heartbeat - Robyn

304        Sound Of Da Police - KRS-One

303        Live Forever - Oasis

302        Get Up (I feel like being a sex machine) - James Brown

301        Sally MacLennane - The Pogues

300        Don't You Want Me - Human League

In 2018, I took part in a poll/knockout competition for quizzers as to what the Greatest UK Number 1 of all time was. By a fairly solid though somewhat leading process, the winner was Don’t You Want Me, ahead of Wuthering Heights, then Like a Prayer and Atomic – pretty interesting, betraying somewhat the average age of participants, but also, you could say, the sweet spot of chart pop in the UK. All of those are great songs, but there’s still something a little interesting about there being nothing in the Top 4 before 1975 or after 1990. I don’t really listen to eighties music too much of my own volition, but there is no doubt that it was the electronic sound a lot of people were waiting for all their life. Anyway, I don’t really know what I’m wittering on about here. I thought I had a good point. Don’t You Want Me has all the ingredients of a great single it's a song of real character & flair. Also I note, when I first got iTunes, it was one of the first songs I downloaded- a 79p I’d always been waiting to spend.