565. FOREVER AUTUMN - Justin Hayward (Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds) (1978) 1,123,200

 

Talking of huge albums from 1978, there's this monster hit from a lush sci-fi concept album based on H.G.Wells War Of The Worlds, and eventually a stage musical theatre production that is still running, albeit without Richard Burton as narrator these days. Justin was guesting solo on a break from The Moody Blues (of which more much later in the countdown) and not only sang this gorgeous ballad, my late Aunty Eileen's fave song, he also did the brilliant Eve Of The War to boot, which just missed out on a spot in the rundown. It's fair to say Jeff Wayne never did anything before or since with anywhere near the same scale of artistic and commercial success, but then when you can keep on re-booting, remixing, and touring, who needs to! Justin was the perfect choice for this, I can't imagine anyone else getting the tone right and doing it justice.

 

 

Great single from a great classic late 70's double album. Still sells to this day.

566. IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU - Yvonne Elliman (1978) 1,121,650

 

I adore Yvonne Elliman. She is Hawaiian by birth, and Japanese-Irish by heritage, gifted with a honey-sweet emotional voice that takes a song and wrings every bit of emotion out of it in a subtle, non-histrionic, style, starting with the songs from Jesus Christ Superstar, which she starred in for 4 years as Mary Magdalene. She also starred in the 1973 film version, I was instantly taken by her versions of I Don't Know How To Love Him, Could We Start Again? in particular, and which would be here in the rundown if I'd allowed film soundtracks in my charts. I played the vinyl album to death back in the 70's. Yvonne's 2 entries in the rundown, though, are both Bee Gees songs, and we start with the later anthem from Saturday Night Fever. There are higher entries still to come from that album/soundtrack, but Yvonne's pumping disco version outdoes the Bee Gees original, and gave her a new disco diva fade-out to her chart career, this and the club choon Love Pains (later covered by Liza Minelli/Pet Shop Boys, among others) in particular. This is her signature song though, most people have no idea who she is these days, but most know the track, cos it's fab.

 

 

Great single which I bought in 1978. Her Xmas '77 hit Love Me was nice roo.

OK, been off the radar a while, life is hectic and stressful, but now house-bound so...here's one I missed out accidentally..

 

564. SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME - Rockwell (1984) 1,123,00

 

Beware the official video - it's not the one that was on Top Of The Pops and which I went big on, a sort of spooky, paranoid very 80's video (why it's not yet been on Stranger Things is a mystery...) and a fit topless Rockwell aka Berry Gordy's lad, owner of Motown, mate of Michael Jackson. Jacko looms large on this record, fresh off Thriller - and it shows: pure halloween, Jacko singing the chorus and bruv Jermaine also lending a hand. This was the first record I bought once I'd moved from bleak, factory-work Mansfield down to suburban, friendless, jobless Poole, where at least I had great pop music to keep me going (for a while). It was later reworked to far lesser effect by Beatfreakz 2005 smash which just used the chorus and a Thriller-stylee video backdrop.

 

562. HOLD ON - Wilson Phillips (1990) 1,125,300

 

A bit of 21st century ladies anthem following a prominent feature in the good rom-com Bridesmaids, but for me it's totally my first Florida holiday, blanket airplay on local radio, and theme park heaven accompanied by my parents and my 6-year-old niece and 5-year-old nephew. It became a UK smash too, and it was always going to appeal to me - a tune, a girlgroup with famous parents who I adored (Brian Wilson Beach Boys genius & father of Carnie & Wendy Wilson, and John & Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas parents of Chynna). They never did anything anywhere near as good again, but then again once you've got that "appealing to new generations" slot in a movie with legs you don't need to have 2 90's pop classics...

 

561. YOU'RE SO VAIN - Carly Simon (1972) 1,126,100

 

If ever a song caused speculation over the subject of the lyrics it was this one: Carly kept mum for 45 years before revealing who it was about (her ex moviestar Warren Beatty, first verse) - though to be honest we all thought it was Beatty anyway. Carly was a singer-songwriter, cool and popular, making up the showbiz folkie super-couple along with James Taylor, and the track pushed the album No Secrets into the top of the charts worldwide. Still her signature tune, and with backing vocals from Mick Jagger to boot, but Carly was so much more, not least the follow-up the fab Right Thing To Do, 5 years later the Bond Theme Nobody Does It better, 5 years later the Nile Rodgers/Chic cool dance cut Why 5 years later the big ballad Coming Around Again. You get the theme - every 5 years a new goodie, but none of them featuring in my rundown, sadly. No video, cos in those days US stars didn't do videos and they usually didn't to appear on UK TV shows if they were busy plugging in the USA - it was err 1977 I think before we got to see her in the pre-recorded video flesh. So to speak, and much to the chagrin of many of her male admirers.

 

560. SPIRIT IN THE SKY - Norman Greenbaum (1970) 1,126,300

 

One-hit-wonder who remains timeless and definitive with this much-covered chart-topping song, Norman just got the groove right at a time when social awareness, the environment and world troubles were everywhere in the news and in pop music - it's an oddly-life-affirming clapalong singalong gospel-rock song with a killer guitar riff and a darkly-optimistic lyric, never quite sure whether it's belief in life-beyond-life or a cynical-piss-take, or a bit of both. Regardless it's survived a good chart-topping comic-book version from tongue-in-cheek Doctor & The Medics in 1986, a comedy-novelty charity chart-topping version from Gareth Gates & The Kumars in the noughties, and a contemporary Top Of The Pops budget album cover from the little-known Reg Dwight. I kid you not, Elton John was a big cover-er of 1970 hits at the time, and you can hear his go at it on his album Reg Dwight's Piano Plays Pop. The original is still the best....

 

 

559. SPEED OF SOUND - Coldplay (2005) 1,126,850

 

The first of 6 for Coldplay in this rundown was their 2nd million-"seller" and first of two in 2005. I'd caught them in concert early in their career, after rating Yellow, but only liking the follow-ups rather than loving them until 2002 when I crossed the line into being something of a fan, and then by 2005's X&Y, a fan. What sold this track for me was the jangly riff intro and the slow build to the chorus. There's no woah-ohs and as a song it flows beautifully without any jarring changes, more ebb and flow. Lyrically, well Speed of Sound is a good image, Speed Of Light is pure sci-fi geek-appealing, even if planets can't move at the speed of light. No matter how much Space: 1999 tried to convince you otherwise!

 

haha funny cos for me it's the total opposite for Coldplay, I was the biggest fan from day 1, loved both album 1 and 2 and all the singles especially The Scientist, but then they totally lost me with that song, Speed of Sound... with that song they became something different that I didn't like :D

 

amazing how Hold On has ended up being such a classic, I also liked their other song Imnpulsive but the rest were a bit too cheesy

haha funny cos for me it's the total opposite for Coldplay, I was the biggest fan from day 1, loved both album 1 and 2 and all the singles especially The Scientist, but then they totally lost me with that song, Speed of Sound... with that song they became something different that I didn't like :D

 

amazing how Hold On has ended up being such a classic, I also liked their other song Imnpulsive but the rest were a bit too cheesy

 

Yes one of my friends was the same - big early-on fan then went right off them just as I was getting into them big. I think it's because they started off as Radiohead-stylee rock and morphed into stadium anthemic poprock - me I usually respond less-well to glum navel-contemplating, and more positively to uplifting anthems, so that colours my tastes :) Yellow is better than Speed Of Sound, though, but it won't be featuring on the list :(

don't think there was anything navel-contemplating about Coldplay in the beginning, it was silly lyrics as usual, it's Chris martin's attitude what changed the most, by album 3 he thought he was Bono :D

558. RIGHT THERE - Nicole Scherzinger featuring 50 Cent (2010) 1,129,650

 

The only Pussycat Doll in the list, if I'm honest I havent heard this in 10 years and I could easily have forgotten how much I liked it at the time - I often like new sounds, once upon a time autotune sounded fresh rather than annoyingly obligatory, and even the fact that 50 Cent was barking over a good pop record didn't affect it too much. Is it the best thing Nicole or The Pussycat Dolls has done? I think that's Jai Ho! This is a good runner-up though...

 

557. LIBERATION - Pet Shop Boys (1994) 1,130,650

 

A later Very track released with a state-of-the-art video. I usually love the boys melodic laid-back compositions, and this period was their best since Actually for me, adored the video which I saw in a 3D cinema set up for the purpose, a massive screen, which got knocked down at 8 million pounds cost to taxpayers in Bournemouth because motorists wanted a sea view for the 12 seconds they drove down the seafront road. Not making it up. The sea was still there on the attractive sea frontage beach side, you just had to walk to it. Anyway, this video was awesome in 3D. The song is lovely.

 

556. I WISH U HEAVEN - Prince (1988) 1,132,450

 

Prince could knock off a gorgeous soul track whenever he felt like it, and this was one of his most melodic, loving the hippy, trippy 60's vibe of the video, and as always the percussion is just fab. For a decade he could do no wrong, so it's a bit embarrassing to note this is single 3 of 4 on the list, just one more to go. By this time I was seeing him live (awesome) and buying the albums - as he often did, though, he annoyed me with his ludicrous decisions, this time the CD was one whole track, you couldn't skip to the track you wanted to play, you had to fast forward the whole bloody album to get to the singles I wanted to play as individual tracks to dance along to in my bedroom on a good mental and physical workout. I did continue to buy subsequent albums, but Batman was vinyl, and I made sure the next 3 were properly sequenced as individual tracks until he decided to commit commercial suicide by stating Prince was dead, at which point I decided if he was dead then I wouldnt bother buying anything by the pretender that replaced him with the squiggle for a name. Pity.

 

555. YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND - Big Fun & Sonia featuring Gary Barnacle (1990) 1,132,600

 

OK, stop spluttering, without any sense of irony or cheese, I'm happy to say this is the best Stock Aitken Waterman track of all-time, sung by two of the cheesiest acts in their stable - the diminutive cheerful scouse Sonia, who rarely got their A-list material, and the very camp and cheesy Big Fun. As if that wasn't enough, this song was written for a charitable cause, all proceeds going to Childline, usually the kiss of death for quality, being worthy rather than artistically inclined. It worked beautifully - and it mystifyingly failed to register even with SAW fans. Probably because it was a soul throwback rather than jolly pop romp - the song is essentially a rewrite of the genius 1969 Junior Walker & The All Stars hit What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) with a heart-rendingly fab melody and a brilliant sax hook courtesy of Gary Barnacle. They even had the cheek to nick a famous song title, the timeless You've Got A Friend, written by Carole King, and get away with it. 30 years later I still adore this, the lyrics, the sentiment, the melody, the vocals, the arrangement. Totally under-rated.

 

554. EVERYTHING SHE WANTS - Wham! (1984) 1,133,200

 

I still miss George, a troubled but thoroughly decent person. I'd gone off him a bit in 1984 after his cancelling a video shoot to get a better hair-do, and the whole annoying Wake Me Up Before You Go Go blatant move into the Big League. After really enjoying the early Young Guns period, and especially the hot Club Tropicana video and song, it took the quality of Careless Whisper (which we've already had), Freedom, and especially a monster track still to come to convince me that the man was a significant talent. Everything She Wants a US chart-topper, but relegated to a double A-side track in the UK that didn't start to pick up plays until New Year 1985, which meant it never really got the attention it would have had as a solo release, though a remix did chart in it's own right in 1997. If any Wham! track was the sign of solo things to come, though, it was this one - funky and cool and passionate. 7th of 15 for George, in various guises, in the rundown.

 

553. IF I TOLD YOU THAT - Whitney Houston & George Michael (2000) 1,134,300

 

Talking of various guises, here's George again, with the also sadly late & troubled Whitney Houston, it really seems like we've slipped into the Twilight Zone in the 21st century with one impossible thing after another. Whitney started off fabulously withe smooth, cool Saving All My Love For You, before quickly turning into a parody of herself where it seemed as though she was trying to out-compete Celine Dion & Mariah Carey for showing off the range of her admittedly impressive vocals. Not least, her completely OTT mangling of great records like I Will Always Love You and The Greatest Love Of All. Turns out, though, she was a junkie. Not Bobby Brown, her hubby was a lightweight, it was Whitney. Her voice declined a bit from abuse, but in the process she learned to sing actual soul tracks with emotion for a short great period in the late 90's with fab tracks like My Love Is Your Love and It's Not Right, But It's OK. The piece de resistance for me was this cool hook-up with George in 2000, never one to turn down a vocal dual with a female diva who could keep up with him. My fave Whitney track, and the only one on the list.

 

558. RIGHT THERE - Nicole Scherzinger featuring 50 Cent (2010) 1,129,650

 

The only Pussycat Doll in the list, if I'm honest I havent heard this in 10 years and I could easily have forgotten how much I liked it at the time - I often like new sounds, once upon a time autotune sounded fresh rather than annoyingly obligatory, and even the fact that 50 Cent was barking over a good pop record didn't affect it too much. Is it the best thing Nicole or The Pussycat Dolls has done? I think that's Jai Ho! This is a good runner-up though...

 

 

OMG i loved this song!! so mnay memories

OMG i loved this song!! so mnay memories

 

 

Sorry for the delay replying its been a weird 4 months! It's her best track, I reckon! :)

552. YOUR SONG - Elton John (1970) 1,134,800

 

 

As Elton is even more famous now than he was when this was a hit, it's easy to forget what a master-songwriting team Bernie Taupin & Elton were in their heyday, and to under-rate just what a brilliant singer Reg was in his younger days, a voice that emoted, it's no co-incidence that he also found popularity on US Black Music Stations, end of the day he was rarely a rocker, more a balladeer/soul man. This was the song that broke him internationally, and it's still gorgeous and touching. Oddly I totally missed this at the time, it never made it across to Singapore, so I gradually became aware of it from 1972 onwards, and charted it as part of the Old Four Eyes Is Back EP in 1977, and other various reissues and versions. 4th of 9 for the Rocket Man, though I'd almost say I preferred Border Song these days, from the same album, and the first chart entry in the USA.

 

 

 

551. SUPERSTITION - Stevie Wonder (1972) 1,135,250

 

 

This is the record that kick-started Stevie's grown-up career, from the album that was the marker that he was an influential serious musician, rather than a pre-teen and teen Motown star. Not that Phase 1 of Stevie was anything other than fab, cos he was already Stevie Wonder-ful from 1967 through 1972, never bad, and frequently very good, but this notched it up a gear. Still his most-popular track in the 21st century, the funktastic modern-sounding single hit in the UK in early 1973, and made my top 10 - but it's popped in and out of the charts over the last 20 years, and finally topped to edge it over the million. At the time I preferred You Are The Sunshine Of My Life off that album, and it was the bigger UK hit too, but it hasnt weathered quite as well as his funky tracks - my absolute fave funky track of that period isn't on the list as it's not had the reissue treatment yet, still patiently waiting for Living For The City to be used in a movie soundtrack. Though Higher Ground or You Haven't Done Nothing would be worthy substitutes. Stevie's topped my charts with fab tracks like I Wish, Sir Duke, Isn't She Lovely(albeit a rip-off soundalike cover as Stevie wouldn't release it a single), Lately, and less fab ones like I Just Called To Say I'm Yawning, but none of them have hit the million yet, so it's the first of only 2 on the list! Criminal!