A big post by me to catch up with all the entries in this great thread.

 

'Right There' is quite good and has some nice production to it but for me 'I Hate This Part' is easily the best thing Nicole or Pussycat Dolls did.

 

Part Time Lover is my favourite Stevie Wonder track but Superstition is good too.

 

Cloudbusting is great, pity the good remix by Just Us didn't become a hit a few years ago.

 

Forever Autumn is a beautiful song, I have long liked that song as my parents have the War of The Worlds CD.

 

I have long liked If I Can't Have You, one of the best songs of the disco era.

 

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, good song and I like how it was sampled by Kon Kan

 

Down Under, a great 80s pop song as is Messages by OMD, the latter really heralding the start of the 80s synthpop era. I love Electricity by OMD, pity it never became a hit.

 

See My Baby Jive I prefer to Angel Fingers but yes Wizzard were a good band and its a pity only their Christmas song gets played much now.

 

Actually prefer this to See My Baby Jive but not really sure why. Both with that big wall of sound.

 

A wall of sound is better in my opinion than the minimal productions we get nowadays in much pop music. Some electronic dance songs also rely on a wall of sound effect, which brings me on to one of the songs in John's top 800, Under Control by Calvin Harris, Alesso and Hurts, a good example of this. The vocal is great and makes it stand out because male vocalists are not that common in dance music, and for Alesso I also really liked the remix of One Republic's If I Lose Myself which became a hit.

 

I do like I Want To Know What Love Is but a few other 80s rock ballads are better in my opinion, notably Mr Mister - Broken Wings and The Voice by John Farnham, the latter also using a choir towards the end like IWTKWLI.

 

Bill Withers had a very good jazz voice and Ain't No Sunshine is a good relaxing track.

 

Enjoy the Silence and True Faith are both very good epic songs with a good driving rhythm, I would prefer True Faith of the two.

 

The Fifty Shades soundtrack was surprisingly good apart from the overplayed Love Me Like You Do. Aside from One Last Night I really liked 'Undiscovered' by Laura Welsh

 

You Spin Me Round was certainly different and more dancey than anything else in the chart at the time.

 

Party Fears Two - good but I prefer Club Country from them - 1982 had quite a few quirky alternative songs in the chart like this

 

My Oh My by Slade well its more Rod Stewart than Slade in sound which isn't necessarily a bad thing though. A good song anyway.

 

Move Your Feet I didn't like much at the time and still don't like it, find it a bit annoying oops :lol:

 

Heartache Avenue - I really like this - I was confused when I started hearing this on the radio in the background in 2005, took me ages to wonder why, it turns out it was Roll Deep - The Avenue which used a lot of the song in it. 2005 was a strange retro revival year as later in the year I started hearing a song from the 80s Dr Beat everywhere again and it took me a while to realise it was a new remix of it. Then of course Leo Sayer was back in the charts in early 2006.....

 

Which brings me on to another song in your list that became part of the mid 00s retro revival Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me, a quirky track, was surprised to find that this unremixed version was still an energetic dance tune before Beatfreakz remixed it. It's a good fun tune and not too much of a novelty track that I can't still enjoy it.

 

Good Luck by Basement Jaxx/ Lisa Kekaula - now thats a song that was ahead of its time, could be a song from Sigma in the 2010s

 

This Time I Know It's For Real - its not bad, but well its a bit cheesy with the SAW production and not one of Donna Summer's best. The Kelly Llorenna cover I like a bit more but its not one of her best songs either.

 

Empire State of Mind - good but Alicia Keys' best song in my opinion is Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart - great vocal of course and the production is great.

 

 

Sky by by Sonique I actually prefer to It Feels So Good, the chorus is epic and listening to it makes you realise how dance music was really at the top of its game in 2000

 

Bright Lights Bigger city was my favourite track from Cee Lo Green's album The Lady Killer, it does sound quite Bond theme-esque

 

The Journey Continues by Mark Brown/ Sarah Cracknell is a really nice dance track, I liked at the time how the tune from the bank advert was turned into a song.

 

The Reflex by Duran Duran is a bit of a mess of a song but it somehow works - still good.

 

Hotter Than Hell by Two Lips, I like how the unique way she sings the word 'Hell' in the song. My favourite of her songs is Be The One still gets played quite a bit on the radio and hopefully this will become a classic in years to come.

 

Dirty Diana is my favourite Michael Jackson song becuase the production is epic in it and I like how it builds up.

 

Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Ray vs Cedric Gervais - who would have thought the producer behind mediocre novelty track Molly would create one of the dance anthems of the year of 2013 by remixing a Lana Del Rey song and I really liked this song at the time especially the epic instrumental 'drop' part of the song which it builds up to.

 

Finally, Stay by Shakespear's Sister is a beautiful song, I like the acapella part at the start and how it builds up after that. Number 1 a few weeks after I was born!

Edited August 17, 20204 yr by Flopiday

Phew! Thanks for going through so many tracks, Flopiday! Glad you like so many - I also go for full-on Epic Productions - not exclusively, but I find them more moving in the same way as I can find a single instrument or vocal moving, but am more likely to go for a full production than a pared-back song.

 

War Of The Worlds is fab, one day I'll get to see the stage production!

 

Suedey also is a fan of Electricity (OMD's first single) - I quite liked it but didn't get into them as early as Suedey did, I was about 4 months later :D

 

If I can grab some spare time, I'll get some more of these done :lol:

550. MAD WORLD - Tears For Fears (1982) 1,135,450

 

The record that launched a fabulous career for Curt & Roland, and I finally caught them a couple of years back on tour, Curt still a hottee, and the back catalogue sounding impressive. Mad World is dark, pounding, moody electronic music, the song so strong that it was covered by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews for a very different gentle, haunting, but still dark, chart-topper in 2003 taken from the classic movie Donnie Darko - which also used the Head Over Heels Tears For Fears track to great effect. The track originally peaked at 2 for a few weeks in my chart in 1982, behind Abba locking out the top spot with The Day Before You Came, I think. It finally topped my charts a few years back when I got an excuse from a TV show or movie feature, boosting it into the rundown. Second of 4 in the rundown for TFF.

 

Great song. I, like a lot of people in the UK who weren't yet born in the 80s heard the Gary Jules and Michael Andrews version and thought it was the original before becoming aware of the Tears for Fears version. I remember being surprised to discover the singer wasn't Michael Stipe from REM as the vocal style in that cover is so similar I think.

 

When I discover the original Tears For Fears version i was surprised how different it is, faster, almost dance music, but yes still dark with the vocal and lyrics.

 

I like Pale Shelter and Change from Tears For Fears too. I am not surprised to learn that Change got a remix by the man behind dance artist Jakatta in the 00s given that the instrumental of Change in the chorus does remind me a little bit of Jakatta in style.

 

 

Great song. I, like a lot of people in the UK who weren't yet born in the 80s heard the Gary Jules and Michael Andrews version and thought it was the original before becoming aware of the Tears for Fears version. I remember being surprised to discover the singer wasn't Michael Stipe from REM as the vocal style in that cover is so similar I think.

 

When I discover the original Tears For Fears version i was surprised how different it is, faster, almost dance music, but yes still dark with the vocal and lyrics.

 

I like Pale Shelter and Change from Tears For Fears too. I am not surprised to learn that Change got a remix by the man behind dance artist Jakatta in the 00s given that the instrumental of Change in the chorus does remind me a little bit of Jakatta in style.

 

Hi Snakey, Now you mention it I could see the REM mood in the cover. Pale Shelter is also fab, I loved The Weeknd's adaptation of it the other year too. Change is good too, and of the early stuff Suffer The Children is an unknown goodie :)

love the song Mad World but have to say I much prefer the cover to the original.

Love the original vocals but the production is so bad and the instruments used are so upfront they drown the vocals and the song

love the song Mad World but have to say I much prefer the cover to the original.

Love the original vocals but the production is so bad and the instruments used are so upfront they drown the vocals and the song

 

The Gary Jules version is fab, and as you say, it does focus more on the song than the original, and we all tend to like the version we hear first the best on the whole (or at least I do :lol: )

Always remember my dad asking me has that Mad World song been done before when Gary Jules performed on totp in December 2003 and being astounded when I advised him it was Tear For Fears.

 

It's an example of an old synth pop dance record being changed to a more acoustic version years later, it's normally the other way round these days!

yes, and it shows that synthpop had strong songs that can be done in many ways, as much as any other genres :)

549. PARADISE - Coldplay (2011) 1,136,050

 

I saw Coldplay at the start of their career, and enjoyed them a lot, but didn't suspect they would become the premier world poprock band of the early 21st century, nor that they would be the among the last of a small group of rockstars that would be able to top the singles chart. They topped mine quite a few times, and appear 7 times in the list. This the 3rd anthemic track, a UK chart-topper that gave-away a lot of sales before it was officially released, at a time when downloads were huge and everyone was getting an ipod for christmas. From Mylo Xyloto, the fab Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall didn't quite hit my very chart-top, but the very hooky had no problem, you can sing along with knowing English, to be honest, never a disadvantage in pop music. And this is not the biggest track off the album for me, either, one more to come much later...

 

548. FURTHER - Longview (2003) 1,137,950

 

Here's another semi-anthemic rock track, from the forgotten Longview, with a hint of the early 90's grunge attached to a ballad, and possibly one of my least-remembered chart-toppers for me - I've not heard it since 2005 when it topped my chart in a remixed version of the 2003 top 20 version. Further, is therefore a bit flattered to be this high due to combined sales of 2 chart runs, but poor ol' Longview only just avoided becoming a one-hit wonder when the 2003 version had a minor follow-up that sneaked into my charts. Then they hit the top - and nothing ever again from the Manchester band that got no higher than 24 in the UK singles chart with this one! Songwriter Rob McVey is currently working solo - and has recently joined a band called....Paradise! I love it when links come together. Coldplay. Paradise. Longview.

 

I thought 'Every Teardrop' was way better than Paradise.

 

Songwriter Rob McVey is currently working solo - and has recently joined a band called....Paradise! I love it when links come together. Coldplay. Paradise. Longview.

 

My favourite example is Rhianna who had a hit with Oh Baby in 2003 apparently later being in a band called Little Fix!

547. GOOD DANCERS - The Sleepy Jackson (2003) 1,138,350

 

A complete flop everywhere was this brilliant George Harrison-esque Aussie alt-rock band's Good Dancers. The Sleepy Jackson was based around Luke Steele, future member of Empire Of The Sun and you can SO hear the influence between the two bands in this track. It's the sort of pyschedelic tuneful harmonies crossed with odd sounds at unusual pitches, that totally works anyway. I was so pissed off this got nowhere I entered it into Buzzjack Song Contest, and of course it didn't qualify for the final. It would be a dull world if we all liked the same tracks, and 60's/70's vibes don't always work with modern music fans...but anyone who didn't vote for this must be mad! If you like Empire Of The Sun or George Harrison you really should enjoy this :P

 

546. LIFE - Haddaway (1993) 1,139,400

 

A big ol' 90's Eurodance anthem....was What Is Life, Haddaway's monster hit. While I rate that track a lot, this follow-up was the one that got ME dancing round my bedroom imagining I was at a club - still 8 years in the future that experience. Eurodance with late 80's House dance rhythms became the sound of the 90's dancefloor, and this is a great example of what's good about it. Haddaway was born in Trinidad & Tobago, and as a kid I had a thing about Caribbean island nations thanks to Geography TV features when I was 10. He moved to Germany, after growing up in the USA. And stayed in Germany ever since. I guess I'm the only one that prefers this track to What Is Life....

 

545. LIVING IN THE PAST - Jethro Tull (1969) 1,142,693

 

Ian Anderson's Prog-Rock band had a good 3 years-worth of singles success and albums success ever since as he moved into minstrel-folk-rock and salmon fishing. This was the best Tull moment by some distance, the breakthrough hit in the summer of 1969 that co-incided with me doing a spate of personal charts in a music scene that greatly excited me at rural RAF Swinderby, with married quarters housing stuck out in the middle of Lincolnshire arable fields and woodlands. We had a bus-stop. That was it. Nothing else. No car, no phone, no internet, just a black and white TV with BBC1 and ITV, and Radio 1 or Radio 2. So music was important to me, and in later years tracks like this got the nostalgia factor when reissued, as this was in 1993 or so. That pushed it over the million. I like Life's A Long Song, that's a quirky one, and Ring Out Solstice Bells, one of the few rock-era more-authentic-sounding festive season hits, but this is the one to check out.

 

Oh I used to like Life by Haddaway but my favourite was always Rock My Heart - or was it Rock Your Heart? I can't quite remember!

Oh I used to like Life by Haddaway but my favourite was always Rock My Heart - or was it Rock Your Heart? I can't quite remember!

 

Dya know I cant recall whether it was Rock My Heart or Rock Your Heart either! :lol: The former if had to hazard a guess in a pub quiz. (Checks: yay! Correct)

544. WE WILL ROCK YOU - Queen (1977) 1,143,210

 

Queen's most-famous B-side in the UK. Why oh why oh why oh why was this not a double-A! Due to my chart-rules of the time, I therefore couldn't chart this so only We Are The Champions made my charts and went top 10 on about 300,000 sales instead of this way better track doing magnificently in my late-1977 charts - up to that point Queen had had at least one chart-topper in 1974, 1975, 1976 and may well have grabbed another. Instead they had to wait for me to change my rules to allow non-charted tracks from charting albums to qualify years later. This was written to be a crowd-chanting anthem in concert, it's short, it's sweet, it's Brian May at his best and it SO rocks. Second on the list for Queen.

 

543. WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - Lou Reed (1972)

 

Groundbreaking track this one - Bowie, who could no wrong by 1973, was a huge Velvet Underground fan, and got into pushing Lou Reed solo where his band had never been more than "known" in music circles, and from their associations with Andy Warhol and his whole Popart movement. They were hugely influential, and this track taken off the classic Transformer album was against the odds a big UK hit. The odds being against it were it's lyrics, essentially describing all the goings-on and people in Andy Warhol's scene, including male prostitutes, female prostitutes, transgenderism, gay, oral sex, and many drugs. What was amazing was the BBC, and 15-year-old me, had no clue what was being sung about so the song was blithely played on the radio of the time while pop hits from Paul McCartney, Wings, Judge Dread were all banned and big hits like 10CC's Rubber Bullets got faded before the line about "we all got balls & brains". Hysterically amusing in retrospect that they got away with it. Bowie & Mick Ronson produced it, and their are 2 more Reed songs yet to come. My fave "did you know"s about this track? Herbie Flowers did the key bassline part. He was then in the fab (now-forgotten) pop band Blue Mink, and had written a UK number one single for Clive Dunn, he of Dad's Army: Grandad. The other, the "coloured girls" singing the doo-doo-doo's were actually backing singers Thunderthighs, soon to appear on Top Of The Pops with Mott The Hoople, and to have a solo hit with Lynsey De Paul's Central Park Arrest, a song that was also about more than it seemed (flashers getting arrested, basically). Top 10 in 1973 for me, and a chart-topper this century when Lou passed away.

 

542. DUST - Royworld (2008) 1,144,000

 

Well, here's one I haven't heard in 12 years or so, it came and it went, and it got immediately forgotten in the annals of pop history, which is a shame as it's a catchy poprock tune sung with conviction. I think it's retro New Radicals-vibe appealed to me at the time, and I played it over and over for ages. Radio avoids it like the plague. That'll be due to it's paltry chart position of 29 in the UK, for the British band. Sadly, they broke up the same year, and became what we might call low-profile in and out of the music industry. Best I can say is their music featured in The Inbetweeners and Made In Chelsea.