817. Nylon Strung - Underworld (2016)

 

 

From their most recent album 'Barbara Barbara,we face a shining future'. This is one of their more chilled out tunes. The full version is seven minutes long. This is the shorter single version.

 

826. She Has No Time - Keane (2004)

 

Going back a bit, but YES this is so underrated and brilliant :heart: One of the very best off the album, shame it was never released as a single.

816. The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats (1983)

 

 

We can go where we want to

The night is young and so am I

 

A one hit wonder from Canada. The band's lead singer,Ivan Doroschuk,was inspired to write the song after he was chucked out of a club for dancing in a way that would people around him in danger.

 

815. Tongues - Fish (1991)

 

 

As we move to a stalemate,

You say a contract's a contract

and this is unnegotiable,

I question your morality,you question my reality

 

From Fish's second solo album 'Internal Exile'. His first one and his albums with Marillion were all with EMI,the label he had just left. The lyrics to this song would appear to be directed at EMI.

 

The story behind the inspiration for writing The Safety Dance is an interesting one!

 

Great song, some baroque medieval music influence in the instrumental which I like!

814. Last Train To London - Electric Light Orchestra (1979)

 

 

But I really want tonight to last forever

I really wanna be with you

Let the music play on down the line tonight

 

A great straightforward pop song written by Jeff Lynne. It was part of a double A side with 'Confusion'. In 2002,Atomic Kitten's version got as high as no.2,again as part of a double A side single. They changed the melody of the verses and the title of the song to 'Be With You'.

 

813. Revolutions - Jean-Michel Jarre (1988)

 

 

From the album of the same name which was the first album by him to use many non electronic instruments. I like the Middle Eastern influence on this one.

 

812. Some People - Cliff Richard (1987)

 

 

Some people they hurt one another

They love to see

Hurt in the other one's eyes

Well I'm not like that at all

 

You might be surprised to see Sir Cliff Richard appear in my chart but this is a very good song. It got to number 3.

 

811. Daydreaming - Radiohead (2016)

 

 

And it's too late

The damage is done

 

From 'A Moon Shaped Pool',the piano bit on this is quite simple but so beautiful and the video is captivating.

 

810. SOS - ABC (1983)

 

 

With all the power that I possess

Let's match their money with our own finesse

 

ABC followed up their hugely successful debut album 'The Lexicon Of Love' with the much rockier 'Beauty Stab' which was not widely accepted but it's an album I've always thought has been underrated. From it is this smooth ballad. Frankie Goes To Hollywood were in the studio next door and they were brought in to add to the backing vocals from 3.20 to 4.00.

 

 

 

 

809. Science/Visions - Chvrches (2013)

 

 

Breathe

Don't speak

It's leaving your body now

 

From their debut album 'The Bones Of What You Believe', I like Lauren Mayberry's powerful vocal on this one.

 

808. Love Like Blood - Killing Joke (1985)

 

 

So cut the rose in full bloom

Till the fearless come and the act is done

 

Killing Joke have been going for 40 years now and this is their best known song and highest charting single,reaching number 16.

 

807. Uncertain Weather - Genesis (1997)

 

 

A sinner,a saint,a soldier

Caught up in a war

He never had a chance to start or build a life

 

With Phil Collins gone,the Genesis album 'Calling All Stations' featured a new lead singer,Ray Wilson,who already had a no.1 single with Stiltskin in 1994 called 'Inside'. His vocals on this song are effortless and technically he's probably a better singer than either Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins. It's a pity Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford decided not to make any more albums with Wilson as the singer.

 

806. Break It Down Again - Tears For Fears (1993)

 

 

It's in the way you're always hiding from the light

Fast off to Heaven just like Moses on a motorbike

 

By 1993,Tears For Fears were down to just Roland Orzabal. 'Break It Down Again' was their final top 20 single.

 

 

805. Moving - Supergrass (1999)

 

 

I've been moving so long

The days all feel the same

 

A great Britpop song from the end of the 90s. I like the use of the organ on this one and the tempo changes. There won't be a huge amount of Britpop on my chart,it's not a genre that I was a huge fan of,but 'Moving' certainly deserves to be included.

 

Associates is an utter classic, and features in my top 850 too. Amazingly the brilliant No Regrets doesn't, even with Pet Shop Boys (I under-rated it), and the other PSB track is also one that won't feature! Last Train To London DOES feature but largely thanks to the other side Confusion which I adore. LTTL is pretty good too though. ELO were second only to Abba in the mid/late 70's for me....

 

Tears For Fears, Supergrass, ABC, the fab Cliff track (he had plenty of great singles in the 80's, and none of them made my 850, though he does have 60's and 70's tracks in my list), all worth knowing. I dont know the Idle Race & Claudia Brucken tracks (I also didnt know she and Paul Humphries were a thing!) :o

 

 

Thanks for those comments. I agree that Confusion is the better half of that double A side and it will be quite high up my chart.

804. The Man's Too Strong - Dire Straits (1985)

 

 

I have legalized robbery

And called it relief

I have run with the money

I have hid like a thief

 

Taken from 'Brothers In Arms' which is still in the top 10 best selling albums in the UK list at number 8. There was no escaping this album in 1985 and although this track wasn't released as a single,it's one of the best songs from it.

 

803. The Village - New Order (1983)

 

 

Oh,our love is like the earth

The sun and the trees and the birth

 

From New Order's second album 'Power,Corruption & Lies' which,like many of their albums,didn't have the title or the name of the group on its cover leading many record stores to add a sticker to it to show what it was. Some of them also put a sticker on saying "does not contain Blue Monday" as people might have expected it to be on there but New Order at this time didn't include singles on their albums. 'The Village' combines the synths and the guitars very nicely.

 

802. Butterflies & Hurricanes - Muse (2003)

 

 

Your number has been called

Fights and battles have begun

 

Despite being the sixth single to be released from 'Absolution',this still got to no.14. I suppose you could call this symphonic rock,I like the way it slows down to a standstill in the middle. Apparently,a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a chain reaction which can lead to a hurricane.