498. A Time And Place - Mike & the Mechanics (1991)

 

 

It's the finest line

A missed opportunity or the perfect time

 

I've picked a few Mike & the Mechanics songs so far but this is the first one sung by Paul Carrack. It was released as a single but only got to number 58.

 

497. Sinking - The Aloof (1996)

 

 

The second song on my chart by The Aloof. This is an instrumental and the title track from their second album. I like the drums on this one. The people in this video must have a death wish. One of them almost flew into the cable car.

 

496. American Trilogy - The Delgados (2000)

 

 

There's a light on in my head

and I'm thinking what I said

 

The third song on my chart by The Delgados. This one is sung by their other lead singer,Alun Woodward. It gave them their highest chart position of number 61.

 

495. Under Pressure - Queen and David Bowie (1981)

 

 

It's the terror of knowing

What this world is about

Watching some good friends

Screaming "let me out!"

 

A song created from a jam session at Queen's studio in Montreux,featuring John Deacon's unmistakable bassline. It was Queen's second number 1 and David Bowie's third.

 

494. Lose Your Way - Sophie B Hawkins (1999)

 

 

I'm the runner-up inside of you

And you're the winner inside of me

 

A banjo based love song from Sophie's excellent third album 'Timbre'. Her record company,Columbia,were not happy with the banjo or the lack of commercial pop songs on the album and she was dropped from the label. She now records on her own record label.

 

493. Big Log - Robert Plant (1983)

 

 

My love is exceeding the limit

Red-eyed and fevered with the hum of the miles

 

Robert Plant's biggest hit single,reaching number 11. The guitar playing and vocals on this are top quality.

 

492. Don't Lose My Number - Phil Collins (1985)

 

 

He never meant to do anything wrong

It's gonna get worse if he waits too long

 

From 'No Jacket Required',this was not released as a single here but it got to number 4 in the US,helped by this big budget video which is a parody of other music videos and movies from that time.

 

491. Feel Too Good - The Move (1970)

 

 

Can't seem to control myself

So how can I talk to you?

 

The fourth and final song on my chart by The Move. This nine minute track is from their third album 'Looking On'. Roy Wood sings the lead vocal here with P P Arnold and Doris Troy on backing vocals and Jeff Lynne on drums. I'm not sure why the regular drummer,Bev Bevan,didn't play them on this track,maybe he didn't like it. It's a real mixture of different genres with lots of instruments being used and at the end,a curious doo wop coda about the Duke Of Edinburgh's lettuce.

 

490. Owner Of A Lonely Heart - Yes (1983)

 

 

Move yourself

You always live your life

Never thinking of the future

 

Produced by Trevor Horn,this is probably Yes' best known song,reaching number 1 in the US. Without it,they probably wouldn't still be going today. It only got to number 28 here but Max Graham's remix was a top ten single in 2005. The guitar riff on the intro is certainly one of my favourites.

 

489. Advice For The Young At Heart - Tears For Fears (1989)

 

 

Too many people living in a secret world

While they play mothers and fathers

We play little boys and girls

 

The third single taken from 'The Seeds Of Love' album,this song has a bit of a jazz sound to it. It's the only song on the album that Curt Smith sings the lead vocal on.

 

488. Exit Music (For A Film) - Radiohead (1997)

 

 

We hope that your rules and wisdom choke you

Now we are one

In everlasting peace

 

A bleak but at the same time beautiful song from the 'OK Computer' album. Those that accuse Radiohead of making suicide music would put this forward as the best example. The lyrics are based on 'Romeo and Juliet'.

 

487. Toxygene - The Orb (1997)

 

 

And from the same year,something a bit more upbeat. This was supposed to be a remix of Oxygene 8 from Jean Michel Jarre's 'Oxygene 7-13' album but he rejected it as it bore little resemblance to the original. Instead,The Orb released it themselves and it got to number 4.

 

486. Tightrope - Electric Light Orchestra (1976)

 

 

The change from night to day is really only hours

It's just along the line,can't you see the sign?

 

I love the intro to this song,one of the best openings to an album. It would have been a big hit but was strangely not released as a single. 'A New World Record' was packed with great songs and the three tracks that were put out as singles all made the top 10.

 

 

485. El Dorado - Marillion (2016)

 

 

Brothers,sisters,sons and daughters

Denied our so-called golden streets

Running from demolished lives

Into walls

 

I wasn't expecting the whole song to be on youtube but here it is. Marillion don't allow anything too recent to appear there but it's now almost two years since their last album 'f*** Everyone And Run (F E A R)' came out. This is one of three tracks on the album which are more than 15 minutes long. The lyrics address the thorny subject of immigration into the UK.

 

Just catching up now. For me, Under Pressure is the greatest duet ever made, definitely up amongst the best of both Queen and David Bowie's material imo.

 

Owner of a Lonely Heart is great, I especially like the breakdown bit at 2:25 which sounds (at least to me) more like it from an early 90s rave track than from 1983!

 

 

Sorry for not commenting recently! Here are my thoughts since my last visit:

 

Interesting to see Chained to the Rhythm here! I would say it's the song I've enjoyed the most from Katy though

Cars is a great track! The instrumental is certainly very memorable, interesting to hear that it was the first record you bought

Uprising is great as well, wish we could still have music like this in the charts :(

They brings back the memories as well, Jem is a great artist!

Galvanize is a great dance track, there's something about the melody that makes it really catchy

And of course Go West is an anthem, this was great when I went to see them live (oh and West End Girls!)

I was hoping to see Games Without Frontiers here! I was really annoyed to find it wasn't on Spotify, was stuck in my head after just two listens :(

Poor Leno is one of my favourite Royksopp track as well, another one that really gets me for some reason

Save a Prayer was the only Duran Duran song I knew for a while, a favourite within my family!

Another Brick In the Wall was a song I had in my head a lot during high school, it's still somewhat relevant nowadays

 

Still loving this countdown! (sorry for the long comment)

Thanks for the comments Pete (and Snake).

 

Peter Gabriel's albums were added to Spotify just last week so you can listen to Games Without Frontiers on there now.

484. The Damned Don't Cry - Visage (1982)

 

 

I see myself in rainsoaked windows in a different place

Single heartbeats in the dim lights makes me lonely too

 

The third and final song on my chart by Visage. I like the rhythmic synth sounds on this one and the female backing vocals.

 

483. The Way You Love Me - Archive (1999)

 

 

It's not the wrong direction

It's not the same mistake

It's the way you love me

 

Another song from Archive's second album 'Take My Head'. I like the sweeping strings on this which make it sound a little like Massive Attack's 'Unfinished Sympathy' and they throw in a brass section towards the end.

 

482. Marie Claire - Wax (1986)

 

 

Between the devil and the deep blue sea

And if that's where you want me,then that's where I'll be

 

The second of the two songs on my chart by the Graham Gouldman/Andrew Gold pairing. This is also from their debut album 'Magnetic Heaven'.