469. Dreaming - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (1988)

 

 

I was only wishing you would notice me

Instead you said goodbye

 

A great pop song with a catchy chorus. It was the last single OMD released before Paul Humphreys left the group. It was a much bigger hit in the US (16) than it was here (50).

 

Whiter Shade of Pale is a very good ballad. The Hammond organ melody does make the whole thing sound rather sad though I think!

 

I thought that Red Box song before I clicked on the video was a cover of the Bill Withers song (got it confused with Club Nouveaux two years later :lol: ), glad to see it isn't a cover of that song and is a much more upbeat song. Good song!

 

'Brothers In Arms' sounds great, the guitar in particularly is nice in it. The OMD song sounds very good too, shame it wasn't a UK hit.

Edited May 28, 20187 yr by The Snake 🐍

Lean On Me by Club Nouveaux is on my shortlist for the one hit wonder contest but I don't think I will have room for it in my 50 nominations.

Lean On Me by Club Nouveaux is on my shortlist for the one hit wonder contest but I don't think I will have room for it in my 50 nominations.

 

It is frustratingly easy to confuse the name Club Nouveaux with Classix Nouveaux too! A bit like Commodores/Communards :lol:

Classix Nouveaux were on my list as well so I'm glad you nominated them. And Blue Oyster Cult as well.

Classix Nouveaux were on my list as well so I'm glad you nominated them. And Blue Oyster Cult as well.

 

I assume both were close to making your top 1000 here too (or have they made it already, I can't remember oops....)

No they didn't make it. Both good songs though.

468. Mind Drive - Yes (1997)

 

 

They will bring the rain

They will shine the light

Understanding this

It can come tonight

 

With Trevor Rabin and Tony Kaye leaving the group and being replaced by the returning Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman,Yes were back to what is considered their 'classic' 70s line-up. Ignoring what type of music was popular in the mid 90s,they went back to writing sprawling prog rock songs like this 19 minute epic. It's the sound of a singer and four musicians who know what they're all doing.

 

467. King's Cross - Pet Shop Boys (1987)

 

 

Someone told me Monday,someone told me Saturday

Wait until tomorrow and there's still no way

 

Taken from their 'Actually' album which I think is probably their best. I like Chris Lowe's keyboard sounds on this song in particular.

 

466. The Way Life's Meant To Be - ELO (1981)

 

 

As I wander around this wreck of a town

Where people never speak aloud

With its ivory towers and its plastic flowers

I wish I was back in 1981

 

From the 'Time' album set in 2095,the time traveller in the story is looking around his hometown with everything he knows buried beneath his feet. The production here is complex and probably the closest Jeff Lynne got to the Phil Spector wall of sound. Castanets are not often used in pop music but they are quite prominent here. This was the first ELO single since 'Nightrider' in 1976 not to chart.

 

465. A Day In The Life - The Beatles (1967)

 

 

I read the news today,oh boy

Four thousand holes in Blackburn,Lancashire

Ant though the holes were rather small

They had to count them all

Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

 

This generally seems to be regarded as the Beatles' best song and also one of the most influential pop/rock songs by anyone. The intricate production by George Martin is outstanding,bearing in mind the technology available at the time. The drug references in the song led to it being banned by the BBC until 1972.

 

'The Way Life's Meant To Be' is great but my fave from that album is the space disco song 'Yours Truly, 2025', which should have definitely been a single imo.

 

'A Day in the Life' is one of the Beatles' best songs, I especially like the weird wobbly vocal bit 'I love to turn you'.

 

 

 

464. No Self Control - Peter Gabriel (1980)

 

 

I don't know how to stop

No,I don't know how to stop

 

One of the songs from Peter Gabriel's third album that Phil Collins plays drums on. This is where Phil's famous gated drum sound which he later used on 'In The Air Tonight' was first created. The song also features prominent use of the marimba while Kate Bush sings backing vocals.

 

463. Space - It's Immaterial (1986)

 

 

And they laugh,especially when I start talking about furnishing the space,but a lot of people like to furnish the space in different ways. Some people like the luxury afforded by carpets. Myself,I like the occasional vase of flowers,and maybe a television to watch,especially when there's a Tom Mix movie on.

 

It's Immaterial are only known for 'Driving Away From Home' which was further down my chart but here is one of their other singles. I only know the album version and this single version,which I have never heard before,is not as good. I don't like the different arrangement but the album version is not on youtube so this will have to do. At least the quirky lyrics,which are the best part of this song,are still intact.

 

Edited May 30, 20187 yr by King Rollo

462. Land Of Confusion - Genesis (1986)

 

 

Oh Superman,where are you now?

When everything's gone wrong somehow

The men of steel,the men of power

Are losing control by the hour

 

A top 20 single from the 'Invisible Touch' album with its memorable video made by the 'Spitting Image' puppet team.

 

Land of Confusion is my favourite Genesis song. The chorus is anthemic and its actually quite dancey with the beat and electronic bassline.

Edited May 30, 20187 yr by The Snake 🐍

461. East Coast Racer - Big Big Train (2013)

 

 

She starts to take her wing

She jumps to it like a living thing

Made for speed and in full cry

They gave her the road

And she holds to the line

 

Big Big Train are a prog rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. I don't have any of their albums but I discovered this song after seeing it on a list of the 50 best prog songs from 1990 onwards. The track is sixteen minutes long and is about the Mallard steam train. The guitars and keyboards in the first part of the song gradually give way to the string and brass section which dominates the second half. It's a wonderful piece of music and I should really get round to listening to more from Big Big Train.

 

460. Cloudburst At Shingle Street - Thomas Dolby (1982)

 

 

I wanna get my face wet

Been buried in the sand for years

 

The final track on Thomas' debut album 'The Golden Age Of Wireless'. I like the way the song goes off in a different direction at 3.30. Lene Lovich sings backing vocals here. You may remember she had a top 3 hit of her own in 1979 with 'Lucky Number'.

 

Land Of Confusion is among my fave Genesis songs but only one of theirs came close to my list (mama), and that also applies to the fab The Way Life's meant To Be which topped my chart, and A day In The Life which has never topped my chart as I wasn't charting then and it was never an official single. It has charted this century though but "only" got almost 500,000 "sales" instead of the million or so needed to feature. Doh!

 

I also love Actually, and I'm just about to re-evaluate the deluxe version Ive bought and will probably chart a few tracks like the fab King's Cross as I didnt allow album tracks back in 1987 in my charts, a very silly idea!

459. Sensitive - Mick Karn (1983)

 

 

All the people see me as a fool

All the people say that it's because of you

 

Mick Karn was the bass guitar player with Japan. This gorgeous song is from his first solo album 'Titles'. It's a re-working of 'La Distancia' (1972) by the Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos. Sadly,it only reached number 98 on the singles chart.