327. Silent Running - Mike & the Mechanics (1985)

 

 

Swear allegiance to the flag

Whatever flag they offer

Never hint at what you really feel

 

Mike & the Mechanics' debut single with Paul Carrack on lead vocals. The song is about a space traveller who is so many light years away from Earth,he has travelled forward in time and is trying to warn his family of an upcoming war. This mention of war led to the BBC banning the song from being played during the Gulf War. The single reached number 6 in the US and was used in the movie 'On Dangerous Ground'.

 

326. Blood Of Eden - Peter Gabriel (1992)

 

 

Yes,I think I've lost my hold

I cannot get insurance anymore

They don't take credit,only gold

 

A beautiful song from Peter's sixth album 'Us'. Sinead O'Connor sings backing vocals and appears in the video. The single narrowly missed the top 40.

 

 

325. Dreaming Of 4000 - Electric Light Orchestra (1973)

 

 

I heard them laugh,I heard them cry

I saw them praying to the sky

 

Another track from 'On The Third Day'. I didn't buy the album until about 1982 but I already knew this song as it was the B side of the 'Don't Bring Me Down' single which I bought in 1979. The arrangement is more complex than most ELO songs with some tempo changes and prominent electric guitar and drums as well as the obligatory cellos and violin. I've never been able to work out the significance of the number 4000 in the title.

 

 

324. The Theatre - Pet Shop Boys (1993)

 

 

There's another world here

Below shop windows

Upon the pavement

Where you wave goodbye

 

One of many songs the Pet Shop Boys have written about London. Here,they are juxtaposing people coming out of the theatres of the West End with the homeless people on the pavements that they walk past on their way home. I like the big orchestral sound on this one and the backing vocals.

 

 

323. The Long And Winding Road - The Beatles (1970)

 

 

Many times I've been alone and many times I've cried

Anyway you'll never know the many ways I've tried

 

Originally a piano ballad,when the tapes were handed over to Phil Spector,he added an orchestra and female choir which annoyed Paul McCartney when he heard the finished version. I think they add a lot to the recording and it's my favourite Beatles song. Released after the Beatles had split up,it gave them their 20th and final number 1 single in the US but wasn't released over here.

 

 

322. Open Book - Ed Harcourt (2004)

 

 

A funeral with no mourners

I wish that I'd turned corners

To see the signs that warn us

But I didn't make a fuss

 

There was a time when if you bought a CD at the HMV shop,they might give you a free sampler CD of songs by fairly unknown acts to try to persuade you to buy the album a track came from if you liked it. I was given such a CD at the checkout and this was one of the songs on it. It's a lovely piano ballad with some creative vocal effects. I have heard one or two of his other songs but never got round to listening to a whole album.

 

321. Stay With Me Till Dawn - Judie Tzuke (1979)

 

 

And I'll show you a sunset

If you'll stay with me till dawn

 

This is a gorgeous song which I appreciate more now than I did at the time it came out. Judie Tzuke may be a one hit wonder but she has been very productive,releasing 21 albums to date.

 

320. Mr Roboto - Styx (1983)

 

 

The time has come at last

To throw away this mask

Now everyone can see

My true identity

 

Chicago band Styx are a one hit wonder here with their top 10 hit 'Babe'. They had sixteen top 40 singles in their own country,including this one which got to number 3. I got to know it as the American chart was counted down on Radio 1 each week by Paul Gambaccini.

 

319. I Want You - Elvis Costello (1986)

 

 

Every night when I go off to bed and when I wake up

I want you

 

A really intense song about obsession and jealousy. The instrumentation is kept to a minimum and it sounds like it was recorded with Elvis singing very close to the microphone. When I play it on CD,it sounds like he's in the room. The single only got to number 79 but it clearly has a following as the youtube video has 3.3 million views.

 

 

318. Annie,Let's Not Wait - Guillemots (2006)

 

 

My father told me I was late

I'd better start oiling the gate

Said that those that rush will fall

But I don't want to wait for waves

 

There are not too many song titles with commas in them. This is another track from 'Through The Windowpane' and I have chosen the album version,not the inferior re-recorded single. This is a really happy sounding song with a Brian Wilson type of production to it.

 

317. The Land Of Fantasy - Freiheit (1988)

 

 

We're after the rainbow

We will be heroes in the land of fantasy

 

A second song from the German group Freiheit. The youtube clip is playing slower than it should be. The song I know has a slightly faster pace to it. They knew they had a good chorus here as it occupies the last two and a half minutes of the song.

 

 

316. A Vision In The Sky - Onetwo (2007)

 

 

The fifth and final song on my chart by Onetwo and all from one album. Like at least one of the others,it is not youtube.

315. Now You're Gone - Jeff Lynne (1990)

 

 

You,you always meant the world to me

You,you never wanted much you see

And you,you changed my life but now you're gone

 

Jeff Lynne's tribute to his late mother from his album 'Armchair Theatre'. He makes a rare foray here into Indian music with Hema and Ashit Desai joining him on vocals and some more Indian musicians on violin and percussion.

 

Edited August 14, 20186 yr by King Rollo

314. Behind The Wheel - Depeche Mode (1987)

 

 

Tonight

I'm in the hands of fate

I hand myself

Over on a plate

 

From Depeche Mode's sixth album 'Music For The Masses'. Over the 80s,they were steadily evolving their sound but not too much to alienate their fanbase. This is the remixed single version. I'm not sure if I prefer it to the album version but the sound quality on this youtube clip is much better so this is the one I've chosen to put on here.

 

 

313. Brother Of Mine - Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (1989)

 

 

Nothing can come between us

 

A second song from the unofficial version of Yes. This is a ten minute epic divided into three parts with some great guitar work from Steve Howe. The album cover you can see here is one of many done for Yes by Roger Dean. Of all the albums in my collection,it might be my favourite sleeve cover.

 

312. Risingson - Massive Attack (1997)

 

 

You light my ways through the club maze

We would struggle through the dub daze

 

This has a menacing,darkly atmospheric sound to it. The first single from 'Mezzanine',it gave them their highest chart position up to that point,reaching number 11.

 

The Long And Winding Road is of course a classic! Great song!

 

'Behind the Wheel' is another good song from Depeche Mode. Yes, Depeche Mode did seem to change their sound quite a bit throughout the 80s. Their industrial phase is my favourite though!

 

I love loads of tracks with fab "drops", as the young'uns like to call a sudden catchy change of tempo, but it's nothing new, it's just a new name for what used to be a hook, a catchy beat, a chorus, a segment of a song and so on. prob make a good Lounge Discussion: find fab "drops" in 20th century songs :)

 

As I said on your 1986 chart, Spagna's Call Me which made #2 in 1987 has a 'drop' and as such has a similar structure I think to a modern day chart dance-pop song, in addition to this it also has rather cheesy lyrics like the likes of your modern day Jonas Blue tracks ;) . Karel Fialka's Hey Matthew too has a drop too, but is a much cooler song of course! :D

Edited August 15, 20186 yr by Gríma Wormtongue

311. The Flat Earth - Thomas Dolby (1984)

 

 

The Earth can be any shape you want it,any shape at all

Dark and cold or bright and warm,long or thin or small

 

The top quality title track from Thomas Dolby's second album. There are still plenty of synths here but he is using more conventional instruments than he did on his first album.

 

310. The Sunshine Underground - The Chemical Brothers (1999)

 

 

Taken from their third album 'Surrender' this starts slowly and then speeds up. It's a real cocophony of sounds. The part at the start is sampled from 'Asian Workshop' by James Asher.

 

309. No Surprises - Radiohead (1997)

 

 

This is my final fit,my final bellyache with

No alarms and no surprises

 

I always think of The Royle Family when I hear this now as the lullaby sounding bit at the start was used to put baby David to sleep. The memorable video had to be filmed several times as Thom Yorke couldn't hold his breath for long enough under the water.