Yes,I noticed on the wiki page she had sadly passed away. I bought the single on CD at the time but eventually bought the Play album after hearing the next singles Natural Blues and Porcelain being played on the radio a lot.

276. Goodbye To All That - Marillion (1994)

 

 

You think you came here just in time

But you're twenty years too late

You won't have long to wait

 

Another song from the 'Brave' concept album. It's a twelve minute track divided into five parts which really needs to be listened to as part of the whole album. Some of the lyrics are spoken in whispers so the lyrics in the sleeve notes are essential to follow what's going on. I particularly like the chilled out instrumental section from 6.00 to 9.30.

 

 

275. It's A Sin - Pet Shop Boys (1987)

 

 

So I look back upon my life

Forever with a sense of shame

I've always been the one to blame

 

The Pet Shop Boys' second number 1,inspired by Neil Tennant's catholic upbringing and education. I love the intro to this,possibly the best intro to any number one single.

 

 

274. Nothing But A Fool - New Order (2015)

 

 

Sometimes you don't know what you've got

You think you're better than the rest

And the world belongs to you

But you're nothing but a fool

 

The highlight of New Order's most recent album 'Music Complete'. It's great to see that they're still capable of producing a song like this one. The intro certainly sounds a bit different and I like the recurring guitar riff,female backing vocals and the strings.

 

273. Legs - The Art Of Noise (1986)

 

 

The first single to be released from the Art Of Noise's second album 'In Visible Silence'. It only got to number 69. This is actually the album version which I prefer.

 

 

 

272. Clouds Across The Moon - The RAH Band (1985)

 

 

I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation but we are experiencing violent storm conditions in the asteroid belt at this time.

We may lose this valuable deep space communication link.

Please be as brief as possible.

 

This is probably the cheesiest song in my countdown which is why I entered it into the first shoutbox song contest as a song that no one would think that I would like. The RAH Band was actually a solo project for Richard Anthony Hewson. 'Clouds Across The Moon',sung by his wife Liz,was a top 10 hit,eight years after the instrumental 'The Crunch' had reached number 6. Richard Hewson also did the orchestral arrangement for 'The Long And Winding Road' by The Beatles which was featured on my chart last week.

 

 

271. The Carpet Crawlers - Genesis (1974)

 

 

A salamander scurries into flame to be destroyed

Imaginary creatures are trapped in birth on celluloid

 

From 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway',a great lead vocal here from Peter Gabriel and a wonderful backing track. It hadn't occurred to me until I watched this video that the song is about sperm.

 

270. A Gentleman's Excuse Me - Fish (1990)

 

 

Do you still believe in fairy tales,in battlements of shining castles

Safe from the dragons that lie beneath the hill?

 

Recorded with an orchestra at Abbey Road Studios,this is the most beautiful song that Fish ever wrote. From his first solo album,'Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors',it got to number 30 as a single but should have been a top 10 hit.

 

 

269. One Vision - Queen (1985)

 

 

I had a dream

When I was young

A dream of sweet illusion

A glimpse of hope and unity

 

Queen's performance at Live Aid was the highlight of the day and the lyrics of this song,released a few months later,could be construed to be about that but they actually seem to be about Martin Luther King. I like the intro to this one and the "fried chicken" line at the end.

 

268. Dream Within A Dream - Propaganda (1985)

 

 

I stand amid the roar

Of the surf tormented shore

And I hold within my hands

Grains of golden sand

 

The opening track from 'A Secret Wish'. I like the combination of brass and synths on this one. The lyrics are a poem with the same title written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1849.

 

 

Edited August 26, 20186 yr by King Rollo

267. Surface To Air - The Chemical Brothers (2004)

 

 

An instrumental from their fifth album 'Push The Button'. There's nothing too complicated about this one,it's just the Chemical Brothers doing what they do best.

 

266. Mission (A World Record) - Electric Light Orchestra (1976)

 

 

On a dirty worn out sidewalk,sits a mother with a baby

In her vale of tears she sees no rainbow

And someone's singing from a window

In the mission of the sacred heart

 

Taken from 'A New World Record',this is the story of aliens landing outside a branch of the Salvation Army and judging our planet on what goes on there. The bass and lead guitars complement the string arrangement so well here.

 

Edited August 26, 20186 yr by King Rollo

It's A Sin, is epic in every modern sense of the word. I also have a soft spot for The RAH Band, Clouds Across The Moon is cheesy but it's sci-fi, so what's not to love :lol: The Crunch topped my charts in 1977, I loved it to bits.

I haven't heard The Crunch for a very long time. I shall listen to it later.

It's a Sin is one of the best songs of 1987, sounds very epic and I really liked it when I first (iirc) heard it being played on the radio about 10 or so years ago.

 

Clouds Across The Moon is indeed rather cheesy and rather different for the time, as most disco songs were more energetic than this by 1985. It's a nice enough song anyway!

 

One Vision is one of Queen's best 80s songs I think. I thought I was mistaken when I thought they said 'fried chicken' at the end but clearly not!

 

It hadn't occurred to me until I watched this video that the song is about sperm.

 

:mellow:

 

Carpet Crawlers is a lovely ballad anyway! When I heard it on one my dads CD's I assumed it was referring to dust mites or something that would live in a carpet!

Edited August 28, 20186 yr by TheSnake

265. Stairway To Heaven - Far Corporation (1985)

 

 

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow,don't be alarmed now

It's just a spring clean for the May queen

 

I hope there are no Led Zeppelin fans on here,they would be outraged that I prefer this version of 'Stairway To Heaven' to the original. The arrangement is fairly similar but I like the addition of a choir and the big drum sound and the singer does a decent job as well. The original is good enough to be somewhere in my top 1000 but I chose not to include both versions. Far Corporation were put together by Frank Farian,the man behind Boney M and Milli Vanilli. This reached number 8 but is not the highest charting version of the song,that honour goes to Rolf Harris.

 

 

264. Statues - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (1980)

 

 

I can't imagine

How this ever came to be

 

From OMD's second album 'Organisation',one of their melancholy early songs but beautiful at the same time. One of the youtube comments says it was about Ian Curtis from Joy Division. I don't know whether that's true or not.

 

263. One Step Too Far - Faithless (2001)

 

 

If the sun or the moon would give way to doubt

They would immediately go out

 

With another guest appearance by Dido,this got to number 6. The single was actually a remix and I prefer the original album track but I'm putting the single on here as it has a video.

 

262. Taxi Taxi - 10cc (1983)

 

 

Leave us alone we don't wanna go home

Put your chairs on the tables

We can let ourselves out when you've gone

 

10cc were well past their peak when they released the 'Windows In The Jungle' album and it didn't sell many copies but it's one of my favourite albums by them. It's a loose concept album based on life in a city. 'Taxi Taxi' is the last track on the album and has a three minute instrumental outro which is the highlight of the song.

 

 

263. One Step Too Far - Faithless (2001)

 

Wasn't sure if I knew this one, (I am more familiar with Faithless' other big hit from 2001, 'We Come 1'), but listening to 'One Step Too Far' now, it sounds familiar. I notice it has the distinctive 'organ house' production in the verses. Very nice chilled dance tune anyway!

Edited August 28, 20186 yr by TheSnake