I thought you would like the ABC song. :music:

Indeed, ABC seemed to be more experimental in this period. I like 'A to Z' on that album too which I discovered when Brett Butler played it on plug.dj because of 'howdy disco citizens' being in it.

Catching up again!

 

Wishing (IIHAPOY) is a great throwback - those synths are sounding amazing!

I downloaded a lot of Les Rhythmes Digatales songs - Sometimes isn't ringing any bells though, not as punchy as some of the others but still a very good song!

God Only Knows is a classic, not sure how I fell about it although it is quite nice :D

Jar of Hearts I feel is a bit overrated, I am growing to like more of the slower-sounding songs so I might change my mind on it!

Silent Running feels timeless as well, instantly catchy and something I'd love to see in the charts nowadays

The Sunshine Underground was one of those I thought 'what on Earth' when I first heard it on the album aged about 6 or so but I did like it in a weird sort of way.

Everybody Wants To Rule the World is another great song with a great message.

Oh and Insomnia of course :music: Which gets stuck in my head whenever I'm laying in bed awake :P

Insomnia :wub: A proper dance classique and one of my faves of that era too.

 

Also love RAMelia, it's a real beauty of a song. :heart: Emotional trance at its best.

Thanks for the comments guys. :)

232. Slave To The Rhythm - Grace Jones (1985)

 

 

Axe to wood,in ancient time

Man machine,power line

Fires burn,heart beats strong

Sing out loud,the chain gang song

 

Trevor Horn originally intended this song to be Frankie Goes To Hollywood's follow-up to 'Relax' but it was kept for Grace Jones instead. You can tell he spent a lot of time on it with lots of attention to detail on each part of the song. Many other versions were recorded and a whole album of them was also released. Grace Jones memorably performed the song on Terry Wogan's chat show with her face covered up until the "and now,ladies and gentleman,here's Grace" line towards the end. She also performed it for the Queen in 2012 while hula hooping.

 

231. Uninvited - Freemasons featuring Bailey Tzuke (2007)

 

 

Like any unchartered territory

I must seem greatly intriguing

 

The Freemasons' dance cover version of the Alanis Morissette song from 1998. I love the middle eastern sound to the instrumentation. Bailey Tzuke is the daughter of Judie Tzuke who was at number 321 on my chart with 'Stay With Me Till Dawn'. You can see the resemblance.

 

 

230. Homeworld (The Ladder) - Yes (1999)

 

 

It's what keeps us so alive

It's what makes us realise

Our home is our world,our life

 

Another track from Yes' 18th album 'The Ladder'. This was written after Yes were asked contribute a song for the PC game 'Homeworld'. The lyrics are based on the game's science fiction themes.

 

 

229. I Feel Love (12 inch single) - Donna Summer (1977)

 

 

Produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte,this is possibly the most influential record ever. Over 40 years later,it still sounds so current. There have been different remixes done since but the original 12 inch version is the only one worth listening to.

 

 

“Insomnia”, “Slave To The Rhythm” and “I Feel Love” - all stone cold classics! I feel like these will be a regular occurrence now as we enter your Top 200.

Both the song and video of Slave To The Rhythm are very different.

 

Of course 'I Feel Love' is brilliant, especially that 12 inch version, incredible for its time.

228. I Grieve - Peter Gabriel (2002)

 

 

This flesh and bone

It's just the way that you were tied in

Now there's no one home

 

From Peter Gabriel's seventh album 'Up',a beautiful song with some emotional lyrics. I like the way the tempo change after five minutes coincides with the grieving character in the song going out of his house onto the street where everyone is going about their business as usual.

 

 

227. Fear Satan - Mogwai (1997)

 

 

A sixteen minute instrumental from Mogwai's debut album. It's basically the same guitar chords repeated throughout the first half of the song accompanied by some frenetic drumming and then for the last seven minutes,the same notes are played on the flute. The whole thing is quite mesmerising. I heard it being played late at night on Radio 1 at the time it was out. It's still the only song by Mogwai that I'm familiar with,I keep meaning to listen to some of their other albums some time now that I have Spotify.

 

 

226. Setting Sun - The Chemical Brothers (1996)

 

 

You're the devil in me I brought in from the cold

You said your body was young but your mind was very old

 

With Noel Gallagher on vocals,this was the first of the Chemical Brothers two number 1 singles. I like the vast array of sounds on this,at the time I'd never heard anything like it. It does bear a resemblance in some parts to 'Tomorrow Never Knows' by the Beatles.

 

 

Love “Setting Sun” - I think Noel was a big fan of the Chemical Brothers and Exit Planet Dust so this collaboration made huge sense and given the Oasis mania at the time was a certain but very welcome instant #1 hit!

Yes,it was so experimental I don't think it would have been a number 1 if someone else was singing it.

225. Give Me Back My Heart - Dollar (1982)

 

 

Angels are watching you walk in your sleep

Count the minutes that fly by the fences you leap

 

A soppy pop ballad I have always loved which is down that genius whose name keeps appearing on my commentary,Trevor Horn. His production here is excellent particularly the second half of the song. It's five minutes long so it rarely got played in full on the radio,missing the wonderful multi-tracked acapella bit at the end. Even the video cuts it off but someone on youtube has kindly dubbed the full song with the Top Of The Pops excerpt and then the performance at the Trevor Horn tribute concert from 2004 so David and Thereza age 22 years during this clip. This was one of three Dollar singles to peak at number 4,their highest chart position.

 

 

224. Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward (1978)

 

 

Through autumn's golden gown we used to kick our way

You always loved this time of year

Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now

 

A top 5 single for Justin Hayward from Jeff Wayne's 'The War Of The Worlds'. While I knew the song from 1978,I didn't buy the album until about 15 years ago so it was only then that I understood the lyrics within the context of the story. The main character is searching for Carrie and finally finds her escaping an England controlled by Martians on a boat while he is left behind. So it's the full eight minute album version I have chosen with Richard Burton's narration added to Justin's great vocals.

 

 

223. Summer And Lightning - Electric Light Orchestra (1977)

 

 

Here it comes again

It's all around me

It must be magic

 

Side 3 of the 'Out Of The Blue' double album is the Concerto For A Rainy Day which is made up of four songs. This is the third of them. Jeff Lynne wrote all the album's songs while staying in a chalet in Switzerland where he was inspired by the regular torrential rain. The song is based around the acoustic guitar with the ever present string section,some keyboard effects,soaring vocals and a nifty instrumental break.

 

 

222. Five O'clock In The Morning - Godley & Crème (1977)

 

 

It's 6 o'clock in the morning

You're only half awake

The other half is shaving

And the toothpaste is like a snake

 

After leaving 10cc,Godley & Crème recorded an ambitious triple concept album with Peter Cook providing the voices of the characters in between songs. With the emergence of punk rock,the album was a critical and commercial failure and I have never heard it. Since I started buying albums in the 80s,I have never been able to find it. It was never re-issued and is not on Spotify. This song was a single so it has appeared on some of their singles compilations and I first heard it just a couple of years ago. It's a fine ballad with some layered vocals similar to those in 'I'm Not In Love'. Despite this performance on Top Of The Pops,the single failed to make the top 75. In the 70s,it was quite common for records that were outside the chart to be included in the programme.