84. Here Comes The Flood - Peter Gabriel (1977)

 

 

The jaded underworld was riding high

Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky

 

Peter Gabriel thought that this song from his debut solo album was over-produced by Bob Ezrin and he re-recorded it with just a piano for his greatest hits collection but I prefer the original version. It has a couple of false endings,just when you think it's finishing,it springs into life again.

 

83. The Race (12 inch mix) - Yello (1988)

 

 

On the fast lane of the street I'm driving

Sometimes,somewhere,I'm arriving

Every day and every night

 

A top 10 hit for Yello and their best known song and I've chosen the full fourteen minute version from the 12 inch single. DLT was a big fan of it and was allowed to play it in full on his weekend show on Radio 1 several times. The song has been used on many TV programmes and films including 'Nuns On The Run'.

 

 

82. Paranoid Android - Radiohead (1997)

 

 

When I am king you will be first against the wall

With your opinion which is of no consequence at all

 

The twelfth and final song by Radiohead on my chart and it's what I would regard as their masterpiece. Despite being six and a half minutes long,it was chosen as the first single from 'OK Computer' and became their biggest hit,reaching number 3. Named after Marvin the Paranoid Android from Douglas Adams' 'The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy',it's made of up of four sections which were originally written for seperate songs. The choral section from 3.30 to 5.35 is my favourite part. It also has this crazy animated video.

 

Paranoid Android is a really well made track and from their greatest era too, glad that made it in your top 100!

81. High Hopes - Pink Floyd (1994)

 

 

The grass was greener

The light was brighter

 

From the piano and church bell at the start to the guitar solo and orchestra at the end,this is a beautifully arranged piece of music. Taken from 'The Division Bell',it was the last of their six top 30 singles. The lyrics are an autobiographical account of Pink Floyd's career.

 

80. November Rain - Guns N' Roses (1991)

 

 

So never mind the darkness

We can still find a way

'Cause nothin' lasts forever

Even cold November rain

 

I'm not a fan of Guns N' Roses at all but I love this song with it's epic,symphonic,rock sound. Why stop at one guitar solo or two when you can fit three in? At nine minutes long,it's the longest song ever to reach the top 10 of the US singles chart. Axl Rose started writing it as early as 1983. This video,which cost about $1 million to make,has recently gone past the 1 billion youtube views mark. It's the first video from the 20th Century to do so.

 

79. That Was Close - The Art Of Noise (1984)

 

 

To be in England

In the summertime

With my love

Close to the edge

 

This is the cassette single version of the Art Of Noise's top 10 hit 'Close (To The Edit). It's a twenty minute continuous medley of six different mixes of the song. It still sounds cutting edge now. Trevor Horn was working with Yes the year before and the track samples two of their songs,'Leave It' and 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart'. The title also comes from another Yes song 'Close To The Edge'. The full version is not on youtube but if you are part of the BJSC,you will now be familiar with eight minutes of it.

78. Steppin' Out - Electric Light Orchestra (1977)

 

 

Don't know where I'm going

Gonna see the world

Gonna be somebody

 

Another track from the 'Out Of The Blue' album. Once again,there's great use of the strings and choir to supplement the main melody. It's difficult to find anything new to say about these ELO songs now. They're just great songs. The vinyl issue of the album included a cardboard cutout of the spaceship that's shown on the cover which you could fold over to make a model. As I have only bought the album on cassette and then CD,I never had the opportunity of making the spaceship.

 

 

 

77. Fresh Air For My Mama - 10cc (1973)

 

 

You been tossin' and turnin' through soft sticky nights

While the Bronx below you fights to stay alive

 

A great ballad from 10cc's debut album. I love the vocal harmonies on this one as well as Kevin Godley's lead vocal. It's a reworked version of a Hotlegs (Godley,Creme and Stewart) song called 'You Didn't Like It Because You Didn't Think Of It' which was the B Side to their number 2 hit 'Neanderthal Man'. At three minutes long,this is the shortest song in my top 100.

 

I thought 'The Race' sounded familiar when previewing, then realised it was the basis of this Avicii album track :o

 

 

'Salva Mea' is another good Faithless song though I much prefer 'Insomnia', it does its job better.

 

How many more ELO songs are left then? :lol:

Oh yes,I can spot the bassline in there. :)

 

There's a few more ELO songs to come.

76. The Gates Of Delirium - Yes (1974)

 

 

Soon oh soon the light

Ours to shape for all time,ours the right

The sun will lead us

Our reason to be here

 

A 22 minute epic taking up the whole of side 1 of the 'Relayer' album. For this album,Rick Wakeman was replaced on keyboards by Patrick Moraz who brought more of a jazz/funk sound. The Gates Of Delirium is based on War And Peace. It's made up of three distinct sections. The first one is a mixture of vocals from Jon Anderson and guitar solos and is reasonably unremarkable,but then eight minutes in comes the amazing,feverish instrumental section,representing a battle,which includes the group members banging on used car parts they had picked up from a nearby scrapyard. Finally,fifteen minutes in,comes the stunning,heavenly,final section,representing peace,which is the most beautiful section of music in Yes' entire back catalogue.

 

75. In The Cage - Genesis (1974)

 

 

Stalactites,stalagmites

Shut me in,lock me tight

Lips are dry,throat is dry

Feel like burning,stomach churning

 

From the same year,another prog rock classic. I am too young to have bought these albums when they came out. They must have sounded great to the record buyers at the time who wanted something a bit more challenging and inventive than the three minute pop songs that were in the singles charts. This is the highlight of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' with Peter Gabriel's vocals combining so well with the keyboards,guitars and drums.

 

74. In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins (1981)

 

 

Well,if you told me you were drowning

I would not lend a hand

 

Phil Collins' signature song. This is the album version in which the drums don't come in until the famous drum break at 3.40. The head of Atlantic records suggested that they come in much sooner for the single release so a restrained drum sound is there from the start on the single. The murder of John Lennon prevented the song from reaching number 1 as 'Woman' was at the top of the chart on the week that 'In The Air Tonight' was at number 2.

 

Edited October 31, 20186 yr by KingOfRolloween

73. Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack (1991)

 

 

How can you have a day without a night

You're the book that I have opened

And now I've got to know much more

 

A trip hop classic which has topped many favourite song polls,this was released as a single under the name Massive to avoid a radio ban as the Gulf War was going on. I love Shara Nelson's vocal here along with the string arrangement. The group were forced to sell their car to pay for the orchestra. The video,filmed in one continuous take on a Los Angeles street,is also iconic.

 

72. Radio Ga Ga - Queen (1984)

 

 

You had your time you had the power

You've yet to have your finest hour

 

After the disappointing Hot Space album in 1982,it was great to see Queen return to form two years later with a fantastic lead single from their album 'The Works',written by Roger Taylor. I love the intro to this one in particular and then all the synth sounds supporting the anthemic melody to the song. It reached number 2,being kept off the top of the chart by Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'Relax'.

 

71. The Great Escape - Marillion (1994)

 

 

Don't ask me why I'm doing this,you wouldn't understand

You're asking the wrong questions,you couldn't understand

A bridge is not a high place,the fifty-second floor

Icarus would know,a mountain isn't far to fall

 

I'm still seething at this masterpiece finishing 26th out of 28 songs in a BJSC semi-final. How did that happen? H puts in one of his finest vocal performances,singing the heartbreaking lyrics with such emotion. I also love the flute solo and orchestral section towards the end of the song. The original vinyl release of the 'Brave' album has a double groove after this track,one leads to seven minutes of water noises while the other provides a happy ending with the song 'Made Again' where the girl doesn't jump off the bridge,instead returning to the family home.

 

70. Cry - Godley & Creme (1985)

 

 

You don't even know how to say goodbye

You make me wanna cry

 

The excellent video for this song seems to have been removed from youtube. I've seen it on there before. All that remains is this rather poor copycat version which seems to feature the faces of somebody's family and friends (and dog). As for the song itself,Kevin Godley's vocal and Trevor Horn's production are both wonderful and this should really have charted higher than number 19.

 

 

The original video:

 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zd24

69. I Live In A Suitcase - Thomas Dolby (1992)

 

 

They say travel broadens the mind

So I went over the falls in a barrel

And I found the North Pole,and a field of ice

And in a land of dreams I found you

 

Another track from Thomas Dolby's fourth album 'Astronauts & Heretics'. I like the piano and guitars on this one and the overall production is fabulous.

 

 

 

Hi Rollo, and phew! The final batches coming up!

 

Sorry Ive been away a while, but caught up now. There are about 50% of the last 150 I don't actually know :o

 

Of the rest loving all the under-rated ELO and 10CC album tracks, they were often like "Greatest Hits" collections to me, not a bad track on them. I've just bought a 5-CD collection of early ELO albums so at long last I have Face The Music, hooray!

 

Of the ones I especially love there are two categories:

 

Those that don't make my all-time Top 850 on "sales" eg chart performance:

 

Faithless (both Insomnia & Salva Mea, though like you I prefer Salva Mea which topped my charts)

Grace Jones (I too adore Trevor Horn productions, just impeccable)

Freemasons (though they appear in my charts with other songs)

Chemical Brothers Setting Sons (topped my chart)

Massive Attack (teardrops & the brilliant Unfinished Sympathy)

Moody Blues (Question)

Art Of Noise (Moments In Love)

Royksopp/Susanne Sundfor

OMD (Joan Of Arc)

Pet Shop Boys (It Couldnt Happen here, another band that do albums of "Greatest Hits" for me where every track is great)

Manfred Mann's earthband (Blinded By The Light was kept off the top of my charts by a 10-week run of Dancing Queen)

Korgis (Everybody's Got To Learn sometime) just beautiful

Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush (gorgeous)

Yello (Of Course I'm Lying) also beautiful

ELO (Wild West Hero)

Elbow - a classic!

Dire Straits - Private Investigations is their best track by far

 

 

which leaves those that have sold a "million" and feature in my own charts. No comments as I'll save it for when I continue my rundown :lol:

 

Tears For Fears (Sowing & Rule The World)

Phil Collins (Air Tonight)

Queen (Gaga)

Donna Summer (I Feel Love)

Godley & Creme (Cry)

Moody Blues (Nights In White Satin)

KLF (America)

Pet Shop Boys (It's Alright/Left To My Own Devices/Suburbia)

Tubeway Army

David Guetta/Sia

ELO (Confusion)

ABC (The Look Of Love)

OMD (Souvenir)

Abba (The Day Before You Came) - I see this as a beautifully melancholic story of the ordinariness of daily life until one day when meeting someone changes everything and underlines how you weren't really living till that moment. I was doing a dull factory job after 2 years of being on the dole when this came out, and it spoke to me in volumes - apart from the happy ending. I don't know how anyone can interpret it as murder! The drudgery of the beat, the low-key melody (which all were highly criticised when it came out) are the whole point of the song about love changing everything. Not you get stuck in a rut and then you get murdered! :lol:

 

Some of the above (5 of 'em) are in my top 100 of all-time based on chart performance. I reckon you will have named about 40% of my top 100 by the time you finish! :)

 

And finally, one I didn't expect to see here: Dollar! :o Jaw hits floor. I actually have a huge soft spot for Dollar records, despite David Van Day's predilection to try and hijack a more successful pop band name, and making me sit through a torturously cringe-worthy Stage farce he was starring in. Dollar don't feature in my top 1000 though if they did I would opt for Hand Held In Black & White, Mirror Mirror, Videotheque, Shooting Star or Who Were You With In The Moonlight. They are all fab pop singles! Not to mention the pure cheese of the fab There's A Whole Lot Of Lovin' as part of Guys & Dolls (both Thereze and Van Day).

 

There I've admitted it now.... :lol: