Catching up with the last few pages... I'm totally here for Running To The Sea ( :wub: ), Sprawl II, Bizarre Love Triangle, Rabbit In Your Headlights, Left To My Own Devices, Unfinished Sympathy, Woman In Chains, Born Slippy, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Salva Mea, No Cars Go, The Ballad Of Sleeping Beauty, Accelerate, Paranoid Android, One Day Like This, Hey Boy Hey Girl, Waiting For The Night and Never Let Me Down Again

 

The latter of which I have a version I made that condenses the Split mix to eight minutes as I find the breakdown and build up goes on for just that bit too long on the full version.

Thanks Dandy,some great picks there. :)

52. The Perfect Kiss (12 inch single) - New Order (1985)

 

 

Pretending not to see his gun

I said let's go out and have some fun

 

The first New Order single that was also on a studio album at the same time (Low Life). On this full version of the song,the lead vocal stops after four minutes and you then get the multi-layered synths and guitars that make up the fantastic outro. Hi-NRG was quite popular around this time and there is a Hi-NRG sound to a lot of the instrumentation here.

 

51. Dreaming While You Sleep - Genesis (1991)

 

 

I will never be free all my life

Trapped in her memory all my life

Till the day that you open your eyes

Please open your eyes

 

A dark,powerful song from the number 1 album 'We Can't Dance'. It's about someone who accidentally runs a woman over in his car and doesn't stop at the scene. While the woman lies in a coma,he doesn't own up to what he's done. Phil Collins utilises his big drum sound to full effect on the chorus and also puts in one of his finest vocals.

 

50. Carousel - East India Youth (2015)

 

 

We heard the sound,creaking aloud

A crooked frame circling us

We strained to learn

Just how it turned around

 

William Doyle a.k.a. East India Youth has just two songs on my chart but still manages to get one of them into the top 50. I was unaware of him when I first heard this song played on 6music but instantly fell in love with it. It reminds me of OMD's 'Stanlow' in its sound. It starts quietly and builds up gradually as it heads towards the cascade of synths at the end.

 

49. Music - John Miles (1975)

 

 

To live without my music

Would be impossible to do

'Cause in this world of troubles

My music pulls me through

 

A six minute single which reached number 3. John Miles had four top 40 hits but this is the one that he will always be remembered for. There are lots of changes in tempo and an array of different instruments including an orchestra and choir. The lyrics make this a music fan's anthem. John came close to representing the UK in Eurovision when he finished 2nd in the Song For Europe contest in 1990.

 

48. Grendel - Marillion (1982)

 

 

Hounds freeze in silence bewitched by the reptile spell

Sulphurous essence pervades round the grassy dell

Heorot awaits him like lamb to the butcher's knife

Stellular heavens ignore even children's cries

 

This was on the B side of the 12 inch version of Marillion's debut single 'Market Square Heroes'. As it precedes their first album,it's the first long song they recorded,clocking in at 17 minutes. It's influenced by 70s prog rock,Genesis in particular,and has been disowned my most Marillion fans but I still like it. Grendel is the monster from the epic story 'Beowulf' which was written more than 1000 years ago.

 

Edited November 13, 20186 yr by King Rollo

47. Twilight - ELO (1981)

 

 

It's either real or it's a dream

There's nothing that is in between

 

From the album 'Time',this should really be heard with the short prologue that precedes it so this clip includes both tracks. There are some strings on 'Twilight' but they are kept well in the background on the production as Jeff Lynne was moving ELO away from their familiar 70s sound. This is a great fast paced pop song but it only got to number 30 when it was released as a single.

 

46. Sex Born Poison - Air (2001)

 

 

Meet my desire sensors

My atom juice of joy

You want to fuse my affective circuits

 

The seventh and final song on my chart by Air and the fifth from '10000Hz Legend'. Vocals on this one are by the Japanese group Buffalo Daughter. There's an ethereal quality to the song,it really sounds like it's from another world.

 

That New Order song 'Perfect Kiss' I don't remember hearing before but it sounds like another great dance tune from them! It's a pity it wasn't much of a chart hit.

Edited November 14, 20186 yr by The Snake 🐍

45. Routine - Steven Wilson (2015)

 

 

Routine keeps me in line

Helps me pass the time

Concentrate my mind

Helps me to sleep

 

Steven Wilsons's heartbreaking song about a mother grieving after her husband and two sons have been killed in a school shooting. The video for it fits the lyrics and music so well and is probably my favourite music video by anyone. The track features vocals from Ninet Tayeb and a school choir. The last couple of minutes are particularly poignant.

 

That New Order song 'Perfect Kiss' I don't remember hearing before but it sounds like another great dance tune from them! It's a pity it wasn't much of a chart hit.

Yes,it should have gone top 10.

44. I Am Waiting - Yes (1994)

 

 

Highways,stairways

Many ways

To be open tonight

 

An anthemic song from the 'Talk' album. It contains one of the best guitar riffs ever.

 

43. Somewhere In Hollywood - 10cc (1974)

 

 

He's out on the patio

With his polaroid and scenario

 

From 10cc's second album,'Sheet Music',and written by Godley & Creme,this was their homage to the golden age of Hollywood. I like the varied musical arrangement and the lyrics.

 

42. Tell Me There's A Heaven - Chris Rea (1989)

 

 

Oh every night a baby dies

And every night a mama cries

What makes those men do what they do

To make that person black and blue

 

From Chris Rea's number 1 album 'The Road To Hell' comes this beautiful song covering a difficult subject. I didn't really notice it at the time but I've come to appreciate it subsequently. I love the orchestration here and Chris' emotive vocal.

 

41. Blue Monday - New Order (1983)

 

 

I see a ship in the harbour

I can and shall obey

But if it wasn't for your misfortune

I'd be a heavenly person today

 

The best selling 12 inch single of all time. It was influenced by late 70s dance and electronic music but also went on to influence some of the music that would follow it in the rest of the 80s. The elaborate record sleeve cost so much to produce that Factory Records lost money on each copy sold.

 

Gutted Blue Monday has just missed out on your all time top 40! It's a fantastic track, possibly my favourite of the whole decade.

Sorry about that! :P It's one of the songs that regular viewers of my countdown knew would be appearing at some stage.

40. Windpower - Thomas Dolby (1982)

 

 

Switch off the mind and let the heart decide

There is no enemy

 

Thomas Dolby's first top 40 single and the first time I became aware of his music. This is his memorable TOTP debut but not his first appearance on the show as he had played the role of Johnny in the video for the number 1 single 'It's My Party' by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin which was shown less than a year before. I don't think the shipping forecast at the end is sampled from Radio 4. As John Marsh is credited on the sleeve notes,I'm assuming he came in to record it especially for the song. It's most likely sampling anything from a BBC broadcast would be difficult to get a permit for.

 

 

 

39. Fire On High - Electric Light Orchestra (1975)

 

 

The opening track from the 'Face The Music' album. It's an instrumental with a spooky intro which includes one of the secret backward messages that got ELO into trouble with Christians in the USA thinking that they were about the Devil. In this case it's Bev Bevan saying "The music is reversible but time is not. Turn back. Turn back. Turn back. Turn back." I did consider entering this into the recent Halloween spinoff but only the first 90 seconds is spooky,the rest is just a great combination of acoustic and electric guitar,strings,drums and the choir.