Blue Monday is brilliant, one of the best songs of the 80s.

38. Burning Rope - Genesis (1978)

 

 

You're old and disillusioned now as you realise at last

That all you have accomplished here will have soon all turned to dust

 

Taken from '...And Then There Were Three...',the first Genesis album recorded after the departure of Steve Hackett. This left Mike Rutherford take on the lead guitar role but you wouldn't know he was new to it based on his superb guitar solo on 'Burning Rope' from 4.00 to 5.10 which I don't think he has bettered on subsequent albums. The song was written by Tony Banks. Its intro is another highlight.

 

'Blue Monday' is great indeed, and sounds incredible for the time.

37. There Goes The Fear - Doves (2002)

 

 

Think of me when you close your eyes

But don't look back when you break all ties

 

This was released as a single and then deleted on the same day but still managed to reach number 3. I wonder if it could have got to number 1 if it had been out for the whole week. Oasis' 'The Hindu Times' and Nsync's 'Girlfriend' were above it in the top 3 that week. We will never know. This is the album version which is a couple of minutes longer than the video/single version. I love the guitars and drums on this,it's a standout indie anthem.

 

There Goes The Fear was such a surprise here! I still love that song!

There Goes The Fear was such a surprise here! I still love that song!

I thought you'd like that one.

 

36. I'm Mandy Fly Me - 10cc (1976)

 

 

She led me,she fed me

She read me like a book

But I'm hiding in the small print

Won't you take another look

 

Eric Stewart's idea for this song came from seeing a tramp looking at an advertising poster of a beautiful air hostess inviting him onto her plane with the slogan "I'm Cindy,fly me". With the name changed to Mandy,he wrote the song with Graham Gouldman. They weren't quite happy with it until Kevin Godley came in and added the wonderful faster paced instrumental section in the middle. The intro includes a sample of an earlier 10cc song from 1974 called "Clockwork Creep" altered to sound as if it's playing on the plane's in-flight audio system. While I know 'I'm Mandy Fly Me' from when it was out as a single,I didn't come across 'Clockwork Creep' until the 80s so it was a surprise to me when I heard it in full that I already knew part of it.

 

35. Do Well - Propaganda (1985)

 

 

The first cut won't hurt at all

The second only makes you wonder

The third will have you on your knees

 

This is the full twenty minute version of Propaganda's biggest hit 'Duel',which got to number 21,made of different mixes of the song,which I know from the cassette single. Parts of this are much rougher and aggressive when compared to the smoothness of the 7 inch version which was played on the radio. It's all produced superbly by Stephen Lipson and the section from 10.30 to 11.05 sounded extraordinary on the stereo speakers of the system I had just purchased. Up to 1985,I had only heard music on radios or record/cassette players that had one speaker.

 

 

 

34. Domino - Genesis (1986)

 

 

Sheets of double glazing help to keep outside the night

Only foreign city sirens can cut through

Nylon sheets and blankets help to minimise the cold

But they can't keep out the chilling sounds

 

An eleven minute song from the 'Invisible Touch' album divided into two parts,'In The Glow Of The Night' and 'The Last Domino'. Tony Banks wrote the lyrics,setting the story in a Beirut hotel room after bombs start to fall on the city at the start of the Lebanon War. I remember an interview at the time on the radio with Phil Collins in which he said that only Tony Banks would think of putting words like "sheets of double glazing" or "nylon sheets and blankets" into the lyrics of a song. Instrumental parts of the track were used quite frequently by the BBC on their Grandstand sports programme.

 

33. Close To The Edge - Yes (1972)

 

 

Close to the edge,down by the river

Down at the end,round by the corner

Seasons will pass you by

 

An 18 minute epic taking up all of side 1 of the 'Close To The Edge' album. Quite unusually for a song of this length,it has a chorus which is repeated several times throughout the song. The highlight is Rick Wakeman's legendary church organ solo from 11.50 to 13.50 which he recorded on the pipe organ at the splendidly named St Giles-without-Cripplegate church in the City of London.

 

Doves and, of course, New Order in general. I entered The Perfect Kiss to BJSC once, it’s amazing :wub:

Yes,I noticed The Perfect Kiss finished second from bottom in a spin off. What were the voters thinking? :angry:

32. 21st Century Man - ELO (1981)

 

 

Though you ride on the wheels of tomorrow

You still wander the fields of your sorrow

 

The best song from 'Time',the first album I bought. There's a definite John Lennon influence on this one. I like how literal this unofficial video is,with a picture to illustrate almost every word of the song.

 

31. No Connection (Demo Version) - Sophie B Hawkins (1999)

 

 

I'm feeling the strings of your rejection

Kneeling in the wrong direction

Sealing my heart to your neglection

Revealing no connection

 

The seventh and final song on my chart by Sophie B Hawkins. This was a bonus track on the 2001 re-release of her 1999 'Timbre' album which was the version I bought as I hadn't got round to buying the original CD and that's just as well as I would never have discovered this demo version of 'No Connection' which is so much better than the completed studio recording. I love the acoustic guitar sound on this and Sophie's raw live vocal. As you know by now,I like a good,polished,multi-layered production but in this case,less is more.

 

Edited November 21, 20186 yr by King Rollo

'Close To The Edge' is great, the organ solo is good but my favourite bit is the more radio-single-friendly sounding bit from 3:34 to 7:40 which sounds great for 1972.

 

I like 'I'm Mandy Fly Me', which I have heard before, quite a sad song though considering the lyrics about a plane crash.

30. Budapest By Blimp - Thomas Dolby (1988)

 

 

In the face of a tragedy too bleak to know

The death of some grand illusion

All the treasure we pilloried,splendour we stole

They never told you that in school

 

Thomas Dolby's third album 'Aliens Ate My Buick' was not well received as he had changed musical direction but it did throw up this gem of a song which is my favourite from him. At almost nine minutes long,it's the longest song he recorded. The bassline is recycled from one of the songs he wrote for the soundtrack to the film 'Gothic' in 1986. Apart from a loud guitar solo,this is a fairly laid back song with a great production and I like the use of the two female singers and the choir at the end.

 

35. Do Well - Propaganda (1985)

 

It spent 3 weeks at #21 too and they never had a Top 20 hit. Excellent track - the short version is on my playlist for the wedding I'm DJ-ing at ! : )

I hope the wedding guests will enjoy it. ;)

29. Two Tribes (Keep The Peace) - Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984)

 

 

If your grandmother or any other member of the family should die whilst in the shelter,put them outside,but remember to tag them first for identification purposes

 

This is the fifteen minute version of 'Two Tribes' from the cassette single which consists of various mixes put together including Patrick Allen's narration from public information films on how to survive a nuclear war. The song was first performed in 1982 for a John Peel session on Radio 1 long before Trevor Horn got involved with the group. When it was finally recorded and released,it spent nine weeks at number 1,the longest running number 1 single of the 80s,helped to stay there by ZTT releasing different 12 inch singles every couple of weeks. It remains one of the most memorable songs from the 80s.

 

28. 24 Hours - 10cc (1983)

 

 

Letter box noise,snapping the day into life

Newspaper boys,cutting the mist like a knife

We're beginning to rise

Curtain up,the drama begins

 

The third song on my chart from 10cc's under-rated 'Windows In The Jungle' album. This is the eight minute opening track which they also released as a single without reducing its length. I remember Richard Skinner playing it in full on his Radio 1 new releases show but I don't think it would have had much radio airplay,especially as 10cc were considered to be past their prime at this stage,and it only got to number 78. The lyrics are a day in the life of a city,delivered by Eric Stewart's great lead vocal.