offshorepoolie wrote:
20 REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL - IAN DURY AND THE BLOCKHEADS
Reminds us looking at the lyrics in Smash Hits and getting about a third of references. Apart from being obviously brilliant, it mentions Wee Willie Harris [ah! - slightly less ignorant Creamup ed] which must be unique.
Ian dury, crazy talented guy who would never have been chosen for a boy band.
offshorepoolie wrote:
19 AIRPORT - THE MOTORS[/b]
Fab skinny-tied new wavery with the second-best piano break ever and ace "dit dit dit" backing vocals. Edges out follow-up Forget About You, which sounded like the theme from Grandstand.
A class song in its day. Incredibly catchy which is what a pop song needs.
offshorepoolie wrote:
18 COME UP AND SEE ME (MAKE ME SMILE) - STEVE HARLEY AND COCKNEY REBEL
Brilliant from start to finish, this, especially that lolloping acoustic intro, the ace "bah bah bah" backing vocals, and of course that false ending. Neatly enough, covered on the b-side of no22.
One of the true classics of all time
offshorepoolie wrote:
17 MR BLUE SKY - ELO
Everybody's starting to demand recounts by this stage, but ELO scrape in at a lowly no17. Still utterly majestic, mind, just for the way it stops at 3:43, rocks out, goes all mellow and comes back again dead melancholy and melodramatic. Ought to be the national anthem.
Shite!
offshorepoolie wrote:
16 NOBODY DOES IT BETTER - CARLY SIMON
Nobody, we hope, is arguing there's ever been a better Bond theme. Note the sublime, throwaway mention of the film's title (The Spy Who Loved Me) three-quarters of the way through. Goldfinger my arse!
Zzzzzzzzzzz..........
offshorepoolie wrote:
15 ROCK ME AMADEUS - FALCO
Like Buggles, now derided as novelty fodder but with added Eurocheese, however in actual fact it's a truly great pop single - manic, amusing and timely. And the basis for the Simpsons' funniest musical parody as well. Now dead.
Odd with a capital s
offshorepoolie wrote:
14 BUFFALO STANCE - NENEH CHERRY
Millions of nominations for this, irritating the Creamup ed who wanted to sneak Manchild in instead. Padded bras, sucking beer through straws etc etc. Face it, you knew every word back in 1988.
Nope!
offshorepoolie wrote:
13 OUR HOUSE - MADNESS
By our reckoning they had at least a dozen candidates for this chart, but this rowdy-parpy signature kitchen sink mini-epic just about nicked it.
Madness have to be in anyones top song list even if you don't like them.
offshorepoolie wrote:
12 ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS - DAVID BOWIE
It's one thing being all thin and influential in Berlin (the city, not the authors of no28). Dancing atop a giant typewriter is another.
Shite!
offshorepoolie wrote:
11 THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV - A-HA
Practically everyone voted for the Nordic high-cheekboned Saturday Superstore staples, interestingly. Sun edged out evens fav Take On Me, on account of its thrilling epic swooshy grandeur and a chorus nicked by U2.
Shite!
offshorepoolie wrote:
10 STAND AND DELIVER - ADAM AND THE ANTS
The music cognoscenti (and Jo Whiley) might laud the early punky stuff, but c'mon, it was the chandelier-swinging, panthers and Diana Dors era that everyone really loved.
Great in its time but does not age well.
offshorepoolie wrote:
9 INSANITY - OCEANIC
The soundtrack to a million mid-90s college balls.
No idea what this one is
offshorepoolie wrote:
8 PARTY FEARS TWO - THE ASSOCIATES
So your mum might have thought she could sing better than Billy McKenzie, but really this was as swoony and melodramatic as perfect 80s pop could get. Did lengthy service as theme to SDP-era R4 satirefest Week Ending too.
Did anyone work out what the fook he was singing about ?
offshorepoolie wrote:
7 LEFT TO MY OWN DEVICES - PET SHOP BOYS
Gets our vote for the one essential PSBs offering. All the necessary subject matter present and correct of course - drinking tea, shopping etc.
Never leave these two to their own devices. Especially if you're a gerbil.
offshorepoolie wrote:
6 DUEL - PROPAGANDA
Truly ZTT's finest four minutes, and yeah, there is some competition for that title. But Duel storms it courtesy of that exultant piano break. Did lengthy service as theme to the Lombard RAC Rally on BBC2 too.
Top class electronic eighties pop.
offshorepoolie wrote:
5 THE STORY OF THE BLUES - WAH!
Poor old Pete Wylie, he wrote one of the great 80s anthems (and did it again with Sinful three years later) but did anyone ever thank him for it?
Complete Shite!
offshorepoolie wrote:
4 THE LOOK OF LOVE - ABC
"And all my friends just might ask me, they say, 'Martin...'"
When was the last time one of the lads turned to you at the match, placed his hand on your shoulder and said in a soothing voice 'maybe one day you'll find true love' and you replied 'say maybe' Behave yourself Martin. A wonderful album of pop songs but again, a product of its time.
offshorepoolie wrote:
3 VIRGINIA PLAIN - ROXY MUSIC
Knowing ritzy sci-fi decadence and ever-so-slightly-too-complicated-back-of-a-Gitanes-packet lyrics never, erm, sounded so good.
Not their best but still undeniably classy.
offshorepoolie wrote:
2 HEART OF GLASS - BLONDIE
Majestic swirly I Love NY disco with throbbing synths ahoy, and of course, that tricky time-sig middle-eight. But the winner is...
Anything by Debbie Harry in that red dress will do for me.
offshorepoolie wrote:
BRITAIN'S NUMBER ONE
DON'T YOU WANT ME - THE HUMAN LEAGUE
The returning officers have counted all the votes, our independent adjudicators have ratified the result and a hush falls over TVC Towers as the pulsating cinematic pop meisterwerk, Don't You Want Me, is declared the real greatest single of all time by a whacking great margin. Sadly, Phil and The Girls can't be with us this evening, but fortunately Paul Morley is on hand to make an entertaining if diverting speech about how the group were "a bit like if Abba had come from Sheffield".
I hate this song with a passion but you can't deny it is synonomous with the early eighties.
And no sign of Bohemian Rhapsody my Mr Glasses will be pleased!!
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