| Product: |
Top 10 Singles |
| Date: |
05.01.07 (296 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Advantages of having a Top 10? A top 20 would have taken me all day to write
Disadvantages: Squeezing it down to just 10 was almost impossible
As soon as I saw this discussion in Speaker's Corner, I knew I had to write it.
Why, oh why, did I begin this impossible quest? I have over 3,000 songs in my iTunes library, and that's even with some getting lost along the way.
Do I choose a list of well-known songs so that you can understand where I'm coming from? Do I include any songs from my teenage goth days? (Ok, I am 22, I was only a teenager 3 years ago, but as I am no longer a goth - at least on the outside - I can look at those days with retrospect). Do I only list songs that will make me look credible? Do I even remember which songs are actually singles, and can I be cheeky enough to suggest some album tracks if they are, in fact, better than the singles?
Eventually I decided that this is meant to be a Top 10 of the best ever singles. To me, best means iconic, influential, pioneering, and emotive - regardless of whether it is favoured by many. Without being cliched. So here is my painfully collated list of the top 10 best singles (or perhaps songs, if they are not actually singles....)
1. LET IT BE - THE BEATLES (1970)
Well, come on, there had to be a Beatles song in there somewhere didn't there?? And what could be better that the title track of their 12th and final album? As a wee young thing, I was brought up on Beatles songs as my Dad is a huge fan and massive music lover, which is where I get my passion for music from. My Dad even bought me an iPod two years ago and had "To play Sgt Pepper" inscribed on the back, as a way of persuading me to listen to them. The Beatles music is so fantastically 60s and yet so ahead of its time. I chose Let It Be because it is a truly inspiring, beautiful song and shows The Beatles at the height of their musical maturity.
2. LOVE WILL TEAR US APART - JOY DIVISION (1980)
Even though I was just a sinful thought in my Mother and Father's minds until 1984, I am a lover of real 80s music. And I don't mean The Bangles. Joy Division, New Order, Depeche Mode, The Cure - this sort of 'underground' 80s music that suddenly sprung into the mainstream. I think this is one of the Top 10 singles because it was so unique for the time. The title is so troubled yet so poignant.
3. BLUE MONDAY - NEW ORDER (1983)
If Joy Division were on here, how could New Order not be? Following the suicide of JD front man Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner joined the remaining members and formed New Order. Who on this Earth over the age of 14 has never heard that drum intro? Even if only through Kylie's 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' remix (which was a brilliant merge of the two songs, I must add!). Not only was this the highest selling 12" of all time, this song is held responsible by most critics for the wave of electronica that followed in the 80s. My boyfiend was 12 years old when this song was released (slight age gap between us, moving along...) and told me that he just stood in the middle of the room, listening to it, transfixed. He had never heard anything like it before. Thus began his life-long love of New Order. Bernard can't sing, he can't dance, he's was never a New Romantics pinup.... but wasn't that the whole point?
4. THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT - THE SMITHS (1986)
The Smiths are one of my all time favourite bands, and this is my favourite song by them. It reminds me of when I was a teenager, sitting in my room and listening to this song. I love the fact that I didn't get into to the Smiths until about 14 years after this song was released, yet it was still fresh, whilst being vintage enough not to be mainstream. They were political, cool to listen to, because nobody else in my school had a clue about music, except for the teacher that lent me the album with this song on it! I love Morrissey's witty cynicism. Right down to the fact that they are called The Smiths in mockery of bands with more flamboyant names, which Morrissey found pretentious. My boyfriend and I love the Smiths so much, we have called our cat Morrissey! I sincerely hope the The Smiths' light never goes out.
5. STOP! - ERASURE (1988)
"bang bang bang bang bang.... WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN! I'VE BEEN WAITIN FOR A LONG TIME! WE'REGONNABE, WE'REGONNABE TOGETHER AGAIN!..." I had heard of Erasure when I was growing up, but as I was only 4 years old when this single was released, I wasn't exactly their target audience. Although, if I had a 4 year old, I think it would be hilariously cute to teach them the words and dance 'routine' to this song. Note for the future. Fabulously gay, fabulously pop, fabulously cheery, fabulously fabulous. I went to see Erasure for the first time at a small venue in London (thank God they are still playing the small venues... unlike New Order who apparently 'hate London', and will only play one night in crappy Wembley. Not a good move guys....) I did not know their songs with the same 'drummed into me since I was 18' passion that my boyfriend and best friend had, but I can honestly say it was one of the best gigs I have ever been to. Andy Bell did a gradual costume strip throughout the gig, and ended up in a pair of pants and fairy wings. Fabulous.
6. LOVE SONG / LOVESONG - THE CURE (1989)
Bringing it down to a more heterosexual and, I might add, sombre level. The Cure are one of my all time favourite bands. Again, I was only 5 years old when this song was released, but due to an infatuation with an older woman who kept lending me CDs, I discovered The Cure. Not to everyone's taste, and not so widely acclaimed as New Order, but in my mind one of the truly great bands of the 80s. My personal preference is for their earlier works, such as Boys Don't Cry and 10:15 on a Saturday Night, as it has that fantastic raw sound. This is a truly beautiful song, with the lyrics 'whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am home again'. Perfect.
7. SOMEDAY - THE STROKES (2001)
In my opinion, the band that started this wave of 'new indie' or 'emo' - whatever you want to call it. Arctic Monkeys, Libertines (not sure how I managed to bring myself to put them and the Strokes in the same paragraph), White Stripes, The Hives, Franz Ferdinand etc etc - they all came from this whether they want to admit it or not. Last year, I lived on the ground floor of a student house in Birmingham. My housemates were always out during the day, and I was left home alone due to my beautifully sparse Psychology timetable. I looked on my iTunes 'most played' list. I had played this song 107 time in a month. Enough said.
9. PLUG IN BABY - MUSE (2001)
It was SO difficult choosing the best song from this band. They are truly amazing. I remember when their first single was released and critics called them 'a poor boy's Radiohead'. I followed them from the very beginning, seeing them play live 3 times. In fact, the only reason I have only seen them 3 times is because they play in such large stadiums, which I hate. Having said that, boy can can they play to a stadium. They were voted Best Live Band of 2006 and I am not surprised. They are truly fantastic, worlds apart, incredibly talented and they seem to stand alone in their genre at the moment. I cannot think of a band to compare them to or who compares to them. Whilst I have songs I prefer to Plug in Baby, I chose this song because it was possibly their breakthrough single, and is one of the most catchy.
10. THE PRAYER - BLOC PARTY (T.B.R. JAN 2007)
Now, looking to the future! I will be seeing Bloc Party for the 5th time in February. They are one of the most unique bands of last year. I do love that real bands are back, but found them a little samey. Bloc Party are never samey. Bloc Party are a chaotic, heavy, soft, engaging, charming, exciting, talented and lively. I was going to choose their first single, Little Thoughts, which is NOT on the Silent Alarm album. My boyfriend and I discovered them one night at about 5am, before anyone else had heard of them, whilst watching MTV2. A fantastically cheap, studenty, bright video for Little Thoughts came on. We went to see them live at a tiny dive of a place in London (which made it so much better). I chose Prayer instead of Little Thoughts because I feel it epitomises everything that Bloc Party are: it starts out chaotically, freeflow, bouncing around, then demonstrates an emotive and simply beautiful melody in the chorus. This is what modern music should be about - inspiring people, moving people, changing the mood of people; changing the way modern music is.
Summary: What are your thoughts?
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