My top tunes! (Top 10 Singles)

Member Name: yackers1

Product:	Top 10 Singles
Date:	26/11/08 (323 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brings back so many memories

Disadvantages: _________________________

There have been so many good singles that choosing a top 10 is a really difficult task. I find that music brings out so many emotions and affects different people in different ways. It is difficult to pinpoint what makes a song good. Rather than the music or the lyrics, I think that it is what the song means to each individual. The place where you first heard it, what you were doing at that time, who you were with and your state of mind all make a good song great, and it is the memories of these great songs that stay with us.

Because of this I think that a top 10 is a very personal thing and in this review I have tried to capture the greatest songs for me.

1) Oasis - Whatever

I have been an avid fan of Oasis for years, although I am not too keen on their more recent stuff (from Hindu Times onwards), and one of their singles had to appear in my top 10. With so many classics from Cum on Feel The Noize (I know it was a B side), Masterplan, Cigarettes and Alcohol, Don't Look Back in Anger and many others it has been a nightmare deciding which one would make my list. After much deliberation, it had to be Whatever.

Whatever was the song the Year 11's of 1997 (of which I was one) walked out of the school leavers assembly to with the lyrics "Free to be whatever I , whatever I choose and I'll sing the blues if I want". This song was played over and over at the leavers bash that evening and we never got bored of it.

Because of the lyrics this song seemed appropriate but little did we know that they are not true once we had grown up!

It is still a classic song though and holds many memories for me.

2) Blur - Song 2

I was never really a Blur fan and always supported Oasis during the Blur V Oasis battle back in the mid nineties. I always saw Blur as a boy band that played instruments and was loved by screaming girls. I did not appreciate how good their music really was.

Song 2, the second song of their album lasting for two minutes, which had to be second in my list. This is a great catchy song with some really good lyrics, although I still do not know what a Mojet is and will probably never find out.

During the summer of 1997, the summer I left school, I went to the V97 music festival at Chelmsford Park in Essex. Blur headlined that festival on the Saturday night and whilst they were really good the only song that sticks out in mind is the second song of their set, Song 2. Being part of such a large crowd jumping (you couldn't really call it moshing) and screaming away with the lyrics is a memory I won't forget.

3) Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up

I can remember seeing the Prodigy at Tiffany's in Great Yarmouth back in 1995 when I was 14 years old. Back then Keith Flint was a dancer and their tunes contained very few (if any) lyrics. Later on Keith was to move to a vocalist, but kept a hand in the dancing, and the songs started containing much more lyrics.

I love the Prodigy and whilst Fire Starter is one of my favourites I could not select it in my top 10 because Smack My Bitch Up holds more memories for me, even though I do not like the title.

The Prodigy headlined the V97 festival on the Sunday night and their opening track was Smack My Bitch Up. I remember all the lights going out and everything was plunged in to darkness and the intro started. The Band ran on the stage, the crowd pushed forward (we were lucky or unlucky enough to be right at the front against the barrier), the stage lit up and the fun began. It is one of those indescribable moments where you had to be there. It was amazing.

4) Green Day - Basket Case

In my opinion Green Day are the ultimate punk band and Basket Case, being their best tune in my opinion had to make my top 10. The lyrics, the guitar rifts, the energy when it was being played all make this an all time great, although it is a bit of an angry song.

I have only ever walked out of one job, and it was a pub where I had been a waiter for four years (whilst at school and college) so to tell the boss where to go was quite liberating. I was a bit steamed at the time so driving home I listened to Basket Case and it made it all OK.

5) Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone

This is my song of the summer of 1999, the time between leaving sixth-form college and starting work. I had a job lined up for September, I had saved some cash up (so didn't need to work over the summer months) and it was a holiday of pure fun where I did what I wanted, when I wanted.

I was lucky enough to have my own car and had the freedom to go anyway I pleased.

This is a dance tune with limited lyrics and a repetitive beat, and like all the best songs it is simple and uncomplicated. I found it an infectious tune and it was played so many times on my CD player that I must have worn the disc out (MP3s weren't even thought of back then).

In my opinion this is a classic dance tune that holds so many memories of that summer. I have had the Alice Deejay ring tone on every mobile I have owned since the song was released through the mono tone to the polyphonic tones to the real life/MP3 tones of today, and whilst it may not be my current tone it still sits in a file on my Blackberry and is used for my alarm.

6) Mario Winans - I Don't Want To Know

I am a great fan of R&B and I first heard this song on the Island of St Vincent in the Grenadines whilst on holiday back in 2006. I had never been to such an amazing place the almost clear Caribbean sea, the volcanic black sandy beach (whilst not as pretty as white sands (most of which are imported) it is a lot warmer), the mountains, the lush vegetation, the friendly people, the food everything about this place. I was captivated for a full two weeks and this song was being played everywhere.

The song is about a man who had found out that his girlfriend had cheated on him but he didn't want her to confess, deciding to brush it under the carpet. The lyrics are ok, and P Diddy (who is the executive producer of the song) even makes a guest vocal appearance. It is a classic R&B love song.

It was released in the UK about a month after I got back from St Vincent and, just as I predicted went straight to number 1 in the UK charts.

7) Puff Daddy ft Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You

Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Sean John whatever he calls himself this bloke is a rap and R&B legend. He used to be the lead vocalist but he now produces and makes guest vocal appearances.

This song is Puff Daddy (as he was known when this was released) taking on the lead vocal and rapping to the music of Every Breath You Take by the Police, with Faith Evans singing the chorus.

Other than the chorus, the lyrics are all original and the song is dedicated to Biggie Smalls, Faith Evan's late husband, who was tragically shot dead when the East Coast rap v West Coast rap gangs were having a 'turf' war. This ultimately led to the shootings of two of the best rappers ever, Biggie Smalls and Tu-pak Shakur. How people can be killed over music amazes me, but it took the death of these two men to get a truce called.

Whilst I like the Police version I think that this is so much better. It is based on real life and experiences and describes an ever lasting friendship (both in life and after death) which is really deep.

8) William Orbit - Adagio for Strings

In my opinion classical music pieces with a dance beat added don't mix, however, this one does. This is Barbers classic piece which has been tampered with and remixed by William Orbit to produce the most haunting dance tune ever.

Whilst it has been around for a few years I first heard this on my one and only club 18 - 30 holiday in Playa Das Americas, Tenerife in 2006. We were at a foam party (really good fun but it is something I would only do once since it made my eyes sting, it made me itch and it made my shirt rub on my nipples!) and this tune came on. It starts off as a classical piece (as it was meant to be) before the dance beat is slowly introduced.

Starting quietly it builds to a crescendo before tailing off again. It is Pure brilliance.

This song holds many good memories and when I hear it the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, even today.

9) Alice Cooper - Poison

I enjoy a good power ballad and Poison is my favourite of all time. The music is great and the lyrics about a woman, clearly out of bounds, being described as something that could kill you is genius.

This is a true driving anthem and I find that when this is on my radio, the volume cranks up, my right foot goes down and the speedo increases.

10) Diana Ross - When You Tell Me That You Love Me

There have been loads of love songs and tear jerkers over the years and one of these had to make my top 10.

Again, it was a difficult choice, but it has to be When You Tell Me That You Love Me by Diana Ross. In my opinion, this is one of the soppiest love songs of all time and played at every family disco (as well as in some of the bars and clubs in Norwich believe it or not) and this was the song playing when I had my first slow dance with my other half.

There we are, that's my top across all the genres I listen to. Thanks for reading.

Summary: The top 10 singles that have helped to shape my life, well almost.................