Juke Box Jumble (Top 10 Singles)

Member Name: fruitcake

Product:	Top 10 Singles
Date:	23/04/01 (327 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good tune can carry a lot of power, from getting people up and dancing to drawing awareness to the world’s wrongs and making a start on righting them.

Disadvantages: Too many good tunes seem to have the power to send my mascara packing.

“What’s up?” We’re cruising along on the open road, and my husband has just noticed that I’m indulging in what I imagine to be a discreet blub.

“You know how easily I can get sniffly listening to music.”

“Yes, but… Meatloaf?”

There are the odd exceptions, but music for me generally has to have the kind of beat that gets people up and moving, and has to be low in the ‘sob factor’. Like everyone else, my favourites vary according to the mood I’m in, but the following will probably always be up at the top somewhere.

‘The girls need a break… tonight we're gonna take… the chance to get out on the town’

10. Nearly everyone has got one – the track that has you on your feet and showing yourself up faster than you can say of the night before ‘Oh no! I didn’t did I?’ Shania Twain’s 1997 number ‘Man! I feel like a woman’ has this effect on me, and unfortunately I’m a repeat offender. I’m most decidedly not a fan of country music, but I’ll make an exception for Shania, who’s in a league all of her own, especially with this song, which accurately describes what *really* goes on in women’s heads when we hit town. More than just an education for the guys who think we’re only out ‘on the pull’, it’s full of energy and is a real ‘feel good’ record. Shania’s official website is at http://www.shania-twain.com/

‘Here's to you - raise a glass for everyone… here's to them, underneath that burning sun…’

9. Okay, I suppose there had to be one weepie here somewhere, and this is it. Released in 1984 by Band Aid, sixteen years later ‘Feed the World’ still has the power to send me reaching for the Kleenex. In spite of this, the sound of so many voices united in a common c
ause is quite uplifting, and the story behind it is certainly a heartening one. The single was written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise cash for victims of Ethiopian famine, though around forty well known performers ultimately collaborated in its recording. It spawned the idea for a massive global concert, and ‘Live Aid’ was beamed into homes throughout the world. It’s not something I could listen to every day, but it demonstrates the astonishing power music can generate when put to a good use, and marks an incredible point in history when the population of the planet all seemed to speak the same language for just one day. The entire project raised in excess of one hundred million dollars (wow!), and you can learn more about it at http://www.herald.co.uk/local_info/live_aid.html

‘There is nothin' safe in this world… And there's nothin' sure in this world’

8. Former Generation X front man Billy Idol invites us to shotgun nuptials in his 1982 hit ‘White Wedding’, recently given a new lease of life after its inclusion in the soundtrack of the film ‘The Wedding Singer’. Aided and abetted by hyper-animated drummer Gregg Gerson, Billy put in a performance that had been filed down a fair bit around the corners compared to work he did in earlier years, but he’d lost none of the exuberance and passion common to the punk pioneers who changed the face of the music industry in the late seventies after close on a decade of glam rock. These days, Billy is still kept pretty busy on both sides of the Atlantic, and you can find out what he’s up to at http://www.billyidol.com/

‘Lays me down, with my mind she runs… throughout the night… no need to fight…’

7. When ‘Golden Brown’ hit the charts in 1991, each night would see it getting radio airplay just as I was burning supper. On the one occasion that nothing was actually
cooking, the familiar smell of frying was explained when I spotted man-at-the-time’s underpants sizzling on the airer in front of the fire. Apart from it’s curious properties as a smoke alarm, this single is probably the most well known of a varied selection of offerings by The Stranglers. Best described as ‘mellow’ (at least in comparison to the stuff I usually enjoy) ‘Golden Brown’ appeared on the album ‘La Folie’, and sees Hugh Cornwell and the rest of the multi-talented ‘meninblack’ in an unusually dreamy mood. Catch up with the band at http://www.stranglers.net/index.html

‘I got up to wash my face… when I come back to bed, someone’s taken my place’

6. ‘Cecilia’ first showed up on Simon and Garfunkel’s 1970 album ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. Years later, it was regarded as a bit of a cult song where I went to college, and often the days would find us happily singing it together, while the nights found us arguing about lyrics which we were suddenly too drunk to remember. Featuring the lively drumming of which I’m so fond, and more recently covered by Suggs (Madness), ‘Cecilia’ apparently grew quite by accident from a tape recording of Paul’s brother banging on a bench, and I still go through periods where I play the original until it’s raw. I wouldn’t call the sound typical of the duo, but you can decide for yourself by hopping over to http://www.legendsofmusic.com/SimonandGarfunkel/

‘I can't see the things that make… true happiness, I must be blind’

5. The year was 1970, and a ‘Paranoid’ Black Sabbath were searching for the meaning of life, blessed with Ozzy Osbourne’s unmistakable lunatic and ebullient style. While for the most part still finding favour with the following Sabbath had already acquired, ‘Paranoid’ was an unexp
ected commercial success too, and introduced legions of new fans to the Metal genre. As much ‘in yer ear’ole’ yelling as anything that could actually be described as singing, the vocals are backed by forceful bursts of guitar and some explosive drumming. Newcomers to all things ‘head-banging’ could do worse than start here. Seek out the mighty Black Sabbath at http://www.blacksabbath.com/

‘Every move is a plan, you can measure this man… by the depths of his lies…’

4. Manchester outfit James are (in my Opinion, at least) the greatest band in the world. Taken from their 1992 album ‘Seven’, once David Baynton-Power kicks in on the drums ‘Next Lover’ is much bouncier and frenetic than the lyrics might suggest. The track illustrates the lengths men have been known to go to in order to sleep with celluloid starlets, on the strength of a desire based on nothing more than notions of fame and fantasy. The message is not wasted on me as I fantasize over sexy vocalist Tim Booth. Honest… The official James website is at http://www.jamestheband.com/ and is good for recent information, but I’ve always preferred the site which now stands sadly neglected at http://james.wattyco.com/

‘The sun that makes the day, that lights the way… and when that star goes by, I hold it in my hands and cry…’

3. Just imagine - The Damned penning a slushy lyric to love gone wrong! Well, in 1986 they did. The result, ‘Eloise’, got to number two in the charts, and is anything but slushy. Dave Vanian’s powerful voice is carried along by the frantic chords typical of the band to produce a dramatic plea from a heart darkened by loss. It’s slightly haunting, but even I’d have a job to sob-along to this one. The Damned are a versatile band, and the ‘punk’ and ‘goth’ labels that have been slapped on them at
various times don’t do justice to the full range of their abilities. Find out more about them from http://www.officialdamned.com/

‘When you've your hands upon me… and told me who you are…’

2. Making the first of many appearances in 1983, ‘Blue Monday’ by New Order is another of those records that I find it impossible to sit still to. Soulful vocals keep pace with a catchy beat that fire the listener up with so much energy that I’ve found it makes an ideal backing to one of the nation’s most indulged in behind-the-scenes activities. Housework. The 12” format that the single was originally released in means that it’s possible to clean the entire downstairs floor of my house as it plays, or an ‘attacked by three kids’ kitchen on a bad day. ‘Blue Monday’ is another single to have been resurrected by ‘The Wedding Singer’. The band have had several incarnations, of which New Order is the last. They can be found at http://www.neworderonline.com/

‘Aaaaahh… aahh… aahh… aahh… aaaahh… ah… aaaahh’

1. The nearest thing to a lyric in Cozy Powell’s ‘Dance with the Devil’ sounds like several people repeatedly having their tonsils examined in unison, but the amazing former Whitesnake/ Black Sabbath drummer is letting rip with the sticks at his finest, on the track that made his name. Released in 1974, this is my all time favourite single for getting ‘down and wild’ to. It’s particularly effective when parked up in the darkness on a Somerset cliff-top, surrounded by hordes of bemused bunnies as the waves crash beneath you. Sadly, Cozy Powell was killed in a car accident in 1998, but you can find out more about the man and his music at http://www.cozypowell.com/index.html

And there it is, my top ten singles. Most seem pretty dated because these days I
217;m in to more local bands that have yet to make an impact on the music scene, but everything should still be widely available. Mind you, I always thought Tchaikovsky could knock up a pretty mean number too, but that really *is* going back a bit…

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