THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES....
Every one of these songs means something to me. Whether it's a lyric, a harmony, a chord change or a memory attached to it, these 10 songs all deserve to be in my Top 100 for one reason or another.
This list is flawed. The songs are just about perfect. But as expected, and as predicted by some of you, this task is daunting and will no doubt haunt me. What have I missed? Can I really include (insert song title) and not (insert song title)? Nevertheless, after considerable thought, and relentless editing, these songs make the cut.
These songs are sequenced in optimum playing order, not by rank.
We are down to the Top 100. Now, we have a ball game.
100-91
Not Where It's At- Del Amitri
Having only been a casual Del Amitri fan up to this point, "Some Other Sucker's Parade" took me by surprise. They always had a way with melody, but on this album, it was as if they found 100 hooks sitting in a power pop safe for good keeping. I wouldn't be lying if I said, "Not Where It's At" is one of ten best power pop songs ever written.
Hurt- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Why this out of all of Petty's gems? That intro, with that suspended chord for starters. I always say "Pinball Wizard" has the most exciting intro ever recorded on a rock song, and "Hurt" is right up there, as well. But also, the way the band hesitates as Petty sings "And we both know it's too late to save it..." also gives me chills. This is the sound of The Heartbreakers!
Walk On By- Dionne Warwick
How can you pick just one Bacharach/David song? You can't, but this ain't a bad one if you had no choice. It has it all.
Listen, Listen- Sandy Denny
Harmony, harmony, harmony. This track and performance is majestic.
Into The Mystic- Van Morrison
I am pretty sure this was Bill Graham's favorite song of all time. It's definitiely my favorite Van song of all time.
Old Town- Phil Lynott
I've always thought Phil Lynott was a brilliant vocalist. He is just as expressive singing an Irish folk tune as he is a balls out rocker. As his health declined, so did the power in his voice, but he then made up for it with heartbreak. This is a beautiful pop song, with great harmonies, a "Penny Lane" horn solo, and the killer line "This boy is cracking up. This boy has broken down." Gets me every time.
Brief Candles- The Zombies
I had a friend who was obsessed with this song. He'd say, "Just the beauty of those two words together make this a classic." I loved that. And he's right. "Brief Candles." Say it. The title alone is worthy of the Hall Of Fame.
1952 Vincent Black Lightning- Richard Thompson
If you are a RT fan, then you probably love this track. If you're not a RT fan, I implore you to listen hard to this one. This is an epic on par with "Gone With The Wind," only Thompson does it in a little over 5 minutes.
Until The Night- Billy Joel
Billy does the Righteous Brothers. The template was already there, but even if you detest Billy Joel, you should be able to hear a stellar production with a killer vocal. What a crescendo!
Comfortably Numb- Pink Floyd
One of my favorite guitar solos of all time, not to mention Gilmour's best melody.
15 comments:
Heeeerrreee we go!!
Great start with this list!
Randy
My next 10! Only one of Sal's is somewhere on my list this time.
(A bit more about how I came up with my list, I broke the top 100 into sets — my top 15 (ranked), then rough groupings of 16-25, 26-50, 51-75 and 76-100. There’s not really a ranking of the songs within those sets, so this is still alphabetical by artist.) In looking at this set, it’s a bit all-over-the-place as a playlist, but I’m now getting into the meat!)
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey — Paul & Linda McCartney (the only McCartney on the list and one of the few songs by any Beatles — solo or as a group — in my 150 — which I wouldn't have guessed. I could go on at length about what McCartney/Beatles songs did *not* make my list, but maybe another day. There's just something about the transition that I love.)
West End Girls — Pet Shop Boys
Magic — Pilot (this was one of those songs exploded off my a.m. radio and I love the chords)
I Was Made To Love Her — Stevie Wonder (this was another surprise that *this* was the song of his that ended up on my list when all was said and done…)
Don't Leave Me This Way — Thelma Houston (you can’t deny that bass line)
The Boys Are Back In Town — Thin Lizzy
That's Not My Name — The Ting Tings (Really? Yes, really! The live performance of this hook-filled song on Saturday Night Live blew me away.)
Africa — Toto (Yes, I’m also serious about this. It’s dynamic. It has killer harmonies and there’s no irony in how much I love this song.)
Sing — Travis (First heard this on Glen Campbell’s covers album and tracked down the original and loved it ever since then.)
That Thing You Do — The Wonders. (If you are going to play a song 10 times in a movie, it better be a good one -- and this is.)
Care Of Cell 44 — The Zombies (I was late to the party with three albums: "#1 Record" by Big Star, "Forever Changes" and “Odyssey & Oracle” But the first time I heard this song was one of those “where has this song been all my life?” moments for sure.)
"If you are going to play a song 10 times in a movie, it better be a good one -- and this is."
Hear hear! Well put.
Great list, Sal. Some Other Sucker's Parade is on my list of Perfect or Near Perfect records of all time. Walk On By is a song that enters my head and gets stuck almost monthly. Petty's Hurt is a fine choice also. I used to sing Breakdown with my garage band way back when. Petty has a lot of sneaky stand-outs in his output. I never heard Listen Listen until The Continental Drifters (a great neglected all-star band) did it on their tribute to Fairport Convention.
Hard work, this list of yours. Some many songs, so many decisions.
I was very happy to see this new installment. A very fine assortment of tunes. It'll make for a nice meal.
.
That Del Amitri song is beyond gorgeous.
Fantastic new set of songs. Thank you.
The Del Amitri song feels like it's in my wheelhouse, so I'll check out the album. :-)
I'm so happy to see Walk on By on your list. Such a gorgeous song. Into the Mystic, as well.
I agree: this is a fantastic group of tunes. The Del Amitri song is one of my faves as well, and 1952 Vincent Black Lightning even more so. Am I the only one who hears a bit of Allman Brothers in the intro to Hurt? (I mean that as a compliment, needless to say.) As for Van Morrison, I'm sure this will be an unpopular take, but I much prefer Moondance to Astral Weeks.
Marc
Into The Mystic is the only Van song I'll listen to since Van went, well, into the mythtic.
Check out Zac Brown band's live melding of Free/Into the Mystic. A fave of mine. Zac Brown ain't yur momma's country.
Warwick, Denny, Petty, Thompson, all good stuff. And Lynott's heartfelt song; who can resist joining in with the "Ola!" two minutes in? Thanks for sharing. Cheers!
Yeah!!! Thanks for this continuing list - it's been a lot of fun to receive in this laid-back, 10-course meal kind of way.
A wonderfully diverse list. A lot of stuff I love and now a few new ones to check out Marc, I think both Moondance and Astral Weeks are obvious peak Van Morrison. They feel so different w Astral being late night and jazzy while Moondance is open and joyous and so why choose? I guess I'd rank Astral higher but they're both classics and it would be too cool for school to love Astral and diss moondance.
I think "Astral Weeks" is overrated.
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