70. Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper (1984)

I remember seeing Cyndi Lauper for the first time on ‘Top Of The Pops’ when ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ was released and I though she was definitely going places! I have a number of her records in my collection but it is ‘Time After Time’ that I love the most.

With the rise of the ‘pop video’ in the 1980s and the start of MTV where suddenly everyone was making great videos to be shown round the clock on the music channels it suddenly became harder to divorce a song from its promo video and enjoy it without being reminded of the images. This is one such song as every time I hear it I am also reminded of the wonderful video that goes with it where poor old Cyndi is living in a Trailer Park having adopted a fierce red hair colour and radical new style but feels compelled to get the train to somewhere more exciting! I also have a version of this song by ‘Everything But The Girl’, which was on their ‘Covers EP’ and is also a wonderful version however the original is Cyndi’s and it will remain forever one of my most favourite songs.

Now Listen to the song and watch that video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9LBKh3SzhM

69. See My Baby Jive – Roy Wood (1973)

What is there to say about Roy Wood and Wizzard except that they are truly amazing!!!

Growing up in the Glam Rock Days of the 1970s, wearing flares and long hair to school and watching ‘Sweet’ and ‘Marc Bolan’ on ‘Top Of The Pops’ has given me a taste for all things dramatic and you don’t get much more dramatic than this.

I love the very ‘full’ and ‘loud’ sound of Roy Wood’s songs (and like ELO and Phil Spector’s music as well which both have a similar massive use of instruments and dense texture) and this is one of my personal favourites. It is just so loud and wonderful and that’s about it.

Now listen to the song…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHNdQJPmTRU

68. Run – Leona Lewis (2008)

To say that I love this song by Leona Lewis would be an understatement. Leona Lewis is an example of a genuine talent discovered through the medium of the ‘reality’ tv competition who would probably have gone undiscovered had it not been for that medium.

I must admit that as an actor the rise of ‘reality’ tv was something that I suspected would lead to a significant lowering of quality on television and a massive reduction in quality television programmes especially drama which has indeed turned out to be the case, but the concept of a music based talent show has always been around (I remember ‘Opportunity Knocks’ and ‘New Faces’ to name but two when I was little) and it is one arena where a real opportunity is given for some people to shine. Both Susan Boyle and Leona Lewis are examples of this!

This is a wonderful song and Leona has a wonderful voice.

Listen to the song….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2LgqJvp8U

67. ABC Auto Industry – Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (1983)

This reminds me of going to see OMD perform at the De Monfort Hall in Leicester in 1983 when I was 15. I had loved OMD previously and had a number of their singles including ‘Enola Gay’ and ‘Maid Of Orleans’ in my collection and loved the fact that their songs were often about really odd things like the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb, Joan of Arc and Oil refineries and now robotics.

1983 saw the release of the album ‘Dazzle Ships’ which heralded a new departure for the group as they started to use radio recordings, samples (with the help of the Emulator which was ground breaking at that time) and more and more unusual sounds as the basis for their songs. This song is a comprised of various samples looped with spoken dialog played over the top. I was in the bar at the side of the De Monfort Hall (getting a coke – honest!) when the concert started and the opening number was ‘Dazzle Ships Part II’ which for those who have the album will remember was a recording of a very loud alarm rather like the sort of warning sound you might hear in an emergency on a ship or submarine. Once that had finished one of the band switched on a tape recorder and played this song as I made my way to the front of the hall to get a better view.

This is probably the weirdest song in my collection but it has a simplicity and collection of unusual loops and sounds that I love. It is an acquired taste however.

Listen to the song….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6k-teIKSus

66. Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes – Paul Simon (1986)

I first heard Paul Simon’s ‘Gracelands’ album when I bought it in the local record shop in 1998 some twelve years after it was released. When we were students we had a CD of Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits which we played regularly when we lived in Loughton and Hackney and then Loughton again but I didn’t have any of Paul Simon’s solo albums until I saw this on ‘special offer’ and bought it.

I remember the album’s release and seeing the video for ‘The Boy In The Bubble’ and hearing ‘Call Me Al’ on the radio but it was only when I listened to the whole album that I discovered what a wonderfully crafted and totally brilliant record it actually is. I listened to it during 1998 on my way from Loughton to Romford, where I was working at the time, on my Walkman, and on that long and tedious journey sometimes I closed my eyes and could feel the warmth and joy of the music as I travelled.

This song is my favourite one on the album as it combines the wonderful music of Africa with Paul Simon’s unique voice and style to reveal a song that is truly wonderful. Hope you like it.

Now listen to the song….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OafqYNCzq5U

65. The Killing Moon – Echo and The Bunneymen (1984)

I remember hearing this for the first time in 1984 when ‘Echo and The Bunneymen’ appeared on ‘Top Of The Pops’ and we had just taken delivery of our first video recorder! I remember eleven years earlier, during the summer holidays, we had been at my granny’s house and my mother read out an article in the paper saying that within ten years we could expect to see the domestic video recorder and every home could record and playback television programmes whenever they wanted.  As we watched a repeat of ‘Doctor Who and The Sea Devils’ on my granny’s black and white PYE TV, the concept of colour tv and video seemed a million miles away, but more or less by 1983 the domestic video recorder was available. Naturally they were very expensive and so we had hired ours from Granada!

Our shiny new video machine came with two tapes one of an hour’s duration and one three-hour cassette. Having pressed the eject button and watched the cassette casing shoot up and hungrily await my tape. I put it in and did a test recording of ‘Top Of The Pops’ and recorded this song, which was in the charts that week. I was now able to watch and replay my favourite songs as much as I wanted! It was amazing.

I still have the original recording of that episode, transferred it to DVD and watched it recently as my son Oliver also loves this song and wanted to see it. We often play this is in the car and I listened to it on the way to work today as well.

Now listen to the song….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX1PwkgwsG0

64. No Honestly – Lynsey De Paul (1974)

I remember seeing ‘No Honestly’ which was a television sitcom starring John Alderton and Pauline Collins being advertised on the television and this song (being the theme song) was played in the background. I don’t ever recall watching the actual show but when it was on in 1974 we had just gotten a colour television (on account of Princess Anne’s Wedding) and so we were watching more tv than ever before.

Both my parents loved ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ which was on a Sunday Night and it seemed to me that John Alderton and Pauline Collins were in just about everything. They had been in ‘Upstairs Downstairs’, had their own spin off show and they were in this too, so there was no escaping the pair of them on tv!

I remember Lynsey De Paul appearing for Britain with Mike Moran in the Eurovision song contest in 1977 and will always remember that the conductor was wearing a bowler hat and conducted the orchestra with his umbrella which I thought was truly wonderful! I must admit that I am a big fan of Lynsey De Paul and when I discovered that she had her own website and you could download her music from there I downloaded a number of her songs including ‘Rock Bottom’ the 1977 Eurovision entry and this one! I often play it on the way home from work…

Now listen t the song…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz06eCFF-oI