30 - 21 (My 100 top tunes)

30 Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd 29
I've never bought into the whole 'Dark Side of the Moon is the greatest Floyd album ever' nonsense. I much prefer The Wall, and have done for as long as I can remember. Sometime in the 90s however I started to really appreciate Wish You Were Here (the album). It was a toss up between Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here as to which song to include on this list. It is possible, though I would not admit it to his face, that my University housemate Jamie may have indoctrinated me by playing this song over and over. Whatever the truth is, this is a fantastic song that glides majestically like a swan on a river over honey. And this, despite the memory of Jamie singing "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl" being burned forever on my mind

29 2 Of Us - Beatles new
I only 'discovered' this song a couple of years ago. It's a lovely little song. It's very simple, with a delightful melody and pleasing harmonies. It is a perfect nugget of whimsey, and what sealed it for me was the clip of Lennon before it starts saying "I dig a pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids. Phase One, in which Doris gets her oats." (not on this video clip though) Errant nonsense but somehow appropriate.

28 Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen 28
This is quite possibly the greatest song ever written. So why, I hear you cry, is it languishing at number 28?  It is glorious, subtle, brash, understated and over the top in equal measure. But I am so familiar with it, that though I haven't tired of it, it doesn't quite pack the same punch it once did. I still love it though.

27 Kashmir - Led Zeppelin 27
The guitar line is an intimidating brute that is juxtaposed with the high fragile vocals of Robert Plant. The instrumental chorus is epic, and with the return to the verse you have the feel of an impending crescendo supplemented by the introduction of luscious strings. It builds and builds, even with a segway into a new verse structure, but it never does reach that climatic end. 

26 Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan 26
Don't you just love Dylan? Strip away the innovative video that has been aped more times than I can count and this song stands on its own two feet. This is a supremely confident song that subverted the songwriting conventions of the day. It chugs away with the verse and chorus blurring together, and then in little over 2 minutes it is gone. It may not have had the immediate impact of The Times They Are A Changing or Blowin' In the Wind, but it still resonates today.

25 Rise - Public Image Limited 24
I love the hints of the old Johnny Rotten that you get in this song allied to a controlled and classy backing track. Lyrically there are beautifully succinct phrases: "I could be wrong, I could be right", "Anger is an energy", "May the road rise with you".  Getting more pretentious than usual for a moment, the repetition of these phrases reminds me of Handel and his use of repetitive phrasing in oratorios such as the Messiah. It is certainly effective in Rise.

24 Senses Working Overtime - XTC 15
It starts off a little weird, like a post-punk curiosity. It builds in intensity over the course of the bridge and explodes into a wonderful chorus. Get in! During the course of the song we learn that the world is both football shaped and biscuit shaped. I am still trying to resolve this apparent paradox.

23 Alison - Elvis Costello 23
Songs about unrequited love or lost love always seem to reflect the reality of life more accurately than songs that revel in the glow of being in love. With a song like Alison you feel both the love and the aching disappointment of a lost love. It is beautiful and delicate while at the same time being pointed and edgy.

22 Walls Come Tumbling Down - Style Council 22
I am amused by the fact that the opening line in the video has been changed. The 'c' being removed from "We don't have to take this crap". Those were such innocent days! This is an energising call to action from the darkest days of the Thatcher ("public enemy number 10") era . "You can actually try changing things". "Unity is powerful". Where are the political songwriters in the mainstream nowadays? Anyway that aside, any song that starts with a Hammond organ and blaring horns is always onto a winner with me. Fortunately it never lets up that pace and this is a ramraiding slam dunk of a song from the guy who also brought us The Jam.

21 Don't Stop Moving - S Club 7    21
It doesn't happen very often, but every now and again I am not only on trend but slightly ahead of the curve. The first time I heard this song I was in my car and just about to drive to London to see my friend Sara. As I switched the engine on the radio burst into life with this tune but I had I missed the start so I didn't know the act. But from very early on I knew it would be a hit. Not in the "dumb kids are going to love this piece of xxxx" kind of way, but in the "wow this song is great and will be number 1" way. Pretty much the first thing I said to Sara when I got to her flat was "I have just heard a future number 1". It's a high quality party tune. Forget that S Club 7 were manufactured for the teeny bop market, this is a great pop song. Is it a better song that Bohemian Rhapsody? Of course not. Can I listen to it over and over? Oh yes. Of course my defence is blown out of the water by those who know I also rather like other songs by S Club.

50 - 41 (my 100 top tunes)

50 Justified And Ancient - The KLF    45

This song is bonkers. It is a huge pile of crazy. I guess there might be an internal logic, but really it makes no sense but in the most wonderful way. "They're justified and ancient, and they drive an ice cream van". But what do you expect from the mad geniuses behind the KLF? They created some of the most bizarrely great songs of the late 80s and early 90s. Having Tammy Wynette on vocals for this song was a stroke of genius, and she camps it up brilliantly in the video. You can dance to it, and you can sit and enjoy it. You can't take it too seriously, but why would you want to?

49 London Calling - The Clash 44

There is a sinister tone to this song. From the thumping bass drum and staccato guitar, to the bass guitar line and the aggressive lyrics/vocals of Joe Strummer. This song is so evocative of a truly tough time for a Britain in transition, so it was curious to hear it played throughout the 2012 Olympics. And yet despite all of that clenched fist anger in the song it never felt out of place at that celebration of sport. I guess if  Americans can play Born In The USA and ignore its lyrics we can do likewise with this.

48 Crazy In Love - Beyonce 43

From the moment the sample of the Chi-Lites' "Are You My Woman" kicks in and grabs you by the scruff of the neck, this is a masterful piece of pop magnificence. There are so many great hooks in this song, from the chorus to the "uh oh uh oh uh oh" bit. Even the Jay-Z rap works when it could easily have seemed incongruous. This song shifts back and forth through the gears with the purring effortlessness of a Rolls Royce. Sumptuous and sexy!

47 Love Machine - Girls Aloud 77

It takes a pretty special pop song to jump up this list ahead of Crazy In Love, but I think this song merits it. The Bass intro sets the tone for this gem of manufactured pop. It's fun, dumb stupid enjoyable pop but it never gets tired. Want to feel sexy? Put on Crazy In Love. Want to feel good? Put on Love Machine.

46 Life on Mars  - David Bowie 90

Sometimes it's only when you try to sing a song at karaoke that you gain true respect for the song and singer. You are eased in with the soft piano led intro. Before the deep strings push you towards the chorus. Ah that chorus. At that point my faultless Bowie impression fell apart. "Sail-screech-ors fighting in the dance hall. O-screech-h man, look at those cavemen go. It's the freakiest show. <breathe> Take a look at the laaa-screech-ww man beating up the wrong guy....." Bowie flies up the octaves effortlessly and in doing so puts amateur wannabes to shame. And that's before you even get to "Is there life on Mars?". Wow. This guy can really sing. And he can also write strangely great lyrics: "It's on America's tortured brow. Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow." The song even ends with a curious coda: a Beatles-esque eternal chord and a soft piano reprise. Curious and memorable.

45 In The Lap Of The Gods (Revisited) - Queen new

The first album that I bought with my own money was very nearly True Blue by Madonna. But at the last moment I bought Live Magic by Queen, figuring that I was getting more songs for my money. It was quite possibly the best decision I ever made, turning a liking for the band gained via my brothers into an obsession. There was a tantalising fragment of a song on the album. A true singalong anthem, called In The Lap Of The Gods (Revisited). I loved it and it wasn't long before I had sought out the 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack that it appears on. Maybe it was the singalong chant, maybe the 3/4 time signature. But this song waltzed into my heart and has stayed there ever since.

44 Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield 40

I may have mentioned that I like blaring horns. So one listen to the intro to this song will tell you one of the big reasons why I love the long. Mayfield's falsetto silky singing, the funky soul vibe and the blistering pace of the song are a potent combination. "Take nothing less than the second best". This song is certainly in the top couple of ranks of tunes.

43 Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of - U2 39

Should this be on my list? I'm confident that it is not their best song. It might not even be my favourite of their songs. But I think perhaps it is the one that speaks the most strongly to me. I'm sure all of us can at one time or another relate to the lyrics of the chorus. I will leave the analysis there. It is a sublimely lovely song. 

42 Great Things - Echobelly new

If the song at number 43 in this list is about being stuck in a rut, this song is pure optimism and ambition. Very much the contemporaries of Sleeper, I have very similar reasons for loving this band. They were incredibly good at writing infectious indie pop. Check out Close But... and King of the Kerb  as well to see quite how good they were. Oh and I had a massive crush on Sonya Madan. But who didn't?

41 I'm Alive The Hollies 37

You could write this off as a piece of 60's beat fluff. It's not even 2.30 long. But I find the chorus immensely uplifting. Sometimes it's just good to celebrate being alive in an unapologetic manner.