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.

60-51 (my top 100 tunes of all time)

60 The Man With The Child In His Eyes Kate Bush 55

Ah Kate Bush. One of the most supremely talented British singer/songwriters of the past 35 years. How talented? She wrote this song aged 13 and recorded it aged 16. Even then she had a lyrical and musical sophistication that would make people gnash their teeth in jealousy. This song is beautiful. Her ethereal voice is beautifully controlled, the orchestration is both powerful and understated, the unusual chord progressions make it feel as if you are being blown on a breeze. It's a short song but ever such a good song. And she was 13 ffs!

59 Cabaret Louis Armstrong 54

Whilst at University, my friend Jo (who turned me on to Prince), also introduced me to the incredible Kander and Ebb musical, Cabaret. I fell in love with the show and in watching the film I fell in love with Liza Minelli. Later, Jo and I saw an outstanding production of the show at the Donmar Warehouse starring Alan Cumming and Jane Horrocks. It is fair to say that I know the musical inside and out. So when I first heard Louis Armstrong singing the title song there was a danger that perhaps it would seem wrong to have a man singing it. In actual fact Armstrong makes the song stand on its own. He plays it as a straight trad jazz tune. You can close your eyes and imagine a 1930s jazz band playing in a smokey club. Satchmo's vocals are unmistakable and his trumpet playing lifts rather than overpowers the song. It is a joy to behold.

58 Wuthering Heights Kate Bush new

How on earth did I miss this song the first time I compiled this top 100? It is a tour de force. There is madness in her vocals, and it is never less than compelling. Bush was a veteran when she wrote this. Well compared to the song at number 60 on my list anyway. She was 18. It was one of the first songs of hers I can remember hearing. I loved it then and I love it still. A little factoid for you: Kate Bush was born 140 years to the day after Wuthering Heights author Emily Bronte. Another factoid: When Kate Bush took this song to Number 1, she was the first woman to do so with a self penned song.

57 Mayor of Simpleton XTC 52

I remember watching a Saturday morning kids' tv show called Going Live back in 1989. They had a feature called the video vote, where new songs were reviewed, and there was a video on by a band I had never heard of. Having heard it though I knew I had to have it. So the next time I found myself in a record shop I bought the 7" single of The Mayor of Simpleton by XTC. I played it and played it, over and over. I loved the central conceit, that the singer might be thick as two short planks but he knows the one thing that really matters, that he is in love. It's a great pop tune and I assumed it was a hit. But looking into it now, I find that it reached number 46 in the UK charts. Charts be damned, this is a great song.

56 Johnny Come Home Fine Young Cannibals new

I knew that I wanted to include a FYC song in this list, but which one? I love their version of Suspicious Minds, but the Elvis version is on the list at 54 so I discounted that. Ever Fallen In Love, She Drives Me Crazy, Good Thing, Blue. Aaagh, so many to choose from. In the end I chose this because even today there is a freshness to it, typical of a band on the cusp of greatness. They later released a fantastic album called The Raw and the Cooked. Well this song is raw but delightfully so. The music scene remains a poorer place for the absence of Roland Gift's vocals.

55 Inbetweener Sleeper 97

Those halcyon days of britpop. How I miss them. Sleeper were a band whose flame burned brightly but they were unable to outlive the britpop bubble. The gorgeous Louise Wener may not have had the strongest voice but I think it was a case of right person in the right place at the right time. Sleeper wrote catchy songs, and I have always loved this one in particular. I listen to this and it takes me to happy memories.

54 Suspicious Minds Elvis Presley 51

Elvis didn't always have the greatest quality control. Especially in his latter years. But this song is the equal of any in his catalogue. From the "We're caught in a trap" opening, to the emotional chorus and the change to/from the 3/4 time signature, the song is an exhilarating rollercoaster.

53 Birdhouse In Your Soul They Might Be Giants 48

There's a risk of writing this song off as a novelty song but there is more depth to it than you may think. For me, this song takes me back to UKC Radio discos at University. A night wouldn't be complete without "Size of a cow" by the Wonderstuff and this song. For a song with such bizarre lyrics it has the great virtue of allowing anyone to sing along by yelling fragments of lyrics such as "who watches over you" at the appropriate moment.

52 I Am The Resurrection Stone Roses 49

This proto britpop anthem is the antithesis of throwaway pop. There is a place for throwaway pop, and indeed several places for it on this list. I Am The Resurrection however, has a relentless driving rhythm, a majestic chorus, an instrumental section, and then it stops. Before going into an extended indie instrumental that is also eminently danceable. For anyone who thinks that dance music has to be electronic I would play them this. It's also a great song for power walking to. It is no wonder that the Stone Roses are so revered. With songs like this there can be no dispute.

51 Levi Stubbs Tears Billy Bragg 46

The first appearence of the Bard of Barking on my list. Bragg is well known for his political songs, but his love songs and social commentaries are as good if not better. The segway where Bragg name-checks "Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong..." is sublime. This song is not political prosletising, it's just telling a story. There is disatisfaction, unhappiness, and domestic referenced in the lyrics. It's powerful stuff, and part of that power is drawn from the simplicity of the orchestration. Bragg + guitar = 50 Shades of Awesome.