Glenn's Top 101 Songs of All Time: 20-11

101-91
90-81
80-71
70-61
60-51
50-41
40-31
30-21

20.
Artist: FatBoy Slim
Song: Song For Shelter
Album: Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars (2000)
Ask people about FatBoy Slim and they'll mention his You've Come a Long Way Baby album, and while it's true that that album is quite good, it was the followup to that album which I think is a true masterpiece album. Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars saw FatBoy Slim aka Norman Cook taking new directions and unexpected turns. The best was the album's final track, "Song for Shelter", an 11 minute and 27 second long flowing track that goes through multiple genres. Starting off with a truly addictive synth (used in Larry Clark's Bully) and the turning into a sample parade before becoming a raver reverting back to the synth and then dissolving into a completely different funk song (sampling his own work "Yo Mama" also from Gutter). The song may not be to everyone's liking, but I think it's swirling epic nature is totally addictive. There was no video, but do a search of him at YouTube and you'll find a whole bunch of great videos to sample.

19.
Artist: Deborah Harry
Song: I Want That Man
Album: Def, Dumb & Blonde (1989)
Watch The Video
Deborah Harry is pretty damn great, right? I just think this song is pure unadulterated pop-rock bliss. Further evidence that this was being done way before the current state of Ashlees and Veronicas. "Here comes the twenty-first century/It's gonna be much better for a girl like me/Cause I want everything I can/But also though... I want that man!" makes you wanna jump up and sing kareoke! The video is ace too. VAMPIRES, PEOPLE!!!

18.
Artist: Madonna
Song: Oh, Father
Album: Like a Prayer (1989)
Watch The Video
Okay, so this song just makes me feel good. It's sad, but I can relate to it (not so much the father angle mind you, but just other stuff) and it makes me feel all emotional. It's a great song and one of the most lyrically revealing that Madonna's been. The video clip is also nice, and it was directed by David Fincher! I didn't know that until just now. That bit in the confessional is so well done! Well, the whole thing is but that's my favourite bit.

17.
Artist: Concrete Blonde
Song: Joey
Album: Bloodletting (1990)
Watch The Video
I know absolutely zero about this band, I know no other songs from them and I don't know where they are now. But, boy do I remember this song! I'm not entirely sure why I loved it so much as a five year old as it's a song about an alcoholic ex boyfriend (a fact I was oblivious too back then). I remember seeing the video clip, featuring a dark haired woman wearing a big coat performing on stage and a man looking angry, a lot on "Rage" and "Video Hits" and just loving the lead singers voice. The good thing about this song is it doesn't scream '80s or '90s to me. Watching the video clip now, it's amazing how much I remembered of it! What I wrote up there I wrote before watching it again.

16.
Artist: Andrea True Connection
Song: More More More
Album: More More More (1976)
Watch The Video
Fact, Andrea True is a porn star! Lol, turns out that she was in Jamaica as a model when there was a political coup and nobody was allowed to leave the island with money so she asked a producer to invest her money in a disco track so she didn't lose it. The song became "More More More". She didn't really have any success after it, but I don't care because this song is ace. My second favourite disco track. Just infectious and bright. I can see myself dancing around the disco floor to this song. It's so much fun! Plus, I love that pop beat. The one that Len sampled in "Steal My Sunshine". Ace. I don't think there's any video, unfortunately.

15.
Artist: Björk
Song: Bachelorette
Album: Homogenic (1997)
Watch The Video
Bjork's masterpiece album Homogenic had many classic songs (including #37 "All is Full of Love") but this is truly astonishing. The beats she created in this song so deeply pulsate throughout and Bjork's vocals are just stunning. The incorporation of strings with electronica is superb and it proves to be Bjork's greatest song. I sort of wish she would revisit this time period to be honest. "I am a tree that grows hearts/One for each that you take" I love the fucked up lyris too! And the video is truly great (as you would expect from Bjork and Michel Gondry). I love the bit with the train on stage.

14.
Artist: Madonna
Song: Live to Tell
Album: True Blue (1986) also OST At Close Range
Watch The Video
Much like the #71 "Crazy For You" this song has a brilliant opening synth and wonderfully sung vocals. I'm not sure why I like this one more, maybe it's more poppy or something. I don't know. I can't explain why I love this song so much in general. I just do. Those beautiful synths. Madonna's great voice. It's just great. God, I wish I was a teenager in the '80s. LOL, I know.

13.
Artist: Simple Minds
Song: Don't You (Forget About Me)
Album: OST The Breakfast Club (1985)
Watch The Video
One thing you're probably realising as we get to the end of the countdown is that a lot of the songs aren't particularly classics, but are more just songs I love for no other reason than I love to listen to them. Again, I can't really explain why I love this song so much (I don't actually know), but it may have something to do with The Breakfast Club. Just maybe. The video is pretty boring I must say.

12.
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Song: I'm On Fire
Album: Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
Watch The Video
My name is Glenn and I'm a Bossaholic. My second fave Bruce Springsteen song, my favourite Bruce Springsteen video (probably because he's so swoon-worthy in it). This song is just so soaked in sex that listening to it makes me swoon. I believe it Bruce when you say you're on fire. Who wouldn't if they looked like Bruce? God, Bruce is the sexiest man ever (okay, apart from James Dean). That riff, those vocals, that beat, that falsetto. You know in the movie Body Heat how it just feels so much like a hot muggy sweaty night? This it the musical version of that. And it's only 2 minutes and 41 seconds long. If I ever need a mechanic can they look like that please?! And seriously? Best. Album. Cover. Ever.

11.
Artist: The Shangri-Las
Song: Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)
Album: Leader of the Pack (1964)
Watch The Video*
This is the oldest song on the countdown. I absolutely love The Shangri-Las. They made great great pop songs and this is the best. Some will say "Leader of the Pack" is and I can't begrudge that choice, same to do "Give Him a Great Big Kiss", "Train from Kansas City", "Sophisticated Boom Boom", "He Cried" and so on. But I always come back to "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)". It's quite a simple song, but it's high on melodrama and sounds much more experimental than songs seemed to be back then as it changes rapidly between verse, bridge and chorus. Just a sublime song and one that evokes so much power. The group's gay following can be seen in the 1995 film Stonewall as various Shangri-La songs (including this one) are interspersed throughout as little musical number treats.

*Please note the clip is actually a weird mashup of the song being performed over "Gilligans Island" footage. Strange. And sorta scary.

And so now we have the top 10 featuring some countdown regulars (Madonna and Bruce), some new faces (I won't say who) and a few more who have showed up once on the countdown but left their big guns til the end.