90-81
80-71
70-61
60.
Artist: Donna Summer
Song: MacArthur Park
Album: Bad Girls (1979)
Watch The Video*
My favourite song from Summer's classique album Bad Girls is this bizarre oddity. I have asked many times before the question that has plagued our feeble little minds for eternity (or, since 1979). Who did leave the cake out in the rain. And more importantly: WHY DID THEY LEAVE A PERFECTLY DELICIOUS CAKE OUT IN THE RAIN. I can't really comment on whether Donna Summer is a good cook (let alone a good cake baker), but I assume it was at least slightly tasty (and pretty) to get really upset over somebody putting it out in the rain. Really, the song is weird, but I love it to bits. It's so fun. AND IT'S ABOUT FOOD! What's not to love?
*Please note the clip does not exist for all I know. Instead this is a live performance from a couple of years back. She still sounds ace.
59.Artist: Lauryn Hill
Song: Doo Wop (That Thing)
Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
Watch The Video
This song was a turning point for me. The moment I heard this song for the first time (I don't remember where, considering it got zero radio/tv play and Australia wasn't into this sorta music at all in 1998) I immediately wanted the whole CD. I got it for Christmas and played it ad nauseam. My family thought the CD was awful (they have no taste) but I loved it. This track remains my second favourite to this day (the other one appears much later) it is so fun and catchy, yet listening to the lyrics it's so much more. It's so much fun to sing along to, although if other people heard me they'd probably think I was racist or something. Oh, and the video? Yeah, well, surely you all know how freakin' awesome it is, right? Watch it again. It's brilliant.
58.
Artist: Blondie
Song: Hangin' on the Telephone
Album: Parallel Lines (1978)
Watch The Video
I'm not that big of a Blondie fan in all actuality. I love Debbie Harry's solo stuff more, but there are a few Blondie songs that are just to die for. "Hangin' on the Telephone" from their landmark Parallel Lines album is my favourite. I don't have a particular reason. I just really like it.
57.Artist: Groove Armada
Song: Easy
Album: LoveBox (2002)
Groove Armada's finest moment appeared on their finest album to date, LoveBox. This sweeping grandoise dance epic is just stunningly good. It washes over you and literally gets you grooving. It was nominated for the Best Dance Recording grammy or whatever that ghetto category is called. It's a constantly building track that soars even moreso due to the vocals. Plus, I love those strings! There is apparently no video for this track. Bah.
56.
Artist: White Stripes
Song: The Nurse
Album: Get Behind Me Satan
I named Get Behind Me Satan the best album of 2005 (that list would look quite different it done today, except for the top 5. That was solid), and a lot of that had to do with the fact the White Stripes decided to be experimental and go, essentially, batshit crazy on a few tracks. This isn't more obvious than on "The Nurse" - a slow burner of track explodes for a few brief seconds every now and then. It tells of a murderous nurse, I think, and the wonderful lyrics are imaginative too. But, seriously, xylophone people! XYLOPHONE! Again this was an album track so there is no video, unfortunately.
55.Artist: Cher
Song: I Found Someone
Album: Cher (1987)
Watch The Video
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not the biggest fan of Cher's music as some in the gay communite are (i prefer her more as actress) but some of it really fine as pop music goes. Her Cher album is my favourite because of this song (and another that appears later). Really, it's one of the best examples of mixing pop with guitars ever. And this was before the current fad started. The chorus is also one of the biggest and the bestest that really makes you wanna bring out the hair brush and sing along as if you're on stage at a concert. "Baby, I've found someone! To take away the heartach! To take away the loneliness! Since you've been goooooone" Also, the video is ace too. Cher at her big hair best (seriously, that hair is massive)
54.
Artist: The Brothers Johnson
Song: Strawberry Letter 23
Album: Right on Time (1977)
Watch The Video*
Funk it up, brother! I first heard this song in Jackie Brown (a movie that only gets stronger every time I view it, I nearly consider it my favourite Tarantino to be honest) and have loved it ever since. That intro! The twinkle sound and then the deep keyboard mixed with it. And then all of a sudden it turns into a suave funk song. The whole this is just so great. There's actually a secret behind this song. In my mind of a movie idea I had this song plays a vital part at the very start. I don't know why, it just does. Weird how some songs just lend themselves to be used as soundtracks.
*Please note that no video exists for this song, so instead I included my absolute favourite scene from any Tarantino movie ever - the change room scene from Jackie Brown. Obviously it doesn't make sense out of context (everytime I watch it in context I have to ponder it, still) but you can just marvel at Pam Grier's performance (that shot of her in the mirror is gold) and Tarantino's camera. Greatness.
53.
Artist: Annie Lennox
Song: Why
Album: Diva (1992)
Watch The Video
I'm not sure what it is exactly about Annie Lennox, but her voice is just bliss. Never moreso than on her solo album Diva. I remember seeing this video clip A LOT on "Rage" and "Video Hits" and being slowly hypnotised by it (even at only 8 years old). I obviously was too young to really get what the whole song was about, but in years since it has only grown on me more. Beautifully sung and the video clip is truly a classic. Stunning, really.
52.Artist: Kylie Minogue
Song: Put Yourself in My Place
Album: Kylie Minogue (1994)
Watch The Video
Barring "Especially For You", this track from her milestone album Kylie Minogue is the closest Kylie has ever gotten to a full blown ballad. She's gone close since (with tracks like the ace "Chocolate"), and there have been album only tracks too, but this is my favourite. Wonderfully downtempo and Kylie's vocals have never been better in my opinion. The chorus is a killer too. The video clip (since redone by Jem for her single "They") is a hoot as she strips in space (pink astronaut suit!)
51.
Artist: Eurythmics
Song: You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart
Album: Savage (1987)
Watch The Video
I can't really explain it any more than "this song is excellent". I really can't. If you're not won over by this song then you'll never be won over by the Eurythmics. This is the second Eurythmics track on the countdown, and the second from their flop album Savage. And the video clip is, I think, the third in the video trilogy that started with "Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)". The return of Annie as Housewife!
1 comment:
"Put Yourself in My Place" is definitely in my Kylie top 5.
I listened to it last year for the first time (ugh American ban on Kylie) when I bought "Ultimate Kylie" and I was not only impressed by her vocal range, but the song fit so perfectly to the experience I was going through. It became my anthem!
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