90-81
80-71
70.
Artist: Pet Shop Boys
Song: Flamboyant
Album: Pop/Art (2004)
Watch The Video
It's rare that my favourite song from an artist comes from their best of album (of which an artist usually adds one or two new tracks), but the Pet Shop Boys' Pop/Art compilation produced a masterpiece in the form of "Flamboyant". Basically think of any young gossip hound celebrity and this song becomes very smart. The lyrics are just so spot on fantastic ("It all takes courage you know/Where crossing the street/Well, it's almost a heroic") and the simplistic and frenetic (yes, both. at the same time) electronic beat is addictive. The ace Michael Mayer remix was found of Fundamentalism, the limited edition remix version of their best album yet, 2006's Fundamental. The video clip... umm, this is bizarre, but I love it nonetheless. Just watch it, it's superb.
69.Artist: Liza Minelli
Song: Losing My Mind
Album: Results (1989)
Watch The Video*
Please welcome The Gayest Song on the Countdown!! By complete accident there are two Pet Shop Boys related tracks right next to each other, too. Now, you may be wondering "How is this more gay than Your Disco Needs You?" well, here's how.
1. It's sung by Liza Minelli
2. It's written by Stephen Sondheim
3. It's produced by the Pet Shop Boys
4. There's a faint hint of Olivia Newton John's "Physical" in the music
The fact the Pet Shop Boys transformed a Sondheim torch ballad into a rollicking techtronica track is one of the most mindboggling things of pop music (they also transformed their own song "Rent" - a modest dancey track - into a Sondheim-esque torch song also sung by Liza on her really amazing Results album). Liza comes off looking like a true champ and the song is a killer. I nearly included "Don't Drop Bombs" on the list too, but didn't. This whole album is a forgotten classic, really. I can't even imagine how startling it must've been to see Liza Minelli come out with material like this. If someone other than Madonna or Cher tried that today they'd be laughed off stage in a heartbeat (unfortunately). The video clip is a hoot too, with Liza playing stalker in her ex's apartment long before Kelly Clarkson did. THE GOLDFISH, LIZA! THE GOLDFISH!!! And that shot in the bathtub is crr-eepy!
68.
Artist: Thelma Houston
Song: Don't Leave Me This Way
Album: Any Way You Like It (1976)
Watch The Video
This track was originally done by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes I believe, but was given a disco makeover for Thelma, and while many think the Melvin version is the better one, I much prefer this upbeat rendering. Her voice soars over the material and the whole song just powers through. It's songs like this that make be wonder why people think all disco was shit.
67.
Artist: Fiona Apple
Song: Not About Love (Bootleg Version)
Album: Extraordinary Machine (2005)
Watch The Video
First things first - I have no heard the album version of anything from Extraordinary Machine. I heard several songs were changed from their original Jon Brion-produced versions, which popped up on the internet several years ago. Judging from the video clip, there is some difference between the bootleg version on the album version of this track too, unfortunately. The thing with this song is that it is such a great fun poptastic piece of music that feels as if it's stuck inside some wacky 1940s Hollywood musical. Everytime I listen to this song I wanna break out into a multi-set musical number - a brass band on one side, with a big staircase and backup dancers up the wazoo. Unfortunately, the album version seems to get rid of the giddy strings, sap the fun out of the piano, and Fiona sounds weirdly detached.
66.Artist: New Order
Song: Age of Consent
Album: Power, Corruption & Lies (1983)
Watch The Video
Another New Order song that I loved before it was used in a trailer for Marie-Antoinette! I'm not really sure how to explain how great this song is. I like it more than "Blue Monday", the more famous track from Power, Corruption & Lies. I love the instrumental mid-section, I love the high-register singing and the guitar. It's all excellent.
*Please note, I have no idea what the clip is that I chose. It's just a slideshow of pictures that uses "Age of Consent" in the background.
65.
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Song: Lonesome Day
Album: The Rising (2002)
Watch The Video
I find it amusing this year with movies such as United 93 and World Trade Centre coming out and people asking "ARE WE READY?!?" I need only point these people towards, in my eyes, Bruce Springsteen's second best album The Rising. September 11 was being used for artistic means before these two movies came about, and The Rising was indeed one of the first. For me, the albums greatest song is it's first "Lonesome Day" one of the best life-affirming-in-spite-of-tragedy songs you'll ever hear. Just hearing Bruce sing "It's alright! It's alright! It's alright, yeah!" makes me happy. Should've figured it'd be Bruce to heal some wounds.
64.
Artist: Nico
Song: These Days
Album: Chelsea Girl (1967)
Watch The Video*
Jackson Browne is a great songwriter and it's a shame he missed out on getting anything on this countdown (I don't know how that happened either, to be honest). But he did manage to at least write this track made famous by Nico (who Browne would later record himself, but not as well). I first became aware of this song through The Royal Tenenbaums and due to lack of video clip-ness I decided to include that very scene (with Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson). Ain't I nice? The song itself is just so delightfully strange, with Nico's bizarre monotone voice seeming not right for the music, but they do magically fit like a glove. The result is smashing.
63.Artist: Mariah Carey & Dru Hill
Song: The Beautiful Ones
Album: Butterfly (1997)
I find it funny that my favourite Mariah Carey song is a remake of a song by one of my favourites artists, Prince. Taken from his Purple Rain album, Mariah said that "The Beautiful Ones" is her favourite Prince song and thankfully she hasn't torn it apart. In fact she keeps the music as is and instead re-interprets the vocals and the lyrics along with Dru Hill. What it becomes is a musical duel. Mariah's vocals are restrained until the end, obviously, when she belts it out something chronic. What we're left with is still a great song, but this time given a great vibe that I really got into. The battle elements really kicked the song into another gear. The song was from her Butterfly album, which is her best album to boot. There is no video for this song, and I can't even find one of Prince's version so... sorry.
62.
Artist: Uncanny Alliance
Song: I Got My Education
Album: Uncanny Alliance (1992)
A song that nearly made it onto this list was Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)", and this song is actually - if you listen - a reply to that song. Where "Gypsy" was about a woman who couldn't get a job and wants us to take pity on her, or whatever, "I Got My Education" is a song about people who don't deserve our charity. This song has some of the funniest lyrics ever. "Puttin' yo arm inside yer shirt like you ain't got no arm! You better take that arm out that shirt and go fill out a JOB APPLICATION!", or "I ain't givin you no money. Probably go by crack wit it or somethin", or "Rollin' the eyes in the back of yo head like you blind! I know you can see girl!" It's hysterical. Singer Mystique provides the bitchy retorts and sings with aplomb. Again, it's another example of hip-hop and dance music have more in common than people like to realise (by people I mean artists who don't wanna come off as being dancy or whatever cause that's "gay" most likely) and taps into that time when acts could be cheeky and funny while making good music (not you Eminem! I'm thinking more of Salt n Pepper)
61.Artist: M.I.A.
Song: Fire Fire
Album: Arular (2005)
Watch The Video
The greatness of this song is that while you're dancin' away showing off your booty, you're actually dancing to a song about civil warfare. In fact, most of her album is all subversive like that. Great dance beats and so on, but the songs are about much more (including underage prostitution, civil liberties, and so on). Just listening to the chorus of this song will show you that. This song though is my favourite because, well, it is the most booty-shakin' song on the album. It is just so addictive. M.I.A. is such a great artist and Arular was simple on the greatest debut albums i've ever heard. Scary though that she wasn't granted a Visa into the United States because she poses too much of a threat (apparently she discusses issues too much). Did you know this song samples "Walk Like An Egyption"? :P
BTW, the link isn't to a "Fire Fire" video, cause that doesn't exist. So I've linked to her awesome "Galang" video.
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