If unadulterated blathering about extreme musical self interest offends or bores you to death, read no further.
Seriously.
Feel free to post your own list!
MY 13 FAVOURITE SONGS OF ALL TIME
NUMBER THIRTEEN
"Good Golly Miss Molly" - Little Richard (1956)
Rock and roll was made for people who like to be a little bit outside the norm and this bloke was a bloody long way away from the crowd - and hanging out with extremely weird pixies. But he knew how to rock - and Miss Molly was the vehicle for not only his assured fame - but an inspiration for a host of kids that wanted to capture the same gleeful abandon and sheer excitement of this record. It is literally almost unbelievable to think that this record was made when it was. And by a mad black man. He was a direct and pivotal influence on those who became massive influences themselves, such as Keith Richards, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix etc etc. The song just rocks. And rocks. Boogie was never the same again.
NUMBER TWELVE
"Frontier Psychiatrist" - The Avalanches (1999)
This is an insane recording by a not so well known outfit from Melbourne. Not so much a song perhaps - but a pastiche of voice and audio samples from Hollywood "B" movies over a massive, rambling drum and bass canvass. Choirs, brass, bird sounds, Mexican guitars at the end - you think of it and it's all there. It's a "big" sound initially but it morphs into a zany ending. Extremely silly, highly inventive - and it works for me. I don't think there is an actual plot - but then again I don't do hard drugs.
NUMBER ELEVEN
"I've Got You Under My Skin" - Frank Sinatra (1963)
Straight out of the immortal Reprise studio sessions with the immortal Nelson Riddle at the helm - this beefed up remake of Frank's 1956 original take of the classic Cole Porter tune is the quintessential Sinatra for mine. The string arrangement is text book stuff - but the brass middle is an absolutely inspired piece of genius from the Riddler - with beat accents, instrumental dips and dives - you name it. The song accelerates more consistently than the earlier version and the whole thing goes into overdrive in the second half. But still Frank is the star and at the top of his game here. His vocal phrasing is superb and this is the hallmark of his artistic greatness. Maybe not a great voice - but definitely a great singer. The proof is here. The final urgent, descending delivery of......
"But before I do,
Just the thought of you,
Makes me STOP ...
Just before I begin,
Because I've got you Under my skin"
...is to die for.
The tension builds and all the steam is let out right there as Frank takes the song by the throat - literally. The outro is pure gold as the whole crew soft shoe it out the studio exit door and head to the bar to meet broads.
NUMBER TEN
"Fever" - Peggy Lee (1958)
This is an all time classic that reeks of white pseudo-blues and jazz clubs in the late fifties, but still sounds unforgettable anywhere - 50 years on. An upright bass delivers the somewhat jerky accompaniment, held in time by some incessant finger clicking on the beat. A few judiciously placed tom toms punctuate the considerable space and add to the tension. But this is all just a sprawling and unspoilt vista for Peg (Norma Deloris Egstrom to you, pal) to produce one of the great vocal performances. This was definitely a white lady that understood the blues. The lyrics are all but forgotten underneath the power and sheer quality of her delivery, but they are a lot of fun and well worth leaning on the shovel to dig out some gold.
"Romeo loved Juliet, Juliet she felt the same
When he put his arms around her, he said "Julie baby you're my flame"
Thou givest fever, when we kisseth, fever with thy flaming youth
Fever - I'm afire, fever yea I burn forsooth".
Now that's just genuinely funny.
NUMBER NINE
"Red House" - Jimi Hendrix (1967)
Strip back the gold braided jackets, the corkscrew hair, the upside down Stratocaster, the drugs, the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock - and what do you have? A genius who played guitar with a mastery that I have never otherwise heard. Not just in a technically superior manner - he could certainly be sloppy - but in an emotional way. He single-handedly transformed the electric guitar into a potent device that wasn't just for filling out the rhythm section. The Fender Stratocaster became THE STAR of rock and roll in his hands.
I love most of the Hendrix catalogue to death, but in Red House I visualise him just sitting on a stool in a loud and tiny smoke filled blues club in Chicago, languidly delivering a wistful blues vocal (he was a very, very under-rated singer) - with the attendant sexually unfulfilled staple lyrical diet - over a sparse but fat standard 12 bar blues structure. But.....at no extra charge we get the ultimate template of a quintessential distorted electric blues guitar solo and the text book of down and dirty licks and fills for every white copyist that followed (Listen to the great Jimmy Page playing the blues on the first Led Zeppelin disc for example).
Sublime.
NUMBER EIGHT
"Don't Fear The Reaper" - Blue Oyster Cult (1976)
This song is introduced by one of the great electric guitar opening motifs and it sets a heady tone. The BOC set out to be mysterious - and this song gets all the ticks in the boxes at first listen. The title and lyrics appear to be ushering in a dark tale, but I find the song to be very uplifting and optimistic. It reminds me (positively) of the passing of my mother so it resonates with me on another level. But the music is what got me first - and still excites me about this song. The guitar line, the authoritative but calm lead vocal, the atmospheric multi-tracked backing vocals, the high scale guitar breaks - it's all good. A seventies rock masterpiece from a band whose remaining catalogue spectacularly failed to deliver to this standard.
NUMBER SEVEN
"History Repeating" - The Propellerheads - featuring Miss Shirley Bassey (1997)
Hello nineties, let me introduce the sixties. The Propellerheads deliver an eclectic showcase of a traditional bass/dum rhythm section from their kitchen that underpins much electronic wizardry and doodling on top. Throw in some contemporary deck work that today's kiddies apparently adore - and you have a hybrid musical enterprise ready for widish appeal. But just before you stick this mixture in the pre-heated oven, quickly stir in the great Miss Shirley Bassey and a great lyric and groove - and go and put those dancing shoes on. This song makes me move. Big fat production and plenty of powerful lung work from Miss Bassey.
Groovy.
NUMBER SIX
"Bitch" - The Rolling Stones (1971)
Well, they had to be in here somewhere! I have gone back to the first Stones tune that originally made me "get" them. I never warmed to Jagger's voice when I was younger, but I understood Keith and Charlie! This still sounds better with every listen. It's not a big lyrical statement from Jagger like "Sympathy" or a song for the times like "Street Fighting Man", but it's just a simple rocker with a killer riff that Keef keeps purring in top gear all the way. Charlie is awesome here and this is some of his best rock drumming. The signature Bobby Keys and Jim Price big brass in the chorus pours aviation gas on the rhythm fire and simultaneously throws in effective relief from the main riff. It is left to new boy Mick Taylor to spray the outro solo, which is probably way too long and meandering as he is trying too hard to score an early home goal. But I tune back to Keef in the other channel who is doing some basic (well, we ARE talking Keef) improvisation on the main riff which is real nice. It just rocks. And that's what the Sones do best.
NUMBER FIVE
"Eleanor Rigby" - The Beatles (1966)
Just can't leave 'em out either. As a kiddy it was the "Paul" songs that got me. Mainly due to him being the melody man I suspect - while the "John" songs were for greater cerebral listening pleasure as I got older. So it is Eleanor that distils the Beatles for me into one tune. This is Paul's masterpiece and it is so different that it was clearly an outrageous gamble at the time - even for them. So different, so haunting, so.....George Martin.
The Beatles were definitely a five man band, even though this is basically a two man effort. It actually borders very close to mournful, but it doesn't quite descend into a dirge - and that is Martin's genius at work. The string arrangement is actually very nimble and Paul's vocal is suitably deadpan. It's essentially a sad song about lonely people - but is full of great lyrical imagery (wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door). The song just has a magical feel for me. I think it's because there is plenty of space - like "Fever".
NUMBER FOUR
"Brother John" - The Visitors (1979)
The Visitors were beautifully named - and formed out of the unfortunate implosion in the UK of the extremely wonderful Radio Birdman. They were only ever going to play a dozen or so gigs in Sydney throughout 1979 due to Mr Deniz (guitarist) Tek and Mr Phillip (keyboardist) Hoyle studying to become Dr Tek and Dr Hoyle.
Led by Birdman supremo Deniz Tek, they thankfully recorded a superb album of a dozen songs at the end of that year for posterity and our aural pleasure. Incredibly, this album was recorded over a single weekend - mostly "live".
"Brother John" was released initially on a four track EP and the full album "Visitation" came into view much later. This track is a Tek homage to long time manager John Needham and tells a quasi-mythical tale about Needham's adventures whilst returning home from the UK. Tek chugs the rhythm along from the off with a nice staccato decending riff and taut chording that sets the adventurous tone nicely. Wonderfully dextrous bass lines from Steve "The Professor" Harris and top shelf skin work from Birdman shot-stopper Ron Keeley at the back help to tie down the tent beautifully.The standout highlight for me though is the guitar solo - my all time favourite.
Remember that Tek was only about 23 when this was recorded and he already had a couple of iconic Birdman albums to his CV that gave rise to his reputation as a great urban song writer and killer rock guitarist. The first note of this solo morphs into a 14 second distended but controlled slither of feedback - before Tek launches into his usual supreme histrionics, only to return to another long and delicious fed back note on his famous white ex-Fred Smith (of MC5 imfamy) Epiphone Crestwood Deluxe in the drive to the finish.
This solo is simply a showcase of brilliant high volume rock guitar playing and gets this song over the line in my mind ahead of several other gems (notably "Journey By Sledge" and "Haunted Road") on this wonderful platter.
The Doors on steroids perhaps - but who cares.
Riders on the storm.
NUMBER THREE
"Shot By Both Sides" - Magazine (1978)
This band was heavily influenced by Roxy Music but had a much harder "rock" edge courtesy of the times of which they were undoubtedly a product. This was their first single and fans of the recently ex-Buzzcock's frontman and writer Howard Devoto - and the fickle English music critics of the day - wet their pants. This song contains a killer ascending guitar central riff and features a sharp social lyrical comment that hints at paranoia and/or schitzophrenia in Devoto's tortured mind. He was suddenly a new "rock star" and he was clearly struggling under the weight of expectation. Writing great songs was thankfully a better path for him than that taken by his similarly confused contemporary and Joy Division front man Ian Curtis - who took his own life.
This is an aggressive, but musically and lyrically mature piece that was probably just a "thinking persons" Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the UK" at the time. But most importantly it instantly hinted at a life after punk that didn't necessarily have to be just Spandau Ballet. (Where did things go so horribly wrong?) It was probably the most instantly likeable song that I have ever heard - and it still easily seduces me.
NUMBER TWO
"Out Of The Blue" - Roxy Music (1974)
This was Roxy at the absolute zenith of their ability in my book. A jerky intro fuelled by a pounding drum and bass combo shuffle underneath Eddie Jobson's doodling violin suddenly explodes into the first verse courtesy some snarling snare work from The Great Paul Thompson. An urgent jangling rhythm guitar and staccato piano push things along under a classic Ferry "I'm in love again" vocal croon - until the first chorus blossoms under Phil Manzanera letting go with some divine, soaring guitar fills.
But the best is saved for last when, just as Jon Gustafson's wonderfully dexterous bass run seems to be taking the song into uncertain territory, the most mind blowing instrumental solo that I have ever experienced comes gushing from the speakers courtesy of Jobson's souped up and heavily phased electric violin. Wave after wave of delirious sonic highs and dips suddenly take us to an unexpected full stop. But when you get off the tram all you want to do is get back on.
Wow.
NUMBER ONE
"I Got A Right" - Iggy Pop and The Stooges (1973)
After disgracefully being left off the final pressing of the seminal 1972 album "Raw Power", this song was ultimately issued as a single and quickly achieved word of mouth cult status. And that was about it. But it absolutely blew me away when I first heard it and it still does. It rips to the core of what I love about rock and roll.
Texan guitar maniac James Williamson was recruited to the Raw Power sessions in London - after a chance Iggy meeting with Bowie in New York - to invigorate Iggy's career. The Stooges had well and truly collectively gone off the rails after their first couple of wonderful albums. Original guitarist (the late, great) Ron Asheton was consigned back to bass duties in the engine room with his brother Scott on skins - and Bowie was ultimately responsible for the mix of the album and single, which are pretty crappy by today's standards.
But this song comes out of the speakers sounding like a testosterone soaked mix from a small club, with the drums all muffled and out the back and the bass booming in and out of the wall of sound. But right from the opening duet of heavily strummed chords that stridently make the opening statement - it is definitely Williamson's runaway combine harvester Stratocaster furiously shredding a super-charged Marshall stack that make this song special.
Oh yeah, and of course young Mr Osterberg's primal screams and passionate, frantic vocal delivery that demands his basic right to sing his songs anyway he likes.
Play this very loud and hide the children.
On second thoughts, move them interstate.
