It’s time for list two!
As with the previous, this is of course subjective. And as with the previous, I’m sure you’ll all agree because it’s not as if we’ve got strong opinions about our music! 😉
Now there are a few more rules this time around, but the foremost one – before you start reading – is that this is a list of favourite singles. The criteria are described afterward…
My favourite singles of the last 42 years
1972 – Rocket Man (Elton John) {Possibly the best single of all time.}
1973 – Life On Mars (David Bowie)
1974 – Waterloo (Abba)
1975 – Autobahn (Kraftwerk)
1976 – Dancing Queen (Abba)
1977 – Sound and Vision (David Bowie)
1978 – YMCA (The Village People)
1979 – Cars (Gary Numan)
1980 – Keep On Loving You (REO Speedwagon)
1981 – Vienna (Ultravox)
1982 – Don’t Change (INXS)
1983 – Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Bonnie Tyler)
1984 – Forever Young (Alphaville) {My favourite song of all time}
1985 – Take On Me (A-ha)
1986 – Love Missile F1-11 (Sigue Sigue Sputnik)
1987 – Never Let Me Down Again (Depeche Mode)
1988 – A Little Respect (Erasure)
1989 – Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty)
1990 – Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode)
1991 – You Could Be Mine (Guns N’ Roses)
1992 – November Rain (Guns N’ Roses)
1993 – Everybody Hurts (REM)
1994 – Circle Of Life (Elton John)
1995 – Missing (Everything But The Girl)
1996 – It’s All Coming Back To Me Now (Celine Dion)
1997 – Candle In The Wind (1997) (Elton John) {Powerful}
1998 – My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion)
1999 – Praise You (Fatboy Slim)
2000 – Oop’s I Did It Again (Britney Spears)
2001 – I Feel Loved (Depeche Mode)
2002 – n/a
2003 – Solsbury Hill (Erasure)
2004 – Amerika (Rammstein)
2005 – Don’t Let The Man Get You Down (Fatboy Slim) {The video}
2006 – In The Future When All’s Well (Morrissey)
2007 – n/a
2008 – All You Need Is Me (Morrissey)
2009 – Wrong (Depeche Mode)
2010 – Firework (Katy Perry)
2011 – When I Start To Break It All Down (Erasure)
2012 – She Wolf (Falling To Pieces) (David Guetta featuring Sia)
2013 – n/a
2014 – ?
Songs were eligible if they charted (top 100) in either Australia, England or the USA during the year listed.
Compared to the list of movies, this was really, really difficult!
If 1973 was incredibly hard (due to Drive-In Saturday, 20th Century Boy, You’re So Vain and Ballroom Blitz) then the late 70s and early 80s were all but impossible! Given that a choice like Keep On Loving You vs Xanadu vs Enola Gay (all in 1980) gave me a cold sweat, the unfairness of 50 amazing songs in 1984 (from which I had to choose one) caused me to weep openly.
By contrast the 2000’s were a wasteland for someone like myself that isn’t a fan of rap or hip-hop. Happily both Erasure and Morrissey rose to new heights that decade, releasing great album after great album, and having many successful singles. That said, and as you can see, there were entire years where I couldn’t even pick one charting song I considered outstanding (or in some cases even good).
The list is quite a genre timeline isn’t it? Glam became disco became new wave became the anthems of the 90s became… well the flotsam of the 2000’s! It’s easy to imagine that ‘good’ music ended 15 years ago but I think this is more a symptom of me growing old and the unusual effect digital music has had on the release of ‘singles’. I believe it is certainly true that compared to the 1980s and 1990s, ‘singles’ no longer have the widespread appeal they once did.
So what do you think? Any pieces of trash on this list? What perfect songs did I miss?
