So what better way to banish the blues (and the torrential rain, thunder and lightning that's been plaguing Casa K since Saturday night) with some popular songs, some of which also qualifies as bona fide pop music?
Today's selection is therefore sampled from my Apple Music "Most Played Top 100", which has been assiduously charting every play since I plugged in my first iPod in the early 2000s. However, as mentioned previously, said chart was hijacked for a few years by the Lady K playlist, i.e. songs that were generally poppy, musically and/or lyrically upbeat and definitely, most definitely devoid of any effing and blinding. Apart from that time a Belle & Sebastian song slipped through.
The Top 100 obviously changes on a daily basis but the influence of Lady K's preferences, particularly during the infamous primary school years, has meant a disproportionate number of Queen songs and a #1 that may well never be surpassed in my lifetime. Oh, and Cha Cha Slide by DJ Casper, because she knew I hated the song. Having just viewed the video for the first time and seen the look of abject resignation on DJ Casper's face, even then realising that this would simultaneously be his musical peak and nadir, I feel nothing but pity for the guy.
I've cherry picked eleven songs, starting with the current #100, counting down to #1 and taking in Ian McNabb, David Grant, Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Weatherall, Björn and Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid and, delightfully, Edward Tudor-Pole.
1) Come On Eileen (Single Version): Dexy's Midnight Runners & The Emerald Express (1982) (#100)
2) All The Daughters (Of Her Father's House) (Long Version): The Icicle Works (1985) (#90)
3) Intuition (Album Version): Linx (1981) (#64)
4) Raspberry Beret (Album Version): Prince & The Revolution (1985) (#50)
5) Try, Try, Try: Julian Cope (1995) (#38)
6) Love Me Again (Radio Edit): John Newman (2013) (#31)
7) Loaded (Andrew Weatherall Mix) (Full Length Version): Primal Scream (1990) (#28)
8) Addicted To Music (Joey Negro Mix By Dave Lee): Subsonic 2 (1991) (#24)
9) Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) (Long Version): ABBA (1979) (#10)
10) Swords Of A Thousand Men: Tenpole Tudor (1981) (#3)
11) Feel It Still (Album Version): Portugal. The Man (2017) (#1)
That's a delightfully unexpected mixture. I was blown away by Love Me Again by John Newman when it came out, not expecting such a Northern Soul sound to come from someone so young at that point in time either. I think it's always good to be a little tuned in to what's happening in popular/mainstream music even when a lot of it doesn't work for me (or actively drives me nuts) because every now and then there's a little gem.
ReplyDeleteHope you and your cat are consoling each other through the blue days :-)
Thanks, C. I first heard Love Me Again - and John Newman - when he appeared on Later...With Jools Holland. It was a great performance and whilst I haven't heard anything by him that's quite hit me in the same way, it's a fantastic song. And Intuition by Linx got me thinking about Swedey McSwedeface all over again!
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