Monday, 7 October 2019

Top 40 Songs of All Time #6 Part 2

Farking hell. How am I going to rank these? I only have 40 to go on so far, with about 80 songs reviewed altogether. That's out of the roughly 1,500 I have, and probably another 1,000 to go on top of that.

So at this rate, I might have a Top 40 to play at my damn funeral. That's not what I envisaged. So we need to have another look at this. This is what I'm thinking. I am going to start with the song at the bottom of the list and rate it against songs above it. When it hits one it is not better than, it stops there. That may not be perfect, but I think it's a reasonable way to go right now. So, on that basis, first cab off the rank is: Take On Me - Aha.

Ok so that system is fucked from the word go. Yep, Take On Me beat the song above it - Who Made Who - but ran into a roadblock with Down Under. The problem is, if Down Under moves up the list when it does it's thing, Take On Me can't go with it, as it would need to also be assessed against the songs it passes on the way up. So let's change this. We go from the top down. This is hard, damn hard. But I'll give it a go.

Current #1 is When I Grow Up - Garbage.

Wow, so that changed quickly. It came up against Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds. And lost. Then against. Are You Still Having Fun - Eagle Eye Cherry. And lost.

So then AYSHF against DYFAM. The 80's song triumphed. Simple Minds on top of the 40, for now at least. Next on the list is Galvanised - The Chemical Brothers. A super song, but for me it doesn't trump Garbage. So the Top 4 remains, for now.

Next is Do You See What I See - Hunters&Collectors. Ok, that's going to smash Galvanise, and frankly make a fairly decent run for the title. I'll pause and have a listen...


1 Don't You Forget About Me Simple Minds 1985
2 Are You Still Having Fun Eagle Eye Cherry 2000
3 Do You See What I See Hunters & Collectors 1987
4 When I Grow Up Garbage 1998
5 Galvanise The Chemical Brothers 2005

So there's our initial Top 5. That took a fair bit of work to get to. I'd like to think I can approach this parcel by parcel, but frankly, that isn't the case. It's going to have to continue to go song by song, with each one pitching itself against the existing hierarchy, and either supplanting one of them, or settling into the next position on the list. Let's have a crack with another five songs;

New Sensation vs. Galvanise - New Sensation win.
New Sensation vs. When I Grow Up - New Sensation win.
New Sensation vs. Do You See What I See - DYSWIS win. NS sits at #4.
David vs. Galvanise - David win.
David vs. WIGU - David win.
David vs. New Sensation - David win.
David vs. DYSWIS - DYSWIS win. David sits at #4. Top 3 proving hard to crack.
Just A Girl vs. Galvanise - JAG win.
Just A Girl vs. WIGU - JAG win.
JAG vs. New Sensation - NS win.
One Night In Bangkok (Vinyl Shakerz) vs. Galvanise - ONIB win.
ONIB vs. WIGU - WIGU win.

So, up until now we've seen a few moves on the list. My diverse tastes in music are coming to the fore, in David and the new version of One Night In Bangkok pushing a few others down the charts. But some of the classics are holding strong. It's interesting, as it is difficult to be objective in personal choice in music. Why? Well music can be very emotionally driven, at least in terms of what we want to listen to; while driving, while alone, while drunk, while working, who knows. It's not an easy choice to rank one song against another for all time. Nevertheless, we shall attempt it!

This next song is going to ruffle a few feathers I imagine. I always love it when it pops up on the old iPod. Introducing....

Take A Long Line vs. Galvanise - TALL win.
TALL vs. ONIB - TALL win.
TALL vs. WIGU - TALL win.
TALL vs. New Sensation - TALL win.
TALL vs. David - David win.


1 Don't You Forget About Me Simple Minds 1985
2 Are You Still Having Fun Eagle Eye Cherry 2000
3 Do You See What I See Hunters & Collectors 1987
4 DAVID Gusgus 2003
5 Take A Long Line The Angels 1978
6 New Sensation INXS 1987
7 Just A Girl No Doubt 1995
8 When I Grow Up Garbage 1998
9 One Night In Bangkok Vinyl Shakerz 2006
10 Galvanise The Chemical Brothers 2005

So there sits my initial Top 10. Fucking hell this is not easy, and I know for a fact that virtually none of these are safe in terms of likely being in the final Top 10. I suspect most of them will make the Top 40 cut, but then again who knows!

So I reckon I need to keep this frigging song vs. song going until the Top 40 initial version is established. Then I can keep doing groups of 10 or 20 new songs, and exploring how they fit. The way I am doing it now, the videos and songs are introduced, then the maths and such comes later, which is a disconnect I don't like. So Part #7 is going to be the next 10 in the Top 40, or maybe the next 20. We'll get there. Anyone who has read until now, fucking good on you my friend! It's worth the effort, I have wanted to do this for bloody years. Righto, next episode coming soon....


Location chosen based on where I was living when the current #1 was in that position on the world charts. Clementi Park, Singapore.

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