100 Pop Songs (31 to 40)

Again in no particular order ...

(31) Godley And Creme – Under You Thumb

From the ashes of 10cc, came Godley and Creme and in 1981 the duo produced this memorable song that was the signature tune to my first term at university.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ85eeZL7yA&feature=related

(32) Jean Michel Jarre – Magnetic Fields II

I first heard this track on “The Concerts In China”, recording the first time a western pop star had performed in that country since the cultural revolution. It is a magnificent example of electronic pop music at its very best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aibQMYOiofs

(33) Tubeway Army – Are Friends Electric?

“Are Friends Electric?” was ground-breaking for me at least. Initially I dismissed it as just a another novelty record but the more I heard it the more I loved it. It is a pop song but with a darkness inside that appeals to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLK6x1cx_tk

(34) Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Electricity

“Electricity” is a pure pop song with a highly addictive tune that immediately makes your feet want to leap onto the nearest dance floor. I loved the song and made a huge fool of myself (usually after one two many beers) leaping around with other similar fools who loved the tune. It is another fine song from the soundtrack of my life at university.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq2vl99iIEc

(35) The Police – Invisible Sun

In the late seventies, I dismissed the Police as another teenybopper band who produced chart fodder for teenage girls (especially my sisters who drove me up the wall with their previous efforts). However, with the album “Ghosts InThe Machine”, I detected a distinct change in their style that appealed to me. What a great song this is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hFydh-QhPA

(36) The Teardrop Explodes - Reward

Julian Cope is as mad as a badger’s wig but his eccentricity has allowed him to produce some of the greatest and strangely compelling songs of the last twenty or so years. “Reward” was the first song I heard by the great man and it set the scene for what was to come. Wonderful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU3XjOwwfJE

(37) The Police – Spirits In The Material World

I was wrong when I thought that “Invisible Sun” was the only song by the Police that I would like. Also from “Ghosts In The Machine”, this song is in many ways a better song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Obdx0nnM0

(38) Visage - Visage

There aren’t many people who are more aptly named that the main man behind Visage, Steve Strange. Whatever you think of him, it is hard to deny that the same named song is not an electronic pop masterpiece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdsC--CV3Iw

(39) Blancmange – Living On The Ceiling

I can’t really explain why but this is one of my favourite pop songs of the eighties. It has a superb beat, bizarre lyrics and a distinctive eastern feel. Everything about the song is appealing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L03PJeB38dI

(40) Dire Straits – Telegraph Road

“Telegraph Road” is the magnum opus of Dire Straits. The first time I heard the song I sat listening in stupefied silence as this fifteen minute epic revealed itself to me. It was like nothing I had heard by the band before and nothing I have heard by them since. I don’t know what inspired Mark Knopfler to write the song but I am so pleased that he chose to work on it when his creative genius was at its zenith.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgYzzJWW4nY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQX1QoTbJKc&feature=related

41 to 50 to follow ...