1. Lost Paraguayos – Rod Stewart – Underage sex, alcoholism, threesome, and a quick wit. A gorgeous melody, great anthem. If this was released today Scotland Yard would have him in handcuffs, be searching his mansion, and wanting more information about his friendship with late Jimmy Saville, and 50 year old alcoholic women would be suing him.
2. Yummy Yummy Yummy – Ohio Express – An ode to cunnilingus answered a year later by the Archies “Sugar Sugar”, but don’t let that you, Just note that one of the writers, Arthur Resnick was responsible for “Good Lovin'” and the other writer, a brill Building guy Joey Levine, wrote “Under The Boardwalk” among money other. Bubblegum pop Max Martin would kill for.
3. Everything’s Just Wonderful – Lily Allen – At the time I had my doubts about the chorus but it really works and her life was more interesting in the mid-00s. She also wrote my epitaph “Oh Jesus Christ almighty, am I feeling alright? No not slightly”.
4 I’ve Got You, Babe – Sonny And Cher – This song is like the movie that used it to such great effect “Groundhog Day”, it seems to repeat over and over again for every day of your life.
5. Psykick Dancehall – The Fall – The genius here is the way Mark E. Smith uses recordings, the groove in the records, to suggest ghosts are being summoned from the past. He is of course 100% right, that is what happens. The dead come to life.
6. America – Simon And Garfunkel – A great journey song with words so clever and simple it immediately places Simon on the journey to “Peace Like A river”.
7. Toxic – Mark Ronson, Tiggers, Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Not only did this give Britney Spears the level of legitimacy she’d been patiently awaiting, but it resurrected ODB whose sampled “Ooooh baby I’m burning up” is the hook of the decade. Ronson never came close again and Tigger disappeared.
8. When Did you Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You – Marvin Gaye – I am cheating here, just about any song frm gaye’s greatest moment, the divorce album Here, My Dear, would make it on an A+ list. with the jazzed up horns leading the way, Gaye’s singing is way beyond anything you can imagine. he is breaking apart in melodic harmony, singing to the sax.
9. Human Behavior – Bjork – For a little between 1993 – 1995, Bjork was the great popstar on earth… then she got a little extreme to be a popstar and became an artist. Oh well, here she gets it right “there’s definitely no logic to human behavior, but yet so irresponsible” is the perfect description of Bjork.
10. I Know What I Know – Paul Simon – A great song about death and impermanence
