1. A New England – Billy Bragg – I was in the middle of a post on Kirsty MacColl and the moral imperative which, because she added a verse and completed a great cover, brought me back to Bragg’s original. All that really early Bragg stuff is outstanding and nothing more that this. “Is it wrong to wish on space hardware?”
2. Ask – The Smiths – Reminds me of a girl I’m dating: “So if there’s something you’d like to try…”is the sorta thing she says all the time.
3. The Rainbow – Apples In Stereo – Wasn’t thrilled by their last album, but this is one of the great ones. “People come and go… just like a rainbow”.
4. Sparkle – Aretha Franklin – One of the greatest moments in my concert going life was Aretha singing this at radio City in 2009.
5. The One – Masry J. Blige and Drake – Drake destroys this great song.
6. Lust For Life – Girls – Something about pizza and love.
7. Hey Baby – Falu – Stil waiting for the follow up.
8. Powerstripe – Tigercity – The best soul band around.
9. Hot Mess – Cobra Starship – Love it at the time but a touch whatever now.
10. You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift – Hey, “Mine” is quite its equal.
11. You’re the Cream In My Coffee – Hal Davis – Didja ever see the Dennis Potter TV play with this name? If Potter gets lost in the consistent, terrible, onslaught of info overload nobody stands a fucking chamce.
12. Baby Boomer – Monsters Of Folk – One of the 4 killer tracks on the otherwise naff album.
13. Pursuit Of Happiness – Kid Cudi – This is what I mean about getting rat a tat in the studio with Kanye instead of Bon Ivers.
14. D.O.A. – Jay-Z – This was the beginning of the disaster known as BP3
15. Calypso Gold – Princeton – Whatever happened to these West Coast winners.
16. I Gotta feeling (Dave Guetta Remix) – B.E.P. – Since Guetta discovered the samole, aren’t they all his mix?
17. Since I Don’t Have You – Guns N Roses – Hey, Murphy.. you don’t love this. Cmon dude.
18. The Boy With Perpetual Nervousness – The Feelies – The definition of passive aggressive.
19.Empire State Of Mind – Jay-Z – Jigga’s worst song ever. Makes me think the Iranian goverment might have the right idea.
20. Crying Lightening – Arctic Monkeys – there is a reason why the album stiffed.
21. Islands In The Stream – Bee Gees – Love this song but it belongs to Jim James now.