#3 Superstition – Stevie Wonder
I came to Stevie Wonder only a few years ago to be honest after hearing Superstition in the opening scene of the Will Smith film I,Robot and I’m so glad I did. This is one of many great songs of his, I just love the distorted clavinet and Moog synth here that he somehow managed to make sound good. Stevie was at the cutting edge of the synth and sampling revolution in the early 70’s and this song was recorded in a room full of wires and overheating, unreliable primitive electronics. Thats the thing about music, no-one is really interested how you do it, just make it the best you can and get it recorded well. Great lyrics too.

Live…

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?

#4 It must be love – Madness

It’s not often that a cover version is better than the original, but this is an exception. A great version of a Labi Siffre’s song that means a lot to me. Madness may have been the nuttiest band around but they were romantics at heart! Thanks Suggs.

“British band Madness had a major UK hit with this song in 1981, and with good reason: heartfelt and nutty in equal measure it still brings the house down at every Madness show. The video – filmed above and below water – is one of their classics, with cameo appearances by big bird, a killer whale and Mr Labi Siffre, who wrote the song.”

Labi’s version…

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?

#5 One Love / People get ready – Bob Marley

This is my favourite Bob Marley song. This is him at his best imho, great vibe, summery feel and amazing musicianship. Job done.

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?

#6 Special Brew – Bad Manners

I’m proud to say that this was the first record I ver bought! I remember walking into the shop when i was ten and they were playing this on the shop hifi, so i said can i have that one please – pointing to the speakers! I still love it now. Get to see them live if you can, true British eccentric music.

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?

#7 Cissy Strut – The Meters

Very deep funk tune with an amazing bassline (try playing it on a proper sound system!) featured in lots of films but people don’t often who it’s by.

“New Orleans R&B and funk band The Meters formed in 1966 with a line-up of keyboardist and vocalist Art Neville, guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste. They released their self-titled debut album three years later, which spawned two Top 40 singles, “Sophisticated Cissy” (#34) and Cissy Strut, (#23). After a label shift in 1972, the Meters struggled to return to the charts but their pioneering funk sound gained the respect of such legends as The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney. They also played an influential role as backing musicians for other artists, including Lee Dorsey and Dr John. The group disbanded in 1977 when Art formed the Neville Brothers with his brothers Aaron, Charles and Cyril.

Nocentelli explained to Gibson.com that he penned this song to replace their traditional opener. Said Nocentelli: “There was a club on Bourbon Street. This is before The Meters, man. We were called Art Neville and the Neville Sounds. Art Neville was the elder statesman in the group, he already had a group called The Hawkettes. By the time we got to a club called the Ivanhoe, it was George [Porter Jr.] and Zig [Modeliste] and myself and Art. That was really The Meters, but we weren’t called The Meters. We used to play Top 40 stuff. And most of the bands, all of the bands had an opening song that they’d play before they’d actually get into their set. And one of the songs that everybody kind of played was a song called ‘Hold It.’ And everybody played it, man. I got sick of playing that, so I wrote ‘Cissy Strut.’ The melody came out and I introduced it to George, Art and Zig. And we started opening the set with ‘Cissy Strut,’ but it didn’t have a name or anything. It was just that song, that opening song. That’s how that happened. We recorded the song, and it was named ‘Cissy Strut’ long after I wrote it.”

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?

#8 Papa don’t take no mess – James Brown

James Brown was a game changer, he brought black music into the charts and later in his carreer also became a political force too. His personal life was a rollercoaster, but his music remained solid, mainly sue to his amazing band including Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley (who i saw in Leeds once). This is probably the funkiset song of all time. The drumming by John “Jabo” Starks is simply amazing. Jabo has been the unsung hero on many famous sampled songs, without a good drummer in funk, you were nothing – see http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/John_Jabo_Starks.html for more on Jabo.

Live version…

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?

#9 Beats to the Rhyme – Run DMC

As a Hip Hop DJ in my youth I wasn’t much of a Run DMC fan to be honest, until I saw them live at Manchester Apollo in the late 80’s with their support band The Beastie Boys. What a show! The late Jam Master Jay just walked on stage with a few records under his arm and just blew us all away, what a band, they brought Hip Hop to a wider audience and even resurrected the career of Aerosmith! Classic James Brown sampling Hip Hop. Seeing them live made me want to start my Hip Hop group, which I did, except we had Yorkshire accents!

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?

My top ten – here we go….

#10 Here comes the sun – The Beatles

My favourite Beatles song,  a family favourite of ours. I guess I’m a George Harrison fan as my favourite Beatles songs are all his. He wrote this positive song at a tough time in his life and as The Beatles became more and more fractured.

Astronomer and science populariser Carl Sagan had wanted the song to be included on the Voyager Golden Record, copies of which were attached to both spacecraft of the Voyager program to provide any entity that recovered them a representative sample of human civilization. Although the Beatles favoured the idea, EMI refused to release the rights and when the probes were launched in 1977 the song was not included.^[11]

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?

#11 A touch of Jazz – DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince
An instrumental classic produced by Jazzy Jeff (Will Smith’s partner and best mate in the 80’s!). Me and my Dad used to listen to this, i loved Hip Hop, he loved Jazz, its was a great middle ground for a teen and his Dad! Sampling classics by Grover Washington Jnr, Marvyn Gaye, Donald Byrd and others its a sampling masterpiece. More info here: http://www.whosampled.com/sample/view/2852/DJ%20Jazzy%20Jeff%20%26%20the%20Fresh%20Prince-A%20Touch%20of%20Jazz_Bob%20James-Westchester%20Lady/

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

What’s your top 5/10/20/30?

#12 Diamonds on the soles of her shoes – Paul Simon

Taken from one of the biggest and best albums ever, the seminal Graceland album, now over 25 years ago. I first heard this when my Dad played it, then my then girlfriend (now wife!) Clare played it a lot too, so it became pretty engrained in my mind for all the right reasons. His lyrics are often bizarre, but just work, love the African flavours too. A classic.

My blurb about #mytop30 …

I now have 15,906 songs in my iTunes collection. In my defence I am an ex-DJ, honest! So on a long train journey i started to add my favourites to a playlist. I was aiming to find my top 5, but ended up with my top 30.

Whats your top 5/10/20/30?