The Music Almanac Top 100 Songbook | Arts and entertainment

The Music Almanac Top 100 Songbook

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19.01.2022 #4. The Beatles "Day Tripper" Originally a B-side on the We Can Work It out single but just too good to classify as that. It would become a double A-sided single for the Fab Four and with its soul undertones come December 1965 be added to the list of chart toppers this Liverpool band would rack up over their career on record. ... You could pick anything here really from the Fabs if you wanted to, but this one still rolls alright for me when unleashed.

18.01.2022 #3. The War On Drugs "An Ocean In Between The Waves" This song clocks in at just over 7 minutes and even longer when given more freedom played live. The Adam Granduciel led Philadelphia delivered an opus in March 2014 that was their 3rd album Lost In The Dream. ... This was the 5th single off it from the album’s 10 tracks overall and it just glides along effortlessly and has your ears enthralled from beginning to end. Live these guys are a sublime experience with their last trip here to Oz in early 2018 offering up one of the best nights at the Enmore Theatre in many years of seeing gigs there and right up there with my best gigs of all time. Yep this song and that album are that good.

14.01.2022 #5. Alice In Chains "No Excuses" An alternative rock band from Seattle on the rise but looking for refuge in the studio. Stripping things back like they had done before January 1994 would see a 7 track EP result titled Jar Of Flies. ... It’s lead single would contain a great groove and secure the band their first chart topper in the process. That track is No Excuses.

13.01.2022 #6. The Stems "For Always" The 1980's were an interesting period in music. New wave sounds blended in with classic rock along with what would be termed indie or college rock depending on which part of the globe lived in. Perth band The Stems were part indie rock and part paisley rock on account of the fashion of the day where paisley shirts were on their latest revival. ... August 1987 saw their debut album At First Sight - Violets Are Blue released. It was on the indie label Citadel Records but the band still managed some crossover action bagging an appearance on ABC's Countdown and their videos getting played on the top music video show of the day Sounds with Donnie Sutherland as well as the fledging Aussie version of MTV hosted by Richard Wilkins OAM. For Always was the 3rd single from the album and struck a chord with me instantly. I was working my way through a pile of vinyl that was the Beatles catalogue I had recently got for my birthday (and still have) and this song certainly showed some influences from the Fab Four had rubbed off on the Stems Dom Mariani. It's indie rock and power pop perfection all in one 3 minute slice of musical goodness. The album would go on to be one of Australia's highest selling albums that year but with the band on the cusp of getting to the next level burn out beat them to it and they called it a day. With some hard earned in the back pocket a few years later I bagged the Stems album on CD from Redeye Records one of many "donations" I have been happy to provide over the years at that place. And to then finally see the Stems live when they reunited 20 years later and played the Clash Of The Titans gig at the Enmore Theatre with Radio Birdman and Hoodoo Gurus on the bill was one of those great gigs you remember fondly. Dom Mariani still rolls the band out sporadically now in between day job stuff and other bands he's part of with the added bonus that Even's Ash Naylor is now part of the Stems pretty cool. And when this one gets played I just take it in and enjoy a favourite Aussie tune.

07.01.2022 #2. The La's "There She Goes" A band for which so much has been written by so many despite a short span on record. This song written by Lee Mavers would be recorded and recorded again, with different producers brought in to try and nail down the sounds Mavers had in his head on record. ... Eventually Steve Lilywhite was brought in to have a go at putting something together and in October 1990 that became the Liverpool indie rockers self-titled debut album. His take on There She Goes was the 4th one released as a single and one that many say was the birth of Britpop in the process. Whether it's lyrics are about love or something more sinister either way it’s a classic.