GR'®ffiWP*s

our feast of 45s. Four months ago, 140 song

cent are new entries, with an outbreak of Englishness
— The Kinks, The Who, Squeeze, Dexy's, The Smiths
— lending a completely different feel to the previous
TAKE writers,
YOUR producers
SEATS ONE and MORE TIME
musicians votedFOR
for
their favourite singles of all time; now from over transatlantic blend. We read every entry, whether the
1,000 entries we can reveal the MOJO readers' own chosen single made the chart or not, and the quality
Top 100... Where many of the producers and musi was consistently high, with entries from around the
cians chose the blockbusters and epics, the following globe nominating a staggering breadth of classics.
chart provides a look-in for the heirs of George Thanks to all for participating • Entries that didn't
— now let democracy speak... appear in our previous
Formby and their kitchen-sink dramas. Nearly 60 per poll are numbered in red.

100 Don't Look incorporate a line he got from a Lennon bootleg

Back In Anger oasis
Creation, 1996 - Available on What's The
Story {Morning Glory) (Creation)
("You said all the brains I had went to my head").
A near-perfect steal for a near-perfect song.
Richard Milne, Malvern

"WHEN I gave him Don't Look Back In Anger he's 99 Hound Dog /Don't
singing, 'But don't back in anger, not today.' I'm
saying, It's 'don't look back in anger.' He's saying,
Be Cruel Elvis Presley
RCA, 1956 - Available on Elvis 56 (RCA)
'Well, that's not what's fuckin' written 'ere, chief.'"
Surprisingly, this exchange did not lead to the
usual fraternal punch-up but served as confirma 98 Everybody Hurts r.e.m.
tion to Noel of his dyslexia. Later, he would give WEA, 1993 - Available on Automatic For The People
(Warners)
Liam an ultimatum: choose to sing either
Wonderwall or Don't Look Back In Anger.
Beatles references were omnipresent, as usual. _ 97 "Heroes" David Bowie
Not only was there the all-too-blatant nick of the RCA, 1977 - Previous Position 34 -
Available on ChangesBowie (EMI)
opening of Imagine, but Noel also managed to
96 Heartbreak Hotel palpable sense of release. Recognising that he
himself had been imprisoned, he aud
almost indecipherable, Bush's melodic shriek
would stay with her listeners for ever.
Elvis Presley bly revels in his newly-won freedom Salli Collins, Barking, Essex
RCA, 1956 - Previous Position 16 -
Available on Elvis 56 (RCA) Sadly, it wasn't to last, but in
these January 1969 sessions,
and on this record in particu- A 87 Dancing
95 Love Will Tear Us Apart lar, Elvis finally allied his Queen
God-given charisma and Abba
Joy Division emotional intensity with
Factory, 1980 - Previous Position 57 - Epic, 1976 - Available on
Available on Permanent (London) an artistic growth that a Abba Gold (Polydor)
decade of ropy sound

94 Bridge Over tracks had obscured.

In the slowed-down
86 Move On Up
Troubled Water middle section, Elvis's Curtis Mayfield
Buddah, 1971 - Available on
joyous rediscovery of
Simon & Garfunkel his muse is thrilling and,
Curtis (Buddah)
CBS, 1970 - Previous Position 74 - I ...AN UPLIFTING and impas-
Available on Bridge Over Troubled Water (Columbia) in retrospect, heart
rending. If singing like [ sioned call for pride and
this doesn't touch you,
93 Nights In White Satin your name's probably
self-development, delivered to
a powerfully infectious rhythm
The Moody Blues Tom Parker. track.
Deram, 1967 - Available on Greatest Hits (Polydor) Steve Rippon, Dublin Bill Wallsgrove, Chiswick, W4
A HAUNTING tale of romance in an era that is
gone forever... Songwriter Justin Hayward said 89 UpThe 85 Hotel California
that the song is about one love affair that is over
Junction Squeeze The Eagles
and another that is just beginning; the white satin Asylum, 1977 - Available on Hotel California (Asylum)
A&M, 1979 - Available on Greatest Hits (A&M)
imagery came from some white satin sheets that
Hayward had been given, but never used...
Steve Trump, Upminster, Essex
A BLINK-and-you-miss-it intro, a punched drum
fill, and you're in. The desire for economy is taken
84 Alone Again Or Love
Elektra, 1967 - Available on Forever Changes (Elektra)
to extremes: no time-wasting chorus and definitely
92 Pretty Vacant sex Pistols no soloing. The arrangement is simple and
83 Common People
Virgin, 1977 - Available on breathtakingly subtle; the focus rests almost
Never Mind The Bollocks (Virgin) entirely on the words. Lyrically, Up The Junction is Pulp
AN ANTHEMIC call to arms, and a finger to probably the most unpretentiously detailed song Island, 1995 - Available on Different Class (Island)
since She's Leaving Home. From the opening line
authority.
Jonathan Morris, London SE17 through the job with Stanley and the bunch of
flowers, we hang on every word, until it ends,
82 Creep
inevitably, in tragedy. It seems to have been quietly Radiohead *%.
91 Riders On The Storm forgotten, but this very English kitchen sink drama Parlophone, 1993 -
Available on Pablo
The Doors shines as brightly today as any of its more cele Honey (Parlophone)
Elektra, 1971 - Available on LA Woman (Elektra) brated contemporaries.
CREEP HAS become
Highlights abound, but the line that gets me
INSPIRED BY American writer Hart Crane's words an anthem to anyone
is, "I'd beg for some forgiveness, but begging's
"inheritances - delicate riders of the storm," Jim who has ever felt
not my business." And there you have it: a story of
Morrison's final recording with The Doors perhaps al fresco sex, happiness, birth, alcoholism, unfairly singled out,
forewarned us that his fascination with breaking and was once termed
gambling, separation and good old-fashioned "the only song which
through to the other side would soon be realised. remorse, all in three minutes.
However, from the opening background of rain- would make bullies
Bryan Eccleshall, Bath
drenched thunder, Ray Manzarek's silky smooth apologise for their
electric piano lulls us into a false sense of security actions." Yet, farfrom
which belies Morrison's ethereal vocal and 88 Wuthering Heights being a paean to
macabre subject matter. When Densmore and Kate Bush depression, Creep
makes us realise that
producer Bill Botnik compiled the radio edit they EMI, 1978-Available on TheKIck Inside (EMI)
we haven't got it quite
may have already been aware of Jim's fate -
which guaranteed the extra airplay. READING CLASSIC literature in the spring of so bad after all.
1978 had about as much appeal as kissing Arthur John Humphreys,
Stephen Moss, Wilmslow, Cheshire
Mullard full on the lips. Imagine our shock when Bexley, Kent
a wailing lament emanated from tinny transistor
90 Suspicious Minds radios all over the nation screeching something

Elvis Presley about Heathcliff and Kathy. Weren't they the two 81 Once In A Lifetime
characters that our
RCA, 1969-Available on Talking Heads
The All-rime Greatest Hits (RCA) senile, octogenarian Sire, 1981 - Available on Remain In Life (Sire)
English teacher was
AFTER A decade of mounting
trying to hammer
f r u s t r a t i o n , t h e K i n g fi n a l l y
regains his regal lustre, casting
into our unresponsive 80 Down In The
crusts? Wuthering
off the restraints imposed by his
Heights had miracu Tube Station
m a n a g e m e n t . I r o n i c a l l y, h i s lously become sexy...
personal decision to go into At Midnight The Jam
Martin J. Brewer,
Memphis' famous American Polydor, 1978 - Available on The Very Best Of (Polydor)
Dover, New
Recording Studios turns out to Hampshire, USA NOT FOR the first time, Weller produced his best
be a commercial triumph as work following stinging attacks from the music
well, but this song really is the IF RADIO listeners
press. Whereas The Jam's earliest hits had been
sound of a tormented man hearing the hysterical based around the force of Weller's guitar slashes,
reclaiming his soul. sound of Kate Bush's
Tube Station accentuated other aspects of their
The cherry-picked backing voice on her debut
sound, most notably Bruce Foxton's distinctive bass
band sparkles throughout on a single were unaware
of the torment in line, while Weller's intimate vocal develops the
slippery rhythm track that's elec
tric with tension, highlighting the Emily Bronte's novel lyrical theme in dramatic, reportage style. With
this song, Weller finally escaped from the shadow of
concerns of the lyric. Ironically, of the same name,
The Clash's Joe Strummer as social commentator
Elvis sounds so pleased just to be they were soon
allowed to sing a song of this educated. While the and, both lyrically and musically, mapped out a
clear and distinctive future for The Jam.
quality that he imbues the line lyrics, bar the haunt
"we're caught in a trap" with a ing chorus, seemed James Richards, Moulton, Northampton

MOJO 65

100 GREATEST SINGLES OF ALL TIME
79Telstar
The
Tornados
Decca, 1962-
Available on The
Original '60s Hits
Of... (Music Clubl
I N D I S P U TA B LY A
recording landmark...
even though I share
this choice with Mrs
Thatcher.
Barry Ketchell,
Whitley Bay
78 Hey Joe The Jimi
Hendrix Experience
Polydor, 1966 - Previous Position 12-
Available on Experience Hendrix (MCA)
77 How Soon Is Now?
The Smiths
Rough Trade, 1985 - Available on Singles (Warners)
HOW SOON Is Now heralded Johnny Marr's
ascension within The Smiths, the point at which
his talents shared equal billing with Morrissey's.
Before he had been seen by many as a Duane
Eddy-style purveyor of all things jangly, but now
Marr held more than one card. Apparently, Marr
wanted to write a song with an intro that you just
couldn't forget, which could be instantly recog
nised as The Smiths. He succeeded in spades...
David McMahon, Wigan
76 London Calling The ciash
CBS, 1979 - Available on London Calling (CBS)
IF ONE record kick-started the '80s and showed
us that maybe there was more to life than sitting
around on our arses, it was London Calling. The
intro was thrilling: Mick Jones's stabbing riff riding
Paul Simonon's bass, all boom and elasticity,
backed up by Topper Headon setting off small
nuclear bombs on the percussion. Cue Joe
Strummer, the supreme anti-voice, but a singer of
conviction who never sounded like he meant it
more. And that was just the first 30 seconds...
Richard Folland, Godalming, Surrey
75 My Girl The Temptations
Gordy, 1965 - Available on Anthology (Motown)
A SINGLE is transient-a song that works on radio,
a song that you can listen to in a car, anywhere.
And My Girl is the best example you can find...
Don McKinlay, Renfrewshire
l MOJO READER
74 Respect Aretha Franklin 68 Brown Sugar
Atlantic, 1967 - Previous Position 15 -
Available on Queen Of Soul (Rhino) The Rolling Stones
Rolling Stones Records, 1971 - Available
on Sticky Fingers (Rolling Stones)
73 Stayin' Alive The Bee Gees IT WASN'T surprising that many believed Brown
RSO, 1977 - Available on Bee Gees'Greatest (Polydor) Sugar was a reference to cinnamon-coloured
AS BARRY Gibb has said, "Great steaming medal Mexican cocaine; in fact, the Marcia Hunt-
lions and disco boots, what do we have here?" The inspired lyrics graphically describe inter-racial sex
most dangerous record of the '70s. Place record in the southern United States. Bobby Keys later
on turntable, light fuse and stand well back! recalled, "It was a one-time thing, as unrehearsed
Craig Phillips, Irvine, California as a hiccup." Shortly after the release of Sticky
Fingers, the word went out to the record stores -
"leave the zip down". Apparently done-up flies
72 Wichita Lineman were damaging the vinyl grooves. And I thought it
Glen Campbell was to let the heat out!
Capitol, 1969 - Previous Position 49 -
Available on Greatest Hits (Capitol) Richard Jones, Witney, Oxon
71 Nothing Compares 2 U 671 Want To Hold
Sinead O'Connor Your Hand The Beatles
Ensign, 1990 - Available on / Do Not
Want What I Haven't Got (Ensign)
Parlophone, 1963 - Previous Position 14-
Available on The Beatles 1962-1966 (Apple)
70 There She Goes
The La's
Go! Discs, 1988 - Available on Fever Pitch
(Warners)
JUST AS the traditional guitar band
seemed to be making a quick
retreat, The La's stepped forward
to remind the world what rea
music was all about.
Frontman Lee Movers
went through four producers
in his search for a sound
akin to The Who's I Can't
Explain. Earthy acoustic
guitars set the perfect
backdrop and the beauti
fully chiming riff provides
melody and, in the middle
eight, counter melody to
the soaring vocals. There
She Goes defines what pop
should be - so utterly uplifting,
its optimism never-ending; for
three minutes the world seemed
a better place to be.
Ian Chan, Liverpool
69 Apache The Shadows
Columbia, 1960 - Available on Golden Greats (EMI)
BERTWEEDON had recorded Apache but hadn't
released it. Jerry Lordan was distraught with Bert's
insipid arrangement. He'd told Jerry, "It's too
aggressive. It needs toning down." Meanwhile,
The Shadows befriended Lordan on a package
tour. Jerry played Apache to Jet Harris during an AT THE end of 1969, The Kinks were down for
the count in the US due to a union ban which had
Underground journey between Liverpool Street
and Paddington, strumming away on his trusty kept them from touring there for four years.
ukulele. The following day, Lordan repeated his Perhaps of more concern, record sales were so
performance to Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, perilously low that their American record label
on a coach journey between London and Bristol's resorted to divine intervention (the "God Save The
Colston Hall. The Shadows began work on Kinks" campaign by Reprise) to try and keep their
Apache immediately the tour finished. boys afloat. Instead, Ray Davies took matters into
The music was inspired by the eponymous Burt his own hands and delivered a knockout punch
Lancaster film and Dmitri Tiomkin's DeGuello with Lola. A prime slice of classic rock, the intro
from The Alamo. "I wanted," recalled Lordan, ductory chords are immediately recognisable and
still generate goosebumps. While its Hey Jude-
"something to reflect both the nobility and
savagery of the Indian." The Shads created a new style chorus may not have been unique, its lyrical
sound. Partly it was the Fender guitars and Vox content had everyone's attention. To this day, Ray
AC-30 amps. Plus, Hank had just acquired a Vox/ still won't go into any real life details behind the
Meazzi echo unit from Joe Brown, who was literally song's lyrics. Why spoil it- let the listener imagine
about to throw it away. Virtually every major it to bean actual account or storytelling of a more
guitarist of that generation started off in a oblique nature. On the heels of (still) brilliant
Shadows-type band. albums like Something Else, Village Green
The influence of Apache is incalculable; the Preservation Society and Arthur, The Kinks needed
disc that launched a thousand riffs. Twang! a big hit. Lola wasn't just big, it was unforgettable.
Rob Bradford, Thatcham John Doan, via Internet
 100 GREATEST SINGLES OF ALL TIME
65 The Weight/I Shall 62 Shakin'All Over
Be Released The Band Johnny Kidd
Capitol, 1968 - Available on Music From Big Pink (Capitol) And The Pirates
H M V, 1 9 6 0 - Av a i l a b l e o n T h e
RELEASED IN 1968, a year of enormous political Very Best Of (EMI)
and civil turbulence, The Weight counteracted the ENGLAND'S ONLY genuine first-wave
mood of the times by evoking America's folk past, rock'n'roll record.
a past which had been thoroughly explored the
Jules Webb, London
previous summer with Bob Dylan in the basement
of The Band's legendary Woodstock hideaway, Big
Pink, and a past which would provide the inspira 61 California Dreamirr
tional base for their 1 969 masterpiece, The Band. The Mamas And
The Band's principal composer, Robbie Robert
The Papas
son, claimed that some of the ideas for The Weight RCA, 1966 - Available on California Dreamin'-
came from his own fascination with film, particu The Best Of {Camden)

larly the Spanish director Luis Bunuel and his

notion of "the impossibility of sainthood". The
group's drummer, Levon Helm, recalled, "The
60 Bittersweet
characters that appear in the lyrics - Luke, Anna
Lee, Crazy Chester - were all people we knew."
Symphony
The Verve
Thus, what The Band achieved with The Weight Hut, 1997 - Available on Urban Hymns (Hut)
was a juxtaposition of the esoteric and the universal
with the fabulist quality of Robertson's writing,
Garth Hudson's gospel-tinged piano and the soul- 59 Baby Please Don't
baked vocals of Rick Danko.
Peter Hammond, Stockport
Go/Gloria Them
Decca, 1965 - Available on The
Story Of Them (Decca)

64 96 Tears THE SONG Baby Please Don't Go is cred

? And The Mysterians
Cameo Parkway, 1966 - Available on 96 Tears (Greyhound)
ARCHAEOLOGISTS
LOOKING for the birth
place of punk could do
worse than to visit this
Michigan garage band's
signature hit. The insis
ited to bluesman Big Joe Williams who
recorded the song in 1935; Them's version
was overshadowed by its flip-side Gloria,
which became the hit. Although it made
only Number 71 on the Billboard chart, it's
now firmly lodged in the public conscious emote pain, some sorrow, many the woes of lost
ness as a sure-fire crowd pleaser. love, but none ever managed to convey the utter
George B. Feist, Fresno, California contempt and total exasperation of a failed
relationship like this one.

re
tent, grinding staccato
organ combined with 581 Saw The Light Jason Smith, Kings Langley, Herts

the bruised vocals made Todd Rundgren

for a noisy skronk on Bearsville, 1973 - Available on
Something/Anything (Bearsville)
55 The
^ 1 966 pop radio filled
with the polished sounds AT HIS most accessible, Todd produced melodic Message
of The Monkees, Petula pop songs which equalled the combined output of
Grandmaster
Clark or The Supremes. The uniqueness of the the '60s tunesmiths he so admired. Re-released Flash And
acoustics may have come from the song's being several times, reaching a high of 36 in 1973,1 Saw The Furious
recorded in the manager's living room. The Light can be found on Todd's self-produced
The secret identity of lead singer Rudi Martinez,
Five
landmark Something/Anything on which he Sugarhill, 1982-
aka ?, helped build interest in this driving effortlessly mastered a multitude of roles Available on The
Message (Sugarhill)
single. Martinez had actually written the from singer-songwriter to tortured
lyrics, such as they are, several years artist to talented multi-instrumen ALONG WITH Planet
before the Mysterians' formation. talist. The song is a pop master Rock, this ushered in a
Like much about the band's piece in the style to which his new era of hip hop,
history, the story that the band's admirers have craved a combining incisive social
preferred title was originally 69 return ever since. A decade comment while at the
Te a r s c a n n o t b e v e r i fi e d . later Todd explained that same time bridging funk
(Reputedly, the digit switch writing songs like I Saw and hip hop - an era-
was made so that radio sta The Light did not satisfy defining classic.
tions would play the song. It him because it was uncre- Ian Margieson, Brackley, Northants
would take another 1 9 years ative and "all formula".
for Bryan Adams's Summer
Of '69 to get the offending
He complained of being
too prolific, of writing a
54 White Rabbit
numeral into the charts.) song every day. "In 15 Jefferson Airplane
However, since ? regularly minutes I'd come up with a RCA, 1967 - Available on Greatest Hits (Camden)
transmuted their barely-a-hit song - it became too easy."
Girl You Captivate Me into Girl
You Masturbate Me during their
Graeme Ross, Kilmacolm,
Renfrewshire
53 Instant Karma
live appearances, it's easy enough
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Apple, 1970-Available on Lennon Legend (Parlophone)
to believe that 27 extra tears had to
be added on for propriety. 57 Honky THERE IS a moment in the Great White Hunter
Desmond Devlin, New York
Tonk Women jungle-type B-movies when the safari
looks wild-eyed into the camera and
yellow-belly
shouts, "My
The Rolling Stones God -the drums!" And that's what we shouted the
63 Come On, Eileen Decca, 1969 - Previous Position 72 -
Available on Hot Rocks (London)
first time we heard this single: the best drum sound

Dexy's Midnight Runners you'll ever hear, echoing, driving, solid-and back
Mercury, 1982 - Available on The Very Best Of (EMI) ing up the best British rock'n'roll voice ever. When

LIKE ALL the best pop music, Eileen grabs you

56 Positively 4th Street you read the centre of the single it exhorts you to
"Play Loud" and you should. If you turn to the
and lifts you up to a higher, better place. Dexy's Bob Dylan B-side it tells you to "Play Quiet". But what it should
CBS, 1965 - Available on Biograph (Columbia)
were that good. really say is "Play The A-side Again"
Rod Gray, Hemel Hempstead A VITRIOLIC kick in the bollocks. Some songs Bert Thomson, Glasgow

68 MOJO
 100 GREATEST SINGLES OF ALL TIME
52 Fool's Gold/What The
World Is Waiting For
The Stone Roses
Silvertone, 1989 - Available on
The Complete Stone Roses (Silvertone)
AN ANTH EM for the rave generation, Fool's Gold
owed more to Can than to Kraftwerk. It was not
anthemic by Noel Gallagher's football terrace
singalong standards; instead it droned, dark,
stoned and monotonous. The drumbeat is James
Brown's Funky Drummer turned Mancunian,
lolloping behind a deep and groovy bassline while
John Squire's wah wah guitar crackles with
energy. What The World Is Waiting For tipped
its hat to Hendrix, The Byrds and The Monkees,
with lyrics that sound lifted from a book of
proverbs ("Here comes the wise man and there
goes the fool"). It was the first genuinely inspired
double A-side since the days of The Jam and The
Beatles. For all the Roses' '60s influences, this
record was the first to capture the vibe and the
spirit of a new decade.
Mark Algie, Frilsham, Berkshire
51 You've Lost That
Lovin' Feeling
The Righteous Brothers
Philles, 1964 - Previous Position 13 -
Available on The Very BestOflVerve)
50 Be My Baby The Ronettes
Philles, 1963 - Previous Position 4 -
Available on The Best Of (EMI)
491 Can See For Miles
The Who
Track, 1967 - Available on
Who's Better Who's Best (Polydor)
I CAN See For Miles was Townshend's "ace-in-
the-hole". Written in late '66, he kept the song in
reserve for nearly a year. Convinced it would top
the charts, Pete wanted something up his sleeve in
case the other hits stopped coming, and a lever
against the band's management.
Townshend's confidence in I Can See For Miles
was natural. Kit Lambert loved it. So did friends
who heard the demo. And the track was perfect for
The Who. The massive sound came from
Lambert's decision to cut the track at Gold Star
Studios, Spector's echoing mono enclave. Lyrically,
I Can See For Miles was about male insecurity
turning into aggression and meanness:
Townshend's mind could see the Eiffel Tower and
the Taj Mahal on "clearer days", but his magic
eyes also caught his girlfriend with "the other
70 MOJO
guys". I Can See For Miles caught The Who at their
peak, sonically immense in the afterglow of psy
42 Live Forever oasis
Creation, 1994 - Previous Position 55 -
chedelia but as paranoid and unsettling as ever. Available on Definitely Maybe (Creation)
ForTownshend, it was "fiery and Wagnerian" and
"the ultimate Who record". Cruelly, despite his
confidence, it was destined, like Strawberry Fields,
41 Purple Haze
to be denied the Number 1 spot. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Bill Butler, West Harnham, Salisbury Track, 1967 - Previous Position 43 -
Available on Experience Hendrix (MCA)
48 Going Underground River Deep, Mountain
The Jam
Polydor, 1980 - Available on The Very Best Of (Polydor) High Ike & Tina Turner
Liberty, 1966 - Previous Position 8 -
THE JAM were at their peak with this single. Available on Proud Mary- The Best Of (EMI)
Never will a song of such political incorrectness
get to Number 1 again - unless The Spice Girls
cover it, of course!
39 She Loves You
Stewart Jeens, Cradley Heath, West Midlands The Beatles
Parlophone, 1963 - Available on
The Beatles 1962-1966 (Apple)
47 Light My Fire The Doors THEIR BIG breakthrough, at least in Europe.
Elektra, 1967 - Available on The Doors (Elektra) We all were singing "yeah yeah yeah", and we
"WE'VE NEVER played that song twice the same haven't stopped yet!"
way," remarked guitarist Robbie Krieger on the Petter Thoring, Asker, Norway
release of their second single. Like the rest of The
Doors' debut album, Light My Fire was recorded 38 A Whiter Shade Of Pale
at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood early in
1967, with engineer Bruce Botnick responsible
Procol Harum
Deram, 1967 - Previous Position 22 -
for recapturing that swirling mass of ethereal Available on The Best Of (A&M)
sound on record.
During the recording, unorthodox recording
techniques included making Jim Morrison walk
from one vocal booth to another during instru
mental interludes. The song itself was entirely
written by Krieger with Jim barely contributing to
the lyrics. But the singer dominates the song, his
dynamics ranging from the subtleties of the first
verse to the mesmeric onslaught of the vocal
reprise. The carnival-like blend of jazz and mysti
cism that surrounds Ray Manzarek's opening
organ figures is regarded by many as the defining
Doors sound. From these opening seconds, the
listener is dragged under the surface...
Oliver Kluczewski, Ecclesall, Sheffield
46 Losing My Religion
R.E.M.
Warner Bros, 1991 - Available on Out Of Time (Warners)
WITH THE "that's me in the spotlight" line such
a vibrant part of the chorus, listeners immediately
assumed that this was a
song about Michael Stipe
37 Man Of The World
himself. It was reported Fleetwood Mac
that he later wished immediate, 1969 - Available on Greatest Hits (Columbia)
he'd sung "that's me in
the kitchen" to make the
A SONG so full of angst it had to have been
written by a truly tortured soul. Peter Green's
point about the everyman simple yet so effective guitar line which opens the
perspective. song gives way to a vocal so poignant anyone who
Simon Bodin,
Fare ham, Hants
isn't moved just doesn't have a heart.
Raymond Newby, County Durham
45 You Really Got Me 36 Paint It, Black
The Kinks The Rolling Stones
Pye, 1964 - Previous Position 30 - Decca, 1966 - Available on Big Hits,
Available on The Singles Collection (Castle)
High Tide And Green Grass (London)
44 Brown Eyed Girl 35 Tracks Of My Tears
Van Morrison
The Miracles
Bang, 1967 - Previous Position 69 - Tamla, 1965 - Previous Position 87 -
Available on TB Sheets (Columbia) Available on Early Classics (Spectrum)
43 Itchycoo Park 34 American Pie Don McLean
The Small Faces United Artists, 1971 - Available on The Best Of (EMI)
Decca, 1967 - Available on TO SAY that the quote "the day the music died"
The Ultimate Collection (Castle)
is a classic refrain, would be an understatement.
POP GOES psychedelic. Or was it the other This line captures the essence of the song; and
way round? of a whole era...
Goran Obradovic, Becej, Yugoslavia Nic Denholm, Hertfordshire

33 All The Young Dudes
Mott The Hoople
CBS, 1972-Available on The Ballad Of
Mott The Hoople (Columbia)
ZURICH, MARCH 1972: during a disastrous gig
in a disused gas tank cunningly converted into a
nightclub, an in-debt and demoralised Mott The
Hoople finally split, live on-stage. On returning to
London, bassist Overend Watts rings David Bowie
in hope of work. Instantly, Bowie urges the band
not to split and asks them to meet him at manager
Tony De Fries's Regent Street office. It took one
listen to Bowie's acoustic rendition of his new song
for Ian Hunterto realise "this was a hit".
In the event, All The Young Dudes helped break
both Mott and Bowie in the States; not only that,
Hunter's 30-second rap at the end was probably
the first ever recorded example of rap on disc. Only
one element proved problematic; in the US the line
"Wendy's stealing clothes from Marks & Sparks"
was changed to "from unlocked cars" as nobody in
America knew who Marks & Sparks were...
Nick Allsopp, Wolverhampton
32 Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana
DGC, 1991 - Previous Position 9 -
Available on Nevermind (DGC)
31(1 Can't Get No)
Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones
Decca, 1965 - Previous Position 6 - Available on
Big Hits, High Tide And Green Grass (London)
30 Paperback Writer/Rain
The Beatles
Parlophone, 1966 - Previous Position 29 -
Available on Past Masters Vol 2 (Apple)
29 Substitute The Who
Reaction, 1966 - Available on
Who's Better Who's Best (Polydor)
PETE TOWNSHEND: "We pinched a lot from
the Stones... I saw some of their first gigs in
Richmond and all the girls I went out with were in
love with one or another of them. I was a Rolling
Stones substitute."
Townshend claimed he wrote Substitute as a
spoof of the Stones' 1 9th Nervous Breakdown
and even sang on his demo with a Jagger-like
accent. Manager Kit Lambert was sufficiently
impressed to suggest the song as the follow-up to
My Generation.
The band's management was in conflict with
producer Shel Talmyatthetime, and so Substitute
was the first Who record produced by Pete
Townshend. Opening with a tricky little riff with
the open D string used as a constant drone effect,
Substitute proved that Townshend could be as
convincingly aggressive on on acoustic as he could
on a battered Rickenbacker.
Keith Moon himself claimed to have no memory
of the session, and was convinced that the band
had replaced him with another drummer when he
heard it on the radio. Constant reassurances from
the rest of them persuaded him otherwise, but
Townshend has said that the lapse was a pretty
good indication of how far gone he was even then.
Dylan Oliver, London
28 Maggie May Rod Stewart
Mercury, 1971 - Available on Every
Picture Tells A Story (Mercury)
BY 1971, Rod Stewart-
was seven years into a
ca re e r w i th o u t a n y
sizeable hit to his
name. That the song
to break the mould
was originally a
B-side and has no
chorus as such, was,
in retrospect, nothing
short of miraculous.
But that's the way
it was. Tucked away
on side two of Every
Picture Tells A Story,
and on the flip of
Reason To Believe,
Maggie May became what was known back then
as a 'turntable hit'. Duly promoted to A-side
status, it proceeded to rocket up the charts to
Number 1 - a feat emulated Stateside. The song
itself is an infectious ditty penned by Rod with
guitarist Martin Quittenton, and established a
long tradition of Stewart storyline numbers in
which he's fallen into the arms of the wrong, usu
ally older, woman and "really oughta get back to
school" etc, etc. The structure is incongruous, with
two mandolin parts and two electric lead breaks -
a radical move in 1971. But the formula paid off
and Stewart and Quittenton essentially rewrote it
twice more in the form of You Wear It Well and
Farewell-with diminishing rewards. Maggie May
is the one, though, and you can forgive him all the
tight leopard-skin embarrassments of later years
for this one slab of vinyl heaven.
Jeremy Thorns, Edinburgh
27 Jumpin' Jack Flash
The Rolling Stones
Decca, 1968 - Previous Position 27 -
Available on Through The Past Darkly (London)
26 Walk On The Wild Side
Lou Reed
RCA, 1973 - Available on Transformer (RCA)
"THERE'S A song for every sin," said Lou Reed,
and his portrayal of Warhol's entourage detailed
many of them.
Having left the Velvets, Reed was working as a
typist for his father's accountancy firm when he was
asked by "these intense Italian hippies with grey
hair" to write the songs for a musical of Nelson
Algren's novel Walk On The Wild Side. The project
failed to materialise, but Reed kept the title, and
by '71 the song was recognisable but unfocused,
with only vague references to New York landmarks.
1972 saw Reed back in rock'n'roll and yet
another invitation to write for Broadway from an
equally unlikely pair of impresarios - Warhol and
the fashion designer Yves St Laurent. Reed set out
to chronicle in song what Billy Name had captured
with his camera. The songs from this aborted
project formed the basis of what became
Transformer recorded with Mick Ronson and
David Bowie in August 1972. Against Lou's
wishes, Bowie insisted that they release it as a
single. Slipping the censorship net, Walk On The
Wild Side instantly acquired classic status and the
immunity which befits such songs despite their
original meanings-Jailhouse Rock, etc.
"We were concentrating on the feeling ratherthan
the technical," remarked Ronson on the approach
which led them to underpin the song with what
must be the most recognisable two-note bassline
of all time; for which Herbie Flowers received the
sum of £ 17 and a footnote in the history of rock...
Rory Walsh, Aylesbury, Bucks
25 Layla Derek
And The Dominos
Polydor, 1972 - Available on
Layla And Other Love Songs (Polydor)
BY 1970, Eric Clapton, much like his contempo
rary Jimi Hendrix, was in bad shape both person
ally and musically. Despite the highs that his group
Cream had reached, Clapton had lost the essence
of 'pureness' in his playing and had grown tired of
improvisation, looking instead to make music that
was simple and melodic. The appeal of Layla is
essentially two-fold. First, the listener is assaulted
by dual blistering guitar-playing by Eric and slide
by Duane Allman. If you bought the single version,
belatedly released in 1 972, you may have missed
Layla's second seductive element - Jim Gordon's
piano fill, which was edited out.
Richard Farr, Dover
._-^~
MOJO 71
 MOJO Ri

mil lOO GREATEST SINGLES OF ALL TIME

24 (SLW On) The Dock impotent anger which they brought. Teenage
Kicks is a summation of all that being an ordinary,
13 All Right NOW Free
Island, 1370 - Available on Fire And Water (Island)

Of The Bay Otis Redding stereotypical, confused, enraged teenager is

Volt, 1967 - Previous Position 17 -
Available on Dock Of The Bay (Atlantic)
23 Bohemian
Rhapsody
Queen
EMI, 1975 - Previous Position 40 -
Available on 4 Night At The Opera (Parlophone)
22 House Of The
Rising Sun The Animals
Columbia, 1964 - Previous Position 58 -
Available on The Complete Animals (EMI)
about. Its monochrome flash of candour and
naivety was soon engulfed again by Art, but for a
few thrashy minutes the world belonged to us, the
suburban sixth-formers and the sharp-cheeked
boys from Derry.
Tesni Daniel, Chippenham, Wiltshire
A SIMPLE but memorable riff, chugging bass line
and title repeated as a chorus epitomise the phrase
"simple is best": all topped off with those unique
vocals exuding sex. Free were the essence of
rock'n'roll, great music, sex and danger, and All
Right Now encapsulates the essence of the band.
Chris Wroe, Sheinton, Shropshire
THE SONG was allegedly written in 1 0
minutes after a duff gig, reportedly in
Durham or Manchester. I favour the
latter, as I cannot recall any duff gigs in
Durham and I attended them all...
Jim Wilson, Leyburn, North Yorks

12 God Only
21 Imagine John Lennon Knows
Apple, 1975 (as single) ~ Previous Position 36 -
Available on Lennon Legend (Parlophone)
The Beach Boys
Capitol, 1966 - Previous Position 28 -

20 Johnny B. Goode Available on Pet Sounds (Capitol)

Chuck Berry
Chess, 1958 - Available on
11 This Charming
The Best Of Chuck Berry (MCA)

THE UNIVERSAL appeal was

Man The Smiths
Rough Trade, 1983 - Available on
a m p l i fi e d b y C h u c k ' s l a s t Singles (WEA)
minute alteration of the lyric
VARIOUSLY DESCRIBED as 'incurably
from "that little coloured boy"
tuneless', 'beautifully pathetic' or
to "that little country boy". It
simply a 'Northern whine', Morrissey is
was a conscious attempt to
not your typical lead singerand to many
appeal to a larger, ie white, ears his voice is utterly at odds with The
record buying public. For what
Smiths' rock classicism, but there is a
ever reason, Johnny remains free
to be any colour the listener chooses strange and compelling chemistry at
work here. If the voice isn't enough to
to identify with.
convince you, listen to the words -
Bruce Goldie, Aberdeen
"punctured bicycle on a hillside deso

19 Mr Tambourine 14 My Generation The who late" - this is George Formby meets Emily Bronte
with Roger McGuinn on guitar...
Brunswick, 1965 - Available on

Man The Byrds Who's Better Who's Best (Polydor) John Williams, Moffat, Dumfrieshire

Columbia, 1965 - Previous Position 19-
Available on The Very Best Of (Columbia)
181 Heard It Through The
Grapevine Marvin Gaye
Tamla, 1968 - Previous Position 5 -
Available on Anthology (Motown)
IT WAS summer 1965, The Who were seeking
that tricky third Top 1 0 single, a follow-up to the
moody and aggressive Anyhow Anyway
Anywhere. Pete Townshend had scribbled some
lyrics in the back of a car on the way to a gig at the
Marquee, with the idea of a slow, talking blues in
the style of Jimmy Reed.
"I couldn't see this as a viable follow-up," said

17 Born To Run Townshend, years later. "But our manager, Chris

Stamp, kept nagging me to quicken the tempo
Bruce Springsteen and beef up the tune into a full-blown rock song."
Columbia, 1975 - Previous Position 18 - Roger Daltrey: "When we went into the studio, the
Available on Born To Run (CBS)
song wasn't complete. I was improvising the lyrics,
hence the stuttering, and that's also the reason
16 Anarchy In The UK for the bass solo. It was filler, but it worked."
Sex Pistols What finally emerged from the studio was a
EMI, 1976 - Previous position 68 - thundering, anarchic, anti-social tirade, punctu
Available on A/ever Mind The Bollocks (Virgin) ated by Daltrey's stammering, stuttering vocals,
Entwistle's bass runs and Keith Moon's chaotic,
15 Teenage Kicks sublime percussion. The song premiered on
Ready Steady Go! in September 1965, and was
The Undertones a sensation, instantly catapulting the band 10 Tin Soldier Small Faces
Sire, 1978 - Available on The Best Punk
Rock Album Ever (Virgin)
from their London Mod following onto a Decca, 1967 - Available on The Ultimate Collection (Castle)
world stage. Nothing so
TEENAGE KICKS swept AN EMOTIONALLY-scarred screamer that made
dynamically powerful
away the triumphal had previously assaulted Marriott, for a short while, God. Maybe it marked
swagger and humour the death knell for UK hippydom. Who cared!
the British charts.
less introspection so Its effect was cap Graeme Lynch, Aberdeen
pervasive in late '70s tured years later in a ONE INTRIGUING aspect of this single is the
Britain. The Undertones scene in the film Quad- elaborate use of P.P. Arnold's voice in a gospel
were like us. They cap
rophenia, where an like chorus before the clattering drum break
tured the paradoxes of ecstatic Phil Daniels which closes the song. One of the most distinctive
adolescence, of being plays the record full-blast Small Faces arrangements, and the menacing
afraid to have emotions, on the Dansette while his almost Jaws-theme piano opening (if you don't
afraid not to have them,
uncomprehending father understand, have a listen) add up to a surprise-
afraid of the emotions filled rollercoaster ride that surpasses the band's
rages, "Call that music?
themselves, and of the It's just a bloody noise!" other fine records.
fretful frustration and J. Older, High Wycombe Amanda Jayne Fox, Chichester

72 MOJO

lOO GREATEST SINGLES OF ALL TIME
9 See Emily Play Pink noyd
Columbia, 1967 - Available on Relics (Harvest)
ARGUABLY THE greatest and certainly the most
psychedelic single of the late 1960s, See Emily
Play dated from a melody Syd Barrett had been
experimenting with since 1965. This was then
married to a trademark Floydian freak-out that
had developed through the band's extraordinary
early live performances.
The song was originally written for the Free
Games For May 'happening' at the Queen
Elizabeth Hall on May 12, 1967. The song was
then rewritten for the charts, based upon the story
of Emily Kennett, nicknamed the "psychedelic
schoolgirl" by the underground scene. The song
deals with Syd's feeling that many of those drawn
into the scene had little idea of what it was about
- hence "Emily tries but misunderstands".
However, to protect Emily, Syd told journalists
thathissubjectwasinfactagirl he'd seen singing
and dancing in a dream while he was asleep in a
wood after a gig. Several radio stations banned
the song, inferring references to female mastur
bation, while the band were also slated as a 'con'
by DJ Pete Murray due to the difference between
their recorded and live sound. Had Syd remained
a part of the Floyd and continued to write songs of
this quality, Pink Floyd, and pop music as a
whole, might have followed a different, far more
radical course.
A. Elliott, Daventry, Northants
No Woman, No Cry
Bob Marley
And The Wailers
Tuff Gong, 1975 - Available
on Live! (Island)
THIS LIVE track represented Bob
Marley's breakthrough to the UK
record buying public. Recorded at
London's Lyceum during a short
UK tour in 1975, its nostalgic
theme has Marley looking back to
languid days in Kingston. As with
B.B. King's landmark Live At The Regal, the aura
added by an exuberant audience played a vital
part; indeed the first night proved so hot that the
venue's management opened up the roof. It was
the success of the first show that prompted bring
ing in the Manor Mobile for the very next night.
Roy Perring, Plymouth
7 Hey Jude / Revolution
The Beatles
Apple, 1968 - Previous Position 7 -
Available on The Beatles 1967-70 (Apple)
6 Eight MlleS High The Byrds
CBS, 1966 - Available on The Very Best Of (Columbia)
THERE HAVE been many arguments over the
years about Eight Miles High. Is it really about
drugs or, as Roger McGuinn maintains, about The
Byrds' first London visit? Is David Crosby right in
saying the RCA version is better than the CBS
release? After 30 years, does it still matter? Both
versions are three and a half minutes of The Byrds
flying and performing at white heat, and it is
incredible to think that only a year before session
men had to be used on their records because their
playing wasn't thought up to scratch. The song
proved The Byrds were not merely mouthpieces
for Bob Dylan but accomplished composers in
their own right. Until Eight Miles High, most sin
gles of the mid-'60s were either boy meets girl and
falls in love, or folk-inspired protest songs. It was
the first recognised psychedelic single and showed
the way for others to follow, not least The Beatles.
Arthur Harris, Fishponds, Bristol
74 MOJO
■■■■■
■■■
-.
m c a'
Coincidentalh/, our
winning entrant wrote
about the most popular
new entry. It faced
tough competition
but David Wells's evocative story
wins him a Rock-Ola Jukebox.
2 Waterloo Sunset
The Kinks
Pye, 1967 - Available on
The Singles Collection (Castle)
FOLLOWING HARD on the heels of
Sunny Afternoon and Dead End Street,
the third instalment of The Kinks' classic
triptych of mid-'60s Britpop singles had
initially been conceived in early 1967 as
Liverpool Sunset, an elegy to the demise
of Merseybeat. However, the February
release of Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields
Forever dissuaded Ray Davies from
treading the same Liverpool tribute path.
He relocated the lyric to London and,
after watching Far From The Madding
Crowd featuring Terence Stamp and
Julie Christie, amended the names of the
in a taut, commendably restrained performance.
song's protagonists from George and Mabel (who
sound more like some Victorian music hall duo than Waterloo Sunset, however, is undeniably Ray
mid-'60s teenage lovers) to Terry and Julie. Davies's record. While the narcissistic dandyism
Even after these changes, The Kinks struggled of Swinging London melted into Summer of Love
to capture the essence of the song. The released hippy chic, Davies remained the perennial
version of Waterloo Sunset was apparently the outsider, acknowledging his role as detached
group's third attempt at nailing it down, surrepti observer ("Every day I look ot the world from my
tiously recorded without Shel Talmy after the pro window") rather than participant. An extraordinary
ducer's earlier endeavours, with favoured session lyric is welded to a captivating melody line, and
man Nicky Hopkins on piano, had been found Waterloo Sunset is complete: a haunting, beauti
wanting. Inspiration came from an unlikely source: ful and quietly heroic record confirming that Ray
it was Ray's first wife, Rasa, pressed into service as Davies is not only a social commentator of
Dickensian proportions but one of 20th century
backing vocalist, who suggested the high
harmonies that contributed so much to the song's popular music's greatest lyricists.
elegiac mood, while The Kinks themselves turned David Wells, Woking, Surrey
5 All Along The AND YOUR
Watchtower GREATEST SINGLE
The Jimi Hendrix Experience OF ALL TIME IS. . .
Polydor, 1968 - Available on Experience Hendrix (Universal)
WHEN JIMI Hendrix heard Dylan's John Wesley Squeezed out last time round, the Fafas'
Harding album for the first time he was stunned by finest wins by a 40 per cent margin.
the quality of the songwriting and set about cover
ing one of the tracks. His initial choice was the
lament of I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine, but feeling
the song was too personal he switched his attention
to All Along The Watchtower- a song enveloped by
an almost mystical aura of claustrophobia.
The original boasted a fine Dylan vocal that adds
to the lyrics' ominous threat ("Dylan said it so
groovy in All Along The Watchtower," enthused
Jimi) but the Hendrix version, with its emphasis on
Jimi's incredible guitarwork, transformed the song.
He took Dylan's basic structure and turned a
subtle apocalyptic mood into a towering monu
ment to the power of the guitar, through three of
the most perfect solos ever recorded - straight,
slide (using a cigarette lighter), and wah wah.
Jimi's arrangement was so definitive that Dylan
subsequently borrowed it for his own live versions.
Richard Munden, Wadebridge, Cornwall
Like A Rolling Stone
Bob Dylan
Strawberry
CBS, 1965 - Previous Position 3 -
Available on Highway 61 Revisited ICBS) Fields Forever/
Good Vibrations Penny Lane
The Beach Boys The Be*
Capitol, 1966 - Previous Position 1 - Available Parlophone, 1967 - Previous Position 2-
on The Beach Boys Greatest Hits (Capitol) Available on The Beatles 1967-70 (Apple)