I just got HBO, Showtime, and 200 more cable channels today. It was perfect because I was really sick and had to leave work early. And what could I do but settle into my bed and watch movie after movie?

First movie on my “Watch This To Get Better List” (yes, that list exists): Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (SO GOOD!!!). I realized as I was watching it that the first time I saw it, I was on a plane. And then I remembered I watched it again on the return flight because I loved it so much the first time! Anyway, not only do I love the movie, I love AMY ADAMS!

Amy Adams

So cute right? I love her style and I also love her pose. Definitely going to practice that pose and use it for my next photo op.

Next movie I watched: Definitely, Maybe. Okay, full disclosure – I only, well, maybe watched a little bit of it… Fine, I only caught the last 30 minutes. But I must say, Isla Fisher is adorable! I even paused the movie (are you jealous of my tv capabilities?) and emailed J to tell her that Isla is a very loveable actress!

Isla Fisher

But you know what is even better than their gorgeous gowns?

Arm candy!!!

While we’re on the subject of sexy, funny boys, how could I not take just a moment to talk about the lovely Ryan Reynolds. I have thought he was great ever since “Two Girls & a Girl (and a Pizza Place)” and he has always been hilarious in every role.

For a lesser known, underrated, but fabulous Ryan Reynolds movie, be sure to check out “Definitely, Maybe”. Also starring Rachel Weisz, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks and Abigail Breslin. What more could you want??

I think I’ve questioned love for a very long time. I grew up knowing the Disney way, the reality way relating back to people in my life, and from a standpoint of just observation.

My philosophy midterm paper due Monday is challenging me to actually give some kind of a definition for it. The prompt that I made up is as follows:

Diotima and Socrates have different views and accounts of love. What elements of their definitions still exist today and what has changed? Messages about love portrayed in movies evoke strong emotions to their audiences. Throughout the stages of our lives (childhood, adolescense, and adulthood) we develop our own ideas. Do these match up to what love is “supposed” to be?

The three movies I’m using:

Little Manhattan

Can’t Hardly Wait

Definitely, Maybe

New York City is a great city to fall in love with and in. At least, according to the movies. But New York City is truly special and whether it’s falling in love or out of love, nothing serves as the perfect backdrop like New York City.

As a tribute to the city that never sleeps, here are my picks for a New York love film marathon, something I usually do when I’m terribly blocked like now:

Always start with Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

The movie is iconic for a reason. And the opening credits alone, with Audrey Hepburn in her Givenchy gown, having a Danish and drinking coffee from a paper cup in front of Tiffany’s, gives me such a warm sensation just like being in love.

Me: “I think I’m a lot like Holly Golightly.”

The Brit: “What, superficial, materialistic and prone to grandeur illusions about yourself?”

Nothing beats Woody Allen when it comes to New York love stories, so I recommend continuing on with Annie Hall.

No other movie ever made can truly capture that neurotic, dysfunctional relationship quite like Annie Hall. And with funny lines like,

“Hey, don’t knock masturbation. It’s sex with someone I love.”

How can you not love this one?

Creepy McCreepster: “I think you were supposed to be born as a New York Jew.”

Me: “Why is that?”

Creepy McCreepster: “Well, you’re extremely neurotic, you hate nature and you make complaining sounds like zany one-liners.”

Of course when talking about falling in love in New York, you have to include this one movie, so after wiping your tears of laughter from watching Annie Hall, learn how to fake an orgasm with Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally.

This movie catapulted Meg Ryan into super stardom and made her the romantic comedy queen that she was, and it’s a truly fun watch, and I’m not just talking about the fake orgasm at a deli scene. The banter between Harry and Sally, the obvious sexual tension and the transition from platonic friendship to falling in love – all make for a sweet but not saccharine romantic comedy.

My ‘Android’ Friend: “You’ve seen When Harry Met Sally. Men and women can’t be friends. The sex always gets in the way.”

Me: “It never does with me. You know me, I can have a purely platonic friendship with straight men.”

My ‘Android’ Friend: “That’s because you’re not really a woman.”

After you’ve had your fill of romantic comedies, it’s always a good idea to turn to something deep yet quirky, like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.

Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind is probably my favorite quirky movies ever. The performances of Jim Carey and Kate Winslet were phenomenal and there’s no other story like it. The idea of wiping out heartbreaking memories, and the reality that even if you could do something like that, chances are you’re bound to repeat whatever you’ve tried to erase – that’s just profound and beautiful.

Me: “You know, sometimes I wish I could really erase some bad memories from my mind, like in Eternal Sunshine.”

The Man: “You don’t want to do that. Trust me. I forget easily and I wish I could remember some things I’ve forgotten. I think I would’ve learned a lot from those memories, had I remembered them.”

And finally, something light to end the marathon with, like Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

I know, it’s a teen movie but it’s so cute and charming that I bet you’ll love it just as much. Michael Cera is always adorable in everything, but especially in this one – and plus there are so many laugh out loud moments courtesy of supporting actress Ari Graynor and cameos from Jay Baruchel and SNL’s Andy Samberg.

Me: “That’s it. When I finally make it to New York, I want to have a Nick and Norah’s style first date.”

The Man: “Sure. I’d love to see you putting that gum that has gone in the toilet in your mouth.”

There are a few other New York love stories that I love, despite their obvious cheesiness.

Like Serendipity, for example.

I think Kate Beckinsale is adorable in the movie and of course John Cusack plays romantic leading man so well – Lloyd Dobler anyone? But the best line from the movie comes from SNL alumn Molly Shannon:

“You know who plays golf? Men who are too fat to play tennis.”

Look out for Jeremy Piven, aka Ari Gold in Entourage, as John Cusack’s character’s best friend.

Definitely, Maybe is also a cute one to watch.

Ryan Reynolds, aka Mr. Scarlett Johannson has that unique combination of being extremely hot and funny at the same time, and I love that he plays a devoted dad in this movie. Plus you gotta love Abigail Breslin.

Fun fact: Rachel Weisz sings “I’ve Got A Crush On You” in this movie, and her voice is pretty phenomenal.

Another one that deserves a mention is Ed Burns’ Sidewalks of New York.

Ed Burns may fall short from becoming the next Woody Allen (probably because he’s tall and dashing, which makes him as a neurotic a bit of a stretch), but I actually really like this one. It’s sweet, thoughtful and quite funny. Plus, stars like Rosario Dawson, Brittany Murphy and Heather Graham all gave such good performances here.

And finally, I can’t talk about movies of love in New York without mentioning Sex and The City.

Even though I thought the movie version wasn’t as good as the series, it was still good to see these four fab New Yorkers together again, doing what they do best: donning designer duds and lamenting about men.

Besides, Samantha Jones still churns out lines like this one:

“Oh, honey, you know I don’t believe in marriage. Botox on the other hand…”

I love her. I’m not so sure the sequel is such a good idea, but I’ll keep my mind open for now.

There’s one New York movie that I’m waiting with bated breath: New York, I Love You.

It’s a sequel to Paris, Jet’aime, where it’s not really one movie per se, but a compilation of a few short movies all in the same theme: love in Paris, directed by famous international directors. New York, I Love You is basically the same thing, only it’s set in New York – and the project involves a lot of stars we all love like Anton Yelchin and Olivia Thirlby:

Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson:

Shia LeBeouf:

Justin Bartha and Eva Amurri:

Ethan Hawke:

And many others. Despite receiving mixed reviews, I still want to give this one a try just because. It’s New York. How bad can it be?

“New York, New York, big city of dreams. But everything in New York, ain’t always what it seems.” – GrandMaster Flash.

The past weeks have been wild! First off..I just said on my post A Busy Month na sana maging ok ang reunion namin..shucks! kaloka ang nangyari..so we’re all set for the reunion..except for the souvenirs na on the day mismo ng reunion kukunin ni Karlo sa supplier na nakausap ko..on the night before the event nag last minute meeting pa kami..that night pa lang walang tigil na ang ulan..kami naman iniisip lang namin na..well it’s rainy season..natural lang un..un pala ay si Ondoy na un..ang unang pagbati nya..the next day..when i woke up it’s still raining..nagtawagan na kami..go ang reunion..it’s just rain..on the way ni Mark sa house namin ang dami nang hassles..puro baha na ung way going to the venue..then mukhang bagyo na talaga sa labas..so nag-usap usap na kami to cancel the event..kesa sa walang pumunta at ang sama ng panahon..we’re all concerned sa catering..yung food kasi baka masira..sabi naman ni Liz it can still last for a week..except for the veggies..so nun pa lang nagiisip na kami ng mga overhead namin due to the cancellation..kaloka..syemps the venue itself..we’re not sure if it’s still available the next week..then yung food..then the balloons that we ordered..ang sakit sa ulo..then telling all our batchmates that it’s cancelled..to top ot all off..si Karlo nasa Taft pa that day to get the souvenirs..shucks! na stranded cya inside the bus..naawa talaga kaming lahat..parang bawing bawi ung times na nde cya naattend ng meeting..super late na cya nakauwi..at ang pinakabongga pa eh nalaglag sa baha ung ibang souvenirs..and he picked it all up pa..at balak pa balikan ung 4 na missing..gosshhh sabi ko na lang sa kanya wag na..ok lang na kulang ng 4..sobra sobra pa naman ung souvenirs eh..hayy grabe..tapos ang dami pa binaha that day..including Liz..ang kanyang attire tuloy for the event..inanod ng baha..sa dami ng iniintindi nya..after 2 days saka nya naalala ang dress nya..sobra ang bagyong Ondoy..ang daming nahirapan sa kanya..walang warning..he just came  & rained all day & night..tsk tsk

Monday, we had an emergency meeting to set things up..#1 problem namin is the venue..nde na cya available on the 3rd of Oct..we’re back to zero..shucks! So we scouted agad for a venue..good thing there’s this one place na available, we jumped on it na agad to be sure..kahit na mas mahal cya kesa sa dati naming venue go na namin kesa sa wala kaming venue..we need to get our reunion going on that day or all the food will be spoiled rotten na..and just to be more sure..i went to St. Clare & prayed for good weather, syemps dinamay ko na sa prayers ko lahat ng naging victims ng Ondoy na ito..then when it was just 2 or 3 days before the event..eto na naman meron na naman bagyo..waaahhh kaloka..grabe ang prayer brigade talaga..unang una..nde pa nakakarecover ang mga victims..meron na namang parating..*sigh* Friday night we were supposed to have a meeting pero we moved it to Saturday morning para sure na talaga ang magiging decisions namin..Maaga kami pinauwi from the office to prepare for the incoming typhoon..and thank God..nde cya dumating at lumihis cya..grabe napuyat kami kakaantay sa news about the typhoon..so early in the morning go go na kami on the preps for the reunion..we’re all there na sa venue setting everything up..theme song tuloy namin that day is I Got A Feeling by BEP..hahaha I got a feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night…wooooohhhoooo hahaha

I’m feeling supersonic,  give me gin & tonic…

Blondie - Blondie (1976)

When you are starting to build a record collection from scratch it is nice to get some consistency into it from early on. Most of the time I have ( and still do) buy whatever I can find that suits me and that I really like. Still, a small collection is not really representative for what you really love listening to. So many of my favourite artists and records I do not have on vinyl yet. Looking at the list I have comprised so far it must look like I am and have always been a huge Blondie and Stevie Wonder fan. That is not the case actually. But I am turning into one.

I have been aware of these artists for a long time, but you wont find Blondie in my CD collection or in my mp3 files. However, it’s nice to have more than one record from one artist when you get started with record buying, it gives record buying a bit of a plan, it is not headless-buying-whatever-you-can-find.

And it is so easy when you find a little diamond in a 2-pounds-crate, so this is how I got around to my second Blondie record. And I like this one so much. This is a record full of vitality, it is fun to listen to it, and you hear the fun the band must have had when they recorded it. I did not know the songs before, but some of them, like Little Girl Lies, Look Good in Blue or Man Overboard have become naughty little earworms for me.

Here is a theory I have:

In the old times of proper albums, when people did not just download their favourite songs as mp3s and ignored the rest of the bands’ stuff, the first song on an artists first album was always something the listener should pay special attention to. It is used to catch the audience’s attention, and it has to sum up the rest of the record and what the band wants to say with their music, because in a record shop (or at home) it is the first thing you will be listening to.

I know other people think similarly because some people make lists of bands that have extraordinary first songs on their debut albums. Yes, that’s what proper music freaks do. You can find some nice examples here and here. If you read through the posts a bit you will see what I mean. Personally, I think Definitely Maybe by Oasis is a perfect example: Rock’n'Roll Star is  Oasis at their best already, and the chorusline “Tonight/ I’m a Rock’n'Roll Star” already hints at everything Oasis was going to be later – not only the stardom, but also the attitude towards it.

So having said that, give X Offender a try, the first song on Blondie. Its a masterpiece that blew me away.

Everything you must know about Blondie you can find in X Offender. If you liked it, you will love the whole record.

Según los oyentes de la radio británica Xfm, el tema “Life Forever” de Oasis es la mejor canción del Reino Unido de todos los tiempos. Además, en segundo lugar se encuentra otra canción de la banda de los Gallagher, “Wonderwall”. Por si esto  fuera poco,  la tercera mejor canción también pertenece a los oriundos de Manchester con “Don´t look back in anger”.

No es de extrañar que el mejor disco de rock de la historia de la música inglesa según la New Musical Express sea del grupo Oasis . La encuesta realizada a sus lectores determino que el disco “Definitely Maybe” es el álbum de rock más importante por encima del “Sgt Pepper´s Lonely Heart Club Band y Revolver” de los Beatles y el “Ok Computer” de Radiohead.

Blimey, it’s been a bit quiet hasn’t it? Not entirely surprising since this is the first list since The Jam’s Setting Sons Live post three months ago. Anyway, since Noel Gallagher has thrown his toys out of his pram and apparently left Oasis, I thought I’d put together a Live ‘tribute’ to their finest work to date.

Rather like The Stone Roses, Oasis output went on a downward spiral after their debut release. Morning Glory was not much of one granted, although of the two, I prefer this one. The rest, well I have not heard anything to change my mind about Definitely Maybe being their best release.

You can buy the studio version by clicking here.

In the meantime, enjoy this live version

Tracklisting

1. Rock ‘n’ Roll Star – Live Demonstration Tape
2. Shakermaker – Windsor Old Trout, 1994
3. Live Forever – Black Island Studios 2008
4. Up In The Sky – Windsor Old Trout 1994
5. Columbia – Chicago Metro 1994
6. Supersonic – Copenhagen 1997
7. Bring It On Down – Gleneagles 1994
8. Cigarettes And Alcohol – Black Island Studios 2008
9. Digsy’s Dinner – Gleneagles 1994
10. Slide Away – Black Island Studios 2008
11. Married With Children – Chicago Metro 1994
12. Sad Song – Wolverhampton 1994

Definitely Maybe the best debut album of all time

I got into Oasis while backpacking in Bali in the summer of 1996. I bought a dodgy cassette of Definitely Maybe from a street seller, stuck it in my walkman and my musical tastes were almost instantly changed forever. When I got back to the UK, I even bought a guitar, got into rock and roll and never looked back. Like many around that time, I was Oasis mad and still today, the very few songs I can play are Oasis tracks.

I didn’t actually see them live until about 10 years later in Barcelona when they were long past their best. The stage strutting, attitude and even the snarling voice of Liam looked and sounded forced and he spent half of his time either striking Chris Eubank-esque poses or leaning against the wall smoking.

Oasis were often criticized by rock purists for their “pop-rock” sound famously being referred to as “Quo-asis” by rivals Blur. But they were no more guilty than The Beatles (although nowhere near the same level) for making a certain genre of music more accessible to musically sheltered idiots like me. And the genius behind the melodies and tunes that sold millions of albums was and will always continue to be Noel.

The Times suggests today that Liam may well come-off the better from this split due to his recent song writing forays such as “I’m Outta Time” on their last album. But with all due respect to Liam, I think anyone can string a load of words together to make a song. It’s the music and melody that sells it and that’s Noel’s department. It’s also obvious that Liam is more concerned with developing and promoting his clothing label Pretty Green than making music.

Noel has admitted himself that he put all of his best tunes on Definitely Maybe, the rest in What’s The Story Morning Glory and then since then, the rest has been dregs. It’s unlikely then that he’s going to go on and have a stunning solo career but as with recent tracks such as “Falling Down“, there will be the odd gem along the way.

By the way, there’s quite an amusing previously unpublished interview in The Guardian today with Noel from 1994 when they were just starting out. Quite prophetic some of it. I quite like:

I’m ambidextrous, I write with my left hand and I play guitar with my right. I’m right-footed, I’m double-jointed in one elbow: I’m the most bizarre character ever. So nothing amazes me. If I see a spaceship land I won’t get freaked out. I’ll just say, “What kept ya?”

Rock ‘N’ Roll Star
Shakermaker
Live Forever
Up In The Sky
Columbia
Supersonic
Bring It On Down
Cigarettes & Alcohol
Digsy’s Dinner
Slide Away
Married With Children

Download

The 2008 romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe has all the right elements to make a fabulous and charming movie — a phenomenal cast, a talented writer and director, an innovative storyline, a heartwarming theme — yet somehow these pieces fail to come together in the ultimate product, rendering the film slow, tedious, and absolutely painful.

Definitely, Maybe, the brainchild of writer/director Adam Brooks (who has fantastic light comedies such as Wimbledon and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason under his belt) focuses on single dad Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) narrating his life story to his young daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin), who then attempts to guess which of the three women in his life ultimately became her mother. The choices run down to sweet and innocent Emily (Elizabeth Banks); sexual and ambitious Summer (Rachel Weisz); and cute and silly April (Isla Fisher). As the tale twists and turns, the audience becomes embroiled not only in Will’s life story but invested in finding the ending which will make Maya smile, a clever twist on what would otherwise remain the basic romantic comedy formula.

Though the storyline of the film certainly stands out from the others in the genre and seeps with the creativity of a writer indulging himself, somehow this film fails to work properly in its entirety. The script attempts to illustrate the complexities of each of the three women, spending long amounts of time on each of the relationships, and throw off the audience in any attempts to guess at the final identity of Maya’s mother by twisting and turning Will’s attention amongst them all; however, because Brooks is so eager to delve into all of the characters with his trademark realistic comedy, the film becomes incredibly tedious and slow. Each of the relationships, without the silliness of mainstream humor and antics or the melodramatic nonsense of modern drama, seems to last millenia, and all of the changes in Will’s affection makes him seem fickle at best and at worst irritating. By the time Maya accurately guesses her mother’s identity, the audience sighs a breath of relief for not having to worry about another painful change of heart, only to discover that Brooks has thirty minutes left to bring Will’s true love back into his arms.

In the hands of any other crew, the potential in the concept of Definitely, Maybe could still have shone through, but Brooks seems to have sadly indulged himself in his team and his position as well. The directing seems to emphasize all of the scripts faults in pacing and increased the tedium throughout the film, and none of the film’s technical aspects, such as editing, cinematography, soundwork, or even music, can salvage the brilliance the project must have originally promised, especially considering the rather average quality of the work — rather surprising, considering the caliber of crew working on the project, notably Florian Ballhaus as cinematographer and Clint Mansell as composer.

However, because of the slow pace of the film, the astute film junkie can take the time to deeply assess the acting involved in the film. Indeed, in scenes that seemed to last ages, Fisher shines like the sun, embodying the wit, fun, strength, and joy that exists within her character and acting as the perfect female lead for any romantic comedy. Reynolds works competently as the single father, basking in his shallow though substantial chemistry with the charming Breslin, whose winning smile and sweet laughter steal the heart of any watcher.

Yet Banks and Weisz fade in comparison to these three likeable actors. Banks’s naive college sweetheart character seems annoying after the first scene, missing the endearing side of innocence and landing on the pretentious, while Weisz’s vivacious and ambitious Summer comes off as hollow, flaky, and — dare I say it? — rather bitchy.

In the end, however, I must praise Brooks on a fabulous idea, though I must also put the brunt of my criticism at his feet for changing a great concept into something it never should have been — a demonstration of tedium marring the potential of what this film could have been.

As amusing as I find the idea of Oasis limping along as they are, I think it’s safe to say that the departure of the weekend of the band’s creative (stop sniggering) force, Noel, marks the end of one of the great Britpop bands and, thus, one of the best bands of recent years. They were never hugely original, frequently unable to put together a complete album of great songs and prone to more gaffes than Carol Thatcher watching reruns of The Black & White Minstrel show, but still they meant so much to so many. I’ll confess that, while they’ve never been close to being my favourite band, I’ve always had a lot of time for them. It seems slightly weird that in 2009 you have to justify your liking of Oasis in the same way you might need to if you had a penchant for vegetarianism or paedophilia. In 1994 they were the name to drop and in 1995 pretty much everyone got caught up in the infamous chart battle with Blur, and yet here we are, fourteen years down the line, with Oasis still hugely popular and yet critically precarious. I bought the deluxe, over-priced, same stuff on multiple formats, box of their last album, ‘Dig Out Your Soul’, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a good record. A few shite tracks, but a few that make you thump the air and unashamedly bawl along to nonsensical lyrics that read like something that’s been translated on one of those free internet search engines from English, into German, and then back again. But then who expected anything else? That’s what you get when it comes to Oasis albums and most of us have learnt not only to accept that, but to cherry-pick the best bits each time and continue to enjoy the moments when Noel gets it oh so very right. ‘Falling Down’, from that last album, is a monster of a song, partly harking back to his work with Chemical Brothers, partly representing a change in listening habits from Gallagher senior.

As so many ever so slightly annoying cultural commentators have been saying all weekend, Oasis captured a certain time and, as a result, occupy a small space in the hearts of many. Certainly, a listen to ‘Definitely Maybe’ or ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?‘ shorn of 90s context is pretty much impossible. Those songs evoke a time, an attitude and a type of music that for many was thoroughly enjoyable. Even ‘Be Here Now’ is still something I have fond memories of, to the extent that out of all of the recent vinyl reissues, the one I plumped down the cash for was this behemoth of a record. It receives almost as little love as the songs have audible basslines but it nevertheless contains forgotten belters like ‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’ and ‘Don’t Go Away’. Even ‘Magic Pie’ would be great if it had its last three minutes surgically excised. This willingness to see the good in everything is a prerequisite for any non-rabidly obsessive Oasis fans and it has kept us on side through the dark days – ‘Heathen Chemistry’ – and the very, very dark days – ‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’ – so that when rather better records such as ‘Don’t Believe The Truth’ come along, they don’t go unnoticed.

Having said all of this, what I loved most about Oasis was their approach to singles. Noel’s purple patch was undoubtedly across the first two albums and so he was naively happy to toss away great songs as b sides, resulting in some great moments getting tucked away behind chart-shagging monsters like ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Some Might Say‘. Indeed, one of my all-time favourite Oasis songs snuck out on that latter single. I know what you’re thinking. You reckon I’m going to say it’s ‘Acquiesce’. It’s not. It’s ‘Talk Tonight’, an acoustic number with no fanfare, no big production and no snarling Liam. Noel’s voice is absolutely perfect, the understated sound is quite beautiful and it never grows old. Its appearance on ‘Stop The Clocks’ would suggest that it’s more popular than I had assumed, but it still strikes me as a bit of an overlooked gem.

Perhaps the most famous example of the band chucking away a classic as a b-side was ‘The Masterplan‘, which didn’t even appear on most of the formats of ”Wonderwall’. So bizarrely quietly  was this song snuck into the world, that it appeared as track 4 on the CD single. As history records, this monumental screw up was subsequently acknowledged and it gave rise to the rather wonderful b side collection of the same name. Noticeably, this is also a Noel vocal, but it couldn’t be much further removed from ‘Talk Tonight’ in terms of both delivery and production. This one is much more epic, suggesting that Noel even knew at the time how good it was, possibly even eclipsing the song whose CD it was simply intended to pad out. It has since been awarded its deserved place in their canon, but I still remember the day I played the CD single through in full and realised exactly what I had bought. It’s a beautifully stirring song and a further example of just how good Oasis could be when they weren’t desperately trying to rock like mad bastards.

Not that they couldn’t rock like mad bastards. ‘Definitely Maybe’ is a great album. The most consistently strong set of songs of their entire career, it took them straight to number one back in 1994 and is the one album of theirs which even rock snobs allow themselves to listen to. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’, ‘Columbia‘ and ‘Slide Away‘ are all wonderful, life-affirming, bloody huge songs. None of them singles. And what singles they were. ‘Supersonic‘, ‘Shakermaker’, ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ and the almost unfeasibly good, ‘Live Forever’. While ‘Shakermaker’ was hardly rock gold, it’s still a decent sing-a-long tune, which isn’t too bad when you think that it was probably weakest release in an incredibly strong run of great singles that lasted from ‘Supersonic’ right the way through to ‘Go Let It Out’.

Two singles stand above the rest for me. The first, perhaps predictably, is the never again released, ‘Whatever‘, which ended up costing Noel a fair few quid in songwriting royalties due to a more than passing resemblance to Neil Innes‘ ‘How Sweet To Be An Idiot’. Hence, its subsequent failure to appear on any compilations. At over six minutes long and with the London Session Orchestra going flat out for its duration, ‘Whatever’ is not an understated piece. It captures the youthful exuberance of early Oasis perfectly and yet clearly hints at the much bigger things to come from the band’s next album, ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?‘ The other single is far less popular and may strike some as an odd choice. ‘Sunday Morning Call’ was the third and final single to be lifted from the 2000 album, ‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’. The group’s nadir, this album was under-cooked, poorly written and severely lacking in oomph. ‘Go Let It Out’ was a fine lead single, but things tailed off pretty quickly thereafter. Apart from this track. Sung by Noel (spotting a pattern are we?) and very much mid-paced, it’s a charmingly understated cousin of ‘Talk Tonight’, only with more instruments, a bigger budget and a comedown the size of the DFS sale warehouse. I’m sure that, at the time of its original release, I clung to it slightly as a brief highlight amongst some turgid, chugging rock, but that lustre has not been lost and it remains one of my favourite Oasis tracks. If these post makes you do nothing else, at least allow yourself four and a half minutes to reevaluate that track.

Recently, Oasis had shown signs of a creative recovery with ‘Lyla‘ and ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’ from ‘Don’t Believe The Truth’ and the aforementioned ‘Falling Down’ from ‘Dig Out Your Soul’, with that last album being a pretty consistent listen from start to finish. Having said that, the oft talked of Noel solo album was something I was keen to hear. It would seem that such a thing is rather more likely after this weekend’s showdown. As many have said, it’s more than a little likely that five years from now, solo careers fully out of the system, a reunion tour will magically occur and the Gallagher brothers will record together once more, but even so it’s still worth a moment reflecting on what was great about Oasis. There was much to sneer at, plenty to listen to only the once, but there was also a great deal to love.

EDIT – 01/09/09 A quick update to the original post in order to include this rather amusing video:

“That’s what it’s all about. That’s why we’ll be the best band in the world, because I fuckin’ hate that twat there. I fuckin’ hate him. And I hope one day there’s a release where I can smash fuck out of him, with a fuckin’ Rickenbacker, right on his nose, and then he does the same to me, ‘cos I think we’re stepping right up to it now. There’s a fuckin’ line there and we’re right on the edge of it” – Liam on Noel, Wibbling Rivalry, 1994

“I don’t think I’ve ever said anything that’s nasty” – Liam, 2008.

You know, I think I would care more about Noel Gallagher quitting Oasis if he were actually leaving a half decent band. No, really. I mean it. It’s not like they’re even anything special these days – they started out as a halfway fun and definitely second-rate bunch of Beatles copyists, and have ended up as a fourth-rate, washed-up parody of themselves, as postmodern as that sounds.

Admittedly, I remain rather fond of their first two albums, Definitely Maybe and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, mainly because they remind me of a long ago and far away period of my life when I was young and naive and British pop music ruled the world (again). These days, however, I would argue that ‘Britpop’ is a distinctly lazy descriptive; the only commonalities shared by the bands lumped together in that scene were that they were all guitar bands of some sort and that they were all… er… British. Unlike most bona fide music scenes, none of the first generation of Britpop bands actually sounded anything much like each other, or even really came from a common set of influences. In fact, most of them didn’t even sound like the swingin’ sixties pop scene the media supposed they were emulating.

But Oasis had clearly grown up on a steady diet of The Beatles and punk, and this showed in the swagger and arrogance of their unfeasibly tuneful early releases. They may have been spectacularly ripping off Lennon and McCartney via the Pistols, but they had the balls and vicious charisma enough for that not to matter. And the regular and very public punch-ups between Noel and Liam made the band all the more attractive to the media right from the very start.

It is common knowledge that feuds and tensions between fellow band members can produce some remarkable results. Faith No More spent most of their career hating each other, and are, in fact, widely acknowledged to have produced some of their greatest material during the period when they had both a gay man and a somewhat homophobic redneck among their line-up, with all the unpleasant tensions that naturally entailed. Brothers Ray and Dave Davies of the quintessentially English and truly god-like British Invasion band The Kinks spent much of the sixties and seventies utterly despising each other (to the point of physical violence) – yet this was the period that produced some of the band’s most enduringly classic and influential songs. Mark E. Smith of Peel favourites The Fall has fallen out with an almost countless number of different musicians over the band’s thirty-three year history (most fans have given up counting, anyway), but The Fall remain a vital and visceral presence on the British music scene. And that’s just three examples from an industry that seems to thrive on antagonism and antipathy.

It was always different with the Gallaghers, though. The chaotic lifestyles of the brothers (and the rest of Oasis) alongside the notoriety spawned by the constant brotherly bickering actually distracted from the music, which rapidly deteriorated and soon took second place to the scandal and bad behaviour in the eyes of the band as a coherent entity, as well as in both the tabloid and the music media. And there was always a slightly cynical element of class about it all. Now as then, the music media in this country, in particular, is predominantly southern, very middle class and almost entirely male, and the countless articles recounting the antagonistic fraternal squabbles between these two working class Mancunian siblings were always shot through with a patronising amusement. Watching the Gallaghers slug it out was, it seems, inherently funny in a way that the equally stupid bullshit spouted by the likes of Damon Albarn wasn’t – which probably accounts for Fierce Panda’s release on vinyl of Wibbling Rivalry; a recording of a 1994 interview by the journalist John Harris with the Gallaghers, which almost immediately deteriorates into a huge, fiery and very, very sweary argument between the brothers (see the quote above).

All this leaves me thoroughly unsurprised that Noel has jumped ship – after all, he’s threatened to quit on numerous occasions in the past. And his reasons for leaving are even less surprising. In a statement released on Friday, Noel describes how things had finally come to a head, and that “the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable.” This comes as no shock when one realises that rather unpleasant stories of Liam publicly questioning the legitimacy of his niece Anais (Noel and ex-wife Meg Matthews’ young daughter), and very deliberately not inviting his older brother to his wedding, have been circulating for a number of years now.  This long dysfunctional relationship between the two brothers seems to have finally broken down, which is certainly sad for them on a personal level – but it may yet mean the end of Oasis, something which should have happened years ago. The band should have retired gracefully when they had the chance, leaving behind an at least partially valuable musical legacy instead of finally imploding like the last great Britpop joke.

Every day, our top 666 songs of alltime countdown gets one step closer to #1. Tuesday’s song is 337:

Oasis – Rock n Roll Star

Many of you will want to smack us for including this one, but here it is anyway. It’s the first track the band ever released, from 1994’s Definitely Maybe, and it’s the best – you could say it was all downhill from there, although they did have a decent run until late in the decade as a boisterous, less amusing version of the Rutles. The link above is the studio version; here’s a drunken, coked-out trainwreck of a live take which in its way is absolutely brilliant.

Confessions of a Shopaholic
★★★ / ★★★★

You know, I’ve got to say that twenty minutes into this movie, I thought it was going to be just another shallow chick flick about a woman, played by Isla Fisher (“Definitely, Maybe,” “The Lookout,” “Wedding Crashers”), who liked to shop for expensive clothes and eventually fell in love with a guy who speaks with a European accent, played by the very charming Hugh Dancy (“Beyond the Gates,” “Ella Enchanted”). Yes, that was the basic premise. But then the last forty minutes of the picture arrived and it convinced me that it wanted to be something more. And it succeeded on multiple levels. When all of the main character’s lies and credit card bills finally caught up with her, there was an inherent sadness about her whole predicament. I was convinced that she genuinely did want to change, but like an addict, she kept going back to her old ways despite the advice from her family and friends. I’ve read some critiques that the tone of this film was uneven. Strangely enough, that’s what I liked about it. The first part was more comical and blasé because it intended to establish a character who was very energetic and had a real passion for fashion. The second part was more about her insecurities, conflict with her inner demons (and bill collector played hilariously by Robert Stanton–that elevator scene was absolutely brilliant), crumbling relationships with the people who are most important to her, and the things that she had to do (no matter how much it pained her) to stop drowning in debt. Directed by P.J. Morgan (2003’s “Peter Pan” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding”–another film that was surprisingly effective), “Confessions of a Shopaholic” has a little bit of edge just below that pink, glittery surface. I also liked the fact that the romance between Fisher and Dancy was always secondary. Their scenes were a nice break from the money issues and I could not help but laugh during their dancing scene. Though they did have some chemistry, I’m glad that Harvey chose to focus more on the lead’s addiction. I also very much enjoyed the supporting characters such as Krysten Ritter, Joan Cusack and John Goodman as Fisher’s best friend, mother and father, respectively. If the film had less slapstick and a stronger core, this probably would have had a pretty powerful punch considering that most Americans are now wary of the things they buy due to the failing economy.

Right okay well, doing this post out of randomness (and sheer boredom since I have nothing else better to do with my spare time), i’ve decided to put on here my favourite songs in top 100 form. There may be some obvious choices on the list as well as a few not so commercial songs, maybe even controversial positions but as already stated, it’s MY fave songs. SO without further delay, there’s the run down from 100 all the way to numero uno!

100. – TONY RICH PROJECT – Nobody Knows

To start us of is this little number by the Tony Rich Project. In late 1995 Rich released the hit single, “Nobody Knows” which made it to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a hit also in the UK. Tony Rich Project is still going to this day as he released his fifth album, Exist. Originally it was set for release on September 16, however it was pushed back to September 23, 2008. The album features download-only single, “Part The Waves”.

99. – ALICIA KEYS – Fallin’

The first song that introduced me to this wonderful young talent. “Fallin’” became Keys’ first number-one single in the United States and her first top five hit in several countries. It is also Keys’ second biggest single to date after 2007’s “No One”. The song won three Grammy Awards in 2002, including Song of the Year. The video above is a live performance of the song by the woman herself.

98. – MICHAEL JACKSON – Beat It

Well a Michael Jackson song had to come in here somewhere. Regardless of the man I was the fan of the musician and this song was and still is my favourite MJ song about. Eddie Van Halen was drafted in to add the distinctive overdriven guitar solo with tapping, but initially thought the phone calls from Jones requesting that he participate were fake. The lyrics of “Beat It” are about defeat and courage.The song was a worldwide commercial and critical success, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time. Both “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” occupied Top 5 positions at the same time, a feat matched by very few artists. One of the most lauded songs in history, “Beat It” was certified platinum in 1989.The song was promoted with a short film that featured Jackson bringing two real life gangs together through the power of dance. Above is a live performance of the video which takes a while to begin (because we all know how MJ wanted to make an event out of a concert!).

97. – JOSHUA RADIN – Winter

Now here’s a song when you hear it, you instantly remember the first time you heard it. When his close friend (someone by the name of Zach Braff, which i’m sure a few of you have heard of) heard the demo he was immediately interested and featured the song on his show Scrubs in the episode “My Screw Up” in early 2004. The song received an overwhelmingly positive response and gave Radin substantial exposure with the show’s demographic. So above is a live acoustic version from Radin.

96. – STEREOPHONICS – Mr Writer

From The Album “Just Enough Education To Perform”, It was released in March 2001, it reached #5 in the UK charts. One of the most underrated tracks by Stereophonics and im my opinion one of the best especially for it’s hook. Stereophonics are currently mentoring a band in Kansas City, Missouri called Dakota. Dakota is inspired by bands such as Stereophonics, Muse, The Killers, and Coldplay. Dakota is currently working on their debut album “Senses of the Soul” due in late 2009.

95. – THE VERVE – Lucky Man

No matter how you feel, once you here this song all your problems are washed away in minutes. It was released 24 November 1997 as the third single from the album, charting at #7 in the UK Singles Chart (see 1997 in British music). The song was also the band’s second, and so far last Top 20 hit in the USA.

94. – CITIZEN COPE – Let The Drummer Kick That

This song introduced me to Citizen Cope and in my belief, has not bettered it. On September 12, 2006, Citizen Cope released the new album, Every Waking Moment. In early 2008, Citizen Cope parted ways with RCA records. His song, “Let the Drummer Kick” was featured in the 2008 TSX Acura commercial early that year. The song has featured in the movies “Coach Carter” & “Accepted” aswell as being used in the Season 4 finale of Entourage “The Cannes Kids”. Since there is no real video for the song, here’s a nice & well done flash video for it.

93. – LA ROUX – In For The Kill

Okay it’s the most RECENT song I have on the list but you can’t help but love the 80s sound to it as well as how damn catchy it is! It is the second single by south London duo La Roux. It was released on March 16, 2009 and has so far peaked inside the top ten in the UK. The song is heavily influenced by the title theme of the 80s cartoon classic Pole Position, with even the video paying homage to the show. La Roux singer Elly Jackson told Steve Harris of XFM radio that the song is “about telling someone how you feel regardless of what you get back, and not waiting to find out if they want you or not.” Apologies as the actual video won’t work on here but enjoy the song at least and also check out the Skream remixes of this song.

92. – TWISTA, JAMIE FOXX & KANYE WEST – Slow Jamz

Summer anthem of 2003. “Slow Jamz” is the Grammy-nominated first single from Twista’s album Kamikaze and the lead single from Kanye West’ debut album The College Dropout. Released in 2003, the single, which features Kanye West and Jamie Foxx peaked at number one in the USA for a week on February 10, 2004 becoming Twista’s, West’s and Foxx’s first number one single. The Kanye West version includes an intro and two extra verses by Jamie Foxx, and excludes the original outro by Twista. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Q magazine listed it as the nineteenth greatest hip-hop song of all time.The song is a tribute to classic smooth soul artists and slow jam songs. SO enjoy the video above.

91. – KHARMA45 – Ecstacy

Local band (Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland) with an epic song. If the word is true that the band have split then that’s a real shame as it looked they were about to make it really big but at least they gave us this (the other songs are just as good so check them out).

90. – SUGARHILL GANG – Rappers Delight

Rapper’s Delight is a 1979 single by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang. While it was not the first hip hop single, “Rapper’s Delight” is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song is ranked #248 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. hit #36 on the U.S. pop charts, #4 on the U.S. R&B charts, #1 on the Canada Singles Chart, #3 on the UK singles chart, and #2 on VH1’s top 100 hip-hop songs of all time. In 1979 it became the first hip-hop single to go gold. To this day the song is still as catchy as ever & you don’t manage to get bored listening to it, especially with it’s long running time.

89. – LUPE FIASCO – Kick, Push

“Kick, Push” is the Grammy nominated first single released from Lupe Fiasco’s debut album, Food & Liquor. It has been referred to as “a needle in hip hop’s haystack of complacent songs.” It was listed at #15 on Pitchfork Media’s The Top 100 Tracks of 2006 list, reached 27 on the UK Chart and reached 78 on the US Billboard Chart. This song introduced me to Lupe and having seen him twice live, this guy has the world at his feet. Above is the AOL Session recording of Lupe’s “Kick, Push”.

88. – NERD – Lapdance

“Lapdance” is a song by the funk/rock/hip hop American group N*E*R*D from their 2001 album In Search Of… The song features Vita and rapper Lee Harvey, and was produced by The Neptunes. A remix of “Lapdance” by Trent Reznor appeared on the compilation Spin This. Although it is censored, an uncensored version of the remix is available on a rare promo single disc. “Lapdance” was included on the Swordfish soundtrack, in the film Daredevil, in the film Kiss of the Dragon and in the film The Girl Next Door (2004 film). It was also featured in an episode of Entourage, on the pilot episode of Fastlane and on the soundtrack to the 2003 PlayStation 2 game True Crime: Streets of L.A. as well as in the Playstation 2 game BMX XXX. “Lapdance” was included on the Real Cancun soundtrack. It’s #93 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. The song reached 33 in the UK Charts and 85 in the US Billboard. As the video version is not on the YouTube (for obvious reasons these days) unfortunately you’ll have to make do with just the picture of the guys along with the song.

87. – JOE ESPOSITO – You’re The Best

“You’re the Best” is a song by Joe “Bean” Esposito, which came to prominence as the music to the All-Valley Karate Championships montage in the movie The Karate Kid (1984) where the hero, Daniel LaRusso, proves a surprisingly formidable contender. Responding to years of bewildered criticism of “You’re the Best” on the radio, Esposito called in to the Adam Carolla Show on April 09, 2008. The criticism was that the lyric “History repeats itself” was inappropriate because it was played during Daniel-san’s first All-Valley Tournament in The Karate Kid. Esposito then revealed that the song was originally intended for the Rocky III soundtrack but was replaced by “Eye of the Tiger.” Karate Kid director John Avildsen liked the song so much he used it in the movie. It’s cheese and we like it (god bless the 80s). So here is the video above & enjoy the song.

86. – EAGLE EYE CHERRY – Save Tonight

“Save Tonight” is a rock single written by Eagle-Eye Cherry for his 1997 debut album Desireless. The song is the album’s opening track, and was released as its first single, reaching #5 in the USA and #6 in the UK. It was featured on the video game Karaoke Revolution.

85. – JET – Are You Gonna Be My Girl

“Are You Gonna Be My Girl” is a song by the Australian rock band Jet, featured on their 2003 album Get Born. It was the first single from the album, released in 2003 in Australia and the UK, and in 2004 in the United States. The song is often cited for similarities to Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” and The White Stripes’s “Screwdriver”. Song reached 16 in the UK Chart and 29 in the US Billboard chart.

84. – MATCHBOX TWENTY – 3 A.M

“3 A.M.” is the third single and the third track from Matchbox Twenty’s debut album Yourself or Someone Like You. This song was written by Rob Thomas and was inspired by his mother’s battle with cancer. When Thomas was 12, his mother was given six months to live. But by the time he left home at 17 she was alive and well. Thomas felt that after her illness, his mother failed to take life seriously, preferring to go and party. This song is about his frustration and loneliness during this time. He chose the time 3 a.m. because this was when the bars shut. Matchbox Twenty never matched the success in the UK as they have done in the US as “3 A.M.” reached 64 in the UK chart and reached No 1 in the US billboard.

83. – JOHN LEGEND – Used To Love U

“Used to Love U” is the debut single by John Legend from his debut album Get Lifted. Legend co-produced it with Kanye West and it reached 29 in the UK chart and 74 on the US Billboard chart.

82. – AALIYAH – I Miss You

“Miss You” is an R&B ballad written by Johnta Austin, Teddy Bishop, and American singer Ginuwine. It was a previously unreleased song on Aaliyah’s first posthumously released compilation album, I Care 4 U (2002) and released as its lead single in early 2003.The song reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and entered the top 10 in Germany and Taiwan. “Miss You” also reached the top 20 in Canada, Denmark and Switzerland. The song appears on the game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2. Rapper Jay-Z made a tribute to Aaliyah using the “Miss You” instrumental and chorus. The music video for the song was directed by Darren Grant and featured tributes by Aaliyah’s friends and collaborators, including DMX, Missy Elliott, Toni Braxton, Tweet, Static Major and various others. The video shot in two locations Long Island City, New York, and Los Angeles, California. Tweet, Lil’ Kim, Jaheim, and Lil’ Jon were among those who came to the Long Island shoot. Jamie Foxx, DMX, Quincy Jones, and Ananda Lewis were some of the celebrities who appeared at the L.A. shoot. If you watch closely, you will notice Andre Royo (Bubbles from The Wire) is also in this video. Between cuts clips from Aaliyah’s early videos and her cameos in other artists’ videos were used. Aaliyah merchandise (posters, jackets, and even a motorcycle) also appeared in the video. “Miss You” landed at #23 on BET: Notarized Top 100 videos of 2003.

81. – JACKSON 5 – I Want You Back

“I Want You Back” is a 1969 number-one single recorded by The Jackson 5 for the Motown label. It went to number one on the soul singles chart for four weeks and held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the week of January 31, 1970 and reached number 2 in the UK chart. Originally considered for Gladys Knight & the Pips and later for Diana Ross, as “I Wanna Be Free,” “I Want You Back” explores the theme of a lover who decides that he was too hasty in dropping his partner. An unusual aspect about “I Want You Back” was that its main lead vocal was performed by a preteen, Michael Jackson. In 1999, “I Want You Back” was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

80. – ROGER SANCHEZ – Another Chance

“Another Chance” is a house record by producer and DJ Roger Sanchez, released in 2001. It went on to be a worldwide smash hit, and went to #1 in the UK Singles Chart. The song is based around a sample from “I Won’t Hold You Back” by Toto.

79. – TIMBALAND – Way I Are

The Way I Are” is a song by Timbaland, released as the second single from his second album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value. The song features RnB singer Keri Hilson and rapper D.O.E., both of whom are signed to Timbaland’s Mosley Music Group label. It was released digitally worldwide in May 2007. The video version includes an extra verse from Timbaland’s brother Sebastian. This verse was added to ‘pad out’ the song, as the album version of the song has an elongated period of time in which nothing but the beat is played. The song reached at 3 in the US Billboard chart & reached No 1 in the UK Chart.

78. – THE KILLERS – Mr Brightside

“Mr. Brightside” is a song performed by Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers. The song is featured on the group’s debut album Hot Fuss and was written by lead vocalist Brandon Flowers and guitarist Dave Keuning. “Mr. Brightside” has reached number one in the charts of various countries. It was a number 10 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Official UK Singles Chart. The song was also nominated for a Grammy in 2006 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, but it lost to a live version of “This Love” by Maroon 5.

77. – NINE INCH NAILS – Closer

“Closer” (also known as Halo 9) is a song written by Trent Reznor and featured on the 1994 Nine Inch Nails album The Downward Spiral. In mid-1994, the song was released as the second single from the album. Most versions of the single are titled “Closer to God,” a rare example in music of a single’s title differing from the title of its A-Side. (“Closer to God” is also the title of an alternate version of “Closer” featured on the single.) This single is numbered as Halo Nine under Nine Inch Nails’ system of Halo numbers. In spite of the blunt and profane sexual content contained in the song’s lyrics, (the chorus infamously begins with the couplet “I wanna fuck you like an animal/ I wanna feel you from the inside”) “Closer” became Nine Inch Nails’ biggest hit up to that time, cemented Reznor’s status as an industrial rock superstar, and remains arguably his best-known song. Heavily censored versions of the song and its equally explicit and controversial music video (directed by Mark Romanek) received substantial airplay on radio and MTV. The video shows events in what appears to be a 19th century-style mad-scientist’s laboratory that deal with religion, sexuality, animal cruelty, politics, and terror. It was somewhat controversial due to its imagery, which included a nude woman with a crucifix mask, a monkey tied to a cross, a pig’s head spinning on some type of machine, a diagram of a vulva, and Reznor wearing an S&M mask while swinging in shackles. There are also frequent moments where Reznor, wearing leather pants, is floating through the air, suspended by invisible wires. There are also scenes of Reznor wearing aviator goggles being blown back by a wind machine. These images seem to be inspired by the art of Joel-Peter Witkin. The video is also very heavily inspired by the Brothers Quay film “The Street of Crocodiles”, with much of the video being a live-action recreation of the sets and scenes from that film.

76. – LL COOL J – Mama Said Knock You Out

“Mama Said Knock You Out” was a hit single by LL Cool J from his album of the same name. The song’s famous beginning is “Don’t call it a comeback / I’ve been here for years.” Before “Mama Said Knock You Out” was released, many people felt that LL Cool J’s career was waning; his grandmother, who still believed in his talent, told him to “knock out” all the critics. The song was produced by Marley Marl with help from Bobby “Bobcat” Ervin and LL himself and won Best Rap Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1992. The song uses samples from James Brown’s “Funky Drummer,” the Chicago Gangsters’ “Gangster Boogie,” Sly & The Family Stone’s “Trip to Your Heart” and “Sing a Simple Song”, and Rock the Bells by LL Cool J. The music video features LL Cool J in a boxing ring, rapping into a microphone similar to the one an announcer would use in a boxing match. Frequently we see shots of him working out and scenes of a boxer being punched out.

75. – KANSAS – Carry On Wayward Son

“Carry On Wayward Son” is a hit progressive rock single recorded by Kansas and written by Kerry Livgren for their 1976 album Leftoverture. In 1977, the song peaked at #11 on the Billboard pop singles chart, becoming their first Top 40 hit. Because of its lyrics, the song is often misnamed as “Carry On My Wayward Son”. The 7″ single has been certified Gold by the RIAA. This song was selected among the best 500 rock songs by Rolling Stone. This song is 96^th on VH1’s 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.

74. – FEIST – 1, 2, 3, 4

“1234″ is a song from Feist’s third studio album, The Reminder. It is Feist’s most successful single to date. The original song was written by Sally Seltmann, an Australian singer-songwriter who records under the name New Buffalo, and Feist added and rewrote parts of the lyrics. This song is as pop as it gets. Since its digital release, “1234″ peaked at #2 at the US Hot Digital Songs. The single has also reached #8 in the US Hot 100, #10 at the US Pop 100, and #34 at the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single’s unexpected success led to its release worldwide. In the UK it proved to become a huge hit, making it in the top 10 peaking at #8.

73. – AUDIOSLAVE – Cochise

“Cochise” is the first single by Audioslave for their debut album Audioslave. It was released in 2002. The single was released with a white and a black cover. The difference between the two versions besides the covers is that the black version only contains the title song, while the white version contains “We Got The Whip,” a live version of “Gasoline,” and the music video for “Cochise”. Tom Morello came across the intro riff by accident. He had a guitar on his lap and his delay pedal set to “slap-back” and, while writing notes for a song, he rapidly hit the strings with a pencil in his right hand. This produced a noise reminiscent of a helicopter. When Audioslave recorded this song, Morello did the same thing, with his Digitech Whammy set an octave lower, and using a flat hand to slap the strings. The amount of fireworks released during the filming of the music video caused nearby residents to report a possible terrorist attack. This video has also been censored in some places, due to the fact that it has a large amount of flashing lights, and could cause epileptic fits with some people. In the beginning of the video “PLAY LOUD” appears on screen. This video is available as a “director’s cut” on the DVD The Work of Director Mark Romanek and has new footage inserted. There is more emphasis on the strobe lighting and fireworks during the video. The song reached 29 in the UK chart and 69 in the US Billboard.

72. – DAMIAN MARLEY – Welcome To Jamrock

“Welcome to Jamrock” is the first single from Damian Marley’s album of the same name. Welcome to Jamrock covers issues such as crime, poverty and political corruption as part of the harsh reality of “Jamrock”, Marley’s personification of Jamaica, as opposed to the Jamaica advertised as a popular tourist destination. Marley laments Jamaica’s high crime rate and unceasing violence, demanding that those in charge do something about it. In this sense he carries on the legacy of his father before him, in inspiring Jamaicans to stand together. The song reached 13 on the UK chart and 55 in the US Billboard.

71. – PHARRELL ft JAY-Z – Frontin’

“Frontin’”, is a 2003 song by producer Pharrell. The title refers to putting up a facade (or false ‘front’), typically to impress peers. The song features rapper Jay-Z, is written by Pharrell and produced by The Neptunes. At the time he insisted the single was a one-off, and that he was purely a producer and not a rapper/singer in his own right. However, he has since released his own solo album, In My Mind. “Frontin’” was a big summer hit (the 34th biggest selling single of 2003 in the U.S. according to Billboard magazine), and was featured on the album The Neptunes Present… Clones, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in August 2003. “Frontin’” was a #5 hit in the U.S. upon its June 2003 release and remains his biggest hit there to date. It also peaked at #1 in the U.S. R&B/Hip Hop and U.S. Rap charts. In the UK the single also charted inside the top 10, peaking at #6 in the UK official singles chart and spending 10 weeks within the top 75. It is Pharrell’s biggest hit worldwide as a solo artist (his biggest hit overall being Drop It Like It Hot with Snoop Dogg). The lead girls in the video are Lanisha Cole and Lauren London.

70. – KASABIAN – Club Foot

Kasabian’s first full release “Club Foot” was released on the 17 May 2004 in the UK. This song is dedicated to Czech student Jan Palach, who committed suicide in political protest by self-immolation. The video also references to the Soviet government’s intervention in Hungarian Revolution of 1956 in a transparency showing Hungarian text (Szabad Európa Rádió) which translates as “Free European Radiostation”. The song is often used as trailer music, and was used in the trailer and introduction to the video game Tony Hawk’s Project 8; it later reappeared on its soundtrack and as its intro music. It was also used in the introduction to Pro Evolution Soccer 5 and in the games Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition and Marc Eckō’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. It was featured in the game SingStar Rocks!. “Club Foot” was also in the film Goal!, the snowboard video From With Love, Jekyl and Hyde and the trailers for the movies Green Street and Serenity. The song is used in the introduction to WRC: Rally Evolved, and the Season 3 finale of Numb3rs. Additionally, the song was featured as a music video on the first “Sampler” UMD disk provided in the value pack of the Sony PlayStation Portable system at its initial launch. This song was used twice on the BBC motoring programme Top Gear. It is featured in the Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner film The Guardian and Neil Marshall’s Doomsday. It is also used by Arsenal when they walk onto the pitch at the Emirates Stadium. More recently, the a remixed version of the song has been used as the entrance song of Aston Villa. It has also been used in the trailer for the movie District 13 starring David Belle.

69. – ALL AMERICAN REJECTS – Move Along

“Move Along” is the title track and second single taken from The All-American Rejects second studio album Move Along. The entire song is played at the beginning of The Hitcher, it is also played in the movies She’s the Man, (along with “Dirty Little Secret”), and Firehouse Dog. It is available as a downloadable song in the 2007 music video game series Rock Band, along with “Dirty Little Secret”, which was developed by Harmonix. Also, the UK CD single was released on February 27, 2006. According to Blender on their “The 100 Greatest Songs of 2005″, “Move Along” was rated #84.

The music video was directed by Marc Webb. It starts off with Tyson Ritter falling into an empty pool before the song starts. When the song begins he stands there singing while the background and his outfit changes over and over. Then it goes back to where he falls into the pool. People appear out of nowhere and carry him to a piano and the rest of the band. The quick-cut style of the video was inspired by Marlowe Gregorio, who posted his own version of the video on YouTube. Also, the drummer Chris Gaylor can be seen wearing a t-shirt for the crust punk band Filth and Tyson wearing a Our Lady of Guadalupe shirt. The video follows the general theme presented by the lyrics of the song, that of perseverance through difficulties. Most of the video is that of Tyson Ritter standing somewhat still while rapidly changing outfits give the appearance of different scenes. The first scene being Ritter as an white-collar worker being yelled at by his manager. The scenes (and his appearance) change, showing him to be a surgeon who has apparently been unsuccessful in saving a patient; eating supper alone at the dinner table, while the chair across the table has a place setting, but sits empty; placing an engagement ring on a girl’s finger, only to have her remove it and walk away; a family member of a victim of a heart attack; the driver of a car that has crashed into a street light; a football player that is on the losing end of a 58-7 beating; a young man suffering the harsh end of a angry father’s tirade. The song charted at #15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and went top 10 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart.

68. – THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS – Let Forever Be

“Let Forever Be” is the second single from The Chemical Brothers released from their third album Surrender. It contains the vocals of Noel Gallagher of Oasis who also co-wrote the song. The song’s drum loop and crashing cymbal effects bear similarity to those of the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”. B-side track “Studio K” samples from The Chemical Brothers’ own song “The Sunshine Underground”. The song appears in a deleted scene from EuroTrip, wherein the main characters are in a bar and see the twins drunkenly and erotically kissing each other. “Let Forever Be” was The Chemical Brothers’ fourth top-ten single in the UK, peaking at #9 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was also one of their biggest hits in the United States, peaking at #29 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The video for the track was directed by Michel Gondry, and utilized ground-breaking video and film effects in its depiction of a young woman’s nightmares. The video, which drew much visual inspiration from Ray Davies’ 1975 Granada TV production “Starmaker”, received much media attention and became one of the most well-known videos from the band.

67. – LIVE – Overcome

“Overcome” is a song by alternative rock group Live, which was released as the second single from their 2001 album, V. The song became associated with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, and proceeds from the sale of the single were donated to charities to benefit the victims of the attack. The song was not released as a commercially purchasable single in the United States. It failed to chart on Billboard’s Hot 100 Airplay chart, but peaked at #30 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was featured in the final moments of the second season finale of the FX television series The Shield.

66. – CHRIS DAUGHTRY – It’s Not Over

“It’s Not Over” is the first official single from Daughtry’s first album, Daughtry. The song was used as a teaser to the second season fall finale of Prison Break. It was certified Platinum in April 2007. As of August 2007 it was in the top ten digital selling songs of the year. The single debuted fairly high on the Billboard Hot 100 at #65 in late November 2006, partly due to the song already reaching the top 40 on iTunes. It has since gone on to become a top 5 single for the band, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has also become a #1 single for the band on the Adult Top 40 chart and on the American Top 40 countdown. The song has so far sold over 2,000,000 copies in the United States, becoming the fourth highest-selling single from an Idol alum.

65. – BLOC PARTY – Flux

“Flux” is a song by Bloc Party which was released as a single on 12 November 2007. It was produced by Jacknife Lee, along with several other new songs, during the band’s week in the studio after their performances at the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals. The song uses mostly electronic instruments and features vocalist Kele Okereke’s voice manipulated through auto-tune. It was first performed live on 26 September 2007 at Covington’s Madison Theater. CD1 of the set was only released as a free CD through the 14 November 2007 issue of NME. The song peaked at number 8 in the UK Singles Chart as the band’s fourth UK Top 10 single. “Flux” is featured on the re-released version of Bloc Party’s second studio album A Weekend in the City and on the North American version of their third album Intimacy. A music video for the song was directed by director Ace Norton, who has previously directed videos for The Willows, Norah Jones and Death Cab for Cutie. The video was published on NME’s website on 17 October 2007. Like the Beastie Boys’ music video for “Intergalactic”, it pays homage to Japanese kaiju movies. It shows two giant silver robots falling in love while other monsters and robots destroy the city they are in. The band themselves do not appear in the video. The video was filmed over two days in Boston with American performance troupe Kaiju Big Battel. Some of the Kaiju (Japanese for ’strange beast’) characters in the video are the Call-Me-Kevin, Grudyin, Unibouzo, Vegetius, Giii the Space Pirate and Steam-Powered Tentacle Boulder.

64. – QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret

“The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret” is a single taken from the album, Rated R by Queens of the Stone Age. The song was used in an episode of the HBO series Entourage when the porn stars show up at the critic’s (Rainn Wilson) hotel room.

63. – KINGS OF LEON – The Bucket

“The Bucket” is the first single taken from the Aha Shake Heartbreak album by the American rock band Kings of Leon. It is one of the band’s most successful singles, reaching number 16 in the UK Singles Chart (making it their most successful UK release at the time) and number 23 in the US Modern Rock chart. In Australia, the song was ranked #31 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2004. The song is written about bassist Jared Followill, who was the youngest, dealing with the band’s fame at the age of 17. The song was written by Caleb Followill, Nathan Followill, Jared Followill and Matthew Followill.

62. – GRANDMASTER FLASH – White Lines

“White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)” is a song by Grandmaster Flash, released as a 12″ in 1983 on Sugar Hill Records. The song, which warns against the dangers of cocaine, addiction, and drug smuggling, is one of Melle Mel’s signature tracks. The instantly recognizable bassline is sampled from a performance of the Sugar Hill house band playing Liquid Liquid’s “Cavern”. When originally released, the record was credited to Grandmaster + Melle Mel. This was done to mislead the public into believing that Grandmaster Flash participated on the record, when in fact he played no part and had already left the Sugar Hill Records label the previous year. Originally, the song was intended to be an ironic celebration of a cocaine-fueled party lifestyle, but it was abridged with the “don’t do it” message as an anti-cocaine song as a concession to commercial considerations. The lyric “A businessman is caught with 24 kilos. He’s out on bail and out of jail and that’s the way it goes” refers to car manufacturer John DeLorean, who in 1982 became involved in a scheme to save his company from bankruptcy using drug money. “White Lines” peaked at #47 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart in 1983. The song fared better in the United Kingdom, reaching number 7 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1984, spending 17 consecutive weeks in the top-40. It was the 13th best-selling single of 1984 in the UK, selling more than a number of number one hits that year. An unofficial music video was directed by New York University film student Spike Lee and starred Laurence Fishburne. In 1988, the song was used as part of an anti-heroin public information film in the United Kingdom. On July 8, 2009, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson did a lip-sync version of the Duran Duran cover featuring puppets on backing vocals.

61. – SANTANA – Maria Maria

“Maria Maria” is a song by Santana featuring The Product G&B. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for ten weeks on April 8, 2000 and also reached Number 6 in the UK chart. At the 2000 Grammy Awards, the song won the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. In 2008, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Hot 100 chart, Billboard compiled its list of the top 100 songs since the inception of the chart in various categories. “Maria Maria” came in at #96 on the list of Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs, and #2 on the list of Top Billboard Hot 100 Latin Songs of All Time.

60. – GUNS N ROSES – Welcome To The Jungle

“Welcome to the Jungle” is a song by American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, featured on their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. It was released as the band’s second single on October 3, 1987 and reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number sixty-seven on the UK Singles Chart. In the United Kingdom, “Welcome to the Jungle” was backed with a live cover of AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie”, while in the United States the B-side was “Mr. Brownstone” from Appetite for Destruction. The 12″ vinyl and 12″ picture disc editions of the single also featured “Whole Lotta Rosie”, in addition to live versions of “It’s So Easy” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”. In 2009 it was named the greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. In spite of the early morning airtime, the song’s music video caught viewers’ attention and quickly became MTV’s most requested video. The video in question begins with a shot of Axl Rose disembarking a bus in New York and a drug dealer (Izzy) is seen trying to sell his merchandise while Axl rejects it. Slash can be seen briefly, sitting against a wall and drinking from a clear glass bottle in a brown paper bag. As Axl stops to watch a television through a store window, clips of the band playing live can be seen. By the end of the video Axl has transformed into a city punk, wearing the appropriate clothing, after going through a process similar to the Ludovico technique.

59. – BLINK 182 – Miss You

“I Miss You” is the second single from Blink-182’s 2003 self-titled album. It was released in February 2004. In the music video, the band plays at a haunted mansion. The video was also featured on their Greatest Hits album. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and peaked at #42 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although “All The Small Things” had more radio airplay, “I Miss You” sold more singles, having been certified platinum after selling over 1,000,000 copies (RIAA platinum single certification). Also, It was #3 in Argentina with a run of fifteen weeks, and #8 in the United Kingdom. This song is frequently covered by Tom DeLonge’s band Angels & Airwaves. The song features references to the 1993 cult film The Nightmare Before Christmas, with “We can live like Jack and Sally” and “We’ll have Halloween on Christmas”. Travis Barker says that the line was directed towards his then girlfriend, Shanna Moakler. The two would have a Nightmare Before Christmas themed wedding on October 30, 2004. The video directed by Jonas Åkerlund was shot in a house, and the band members were made to wear make-up to give a ghostly feel as well as 1920’s outfits. It also features Mark Hoppus playing a stand up bass, inspired by Phil Thornalley of The Cure’s use of one in the video for the band’s 1983 single “The Lovecats”.

58. – THE TWILIGHT SINGERS – Bonnie Brae

Bonnie Brae featured in the TV show “Rescue Me” and is part of the soundtrack. Also Bonnie Brae can be found The Twilight Singers fourth album, Pwder Burns which Denis Leary said “it’s it “one of the best rock albums I’ve heard in 10 years”.

57. – JANES ADDICTION – Superhero

Can be found on Janes Addiction’s 2003 album Strays and this song is the main theme tune for the TV show Entourage.

56. – JOHNNY CASH – God’s Gonna Cut You Down

Johnny Cash recorded a version of “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” on American V: A Hundred Highways in 2003, with an arrangement quite different from most known gospel versions of the song. The song is presented with a rhythmic stomp-clap downbeat, grim and pessimistic in its portrayal of a vengeful and uncompromising God, serving as a warning to sinners. A music video, directed by Tony Kaye, was made for this version in late 2006. It featured a number of celebrities, including Iggy Pop, Kanye West, Chris Martin, Kris Kristofferson, Patti Smith, Terrence Howard, Flea, Q-Tip, Adam Levine, Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss, Sir Peter Blake, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson, Amy Lee, Scott Weiland, the Dixie Chicks, Mick Jones, Sharon Stone, Bono, Shelby Lynne, Anthony Kiedis, Travis Barker, Lisa Marie Presley, Kid Rock, Jay-Z, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons, Corinne Bailey Rae, Johnny Depp, Graham Nash, Brian Wilson, Rick Rubin, Whoopi Goldberg, Owen Wilson and Jerry Lee Lewis. It also briefly features archive footage of Cash himself. The video was shot entirely in black and white. Since its release, both the song and video have seen moderate airplay. The Johnny Cash recording was played in The Most Hated Family in America. It has also been used as bumper music for the Alex Jones radio show. It was also heard on promotional commercials for the hit CW series Supernatural. It was also used in the trailer for the 2006 documentary Deliver Us from Evil. UFC Fighters Spencer Fisher and Jason Lambert have used it for their entrance music, as has professional wrestlers Tyson Dux and Brodie Lee. The single hit number one on the Christian charts after being released by Rick Hendrix and his positive music association. Musician Sean Michel covered the song during his audition on Season 6 of American Idol. Matchbox Twenty also used the song before playing “How Far We’ve Come” on their “Exile in America” tour. EastEnders used the recording in a 2008 promotional video for Max Branning’s Judgement Day. The song was also played over the opening sequence and closing credits of David Ridgen’s documentary Mississippi Cold Case made for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . The song itself only reached 77 in the UK Chart.

55. – NIRVANA – Lithium

“Lithium” is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana, written by frontman Kurt Cobain. The song features shifts in dynamics from quiet to loud sections and tells the story of a man who finds religion as a last resort after the death of his girlfriend. “Lithium” was released as the third single from the band’s second album Nevermind (1991) in July 1992, and it peaked at number 64 in the United States. The music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, consisted of a live footage video montage. A live version of this song and Smells Like Teen Spirit will appear side-by-side on Guitar Hero 5. “Lithium” was released as a single in July 1992. The packaging included full lyrics for all the songs on Nevermind. In the United States, the single charted at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 single chart. “Lithium” peaked at number 16 and 25 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock Tracks airplay charts, respectively.^[12] The song was tied at number 20 with singles by Ministry, Lisa Stansfield, and Utah Saints in the 1992 Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics’ poll and also reached No 11 in the UK Chart. The music video for “Lithium” was the second Nirvana video directed by Kevin Kerslake. Cobain originally wanted the video to feature an animated story about a girl named Prego who discovers some eggs that hatch. When Cobain and Kerslake discovered the animation would take four months to produce, they instead created a film collage of Nirvana performing in concert. Among the concert footage used was a 1991 Halloween performance and scenes from the film 1991: The Year Punk Broke (1992). Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad commented, “Although [the video] was enlivened by Kerslake’s neat trick of using more violent footage during the quiet parts of the song and vice versa, it was something of a disappointment from a band and a song that promised so much.”

54. – RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – Under The Bridge

“Under the Bridge” is a song by the American alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on March 10, 1992 as the second single from the group’s fifth studio album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Vocalist Anthony Kiedis wrote the lyrics to express a feeling of loneliness and despondency and to reflect on narcotics and their impact on his life. Kiedis initially did not feel “Under the Bridge” would fit into the Chili Peppers’ repertoire and was reluctant to show it to his band mates until producer Rick Rubin implored him to do so. The rest of the band was receptive to the lyrics and wrote the music. The song became a critical and commercial success, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The highest position in the UK Chart was No 13. The single’s success was widened with the release of its accompanying video, which was frequently played on music television channels. It won the “Viewer’s Choice Award” and “Breakthrough Video” at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. “Under the Bridge” allowed the Red Hot Chili Peppers to enter the mainstream. David Fricke of Rolling Stone said the song “unexpectedly drop-kicked the band into the Top 10″, while Philip Booth of The Tampa TribuneIts success led in part to the departure of guitarist John Frusciante, who preferred the band to remain underground. The song has become an inspiration to other artists, and remains a seminal component of the alternative rock movement of the early- and mid-1990s. The music video for “Under the Bridge” was directed by Gus Van Sant, who photographed the band during their stay at The Mansion and provided the art direction for Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Van Sant knew Flea due to the bassist’s role in his 1991 film My Own Private Idaho. The members of the band respected Van Sant both as a person and an artist and were elated when he agreed to direct the video for “Under the Bridge”. Flea credits the video as “the thing that really made us break through the mainstream of American and worldwide pop culture”. and later certified commented that it was a “pretty, undulating, [and] by-now omnipresent single.”

53. – JOHN CAFFERTY – Hearts On Fire

The song that was in Rocky IV that ended up in legend & used in parodies ever since.

52. – MASTA ACE – Unfriendly Game

The song “Unfriendly Game” was used in the TV series The Wire and is included on one of its soundtracks. It can be found in the album Disposable Arts, which is the fourth album and the second solo album by American emcee Masta Ace, his first album since 1995’s Sittin’ On Chrome. The concept follows a young Brooklyn man’s release from prison, his return home, and his life at “The Institute of Disposable Arts”, a school in which Ace enrolls after realizing how bad the situation in Brooklyn is. The album was very well received by critics and fans, though it sold poorly compared to Masta Ace’s releases in the 1990s.

51. – SYSTEM F – Out Of The Blue

Ferry Corsten, also known under the alias System F, (born December 4, 1973 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a producer of trance music, in addition to being a DJ and remixer. He is currently ranked number 6 in a poll by British publication DJ Magazine. He also hosts his own weekly radio show, Corsten’s Countdown. He routinely plays at events all over the world with crowds in excess of tens of thousands. “Out of The Blue” was under the alias System F and became a big hit around 1999.

50. – PAUL ENGEMANN – Push It To The Limit

A song performed by Paul Engemann and was composed by Italian record producer Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. It appeared on the soundtrack for the 1983 motion picture Scarface. This song appeared in the movie in the montage sequence that demonstrated Tony Montana’s rise in wealth and position after he killed Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) and took over as the head cocaine trafficker in Miami. In the film, the song appeared in a slightly longer version that has yet to be released, featuring a guitar solo during the instrumental break. However, a full extended version was released on an 12-inch single LP, with the guitar solo on it, plus a new instrumental break at the beginning, and throughout that version of the song. The song is also featured on the hit game Grand Theft Auto III, featured on the OST CD For Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, was sampled on “Push It” by Rick Ross and “Push it to the Limit” by Necro. It was also featured in the South Park episode “Up the Down Steroid”.

49. – 3 DOORS DOWN – Here Without You

Here Without You is the third single from the album Away from the Sun by 3 Doors Down. It peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 8, 2003. Only their songs “Kryptonite” and “When I’m Gone” reached higher positions on the chart. It has since been certified Platinum in the United States and Australia. It was featured in the film Goal! 2: Living the Dream…. Brad Arnold, in an interview with Songfacts, states that the main inspiration for this song was his now ex-wife. The song is about being away from someone and missing them, and it’s not about how long you’ve gone, it’s about the lonliness that comes with missing someone. It’s also about a state of peace that comes with dreaming of the missed loved one. The lines “And when the last one falls, when it’s all said and done..” mean that even when the world falls apart, the love never dies.

48. – DMX – Party Up

“Party Up (Up In Here) is a song by rapper DMX. It is one of DMX’s best known songs and is from his best selling album …And Then There Was X, released in 1999. The track is his highest-charting song to date, reaching #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track is featured on the introduction of Dave Chappelle’s “Killing Them Softly” stand-up routine, and on the computer game Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004. It is featured on the video game All-Star Baseball 2004 as one of the batter walk-ups. There are three versions of the song: an explicit/album version; a censored album version, and a radio/video edit version. The censored version is also used in the video game Def Jam Vendetta, as both menu music and an instrumental during gameplay. The song takes shots at rapper Kurupt, for dissing him on “Callin Out Names” over DMX having an affair with Foxy Brown, Kurupt’s former fiance. After the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship in 2000, in the locker room, they were singing the song.

47. – BLUR – Song 2

Damon Albarn stated at the song’s debut live performance at the RDS in Dublin in June 1996 that “This one’s called ‘Song 2′, ‘cos we haven’t got a name for it yet”. The working title ended up sticking. It was said that the song was about Pavement’s Bob Nastanovich, known for his colourful and energetic stage presence. In keeping with the title of the song, it was the second track on the album, was the second single from the album to be released, is exactly two minutes and two seconds long, and is also the second track on their compilation Blur: The Best of. It reached #2 in the UK singles chart. The music video for this song was directed by Sophie Muller, and it features the band playing in a small, secluded room with loud speakers behind them. During the choruses, the reverb from the speakers sends the band members crashing against the walls and ground. This video bears striking resemblances to Blur’s video for “Popscene”.

46. – MGMT – Time To Pretend

The debut single (in the UK) from MGMT’s album Oracular Spectacular. The single was released as a 7″ and CD featuring the b-sides “Weekend Wars” (BBC Radio 1 Session) and “Metatonia,” respectively^[3]. In early 2009, the song was re-released in the UK. The music video contains multiple references to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1973 film The Holy Mountain^{[citation needed]}. The video was directed by Ray Tintori. Tiscali Music gave the video a rating of 10 out of 10. It reached No 35 in the UK Chart.

45. – BEASTIE BOYS – Intergalactic

A single by the Beastie Boys from their album Hello Nasty. It was released on July 14, 1998. The song’s music incorporates a portion of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp minor. The single hit #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and was the band’s third Top 40 single, and reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart which remains the bands’ biggest hit in that country. The song received a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1999.
The “Intergalactic” video featured a giant robot causing destruction by fighting a giant octopus-headed creature in a city while popping, a parody of Japanese Kaiju films (specifically the series finale of Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot). Various scenes are filmed in the Shibuya and Shinjuku train stations in Tokyo, Japan in which the band wears the bright uniforms of (Koji) Japanese street construction workers. The video won the award for “Best Hip Hop Video” at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. It was directed by MCA, under the pseudonym of Nathanial Hornblower. The music video also somewhat parodies Japanese sentai shows, which are the basis for Power Rangers. In some versions of the video, the introduction is a sample of “Le Sacre du Printemps” by Igor Stravinsky. The song reached No 5 in the UK Chart and 28 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

44. – BEN E KING – Stand By Me

Originally performed by Ben E. King and written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. According to the documentary History of Rock ‘n’ Roll, King had no intention of recording the song himself when he wrote it.^[1] King had written the song for The Drifters, who passed on the chance to record it. It was not until after the “Spanish Harlem” recording session that he had some studio time left over. The session’s producers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, asked if he had any more songs and King played “Stand by Me” on the piano for them. They liked it and called all the studio musicians back in to record it. If King hadn’t finished recording his other songs early, “Stand by Me” might never have been recorded. The song was not released on an album until it had been out as a single for two years. After those two years the song appeared as track seven on King’s Don’t Play That Song. King’s version went to number one on the R&B charts,^[2]. and was a Top Ten hit on the U.S. charts twice—in its original release in 1961, when it peaked at #4, and a 1986 rerelease coinciding with its use as the theme song for the movie of the same name following its appearance in the film, when it peaked at #9, and also in an advertisement for Levi Jeans. It also reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart in 1987 after its re-release, mostly due to the jeans spot, originally reaching #27 on its first release. “Stand by Me” was ranked number 121 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1999, BMI named it as the fourth most-performed song of the 20th century, with about 7 million performances.

43. – ELBOW – One Day Like This

The second single from Elbow’s fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid, released on 2 June 2008^[1] on two 7″ vinyl records and one CD single. “One Day Like This” debuted at #39 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 2008, marking Elbow’s seventh UK Top 40 single. After 14 weeks, the single finally peaked at #35 on 14 September 2008. Although it peaked considerably lower than its predecessor “Grounds for Divorce” (which peaked at #19), the band’s increasing popularity in the UK after winning their 2009 BRIT Award for Best British band meant that “One Day Like This” has spent more weeks in the UK Top 100 that any of Elbow’s other singles, spending 35 weeks there; unlike its predecessor, which spent 11 weeks in the UK Top 100. The song peaked at #35 again on 22 February 2009 and was still on the charts at #95 as of 21 June 2009. On 21 May 2009, the song won the Ivor Novello award for Best Song. “One Day Like This” was used on Sky UK’s Earth Day 2009 advert, as well as TV spots for the 2009 Robert Downey Jr./Jamie Foxx film The Soloist and used during “the best bits” for Big Brother 9 in the UK. The song was also used in a montage scene from the fourth episode of the 2008 series Hollyoaks Later. In July 2009, it was featured in “Children of Earth: Day Three”, an episode from the third season of the UK series Torchwood.

42. – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – Streets Of Philadelphia

An Academy Award and Grammy-winning song written and performed by American rock musician Bruce Springsteen for the 1993 film Philadelphia. Released in 1994, the song was a hit in many countries, particularly in France, Germany, Ireland and Norway where it topped the singles charts. The music video for the song, directed by Jonathan Demme and his nephew Ted Demme, begins by showing Springsteen walking along desolate city streets, followed by a bustling park and schoolyard, interspersed with footage from the film. After a quick shot of Rittenhouse Square, it ends with Springsteen walking along the Delaware River, with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in the background. Tom Hanks is also visible as the lead character he plays in the film, looking on as Bruce begins the final verse. The vocal track for the video was re-recorded live during the shooting, using a hidden microphone, to a prerecorded instrumental track. This was a technique, appropriate for emotionally intense songs for which conventional video lip-syncing would seem especially false, that John Mellencamp pioneered in his 1985 “Rain on the Scarecrow” video, and that Springsteen himself had used on his 1987 “Brilliant Disguise” video. Springsteen would also go on to use the same technique in his “Lonesome Day” video in 2002. The song reached No 2 in the UK Chart and No 9 in the US Billboard.

41. – Q LAZZURUS – Goodbye Horses

“Goodbye Horses” is a 1988 song sung by Q Lazzarus. It was written, produced, and performed by William Garvey (who passed away August 3rd, 2009 from a stroke). There are three versions of the song. They clock in at 3:12, 4:20, and the extended version at 6:27. The song is notably featured in the film The Silence of the Lambs during the scene in which serial killer “Buffalo Bill” applies make-up and dances in front of a video camera with his penis tucked between his legs as to give the appearance of a female mons. Originally in the film, Clarice Starling discussed both sheep and horses during the ranch slaughter ordeal; the script was shortened to only include the lambs, but the song remained. The song is not featured on the Silence of the Lambs soundtrack, although it appears on the soundtrack of the 1988 film Married to the Mob, also directed by Jonathan Demme. In 1991, Q Lazzarus released an extended version of Goodbye Horses to capitalize on the success of Silence of the Lambs (and the lack of the song on the motion picture soundtrack). There have been rumors spread around indicating that there is a rare version of the song where the lyrics are changed to ” Goodbye horses, I’m flying the fuck over you.” The original artists have yet to confirm nor deny this, so it is still unknown.

40. – BLACK LAB – This Night

The track “This Night” was featured on the promotional advertisement for the sixth series of The Shield; tracks from this album were also featured in CBS’s Numb3rs, ABC’s 6 Degrees and the films The Benchwarmers and Lovewrecked.

39. – THE CLASH – Train In Vain

A song from the album London Calling (1979) by the British punk rock band The Clash. The song was not originally listed on the album’s track listing, appearing as a secret track at the end of the album. This was unintentional however, as the reason for it was that the track was added to the record at the last minute, when the sleeve was already in production. It was the first Clash song to crack the United States Top 30 charts and in 2004, the song was ranked number 292 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. In the U.S., the song’s title is expanded to “Train in Vain (Stand By Me)”; the words ’stand by me’ dominate the chorus. It was titled “Train in Vain” in part to avoid confusion with Ben E. King’s signature song “Stand By Me”.

38. – SURVIVOR – Eye Of The Tiger

A song performed by the American rock band Survivor from the album Eye of the Tiger, released in 1982. It was written at the request of Sylvester Stallone for the film Rocky III. The original mix of the song, heard in the film, features tiger growls, though these are omitted on the album and single versions. “Eye of the Tiger” topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for six weeks beginning July 24, 1982^. The single was number two on the Billboard Top Pop Singles of 1982 year-end chart and number one on the Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles year-end chart. “Eye of the Tiger” also reached number one in the UK, Irish and Australian charts. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1982, representing 2,000,000 records sold in the U.S. Survivor won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Eye of the Tiger”. The song received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song and was voted “Favorite Song” by the People’s Choice Awards (in a tie with “Truly” by Lionel Richie). The song was listed at #21 on Billboard’s All Time Top 10⁰ and was named the 63^rd best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

37. – JAY-Z/LINKIN PARK – Numb/Encore

A song by the nu metal band Linkin Park and rapper Jay-Z from their 2004 mash-up album Collision Course. It was the most successful single from the album, going on to reach #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 1, 2005. It also reached No 14 in the UK Chart. A music video directed by Kimo Proudfoot was made featuring a mix of their performance of the song at The Roxy and behind the scenes footage which was in black and white. The performance and most of the scenes can be found on the Collision Course DVD, however the music video in its entirety is not available on the DVD itself.

36. – M.I.A – Paper Planes

An alternative hip hop dance song written and produced by M.I.A., Diplo, and Switch for M.I.A.’s second studio album, Kala (2007). Its backing track is a sample from the 1982 song “Straight to Hell” by The Clash, while the chorus is based on that of the 1992 Wreckx-n-Effect song “Rump Shaker”. It was released as the album’s third single in early 2008, but did not begin to achieve commercial success until June 2008, after appearing in a high profile film trailer and TV spot for the film Pineapple Express. The song is also featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire (albeit in a different key from the album version), as well as its soundtrack. The song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was sampled in rapper T.I.’s and Jay-Z’s collaborative single “Swagga Like Us”, which reached #5 on the Hot 100. On 3 December 2008, the song was nominated for the Record of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards. In August 2008, Sri Lankan rapper DeLon circulated a viral YouTube video in which he rapped over “Paper Planes” and accused M.I.A. of “supporting terrorism” by using images of the tiger and discussing violence in her lyrics, and showing graphic images of violence connected to the Tamil Tigers. M.I.A responded, stating that her music is the voice of a civilian refugee and that she is not willing to discuss it with someone that is looking for self-promotion. DeLon is Sinhalese (the ethnic majority in Sri Lanka), while MIA is a member of the Tamil minority. The music video for the song was directed by Bernard Gourley. It was made available on MTV’s website two days prior to its premiere on TRL on 17 December 2007. The video was shot in M.I.A.’s home neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. It was originally planned to be shot in a factory on the border of Ecuador, but the location changed to accommodate M.I.A.’s time constraints while touring in the U.S.

35. – YEAH YEAH YEAHS – Gold Lion

The first single by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs from their second album, Show Your Bones. Distinct in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ discography, it features acoustic guitar and a more slowed-down pace in contrast to former works like “Bang!” and “Date with the Night.” It was released on March 21, 2006, and became the band’s second major hit after 2004’s “Maps.” “Gold Lion” was named after the two Gold Lion awards the Adidas commercial Hello Tomorrow had won at the 2005 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Karen O had contributed vocals to ad’s song composed by Sam “Squeak E. Clean” Spiegel, brother of Karen’s then-boyfriend Spike Jonze who had directed the ad. “Gold Lion” was featured in the 2006 edition of the NME Essential Bands compilation album. It was also featured in a 2007 advertisement spot for Yves Saint Laurent’s “Elle” perfume. The ad, directed by Michael Haussman, features Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha. Additionally, the song was featured in the Grey’s Anatomy episode 17 Seconds. It has been noted by Leah Greenblatt that “Gold Lion” sounds startlingly similar to “No New Tale To Tell” from 1980s alternative band Love and Rockets. The music video directed by Patrick Daughters features the band playing in the Nevada desert at sunset and eventually night.

34. – AC/DC – Back In Black

A song by AC/DC, appearing as the first track on side two of their 1980 album, Back in Black. Known for its opening guitar riff, the song was AC/DC’s tribute to their former singer Bon Scott. It peaked in the U.S. at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1981 and was #51 on Billboard’s Top Tracks chart, which debuted in March 1981. “Back in Black” received the RIAA’s Master Ringtone Sales Award (Gold and Platinum) in 2006 and reached 2x Platinum status in 2007. The song was ranked #4 by VH1 on their list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs, and in 2009, it was named the second greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.^[2] It was also ranked #187 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The same magazine has also ranked “Back in Black” number 29 on “The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time”.

33. – TOTO – Hold The Line

A late 1978/early-1979 hit single by the American rock group Toto. The song was the band’s very first single, and was featured on their debut eponymous album. It was also a #5 success single in the US during the winter of 1978–79. The song was featured on the 2004 game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the fictional classic rock radio station K-DST, and was included in the 2006 Adam Sandler comedy Click.

32. – QUEEN – Bohemian Rapshody

A song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is in the style of a stream-of-consciousness nightmare that has unusual song structure, more akin to a classical rhapsody than popular music. The song has no chorus, instead consisting of seemingly disjointed sections including operatic segments, an a cappella passage, and a heavy rock solo. When it was released as a single, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became an unlikely commercial success, staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks. It reached number one again in 1991, after Freddie Mercury’s death, achieving total sales of 2,176,000 and becoming the UK’s third best selling single of all time—beaten only by Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997″. The single was accompanied by a promotional video; considered groundbreaking, it helped establish the visual language of the modern music video. Although critical reaction was initially mixed, especially in America, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is often considered to be Queen’s magnum opus and one of their all-time greatest songs. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Bohemian Rhapsody” at number 163 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

31. – RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – Renegades Of Funk

In 2000, Rage Against the Machine recorded the song for their cover album Renegades. They played it live for the first time at their reunion show at Coachella 2007. The music video directed by Steven Murashige was a montage of film stocked footage clips, as the band had broken up when the video was released. The montage consists mostly of rap, funk and hip-hop music and events of the Civil Rights movements, interspersed with live footage of the Los Angeles Phantom Street Artist Joey Krebs spray painting his infamous Outline Silhouettes of Figures mixed with media stills of individuals the song implies are renegades.

30. – R.E.M – Losing My Religion

A song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. The song was released as the first single from the group’s 1991 album Out of Time. Based around a mandolin riff, “Losing My Religion” was an unlikely hit for the group, garnering heavy airplay on radio as well as on MTV due to its critically-acclaimed music video. The song became R.E.M.’s highest-charting hit in the United States, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and expanding the group’s popularity beyond its original fanbase. It was nominated for several Grammy Awards, and won two for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Short Form Music Video. The music video for “Losing My Religion” was directed by Tarsem Singh. As opposed to previous R.E.M. videos, Michael Stipe agreed to lip sync the lyrics. The video originated as a combination of ideas envisioned by Stipe and Singh. Stipe wanted the promo to be a straightforward performance video, akin to Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”. Singh wanted to create a video in the style of a certain type of Indian filmaking, where eveything would be “melodramatic and very dreamlike”, according to Stipe.

29. – LUPE FIASCO – Superstar

A song performed by rapper Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos. It is the first single off his 2007 album Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool. iTunes released “Superstar” on September 25, 2007 along with a radio version of “Dumb It Down.” On November 5, 2007 the official video was released and it was directed by Hype Williams. It premiered on BET’s 106 & Park on November 23 and on February 19 it moved up to the number one spot on the countdown. As of December 31, it appeared at number 84 on BET’s Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2007 countdown. It has become his highest charting single to date, at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 & No 4 in the UK Chart. The video depicts a Mercedes-Benz S-Class stopping at the red carpet. Two girls leave the car. Director Hype Williams manages to slip in two characters from Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool. The Cool with his characterizing skeleton hand and The Streets with her dollar signs in her eyes. The Video itself has been nominated for a MTV’s VMA for Best Hip Hop Video.

28. – LENNY KRAVITZ – Are You Gonna Go My Way

The first single to be released by Lenny Kravitz from the album of the same name. It was released in March 1993. It was written by Lenny Kravitz and Craig Ross. The single has been covered by numerous artists, such as Metallica, in a medley for “MTV Hits” at the 2003 MTV Music Video Awards, Tom Jones and Robbie Williams on Jones’ 1999 album Reload and Melanie Brown in her solo section, on the Spice Girls Reunion Tour. Serbian hard rock band Cactus Jack recorded a version on their live cover album DisCover in 2002. A remixed version is played as the opening theme song in Gran Turismo 3. The song is featured in “Guitar Hero: World Tour”, it is available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series, and it is a playable song in Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades It ranked #78 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s.

27. – PUBLIC ENEMY – He Got Game

Theme tune for the movie of the same name directed by Spike Lee.

26. – PRINCE – Purple Rain

A power ballad by Prince and the The Revolution. It was the title track from the 1984 album of the same name, which in turn was the soundtrack album for the 1984 film of the same name, and was released as the third single from that album. The song is an emotional combination of rock and roll, pop and gospel music. It reached #2 in the U.S., and is widely considered as one of Prince’s signature songs. The song was recorded live at the Minneapolis club First Avenue in 1983. The performance was the live debut of Wendy Melvoin, and also netted the final three songs of the Purple Rain album, although the songs would undergo studio overdubs later. “Purple Rain”’s original lyrics contained an extra verse about money, which was edited out, as it diluted the emotional impact of the song.

25. – NOTORIOUS B.I.G – Juicy

A song by hip hop artist The Notorious B.I.G. and his solo debut single from his 1994 debut album Ready to Die. It was produced by Bad Boy Records producers Poke and Sean “Puffy” Combs. Its melody is sampled from Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit”, and has an alternative chorus sung by R&B girl group Total. The song is considered by many to be among the greatest hip-hop songs of all-time. The song is a “rags-to-riches chronicle” detailing his early years in poverty, his initial dreams of becoming a rap artist and early influences, his time in drugs and crime, and his eventual success in the music business. He talks about the “one room shack” that he grew up in, which is countered by his mother in the documentary Biggie & Tupac. The song was featured in the biographical film Notorious.

24. – FLIO & PERI – Anthem

Released in 2007 and their biggest tune to date.

23. – THE STONE ROSES – I Wanna Be Adored

A song by the British alternative rock group The Stone Roses. It was released as the third single from the band’s debut album The Stone Roses in the UK, US, Germany, Japan and Canada. The US edition was released at the same time as “Fools Gold” in 1989 and charted at number 18 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart in 1990. “I Wanna Be Adored” was the atmospheric opener to The Stone Roses self-titled debut. The song is propelled by Mani’s recognisable bass line, John Squire’s droning guitars and Ian Brown’s hushed ominous vocals, repeating only a few lines of lyrics throughout the entire song.

22. – BON JOVI – Wanted Dead Or Alive

A song from Bon Jovi’s 1986 album Slippery When Wet. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and was released in 1987 as the album’s third single. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the third single from the album to reach the Top 10 of the Hot 100. Slippery When Wet was the first hard rock album ever to have 3 top 10 hits on it. The video for the song is black and white and features footage from the band’s massive 1986-1987 world tour, including shots from Chicago’s UIC Pavilion, Rochester, Minnesota’s Mayo Civic Center, and other venues. The video strongly captures the grueling life-on-the-road feeling, with several shots of the exhausted band members on their mammoth 1986-87 Slippery When Wet World Tour.

21. – THE PRODIGY – Firestarter

the tenth single released by the English band the Prodigy, released on 18 March 1996. It was the first single from the album The Fat of the Land. It was also the group’s first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, staying on top for three weeks. It was The Prodigy’s first big national and international hit, also reaching number one in Finland and Norway. It featured Flint’s punky vocals which showcased him as the group’s frontman. The title and lyrics were subject of controversy in the UK because of their violent nature. The music video further boosted these controversies. The songwriting credits—among Liam Howlett and Keith Flint—include Kim Deal of alt-rock group The Breeders. The looped wah-wah guitar riff in “Firestarter” was sampled from The Breeders’ track “S.O.S.” from the album Last Splash. Because of the use of a sample from a 1984 single “Close (To the Edit)” songwriting credits also list Art of Noise’s then-members: Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, J.J. Jeczalik, Gary Langan and Paul Morley. The “Empirion Mix,” which does not include these samples, is credited solely to Howlett and Flint. The music video was directed by Walter Stern and was filmed in an abandoned London Underground tunnel at Aldwych. Keith Flint’s appearance and the video’s stark black and white also instigated controversies about being too scary for children watching it. Some television channels even refused to show the video until after the watershed.

20. – COMMON – I Used To Love H.E.R

A hip hop song by the Chicago-born rapper Common. Released on the 1994 album Resurrection, “I Used to Love H.E.R.” has since become one of Common’s best known songs. Produced by No I.D., its jazzy beat samples “The Changing World” by George Benson. A video directed by Chris Halliburton was made for this song. The song is also found on Common’s greatest hits album, Thisisme Then. The song uses an extended metaphor, using a woman to represent hip hop music. The acronym H.E.R. stands for “Hip Hop in its Essence is Real.” It is also believed that it means Hearing Every Rhyme, therefore possibly stating “I Used to Love Hearing Every Rhyme.” The song criticizes the direction that hip hop music was taking during the mid-1990s. It specifically refers to the fall of conscious and Afrocentric rap; as well as the rising popularity of West Coast hip hop and G-funk. In the song, Common makes an analogy comparing the degradation of a woman with the deterioration of hip hop music after its commercial success forced it into the mainstream. This criticism ignited a feud with West Coast rapper Ice Cube, and helped fuel the growing animosity towards the West Coast hip hop scene during the early stages of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry despite Common hailing from the Mid-West. The video was filmed in August 1994 and released later that year. It shows clips of Common’s home of Southside Chicago and a woman, who is obviously the main subject of the video because of the extended metaphor. It shows how she “became a gangster” when this woman is seen with two other ghetto-looking women in allusion to the rise of gangsta rap.

19. – DAFT PUNK – One More Time

A song by Daft Punk first released as a single on November 13, 2000^[1] and later included in the 2001 album Discovery. The song’s vocal performance by Romanthony is heavily auto-tuned and compressed.^[2] As part of the album, the track is featured in the introduction to the film Interstella 5555. “One More Time” remains their biggest commercial hit to date. It nearly topped the United Kingdom chart in 2000, instead peaking at #2, and was one of their few charting songs in the United States, reaching #61 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is also featured in the Wii video game Boogie and PlayStation 3’s SingStar. Marc Mysterio released a cover version of “One More Time” featuring the vocals of Yardi Don.

18. – MASSIVE ATTACK -Teardrop

A song by Massive Attack which was first released on their 1998 album Mezzanine. It was released as a single on 27 April 1998. The song became another UK hit for the group, peaking at number 10 on the UK singles chart. The song contains a sample of Les McCann’s song ‘Sometimes I Cry’, and the original version features vocals by Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. The song’s music video featured a plastic foetus in the womb, lip-synching the song. It was directed by Walter Stern.The single peaked at #16 in Australia.

17. – THE POGUES – Body Of An American

The song “Body of an American” was featured on the TV series The Wire during police officer wakes. The Pogues also once sang this song as an opener for Saturday Night Live.

16. – BOSTON – More Than A Feeling

A song by the rock band Boston, released as the lead single from their eponymous debut album on Epic Records in September 1976, with “Smokin’” on the flipside. The single peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The track has become a staple of classic rock radio and is ranked as #500 on the list of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and in 2009 it was named the 39th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

15. – JAY-Z – 99 Problems

The third single released by American rapper Jay-Z in 2003 from The Black Album. It reached number thirty on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The track was produced by Rick Rubin, his first hip hop production in many years. Rubin provided Jay-Z with the type of stripped-down beat that was once his trademark. To construct the beat, Rubin used samples of “The Big Beat” by Billy Squier, and “Long Red” by Mountain. Although it remains uncredited, “99 Problems” also contains samples of “Get Me Back on Time, Engine No. 9″ by Wilson Pickett. The title and chorus are taken from Ice-T’s “99 Problems” from his 1993 album Home Invasion. The song featured Brother Marquis of 2 Live Crew. Portions of Ice-T’s original lyrics were similarly quoted in a song by fellow rapper Trick Daddy on a track unsurprisingly titled “99 Problems” from his 2001 album Thugs Are Us. Jay-Z begins his third verse directly quoting lines from Bun B’s opening verse off Touched, from the UGK album Ridin’ Dirty. On July 6, 2008, more than four years after the song’s initial release, “99 Problems” entered the UK Singles Chart at #35 (after reaching #12 on initial release). This was attributed to Jay-Z’s appearance at Glastonbury and the O2 Wireless Festival, two popular British summer music festivals. On January 21, 2009, Jay-Z performed the song as part of his set at the Staff Ball, the last offcial event of Barack Obama’s inauguration. The ball was exclusively for 4,000 staffers who had worked on Obama’s campaign. Jay-Z tweaked the lyrics to suit the historic atmosphere, and the crowd sang along: “I Got 99 problems but a Bush ain’t one.”

14. – SISTERS OF MERCY – Temple Of Love

Can be found on the Album “Some Girls Wander by Mistake”.

13. – JOURNEY – Don’t Stop Believin’

A power ballad by the American rock band Journey. The song debuted on their 1981 album Escape. The song is considered by many to be the band’s signature song. The song is well known for its lyrics and its distinctive chorused piano introduction, described by Allmusic as “one of the best opening keyboard riffs in rock.” The song has been included in many TV shows and movies, including The Sopranos, Glee, the episode My Journey of Scrubs and a cover version of the song in Family Guy, and the movies The Comebacks and Bedtime Stories. The song reached #8 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart, and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at #62 on the UK singles chart. In 2006, it was ranked as the 11th greatest song of the list of the 100 greatest songs of the ’80s by VH1. It is the most downloaded song not released in the 21st century of all time in the iTunes Music Store and was the 72nd most downloaded song of 2008 in the store, over 27 years after its release. The song is one of the most popular rock tracks in Ireland and continues to remain in the top ten most downloaded songs.

12. – EMINEM – Lose Yourself

A hip hop song by American rapper Eminem. It was released in 2002 as part of the soundtrack to the film 8 Mile, also starring Eminem. The song had additional production by Luis Resto and Jeff Bass. It is the most successful rap song of all time, having a 12 week run at number one in the United States. The song topped many charts around the world, including the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, among others. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, two Grammy Awards, and two other Grammy nominations. The song is ranked 4th in the 100 greatest songs of the past 25 years by VH1. “Lose Yourself” ranked #166 in Rolling Stone magazine’s the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In March 2009, “Lose Yourself” topped the 2 million mark in digital downloads in the United States, becoming the second oldest song to hit that sales level. It also became Eminem’s first song to reach 2 million digital downloads as a lead artist.

11. – ALABAMA 3 – Woke Up This Morning

A song by Alabama 3 from their 1997 album Exile on Coldharbour Lane. The song is best known as the opening theme music for the HBO drama series The Sopranos (which used the “Chosen One Mix”). A3 frontman Rob Spragg wrote the song after hearing about a case where Sara Thornton stabbed her husband after 20 years of abuse, mistreatment and neglect. The song is co-written with Jake Black.

10. – MARVIN GAYE – Sexual Healing

A 1982 song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye on the Columbia Records label. It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, following the release of the In Our Lifetime album the previous year. The music and lyrics were composed by Gaye, Odell Brown, and David Ritz. The song discussed a man’s aching for finding sexual salvation with his woman—hence the title “Sexual Healing”. According to Ritz, when he interviewed Gaye for an autobiography, he noticed comic book pornography in Gaye’s room and mentioned to the singer that he “needed sexual healing” causing Gaye to tell Ritz to write a poem, after noting the rough draft of Ritz’s lyrics, Gaye wrote his share of the lyrics and recorded the song while in Ostend, Belgium. The final mix was recorded in Waterloo, Belgium, the site where Gaye addressed CBS Records executives about the song. Some saw the song as Gaye’s harmonious plea to sex in the form of him preaching the word of gospel, marrying his divided soul. According to a recent article, this song was the first hit single to use the Roland TR-808, though it wouldn’t become common fodder, the TR-808 was mainly used to produce songs of electronica and hip-hop genres.

9. – 2PAC – Keep Ya Head Up

A song by Tupac Shakur. It addresses issues concerning lack of respect toward the female gender, especially poor black women. It has a very positive message and is often used as an example of Shakur’s softer side. Many consider it to be one of the deepest rap songs ever made and is often referenced by other artists in their work, building Shakur’s persona as a very conscious and influential rapper, voted #11 in About.com’s Top 100 Rap Songs, with “Dear Mama” voted #4. It was first released in Shakur’s 1993 album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., later appearing after his death in 1998 in his Greatest Hits compilation. The beat is sampled from Zapp & Roger’s “Be Alright” and the chorus is sampled from The Five Stairsteps’ “O-o-h Child”. The song peaked at #2 on the U.S. Rap chart, #7 on the Hip Hop/R&B chart and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The same beat was used the year before on southern rapper Big Mello’s album Bone Hard Zaggin. The song was also covered by Lyfe Jennings and released on his 2006 album, The Phoenix. The song is also used in the soundtrack of the movie Freedom Writers. The song was also performed live by Nas at the MTV Rap Memorial, in 2005.

8. – PINK FLOYD – Comfortably Numb

A song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, which was released on the 1979 double album The Wall. It was also released as a single in the same year, with “Hey You” as the B-side. It is one of only three songs on the album for which writing credits are shared between Roger Waters and David Gilmour – the melody and most of the music on “Comfortably Numb” was written by Gilmour, while Waters contributed the lyrics and some additional notes. “Comfortably Numb” is one of the most famous Pink Floyd songs, and is known especially for its guitar solos. In 2004, the song was ranked #314 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Playwright Tom Stoppard said he wrote most of his Tony Award winning The Coast of Utopia during repeated listenings of the song.

7. – THE WHO – Baba O’Rielly

A song by the English rock band The Who, written by Pete Townshend. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: “Don’t cry/don’t raise your eye/it’s only teenage wasteland”. The title of the song is derived from this combination of the song’s philosophical and musical influences: Meher Baba and Terry Riley. Noted for its innovative fusion of The Who’s hard rock sound and early electronic music experimentation by Townshend, and for its crashing chorus coupled with repeating F-C-Bb power chords, the song has been a perennial favorite on classic rock radio stations as well as a concert staple for the band. The song is also well known as the TV theme tune for CSI: NY.

6. – THE ROLLING STONES – Sympathy For The Devil

A song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band’s 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Rolling Stone magazine placed it at #32 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

5. – JIMI HENDRIX – All ALong The Watchtower

song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It initially appeared on his album John Wesley Harding. It has been covered by other artists in different genres, most notably by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience began to record their cover version of Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” on January 21, 1968, at Olympic Studios in London. According to engineer Andy Johns, Jimi Hendrix had been given a tape of Dylan’s recording by publicist Michael Goldstein, who worked for Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman. “(Hendrix) came in with these Dylan tapes and we all heard them for the first time in the studio”, recalled Johns. According to Hendrix’s regular engineer Eddie Kramer, the guitarist cut a large number of takes on the first day, shouting chord changes at Dave Mason who had appeared at the session and played guitar. Halfway through the session, bass player Noel Redding became dissatisfied with the proceedings and left. Mason then took over on bass. According to Kramer, the final bass part was played by Hendrix himself. Kramer and Chas Chandler mixed the first version of “All Along The Watchtower” on January 26th, but Hendrix was quickly dissatisfied with the result and went on re-recording and overdubbing guitar parts during June, July, and August at the Record Plant studio in New York. Engineer Tony Bongiovi has described Hendrix becoming increasingly dissatisfied as the song progressed, overdubbing more and more guitar parts, moving the master tape from a four-track to a twelve-track to a sixteen-track machine. Bongiovi recalled, “Recording these new ideas meant he would have to erase something. In the weeks prior to the mixing, we had already recorded a number of overdubs, wiping track after track. [Hendrix] kept saying, ‘I think I hear it a little bit differently.’” The finished version was released on the album Electric Ladyland in September 1968. The single reached number five in the British charts, and number 20 on the Billboard chart. The song also had the #5 spot on Guitar World’s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos. Dylan has described his reaction to hearing Hendrix’s version: “It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn’t think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day.”

4. – OUTKAST – B.O.B

(Short for “Bombs over Baghdad”) is a 2000 single by OutKast for the LaFace/Arista Records label. The first single from their album Stankonia, “B.O.B.” is high-tempo and jungle-influenced, with a BPM rate of 155. The song features the Morris Brown College Gospel Choir in its chorus. The inspiration for the song came when André 3000 was in a newsroom and overheard a news report about “bombs over Baghdad”.

3. – JEFF BUCLKEY – Hallelujuah

American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, inspired by Cale’s earlier cover version, recorded one of the best-known cover versions of “Hallelujah” for his 1994 studio album, Grace. Buckley, not wholly satisfied with any one take, recorded more than twenty takes, three of which producer Andy Wallace took and mixed to create a single track. In 2004, Jeff Buckley’s version was ranked #259 on Rolling Stone’s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. In September 2007, a poll of fifty songwriters conducted by Q Magazine listed “Hallelujah” among the all-time “Top 10 Greatest Tracks” with John Legend calling Buckley’s version “as near perfect as you can get”. The song posthumously charted twice in 2008 for Buckley: the song topped Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs in April 2008 following a performance of the song by Jason Castro on American Idol and was the Christmas 2008 number-two single in the UK, the top spot being occupied by Alexandra Burke’s cover.

2. – U2 – One

The third single from U2’s 1991 album, Achtung Baby, and was released in 1992. While recording Achtung Baby, there was a rift between band members over the direction of the band’s sound. Tensions almost prompted U2 to break up until the band rallied around the writing of “One”. The song reached #7 in the UK charts and #10 in the US pop chart, and reached the top of the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. It peaked at #10 on the Dutch Top 40. The song is widely considered to be one of the band’s greatest songs and is consistently featured in lists of the greatest songs of all time. It was named the 36th greatest song by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and #1 on Q’s list of the “1001 Greatest Songs of All-Time”. VH1 ranked the song #2 in its list of “Greatest Songs of the 90s”. The song is currently ranked as the 94th greatest song of all time, as well as the fourth best song of 1991, by Acclaimed Music.

1. – OASIS – Live Forever

A song by British rock group Oasis. Written by guitarist Noel Gallagher, the song was released as the third single from their debut album Definitely Maybe on 8 August 1994, just prior to that album’s release. Gallagher wrote the song in 1991, before he joined Oasis. Inspired by The Rolling Stones’ “Shine a Light,” “Live Forever” features a basic song structure and lyrics with an optimistic outlook that contrasted with the attitude of the grunge bands popular at the time. The song was the first Oasis single to enter the top ten in the United Kingdom, and garnered critical acclaim.

Song of the Day: Everyday People by Sly and the Family Stone

Chosen because I am on a bit of an oldies kick thanks to the only decent radio station in Arlington, VA.

The Proposal

I have not seen Sandra Bullock in such a long time so it’s good to see her back on the big screen. Ryan Reynolds is a big bonus cos’ I kinda like his on screen persona (you guys should catch “Definitely, Maybe”) in all the movies he’s been in so far.

The movie on the whole was so-so. I expected a lot more from the movie though so to be honest I did walk away feeling a little disappointed. The movie had its moments but I thought the script could’ve been way better. Reynolds and Bullock do have an on-screen chemistry so there are some scenes that do shine out.

I really liked the supporting cast tho especially Mary Steenburgen (gosh if I get married one day I hope she’d look just like that when she’s older) and Betty White. Oscar Nunez who plays the exotic dancer Ramone is pretty funny too.

The movie ends predictably but all in all it is an entertaining watch. Again the best part about it was just being at the cinema and avoiding the jam. By the time I left PJ it was 2am and guess what?! The roadblock just opposite Eastin hotel was still active! I got home tired but hey … I managed to catch two new movies which was really cool.

I wouldn’t really recommend “The Proposal” but I suppose it’s fair to say that everyone should judge a movie themselves without listening to the critics too much. Movies are a personal thing so if you’re a Sandra Bullock or Ryan Reynolds fan go watch this one if you’ve got free time to spare.

Rating: 3 Stars

Británicos Británicos y Británicos! Nunca dejaré de sentir amor por la música que hacen los británicos.  Simplemente marcan pauta, dejan huella, hacen Historia. El mejor ejemplo de ello son los fantásticos e insuperables Beatles; seguidos por los Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Blur, y una de mis preferidas Oasis entre muchas otras.  La industria de la música británica la considero insuperable y los venezolanos no podemos ignorar nuestra cercanía con estas bandas que soñamos con ver aunque sea una sola vez en nuestras vidas.

Oasis es una banda que puede ser reconocida por tu tía, herman@ o hasta padres, es el tipo de banda que no importa el disco que saquen a la venta, no importa el pasar del tiempo, ellos venderán tickets de conciertos, venderán muchas copias de discos, harán sus giras mundiales y se mantendrán en la cima de las carteleras musicales por qué simplemente son de las pocas bandas que no se deterioran con el tiempo…

Ésta banda de Britpop nace en 1991 exactamente en Manchester, Inglaterra. Liderada por los hermanos Gallagher, Liam (vocalista) y el hermano mayor Noel (guitarra, voz y compositor de la mayoría de las canciones).  Para el año 1994 la banda había alcanzado la fama con el lanzamiento del álbum Definitely Maybe desprendiendo de allí los sencillos “Supersonic”, “Rock n Roll Star”, “Cigarettes And Alcohol” y “Live Forever” tema que encabezaría el TOP 10 británico convirtiéndose en un clásico de la banda.

Su segundo disco (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Lanzado en Abril de 1995 fue otro disco memorable para la banda.  Fue el más vendido en Inglaterra después del histórico Sgt. Pepper`s Lonely Hearts Club Bands de los Beatles.  Hay que recordar que en ese momento nace Wonderwall canción que todo el mundo ha escuchado y ha cantado en algún momento aunque no sepa de que banda proviene, Wonderwall se convierte en un himno mundial, la canción que identificaría a la banda y la que el vocalista Liam se cansaría de cantar.

Con el pasar de los tiempos Oasis recolecta más éxitos, uno tras otro, siendo influencia de bandas como Arctic Monkeys, The Killers y Kasabian.  En ciertos instantes los hermanos Gallagher quieren asustarnos con comentarios de separación, no es secreto para nadie que la banda ha pasado por muchos problemas de “divismo” de parte de Liam. Pero eso no se interpuso en la visita que nos hicieron los británicos a nuestro país.

Siempre he pensado que cuando escuchas a una banda en vivo es cuando te das cuenta si realmente es lo que esperabas, y con Oasis mis expectativas fueron totalmente sobrepasadas. Cuando salieron al escenario no podía creerlo, tener a los Gallagher tan cerca era algo irreal para mí, no quería que se acabara el concierto.  Oasis tocó canciones del disco “Dig Out Your Soul” lanzado en el 2008, junto los clásicos de sus discos anteriores apoyado por un espectáculo lleno de luces. Un show inolvidable que de morir en ese momento estaría en paz.

A continuación mi canción preferida del concierto

I just watched a movie called Definitely, Maybe (I’m big on movies that are a couple years old for some reason, lately) and I thought it was going suck huge balls… and it didn’t. It was good, not Oscar-worthy good (not that that means anything anyway…) but enjoyable, different, interesting and entertaining. Not to mention it was well shot and acted.

Here’s a snippet of a good review from BDK:

I am totally guilty. You can throw me in a court room and convict me because I am totally and completely guilty of thinking this movie was going to be the same old romantic comedy BS that we have been seeing for years. I saw one trailer for the movie and found out that it was coming out on Valentine’s Day and automatically pigeon held the film to a crappy romantic comedy. Well, I was pleasantly surprised with the stellar cast and the amazingly clever dialogue and story. I know that most of the people who hear my reviews are going to be men; considering I do reviews for the Junkies and most of our audience is men. Let me tell you though; don’t let this movie shy you away because of its mediocre trailers. I remember seeing a TV trailer for it and there was a quote from a critic and he said that this was the best romantic comedy he had seen since ANNIE HALL. I almost jumped out of the window because I hold Woody Allen in high regards and Annie Hall is definitely one of the best romantic comedies of all time. Definitely, Maybe is definitely NOT ANYWHERE NEAR as good as Woody Allen’s film but it is safe to say that it is one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in a long time. Definitely, Maybe stars Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder, Blade: Trinity), Isla Fisher (Hot Rod, Wedding Crashers), Abigail Breslin (No Reservations, Little Miss Sunshine), Kevin Kline (In and Out), Rachel Weiscz (The Constant Gardner, The Fountain—married to my boy Darren Aronofsky, director of Requiem For a Dream, Pi) and Derek Luke (Catch a Fire)…

I feel that the film is the perfect matinee film, hence the 4 BDK rating. They actually are releasing a good romantic comedy on Valentine’s Day. This is good because guys do not have to suffer because their girlfriends want to see a romantic comedy. This movie will make you laugh and in my case get teary eyed. You can call me gay all you want but we all have an emotional side and guys can show that too…

The trailers definitely don’t do it any justice, it makes it look like the crappy romantic comedy I thought it would be. Completely different in my opinion. Most of the critics seem to agree as well…

Pour les plus endormis d’entre vous, il s’agit du titre de la meilleure comedie romantique de l’année, pour moi bien entendu…

Oui, pour l’histoire, il y a une partie de moi qui est plutôt féru de ce genre d’histoire à l’eau de rose, cucu et autres… Je ne sais pas bien pourquoi, mais j’aime, non j’adore ce genre de film. Après le très décevant et pourtant attendu PS I love you (avec Hilary Swank) j’attendais le film qui allait me tirer cette petite larme, m’attendrir et me donner envie d’être moins blasé de tout. C’est chose faite! Ce film avec la petite de “little miss sunshine” m’a fait passé un moment des plus agréables possibles (dvt mon écran TV) … Il est clair qu’avec une pléiade de comédiennes plus belles (et pas sexy provoc pornochic) les unes que les autres, je me suis sans doute emporté… Qu’importe, ayant vu les extraits au ciné, j’avais un avis mitigé… Ce film aujourd’hui, je l’ai adopté. Cool, sans prétention, il transporte au coeur de Nyc et de la vie d’un consultant politique… A consommer sans modération, sourire à la fin de la projection assuré.

 

enjoy…