Last July I interviewed Brody Dalle for AU magazine. Ever since I heard the Distillers’ ‘Sing Sing Death House’ (one of my favourite punk rock albums of all time) she’s been on my interview “to do” list and I was happy to finally get some talk time with her this year. I’d met Brody a few weeks previously backstage at the Hot Press signing tent at Oxegen and said hello, but I wasn’t sure what to expect from her when she had her game face on. Reassuringly, she was very sweet and charming and below is a reprint of one of my favourite interviews of ‘09.

Dalle Parts

Over the last decade former Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle has been demonized by the press and seen countless band members leave her in the lurch. Undeterred she’s continued making great music for her devoted fans and has come back stronger than ever with her new outfit Spinnerette. In a rare interview, Brody bares all to Edwin McFee and tells us how 50year old men can be punk, why pissing in the wind is the coolest thing a girl can do and insists that nice and tight beats sloppy and sexy any day of the week.

“Punk rock can be pretty safe these days,” begins Spinnerette uber vixen Brody Dalle. “If you’ve got little grannys saying how nice your tattoos are in the fuckin’ grocery store there’s something wrong.”

This, in part, explains why the singer has left behind her trademark brand of buzzsaw punk and come back into the limelight with her slinky, sexy new project Spinnerette. Gone are the choppy power chords and Discharge inspired riffs and in its place are hand claps, electronic pulses, yelps and a guitar sound that owes a little bit to Queens of the Stone Age. But then, Josh Homme is her husband after-all and anyone who won’t accept that the pair will influence each other’s music is as deluded as a tent full of Sammy Wilson clones.

“The change in sound has been a long time coming,” coos the 30year old. “It doesn’t mean I’ll never play punk rock again, it just means this is what I’m doing now. I don’t want to censor myself or not play a certain song because it doesn’t fit into a certain genre or style. I kinda wanna go into other territories and push some walls down.”

And Brody is doing exactly that. While she still sounds like she gargles glass like mouthwash, everything else around her has softened and she says she owes it all to former QOTSA member Alain Johannes. Alain, who is one of the few constants in Spinnerette’s rotating cast of band members, has apparently helped Brody refine her rougher edges.

“Spinnerette is both of our music juices mixed together in a cocktail, I guess,” she laughs. “I wrote a lot of these songs when I was in the Distillers but they just didn’t seem to work. We would try and play them but they sounded so strange and I think it needed Alain’s finesse to make it a little more sophisticated. The way that Al plays, all the guitar work that you hear (coz I just play power chords-I can play a fuckin’ Ramones song in my sleep but I can’t do crazy leads and shit like that) is so innovative and he’s such an incredible player that brings a sophistication to the record that wasn’t there before. If you heard the original demos you’d see instantly how much of a difference he’s made because they were just really stripped down, slower, kind’ve groovier Distillers songs.”

Despite the change in sound suggesting it’s anything but, Brody believes this new approach is more “punk rock” than anything she’s done before.

“I never thought about what style it is or maybe we shouldn’t do this-it never ever was a concern. It just happened the way it did and it was really exciting. To me sometimes it sounds more punk in a sense than anything the Distillers did because it’s a little bit boundary-less and that’s the way it should be. Here’s an example. We’ve got this 50year old guy who comes to every London show we do and it’s so cute. He’s 50 years old and he’s bopping his head in the front row (it’s not a bad thing). He’s like the punkest person in the crowd because he’s so out of place. I love him. He doesn’t fit in and he doesn’t care and that’s the way Spinnerette is.”

Back in March ’07, Brody announced that yes, the rumours were true. Her old band-mates in the Distillers had indeed gone their separate ways after three albums. The previous few years were a tough time for the Australian. She’d under-gone a very public split from her husband Tim Armstrong from Rancid, she then hooked up with Homme and literally hung up her Mohawk for good in favour of a more feminine, (arguably) fashion-conscious look as her band became unwitting indie pin-ups despite sounding as far removed from your average shoe-gazing act as you can get. She lost some old fans, gained a whole bunch of new ones and it seemed like the press were willing her to become this generation’s Courtney Love. Thankfully Dalle was stronger than that and instead of courting the attention, she left the limelight to start a family and to get over the break-up of yet another group. Now with her daughter (Camille Harley Joan Homme) 3 years old, she feels comfortable within herself and sees releasing the new Spinnerette album as a sort of exorcism.

“It’s such a relief to have the album out there,” she confesses. “We’ve been working on it for a couple of years now and it’s not healthy for an artist to live with a record for that long. You just end up constantly tinkering with it and changing things. I think the original imprint is so beautiful you shouldn’t keep distorting that. But it’s such a relief for it to come out. At the start we had to find someone to put my records out and find management and that took a full year on its own. Honestly, it took so long, it was a drag, but now that’s in place it’ll be like old times-we made the record and it’ll come out three months later.”

In fact Brody exclusively reveals that she always laid the groundwork for the follow up to Spinnerette’s self titled debut.

“We actually start recording in September. We’ve tons of material all good to go and songs left over from the first album that we didn’t put on because we didn’t have the room. No-one wants to hear a fuckin’ double album of music, right? So, yeah, we’ve lots of stuff to work with. I’m ready to make another record now too. It won’t be too long before you hear new stuff because we’re really back in action.”

If Brody sounds comfortable and at home with herself, well that’s because she certainly seems to be. It looks like motherhood has genuinely changed both her and her music (one of her new songs ‘Geeking’ actually started out life as a lullaby she sang to Camille). Her days of being an angry young punk fronting Sourpuss and then the Distillers may be behind her, but she admits she still gets the odd dose of stage-fright every now and then.

“Every night I play I keep telling myself-don’t fuck it up, Brody, just don’t fuck it up. I gotta put on a good show for everyone who bought a ticket and came to see me.”

At the time of our interview, Dalle was in the middle of her sound-check (she was preparing for her first tour in years). When AU asks her how she finds being the out on the road these days she appears conflicted.

“It’s definitely a lot harder now I have Camille,” she says emotionally after a long pause. “The first three days you’re like-wow this is awesome, it’s like a party and I can sleep and drink and do what I want, but then after that I’m like, ok, I miss my child and… [Author’s Note-she pauses for a few minutes to fight back the tears] …you have to get through it. But now I’m only three days away from going home for a little while and I’m really excited to be going back. Don’t get me wrong-I’m excited to play shows too, it’s just hard dividing your time. But when I go onstage it makes sense and I realize that this is what I’m here for, you know?”

In a bid to cheer the singer up (hey, we might be mean but we don’t want to make people cry, now do we?) we distract her by asking about Spinnerette’s rather ramshackle performance at Oxegen this year. Clearly more than a little merry thanks to one too many light ales, Brody announced onstage that she was in love with the festival and declared that bumping into some girls, um, getting back to nature and talking a toilet break sans the toilet was the coolest thing she has ever seen.

“That was awesome dude,” she laughs, perking up at the mention of that frankly horrific image of GAA jersey clad culchies with their cacks around their ankles. “It was the coolest thing ever. No cares in the world, just pissin’ in the wind. I love it! I think the Oxegen set was fun, but we could’ve done better. It was a bit rough I think and it was sloppy because it was our first show. I prefer it when we get nice and tight, but sloppy and sexy can be really good too, right?”

As AU takes a second to collect our thoughts thanks to Brody being a brazen flirt, she mercifully saves our blushes by adding,

“You know something? This [being in a band] doesn’t have to be so serious. It’s just rock ‘n’ roll. It’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be crazy-it’s supposed to be fucking dangerous. As soon as things start feeling safe and familiar then you know you’re band has turned to shit.”

Part of the reason why the singer feels this way can be attributed to the break-up of her old group, which appears to have hit her harder than she lets on. Although she tries to lead us to believe otherwise, it’s clear that the Distillers family going their separate ways has hurt her quite a bit. So much so that these days she sees Spinnerette’s live band as being a loose collective, rather than a close knit unit.

“Life doesn’t have to be so serious,” she begins. “Now I’m a little bit older I can take things easier. When I was 24 and 25 it was like a life or death thing for me. You’re part of a family and you take it so seriously, so when a band breaks up or someone wants to leave you get so hurt, y’know? There’s too much heartbreak involved and this time around I wanted a looser vibe. If people weren’t happy or wanted to take a break or move on then it was understood that you could just come and go.”

Judging by the scenes at the signing tent at Oxegen this year though, it clearly is still life or death to a lot of Brody’s fans who were actually in tears over finally meeting their idol in the flesh. We reckon the last time the world has witnessed that much smudged mascara was probably during an onion peeling contest at a Fallout Boy convention, but we digress.

“Having people (mostly females) come up to me and tell me my music changed their life is partially why I do what I do. That, to me, is why meeting fans is such a deep and meaningful thing because that’s what music is supposed to do. It’s meant to make you change how you look at the world. It chronicles your life and punctuates events in your life and helps you get through shit. I really think it’s super cool that I can help people in any way possible.”

So that’s Brody Dalle, then. 2009’s most unlikely agony aunt. As we finish our chat, our talk turns to the future and how she sees herself in the world. Not surprisingly she hasn’t the slightest idea what life may bring her but she’s willing to take on any challenges that comes her way. And hey, if she can put up with all the bullshit of the past few years she’s as tough as they come in our opinion.

“Despite all the crap I’ve put up with, I don’t think it’s ever a negative thing to make music for a living,” she concludes. “I’m really lucky to be in this position and I wouldn’t want to do anything else. The only downside is that I’m away from my kid. That’s the only bad thing for me right now. However, if I could give the old me some advice I’d probably tell her/me to just relax and don’t take everything so seriously. Try and enjoy everything that comes your way and don’t get too stressed out when you meet assholes-coz you’ll meet a lot of them. Nowadays I don’t plan too far ahead. Life’s more of an adventure that way.”

Spinnerette’s debut album ‘Spinnerette’ is out now on Hassle Records.

Just 3 days ago we witnessed the passing of the late MC Lunitic’s birthday. Even though quite a few months have passed since his untimely death, his music keeps the memories very much alive.
Craic Music is proud to have dug through the archives, and stumble upon a shiny gem for you lucky readers.

Urban Intelligence – Hip Hop Is Oxygen EP (Free Download)
Tracklisting:
Hip Hop Is Oxygen
Magnificent Wordplay
A New Flow
What You See Is What You Get

Lunitic’s rap group Urban Intelligence released Hip Hop Is Oxygen back around 2003. It’s a 4 track EP and Luni’s voice sounds a lot younger than what many will have come to expect. It’s a must hear for dedicated fans of Irish hip hop, and I recommend the download thoroughly as Urban Intelligence were the first Irish group that Craic Music ever heard! (Truly amazing isn’t it!)

(Graffiti @ Oxegen Festival in memory of Luntic)

Listening to: Infamous Soundtrack (silent melody)

Watching: The Muppet’s Christmas Carol

Quote:

Padraig Kirwan:”There are 10 men and 8 women in a group.To start a small company you must choose 8 men and 6 women.How many possibilities are there?”
Harely:”Why would you need 6 secretaries?”

Friday 31st July 2009

Oxegen, Harry Potter and Public Enemies

So how are you? Yes its been a good month since ive done one of those….but yno…ive been busy and stuff…

Id like to say ive done a lot during my absence but i really havent.At all.Ive lazed around the house pretending to study for repeat exams, drinking, wasting money, going to Oxegen and attending birthday stuffs. Not too bad a July if ya ask me.Ill start with Oxegen. Oxegen was nothing short of awesome. I thought it was gonna be crap, but now im definitely going back next year.The people were nice, the food wasnt half bad, and the bands were fucking brilliant.In short, Oxegen was….was….

FANTASTIC!

See that nice run in i did there? Im soo trendy ;D.
Bandwise, my favourites for the weekend were either Blur or Pendulum. Blur for the performance, but Pendulum just becuase the crowd were insane. Following that maybe Fun Lovin’ Criminals for pure class entertainment. Easily recommend them to anyone. Wallis Bird was a pleasant suprise, and she’s from Wexford so kinda close to home too. Kings Of Leon were dissappointing in my view. Felt more like they just showed up to play songs, rather than perform. If that makes sense.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

But yes the people there were very nice. Kinda got a sense of comradery in the morning seeing everyone waking up. Was like one massive session in someones house. Not too many fights or annoying bastards from my experience.Just a lot of people that dancing drunk like this.—>
Although i wasnt exactly Justin Timberlake meself in fairness. Even sober.

Next on the list were the cinema trips. Public Enemies was an amazing film. Although whenever Christian Bale gets angry in it, its hard to immediatly think of him shouting “WE ARE DONE PROFESSIONALLY”. Best film still out at the moment though. Just saw Taking Of Pelham 123. Ive kinda felt like thrillers are my new favourite type of film now so this was entertaining, but not as good as the original. Denzel Washington is on top form though. The man put on 40lbs for the role. Thats dedication. And the last one for the moment, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. I usually see these films for one reason only. Emma fucking Watson in all her glory. And shes legal now so im allowed say it. Beyond that, i really liked the film becuase it is actually fairly creepy and dark in places. Not very loyal to the book in parts though. Half the film is a teenage rom com sadly, but you get the feeling its more or less leading up to the last film rather than a stand alone film. Fan or not, you should go see Harry Potter for one reason this summer.And here she is.

Dibs.

One day…..

Comic-Con 2009

......

I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD I AM GOING NEXT YEAR!!!

I’m on Phantom 105.2 this Sunday 6th December 2009 covering my old show Random Access, with all your requests, plus I will be giving away a pair of VIP Oxegen 2010 earlybird tickets!

The Oxegen competition runs from Friday through to Sunday this weekend – listen in for chances to get yourself into the draw from which I will be pulling the winner.

See phantom.ie for details, Random Access the all-request show is Sunday 7-9pm.

Steve

photos by Anneliez, from Flickr by Creative Commons License

We aren’t going to score this one. It’s just a trilithon, squarish and non-ancient-looking. But fun! We hadn’t heard of the Elf Fantasy Fair before, but believe us, if we were real people and not just soul-less blog bots, we would definitely make a point of going to Elf Fantasy Fair 2010!  If nothing else, on the power of this photo alone:

(Even though it seems only in 2008 did they have a Stonehenge.)

And believe us, there are more where that photo came from, whether you fancy the costumes or the girls! Look at this fellow, and these two. Many more photos scattered about the net, and some of the greatest costumes we’ve ever seen! Do an image search and you’ll see.

What? Oh, yes, the Stonehenge. First take note of what appears to be Ogham, a medieval Irish alphabet, cut into the  “stone” on the right side of the trilithon. An odd detail, but there’s always a new wrinkle in any Stonehenge, it seems.

We like this photo, with musicians making music around the stones. The connection between Stonehenge and music seems natural. Research has been done about that, but since it was done at the Maryhill replica, we’re not sure how accurate it is. People say the Maryhill replica is a lot like the real Stonehenge, but you only have to look at it to know it’s not. The stone shapes and the concrete materials are too different.

The music connection, however, is unavoidable. Many albums and CDs feature Stonehenge on the cover. Of course there’s Spinal Tap. And Oxegen in Ireland, the music festival we would most like to attend, features a Stonehenge-like portal for its entrance way.

Portal is perhaps the operative word. The trilithons at Stonehenge look like portals, as if one could stand in the center and walk out into a different world or another different world, depending which one you walked through. Music at its best serves a similar function, opening temporary new worlds or sometimes new doors in our everyday world, bringing the transcendent to the mundane.

Or–that could be hogswallop. After all, we’re just bots!

The second festival I covered this year was about a month after Download and it was the much talked about Oxegen. This year’s bill was the best ever-specky indie kids could get their kicks from the likes of Blur and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, goths had Nick Cave and Nine Inch Nails, pop kids had Katy Perry and Lady GaGa, rockers had Therapy? and Eagles of Death Metal and dance heads had their own tent. We camped out as usual this year BECAUSE I AM HARDCORE (not in the “I’m hardcore/I’m a Straight Edge wanker” way-in a comedy way of course) and the weather was probably the worst I’ve ever experienced. Still, the music was great and thanks to the Hot Press people being so understanding, I didn’t have to review Kings of Leon so I could watch Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds instead. Result!

Day one consisted of travelling down, getting drenched, interviewing Duke Special on camera then meeting Brody Dalle, catching up with the Therapy? boys, drinking some beer and spotting Udo from Accept (http://www.therapyquestionmark.co.uk/biography/diary/read.php?diaryid=272). What he was doing there I’ll never know, but he seemed to get my phone number outta somewhere. Hmmmm…

Day two was a total washout. After Yeah Yeah Yeahs I thought I was a goner (probably should’ve followed Carrie’s lead by getting hammered on wine) but it cleared up nicely for old Nick who put on the show of his life. Day three saw us leave after Katy Perry (who was amazing) but not before torrrential rain soaked us so badly my phone drowned in my pocket. Still, the GaGa and Katy more than made up for it.

Anyway, I covered day two for Hot Press, and here’s the reprint that I lovingly typed up while caked in mud.

(Pic by Carrie-www.carriedavenport.com)

Oxegen Day Two (July 11)

Kicking things off bright and early, New Jersey blue collar punks the Gaslight Anthem arrive onstage 20minutes late and grinning like seven year olds who just won a year’s supply of sweets. Currently the subject of many a bro-mance (ahem) singer Brian Fallon is a charming devil and his band play cuts culled from their second record The ’59 Sound. It’s safe to say that the boys are on a total Tom Petty/Bruce Springsteen trip (in fact they even cover ‘American Girl’ as a homage) but their honesty and warmth make songs like ‘Great Expectations,’ ‘Old White Lincoln’ and the title track sound enormous.

The same can be said for Aussie outfit Howling Bells too, who play our very own Hot Press Tent. They might have been beset by a bucket-load of mishaps (their guitarist’s luggage was sent to Istanbul, they missed their ferry, they had to drive for 30 hours straight and according to singer Juanita Stein they stayed in a whore-house in Amsterdam) but they’re clearly loving being onstage and their set is a dreamy, ethereal clutch of tunes that sound like Florence and the Machine only, you know, good.

 Sadly we couldn’t actually fit into the Green Spheres tent for the Saturdays (boo) but we did manage to catch them play ‘Work’ and let’s face it, considering it’s the only song they have we didn’t miss too much. Eagles of Death Metal are another of today’s disappointments. Much like their mates in Spinnerette they spend far too much effort trying to be cool when they should let their music do the talking. Jesse ‘Boots Electric’ Hughes may have the tidiest ‘tache of the weekend, but the witty onstage patter just isn’t enough anymore.

Passion Pit in the Hot Press Tent on the other-hand are the exact opposite. They let their futurist funky white boy rhythms say it all and have the whole crowd unintentionally dancing like Bruno. Yeah Yeah Yeahs over on the main stage give us a powerhouse performance despite the torrential rain and a guitar amp which seems hellbent on electrocuting Nick Zinner. Karen O’s lime green leggings might make her look a little bit like a demented mutant frog, but she’s the perfect frontwoman this evening. Their set is a mix of old and new material and ‘Rockers To Swallow,’ ‘Cheated Hearts’ and ‘Date With The Night’ are definite standouts in a Herculean performance.

We spend the next few hours not knowing who to check out catching Pete Doherty, the Mars Volta, Doves and Bloc Party but coming away from the performances feeling a little unsatisfied. We’re mostly ticked off by the former Libertines man, largely because he’s still singing songs like ‘Fuck Forever’ as if they were anthems of a generation even though his most hardcore acolytes are finally starting to realize he’s a dried up old pantomime dame.

But, with the sound of the Pet Shop Boys plastic performance still ringing in our ears (‘It’s A Sin’ was great) we make our way over to the O2 Stage to catch Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Oxegen debut. Playing a festival pleasing set, old Nick has the crowd in the palms of his hands wasting no time bashing out ‘Deanna,’ ‘Henry Lee’ and ‘Dig, Lazarus Dig.’ The ominous night sky and mud covered ground only seem to add to the performance with the singer virtually begging for some thunder and lightning during the stomping rain-dance that is ‘Tupelo.’ As per usual, Nick plays his customary role of the possessed preacher man with aplomb stabbing into the night air with his fingers and flailing his arms around like a madman. Highlight has to be the gorgeous ‘Ship Song’ which pleases the lovers and the loveless in equal measure but ‘The Weeping Song’ and a tamer version of ‘The Mercy Seat’ are runners up. The Bad Seeds bring their show stealing set to a close with ‘Stagger Lee’ which is as brooding and menacing as this writer had hoped. Sadly we only get one song for the encore as Nick calls out Shane McGowan, who in fairness looks like he’s had one too many light ales. Even the singer seems bemused by the Pogues’ frontman’s state and embraces him, laughs good naturedly and closes the performance with a bow. What a legend.

Edwin McFee

Tom Middleton

Mirror

Miss Kittin and The Hacker

Mirror

Boys Noiz

Mirror

Having retreated to my surprisingly habitable tent at 6.00am this morning, well and truly exhausted after the “rave in the woods” I treated myself to a well earned three hour sleep. With the sun beating in on our tent at 9.00am, my roommate and I had little option but to get up, pack up and hit the road after a thoroughly enjoyable and fulfilling weekend in Stradbally. A quick nap, a lot food and much needed shower later I find myself sitting here trying to document the weekend and wondering where to start…. 

Essential to any festival is obviously the lineup, though some attendees will go simply for the experience, the lineup is always the deciding factor in my book. That said, some festivals boasting excellent artists are worth a skip, Oxegen comes to mind. Though the lineup is impressive year in year out, the army of belligerent 16 and 17 year olds are a formidable repellent. Electric Picnic ‘09 had a lineup too good to miss and attracted a refreshingly diverse crowd. With an emphasis an the acoustic, indie and electro/dance genres as well as other strands of alternative music one could expect to see all sorts of music lovers donning the wellies, from the families pushing buggies to the lads with the glow-sticks and sunglasses moving to the pace of the strobe lights.

With our tents and gazebo pitched and our stage route planned we set off to see what the Friday acts had in store. After a hugely entertaining performance by the infatuating Lykke Li came my personal highlight of the day, a frantic and energetic showing by Danish outfit Efterklang. Their on-stage exuberance allied with the nature of their orchestral/experimental rock sound really got the crowd going and even those who happened to stumble upon this gem by chance were soon jumping and chanting with the rest of us. Two fantastic electro sets were provided by Fake Blood and Diplo before Seasick Steve and Rodrigo Y Garbriela capped the night off with two memorable performances.

Saturdays festivities, for me began with some old school hip-hop in the form of Roots Manuva before Jape gave an inspiring performance.  A massive high point in the weekend was the electrifying display of London electro-rockers The Klaxons, renowned for their on-stage energy and cult following put on a show that really sapped the energy. A personal highlight came in the form of Texas post-rock legends Explosions in the Sky, one of my favourite bands. They didn’t disappoint and played a set with the perfect blend of eerie silence and ear-crunching distortion. The day was capped off with 2 Many DJ’s performing on main stage. The duo threw up some amazing compilations and remixes which ensured the huge crowd was kept dancing from start to finish.

Having seen most of my main attractions in the first two days I was left with a freedom to roam on Sunday and encountered some magnificent live displays most notably from Florence and the Machine and Passion Pit who were for me the surprise package of the weekend. Having listened to their ‘Chunk of Change’ EP a few times I knew what to expect in terms of  sound but their stage presence, interaction with the crowd and overall vigour were unparalleled and had the entire crowd bouncing and jumping and screaming for more. With Basement Jaxx and Flaming Lips attracting the masses we opted for something a little different and hit up Erol Alkan. The London based electro-king served a suitably hectic showing to end proceedings with mash ups of New Order, Justice and many more. With reality beckoning at dawn we refused to give up there and waded through the woods to cap the weekend off in a rave of what can only be described as filthy techno.  Let’s hope for more of the same next year.

Adicionei na barra de menus aqui acima os vídeos.
Criei uma conta no YouTube e fiz várias playlists. Alguns shows, como o Pinkpop, estão completos, com filmagem da TV e tudo. Outros tem algumas faixas faltando e vídeos do público. Mas tentei ser o mais completa com um mínimo de qualidade.
Por ora adicionei os vídeo clipes oficiais e os shows de V Festival, T in the Park, Oxegen, iTunes Live: London Festival e Pinkpop, tudo desse ano.
Aos poucos vou adicionando mais, mas aviso aqui quando o fizer.

Tiga – Live @ Oxegen 2009

Mirror

Passion Pit (l-r): Ian Hultquisk, Ayad Al Adhamy, Nate Donmoyer, Michael Angelakos and Jeff Apruzzese

Recently, I checked in with Nate Donmoyer, drummer of Passion Pit, as he took a break from their current tour through Europe.  Since the release of their album Manners, Passion Pit has seen rising numbers at each of their shows both in Boston (nearly swept the Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll) and nationwide.  For more information and for music, check out their website at:  http://www.passionpitmusic.com

WC: Let’s ease into this by telling the story of your musicianship and your perspective on the genesis of Passion Pit.

ND: Well it’s funny because I’ve seen both sides of the band, from helping booking them play one of their first shows at Basstown at the Great Scott (which i was a DJ at) and interviewing them for my blog to a few months later being asked to join the band. Who knows Will, maybe you will be playing bass in Passion Pit before the New Year.

WC: Who would you pin as the primary musical influences for yourself?  For Passion Pit?

ND: Personally, any and everything influences me, from music I completely copy to artists I listen to in order to learn what not to do.  Right now though, I’m obsessed with dance music and most of it comes from Europe.  The band is more heavily influenced by all things “Pop”, while there’s a heavy synth based element really, we are aiming for The Beatles and Beach Boys and all other pop that has stood the test of time.

WC: What is the writing process for Passion Pit?

ND: Michael is the songwriter of the crew, and he brings it to us to flesh out in the full band live setting. In the studio, him and I work in a little bit [of a] risky way by not really having finished songs walking into the session, like say a rock band would do. It’s expensive but we got a pattern down with Chris Zane, the producer, and Alex Aldi, the engineer, where we built the album like a Lego building.  Each song is a room and we built every piece of furniture one Lego piece at a time. While one of us was grouting the tile in the bathroom another was picking out the matching bath towel set.

WC: How has your approach to writing and drumming evolved in a band that employs a lot of electronic textures in it’s sound?

ND: It’s kind of a dream come true for me to be in a band setting that allows [me] to program and sequence a lot and still get to play behind the kit. I always practice to either a click or dance music so doing it on stage is actually more comfortable to me then playing click-less. It’s kind of a crutch actually, where I start getting paranoid about speeding up or slowing down, all I have to do is wait for the next click.

WC: I find that your music lends itself well to hip-hop.  Can we expect any cross-genre collaborations in the future?

ND: Actually, there [are] quite a few projects in the works.  Maybe not all as Passion Pit, but there are a few MCs we are getting in the studio with very soon…but I don’t like to jinx things, so we’ll see.

WC: Through your experiences with Passion Pit and The Peasantry, what tips can you give for generating buzz?

ND: Oh man, those experiences have been so different, we worked really, really hard to just scrape by in The Peasantry. We put tons of our own money and time into that. Which [is] why I can appreciate how lucky we have been in Passion Pit.  While I can’t explain why the experience was so different, in both cases we found it most beneficial to not shove it down everyone’s throats that we are in a band and have an EP, but to make friends, honest genuine friends. And they are the ones that spread the word, if it is good music, which is the most important factor.

WC: How has the rapid rise to fame affected your ability to hone a successful live show?

ND: I would not say we are famous, haha, but we have been thrown into situations way over our head, and with a lot of luck and a lot of anxiety we somehow have risen to the occasion. It’s crazy how long you will hole yourself up in a rehearsal space when you know you have to headline the first night of Bonnaroo in a few weeks.  We still take time out on tour to rehearse in different cities and work out new versions of songs and tweak instrumentation, even though we play with each other two hours a day including sound check.

WC: In past interviews, Michael Angelakos has mentioned his falsetto style of vocal performance as the most divisive element of the band’s sound.  Passion Pit had to cancel a show in July in the Netherlands after he lost his voice.  Is this style of singing a struggle to maintain night to night?  Is he sticking with this signature sound or contemplating a change of style for the next album?

ND: I think his voice is one of the most defining elements of the band, however he has been messing with using his chest voice again, there are a few radio sessions floating around where I don’t think he uses his falsetto once. In the end, the band’s goal is good songs, so it shouldn’t matter how you sing it.

WC: How have you been received in Europe?  How does that differ from how you are received in America?

ND: It’s surprisingly similar somehow.  American crowds do dance more as a whole, but while we have played cities two or three times stateside, we just played Holland, Belgium, and Spain for the first time and when we look out in the crowd, it’s impossible to tell where you are, save for the occasional euro-mullet. Oddly enough, Ireland by far brings out our best crowd.  I got strangely emotional watching the crowd react to ‘Sleepyhead’ (there is a Gaelic sample in it) at Oxegen Festival.  My middle name is Patrick, to give a hint, so it was this bizarre overwhelming feeling of acceptance, almost like coming home for me, which is completely absurd seeing as no one in my family has lived in Ireland for 30+ years and I’m 22…

WC: Passion Pit has been hailed as one of the most successful bands out of Boston in recent memory.  How do you represent the city and its music?

ND: While we love Boston, Mike is the only one who still heads back there on days off.  I’ve moved home with my parents in Maryland, and the rest of the guys have scattered; but there is no city I feel more comfortable in than Boston.  Honestly, I feel as though Boston can be found in the dance element of our sound.  While the common believe is that Europe is the dance Mecca, and for the most part this is true, there is no scene in the world like Boston’s Dance/DJ scene. I feel it’s because there is so much heart put into every event, and nights like Make It New, and Heartthrob, Thunderdome, and Bassic are full of people who genuinely love the music that’s being blasted there. And one more important detail, the DJs are really good…like massive in Europe and Japan but play Middlesex Lounge good.  One day I hope I can afford to move back.

WC: Would you say Passion Pit is part of a greater musical movement?  If so, what does that movement represent?  What does Passion Pit represent?

ND: This is a big question I don’t know if I can answer alone or so lucidly. I think our generation as a whole has embraced simultaneity. You can get whatever you want from where ever you want all the time. The deciding factor in choices is no longer what scene or genre but whether something is good or bad. I think our album reflects that in that we go through a wide range of styles and influences so hopefully there is something in it for everyone. That movement is Pop.

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.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of music enthusiasts travel to their favourite festival. Flocking to an alcohol fuelled weekend were the top acts in the music business are chosen to perform on various stages which makes it impossible for you – the festival goer to see everyone. We pay large sums of money to get disgusting and dirty, promised clean facilities we are forced to expel our bodily fluids in somewhat insanitary conditions – ironically enough as we do so, we look at the sticker in front of us appearing to say ‘if this portable toilet is used by more than so many people over the course of these many days the conditions will become ultimately unbearable’.

So we pay to see bands we don’t even see, we are stuck to look at someone’s – well you know what – and we find ourselves in our little tents sheltered by gale force winds and heavy rain while somebody falls drunkenly on our plastic coated home – oh there goes the pegs. But isn’t it not a great price to pay – pun intended – both economically and physically to experience what music festivals are all about? Of course we could say that the swanky conditions the promoters indulge in makes them blind to the real deal – but it doesn’t – they do try. Imagine trying to run stewards, cleaners, technicians, plumbers, electricians, emergency services while trying to keep everyone including the bands – can’t forget the bands – happy.

So – would you want to run one? I guess it’d be a cool idea… if you didn’t have the hassle – and there’s a lot of it. Promoting the festival itself takes a great deal of effort, including getting a dedicated ticket seller, trying to get the best performers in the best suited location. You’ve got a budget and you’ve got to meet with local authorities including the police to ensure everything goes fine without any complaints. You’ve got to build the stages, meet the deadlines, sort out the sound problems and map out an entire festival while trying to accommodate everyone. Still interested? You must be getting someone to do it all for you then while you handle the line up.

Urgh, I have put this off for too long!

Have been seriously busy lately (See below).

Anyway OXEGEN(Part 1)!

Got the bus on Thursday morning, managed to get on the first bus (Having arrived considerably later than the several hundred people ahead of us in the queue, turns out the buses started load at our end) which was nice. Little did I know that the hour or so I spent queuing for the bus was the first of many. Arrived in Punchestown quite quickly and immediately spent another hour and a half queuing, to get into, yet another queue. And after that? TWO MORE QUEUES! So four or five hours after I left my house, I eventually got near the campsite area (My friends and I had decided to camp in the red camp site) and after another 15 minutes of walking we finally found a place to put up our tent.

Pitching the tent (Tehehe) was surprisingly hassle free, and we got it done in about half an hour.
*Crack open the first can!*

My friend and I decided we go off and investigate the whole locker situation, which got us into, you guessed it! ANOTHER QUEUE! Which after an hour became a little more than tedious, but we got into that whole;

“I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”

thing. We stuck it out, and having seen the queues the next morning, it was worth it. Didnt really do a whole lot on Thursday, met a couple of friends etc.

Rough night sleep, (I am too soft for camping……) bought a pillow

Saw Homestar Runner for the 5th time on Friday afternoon, I still dont like them that much, but every time I see them they grow on my a little. The crowd were seriously fucking annoying though. I really have no problem with moshing, if I’m in the mood I’ll join in myself, but I hate when four or five scumbags decide to stand at the sides of the pit and just fuck people on to the ground. This frustration was to become a bit of a motif over the weekend, some day I’ll write a bit long post on gig etiquette. Another frustrating part was that at festivals, invariably people who dont like the band, but have nothing better to do will show up, exacerbating the above problem.

Moving on…..Next I saw Therapy? who were absolutely excellent! I’m only really familiar with the album Troublegum, but they played a very good set, and I think they won over a good few new fans. During Therapy?’s set I experienced a phenomenon that I’m not normally subjected to, older gig goers, and by older, I mean people late forties jumping along to it, and you know what? Fair play, not something I’d see everyday!

After Therapy? I wandered off to the Dance stage, didnt really hang around though. Upon leaving I saw a couple of lads from my year, that lead to us wandering back to the campsite for a few drinks. These are guys I wouldnt really have considered as friends, but I realised, once we got out of school, we’re all in the same boat, and there’s just no point in animosity. Anyway, I had good craic with them for a few hours, hanging around with them lead to me completely missing out on Mogwai/Meeting Therapy? in the signing tent, but I dont really regret it. Had an epic drunken rush to get to Heathers who were playing at the IMRO stage, they played very well, great atmosphere there. Met Jennie (Bythewoods, I’d link to her blog, but she never bloody posts, so fuck her!) at that and hung around with friends of hers for a bit, then we headed to Pendulum. I didnt like Pendulum at all before this set, and I’ll be honest, I still dont enjoy listening to them on my iPod or whatever, it’s just not that great. Pendulum live is a slightly different story! Seriously, SERIOUSLY good stuff.

Blur, next. Bitter dissapointment tbh. Song 2 and Parklife were good, but only because everyone else knew them, the rest, no atmosphere at all……

I’ll finish this tomorrow.

Too tired, working in the morning.

For those who weren’t following my twitter feed while I was away last weekend, here is a link to my Flickr photos uploaded for Twitter.

Have fun perusing my images, I’m sorry I didn’t get more, I will be uploading my videos to Youtube soon enough and maybe sometime soon I will reflect on my time and write a short blog about how great the experience was!

NOTE: Hey I’m back, Oxegen was everything I expected and then some. Met some great people, an amazing girl, and had the time of my life. I look forward until next year, if I can go as it is an overly expensive trip. I think I’ve fully recovered, I have completed the story mode of ‘The Conduit’ and I will do a new post soon enough with my friend code for those who want it. Now onto the blog

So many of us if not all of us could point out what’s wrong with Nintendo’s online friends system, and yet remain quite pushed hard to find what’s right about it. The biggest problem is the friend code system, where we were promised before the launch of the system that the codes that plagued the DS’s online would be less of a burden with the Wii. We were promised that once systems are linked using the consoles friend code all subsequent games will be able to link without further codes, yet almost 3 years into the consoles life cycle you can use one hand to count the games that allow this, The Conduit and Mario Kart being the 2 that I have personal experience of.

How can this be resolved, well I highly doubt anything will change while we use the DS and it’s current iterations and the Wii. But a system should be developed for adoption into the successive consoles to be launched in the future. It should be a unified system that sorts and stores all data for a single user in a single account, it should be able to be accessed by consoles and handhelds alike.

People do exclaim that Nintendo should adopt an Xbox LIVE sytle system. But I believe Nintendo should maybe take the concepts behind Xbox LIVE and make it their own. We know Nintendo want to protect it’s online user against many of the things that may occur that are not suitable for younger users. And by all rights Nintendo would have the higher demographic of a younger user so it would feel the responsibility to protect these users.

So to me one of the biggest things that Nintendo could implement is an age verification system that unlocks a lesser protected/parental control online friends system. This can be done using an assortment of bank cards credit/debit etc. While doing so this will prompt the user to digitally sign an EULA (End User License Agreement) which would basically state that online experiences encountered good or bad is at the sole responsibility of the user. Nintendo would do its best to combat those creating a negative experience but are in no way responsible for any sort of compensation for experiences that occur while playing online.
This unlocked friends system would theoretically include the abilities to talk to anyone using the chat function, add friends from those you’ve met online in random matches, or add those whom you know and all they have to accept the invite. This would strike a resemblance to LIVE I would think but still this would not have the ability to communicate/add those who have not unlocked the verified system. Users trying to communicate with those who haven’t age verified or add them would be met with a message similar to “This user is not able to be contacted, please add as a friend using the dual verification system” in which the dual verification system would be what we have at the minute adding a each other on both Wii’s using the code.

I do hope Nintendo move away from the codes in option for a name, its much easier for friends to remember a name to add. This name would be that you have individually, no one else online would use that name and would be the base for your own unique identity.
I see this system having some sort of online internet based management system, how else do you expect to verify that the system you own is to be linked to the online profile? With the online verification it could get you to send an email from your system to a specific email address to verify that it is indeed your system to use. One thing I can’t quite work out is how to have multiple profiles linked to the system, but that’s what the brain men at Nintendo are for!

One thing that would make Nintendo’s profile unique is that in the same vein of bringing Mii’s to a friends house using a Wii Remote is that the account user data can be saved to a Wii Remote and when you go to a friends house to play the Wii you will have your online identity with you at all times. One thing that annoys me when I go to a mates house to play the 360 I hate having to waste 5-10 minutes downloading my gamertag data and then having to retrieve it again when I get home again!

So thats my thoughts so far on a single unified system with verification for the older user. I hope you’ve followed my track of mind up until now. I may re approach the subject sometime in the future. But I will leave you with a closing thought.
Nintendo have been successful in developing systems and software, but one thing they are hesitant about is online. I think they need to create a team that’s single task is to develop Nintendo’s online/WiiConnect24 similar to the Xbox LIVE team headed off my Major Nelson. Nintendo need to keep this team to work on their own, Miyamoto should have input but not the power to say ‘No’ your not doing that. One thing I’ve found over the years being a fan, and don’t get me wrong I love Miyamoto’s creativity, but he too many times have stopped things in their tracks. I feel that the biggest adversity to Online stems from Miyamoto, to move forward they need to hold him back from shutting things down where online and friends are concerned.

[From www.totallydublin.ie/blog]

Dear Oxegen-info starved readers, please forgive the lateness of my post. That’s what three days of trudging about in the mud, bearing torrential downpours in the name of music research, some, em, light boozing, sleeping in the car and staying up ‘til 5am to debate the finer points of MCD’s organisational skills and communication issues at some sleazy guy’s ‘tent party’ will get you. None of your fancy B&B’s or hotel stays for the Totally Dublin team, we’re dedicated to bringing you the FULL festival experience here (well, apart from a certain indie whizz kid who wimped out with a day pass ).

So, day three. The amateurs had crashed and burned and the rain from the day before had driven away the rookies. With Saturday drawing the largest amount of day-trippers, being the only day to have sold out of one day tickets, the crowd had dissipated considerably come dawn and the sun was trying it’s best to come through for us. I was awoken by a light tapping on my cardigan-covered window (which, as I found out, only serves to intrigue people further about what’s behind the window of your car. Countless times I looked up to find a single eye peering through the gaps in my makeshift screen as I tried in vain to have my knacker shower in privacy. Advice – don’t sleep in the car if you value your dignity. If, like me, keeping warm and dry is higher on your list of priorities than maintaining self-respect, ditch the tent and recline your seat). Anyway, the tapping. Some lovely fellow requesting nail varnish. Why, prey tell? To glue the wristband that his friend in the arena had snapped off and sent back out to him. You have to admire the ingenuity of the Irish. I scabbed a smoke in return for a drop of my favourite black lacquer; “not a Johnny Blue or an’thin’ fancy like tha’ though.” And so began another day.

I had decided that Sunday would be a ‘floating day’; a day to drift aimlessly from stage to stage with no pressure or mad dash to catch any particular band. There was one exception: The Specials. Fresh from their lauded Glasto performance, the reformed ska legends’ performance was the main draw of the festival for many of the over 20s and Sunday’s day-trippers. If ever there were a band that deserved sun it was The Specials. After helping to lift millions of spirits throughout the 80’s recession with their iconic two-tone tunes, it looked like they were sent back to help us out of an economic slump once again. Alas though, it was not to be and, as if on cue, the opening bars of ‘Do the Dog’ called forth the rain once again. In probably the heaviest downpour all weekend, it took all of two minutes for revellers to be so thoroughly soaked that there was no point in running for shelter. And with the band belting out hit after hit with all the gusto of teenagers, why the hell would you want to leave? Even the usually po-faced security guards couldn’t help but smile and sing along to the anthemic ‘A Message to You, Rudy’. The rain eased just in time for ‘Ghost Town’ and in the words of Fr. Billy O’Dwyer aka ‘SpinMaster’: “Can everyone please stand for the national anthem.” Well, certainly the anthem of Oxegen ’09 anyway.

The rest of my tent-flitting brought to my ears the audible treats of Friendly Fires, Foals, Jane’s Addiction and The Twang. I even hung out in the Dance Arena long enough to catch the end of Miss Kitten and The Hacker’s set and half of Felix Da Housecat. I knew I’d be a broken woman come Sunday.

As mentioned by, well, almost every other Oxegen reviewer, Friendly Fires were the find of the festival. One of those bands who had been tarred with the collective ‘next big thing’ brush, thanks to their fantastic single ‘Paris’, they had been simultaneously chewed up and spat out by much of the wider media until now. With many ambling in to see them as a precursor to follow-up band Foals, they stole the thunder of the critically acclaimed ‘math-rockers’ (yes, everything MUST be slotted neatly into a genre; otherwise journalists get confused and run out of adjectives). Expect to see the initial interest in the band rejuvenated and download sales surge. Incidentally, Foals rocked too.

I spent a few songs at the O2 Stage for Jane’s Addiction but, not being overly obsessed with the band, Dave Navarro and Perry Farrell’s combined creepy demeanours (complete with botox, bare torsos, kiss-blowing, tongue-waggling and leather- clad ass-shaking) were enough to make me too nauseous to stick it out for favourites such as ‘Been Caught Stealing’, ‘Three Days’ and ‘Jane Says’. What they did do was drive me to the afore-mentioned Dance Arena. Perhaps deterred by Fever Ray’s earlier performance, most of the hard-core ravers and yip-heads had scarpered and everyone was in good spirits for top DJ’s Miss Kitten and The Hacker and Felix Da Housecat.

Topping the night off was a fantastic performance from stalwart lad-rockers The Twang who, despite playing to a tiny crowd due to a time clash with festival headliners The Killers, put in an energetic and admirable performance. Refreshingly devoid of airs and graces, The Twang ironically headlined the Hotpress New Bands Stage, despite being around long enough to have earned the small cult following that worshipped them with more adoration than that of all of the passing Killers fans put together.

And so ends another Oxegen. Countless grumbles of “never again” could be heard as the mass exodus from Punchestown took place today. But I know, you know, and the dogs on the street know that after weary bones have been soaked, stomach grumbles have been satisfied and headaches subsided, the memories of the incredible performances will far outweigh those of mud, rain and the indignity of being herded like cattle and, come next July, thousands will be out welly-shopping once again in preparation for what has truly become a rite of passage for Ireland’s youth.

The first gig I ever went to without my parents was Blur’s 1995 RDS appearance. My mother made me bring a padlock to secure my jacket around my waist lest I get torn limb from limb in the crowd at “one of those wild concerts”. Naive, wide-eyed and stone-cold sober, I didn’t know what to expect. Thanks to a well-tested combination of clambering over shoulders, diving through legs and downright pigheaded ignorance, my tween sidekick and I managed to get right up to the barriers; it’s a method I still swear by today and last night it served me well once again as I found myself, 14 year’s later, within touching distance of Damon. Well, almost. Kicking things off with ‘She’s So High’ and leading straight into ‘Boys and Girls’, the crowd were whipped into such a frenzy it didn’t matter ithat most of them were still in nappies when the band had their heyday. After Glasto, Hyde Park and now Oxegen, Blur have cemented their status as timeless band. With all the energy and boyish good looks of teenagers, 40-somethings Albarn and Coxon leapt about the stage like springboks on speed to ‘Parklife’, ‘Song 2’, ‘There’s No Other Way’ and stared in awe and gratitude at their adoring crowd before emotionally, almost tearfully, performing their unforgettable encore ‘The Universal’, during which Damon leapt into a crowd that surged forward to grapple at any piece of his body available. I think I copped a feel of his shin. Alex James remained cool, aloof and extremely competent as usual. Some things never change. This was it people, this was the big one. You can have your Killers and your King of Leon; Blur are this weekend’s true headliners. If you were there, you’re going to be recounting it in your ‘best ever gigs’ list in 30 years time as you sit around some oul fellas boozer with your mates who are still gonna be raging that they missed it.

In other news…

Lily Allen charmed her way through a great set with her undeniable adorableness and unassuming demeanour making up for what she lacked in volume. Quiet as a mouse or blame it on the sound system? Maybe a combination of the two.

Fight Like Apes played to a half-packed Green Spheres tent as they blazed their way through songs from their love-it-or-hate-it album with demonic energy. MayKay gave it her all as usual proving once again what a fantastic frontwoman she is. The crowd went beserk along with her to ‘Lend me your Face’ and ‘Do You Karate?’ in particular. Mad shower of fans altogether.

The gaps in my evening consisted of getting the stage times wrong and missing the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, wandering over to see Pendulum ripping up the stage and taking a quick peek in the Dance Arena. I didn’t stay long… it’s a whole other world in there, maybe by Sunday I’ll be worn down enough to brave it. Until then, I’ll be scouting about for goss, trying to avoid Abrakebabra, falling over drunk teenagers and generally drinking in the festival atmosphere which, in true Oxegen style, is suddenly starting to look very muddy indeed!

On the line-up for today is Pete(r) Doherty, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Elbow, Eagles of Death Metal, TV on the Radio, Regina Spektor, Pet Shop Boys, Messiah J and the Expert, Doves, Kings of Leon and, one I definitely won’t be missing, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Totally Dublin’s team of Oxegenarians will be Tweeting from the site all day with news and updates and you can check back tomorrow on this here blog for a breakdown of the day’s events as they unfolded, the morning after the day before style. Right, I’m off to grab a breakfast roll and watch the Saw Doctors.

8.5/10

Bloc Party were possibly one of the most phenomenal acts to grace Oxegen this year. Embracing the Irish audience, the Londoner’s entered the main stage with huge applause after the always brilliantly orchestrated Elbow and it wouldn’t be long before vocalist Kele Okereke would admit that drummers Matt Tong’s half nakedness actually had some meaning behind it. Kele telling the ecstatic crowd that they were having a great gig.

Dominating the crowd, Bloc Party proved that rain didn’t always dampen the spirits of egger fans. The echoing electronic beats from their new single ‘One More Chance’ filled the arena gaining a huge reaction after Kele had told the crowd that this was the one to dance to. Bloc Party delivered a truly spectacular performance, with exciting and euphoric guitar melodies combined to the sound of thousands of hands clapping with many opportunities for the audience to sing-along to the likes of ‘The Prayer’, ‘Mercury’, ‘Flux’ and ‘Banquet’. Just imagine how the lyrics ‘north to south’ at the beginning of ‘Helicopter’ would sound shared amongst a huge crowd, while you point your hands into the air jumping up and down then you might just get an idea of what Bloc Party at Oxegen was all about. The atmosphere was brightly lit by the unquestionably buoyant backdrop to all of the songs. Many would consider their slot on Saturday night as one of the most memorable and far from being generic performances composed. Bloc Party sought full recognition from the Irish crowd, giving them the chance to embrace the reality of what being flawless means. They were unquestionably danceable as the electronic workings weaved between hard drum beats while the striking and always unique vocals of frontman Kele Okereke moved the crowd. Whether it is the simple soft chimes blissfully soothing the audience or the complete contrasted hard riffs being struck they also appeared to add a twist to their live show therefore making their studio work seem unrivalled. This was far from being a solemn gig, Kele humouring the crowd by making references to smoking marijuana and leaving us by hoping we all enjoy the headliners Kings of Leon.

To sum it up Bloc Party live has the potential to pick up tens of thousands of fans and passerby’s and set them on their feet – they are quite impossible to be overlooked due to their catchy melodies. They added to their live show elements of their remixes from both ‘Silent Alarm Remixed’ and ‘Intimacy Remixed’ while displaying stunning lightning affects over the crowd. We can only hope that they return to Irish soil soon as Oxegen as Kele, looking devastated towards his devoted Irish followers announced was their only date in Ireland.

Well I’m back from Oxegen and despite getting utterly drenched and my phone drowning from all the rain, it was great fun. Highlights were Lady Gaga, Nick Cave, Therapy?, Katy Perry and the Gaslight Anthem and the reviews are in this week’s Hot Press.

Anywho, yesterday I dug out my copy of the new Rumble Strips album so I though I’d reprint the review up here to get back into the swing of things.

The Rumble Strips

Welcome To The Walk Alone (Island)

Four out of five

Welcome To The Walk Alone is the Rumble Strips second stab at fame and the cinematic slab of wax is almost certainly a step in the right direction. Produced by Mark Ronson (yes, he actually produces music when he’s not falling out of clubs with Daisy Lowe) songs such as ‘London’ and ‘Daniel’ have his finger-prints all over them. In many ways, Welcome To The Walk Alone is a bit like an old Brit flick from the 60s. The melodies are swooping, the lyrics drip with toothless melodrama and the staccato rhythms sound like they are right out of a Dusty Springfield single.

To say that the Rumble Strips owe a debt to Dexy’s Midnight Runners is like saying Marilyn Manson is partial to a little bit of make up every now and again. Literally every song from ‘Sweet Heart Hooligan’ to ‘Dem Girls’ oozes Kevin Rowland-isms, but since the former frontman prefers to sully his good name by cross-dressing and acting like a mentalist these days, we’re happy to have Rumble Strips’ Charlie Walker take his place. Welcome To The Walk Alone succeeds when it’s at its most pure. ‘Running On Empty’ is almost like a Shadows record (only, y’know, good) and the retro riffage is tastefully done too. All in all, it seems like the second time is the charm for the Rumble Strips.

 Key Track: ‘Running On Empty’

Edwin McFee

Way back in 2007, I vowed it would be my final trip to Oxegen but a stellar line-up and some pretty persuasive friends and of course winning VIP weekend camping tickets meant I would break that vow this year! We decided not to camp which in hindsight was an excellent decision instead we day-tripped with Dublin Bus and I have to say I was impressed with them – friendly drivers, no queues and drop-off and pick-up very close to main arena. None of the horror stories of recent past events like Slane or AC/DC came to pass.

Friday

The Script

I also managed to catch a wee bit of Duke Special over on the O2 stage who didn’t appear to be having any sound issues and had a great singalong going. Also Ladyhawke failed to show at the Red Bull tent which was disappointing. After waiting for her arrival for half an hour, we gave up the ghost and headed back to the main stage to catch Snowpatrol who put on a great show. A lot of people were there to witness Blur’s great comeback but I found the performance bland and headed off to catch some of Keane on the O2 Stage who were more enjoyable.

Saturday

This Photo says it all!

Little Boots

I was looking forward to Elbow but felt it was a bit of a wash-out with the rain and as one blogger put it the gods seemed against them. Guy Garvey likened it to playing on board the Cutty Sark! If I thought the sound was bad on Friday, it was even worse Saturday as the speakers battled with the effects of the wind. We gave up on Elbow after getting soaked through leaving before their finale of One Day Like This “it’s looking like a beautiful day” (if only)! We dried off and got to rest our feet sitting in the Tipi Tent and listening to the DJ and the sun eventually made a brief appearance. The night finished off with performances from Bloc Party and the long anticipated Kings of Leon. Sadly felt a bit letdown by KOL lacklustre performance. Not as good as other times but still enjoyable. Think it could have been letdown again by sound issues!

KOL

Sunday
Day Three finally arrived and it was looking good – the sun was finally shining but unfortunately that didn’t last long! As we kept telling ourselves it’s a marathon not a sprint! We dragged our now tired and aching bodies down for another day of music and mud! We were hoping to make it down for the Noisettes but unfortunately they were on too early at 2.55pm so we missed them. After a day of heavy rainfall Punchestown had indeed turned into the trenches from World War 2. A combination of apathy, drunk mud people, over-tiredness and also heavy showers led us to edit our musical endeavours considerably and only make it to see three acts! We kicked off with Lady Gaga who with too much posing, preening, story-telling and a 10-minute intro to Poker Face generally annoyed the Irish audience. She also had three outfit changes and far too much flesh on show (now there’s a lady who waxes)! We forgave her once she eventually started singing and dancing. My highlights of the whole weekend followed with firstly Paolo Nutini and the Vipers who put on an excellent performance. With the sun finally kindda shining and the band having a great time on stage, the pit was dancing and singing along away from the hazards of the mud people who were bathing in a large mud bath and trying to recruit new clean people into their cult either through encouragement or brute force!

Mud People

Even though with all intents and purposes I did want to see both Razorlight and Florence and the Machine, the pull and comfort of the VIP area was too strong and I ended up missing both. My friend did get her photo taken with Paolo so she was happy. We were enjoying sitting outside on the benches and dancing to the DJ without the muddy rivers or drunk idiots. We did eventually tear ourselves away in time for a stupendous performance by the Killers. My overall highlight to the weekend and great to end the weekend on a high note.

A thoroughly enjoyable weekend but one from which I am still recovering! So that was my final visit to Oxegen for definite this time. So the lowlights would of course be the weather, the mud and the drunken idiots and the highlights would be the music, the music and the music. Too many bands, too little time! I think Lady Gaga said it best, “All you need is art, love, music and OXEGEN”.

Another great review: Oxegen 2009 Review