My Site

HOME PAGE

Biography

Music Index

What's on the Site

Weekly Blog

Genealogy

Diary

General Writing

Favourite Things

Poetry

Sport

My Travels

University Work

Local History

My Other Web Sites

Published Work

Review Section

Music

Books

Concerts

Site Index

Musical Memories

Our family loves music and here we would like to tell you just what we listen to and give you some links to sites that we visit.

I listen to all kinds of music from classic through to modern rock and pop. Music is very important to help me relax and I have a very large collection of vinyl LPs and CDs. For many years I wrote a rock music column in the local newspaper.

My tastes are very wide and varied. I started to think about what my favourite rock/pop tracks were of all time with a view to printing my top 50 or so. But of course 50 wasn't enough as the memories began to flood back. So I extended it to 60 and then 70 and soon had a top 100. But there is no stopping and as other tracks spring to mind i add them. That is why at the present time I have a top 122 which is likely soon to become a top 130 and so on.  I must admit that much of my top 100 comes from the 1970s and is very melodic. 

1. Mockingbird - Barclay James Harvest
2. MacArthur Park - Richard Harris
3. Without You - Nilsson
4. Woodstock - Matthews Southern Comfort
5. Summer The First Time - Bobby Goldsboro
6. There Only Was One Choice - Harry Chapin
7. Meet Me on the Corner - Lindisfarne
8. American Pie - Don McLean
9. There But For Fortune - Phil Ochs
10. Leader of the Band - Dan Fogelberg
11. Father and Son - Cat Stevens
12. Galadriel - Barclay James Harvest
13. Meant For You - Beach Boys
14. The Air That I Breathe - The Hollies
15. Reason to Believe - Rod Stewart
16. The Weaver's Answer - Family
17. Man of the World - Fleetwood Mac
18. Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
19. Distant Summers - Chris Rea
20. What the World Needs Now - Tom Clay
21. Disney Girls - Beach Boys
22. In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry
23. Maggie May - Rod Stewart
24. Armstrong - John Stewart
25. She Said - Barclay James Harvest
26. Alone Again Or - Love
27. Better Place to Be - Harry Chapin
28. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
29. If You Saw Through My Eyes - Ian Matthews
30. The Greatest Love of All - George Benson
31. Coldest Days of My Life - Chi-Lites
32. Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart
33. Raincoat and a Rose - Chris Rea
34. All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople
35. Say It Isn't True - Jackson Browne
36. Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
37. Same Old Langs Syne - Dan Fogelberg
38. Albatross - Fleetwood Mac
39. Hide in Your Shell - Supertramp
40. The Living Years - Mike and the Mechanics
41. Martha - Tom Waits
42. My Father's Shoes - Level 42
43. Parisienne Walkways - Gary Moore
44. Speak to me of Mendicino - Linda Ronstadt
45. Waking Up Alone - Paul Williams
46. Horse With No Name - America
47. Theme From Twin Peaks
48. Changes - David Bowie
49. The Night I Heard Caruso Sing - Everything But the Girl
50. Ventura Highway - America
51. The Wonder of You - Elvis Presley
52. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You - Van Morrison
53. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
54. Power and Glory - Phil Ochs
55. Slides - Richard Harris
56. Clang of the Yankee Reaper - Van Dyke Parks
57. Abraham, Martin and John - Marvin Gaye
58. At 17 - Janis Ian
59. First Episode at Hienton - Elton John
60. Eloise - Barry Ryan
61. Jacky - Scott Walker
62. I Need You - America
63. I'll Be Seeing You - Judy Collins
64. Goodnight Saigon - Billy Joel
65. Streets of London - Ralph McTell
66. Alright Now - Free
67. The Impossible Dream - Matt Monroe
68. Piano Man - Billy Joel
69. Objects in the Rear View Mirror - Meatloaf
70. Perfect Day - Lou Reed
71. Dragonfly - Fleetwood Mac
72. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
73. Last Song - Edward Bear
74. Society's Child - Janis Ian
75. Question 67/68 - Chicago
76. 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night - Simon and Garfunkel
77. After the Day/The Poet - Barclay James Harvest
78. Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
79. Vincent - Don McLean
80. Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
81. Your Song - Elton John
82. Kites - Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
83. Medicine Man (Live version) - Barclay James Harvest
84. Skeleton and the Roundabout - Idle Race
85. Ferry Cross the Mersey - Gerry and the Pacemakers
86. Be - Neil Diamond
87. Waterloo Sunset - Kinks
88. Singing Lessons - Judy Collins
89. American Tune - Paul Simon
90. Question - Moody Blues
91. New York City - Tommy Leonetti
92. Bolinas - John Stewart
93. Chestnut Mare - The Byrds
94. Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Sandy Denny
95. Child in Time - Deep Purple
96. The Dean and I - 10CC
97. The Moon's A Harsh Mistress - Judy Collins
98. Absolute Beginners - David Bowie
99. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
100. The Blizzard - Judy Collins
101. Layla - Derek and the Dominoes
102. American Trilogy - Elvis Presley
103. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
104. Where are you now my Son? - Joan Baez
105. Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
106. The Way We Were - Gladys Night and the Pips
107. Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
108. Kid - The Pretenders
109. Backstage - Gene Pitney
110. Thank You For The Music - Abba
111. 24 hours from Tulsa - Gene Pitney
112. I Heard It on TV - John Fogerty
113. Where Do You Go To My Lovely - Peter Sarstedt
114. Just Take A Pebble - Emerson, Lake and Palmer
115. You're A Lady - Peter Skellern
116. Music - John Miles
117. Show Me the Way - Peter Frampton
118. Ameureuse - Kiki Dee
119. Miss Serajevo - Passengers
120. Wild is the Wind - David Bowie
121. No I Will Never Forget - Charles Aznavour
122. Perhaps Love - John Denver and

Putting together a top 30, 40 or whatever is a difficult task. For a start there will be many records forgotten in the mists of time. The above list is my first attempt. I have extended this to a top 100+ and I will update it as and when other records come to mind.

Every one of the top 100+ printed here has a special memory for me and I would like to share with you why these tracks are my individual favourites and what they mean to me. I will start with the top 30.

I really don't think this track will ever be topped. When I tell most people that Mockingbird is my favourite song they think I'm talking about that dreadful Charlie and Innez Foxx drivel.

This is as far away from that as possible. My love of Barclay James Harvest is documented elsewhere on my web site, but this song will always have a special place in my heart.

The first time I heard it was live in Harlow, Essex, around about 1970. I found it stunning that night and its power has never diminished. I love it as much nearly 30 years later as I did then. That power lies in the atmosphere that the song generates.

My time at journalism college in the early 70s was possibly the happiest time of my life. With school exams out of the way I was enjoying the freedom of having no ties, being away from home for the first time and learning about the ways of the world (how pretentious). This all seemed to be summed up by this one track.

The melody ebbs and flows and at times it builds into incredible climaxes. It also rattles along. Today it still reminds me of those heady days of the 70s. I like listening late at night when the house is quiet and all the lights are off. This is mood music and it regularly reduces me to tears. BJH recorded a number of versions of Mockingbird - most recorded live. Some have subtle differences and ultimately I prefer the original which started out its life on the album Once Again and which is also available on a number of studio compilations put out by the band.

It is very 70s and very English in its feel but it still sounds fresh and vibrant.

My love of the music and songs of Jimmy Webb is also documented elsewhere on my site. This to me is the ultimate Webb song. It is a song of epic proportions and destroys the myth that a good pop song has to be verse, chorus, verse, chorus.

To use the voice of an Irish actor not renowned for his singing was a master stroke as it gives a great kitsch sound to the whole thing. MacArthur Park broke the mould which stated that all singles had to be three minutes long and almost written to a formula. Here was a piece of over seven minutes which managed to maintain its vitality.

The first time I heard it I was overcome by the sheer power and the vast differences in the various segments that somehow Webb manages to keep hold of and mould together in a triumphant finale.

The lyrics have confused generations. Nobody quite knows the meanings and therefore the interpretation is left to the individual. This song has one of the greatest slow sections ever written and the instrumental section has been stolen by so many other composers (notably on the Pearl and Dean advertising music heard in cinemas).

This truly is an epic sweep, rarely matched. Other songs of a similar ilk include Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Band on the Run by Wings and Surfs Up by the Beach Boys - all of which eschew the standard song writing formula.

There are so many versions of MacArthur Park that at times it is in danger of becoming too well known. Harris' original remains by far the best and is available on numerous sources including the Jim Webb Sessions CD and the Jim Webb compilation "And Someone Left the Cake Out In The Rain."
My Jimmy Webb Link

Ironically Jimmy Webb was a great mate of Harry Nilsson which has absolutely nothing to do with this song but acts as a nice link for my third favourite track of all time.

This one was written by members of the British Band Badfinger and picked up by Nilsson. It is a romantically charged song that once again evokes tremendous atmosphere. Poignant and sad it was brought to a whole new generation a few years ago by Mariah Carey.

Nothing can match the soaring vocals of Nilsson as he hits one of the great choruses of rock music. This is as good as a song of lost love could ever be and it still sends a tingle down my spine. Again it has stood the test of time. It's as good today as it ever was.

Ian Matthews is another of my favourite singer-songwriters with his plaintiff and melancholy voice. Ironically he had no hand in writing this song which reached number one in the British charts.

It was written by Joni Mitchell and possibly the best known version is by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. It is this much more tuneful arrangement that has had an effect on me, however. Written of course to celebrate the freedom and ideology of the Woodstock festival to me it sums up the era of flower power with its quirky chorus "We are stardust, we are golden, but we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."

Again the orchestration is lush: "I came across a child of God, he was walking down the road, when I asked him where he was going this he told me. I'm going down to Yasgar's farm, think I'll join a rock n roll band, camp out on the sand, try to set my soul free." Was there ever such a time?

Most of Goldsboro's songs were sickly pieces of Americana. Then along came this belting middle of the road classic with its crashing sea sounds and wonderful atmosphere with catchy lead in music. There isn't a summer goes by without I think of those opening words: "It was a hot afternoon, the last day of June and the sun was a demon. I told Billy Ray with his red Chevrolet, it was time for some thinking."

Story songs feature heavily in my top 30 and this is a perfect example. Basically the plot revolves around a 17 year old boy falling in love with a woman in her 30s and that immortal pop line "But I saw the sun rise as a man."

The lyrics are underpinned by the lushest of strings as the whole song builds and swirls. This song came out at a very impressionable time in my life.

And talking of epic songs, they don't come much more difficult than this 13 minute piece from my favourite singer-songwriter of all time. The lyrics wander all over the place, the tune and rhythms change almost at will and what we have is a monumental autobiographical song that hits hard at the American psyche.

It is so vast that I still marvel at its scope and intelligence and the fact that it's probably about four songs in one. Harry Chapin has many excellent sites on the Internet including a chat board. I once asked what this song was about and was informed that Harry saw it as his scrapbook song, full of different ideas.

Harry wrote some stunning songs - this is arguably his best, it is definitely his most difficult and most rewarding.

Again this comes from my college days and Lindisfarne had this great ability to convey the idea that they were always pissed and always having a good time - which they probably were. The late Alan Hull is another of my favourite songwriters although I believe I'm right in saying that Ray Laidlaw wrote this immensely catchy pop tune.

One of my great memories is travelling on a train in Russia with a group of other young people and singing Fog on the Tyne. I love Meet Me on the Corner because it has no pretentions to be anything other than a wonderful pop piece with luscious harmonies.

The essence of a classic song is being able to mould a good melody with good lyrics. There is no better example than American Pie. This song has been analysed and dissected so many times, but still manages to rise above it all.

The single was split into parts one and parts two. Together they provide an excellent piece. It's one of those songs where you can remember every word. I have long given up trying to work out what is meant by the phrase "The day the music died."

Again this came from my college days. Is my love of all these songs something to do with my happiness at the time or perhaps more to do with the days when genuinely crafted songs were written.

McLean wrote many good songs such as "Vincent" and "Crossroads" but American Pie eclipses them all. McLean may have written only one classic but it's certainly one to be proud of.

This is a wonderfully simple and tuneful folk song with biting lyrics. For a long time I preferred the slightly more tuneful Joan Baez version, but now feel that there is more power in the original.

Ochs is a singer-songwriter I only really discovered a few years ago. A tortured person, he was able to mould political thoughts into his songs better than anybody else - although Tom Paxton runs him close.

The hook line "There But For Fortune go you or I" is so true. This is about depravity, about poverty and about the seamier side of life. It's simply wonderful.

10 Leader of the Band - Dan Fogelberg

This makes me cry! Fogelberg came up with a wonderful double album "The Innocent Age" which was populated by marvellous full songs written as a song cycle on youth.

Leader of the Band is a tribute to his father and is highly biographical for the boy from Illinois who made his home in Colorado. It uses the symbolism of an iron fist in a velvet glove and a father's love of moulding lives. "The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing dim, but his blood runs through my instrument and his heart is in my soul." What better tribute could a son give his father. If my sons think half as much of me as Fogelberg does of his father I would be a happy man. "My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man, I am a living legacy to the leader of the band." What more needs to be said?

Stevens wrote this song many moons ago and if I remember rightly it was the B side of Moonshadow. Over the years it has certainly overshadowed the A side and became a hit in the 90s for boy pop band Boy Zone who I'm sure didn't understand what they were singing about.

An interplay between father and son this song quivers with angst, broken relationships and problems and is extremely deep. Again its melody carries it through for those not interested in lyrics. For those that are give it a close listen.

The second of three wonderful songs from the Once Again album, Galadriel is full of Tolkein imagery and a very very pretty song. Again it is mood music "She comes up with the morning sun and tells me life has just begun, oh what it is to be young." "And in the early evening night she gives me flowers for the night" - wonderful stuff indeed.

BJH have a habit of revisiting old songs and this one is featured in the excellent John Lees song "The Night I Played John Lennon's Guitar" of many years later.

This song transcends the years, it never dates and again for maximum pleasure needs to be played late at night with the lights out.

This unbelievably romantic little gem was on the Friends album and lasts for around 30 seconds. In that time it manages to convey more than most songs do in five minutes. I often wonder what it would have sounded like if it had been developed, but then feel it probably would have had its strength diluted. It re-appeared a few years ago on a Brian Wilson retrospective look at Beach Boys songs.

The lyrics are sparsely beautiful: "As I sit and close my eyes, there's peace in my mind and I'm hoping that you'll find it too."

Written by Albert Hammond, this is another show-stopping ballad. Phil Everly also recorded a very good version on an album entitled Star Spangled Springer.

To me the strongest ever single was Stewart's double A side of "Maggie May" and "Reason to Believe." This Tim Hardin song has always got less plays than Maggie but it is a truly emotional song and has that wonderful rock/jazzy feel that Stewart brought to many of his recordings in the early 70s.

A slightly unusual choice. I played this to a group of people a few weeks ago and they thought it was awful. I have always loved Leicester band "Family" and Roger Chapman's strangulated vocals were never better than on this rollicking song with its mystical lyrics.

Peter Green was a genius and Mac were a sublime group until they sold out, and went onto mega stardom. Songs like "Oh Well" and "Albatross" are wonderful crash backs to the late 60s and early 70s. I think this was Green at his bluesy best, beginning to turn his back on fame and fortune. The lyrics show Green searching for something elusive. I don't think he ever found it and this is his finest heart-rending moment.

I had a wonderful music teacher at school who listened happily to our records and then tried to get us to undertake critiques of them. He is probably responsible for me doing this kind of thing. Sadly he died years ago. On hearing this he wanted to know "why the singer was putting on a false American accent." I had never thought of it in those terms. I loved Procol Harum - still do for that matter and this has had a great effect on so many people. It is a unique song.

Another monumentally short piece of music that oozes thoughts of hazy summer days despite being well under one minute in length. I wish this one had been developed.

This is probably the most unusual piece in my top 30. Tom Clay was an American DJ who put together this piece which fuses the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Interwoven are newsreel clips, interviews and songs such as Abraham, Martin and John and What the World Needs Now is Love." It's a hotch potch but also extremely poignant. I first heard it on the pirate Radio Caroline when they played it around midnight every night for a time. Strangely it was released on the Tamla Motown label. The B side had Clay reading out the names and ages of American soldiers killed in combat. All very strange.

Another wonderful soothing ballad. I also love the Art Garfunkel version. It is all so American and so full of those exquisite Beach Boys harmony.

Another rollicking good time song. Mungo Jerry were described as a British jug band. This again has a unique feel about it. Simply a damn good tune.

The other side of "Reason to Believe" but a great song in its own right. Another great anthem to teenage years and schooldays and Stewart's paper thin voice is ideally suited to it.

This song comes under the banner of extremely original lyrics. John Stewart is an excellent singer-songwriter whose most famous song is "Daydream Believer." I bet those football fans haven't a clue about that when they sing it at matches. The Armstrong in the title is first man on the moon Neil Armstrong. I wouldn't want to spoil it for anybody by explaining the clever twist at the end.

The third of the three wonderful tracks from BJH. This one has the same feel to it as Mockingbird and Galadriel and has a wonderfully tuneful middle section played on a recorder. Elsewhere it again ebbs and flows. Tremendous stuff.

Another wonderfully tuneful piece with some tremendous guitar breaks. Love it to bits.

Harry sings about loneliness but this song has a happy ending. It teaches us that we don't all have to be superstars to find the right person. A swirling story song, it is one of his fans favourites.

This one needs little explanation. Clapton wrote some wonderfully sentimental songs and this is the best.

Another low key, short but emotionally charged gem. This one can reduce me to tears as well.

I find the lyrics to this song so inspirational from the opening line "I believe that children are our future" to "Give them a sense of pride" and "Let the children's laughter fill the air." And "Everybody's searching for a hero."

A strange choice in many ways. I went through a stage of enjoying sentimental slushy soul such as the Chi-Lites and the Stylistics, but this piece has stayed with me. It's a moody piece full of evocative lyrics and reminds me of times gone by.

The third track from the magnificent Every Picture Tells A Story albym to feature in my top tracks. This was taken from the days when Rod knew how to rock and also knew how to put over powerful ballads. Lovely mandolin sections and a wonderful feel to it.

The only time I have seen Chris Rea live was as support to Lindisfarne in Derby around 1977 or 78. Very often support acts are diabolical but here was a new face and new voice that grabbed the attention. I still believe his early stuff was his best and this is a wonderfully romantic piece with Rea's guitar work to the fore.

When David Bowie gave Mott the Hoople a song to resurrect their career he certainly came up with a gem. A teen hymn for a generation and it still sounds as fresh as ever. A timeless classic.

For me this is by far and away the best Jackson Brown song. All about war, its sentiments may be rather dated now but it brought to my attention the politically charged lyrics of this American songwriter and the music isn't bad either.

Paul Simon is one of the great poets of rock music. I love so many S and G songs that picking out one or two is difficult, but for the sheer power of the lyrics this is one of my favourites. I am awed by the clarity and perception of Simon's words. It's one of the great all time lyrics right from the word go "Hello darkness my old friend. I've come to talk with you again."

Dan Fogelberg's album The Innocent Age is one of my great favourites for its depth and wisdom. This is a simple tune but a heart-warming story and again a great evocative feel.

There is nothing more moody or finer than an evening in listening to early Mac classics and this wonderful instrumental is an absolute classic that summons up the feeling of lazy summer days.

I love the hazy sax jazz feel to Supertramp's early music and this came from the excellent Crime of the Century album. It reminds me for some reason of a period of my life living in Cromer on the North Norfolk coast and it has a wonderful full chorus. The message is also deep.

I'm an absolute succer for sloppy sentimental father/son lyrics and this is one of the nest without ever getting corny. Wonderful words of regret from the son - I wish I'd told him what I thought in the living years. Let your dad know before it's too late - wonderful.

Waits is capable of producing the most sublime music and this comes from the Closing Time album which is full of beautiful melodies. I love this for both its feel and it's lyrics about lost love and reconsilliation and it has one of the catchiest choruses of all time. Beautiful moody and magnificent.

I can't say that I enjoy Level 42 all that much, but here they came up with an absolute gem of swirling guitars and again a father/son relationship. Beats anything else they have ever done by a mile. Was issued in the United Kingdom as a single and absolutely stiffed.

I absolutely adore the wonderful guitar work and the way this one almost slides into the consciousness. It is a rampant and powerful piece of music that makes my top 50 simply because of its brilliance.

Ronstadt does a wonderful job on this Kate and Anna McGarrigle song about longing for the Californian seaside town. It impressed me so much that a few years ago I visited Mendicino to see if it lived up to the song. It didn't!

I love Paul Williams as a singer as well as a writer of hits for many artists and in particular the Carpenters. This is an ultra slow ballad and a song I find myself singing often. It's a sad tale again, slushy and romantic.

It's a close run thing between this and Ventura Highway for my favourite America track. A slightly wierd but highly original song with a typical sing-along chorus.

I'm not sure this qualifies as rock/pop but I love it anyway. The music was the best thing about the television series. I used to watch just to hear this piece and then realised I could get it on CD anyway.

Bowie's early material was of such a general high standard that it is difficult to pick out my favourite track. I have gone for this one because it seems to sum up an era. I vividly remember seeing Bowie do a brilliant double set at Harow Playhouse around 1972 where he spent the first half doing an accoustic set based mainly on the album Hunky Dory and then launched into an electric set after the break. I believe it was only the second gig ever done by the Spiders from Mars and I count myself very fortunate to have been there. This was one of the highlights of the first half with Changes being played by Bowie at the piano. Memories don't come much better.

Long before they added a techno beat to their songs, Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn produced a number of very wistful and original songs and this to me is the best - and who else has written a song about Montrose?

The second America song to make the top 50 and this is one of those that everybody knows although many people won't know the name of the band who made it. It's another up-beat ballad type with such a catchy chorus.

I have never been a tremendous fan of Elvis and I could be accused of going for one of his ultra slushy numbers, but I grew up with this one and its melody outweighs its mawkishness.

I am not a great Van the Man fan but he does come out with gems every so often and this, along with Wonderful Tonight, is probably the most romantic ballad in my top 50. It is warm and wonderful.

Favourite tracks 53-122

Return to Home Page