1,001 songs to listen to before you die...

[METALMAN]

Wow this is quite a set. 1978 is one of those years I see a lot of old fogies claiming to have been the best ever for music (1965 and 1971 come up a lot too) and you can really see why.

SYB(DTTG) has a lovely electric piano sound and is all round a good song.

(IDWTGT)C, well known for being Robinho's favourite song. I don't actually know Elvis Costello that well, which is a bit odd given how often he tends to feature in best albums ever lists and all that kind of thing. The only thing I listen to that often is My Aim is True because I love Welcome to the Working Week and IDWTGTC isn't on that (I think...). Good song though, nice jagged electric guitar riff, good groove etc. Bit weird seeing the video though because our Declan does that bizarre scowl when he sings which I find very off-putting.

ONUAG is PHENOMENAL. And yeah, late 70s P-Funk really dialled down the psychedelic stuff. ONUAG  and the others on that album are much more straightforward disco songs compared to some of the weird stuff on the likes of Maggot Brain. Still an amazing choon though.

The Model/Das Model is really good. Unsurprisingly a very successful single in the pop charts but without losing that wonderful haunting edge.

Magazine are really underrated I think, they had some great tunes. SBBS is great, and the riff is so good they used it twice (Lipstick by the Buzzcocks, Devoto's former band)

Public Image is the second best song with the same name as the band (the winner is Black Sabbath, obvs). Wonderful deep throbbing bass on this one. And a blast of that trebly guitar tone that would rule alternative music in the 80s. It's a v simple song but it works so well.

[VerbalPuke]

Yeah wow, great stuff here. I'm thinking about cover Das Model but trying to capture a bit of Kraftwerk and Big Black. I love both versions. 

That guitar riff in Magazine is something else, fucking killer stuff. 

I saw Elvis Costello, oddly enough I was talking about it today. Great show, really like his stuff.

I'm not hugely into PiL but they got some good ones. This in particular is quite good.

I like Funkadelic, don't know a ton but i like what I've heard.

[Liam]

491.      

‘Alternative Ulster’, Stiff Little Fingers (1978)

Influenced by: Ulster • Sham 69 (1977)   

Influence on: Church of Noise • Therapy? (1998)   

Covered by: London Punkharmonic Orchestra (1998) • Voice of a Generation (1999)   

Other key tracks: Suspect Device (1979) • At the Edge (1980) • Listen (1982)

I love the opening riff for this song – that’s worth noting right at the start. A song coming out of Northern Ireland, this focuses mainly on the punk themes of feeling alienated and not really having anything to do. If you like your music in keeping with the punk side of things, this is a song for you. For me, it never quite recaptures my interest after the opening, but I can easily understand its merits.

492.      

‘(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais’, The Clash (1978)

Influenced by: Police and Thieves • Junior Murvin (1976)   

Influence on: Jah War • The Ruts (1979)

Covered by: 311 (1999) • Fighting Gravity (1999) • Manic Hispanic (2001) • Built to Spill (2003) • Colin Gilmore (2004)

Our first and I’m guessing not last engagement with The Clash. This was considered by Joe Strummer himself as the best song he wrote and was an attempt to mix punk with the reggae roots sound that he so enjoyed. Alongside a rock guitar and reggae beat, Strummer’s lyrics are very political, calling on wealth redistribution and white/black youth coming together. He also questions that rise of the National Front. I particularly like Mike Jones and his harmonising; it is simple, but adds an effective additional layer to the vocals. There are other Clash songs I much prefer, but I get why Strummer held this in such high regard.

493.      

‘Ambition’, Subway Sect (1978)

Another UK punk act, but one cut from a different cloth from a lot of the other bands that have been spotlighted so far. Vic Godard wrote this song and provided the vocals, ones that are nasally and whiny especially relative to the pretty robust guitar work. It creates a catchy, some might argue poppy, take on punk. One of the odder additions to the tune is the sound effects from what I can only assume is the computer game Pong in the background. They aren’t even used subtly, as they take prominent space during the chorus and are the last sounds you hear as the song fades out. Decent, if nothing more.

494.      

‘Hong Kong Garden’, Siouxsie and the Banshees (1978)

Named after a Chinese restaurant and aimed to celebrate Chinese people in general after Siouxsie saw the owners of said restaurant abused by skinheads, this is a really punchy piece of what they call post-punk. The electric xylophone gives a suitably ‘Chinese’ sound to the proceedings, whilst Siouxsie’s vocals almost feel like calls to arms in her insistent delivery. This song packs a punch at just under three minutes – I’ve talked about momentum with songs in the past and that is how this tune feels. Some of it sounds a bit hackneyed now, but the overall sound of the band is one that intrigues me.

495.      

‘Being Boiled’, The Human League (1978)

Influenced by: Showroom Dummies • Kraftwerk (1977)   

Influence on: Just Fascination • Cabaret Voltaire (1983)   

Covered by: Beborn Beton (1994) • Heaven 17 (1999) • Simple Minds (2001)

This is an interesting song as it was first released in 1978, before rising to interest at a time when the majority of the band had left and moved on to different things. You can see where the Kraftwerk influence comes with the sparse electronic instrumental, whilst Phil Oakey’s vocal delivery isn’t monotonous but doesn’t do much beyond delivering some rather spaced out, pro-vegetarian (apparently) lyrics. This is especially interesting when you contrast it to the more popular ‘Don’t You Want Me’ – you can hear the embryonic ideas, though that chose to embrace the poppier side of things in a way this doesn’t quite. I really like it, truth be told.

496.      

‘Rock Lobster’, The B52’s (1978)

Influenced by: Beach Party • Annette Funicello Funicello (1963)   

Influence on: Hey You Girl • Pitbull (2006)   

Covered by: Dead Horse (1991) • Boy Division (2008)   

Other key tracks: 52 Girls (1978) • Planet Claire (1978) • Party Out of Bounds (1980) • Private Idaho (1980) • Summer of Love (1986)

There’s a barely suppressed mania behind all of this, with the insistent electronic organ chords sounding like the prelude to a mental breakdown. Couple that with shrieking female vocals and barking delivery of the lead vocalist and this has an undercurrent of something a lot darker than it is. That they manage to take this to seven minutes in length is almost impressive, though there is the underlying surf-pop tone that makes it an enjoyable listen.

 

 

[RPS]

Man, I saw the B52's play in 2008-2009 and they were incredible. Rock Lobster is on my all time great songs.

I love the Human League's album Dare!, but Being Boiled was not a song I would put on this type of list.

I'm curious @Liam if after this is done you would have some form of a definitive list of your top songs. I have a running list of my top 150, but I imagine your list would be way more well informed than mine. 

[Liam]

2 minutes ago, RPS said:

I'm curious @Liam if after this is done you would have some form of a definitive list of your top songs. I have a running list of my top 150, but I imagine your list would be way more well informed than mine. 

I hadn't planned that, but doesn't sound like a bad idea. At least some sort of summation could be worthwhile - what I've learned, some fave new songs, rediscovered gems, etc. I'll see how things take me nearer the time.

[RPS]

13 minutes ago, Liam said:

I hadn't planned that, but doesn't sound like a bad idea. At least some sort of summation could be worthwhile - what I've learned, some fave new songs, rediscovered gems, etc. I'll see how things take me nearer the time.

Do you use Spotify? What I did for a period of time was just any song that jumped out to me as a 10/10 I added to a playlist, and I just leaned it down over time down to 150.

[METALMAN]

Aww I like the Stiffies, but I think you're right - this is a song that loses its way. Like many of the bands that sprung up around this time, it took them a couple of albums to find their way and start regularly punting out good songs. Alternative Ulster is find though. Lots of energy.

WM(IHP) is brilliant. I love it. Most of the Clash songs I hold in the highest regard tend to be Mick Jones dominated pieces but with WM(IHP) Joe Strummer proves he can be Jones's equal at times, even outdoing him every so often.

Subway Sect were just another band, but they had one good tune in them. This is fine, vocals are a bit mannered for my liking.

I know they are very popular but I would venture to suggest that HKG is the only S & the Bs song that is any good. It's really good though. S. Sioux's Foghorn Leghornesque approach to singing usually gets on my nerves but its perfect for this tune. Good, if stupid riff. Stupid lyrics that sound good as long as you don't think about them too much. Yeah, this is a good one.

RPS is right - Dare is much better. Being Boiled is still good though, but obviously something you have to approach in a different frame of mind from the likes of Dare. When I used to work in the CD section at HMV I remember Being Boiled always used to turn up on these synth-pop/new-wave/whatever compilations. Perhaps an undue level of prominence but it's decent enough song.

I really like the B-52s but I've never really got into Rock Lobster. I prefer the more glossy stuff they were doing a decade or so later. Roam and that sort of thing. It's good enough though, and I wouldn't question it's inclusion here.

Edited July 26, 2020 by metalman

[VerbalPuke]

1 hour ago, RPS said:

Man, I saw the B52's play in 2008-2009 and they were incredible. Rock Lobster is on my all time great songs.

I love the Human League's album Dare!, but Being Boiled was not a song I would put on this type of list.

I'm curious @Liam if after this is done you would have some form of a definitive list of your top songs. I have a running list of my top 150, but I imagine your list would be way more well informed than mine. 

i saw them around the same time frame and concur, B-52s kicked so much ass. Planet Claire was probably my favorite sing they did that night on their encore. 

I am really pleasantly surpris to see Subway Sect on here, been a huge fan for a long time. I probably wouldn't have picked Ambition though. I like it but I think...

Or this

And yes also Stiff Little Fingers are incredible, always liked Clash, still really haven't explored Siouxsie and the Banshees as fully as I should, and intrigued by the Human League song as I more associate them with their 80s work (which is a nice bit of 80s pop if I say so).

[RPS]

The B5S's are so kick ass because they do camp so well. Others use camp as pure aesthetic or a gimmick. The B52's were authentic camp. Even Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust era felt like a rock star gimmick. The B52's feel like exaggerated versions of themselves who love their queer, kitsch influences. Rock Lobster is my favorite tune because there is no reason it should exist. It is not this overly serious singer song writer with this deep message. It is about a party underwater! How fun. Could you imagine? 

[VerbalPuke]

14 minutes ago, RPS said:

The B5S's are so kick ass because they do camp so well. Others use camp as pure aesthetic or a gimmick. The B52's were authentic camp. Even Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust era felt like a rock star gimmick. The B52's feel like exaggerated versions of themselves who love their queer, kitsch influences. Rock Lobster is my favorite tune because there is no reason it should exist. It is not this overly serious singer song writer with this deep message. It is about a party underwater! How fun. Could you imagine? 

Well said, and I love that the bizarre campiness somehow fits in with a banging garage tune like Lava. Or a dancey tune like 52 Girls around. 

My buddy showed me their second album awhile back, and its really good. Basically just builds off the first album, but the usual blend pf garage, dance ,surf, pop, whatever they want. 

Amazing that they seem to check so many boxes musically as well. They appeal to punk, dance, pop, garage, and had mainstream appeal. Very underrated group I think. (Give me back my fan feels like it would fit in with do-wop or motown thematically, but musically is right at home in 1980).

[RPS]

Underrated because they never really got to stay innovative as they got older. Ricky Wilson died of HIV/AIDS in 85 and they pivoted towards pop as opposed to their bizarro mix of punk, new wave and dance. The whole band was amazing but it was Ricky's guitar that was out of this world. So they went Love Shack and not 52 Girls.

Their 81 album Party Mix is fantastic. It took a handful of remixed songs and new songs in a 30 minute party experience.

[METALMAN]

Love Shack is good : /

Edited July 26, 2020 by metalman

[Liam]

2 hours ago, RPS said:

Do you use Spotify? What I did for a period of time was just any song that jumped out to me as a 10/10 I added to a playlist, and I just leaned it down over time down to 150.

That's a good way of doing it. It would involve me going back through a fair number potentially as my memory isn't as great as all that when it comes to the vast number of songs I've heard, but will see what I can do.

[RPS]

7 minutes ago, metalman said:

Love Shack is good : /

It is fantastic! I love it! But their is something so special and chaotic about early B-52's.

[gunnar hendershow]

Some absolute bangers in the past two posts. Too much to get into, I really love so much of it. Siouxsie & the Banshees are one of my favorite of the post-punk group of bands, and perhaps my very favorite that came out directly out of the Sex Pistols-led punk scene. Public Image Ltd are really good, much better than the Sex Pistols in my mind. "Public Image" isn't my favorite song by them but it's up here.

"One Nation Under a Groove" is one of the best songs ever written. Parliament-Funkadelic absolutely killed it throughout the 70s with so many great psychedelic, funky songs. George Clinton knew exactly what he wanted and he got it. But "One Nation Under a Groove" is probably their very best. I could listen to it a thousand times more.

Early B-52's are the best B-52's. "Rock Lobster" isn't my favorite of their early work but it's certainly their most famous and easily the most accessible of their pre-pop charting songs a decade later.

Much more in these lists but I really wanted to touch on those.

[Malenko]

Words can't start to express how much I love most of what you've been posting lately. I know it's just a phase though.

[Liam]

497.      

‘Roxanne’, The Police (1978)

Influenced by: Soul Rebel • Bob Marley & The Wailers (1970)   

Influence on: Who Can It Be Now? • Men at Work (1981)   

Covered by: Aswad (1997) • George Michael (1999) • Fall Out Boy (2005) • Michael Paynter (2008)

Apparently coming during a year that started with the Police having no record label deal or money, this song was inspired by Sting’s time spent at a festival in Paris. The earlier Police stuff apparently tried to ride the punkier wave of this time period, but they got nowhere. Instead, some more reggae and jazz elements fit more with their overall aesthetic, and this was eventually a hit. Sting’s earnest vocals are a highlight, as well as the building layers of the instruments as they head out of a relatively sparse opening into the rest of the song.

498.      

‘Another Girl, Another Planet’, The Only Ones (1978)

Influenced by: Lonely Planet Boy • New York Dolls (1973)   

Influence on: You Can’t Put Your Arms around a Memory • Johnny Thunders (1978)   

Covered by: The Replacements (1989) • London Punkharmonic Orchestra (1998) • Jack Hayter (2002)

The biggest compliment I can pay this song is that it feels timeless. This might be due to its use in commercials and films, or the amount of different bands that have covered it, but I think it speaks more to how good of a rock song it is. This was their only ‘hit’ (it went to 57 in the UK charts), but everything about this screams that it should have gone higher. A great introduction, interesting lyrics and a mid-song solo all help to create something that sounds more classic than it really ever was.

499.      

‘Germ Free Adolescents’, X-Ray Spex (1978)

Influenced by: Heavy Manners • Prince Far-I (1976)   

Influence on: Not a Pretty Girl • Ani DiFranco (1995)   

Covered by: The Levellers (1997) • Michael Monroe (2003) • Studio 99 (2006)   

Other key tracks: Oh Bondage Up Yours! (1977) • The Day the World Turned Day-Glo (1978) • Identity (1978)

This was not entirely what I expected…though I’m not quite sure what I expected to be quite honest. Poly Styrene, the lead singer, is the complete and utter star of the show. With a fairly slow rhythm that is at odds with the punkier elements of the band, Styrene is an absolute tour de force on vocals. Powerful, sarcastic, genuine, catchy: her vocals and delivery are what makes this a song that was beyond my admittedly unclear expectations. Great stuff.

500.      

‘Runnin’ With The Devil’, Van Halen (1978)

Influenced by: Dealer • Deep Purple (1975)   

Influence on: Lay It Down • Ratt (1985)   

Covered by: Bryan Clark (2003) • Whitney Morgan & The Waycross Georgia Farmboys (2006)   Other key tracks: Eruption (1978) • Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love (1978) • Jamie’s Cryin’ (1978)

Sitting half way through our countdown is what I can only assume is the first of a few appearances by Van Halen. For me, they are a prototypically 80s band so to see them pop up in 1978 is surprising. This is the debut song from their debut album and set the tone for what Halen had to offer in terms of their rock and roll stylings. I’ve never listened to a lot of Van Halen, but this feels re-invigorating to a scene that seemed to be lacking something truly exciting at this time. There’s enough swagger, falsetto vocals and guitar licks to get people excited, propelling the band into the limelight.

HALFWAY POINT!

[Bobfoc]

I like a fair few of Van Halen's songs, and Runnin' with the Devil is one of my favourites. What I like most about it is what it sounds like with just David Lee Roth's vocals. It's like Ric Flair singing in the shower.

 

[apsham]

Roxanne is one of those "heard it a million times, don't care about it anymore" and I don't really think it was all that great in the first place.

Another Girl, Another Planet is something I first heard as a cover on the Blink-182 Greatest Hits album. I like both versions equally, the Blink version has a lot of good energy to it.

Edited July 27, 2020 by apsham

[VerbalPuke]

That's a surprising choice for X-Ray Spex, but still cool seeing them here. Gotta love the inclusion of an off-key saxophone.