Minerals
Ice deposits daily
Dropped off
The first shiny robe


#18.



Pavement - "Summer Babe"
(951 Points, 14 Votes, One #1 Vote)

Year: 1991

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #9 (year), #43 (decade), #378 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #57

Ranked Highest By: Pavement Ist Rad (#1)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Slanted & Enchanted

I am Pavement Ist Fucking Rad, I am.

Got a heart of glass
Or a heart of stone
Just you wait till I get you home


#17.



Pet Shop Boys - "West End Girls"
(986 Points, 17 Votes)

Year: 1985

US Chart Position: #1

UK Chart Position: #1

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #6 (year), #144 (decade), #864 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Already an underground hit in its earlier version, recorded with New York dance legend Bobby O, when Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe re-recorded and re-released the song via EMI in late 1985, it slowly but surely rose to be a number one smash on both sides of the Atlantic. It was one heck of a way to come to public attention and still stands out as a peak of the Pet Shop Boys' career, not to mention arguably being one of the first hip-hop singles to go top of the charts. That may seem strange, but it's pretty obvious Tennant is delivering the verses in his own English style of flow; he confirmed in later years that the source of inspiration was the Grandmaster Flash single "The Message." Lyrically, though, his focus is slightly different, a focus on class as much as inner-city pressure (though he later said that the commonly accepted vision of the song being about rough trade was not the intent). Lowe and producer Stephen Hague created a snaky, obsessive rhythm punch for the music, relentless and full-bodied, classically '80s in sonic style but with a heft that most other mainstream productions couldn't hope to touch. Lowe's sonic signature of synth melodies balanced between restrained chill and sweeping, cinematic wash is well in place, while the dramatic slow start, fading up from a Hague-taped walk in the streets near the studio, is perfectly gripping."

Ranked Highest By: Ben (#9)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Please

Take me away to nowhere plains


#16.



The Pixies - "Here Comes Your Man"
(1119 Points, 17 Votes)

Year: 1989

US Chart Position: #3 Modern Rock

UK Chart Position: #60

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #206

AMG Says: "One of the purest pop songs in the Pixies' oeuvre, "Here Comes Your Man" was one of the anchors of the band's 1989 masterpiece Doolittle. In contrast with the fractured compositional style the band became known for, "Here Comes Your Man" follows a straightforward verse/pre-chorus/chorus structure, with a short instrumental break in the middle -- the very definition of a perfect three-and-a-half-minute pop single. Although it sounds simple, the arrangement is actually quite layered, usually featuring three to four guitar parts -- the fat-toned, slightly twangy electric that plays the song's main riff; another clean-toned electric that plays chiming arpeggios; a heavily distorted guitar used to add the band's trademark noisy texture, although in this song it's relegated mostly to the background; and a strummed acoustic guitar that sticks to fully voiced chord progressions. The overall effect, though, is light, almost even airy, and each guitar moves in and out of the song enough to leave plenty of space for the others. There are flashes of typical Pixies dissonance here and there, but overall, the song isn't really as angular or spiky as much of the material that built the band's reputation. It's almost impossible to decipher what the song is about (hopping a train?), but it isn't really necessary to do so. For one, the music is so tightly constructed and catchy that the song would work almost regardless, and for another, the lyrics are so full of quirky images that the abstract playfulness is more than enough to endow the song with a particular feeling or mood. "Here Comes Your Man" epitomizes everything that was great about the best late-'80s alternative rock: utterly unique in personality, creating musical worlds of its own, yet still eminently melodic and accessible."

Ranked Highest By: Elcorazon (#6)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Doolittle

What a great song.

It seems to be the metal cover song du jour...If Hope Dies and Lacuna Coil have put out very different, but equally effective versions in the past year.

It's so awesome that PSB beat "Summer Babe." I'm maybe almost sort of considering coming around to this list. Of course you're all fools for failing "Like a Prayer." Madonna dancing in front of those burning crosses in her undies is maybe the greatest thing ever. And, JC, there's even a freaking gospel choir.

See, Welsh, this is the main problem with you. One of them anyway. Madonna comes in at #25--far higher than rated on Acclaimed Music, far higher than it ranked as a decade equivalent on our all-time list (where it didn't even place), far higher than I think even on ILM. Yet you still say it failed. No perspective whatsoever.

"Here Comes Your Man"?, man I considered that but didn't think that it would get enough votes to beat "Gigantic" and "Monkey Gone To Heaven" especially when no one mentioned the vastly superior "Into The White" on the flipside when voting for it.

"Into the White" is vastly superior, isn't it?

Did you hear what I said?

it's not.

does this sort of pointless circular conversation count as a board catch phrase yet?

It's very much one of my trademarks.

i shouldve voted for whatever had "theme from narc" as its b-side.
every pixies single was worth a vote. i'm just an asshole.

"MEMPHISTO". (if anyone cares)

There are those who, like certain British leaders of the late 1930's with the initials of N.C., would appease our enemies, those who would bury their heads in the sand and ignore the rising threat against our way of life.

There is a problem: our fear of speaking clearly, publicly, and consistently about the enemy. It is unfashionable in some quarters to speak about the pop ignorant, because of the misguided cultural reflex that condemns anyone who speaks critically about others' practices or beliefs. Therefore, we can’t say or do anything that might offend the ignorant.

But that's backwards. The real offense to the ignorant is to remain silent about an ideology that produces the systemic delusion of innocents. They are the first victims of pop ignorance, and the enemy directly targets them, as we have heard once again in the most recent audiotape from Jim DeRogatis.

Those who refuse to criticize pop ignorance undermine the cause of pop music because if the ignorant win this war, no other music will be permitted to flourish.

Paradoxically, when we refuse to criticize anybody, we end up patronizing everyone, which is offensive to everyone and self-defeating.

It makes a mockery of freedom of speech, and traps us in the discredited nonsense of moral equivalence. This war is not between two morally equivalent sides; it's a war between brutal totalitarian ignorance and liberated, dance floor friendly freedom.

Our freedom. We are the ignorance's prime target, and they intend to impose a brutal tyranny on those of us who survive their onslaught.

Pop ignorance is the great test of this generation.

*This post adapted from a speech given by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

Totally off base Ben. I do not consider myself ignorant of what constitutes a good piece of popular music. Music is, by nature, a very subjective thing. It is unfair to state that if you dislike this song or like such and such song than you are ignorant.
Certainly there are those who may be what I'd call AOR only fans....rock purists...who dismiss anything in the top 40 vain. I don't think you'll find many of them here...atleast the ones voting in these polls.

I hope you didn't take it personally. I was just goofing around. My bad. Satire must not be sharp enough. It's sort of directionless. The copy is taken from a speech the senator made the other day about "Islamofascism."

Although I think you're nuts if you don't support "Like a Prayer."

Hitler didn't like Madonna.

Haha. That's what I'm talking about.

Not offended at all. As I say, I always find your pop critiques insightful....just misguided at times...ha ha.

I'm pretty sure lots of people called Pablo Picasso an asshole.

At least Bin Laden likes Whitney Houston.

Got no flowers for ya boy


#15.



The Smiths - "How Soon is Now?"
(1138 Points, 16 Votes)

Year: 1984

US Chart Position: #36 Dance

UK Chart Position: #24 / #16 in '92

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #3 (year), #27 (decade), #200 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #10

AMG Says: "Probably the most played Morrissey/ Marr song of all time, "How Soon Is Now?" is an epic throwback to '60s psychedelia, a lushly produced symphony of Johnny Marr guitar perfection, and perhaps the ultimate statement of Morrissey's bold miserablism. That it's one of the most compelling songs of the 1980s is nearly impossible to deny. Marr's guitar wraps around itself and back again, its tremolo seemingly echoing straight out of an ecstasy-hazed Hacienda. The sole song from Meat Is Murder produced by John Porter, "How Soon Is Now?" certainly seems more dance-oriented than most of the tracks from the Smiths' sophomore album. Mike Joyce's drums virtually mimic a drum machine, as he two-fistedly pounds the same sharp beat for nearly seven minutes. Morrissey exudes confident depression, foregoing the crooning whine present on so many of the band's early songs. He seems relatively detached offering droll lines like "I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar." His lyrics might be hopeless, but he sounds coolly at ease. A semi-jokey whistle that crops up now and again paints the picture of a bold swagger, suggesting that Morrissey knew the band would continue to be revered by a growing army of fans and discussed in tones the British press hadn't used since the Beatles. Along with the more dancefloor-friendly songs of their Manchester peers New Order, the Smiths helped to inspire an entire cache of local talent with the druggy textures of this song, spawning similar genre-hopping outfits like the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays. Though it isn't necessarily indicative of the Smiths' general style, and though die-hard fans might feign disgust at those who instantly label it a favorite, "How Soon Is Now?" etches and rattles with a seemingly timeless sense of cool. So what if it was the first introduction to a mass audience across England's borders? So what if the song makes countless appearances across the band's discography? Any song at once so standoffish and yet so charming deserves as broad an audience as possible."

Ranked Highest By: Tracy Jacks (#2) (also ranked #3 by The Good Dr. Bill)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Hatful of Hollow

Consider this


#14.



R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
(1144 Points, 16 Votes)

Year: 1991

US Chart Position: #4 / #1 Modern Rock / #1 Mainstream Rock

UK Chart Position: #19

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #2 (year), #2 (decade), #44 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #24

AMG Says: "Much was made of the meaning of the title "Losing My Religion" among inquiring pop fans. Was it an old Southern saying? Gibberish? Or an admission of something more personal by singer and lyricist Michael Stipe? In the end, it didn't really matter, as R.E.M. took all the elements that made their previous efforts great and found themselves with a worldwide hit. The sound of gently plucked acoustic instruments, at once traditional and contemporary, and a strong sense of melody, made for the ultimate song from an already great band. Mike Mills recounted in an interview that in Israel the song was referred to as "O Life," referring to the first line of the song; in the U.S., the band scored its first Top Five hit. The album from which it was taken, Out of Time, eventually made it to number one; an accompanying video won all the top honor awards a video could that year. If R.E.M. hadn't yet charted on the radar for some folks, "Losing My Religion" ensured the band a place in pop history when it became the ubiquitous song during the summer of 1991."

Ranked Highest By: Birdistheword, Chocothunder and Jdubs3 (#3) (also ranked #4 by Bobzilla)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Out of Time

OK....now where's Helios?
Thank God this is coming to an end...then I'll finally be able to start reading posting in the new polls....I know...I'm weird but just like to concentrate on one time period at a time....

remember when Janine thought that song was on "Automatic For the People"? or was it "Shiny Happy People"? Either way, good times.

I woulda pegged both of those as top tenners for sure, probably top five. Very surprised to see them fall here.

Melissa?

it was Janine.

looking at my list, I didn't vote for that smiths song - I bet I didn't consider it after already voting for it on the previous decade's list. Maybe others did the same. (and wherever William, It Was Really Nothing b/w How Soon Is Now? and Please, Please, Please... finished on that poll was probably much too low!)

There's only one thing I couldn't start


#13.



Gin Blossoms - "Hey Jealousy"
(1162 Points, 16 Votes, Three #1 Votes)

Year: 1992

US Chart Position: #25 / #20 Top 40 / #4 Modern Rock

UK Chart Position: #24

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a (surprise, surprise)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #70

AMG Says: "The fact that departed guitarist Doug Hopkins wrote the Gin Blossoms' first two hit singles, "Hey Jealousy" and "Found out About You," prompted many observers to wonder if the band would be able to maintain their success without him. While they had no problem turning out quality material in a jangly power pop vein, Hopkins had been able to translate his depression and personal problems into a darkly confessional songwriting voice, which really did give his work greater emotional depth. That's most readily apparent on "Hey Jealousy," a pleasantly catchy song that conquered college and mainstream radio and MTV in 1993. It first seems a little bit playful and a little bit wistful, but upon further listening reveals a quiet, underlying desperation tearing at its main character. Essentially, the lyrics are a drunken, late-night plea for another shot with an old girlfriend, after having "blown the whole thing years ago." The protagonist has a real charm -- the first verse is a nonchalant request to sleep off a buzz at his ex's place, after which he starts to reminisce, calling her "the best I've ever had" and inviting her to recapture some of the wild fun of their younger days ("Tomorrow we can drive around this town/And let the cops chase us around"). The second verse is a full-fledged request to be taken back, full of wryly self-effacing humor: "And you can trust me not to think/And not to sleep around/If you don't expect too much from me/You might not be let down." It's obvious that he's vulnerable, but he's trying to hide just how vulnerable he is. Of course, his self-deprecation masks real insecurities -- he doesn't think enough of himself to be sure he deserves a second chance, he's afraid of screwing up again, and he leaves out the exact nature of his original offense, which doesn't allow listeners to judge for themselves. A few other lines seem self-pitying, or perhaps designed to elicit the same from her: he's alone, he's "got no place to go," and only feels "like [he] matters too" when he's with her. But, in a deeper sense -- what with his Bonnie & Clyde fantasy of being chased by the cops -- he's also trying to relive the youth he feels he's screwed up so miserably, now that he's older and wiser and unhappy in the present. Even though he sings, "The past is gone, but something might be found to take its place" in the chorus, he's still in a backward-looking world of nostalgia and regret, and it's obvious that he wants to find something that recaptures the past while improving upon it -- rewriting and updating history with a happy ending. There's a tremendous emotional complexity and honesty to "Hey Jealousy" which proves that, even if the Gin Blossoms were a perfectly solid band without Doug Hopkins, there was something about him that couldn't be duplicated."

Ranked Highest By: jdubs3, Paul & The Good Dr. Bill (#1)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: New Miserable Experience

ahh, so jdubs3 is a dr. bill ringer/gimmick

Sometimes I wonder if maybe I sleep-post as Jdubs3 or something. I don't think I'd vote for "Linger" in my top ten, and I've never even heard the Bourgeois Tagg song he put as #8. But maybe I just put those in there to try to fool myself.

This must be one of the worst reviews I've ever read. He spends a while talking about how different HSIN is from the rest of the album.... well, if you'd done your research you'd have realised that it was originally a b-side & added on later.

This is far from my favourite Smiths songs, though I understand why it's been voted highest. Nevertheless, only ONE Smiths song in the top 20 is a joke. "There is a light" @ 44 is simply laughable given that "Losing my religion" is 14th.

Jesus, Mitchell, give it a rest.

ya see, that's the difference between me and slackmo. I was carefully crafting a response to helios comment that would have been a couple of paragraphs that most people would have been dozing while scanning, but slackmo makes the same point in a much more pithy manner. well done, slack.

Ah-WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH
Ah-WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH


#12.



The Breeders - "Cannonball"
(1177 Points, 18 Votes)

Year: 1993

US Chart Position: #44 / #2 Modern Rock

UK Chart Position: #40

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #3 (year), #18 (decade), #176 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #129

AMG Says: "This euphonious rocker would become the Breeders' biggest commercial success as the first single from the group's sophomore LP, Last Splash. "Cannonball" would be picked by both English music weeklies Melody Maker and NME as song of the year and would help propel the album (along with the subsequent release of "Divine Hammer") to eventual platinum status. An infectious blend of indie pop and grunge rock, the song conveys an effusive energy, balancing quirky hooks with a gushing power, supporting playful, goofball lyrics that perfectly deliver the song's sense of unhinged, freewheeling fun. The song's odd beginning manages to instantly grab the listener's attention and foreshadows the "anything goes," feel-good energy to follow. The track opens with singer and main songwriting force Kim Deal testing the mic in distorted voice, "Check, check, one, two," against beeping feedback, overlaid by a similarly distorted vocal harmonizing: "Wah-ooh ooh/Wah-ooh ooh." Drummer Jim Macpherson then taps out the rhythm with metallic clicking on snare rim and cymbal stand, signaling the start of the song's trademark bubbling and slithering bass line. Tension surmounts expertly, drums and bass hooking up in the song's bounding, rhythmic romp, while a woozy, slithering guitar lick saunters above with coy inebriation until the low crunch of down-and-dirty guitars takes over. Squealing, high guitar feedback sounds before the introduction of the vocal melody at almost a full minute into the tune, Kim Deal cooing the song's slyly humorous lyrics, "Spitting in a wishing well/Blown to hell...crash," with the band pulling to a short stop for Deal to invoke the album's title, "I'm the last splash." The quirky arrangement contains frequent dynamic pauses somehow without dampening the song's relentless, rollicking momentum. Deal delivers the tune's repetitive verses with a seductive, peek-a-boo shyness that aims to please: "I know you, little libertine/I know you're a cannonball/I'll be your whatever you want/The bong in this reggae song." The band powers to the next level for a jubilant chorus, signaled by pelting snare rolls from Macpherson, unleashing new layers of guitar distortion, with Deal's distorted telephone vocal shouting: "Hey now, hey now/I want you Koo Koo, Cannonball." The stuttering, start-and-stop transition then evens out into an infectious melodic hook of sweetly layered vocal harmonies, with Deal and company repeating the line: "In the shade/In the shade." The song effectively employs a false ending, pausing for a full measure then slamming into the chorus and slipping in another full verse/chorus go-round before screeching to a halt."

Ranked Highest By: Dano (#6)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Last Splash

Cannonball=good single, Breeders=so-so band

I love that song, but AMG is attributing a lot of nuance to those lyrics that simply isn't there.

"Let me tell you the story of "Right Hand, Left Hand." It's a tale of good and evil. Hate: It was with this hand that Cane iced his brother. Love: These five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand: the hand of love. The story of life is this: Static. One hand is always fighting the other hand; and the left hand is kicking much ass. I mean, it looks like the right hand, Love, is finished. But, hold on, stop the presses, the right hand is coming back. Yeah, he got the left hand on the ropes, now, that's right. Ooh, it's the devastating right and Hate is hurt, he's down. Left-Hand Hate K.O.ed by Love."


#11.



Public Enemy - "Fight the Power"
(1179 Points, 16 Votes)

Year: 1989

US Chart Position: #20 R&B / #3 Dance / #1 Rap

UK Chart Position: #29

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #1 (year), #7 (decade), #73 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #59

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Fear of a Black Planet

Ranked Highest By: Birdistheword (#2) (also ranked #3 by BobtheSquid and #4 by Scarymuppet)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: Fear of a Black Planet

powerful stuff there

I wouldn't have critsised the placement of "How Soon Is Now" with it's inferior b-sides against the placement of "William, It Was Really Nothing" last time out by comparing it to "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" which was only a single in France and to promote Warners best of compilations in the '92. Sleeve wasn't specially selected by Morrissey so it wasn't really a single in my book.

I hope you all know me well enough to realise things like that.

I think I did the same.

I didn't even bother for voting this cashgrab either, despite the song itself being fantastic. I'd have put these two smiths songs in my top 10-20 otherwise.

Yeah, me too. Not really a legit single.

all right, I probably shouldn't be finishing the countdown on a friday night. But I want this thing done, and fuck it, I don't have anything else to do at the moment.


In through the out door


#10.



Prince - "Raspberry Beret" / "She's Always in My Hair"
(1180 Points, 18 Votes)

Year: 1985

US Chart Position: #2 / #1 Dance

UK Chart Position: #25

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #26 (year), #281 (decade), #1527 (all-time)

Rank on Our All-Time Singles List: #461

AMG Says: "The psych pop opening single from Around the World in a Day, "Raspberry Beret" actually isn't all that different from Purple Rain's "Take Me With U," which in fact had charted less than two months before "Raspberry Beret" was released. With a similarly woozy string section (an unconventional lineup of violin and two cellos, one of which was played by keyboardist Lisa Coleman's brother David Coleman) and acoustic rhythm guitar line, "Raspberry Beret" is less chirpily sunshiny than "Take Me With U," with its wryly comic depiction of a teenager's first time set to a melody that's a little more melancholy and a tempo that's a little more reflective than you might remember them as. Taken together, "Take Me With U," "Raspberry Beret" and the even more wistful "Manic Monday" (soon a hit for the Bangles) constitute a trilogy of sorts, Prince's tribute to '60s AM pop. Incidentally, U.K. twee-popsters the Lightning Seeds copped their name from a mis-heard line in this song's bridge, "The thunder drowns out what the lightning sees.""

Ranked Highest By: Derry Dukes, Stphone & The Eyes (#4)

Can Be Most Easily Found On: The Very Best of Prince

Bring it on.

I can't believe that many people like that song.