New Order is an English rock band that emerged from the post-punk movement in the late 1970s. The band was formed in 1980 in Manchester, England, by the remaining members of Joy Division after lead singer Ian Curtis passed away. The group’s sound is a unique blend of new wave, electronic, and dance music, which they helped popularize in the 1980s.
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The Best Queen Songs of All Time functions – as usual – as our introduction to the music of legendary pop-rock band, Queen. Queen rose out of the ashes of Smile – which Brian May (guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums) formed in university – with Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano) and John Deacon (bass) joining the line-up in 1970 and 1971 respectively.
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The Best ELO Songs of All Time is our concise introduction to the music of the Electric Light Orchestra (aka ELO). The Electric Light Orchestra was formed in 1970 by songwriters-multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. The band was effectively spun out from the final incarnation of the 1960s psych-rock band The Move.
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The Best David Bowie Songs of All Time. Now it does not get more poignant than this one. Bowie’s birthday is 8th January. He would have been 74 years old this year. The fact that he passed away two days later five years ago is still heart-wrenching. It’s no exaggeration to declare that Bowie is one of my favourite artists and his art will certainly live forever.
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When I opined that Classic Rock had lost its relevance and significance in the contemporary music industry, it does not mean that Classic Rock is no longer important. In fact, Classic Rock is a critical asset to film and TV producers as directors utilise Classic Rock to create a vibe in film and TV series that contemporary pop music just cannot replicate. Which brings me to The Best Classic Rock Film and TV Scenes.
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THE BEST PINK FLOYD SONGS OF ALL TIME is an interesting proposition. Mainly because we tend to think of Pink Floyd as the definitive album rock band. So, THE BEST PINK FLOYD SONGS OF ALL TIME as a feature seems in appropriate. But once again think of THE BEST PINK FLOYD SONGS OF ALL TIME list as an introduction to Pink Floyd and perhaps that makes it more palatable.
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THE BEST PUNK SONGS OF ALL TIME – a potentially divisive and contentious topic to discuss! Probably more so than THE BEST POWER POP SONGS OF ALL TIME that I posted not too long ago. But as usual in order to list down THE BEST PUNK SONGS OF ALL TIME, I need to explain a few concepts first.
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Prima facie, an article about THE BEST KINKS SONGS OF ALL TIME would seem like a piece of cake. But the opposite is true. The trick was despairing over the songs I had to omit from THE BEST KINKS SONGS OF ALL TIME. In the end, while twenty tracks seems just about right – not too little and not too much. Which is to me, an indication of how much I value Ray Davies as a songwriter.
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THE BEST POWER POP SONGS OF ALL TIME! Now that’s a social media minefield on so many different levels. And it’s not merely about arriving at a consensus as to what are THE BEST POWER POP SONGS OF ALL TIME. Fact of the matter, the first point of contention would be the definition of Power Pop itself!
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The Who. What more is there to say about The Who? Probably the most influential rock band of all time? And I do mean ROCK! A seminal band in every sense of the word. Think of all the rock sub-genres that have emerged in their wake, and it would be impossible not to trace The Who as the source. So doesn’t it make sense for me to make up a list of THE BEST WHO SONGS OF ALL TIME???
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Neil Young has turned 75! So it’s probably the best day to present to you the click baiting listicle I call The Best Neil Young Songs Of All Time! AND… I have given myself the nigh impossible task of just naming TEN songs! But I think I am well satisfied with this list, keeping my selections to the less obvious and focusing on deep cuts. Without further ado, The Best Neil Young Songs Of All Time (in alphabetical order, natch!)
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For The Best Police Songs Of All Time list, I decided to feature an article that I wrote a long time ago. This piece details the history of The Police first time round, without really discussing the reunion. After that you will find an Apple Music playlist of The Best Police Songs Of All Time.
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It’s hard to imagine classic rock – the music genre that defined the seventies and birthed punk and metal – even existing without the significant contributions of the Rolling Stones. Thus, it’s appropriate to look at the best Rolling Stones songs of all time!
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The Best Beach Boys Songs of All Time : I have shared my Beach Boys story before but it bears repeating. Prior to the 90s, I was not a fan. Like many rock fans who started listening to music seriously in the mid-70s, the Beach Boys were a joke, an oldies band singing outdated surf-rock. Sure, in my time coming across best albums list, I did hear of Pet Sounds but never took time to explore.
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An introduction to the best XTC songs of all time!
XTC is one of the best bands of all time. That’s an opinion I expressed in an earlier post. The Swindon band originally consisted of Andy Partridge (vocals, guitar), Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), Terry Chambers (drums) and Barry Andrews (keyboards). Andrews departed in 1978 to be replaced by Dave Gregory (guitars) while Chambers left the band in 1982 when he emigrated to Australia. The band was reduced to a duo for its final two albums, when Gregory parted ways with XTC in 1998.
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An introduction to the best Beatles songs of all time.
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Are you ready for THE BEST SONGS OF THE NINETIES??!!!?
1991 was the year punk broke. Or so we thought. While the alternative rock genre became mainstream in the early part of the 1990s, it really signalled the end of rock’s dominance over the music industry. The mic had been passed to hip-hop and its influence over pop culture remains unrivalled to this day.
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Next up, THE BEST SONGS OF THE EIGHTIES!
To make these Best Songs lists work for me, even as I progress along the decades, I have made a conscious effort not to repeat artists from previous lists and to limit my selections to artists and/or songs that in my view, are strongly representative of the decade in question.
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Mention the sixties and a couple of fixed images come to mind. Men with long hair, women in mini-skirts, hippies in denim etc. Music-wise, the sixties represented the flowering of pop music expression in artistic terms before evolving to rock by the decade’s end. Here are ten songs (in alphabetical order) which I feel represent the best songs of the sixties.
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Yes, I know it’s a corny cliché but with this National Day weekend comes an opportunity to share my own thoughts about the best Singapore rock songs of all time! Hopefully, these selections will inspire you, kind reader, to discover more Singapore rock music. If so, then the effort would have been worth it!
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THE BEST ELVIS COSTELLO SONGS OF ALL TIME!
A feature where we spotlight our favourite ten songs from certain legendary artists. We thought it appropriate to begin with one of the top songwriters of his generation, Elvis Costello. Bearing in mind that we are of the view that there is really no such thing as a ‘bad’ Costello song, we selected these songs on the following bases.
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