Boys like lists. Top 5 hot female bass players. Girlfriends from Wales (a very short list). Leeds Utd first team, 1973-74 (a very embarrassing list), Suzi Quatro’s Top 10 singles (another short one). That kind of thing

So when I was asked for a list of my Top 10 songs "of all time", and to come in to a Radio Ulster studio to talk about them, I knew the only problem would be cutting "all time" down to 40. A Top 10 seemed impossible.

Might as well say ‘Top 10 Shakespeare lines’, ‘Top 3 Martin Amis novels’ (OK, that one not so difficult), Top Sister. Top 3 movies where Julia Roberts looks good, Top 10 Dinners Made By Mother, Top Breakfast Cereal available in more than 3 continents.

The other problem was a practical one – the train to Great Victoria Street station left in twenty minutes. All I had was a pencil and the back page of the Irish Times. Well – people have survived in the wilderness on less.

My first decision – I would have to take the Beatles out of the equation.

Not because of the fuss going on about the remastered albums, not because of that video game where if I could only remove the numbers and whizzing plastic guitars I could see what’s going on. 

No, it’s just because there isn’t room for much else in a Top 40 with the Beatles included. Since hearing ‘Revolver’ playing on a Black Box record player at an early birthday party, they’ve always been in a list of their own, for me.

At the height of punk, walls covered in pages torn from the NME, I remember asking a girlfriend if it was still OK to have the White Album photographs stuck above my bedroom window, “Yes. They’re like church,” she gasped, shocked, inserting another safety pin into an artfully-ripped T shirt.

So here it is – Top 40 No Beatles, as scribbled down on the back page of the Irish Times while waiting for the train from Holywood to Belfast. It’s a true list – these songs are the soundtrack of my life so far. Old wave, new wave – any wave is OK.

They are In sort-of chronological order – or at least, this is how they happened to me:

1.         Froggy Went A-Courtin’                  Burl Ives

2.          Chitty Chitty Bang Bang                  Film soundtrack

3.         Metal Guru                                    T. Rex

4.         Life on Mars                                    David Bowie.

5.         Working Class Hero                  John Lennon

6.         My Sweet Lord                           George Harrison

7.         Heartbreaker                           Led Zeppelin

8.         I Know What I Like                           Genesis

9.         Band on the Run                           Macca

10.       Walk on the Wild Side                  Lou Reed

11.       Sheena is a Punk Rocker                  Ramones

12.       Marquee Moon                           Television

13.       Teenage Kicks                           The Undertones

14.       Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick         Ian Dury

15.       Heroes                                    David Bowie

16.        Another Girl Another Planet         The Only Ones

17.        Subterranean Homesick Blues         Bob Dylan

18.        Tangled up in Blue                  Bob Dylan

19.        Rainy Day Women                           Bob Dylan

20.        Beasley Street                           John Cooper Clarke

21.        A Forest                                    The Cure

22.        Almost With You                           The Church

23.        You Can’t Always Get…                  Rolling Stones

24.        The Big Music                           The Waterboys

25.        When Love Breaks Down                  Prefab Sprout

26.        Don’t Give Up                           Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush

27.        Waiting For The Man                  Velvet Underground

28.        Bang on the Ear                           The Waterboys.

29.        Losing My Religion                  REM

30.        Nothing Compares To You         Sinead O’Connor

32.        One                                             U2.

33.        Way Down Now                           World Party

34.        Persuasion                                    Tim Finn

35.        Human Behaviour                           Björk.

36.        Wonderwall                                    Oasis

37.        Crazy World                                    Aslan

38.        This Year’s Love                           David Gray

39.        Chasing Cars                           Snow Patrol

40.        Madame George                           Van Morrison

As we passed George Best international airport I had got the 40 in the right hand margin. On the left, 10 which just missed out:

GPT - Martha Wainwright

Out of Reach – Gabrielle

Big Time – Rudi

Rio – Duran Duran

Enola Gay – OMD

Here Comes The Rain Again – Eurythmics

You Never Can Tell – Chuck Berry

White Riot – Clash

China Girl – Bowie

Bus To Baton Rouge – Lucinda Williams

The train clunked into into Central Station, which meant I had about five minutes until Botanic and then Great Victoria Street the BBC. I still had the front cover of the G2 section of the Guradian to get the Top 10 sorted. The train heaved its way through, under and around the Markets:

Top 10 no Beatles:

1.          Heroes

2.          Tangled Up In Blue

3.         Waiting For The Man

4.          Losing My Religion

5.          Wonderwall

6.          Hey Jude*

7.          A Day In The Life**

8.          Madame George

9.          Subterraean Homesick Blues

10.        Life On Mars

* OK, there had to be one

Times of my life in other peoples songs, you could say. It's not even just the songs, it's where you are, where you remember them playing.

Just made it, passing the Crown I thought for a moment I’d left the ’papers on the train. No worries, these songs are in my head anyway

See you on tour, album's out tomorrow.

Andy

Sept 27

PS I am putting these occasional blogs online at wordpress and our website as well - see which one you gravitate to - maybe you like this one best!