Firstly, I liked all your picks. You’re all winners in your own special and unique way. In a more literal way, I am the winner, at least when it comes to guessing what the panel would choose for the 1970s and getting into the mind of Jian Ghomeshi, which, on second thought, may not necessarily make me a winner.

Derek, liked your homily/diatribe on 80s music. Since it was my coming of age music as well, it holds a special place in my heart. As a whole, there is a lot of really shitty mainstream music from the 1980s, and I’m sure we could each come up with a list of at least 30 songs that make us want to kick the snot out of the composer/performer, but I think this is true of mainstream music from any decade.

If I had to come up with a list of five definitive songs (ie. staples at high school dances/clubs, on mixed tapes) of the 80s, it would include:

‘How Soon is Now’ by the Smiths, an anthem to self-pity and self-loathing, which received consistent airplay from its release in 1984 to the end of the decade.

‘She Sells Sanctuary’ by the Cult, with its great buildup at the beginning, simple yet kickass chorus—“The world drags me down”—and staying power (released in ’85 yet played even more in 1989).

‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell, to which everyone I’ve ever known including my parents and possibly grandparents know the words.

‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ by New Order, capturing that simultaneous danceable/listenable quality Derek mentioned, with that swirling pre-chorus synth riff that lifts you out of your seat and makes you want to start flailing your arms in an interpretive dance kind of way. What’s that? I’m the only one who does that? And it's not a good look? Okay, but the song stays on the list.

‘Blister in the Sun’ by the Violent Femmes, which is catchy, easy to sing along to, and has one of those pauses-before-final- chorus that always drives the kids crazy.

But…

‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’? It isn’t even the best song about monkees!
Okay, maybe it is. Infinitely superior to the equally nonsensical if somewhat crueler ‘Shock the Monkey’ by the Biko-crooning Peter Gabriel, and far less silly than either the Beatles’ ‘Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey’ or The Specials ‘Monkey Man’, it may have some serious competition from the Beasties’ ‘Brass Monkey’.

I’ve heard ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’ described as lament on environmental degradation and animal testing but I think this one’s more about the music than the lyrics. I prefer ‘Wave of Mutilation’ on Doolittle and ‘Where is My Mind?’ from ‘Surfer Rosa’ over any other Pixies song but I doubt that any of these will appear on the CBC’s list.

I think the panel is going to go a little more mainstream but I’m not ready to pick just yet. Give me another day. And let the baited breathing commence!