In an non-Jian Ghomeshi-centred entry, props to my cousin Mike for a spirited and rocking show at the shoe hier soir. You can download some tracks at their website.

My personal faves also skew to the early 90s but have a more Mancunian bent. The Charlatons, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Ride and Inspiral Carpets formed the soundtrack to my university days so they will always resonate a little deeper for me than some of the other music in the decade. Commercial alternative radio was showing promise up to 1994/1995 but quickly embraced whiny, retread grunge-ish acts like Bush, Moist, Matchbox 20, Days of the New, etc. Anytime I hear the words 'Modern Rock' I shudder and spin the dial towards the all dance stations--at least they know they're insipid.

Anyhoo, my list:

-Vapour Trail by Ride, with its swirling, noisy melody and lovely strings to quietly close

-Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead, which gets better and a little sadder each time I hear it

-Not Too Amused by Sebadoh, with its gradual, growling buildup

-Cannonball by the Breeders for that awesome bass line and the little gap in the middle of the song that suggests an abrupt ending but wait…here come those drums and the screaming chorus

-Today by Smashing Pumpkins, for the layered guitar sound that blazes in after the quiet beginning of the track and the fact that the video successfully recreates some of the cool scenes from Antonioni’s ‘Zabriskie Point’

Honourable mentions/Six place ties go to: ‘Moon Palace’ by Luna, ‘Excursions’ by A Tribe Called Quest, ‘Glory Box’ by Portishead, ‘Sunshine State’ by Superchunk, ‘Only Shallow’ by My Bloody Valentine, ‘Obscurity Knocks’ by Trash Can Sinatras, ‘Elevate Me Later’, ‘Goldsoundz’, and ‘Here’ by Pavement, ‘Venus as a Boy’ by Bjork, ‘Laid’ by James, ‘Connection’ by Elastica, ‘Step On’ by Happy Mondays, and ‘Natural One’ by Folk Implosion.

The CBC will choose:

-Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana (obvious)

-You Oughtta Know - Alanis Morissette (cancon, plus big seller)

-Loser – Beck (embodiment of slacker, gen-x angst, with massive airplay in late 1993/early 1994)

-Song 2 – Blur (made the all important step to stadium anthem and beer commercial)

-The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy Slim (right about now, the funk soul brother, check it out now, the funk soul brother….try to get this out of your head now, i dare you)

I debated adding 'One' by U2 but figured their inclusion in the 80s list negated a second appearance. I like 'Nothing Compares 2 U', which could very well end up in the final list but it was written by Prince, who was already included on the 80s list.

If the Spice Girls, NSync, Backstreet Boys, or Britney Spears are somehow included, I may have to kill.

Best of luck to all.

The 90's, my other favourite decade in music....so much promise in the early years, with the movement of commercial radio towards the truly alternative and avant garde, so much great music, and then finally such a crash and burn as the pendulum swung dramatically back towards the safe, the banal, the saccharine, and worse.

In my mind, the majority if not all of the great songs of the decade, the commercial ones anyway, came from the first half. Of course, as we've seen in my previous choices, I clearly have my pulse on the CBC panels (&*!*^&). Then again, Derek's dire warning of the chick factor in the 90's panel has me nervous (chick music in the 90's?) I'm a big guessing-tub-of-goo.

CBC list (wish me luck. I like beer, and I don't like giving it away).

(1) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
(2) Smashing Pumpkins - Today
(3) James - Laid (the guy wore a dress the time I saw them, and the chicks all thought that was cool)
(4) Sinead - Nothing Compares 2 U (full-on chick)
(5) Beck - Loser (similar to myself)

If Sarah Mclachlan is on the list I'll be pissed on many levels. I also gave some consideration to the Blind Melon song - the 90's was all about the dead guys. Anyone willing to consider half marks for getting the band right (and the song wrong)?

My 5 fave choices - these are a bit random mind you:

(1) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit. Sure it's predictable but...come on!

(2) Pavement - Goldsoundz. So brilliant and bang on for me I can't begin to describe.

(3) Sebadoh - Think. Got me way excited about lo fi. This one's for my sensitive side. I also love most of Bakesale, but this song is special.

(4) Yo La Tengo- Sugarcube. Thrilling mix of noise and melody that takes Sonic Youth's poppy instincts and runs with it. From maybe the best album of the 90's (excl. Pavement).

(5) Elliot Smith - Bled White. My favourite song by this saddest of song writers (oh yeah, he's dead too), and actually one of his most accessible. The imagery is wonderful and moving. Extra marks for being one I still listen to a lot.

I guess that's it, though there was actually a twenty-way tie for fifth. That makes twenty-six, Stu. Most sincere regrets to the Posies (Flavour of the Month); Hayden (Trees Lounge); Superchunk (Driveway to Driveway), Sloan (Coax Me), Hole (Violet), Eleventh Dream Day (Motherland), The Breeders (Cannonball); Liz Phair (Never Said); Juliana Hatfield (Feeling Massachussets plus plus); Treble Charger (Red), Pavement (most of the rest of their canon but particularly Grounded, Elevate Me Later, Silence Kit, Summer Babe)...and a whole pile of others.

And, just as importantly, let's list out our own favourites as well.

I'm thinking CD Club compilation disks at this point, plus, considering submitting the lists to CBC. The bastards.

That's a pretty solid list, D-Man. Not only does it include some of the most influential and innovative artists of the decade, the songs are popular enough, and received decent airplay on commercial radio/video ,to garner attention from the panel. Good call too on Ms. Morissette--I'd be shocked if 'You Oughtta Know' is absent from the final list (though if 'Ironic' makes it, I may have to kneecap someone). Perhaps an Oasis song or 'Bittersweet Symphony' by the Verve might make it on there. I'll make my picks later today after much consideration.

Well I see no one has posted their 90's picks so let me bat leadoff. I did happen to catch today's first segment and heard the first two songs selected by the panel. It will come as no surprise to any of you that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has been chosen. It would have made my list anyway so I'll limit my selection to 4 songs. I'm assuming that there's no way in hell that it doesn't make the shortlist of 5 songs. The second song they played today I would never have picked so I'll leave it at that. Word of warning: 2 of the 3 guest judges are women and with Jian coming in at ½ and ½ that means the panel is weighted towards the fairer sex. Alannis anyone?

CBC picks for the 90's:

Beck - Loser
Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
Moby - Porcelain
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees

Thanks to Brian for pointing out that my REM submission for the 80's (Losing My Religion) was in fact released in the 90's. As you can see I wont be submitting it for the appropriate decade.

Not sure how we got on this topic, but as far as I'm concerned the best Monkees song is a toss up between "I'm a Believer" and "For Pete's Sake", though I know Derek likes the lesser known "You Just May be the One". Didn't realize that, like me, you guys were all such big fans.

Additional Honourable 80's Mentions: The Church - Under the Milky Way; XTC - Senses Working Overtime; That Petrol Emotion - Big Decision and Cellophane. Others to follow.

Nice choices for the CBC list by Derek and Kyle - I should have chosen a Prince and/or an MJ, and will pay for it (like Stuart, whose choices seem to me be long shots) in beer. Goddamn it.

Derek, I trust youwill have your people listening to the CBC tomorrow and will provide the earliest possible update.

I, for one, am looking forward to choosing for the 90's, the decade that I grew up in.

My stab at the CBC picks for the 80's:

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
Stone Roses - Fools Gold
U2 - I Still Haven't Found...
REM - Losing My Religion
Prince - Little Red Corvette

Here's my pix:

Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
Tainted Love by Soft Cell
How Soon is Now? by the Smiths
Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran
The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Sarah told me she thinks they’re going to choose this one)

A mix of what I think will be there and what I want to be there, never a good combination but...

I like it a list for best monkey songs.... Well in first place has to be monkey man off the Stones Let it Bleed
s

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!

Well I'll step up to the plate for the 80's, probably the most unjustly maligned decade in popular music. Sure it was the decade of the big hair bands and I was a sucker for many of them. Flock of Seagulls, Haircut One Hundred, Dead or Alive, the Thompson Twins etc.. all spent many a day firmly ensconced on my turntable. Am I going to apologize? Hell no. Will I be raked over the coals for the rest of my life for my seeming bad taste? Surely.

Before I proceed to my 5 choices for the decade let me just say that the big attraction for me in the music of the 1980's was its combination of danceability and listenability. God knows the first half of the 1970's produced nary a danceable song (Kansas, Yes, Foghat??). The remainder of that decade went way over the top in attempting to correct that imbalance as evinced by the disco era. But nobody ever accused disco of being something anyone would want to listen to at home alone in their bedroom. Much like the techno/house/jungle/drum n'bass music of the past 10 years its sole purpose was to help you pick up chicks. Some would say that is the sole purpose of all music but I digress.

Some of my favourites of the 80's: Soft Cell's "Tainted Love", the Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary", The Cure's "In Between Days", New Orders "Bizarre Love Triangle" and even the Sisters of Mercy's uber-gothic "Marian" were all tracks that went equally well on the dancefloor and on the walkman. Suffice to say I'll always have a soft spot for the decade in which I came of age.

So on to the 5 choices: (in no particular order)

The Jam - That's Entertainment

Something about the British when it comes to writing songs about the working class stiff. The Yanks always seem to come up with music praising the good life and the joys of monetary success. The British on the other hand come up with songs from the streets by the likes of the Jam, Billy Bragg, the Pogues (OK Irish), and surprisingly the Streets. No song better evokes the numbing routine that is everyday life than this classic.

God knows the Jam never even sniffed success on this side of the pond but they had numerous top 20 hits in the UK and this one at the very beginning of the 80's might have been the best of a very good lot.

Elvis Costello - I Want You

I somehow seemed to miss the whole early period of Elvis and have only caught up over the last 10 years or so. My first Elvis purchase was "Blood and Chocolate" and this song was the standout. Its a far cry from Radio, Radio or Pump it Up but it captured all the fucked up feelings I had when I was 22 where the fairer sex was concerned and too often they weren't.

Much to Brian's delight it might have been the first song where the lyrics meant more to me than the music. We can't discuss the best of the 70's and 80's without having Declan
place somewhere in the list.

The Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven

To this day I don't think I have a clue what this song is about and I'm happy to keep it that way. Black Francis has always been off on his own planet of sound anyway. This one came in right at the end of the decade and for those (me included) who'd had enough of the sugary dance happy 80's at this point this was the perfect antidote.

Francis' blood curdling yelp of "then God is 7" still brings a smile to my face. Music is still
looking for someone to pick up their mantle.

Morrissey - Everyday is Like Sunday

I guess this precludes me from picking a Smiths track in my list. So be it. Perhaps like the Beatles I have a hard time judging the Smiths songs from an objective point of view as they were listened to so many times and meant so much in my life at the time. So I cop out and pick this track.

At the time of its release I was just glad that with the demise of the Smiths our boy Morrissey put out a record and it didn't suck. The smalltown / small life ennui that this song evokes made this a keeper, especially having spent much of my early childhood holidaying in dismal places such as Blackpool and Scarborough.

Peter Gabriel - Biko

Back in the land of all that is deep fried in the summer of 1980 and still starry eyed at 16 the lyrics and music in this song were overwhelming. In many ways this track and Kate Bush's "The Dreaming" opened my eyes to music from beyond the UK/US axis. Biko might have been the start of the whole world music movement and it could not have a better progenitor. I didn't know who Steven Biko was when I first heard this song and yet it roused me no less. Politicized songs can often feel tawdry and overdone but when they are as heartfelt as this song you can't help but be moved.

The last line says it all, "And the eyes of the world are watching now".

My apologies to the Stone Roses, the Undertones, Billy Bragg, Lloyd Cole, the Housemartins, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Public Enemy on their absence from my list.

Well I took a different approach then you Brian, Here are 5 great songs that I think have a chance to be on the list;
1) Farytale of New York - Pogues
2) With or without you -Ubiquitous 2
3) Comfortably Numb (OK Dec 79, but dominated the 80's)- Pink Floyd
4) Fall on Me - REM
5) Fishermans Blues -Waterboys
6) Ashes to Ashes - Bowie
Sorry Brian one extra just to piss you off....

OK, here are the best 80's as likely to be chosen by the CBC gurus:

(1) Pride (in the Name of Love) - U2
(2) How Soon is Now - The Smiths
(3) Fight the Power - Public Enemy
(4) The One I Love - R.E.M.
(5) Once In a Lifetime - Talking Heads


And here are my faves:
(1) Teenage Riot - Sonic Youth
(2) South Central Rain - R.E.M.
(3) Monkey's Gone to Heaven - The Pixies
(4) Undertow - the Feelies
(5) The Cure - In Between Days

Honourable Mention: The Psychedelic Furs - Ghost in You; Guadalcanal Diary - Fear of God; The Replacements - I Will Dare; The Smiths - This Charming Man; The Thompson Twins - Doctor Doctor (just kidding).

Probably forgotten a few but this will do for now.

OK boys, it's eighties week. Right in your respective wheelhouses.

I'll be posting my faves, and my best guesses for CBC (although I clearly haven't a clue) in the next day or so. And I'll try to keep the passionate outpourings to a mininum.

Wow, you really can't turn that thing off.

Hmmm...three consecutive postings referencing "Brandy" (by Lookinglass). I'll have to check with the founding fathers, but I believe that is cause for ex-communication from the Blog site.

AAAAAH I cant turn this thing off................., Brandy by Lookinglass, Waterloo by ABBA, Lean on me, Withers...HELPPPPPP ...... Cover of the rolling stone, Me and Mrs Jones, Having a baby what a lovely way of saying how much you love me, Cant get enough of your love babe, Shaft....AHHHHHH, Dont give up on us baby by AHHHHH David Soul ,,, Beth by KISS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AAAAAH I cant turn this thing off................., Brandy by Lookinglass, Waterloo by ABBA, Lean on me, Withers...HELPPPPPP ...... Cover of the rolling stone, Me and Mrs Jones, Having a baby what a lovely way of saying how much you love me, Cant get enough of your love babe, Shaft....AHHHHHH, Dont give up on us baby by AHHHHH David Soul ,,, Beth by KISS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

C'mon Stu, stay focused. It's about five songs. Five. Gimme five.

The seventies have been chosen by CBC. Ironically, they chose six (a tie for fifth).

Imagine – John Lennon
God Save the Queen – The Pistols
Stairway to Heaven – Zeppelin
Heroes – David Bowie
Tie: Walk on the Wild Side – Lou Reed / River – Joni Mitchell

Comments?

Ok now I cant stop going thru all these 70's tunes in my head, Fleetwood Mac Dreams, Joni Mitchel -free man in paris and maybe Gordon Lightfoots Edmund Fitzgerald (mainly because Gordie is in poor health).....