In The Category of Bands I Never Get Tired Of
Posted on March 23, 2007 Posted by John Scalzi 79 Comments
The Pretenders:
Chrissie Hynde’s voice and lyrics + James Honeyman-Scott’s guitar work = Never Goes Stale
Tell me who you never get tired of.
She’s too liberal.
P.s. I prefer Erasure.
“A Little Respect” is one of my favorite karaoke songs. No, seriously. Shut up, I can too sing. So there.
Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order is the best. Great tanked song.
Hmm… tops on my list is:
Mutual Admiration Society: Nickel Creek + Glen Phillips + John Paul Jones = amazing live concerts on Archive.org
A few years ago, my 18-year-old daughter (a fan of old school punk and New Wave) and I were in line at an Akron natural foods market. As an Akron native, I am disposed to recognize Ms. Hynde on sight. Which I did. In line right behind my daughter. We didn’t call her out, but when I brought her presence to my daughter’s attention I got the kind of saucer-eyed, head-rush expression that just makes you laugh.
There’s never a bad time to hear a Ramones song! Hearing “Blitzkrieg Bop” or “Rockaway Beach” always makes me happy, even if I have a machete lodged in my skull.
Does that happen often, COOP?
They’re not ‘whos’, they’re ‘whats’, but I never get tired of any version of Blue Moon or Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (sung by anybody).
K
David Bowie singing “Rock & Roll Suicide.”
Still haven’t adjusted to the fact that the song is 34 years old.
Anything by Anne Lennox. That woman can sing.
AC/DC. Never gets old. Never gets boring. Every time I hear “Dirty Deeds” I still like it just as much as the first time. And there hasn’t been a rock song written that couldn’t be improved by having Bon Scott scream “YAAAAHHHRRRRR!!!” at the end of it.
Saw her playing at the SXSW festival in Austin last year, weirdly enough for the first time ever. ‘Brass in Pocket’ and ‘Light in my Veins’ were as fresh and bright as any pop song ever. Good times.
Lyle Lovett opened for her, and frankly blew goats. Never play your slow contemplative songs for a seve hundred drunk people out behind a Texas barbeque joint. I’m a fan, and by the end I wasn’t even apologizing for him.
(‘Five Years’ is a better song than ‘Rock and Roll Suicide’, but only on the margin.)
As to who I never get tired of, I could hear Dylan singing “Tangled Up In Blue” every day, without difficulty. I may have it played at my funeral. It’s probably the only Dylan song where the canonical cover version (Indigo Girls) isn’t as good as the original.
I’m with Steve on Annie Lennox. I never think of putting something by her on, but when I hear her, I have to stop what I’m doing and listen.
Since I’m an irredeemable whore, I’ll also direct you to this re-cut of a Pretenders video I worked on We didn’t shoot the concert footage, but the flooding in evidence at the beginning is appropriate for your day in Ohio. It was an ugly, wet day. Enjoy.
The Blasters, The Ramones, and Sleater Kinney. Anyone one of them popping up on my iPod randomizer will suit whatever mood I’m in.
Bruce Springsteen
I like almost everything he’s done, from his early work to the current stuff.
Crazy — Patsy Cline
All Over You — Live
Desolation Row — Dylan
Diamonds And Rust — Joan Baez
Gimme Shelter — The Stones
Hell — Squirrel Nut Zippers
Words — Neil Young
Angel From Montgomery — John Prine
Black Hole Sun — Soundgarden
Molly — Biff Rose
God Bless The Child — Billy Holliday
Jimi Hendrix (The Whole Freakin’ Ouvre)
I Think It’s Going To Rain Today — Randy Newman
Eight Days A Week — The Beatles
No More Mr. Nice Guy — Alice Cooper
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) — The Proclaimers
In Dreams — Roy Orbison
Interstate Love Song — Stone Temple Pilots
Train In Vain — The Clash
You Better Move On — Willy DeVille
Abbey Road (From “You Never Give Me Your Money” through “The End”) — The Beatles.
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The above is 1/62 of 1% of the music I never get tired of.
Brian Eno.
But nothing of his since “The Drop.” His newer stuff’s been quite dull for the last 10 years, sadly.
Corrosion of Conformity, Alice in Chains, Pink Floyd
Never get tired of Mark Knopfler ever. Both solo and as Dire Straits. That guy is the best Goddammed guitar player in the history of the universe. I can listen to the solo at the end of the live version of Sultans of Swing over and over. Something about the sound of a Fender Stratocaster or that National Type 0 Resonator he plays.
ahhh, now I’ve got to go listen to some Down to the Waterline…
Nathan, yep, same with me. She’s just that kind of performer.
J.D. Finch, there’s a lot there, although I like other John Prine songs better (Sam Stone, Illegal Smile). And pretty much anything Randy Newman wants to play, i’ll listen to. And the Beatles, fuggetaboutit.
But I’ll add, Shelter From the Storm – Dylan, Sympathy for the Devil by the Stones, and Mozart (just about anything played well).
Damn, now I’m going to have to put on the headphones for the iPod.
Almost 24 years after I first heard “Radio Free Europe,” I’m still not tired of R.E.M.
The Band, Muddy Waters, Captain Beefheart (at least Clear Spot, which I think is a top 10 ever rock and roll record). Johnny Cash for his writing, singing and black suits–June Carter Cash for writing some of Johnny’s greatest songs. Oh yeah, Mario Lanza, the first great tenor singer I ever heard–blew me away when I was 9 years old. Flatt and Scrugg—they were the headliners at the first opening gig I ever played, on the roof of a drive-in theatre in Eastern Kentucky circa 1963. I was so nervous I kept dropping my guitar pick.
Oh man, there’s so many and I’m only nicking the surface. Lucinda Williams–a genius writer who sings heartbroke as good as it’s sung. John Lee Hooker who once asked me how to get to Johnston City, Tenneseee. ZZ Top, who I first saw in a big Houston bar–still ripping it after all these years. Of course, Hendrix, who remains a scary guitar player no matter how much time passes.
Speaking of dead before their time, Al Wilson from Canned Heat.
Gary Stewart, doomed proto-hillbilly country singer from my part of the woods. “She’s feeling Single, I’m Drinking Doubles” and “I got this Drinking thing” remain two of the songs that make me want to grab the whiskey and sing along.
I’ve had such an connection with so much of this music and some of the people who made it, it’s hard to divide it all.
So much great music out there and it’s so easy to access these days. Oh, don’t get me started. Yee haa..
Jeez… No votes for Mozart???
Have to agree about Brian Eno, especially “Here Come the Warm Jets.” I want that song played at my cremation, or when I’m burned at the stake. Whichever happens.
And the album he did with Phil Manzanera called “801 Live.”
Oh, and REM’s “Finest Worksong” is my psych-up song of choice.
Social Distortion’s “Story of My Life” comes up on the iPod at least once a day. Seeing Mike Ness perform it live is once of my favorite concert memories.
I pulled a quick count of most plays and highest rated by artist. All I can say is…My God, I’m more of chick than I ever realized.
In alphabetical order:
Alan Parsons Project
Astrud Gilberto
B.B. King
Ben Folds (in various combinations)
Johnny Cash
Mazzy Star
Patsy Cline
Polly Paulusma
Randy Newman
Sarah McLachlan
The Cure
The Ramones
U2
Marquee Moon by Television. Keep finding new things in the riffs!
I’m about to prove my age.
Crocodile Rock by Elton John.
You’re So Vain by Carly Simon.
Almost anything by the Moody Blues.
In My Life by the Beatles, or pretty much anyone else.
Dave Sorgen:
“Jeez… No votes for Mozart???”
What band was he in?
Tania:
Ohh, I love Mazzy Star. So Tonight That I Might See is a wonderful album.
Jim Wright:
I play “what’s the best song on the radio Right Now?” when I’m driving and Sultans of Swing wins whenever I catch it.
Two of my favorites are too new to have reached any sort of timelessness, but I think my ardor for The Magnetic Fields and The Submarines will last a long time. Probably The Dresden Dolls, too.
Others that have reached various forms of timelessness: Johnny Cash, Nirvana’s Unplugged, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Aimee Mann
Anything: Pink Floyd, Blondie, Quarterflash, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Moody Blues, Ian Anderson.
Most: The Who, The Doors, The Beatles. Harry Chapin (live only).
Soft Spot: Olivia Newton-John, Karen Carpenter. And Madonna.
Best Pipes: Annie Lenox.
Soundtracks: Titanic, Braveheart, Glory, Conan the Barbarian, Star Wars (before they were numbered), The Mask of Zorro, Hideous Kinky (even without getting perission for THE best song in the movie). LOTR.
One Album: Soundtrack to Wim Wender’s Until The End of the World.
Runner Up: Renaissance Live at Carnegie Hall. The whole thing wouldn’t fit on a C90 cassette, so I never heard the whole double-album until I bought the CD 25 years later.
Dr. Phil
Pat Benatar, my all time fave, she still makes albums every so often, still has the best voice going, IMHO.
Anything by Vivaldi.
Also, the Cosmos TV series soundtrack, cannot say how many times I have listened to it while reading.
Jeff
You already know this about me, but I’ll throw in a vote for Depeche Mode. ;)
for Dave Sorgen: Mozart? Eh, not really, actually. However:
Mendelssohn, first movement from the Italian Symphony
Prokofiev, the Lieutenant Kijé suite
Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s 9th
Ralph Vaughn-William’s The Lark Ascending
Any Rossinni overture
Those never get old.
For classical, well when I edit I play anything baroque. Nothing vocal, I get distracted by the lyrics when the brain is in “edit” mode.
I’ve had Aqualung by Jethro Tull stuck in my head all day long. I’m sure that the people at work were disturbed if they could hear me mumbling
Sitting on a park bench
eyeing little girls with bad intent.
Snot running down his nose
greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes
while working on a youth outreach proposal.
Lily Allen’s Alfie has been stuck in my head lately, mostly because I was playing it on repeat to make a statement to a friend. heh.
Last post for the night.
Me First & The Gimme Gimmies. Sure, they are a cover band. But I don’t care. I love ’em.
Marillion’s Script for a Jester’s Tears… Mmmmmmmm!
Just crossed my mind: John, do you have any soundtrack for your campaign? Something that you play in your mind while writing about it, something that will thunder in your computer’s speakers when you’ll here that you were elected? Just curious.
here = hear
I never tire of the original PRetenders, either.
MY personal “Never-Tired-Of Hearing” band is the Smithereens.
Well, Jeez. There’s a bunch.
As a genre, I could listen to dub all day long. Never get tired of tape delays, snares and kick on three and vocal dropouts.
Depeche Mode fo sho.
Cabaret Voltaire.
Richard H Kirk.
Autechre.
Fela Kuti (we’ve been listening to him for the past 3 days at the studio and I see no reason to stop)
Boards of Canada.
David Bowie’s Berlin era stuff.
Ultravox’s “Systems of Romance.” It’s permanently locked into my iPod’s.
I’ll have to check on this one later. It will no doubt have changed by then.
Oh, and early Simple Minds up to Sparkle in the Rain. Then they began a long path towards suck.
/delurk
Albums:
Robyn Hitchcock I Often Dream of Trains
Pink Floyd Echoes, Dark Side of the Moon, Animals
They Might Be Giants Flood
Tool Lateralus, 10,000 Days
Dire Straits Brothers in Arms
Peter Gabriel the meltface eponymous and Us
I have to agree with Dr. Phil:
the soundtrack to Wim Wenders Until the End of the World is a very good choice if you had to bring only a single album with you on that desert island.
/relurk
New Order up until about… Technique. Then they too began teh suck.
Gary Numan, too.
Me, I never tire of GNR, REM, Springsteen, Joe Jackson, and Counting Crows, which probably means I fit very nicely into my music demographic.
This also probably explains why I really like THE KILLER new album.
Bill
http://www.subterraneanpress.com
It’s hard to top “Ode to Joy” … I’ll take many different versions of that, myself (even that which shows up on my son’s Baby Einstein videos).
Genesis – Selling England by the Pound, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and A Trick of the Tail top the list, but I could listen to all but the their schmaltziest songs on a vast loop. (As an aside, I really dig Disturbed’s cover of “Land of Confusion,” even though they changed a line.)
Our Lady Peace – Spiritual Machines is a great “sci-fi” album with Ray Kurzweil-narrated interstitials, but I prefer the first three: Naveed, Clumsy, and Happiness Is Not A Fish You Can Catch.
Pink Floyd
Rush
Yes
Dream Theater
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Geez…the more I think about this the more I find. There’s really just too much good music out there if you look for it…
The Boys of the Lough — just about anything.
I’m not very mainstream though.
When I don’t know what else to listen to, I always go back to:
Yes
Genesis (pre-Invisible Touch)
Mozart
Sibelius
Miles Davis
I always find something there I never heard before, no matter how many times I’ve listened.
Post-punk SF Geek Speaks!
John, I could listen to ‘Brass in Pockets’ every day for the rest of my life.
my infiniplays, as of this moment –
Ride – Leave Them All Behind
Swervedriver – Son of Mustang Ford
Tsunami – Water’s Edge (a cover, but a great one)
Supremes – Reflections
The Wrens – Thirteen Grand
The Decemberists – Leslie Anne Levine (a truly sad and truly beautiful song)
David Bowie – Life on Mars?
Built to Spill – gosh to pick one … Carry the Zero (but anything from Perfect From Now On or Keep it Like a Secret)
Pixies – Gigantic, Into the White
Talib Kweli – Ms. Hill
Ella Fitzgerald – Wacky Dust, When I Get Low I get High
Elliott Smith – Angeles (first two albums are wall to wall greatness)
Flaming Lips – Waitin’ For Superman
The Smiths – How Soon is Now
Deerhoof – Matchbook Seeks Maniac
Cibo Matto – Sci-Fi Wasabi (gotta love the title)
Beulah – Your Mother Loves You Son
There’s more, but my son just hit the laptop with a hockey stick because “daddy is paying attention to the computer.”
Have a great day everyone, and thanks for the music thread JS.
With the caveat that I get tired of almost everything after some very large amount of listening, here’s my go-to list (in no particular order):
The Beatles
Joe Jackson
Elvis Costello
Genesis (pre-And Then There Were Three) plus the two guys who left (Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett)
The Decemberists
Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler
Bruce Springsteen
Steve Goodman
Renaissance
I’ve got everything on my ipod from Johnny Cash to AC/DC to Ice Cube. But when I don’t know what I want to listen to, I always hit the Steve Earle playlist.
There is a lot of music I don’t get tired of, actually, but here are my top three:
1. Old Motown hits
2. The Indigo Girls
3. Jimi Hendrix
Bruce A. I agree with your caveat. I’m the kind that now listens to music like I’ll watch movies, during a specific time and place that I try to set aside. The car is always one of those times!
I like pop music, but I never get tired of Iron Maiden.
From the top of my head:
Rush—Moving Pictures
Rush—Presto
Last Crack—Burning Time
Galactic Cowboys—Galactic Cowboys
Thin Lizzy—Life/Live
Arena—Contagion
Queensryche—Operation Mindcrime (the original one from 1989: stay away from the sequel!)
Blue Murder—Blue Murder
Dalbello—She
Voivod—Nothingface
Drive—Diablero
Fear of God—Within the Veil
Fear Factory—Demanufacture
Midnight Oil—Scream in Blue
Marillion—Clutching at Straws
Savatage—Streets
Savatage—Wake of Magellan
Kansas—King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents
Warrior Soul—Salutations from the Ghetto Nation
Skyclad—A Semblance of Normality
And almost anything from Threshold, although right now I’m playing their just released album Dead Reckoning
Folk catagory:
Joni Mitchell
Best Gutairist:
Michael Schenker/UFO
Best Electronica:
Juno Reactor
Best Brit Pop:
Ride, Lush
Other things I never get tired of:
U2 shows. I have been to everyone since The Joshua Tree tour.
AND MAN! I do not see The Violent Fems listed here either..I NEVER get tired hearing them.
I can ramble on and on but the ones listed are off the top of my head.
I take John’s question literally: who do you never get tired of? Whose stuff do you pretty much no matter what, whenever it comes on, the weak stuff and the strong?
It’s not the same as asking “who do you like” or even “who do you think is great.” I like Lyle Lovett a lot, but I’m not always in the mood. Brian Eno is a titanic genius, but while there are Eno albums I love, there are others I’d pay to never hear again. The Magnetic Fields are utterly brilliant (and the show of theirs I saw a year or two ago was one of the most remarkable live performances I’ve ever seen) but it’s hard to imagine always being in the mood for stuff that quirky. (And yet Patti Smith is on my “always” list. Go figure.) I’m a great fan of R.E.M. and U2, but both of them have put out an album or three that I almost never want to hear; while, conversely, the short-lived late-70s New Wave group Television is immortal for me, possibly because they went poof right after making two nearly-perfect albums. (I could listen to “Ain’t That Something” all day.) More recently, The Decembrists might ultimately make my “never get tired of” list, but who whows? And Wilco’s new album Sky Blue Sky (forthcoming in May; I have Sources) is blowing my mind, as we crazy kids used to say, but I don’t yet know if it’s an infatuation or True Love.
Here’s a (necessarily partial) list of my “durable goods”:
The Beatles
The Byrds
Richard Thompson
Thelonious Monk
Django Reinhardt
Duke Ellington
Barenaked Ladies
Kate Rusby
Television
The Who
Warren Zevon
Patti Smith
Rather interesting to see the bands/musicians people have listed here. I suspect we can guess age of the posters by the music they love? It has been great, being reminded of things I haven’t heard in years :)
My favs, in no particular order
INXS (when Michael was fronting)
Prince
Simple Minds
Bif Naked
Pink
Alanis Morissette
Talk Talk
Annie Lennox
Yes
Jethro Tull
Ahh…so much music…I am going to have to make a new mp3 cd for my car! Thanks for reminding me of bands I love :)
Yikes – too many bands too little time
Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin
Rush
Pink Floyd
Stevie Ray Vaughan
The Rolling Stones
Genesis (pre-schmaltz)
Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!
Jethro Tull
Porcupine Tree
Gov’t Mule
The Who
Yes, U2
Warren Zevon
BB, Muddy, Albert, and The Wolf
Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, B.O.C., Black Sabbath (bang that head that does not bang)
Camel
Caravan
The White Stripes
And god bless Chrissie Hynde’s liberal, animal-hugging heart
Right now I’m listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash…I love David Crosby.
The Beatles.
Warren Zevon
Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert
Janis Ian
Janis Joplin
Joni Mitchell
Joan Baez
Judy Collins (and all those other “j” white girls with guitar…
I forgot Tom Smith…you can’t forget Tom Smith. Anybody who can both write a song like “A Boy and His Frog” AND do a soundtrack for “Girl Genius” is too cool for words.
(If you don’t know Tom go to tomsmithonline.com. You won’t regret it.
John, thank you for opening your comments to these wonderful people’s playlists… So many great songs, so many great bands, so many great artists… Spent the whole day jumping from a disk rack to the other, based on suggestions made here. I think I’m not going to ask myself what to listen for a long time. Thanks a lot, folks…
right on! chrissie hynde is timeless and it is more evident as time passes. chrissie is an unusual presence of midwest malcontent and and white soul mixed with her uk punk roots….and whoa! that voice…..people will discover her years later because her vocals mixed with her emotive range is a keeper….she’s still amazing!
What? No love for Shane and the boys? All right then, I’ll be the first to speak up for The Pogues.
Country music, 1920 to the heyday of the Louvin Brothers.
Congo, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana.
Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, Satch Plays Fats.
Cuba.
Mississippi.
Tom Waits, Swordfishtrombones-present
Motown.
Parliament, “Mothership Connection” and “Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome.”
Funkadelic, “Maggot Brain” with Eddie Hazel.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, those Rick Rubin-produced cuts where it sounds like they turned up the mikes just a *little* too loud.
Marvin Gaye, “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).”
Ok, I’ll stop.
There’s lots of albums I’ll never get tired of, and many individual songs likewise, but I can only think of one artist for which you could put on any cut from any album and I’d be happy:
Joe Henry.
Most of just thought “Who?”, which is one of the tragedies of modern music. Ah well. You can probably find something by him at a well-stocked used cd store, and you should.
If I had ever had any doubts about being part of The Over-The-Hill Gang, this discussion would remove them. Although, if I am objective, I have to admit that I was out of touch with my own generation, as shown by the title of the first record ever purchased with my own money – Ravel’s Bolero.
My personal addictions include:
Money – ABBA However, I have to admit that I like almost everything ABBA did.
Memory – Barbra Streisand I could never understand why people raved about Streisand until I was driving home at 3AM after solving a crisis on the production line and this piece came on the radio. I literally pulled over and stopped the car so I could listen without distraction.
Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – Any of several recordings
Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony – Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karlos Klieber Almost any performance of the Seventh is worth a listen, but this performance falls into the “once in a lifetime” category.
Dvorak’s Ninth (New World) Symphony – Any of several recordings
Sing, Sing, Sing – The 1938 Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall performance with Gene Krupa on the drums A recording that makes me cry that modern technology was not there to record it, and that the live performance took place before I was born.
Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto – Van Cliburn Objectively, there may be other performances as good or better, but this one has been locked into my psyche for so long that I cannot be objective.
With best wishes,
– Tom –
Steve G – Yay, Joe Henry! Anyone who can get Ornette Coleman to play for him as a session guy has a serious amount of teh awesome. There was also a good profile/interview in the Believer a couple of months back.
Several I forgot:
Richard Thompson, any band, any incarnation. Preferably live, for my taste. (Note to self: stop saying you’re going to learn Hots for the Smarts and just do it, already :-)
The soundtrack from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Ookla the Mok, particularly Less Than Art (Arthur Curry earworms me like few other songs do). (I am informed this CD is being remixed for a possible May release. Consider this pimpage :-)
Nobody mentions Devo!
(Until now.)
Tragically Hip
Sufjan Stevens
Doves
JD Finch – 500 Miles is presently No 1 over here (admittedly, its a charity record with Peter Kay and Matt Lucas as well as Craig and Charlie, but still not bad for a song that’s almost 20 years old)
As for the rest
Genesis – Get ’em out by Friday
Iron Maiden – Paschendale
Duke Ellington – Black, Brown & Beige
Dylan – Forever Young
Police – King of Pain
Madonna – Crazy for You
Alice Cooper – Elected
Steely Dan – Show biz kids
Johnny Cash – Hurt
Mike Westbrook – I see thy form (my absolute favourite, they’ll play it at my funeral and you’ve never heard it)
Mary Chapin Carpenter – C’mon C’mon
AC/DC – Whole lotta Rosie
Led Zepplin – Rock ‘n’ Roll
Any version of Downbound Train
Mussorgsky – The Great Gates of Kiev
Satie – Tres gymnopedies
Rodney Crowell – Ain’t livin long like this
and finally…
Free – All Right Now
And I guess I am. Thanks for everybody’s suggestions.
She’s been around a short time; however, Carrie Underwood has sung nothing yet that I would ever tire of
She’s been around a short time; however, Carrie Underwood has sung nothing yet that I would ever tire of
Stacey Kent (www.staceykent.com) and Jim Tomlinson (www.jimtomlinson.net)
Husband and wife jazz singer and saxophonist.
Bonnie Raitt: Louise, Dimming of the Day, Since I Fell for You
Peter Gabrielle: Secret World
Elton John: Mona Lisa, Funeral for a Friend, Love Song, many of the old Bernie Taupin lyrics
Suzanne Vega: 99.9, Headshots, Love Made Real,
I’ve got my teenage sons and nieces hooked on some of these too. Old Fogies music lives!
“Steve Buchheit | March 23, 2007 10:45 PM
J.D. Finch, there’s a lot there, although I like other John Prine songs better (Sam Stone, Illegal Smile)”
I could be convinced to substitute Hello In There for my original choice.
#
“Martyn Taylor | March 26, 2007 04:37 PM
JD Finch – 500 Miles is presently No 1 over here (admittedly, its a charity record with Peter Kay and Matt Lucas as well as Craig and Charlie, but still not bad for a song that’s almost 20 years old)”
Re your list:
King Of Pain? Yes!
But for Mussorgsky? I’m going with Pictures At An Exhibition. Never fails to provide a chill or two.
As does All Right Now by Free. (Which is always a good way to end a mix tape, no?)