2000 – PJ Harvey. Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea

So do you file under P or H? I file under P (band not individual, though some may disagree…)

What a way to start the Millennium! I love PJ Harvey – not everything she/they have ever done, but lots and lots of it. And this is definately the best. Most commercial too ~ easier on the ear! Though I can think of may occasions when the noise of the likes of ‘Who the fuck?’ is most appropriate!

Fav song – Good Fortune. or perhaps This Mess we’re in.

2005 – Madonna vs. Goldfrapp

Madonna – Confessions on a Dance Floor or Goldfrapp – Supernature

Ooh La La; difficult. Both iconic – though Madonna may have the upper hand in those stakes! Both albums remind me of Singapore – as they were the only music a bought during an extended stay in Singapore for work.

Fav Maddy song on that album – Sorry.

Fav Goldfrapp – Ooh La La.

… But if I had to choose between them – oh god this is difficult – Madonna. (Goldfrapp I’m sure are going to go on to produce works of wonder; but Madonna – if current offerings are anything to go by… is heading down the pan).

1978 – Parallel Lines by Blondie

The First album I ever bought – how cool is that! I can remember being in Woolworths record dept and torn between ABBA Voulez-Vous or Blondie Parallel Lines to spend my birthday money on (which means it must have been 1979 since this is when Voulez-Vous was out). So that was a narrow escape! I spent hours listening to this on headphones from a big ’70s hifi – one of those flat wide ones with the perspex top. (I also listened to an LP of music from The King & I none stop about the same time  – and there began my eclectic taste in music).

But back to Blondie – that same summer I got a big poster of Debbie Harry that I won at a fair and had on my wall…

Fav. song – “Heart of Glass”.

1978 – other possibilities: The Man-Machine by Kraftwerk. I listened to this recently and it’s amazing. You’d never think it was recorded so long ago.  

1971 – not so easy! Tapestry by Carole King

Oh Blimey, this is actually going to be really difficult. Just realised the amazing Tapestry by Carole King was out in 1971 – though I didn’t discover it until 1987 during a summer of illicit explorations with my girlsfriend’s ex-girlfriend and her mother’s record collect. umm. Now there’s memory! …this top 40 is going to be very revealing at this rate!

Packed with hits and memorable songs recorded by loads of people since.

Favourite song on the album – “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”

1989 Doolittle by The Pixies

1989. Doolittle by The Pixies

This has to be one of the best albums EVER. Includes Debaser and Monkey Gone To Heaven. This is getting-really-to-go-out music at it’s best. I saw The Pixies live at Aston Villa Leisure Centre in Birmingham, must have been about the same time this album was out and they were awesome. Happy days. Album peaked at No.8 in UK charts (if Wikipedia can be trusted).  

1971 – an easy year?

1971. Imagine by John Lennon.

Thought I’d start with an easy year to pick as this album contains one of my fav songs ever, which would be, funnily enough, Imagine. I can’t remember this album from the time obviously, being only 3 years old! I’m a big Bealtles fan, and particularly like John Lennon’s contributions to the band as well as his solo stuff. It’s not my favourite John Lennon album – that would be Shaved Fish, the compliation album from about 1974. But I haven’t decided yet if I’ll include compilations in the Top 40 or not – it seems like cheating! …Though there have been some spectacular compilation albums – think, Louder than Bombs by The Smith…

So maybe I should pick Shaved Fish as my John Lennon album and save 1971 for something else?…