Charts

I was unfortunate enough to watch a rather large swathe of VH1's '500 Great British Songs' over the Easter weekend. It started honestly enough, with the hope that maybe some good songs would be anywhere near where they really should be in the grand scheme of things. But as more and more George Michael, Elton John and Robbie Williams dross grabbed said chart by the knackers and squeezed the life out of it, the more I started to lose my faith in humanity's varied and frightening boat and all who sail in her. Can this honestly be a true reflection of what the majority of the general public (whoever they are) believe is good music? The nadir was reached when Will Young's 'Leave Right Now' was found entrenched at the lofty pinnacle of number 15. Number 15! To put this travesty in a clearer light, Will was fifty places higher than 'Blue Monday' by New Order, and almost one hundred and fifty places higher than 'Space Oddity' by David Bowie. I mean, what the fuck? Who the hell compiled this list? What were the exact criteria they utilised to come to this cataclysmic conclusion?

I'm still in shock.

And so, as a form of exorcism I suppose, I sat down last night and decided to compile some charts of my own. A top five hundred was out of the question because, when all is said and done, it would take me bloody ages to come to any sort of ordered list on that kind of magnitude. I'd be lucky if I could even think of five hundred songs. So I kept it simple. Three top tens: Films, Albums, and Artists (you can take their whole back catalogue!) all looked at from the classic Desert Island Discs viewpoint. So here we go, time to put my taste in the public domain. And I must stress that these top tens are in no particular order. That's another post entirely.

Films

Se7en
Star Wars: A New Hope
Lord Of The Rings (all three)
Spirited Away
The Matrix
The Blair Witch Project
Withnail & I
Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
Grosse Pointe Blank
Man On The Moon

Albums

Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Ride - Going Blank Again
Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Elliott Smith - Either/Or
Goldie - Timeless
LTJ Bukem - Logical Progression

Artists

Underworld
New Order
Bob Dylan
The Smiths
The Flaming Lips
Ride
The Stone Roses
Bjork
Neil Young
Radiohead
(REM fell off the back of this chart, let down by their last album. Upsetting.)

So there we go. That's my soul well and truly bared for all the world to see. Notice how Keane aren't in there, anywhere. Or Will Young. If anybody fancies mailing me with their top tens in no particular order fell free and I'll put them on here. It'll be nice for me to get a realistic impression of what my fellow bloggies love and cherish, so if you fancy it either chuck your lists in the comments box, or email me.

And I still haven't got a notebook.