I'm more of a meddling pain in the backside than a wizard, Mr Sandman, but thanks anyway!
Right, here we go:
Disc One
1. ABC - 'All of my heart' - Contrary to my C.H.U.M.S vote, but this is about me and my life, and this song came out during my high school days, and seemed to be on the radio constantly. This is a slick song from a slick album. Totally 80s.
2. Bowie - 'Heroes' - Genius. Every time he's reinvented himself he's always sounded brilliant, and this tune is just pure Bowie.
3. Sam Cooke - 'Wonderful world' - This man was a truly great artist, and although this was not his best song, it was re-released along with the 501 jeans ad campaign (1986) and reminds of me of a fantastic year and a fantastic time in my life.
4. Terence Trent D'Arby - 'If you let me stay' - great album, and this is a great song, which he introduced to the British public during a stunning set on The Tube. Shame he couldn't follow up his debut 'Hardline...' album with a worthy successor, but with an album this good it was always going to be difficult. If I remember correctly, when he appeared live on The Tube, he went down such a storm that he was allowed to perform more songs and ran well over his allotted time, forcing the other scheduled acts onto the following week's show!
5. Eve 6 - 'Victoria' - The Sandman introduced me to this American rock band a few years ago, and I've been listening to them ever since. I could pick a different 'favourite' track for every day of the month, but right now my favourite one of theirs is this one. Taken from their 2012 album 'Speak in code', on which there really are no bad tracks. The depth of their quality can be measured by a couple of tunes that would easily have made it onto the album, yet they decided to offer them simply as bonus tracks for iTunes customers in a: "Meh, these are just few numbers we chucked together" kind of way. Brilliant band, and very talented songwriters. Cheers, Sandy!
6. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - 'Two Tribes (Annihilation mix)' - A fantastic remix that I played to death back in the greatest school summer hols I ever had (1984). Myself and some mates spent pretty much the entire Summer holidays that year camping out in what we called 'the valley' between Offerton Estate and Marple Road, with a handful of tents crammed with mates, with camp fires and jacket spuds wrapped in foil. Oh, and an endless stream of batteries for the ghetto blaster, banging out tunes like this into the early hours with no houses within a mile of us to worry about!
7. Godley & Creme - 'Cry' - great song, great lyrics, and a stunning video for its time.
8. Terry Hall - 'I Saw the Light' - great cover of the Todd Rundgren classic, from Terry's second solo album 'Laugh'. Terry was the frontman of The Specials, The Fun Boy Three and the Colourfield, and he's been an idol of mine since I was a kid. Criminally underrated artist in my opinion, with a unique voice and an incredible songwriting talent, he has always managed to command respect in every era that he's contributed to. Currently still performing with The Specials following their reunion, I really hope they do some more dates in the North West, because I really have to see them before they decide to call it a day again.
9. INXS - 'Disappear' - INXS were an incredibly underrated band, and Michael Hutchence was a fantastic rock singer with a genuinely brilliant old-school stage presence. I was gutted when he was found dead, and having read the official biography of the band cvalled: 'Story to Story', you get to realise what a troubled spirit he had become in the last few years of his life. To anyone remotely interested in the band, I can't recommend the book enough. This song is the best of the lot from them, and one of my favourite songs of all time, it's just got that something that makes me want to crank it up every time I hear it. I go through phases with my music, and I'm currently going through my catalogue of Ska, but I can listen to this song any time.
10. Howard Jones - 'No one is to blame' - A great song with seriously great lyrics. Not one of his biggest hits, but certainly his best song in my opinion.
11. Keane - 'Somewhere only we know' - Just a fantastic tune, in spite of Lily Allen's attempts at giving it a Military funeral complete with gun salute and a bugler.
12. Human League - 'Love Action' - In spite of my C.H.U.M.S vote for Led Zep, I just had to put these in. Phil Oakey had the greatest voice of the electronic era by far, and because I wanted these and Terry Hall in my list, these are my 'L', albeit a loose one.
13. Madness - 'Uncle Sam' - There are sooooo many great tunes by the Nuttys, but 'Uncle Sam' is a brilliant song with brilliant video. Having said that, when did they ever make a bad song or video?!), and the yanks hated it - so what's not to like!
Disc Two
1. New Radicals - 'You Get What You Give' - I can't pick anything else from 'N', and although I voted for them in the C.H.U.M.S 'N' category (pretty much because there really wasn't anyone else), I really can take or leave New Order. I just couldn't see myself ever putting them onto a CD of my choosing. Anyway, as one hit wonders go, 'You Get What You Give' is up there with the best of them.
2. OMD - 'Talking Loud & Clear' - There's loads of stuff I like by them. 'Enola Gay' is a classic, and although it wasn't the first record I ever 'bought', it was the first one I actually bought with my own money, at the record department that was upstairs at Neild & Hardy's on Princes Street no less. However, 'Talking Loud & Clear' remains my first choice because it's another song that reminds me of that best Summer of my school days in '84.
3. Prince - '1999' - The guy is a multi-talented genius, and I remember hearing this on the radio for the first time and thinking "who the hell is this guy?" but what a great sound he had. Any time it comes on a radio I just have to turn it up. To say he's a strange character is an understatement. There's nobody more complex than him, and while he may only be a small bloke he made big tunes, and they don't come any bigger than this!
4. Queen - 'Breakthru' - Yeah the chorus is a rip-off of 'Boys of Summer' by Don Henley, and it isn't the biggest hit they've had, but I just love this tune. The way it starts off and then bursts into life like a speeding train is just brilliant, and it's a great song to have on in a car or on my walkman. Also, and although it's not really relevant to its inclusion on a CD, it really does tie-in well with the video that sees the band 'performing' the song on top of the speeding 'Miracle Express' train.
5. Roxy Music - 'Oh Yeah' - Another artist with a shed load of classics I could choose from, but this is just Bryan Ferry & Roxy at their very best. Another song from a great time in my life. A mate I worked with back in the mid-80s borrowed me the 'Street life - 20 Greatest Hits' (yeah another Ferry 'best of) album, and that was the first time I really got into them, this song in particular being one of my favourites. I managed to get a couple of my mates into them too after that.
6. The Specials - 'Skinhead Symphony' - from the flip side of the 1980 'Too much too young' EP that was topping the charts when Sandy was born - The Ska revival of '79 hit the charts at a time when it was badly needed, and Jerry Dammers' 2-Tone label provided the platform for a number of bands to join in the fun and get themselves heard. Dammers' own band, The Special AKA started it all off with 'Gangsters', and after a slight renaming of the band to 'The Specials', they went on to become THE live band to see for the best part of the next two years. Two years, two albums and 7 hit singles later it was all over. No documentaries or explanations are needed for those unfamiliar with the band, this medley of first generation Ska classics is The Specials in a nutshell.
7. Trashcan Sinatras - 'Obscurity Knocks' - Although I picked Talking Heads in C.H.U.M.S for their extensive catalogue of quality tracks, this is a personal CD for me that should reflect myself and my life. This song just about broke into the UK top 100 when it came out and faded away under the radar back in 1990. I just remember hearing it every day on Signal Cheshire (or was it KFM in those days?), and it took me ages to be able to finally catch the DJ announcing who it was. I bought the 12" single and the album it was taken from and played them both to death. The band is still to this day fronted by Frank Reader (the brother of Fairground Attraction's Eddi Reader). I even ended up buying it on a Japanese import CD in later years too for good measure. A real hidden gem this tune.
8. Ultravox - 'Vienna' - Yes it's an obvious choice, but it's THE obvious choice. Brilliantly atmospheric song that reflected that era, brilliant group, brilliant lead singer and songwriter. I had the Cassette of 'The Collection' given to me as a Christmas present back in 1984 along with a Walkman, and I didn't change cassettes for months, eventually ending up wearing it out. Luckily, the digital age wasn't too far away, and I ended up buying it again on CD and hammering that too!
9. The Verve - 'Bittersweet Symphony' - Ok, so they used Andrew Loog Oldham's version of the Rolling Stones classic 'The Last Time', but it's still a monumental tune!
10. Wet Wet Wet - 'Wishing I Was Lucky' - Great song, great voice - sue me!
11. XTC - 'Senses Working Overtime' - Great tune from the 80s, when Top Of The Pops used to be on TV, and in the days when almost every artist on the show was ace!
12. Yazoo - 'The Other Side Of Love' - Great tune from one of electronic genius Vince Clarke's vast locker, with the brilliant Alison Moyet on lead vocals.
13. Warren Zevon - 'Werewolves Of London' - I absolutely love this tune. Many of you will know it or have heard it, either from the famous scene in The Color Of Money, or from that awful mash up along with 'Sweet Home Alabama' that became 'All Summer Long' by Kid Rock. He should have been bloody shot for that!
And there you have it, Ladies & Gents!