My Top 500 Songs (complete!!)

I imagine Fragma were a big part of the provincial club circuit in the early 00s but actually they started out quite differently - the original “Toca Me” was a huge club hit played by all the top DJs. Personally I love all the versions because that hook is just so hypnotic.

For me, and as someone who isn’t really a fan of hard trance, the In Petto remix of Toca Me is otherworldly. I remember hearing that in Cream at Amnesia in Ibiza in 1999 with Pete Tong on the decks and it remains one of my most memorable club moments of my life. Absolutely transcendent.
 
35 Cher - Believe (1998)

Another song that changed everything: brought the futuristic sound of the vocoder to the forefront of popular music; gave Cher a third generation of fans and an eternal legacy and became one of the best selling songs of all time.

The background is remarkably convoluted, but after existing for the best of a decade in various forums, offered to other artists (including Saint Etienne), rewritten, the famous autotune addition, it took a famous trip to the National Lottery studio, blew our minds, beat a series of legends to the top of the charts and then made a shimmering twink famous for seven weeks as the performance was replayed every week on Top of the Pops.

It set a benchmark for what an old diva could do, but also what was acceptable in the charts. I would say WHEN WILL YOUR FAVES? but I truly believe no one here hates Cher and if they do FEED THEM TO THE PIGS.



 
I thought she was older than actual time when she released that.. now, not so much.
 
Cher has had a top 40 hit for the last 7 decades. She is absolutely amazing!
 
Agneeta said:
38 Lasgo - Something (2002)

More thrilling early 00s slamming trance, and I must admit that I'm running out of things to say, and also gutted @ButterTart gave up on this topic.

Drama, melancholy, synths, hypnotic, shimmering, throbbing... I'm out.

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I always kinda forget how much I like this until something or someone reminds me to play it. It always feels like a song early Kate Ryan would have tried to get her hands on.
 
34 Grace - Not Over Yet (1993/ 1995)

Stop everything!

Is basically the message of this song. Anyone who accuses or parodies 90s dance as being light and fluffy, then Not Over Yet is the evidence against. The sheer drama of the famous riff is the sound of all four emergency services coming to rescue a relationship on the edge of existence.

The desperate lyrics are given a scintillating, thrilling yet ethereal up-lift by vocalist Patti Low (Dominique Atkins on later versions). It's all just such musical turmoil, you end up drawn right in.

I don't actually mind The Klaxons version, it kept the drama, but brought in something new.



 
Love the floaty Enya style bit in the middle of Not Over Yet before it kicks back in. It feels like it was a bigger success than number 6. I remember Grace did a bunch of follow ups but I can't recall if any of them were any good.
 
33 Real McCoy - Another Night (1993/1994)

More infectious than measles, rumour has it mums organise Real McCoy parties to spread the joie de vivre amongst their children.

It doesn't hide, or creep up on you, it feeds you unfiltered, pure europop from the opening note to close. Not even the horrendous incestuous lyrics in the rap put me off.

I am your lover, your brother
Hey, sister, let me cover
Your body with my love

Wut?

 
32 Lykke Li - Gunshot (The Shoes vs San Zhi Remix) (2014)

I expect most casual viewers of this topic will be somewhat baffled, by this largely unknown track appearing here so high. Some may recall I entered it for ASFM. It was buried somewhere in the middle, with one comment from @Lucille something to the effect "oh not tropical house" (which it really isn't) and it was dead and buried.

To be clear, I don't care for the original, this remix is everything. The lyrics are bleak (references to poison and cancer, in the context of heartbreak). The remix is all gay indie disco at it's most pleasurable. Kill me, but do it with disco ball.

 
Sardonicus said:
Love the floaty Enya style bit in the middle of Not Over Yet before it kicks back in. It feels like it was a bigger success than number 6. I remember Grace did a bunch of follow ups but I can't recall if any of them were any good.
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They're all pretty decent, if in a fairly similar vein. They all went top 40, so good for them.
 
31 Kylie Minogue - The One (2008)

This flopped. I repeat, this flopped in almost every market it was released in. Hard to even comprehend, knowing how beloved it is by not just the fans but Kylie herself. She acknowledged this herself when I saw her perform it at Brighton Pride.

I could wax lyrical about everything that makes it great, but really just lie back and let the confidence/ desperation of the track wash over you, and then put the Freemasons Remix on repeat for 8 hours. I love the cheap last minute art deco video too. It really is THE ONE.



 
Just THIRTY SONGS left. Can't believe it's almost over.

Coming up, a bit of indie-dance to break up proceedings (sort of), one of the most famous songs ever recorded, and just a barrel load of glittering dance classics.
 
Agneeta said:
31 Kylie Minogue - The One (2008)

This flopped. I repeat, this flopped in almost every market it was released in. Hard to even comprehend, knowing how beloved it is by not just the fans but Kylie herself. She acknowledged this herself when I saw her perform it at Brighton Pride.

I could wax lyrical about everything that makes it great, but really just lie back and let the confidence/ desperation of the track wash over you, and then put the Freemasons Remix on repeat for 8 hours. I love the cheap last minute art deco video too. It really is THE ONE.



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This marks the exact moment I realised I had aged out of knowing what a sure fire hit was, and I think it started the more general loosening of my interest in the pop charts. Which is to say, I think Kylie should have to pay for all my therapy past the date of this release.
 
Agneeta said:
Just THIRTY SONGS left. Can't believe it's almost over.

Coming up, a bit of indie-dance to break up proceedings (sort of), one of the most famous songs ever recorded, and just a barrel load of glittering dance classics.
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There's 3 songs that I'd be VERY surprised to not see in your top 5.
 
funky said:
I imagine Fragma were a big part of the provincial club circuit in the early 00s but actually they started out quite differently - the original “Toca Me” was a huge club hit played by all the top DJs. Personally I love all the versions because that hook is just so hypnotic.

For me, and as someone who isn’t really a fan of hard trance, the In Petto remix of Toca Me is otherworldly. I remember hearing that in Cream at Amnesia in Ibiza in 1999 with Pete Tong on the decks and it remains one of my most memorable club moments of my life. Absolutely transcendent.
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this is one of the clubbiest posts I have ever read
 
The fact I never cared for clubbing does somewhat depersonalise the higher reaches of this beloved countdown.
 
Agneeta said:
They're all pretty decent, if in a fairly similar vein. They all went top 40, so good for them.
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Aren't they JUST, I remember buying them ALL

I can't believe I EVER SAID I WOULD DIE FOR YOU
Your EYES do more than KILL
I WANT TO LIVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO
 
Yeah, Not Over Yet is absolutely on the podium of 90s dance for me.

The One was Kylie on New Order levels of conjuring life-affirming beauty from numbness and despair.
 
30 ABBA - Dancing Queen (1976)

Well, well, well, one of most recognisable songs of all time, that for fifty glorious years has done the job of dancefloor staple, wherever you are, whoever you are.

Is it their best song? In it's favour it immortalises that moment in youth, when the world is at your feet and for a fleeting moment you feel the excesses and joy of youth. That ABBA bottled that feeling in a song is a remarkable testament.

Musically it barely gives you time to compose yourself, before the next soaring piano lift, stunning harmonisation and assault with emotional glitter. The confidence of a track that opens with the chorus, is telling that they knew what they had and contemporary evidence suggests that was indeed the case.

To argue against it being their best song - I don't have much except there's still two ABBA tracks to go. I don't really read much into the overplay argument - ABBA's music has aged immaculately. I guess as a dancefloor staple, it's had the indignity of many a sticky dance floor, hen nights, embarassing Prime Minister dancing - but who cares? It's also had the highs.

We've all had a moment to this somewhere at some point. Don't deny it, it gives you permission, let it happen. You CAN dance.

 
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Agneeta said:
32 Lykke Li - Gunshot (The Shoes vs San Zhi Remix) (2014)

I expect most casual viewers of this topic will be somewhat baffled, by this largely unknown track appearing here so high. Some may recall I entered it for ASFM. It was buried somewhere in the middle, with one comment from @Lucille something to the effect "oh not tropical house" (which it really isn't) and it was dead and buried.

To be clear, I don't care for the original, this remix is everything. The lyrics are bleak (references to poison and cancer, in the context of heartbreak). The remix is all gay indie disco at it's most pleasurable. Kill me, but do it with disco ball.

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i love this so so much
 
29 Baby D - Let Me Be Your Fantasy (1992/1994)

I can't think of a better song to follow up DQ.

I'll let a Guardian review from 2011 (sourced from Wiki - I don't care) explain, as I couldn't put it better myself (remember when the Guardian was good?)

The lyrics are essentially a QVC infomercial for the eroto-psychedelic effects of ecstasy – 'Lotions of love flow through your hands / See visions, colours every day' – and the music is shamelessly designed to intensify drug experiences. The junglist breakbeats keep the energy high, while the big piano chords and yearning vocals are like a head massage from some bloke you just met but nevertheless now feel a deeper kinship with than your immediate family"

I was 14 and felt none of that, but what a banger!

And no mention of Baby D should go by without mentioning that the singer Dee Fearon's daughter was on BBC reality mess Over The Rainbow and is now a reasonably accomplished West End star.

 
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28 Underworld - Born Slippy (1996)

LAGER LAGER LAGER!

Often misconstrued as a LADS ANTHEM, rather, according to Karl Hyde a reflection of his own alcoholism. Few songs of the era of reflect the often disastrous hedonism of the era, that left a generation of burnt out middle aged men, bitter far right guys in flat caps, and the rest of us survivors as cautionary tales for a youth starring into a bleak future.

The track itself, was experimental, but once the mainstream unlocked access via Trainspotting, we understood it as an outrageously intense, chaotic, euphoric, banger. One of Mr Ag's 90s favourites.

I have joyous memories to stomping around to this in the local indie club at the time. Happy (sort of) days.

 
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Born Slippy has a visceral effect on me, and I'm not sure it's entirely musical. I remember going to see Trainspotting at 18 and having my eyes opened WIDE to a side of the UK I didn't even know existed, while just being completely blown away by the broader themes of what being a teenager in the 90s felt like. This song became completely attached to that and has stayed with me in ways I can't fully describe, but I do know I've had some emotional CLUBBY MOMENTS - @Suomi - to this over the years.

I also remember having a visceral moment in Trainspotting 2 when the song played, and again, attached to the feeling of being in your 40s in the 2010s and how distant and yet familiar being young feels. There's a moment when he puts on his record player in his old bedroom and has to kick it off because he can't handle the pain/joy of the memory and that had such an impact on me. It's weird because I never lived anything close to the life of the characters in Trainspotting, but Irvine Welsh and Danny Boyle created something that really spoke to a generation.

Anyway I digress. The song is AMAZING.
 
funky said:
Born Slippy has a visceral effect on me, and I'm not sure it's entirely musical. I remember going to see Trainspotting at 18 and having my eyes opened WIDE to a side of the UK I didn't even know existed, while just being completely blown away by the broader themes of what being a teenager in the 90s felt like. This song became completely attached to that and has stayed with me in ways I can't fully describe, but I do know I've had some emotional CLUBBY MOMENTS - @Suomi - to this over the years.

I also remember having a visceral moment in Trainspotting 2 when the song played, and again, attached to the feeling of being in your 40s in the 2010s and how distant and yet familiar being young feels. There's a moment when he puts on his record player in his old bedroom and has to kick it off because he can't handle the pain/joy of the memory and that had such an impact on me. It's weird because I never lived anything close to the life of the characters in Trainspotting, but Irvine Welsh and Danny Boyle created something that really spoke to a generation.

Anyway I digress. The song is AMAZING.
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Agreed with everything there. Although for me, it's tied closer to the personal pleasure I got from it than by association with anything greater. That gorgeous long hot summer of 1996 and then starting sixth form and going to clubs and pubs. It felt tailor made for the experience
 
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