#ArtistFave15 14 Siouxsie And The Banshees Not Forgotten | 1995 A track from their last album The Rapture. This percussion-heavy monster sounds like prime Banshees. youtu.be/iCt7RH7JnVc

#REMtop30 Here’s the expanded playlist of the top sixty tracks voted for in the challenge. Sorry for the delay in posting and thanks again to everyone who participated. open.spotify.com/playlist/1xd...

#REMtop30 Here’s the final playlist of the thirty most popular tracks as voted for in the challenge. Time constraints meant that I couldn’t finish the expanded Top 60 playlist yesterday but that should follow tomorrow. Thanks again to all who participated. open.spotify.com/playlist/7bM...

#90sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) Sabotage | Beastie Boys | 1994 There’s no finer way to kick off my 90s near misses than this. Great song, even better video and that legendary live performance on the Letterman Show. So close to my final 30. youtu.be/z5rRZdiu1UE?...

#80sTop30 30 Buffalo Stance | Neneh Cherry | 1989 Ladies and gentlemen… I’d like to introduce one of my favourite singles of the 1980s and my number 30. youtu.be/rFXhBEj6mEE?...

#ArtistFave15 15 Siouxsie And The Banshees Placebo Effect | 1979 Kicking off with a track from Join Hands. The second album from Siouxsie, Severin, McKay and Morris. I loved this line-up so expect more from this incarnation to feature in my fifteen. youtu.be/8Goi121JrXA?...

#90sTop30 Starts 1st November. Don’t forget from tomorrow (and throughout October) there’s an option to post any songs that didn’t make your final thirty. So if you feel heavily weighed down with omissions guilt, here’s your chance to alleviate that pain. 😁💿

#80sTop30 Starts tomorrow. Frankie says relax. Frankie says don’t do it. Frankie says do it. Frankie says arm yourself… with a list of your thirty favourite songs released in the 1980s. And Frankie says… Welcome to the… #80sTop30

#REMtop30 1 #80sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) Welcome To The Occupation | 1987 Two for one today and my number one R.E.M. choice. Melodically this ticks every box for me. My favourite track from my favourite R.E.M. album. youtu.be/XARqoTAJFuM?...

#REMtop30 Just to say a big thank you to all who have participated in the challenge this month and commented on it too. The commitment to the cause is greatly appreciated. Last day tomorrow and once all of the votes are in, I’ll produce two playlists, a top 30 and an expanded top 60. Thanks again.

#80sTop30 Starts 1st October. Post your favourite thirty songs released in the 80s, one per day (ranked or unranked). #90sTop30 Starts 1st November. Throughout October you can post songs that didn’t make your final 30. The official countdown starts in November.

#Top20LateNightSongs 1 (Unranked) Teardrop | Massive Attack | 1998 My ultimate late night song is the hauntingly atmospheric Teardrop. Massive Attack and Liz Fraser together was always going to be special. It’s very special. Thanks @top10nathan.bsky.social youtu.be/u7K72X4eo_s?...

#80sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) Hey Little Girl | Icehouse| 1982 I’ve always loved this song. Once again it’s another one that could have made my top thirty on a different occasion. youtu.be/YZQWTnrJMS0?...

#REMtop30 2 Nightswimming | 1992 I rarely listen to Out Of Time and Automatic For The People due to overplaying them at the time but some songs still shine through. The gorgeous Nightswimming is one of those songs. youtu.be/iyb1Mc0s6mI?...

#ArtistFaveLP 1 Simple Minds | Empires & Dance | 1980 This Fear Of Gods It had to be. Empires towering centrepiece, once that groove locks in there’s no let up. A band at the peak of their powers. Thanks @geodrew.bsky.social @olgalovesyuri.bsky.social youtu.be/hdFbVklPTjE?...

#NewWaveNovember Starts 1st November.

2026 Music Challenge Schedule. #70sTop30 Starts 1st January. #RadioheadTop30 Starts 1st January. #OrchestralManoeuvres Starts 1st February. #StandaloneSingles Starts 1st February. #SuedeTop30 Starts 1st March. #ExitMusic Starts 1st March. #JamesTop30 Starts 1st April.

28th September 1987. I remember it well as that was the day I purchased both Music For The Masses and Strangeways, Here We Come. Two classic albums from two of my (still) favourite bands. And The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, New Order and R.E.M. all released albums in that year too. Happy days. 😁💿

#Top20LateNightSongs 2 (Unranked) Love Can Heal | Peter Gabriel | 2023 The fact that Peter Gabriel at the grand old age of 75 and after an absence of 12 years can return and produce a song as beautiful as this still astonishes me. It’s perfect, whichever mix you choose. youtu.be/LIMBKhbgub4?...

#80sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) Souvenir | O.M.D. | 1981 Souvenir was oh so close to making my thirty. I’ve loved this song ever since I first heard it a nine year old in 1981. I still live ten minutes away from where the video was shot too. youtu.be/XDIYOiQUi2s?...

#REMtop30 3 The Wrong Child | 1988 The most affecting song in their catalogue. Lyrically it’s a hard listen and if that’s not enough, the instrumental break at 1m 46s is possibly the saddest piece of music they’ve ever played. Heartbreaking stuff. youtu.be/n_7VBTFIbq8?...

#ArtistFaveLP 2 Simple Minds | Empires & Dance | 1980 Today I Died Again I feel this is such an underrated and overlooked song in their catalogue. It was my initial favourite on the album and I still don’t think they produced anything else quite like it. youtu.be/0Emk6qReJ2M?...

#80sTop30 Starts 1st October. Select your favourite thirty songs released in the 1980s. They don’t have to be ranked but you can rank them if you want to. Post one song per day throughout October.

#90sTop30 Starts 1st November. Choose an artist. Choose a song. Choose another song. Choose a single. Choose a b-side. Choose an album track. Choose a classic. Choose a fucking classic. Choose a music challenge. Choose this music challenge. Choose wasting your life taking part in music challenges…

#80sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) I’m In Love With A German Film Star | The Passions | 1981 Wonderfully evocative and wonderful full stop. youtu.be/GqZ68-_hA4E?...

#Top20LateNightSongs 3 (Unranked) Saturday Night | The Blue Nile | 1989 Most Blue Nile songs evoke the glamour and allure of city nightlife (Tinseltown In The Rain, Headlights On The Parade etc, etc.). For me it’s always Saturday Night that I turn to. It always will be. youtu.be/et5opRAv_OU?...

#REMtop30 4 Leave | 1996 My highest place track from New Adventures In Hi-Fi. I still think Leave is one of the greatest things they’ve ever done. youtu.be/tXj6_-UwkOU?...

#ArtistFaveLP 3 Simple Minds | Empires & Dance | 1980 Thirty Frames A Second The taut and tense Thirty Frames A Second teeters on the edge. Propelled along by the magnificent rhythm section, it’s one of Simple Minds most original and finest songs. youtu.be/_brfuDBfR8g?...

It’s been a bit quiet on the #SupermarketMusic front recently but Wickes are back and back with an absolute banger, Freak Like Me by Sugababes. 😁

Oh and by the way, Happy Birthday Monster! #REMtop30

#80sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) Levi Stubbs’ Tears | Billy Bragg | 1986 “When the world falls apart, some things stay in place”. A bleak tale but the ending with the flugelhorn (?) solo is as melodic and heartbreaking as it gets. youtu.be/423ghmJgIYQ?...

#Top20LateNightSongs 4 (Unranked) Frou-Frou Foxes In Midsummer Fires | Cocteau Twins | 1990 Every twist and turn of this song takes me exactly where I want to go. It manages to be both sad and uplifting but always emotional and always moving. youtu.be/qgffvFM1J-Q?...

#REMtop30 5 I Took Your Name | 1994 My highest placed track from the much maligned Monster album. It’s one of my favourite R.E.M. albums and I Took Your Name was my initial standout track. It still is. youtu.be/BWOJnzW_L4g?...

#ArtistFaveLP 4 Simple Minds | Empires & Dance | 1980 I Travel Controversial I know but don’t @ me. I Travel is one of SM’s greatest songs but I’m ranking my personal favourites here and I just happen to like three album tracks just ever so slightly more than I Travel. youtu.be/G5iW_RQ9RPQ?...

Is it a trend now to not release track lists when new compilation albums are announced? James are releasing a Definitive Best Of collection but aren’t revealing the track list until 6th October. Doves did a staggered reveal for theirs and even Kate Bush has done the same (but the info was leaked). 🤔

#90sTop30 Starts 1st November. Select your thirty favourite songs released in the 90s and post one song per day throughout November. If you suffer from omissions guilt, you can post any songs that didn’t make your thirty (but you wanted to include in some way) throughout the month of October.

#80sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) Living In Another World | Talk Talk | 1986 Again a track that in another month would make my thirty. Talk Talk’s perfect mid-point. youtu.be/qAlLQaDXc4I?...

#Top20LateNightSongs 5 (Unranked) Caramel | Blur | 1999 I love 13-era Blur more than any other period in the career. Album highlight Caramel is one of Blur’s darkest and most powerful songs. A whole album of Blur songs like this and I would be in heaven. youtu.be/nDbRIMfUMBY?...

#REMtop30 6 Finest Worksong | 1987 Second album opener in a row and this time it’s the turn of Document’s opening statement of intent. youtu.be/bnLO8i5bdfg?...

#ArtistFaveLP 5 Simple Minds | Empires & Dance | 1980 Capital City Ranked fifth is track number five on the album. Capital City was one of the earliest Empires tracks to be played live. It’s almost nonchalant in pace but really packs a punch whether live or in album form. youtu.be/hth0iPU29tw?...

#80sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) I Wanna Be Adored | The Stone Roses | 1989 I, ahem, adored this track so much at the time that I made a C90 cassette of purely I Wanna Be Adored on repeat. It accompanied my car journey to art college for many weeks. And that intro 🖤 youtu.be/aa10yl8mirk?...

#Top20LateNightSongs 6 (Unranked) In A State | UNKLE | 2003 Only after dark? Maybe, maybe not but I think this absolute beauty of a tune always sounds better once the daylight hours have passed. youtu.be/3_PT5BAK1Cw?...

A special mention for the two non-album b-sides from the Empires era. Kaleidoscope was issued on a flexi-disc of I Travel and sounds more in keeping with RTRC but New Warm Skin should have been on the album. Briefly available on the X5 collection, it really needs reissuing. #ArtistFaveLP

#REMtop30 7 Feeling Gravity’s Pull | 1985 My final choice from Fables is the superb opening track on the album. youtu.be/GOMUxqK2pEg?...

#ArtistFaveLP 6 Simple Minds | Empires & Dance | 1980 Celebrate The minimalist stomp of Celebrate was heavily edited for a single release in 1980 but for full effect it’s the album version that really matters. youtu.be/DxhVVU1qsXQ?...

#80sTop30 Near Misses (Random Order) New Dark Age | The Sound | 1981 Oh how I wish I had known of the existence of The Sound in the 80s. Unfortunately it wasn’t until the early 00s that I discovered them. New Dark Age is an example of why they should have been huge. youtu.be/CWoNSADanoA?...

#Top20LateNightSongs 7 (Unranked) Night Mail (Live Version) | Public Service Broadcasting | 2015 Perfectly suited to the night (hence the title I suppose) but this wonderful track by the other PSB takes on another level of melancholy and nostalgia in it’s live form. youtu.be/iGGGLX9MKIw?...

#REMtop30 8 Texarkana | 1991 A rare Mike Mills lead vocal and (for me anyway) probably a better choice for a single than at least three of the chosen singles from Out Of Time. youtu.be/p16q-w2OuI4?...

#ArtistFaveLP 7 Simple Minds | Empires & Dance | 1980 Twist/Run/Repulsion In five years SM would go from the avant-garde experimentation of T/R/R to the global commercial success of Once Upon A Time. Deserved success but I think the creative rewards here are far greater. youtu.be/AYjvQXTT3k4?...

I’m covering Simple Minds Empires And Dance for #ArtistFaveLP and hopefully one day they’ll reissue the first 5 albums complete with tour-era live sets. If they do, I hope this one is included from the Empires tour. The versions of Celebrate and Capital City are superb. youtu.be/xpnRtrw3KX8?...