#Reverberations 26 Hunted By A Freak | Mogwai | 2003 Couldn’t really leave Mogwai out of this one. Perhaps it’s an obvious choice but sometimes those are the best. youtu.be/76yaqfXpzl0

#StandaloneSingles 26 Alice | Sisters Of Mercy | 1982 An early non-album single from Sisters Of Mercy. Magnificent stuff. youtu.be/-GwWra1sQgo

#OrchestralManoeuvres 26 The Look Of Love | ABC | 1982 With orchestration by Anne Dudley (not the last time she’ll feature in my list) and production by Trevor Horn, this track couldn’t fail. One of the shiniest tunes of the New Pop era. And one of the best. youtu.be/cNEdxZURTaI

#Reverberations 27 The Sun, The Sea | Verve | 1993 They would hit the big time four years later but with a totally different sound. But before they became ‘The’, early Verve produced some incredible music. The Sun, The Sea is a perfect example and a huge sound. youtu.be/o5mbA04h658

#OrchestralManoeuvres 27 I Need You | Wireless | 1997 I worked in the returns department for HMV when this was released. The single buyer ordered four copies, I bought one and returned the other three. Unfortunately this wonderful tune got lost in the post-Britpop comedown. youtu.be/VSrOiFb_bDM

#StandaloneSingles 27 The Way You Are | Tears For Fears | 1983 Curt and Roland don’t like it but The Way You Are was the bridge between The Hurting and Songs From The Big Chair. Personally I don’t think it’s as bad as they say but then again what do I know. youtu.be/-NGUL7DpEEI

After #ExitMusic (in March) I’m stopping hosting any music challenges for the foreseeable future but here are a couple that never quite made the finish line. Maybe one day… #Eno15 #FlamingJune

#StandaloneSingles 28 I Love This Life | The Blue Nile | 1981 The Blue Nile’s 1981 debut single kicks off proceedings. With a handful of singles and just four albums to their name over a 45 year period, it’s always been a case of quality over quantity with these guys. youtu.be/PVMIHrikhDk

#Reverberations 28 Break Up Girls! | The Raveonettes | 2009 Blowing the cobwebs away with this one. A glorious fuzzed-up intro that’s typical Raveonettes followed by the usual melodic goodness that they are so adept at producing. youtu.be/NKXAAEVJ3E8

#OrchestralManoeuvres 28 Shout To The Top | The Style Council | 1984 As the hashtag states, it’s all about the strings on this one. And there aren’t many finer pop songs with strings attached than Shout To The Top. youtu.be/7m94ip38UKs

#70sTop30 Here is the final seventy track playlist of the most popular artists voted for in the 1970s music challenge. Thanks again you to everyone who participated and commented on the challenge. Nineteen Seventies open.spotify.com/playlist/56G...

#RadioheadTop30 Here’s the final sixty track playlist from all of the votes cast. Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the challenge. Radiohead open.spotify.com/playlist/7jc...

I didn’t realise The Cure’s drummer #JasonCooper was a 31st January birthday too. That’s even more esteemed company. That means for my birthday band I now have two singers, a lead guitarist, an orchestral arranger and a drummer. I can do the artwork. Just need a bass player born on this date now. 😁

#Reverberations Starts tomorrow. A month-long celebration of all things guitar. From 80s Indie and Alt-Rock, to Shoegaze and Grunge and beyond, up to the present day. Think My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Pixies, Cocteau Twins, Hüsker Du, Nirvana, DIIV, Just Mustard…

#StandaloneSingles Starts tomorrow. Throughout February choose 28 of your favourite standalone singles. Post one per day, ranked or unranked. Lead tracks on EPs and singles tagged on to Best Of compilations can be selected, the main criteria is that they aren’t on an artist’s studio album.

#OrchestralManoeuvres Starts tomorrow. Select your 28 favourite string arrangements in songs. Solo, full orchestra, electric, synthetic or sampled. Singles, b-sides, album tracks, live versions and remixes can all be included. Post one song per day throughout February, ranked or unranked.

Always a pleasure to share a birthday with this highly talented and eclectic bunch. 😁 #FranzSchubert #JohnLydon #LloydCole and #PhilManzanera

A busy month ahead and perhaps it wasn’t my greatest idea to run three music challenges in a single (and shorter) month but here goes… 😬🎧 #OrchestralManoeuvres Starts 1st Feb. #StandaloneSingles Starts 1st Feb. #Reverberations Starts 1st Feb.

#70sTop30 #RadioheadTop30 Once again a massive thank you to everyone who participated in these challenges. It may take a little while to collect the final data for the playlists plus it’s my birthday tomorrow so I may take a day off. 😁 Playlists to follow…

#Top30FirstAlbumFirstTrack 1 Seagull | Ride | Nowhere | 1990 Nowhere’s opener was a real gamechanger for me. Some songs are pivotal in your musical education and this is definitely one for me. The thrill of hearing this hasn’t dissipated at all over the passing years. youtu.be/In9yq3oNqCg

#70sTop30 1 The Chain | Fleetwood Mac | 1977 The only Mac track where all five members get a songwriting credit. I love the eerie undercurrent to The Chain that makes it so special and so different. It’s in my all-time top five songs, where I think it will stay. youtu.be/xwTPvcPYaOo

#RadioheadTop30 1 All I Need | 2007 I didn’t think they’d top Street Spirit but along came Everything In It’s Right Place. I didn’t think they’d top that but then along came All I Need and for me that’s where it’s stayed ever since, right at the top. Hauntingly beautiful. youtu.be/FM7ALFsOH4g

#Top30FirstAlbumFirstTrack 2 The Chad Who Loved Me | Mansun The Attack Of The Grey Lantern | 1997 The scale and ambition that runs deep throughout Mansun’s debut album is best exemplified by the stunning opening track. Orchestral manoeuvres of the highest order. youtu.be/Sqkm17Ufb_s

#70sTop30 2 I Feel Love | Donna Summer | 1977 The past, the present and the future. But as you and I both know, always the future. youtu.be/nTNcCKq6V2c

#RadioheadTop30 2 Everything In It’s Right Place | 2000 Kid A’s opening track is a stunner. Where do you go after the massive commercial and artistic success of Ok Computer? Well here, here is where you go. Brooding electronica at it’s finest. youtu.be/NUnXxh5U25Y

#Top30FirstAlbumFirstTrack 3 Christine | The House Of Love The House Of Love | 1988 If I get to heaven, I would imagine the guitars up there sound like this, if not, I’m coming back. Christine completely changed my musical outlook and I’m forever indie because of this song. youtu.be/wIKpkjlptNY

#70sTop30 3 It’s Different For Girls | Joe Jackson | 1979 This remains such a special song for me. As a seven year old in 1979, this was the first single I bought. Looking back it’s a rather melancholy choice for that age but (musically) I’ve gravitated that way ever since. youtu.be/KLDFG5vm5kA

#RadioheadTop30 3 Street Spirit (Fade Out) | 1995 I first heard this track on free cd given away with Q magazine. It hadn’t even been released as a single by then but I was hooked in by it straight away. The song itself finds Radiohead at their most haunting and beautiful. youtu.be/LCJblaUkkfc

#Top30FirstAlbumFirstTrack 4 I Wanna Be Adored | The Stone Roses The Stone Roses | 1989 There really isn’t much to say apart this iconic song that hasn’t been said already. The long intro is still spine-tingling today and personally I don’t think they ever bettered it. youtu.be/aa10yl8mirk

#70sTop30 4 Zerox | Adam & The Ants | 1979 Just before Malcolm McLaren stole The Ants for Bow Wow Wow and before Adam became a bonafide pop star (and my first pop idol), they released this magnificent slice of post-punk. Still their finest 3m and 47s, it’s just magnificent. youtu.be/upv0jqpzsGw

#RadioheadTop30 4 Daydreaming | 2016 I absolutely adore A Moon Shaped Pool. Radiohead’s most ‘recent’ album is a cinematic, pastoral masterpiece. The folk horror feel of Daydreaming was an unexpected direction but one I would dearly love them to explore further. youtu.be/TTAU7lLDZYU

#Top30FirstAlbumFirstTrack 5 Two Divided By Zero | Pet Shop Boys Please | 1986 The opening track on Please is still one of PSB’s greatest songs. It remains in my personal top five tracks by them but why it wasn’t released as a single still baffles me. youtu.be/VWiC_DiGQGA

#RadioheadTop30 5 Let Down | 1997 I would be very surprised if this wasn’t the number one song in this challenge. It’s always fared well before and it’s obvious to see why. Possibly the most melodic they’ve ever sounded, it’s just beautiful. youtu.be/ZVgHPSyEIqk

#70sTop30 5 Transmission | Joy Division | 1979 Transmission is just an incredible song. There’s an intensity to it that few could match. I’ll always lean towards New Order more as I knew them first but Joy Division in full flow were just something else entirely! youtu.be/Kx3EqNYQklg

#Reverberations Starts 1st February. A month-long celebration of all things guitar. From 80s Indie and Alt-Rock, to Shoegaze and Grunge and beyond, up to the present day. Think My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Pixies, Cocteau Twins, Hüsker Du, Nirvana, DIIV, Just Mustard…

#StandaloneSingles Starts 1st February. Throughout February choose 28 of your favourite standalone singles. Post one per day, ranked or unranked. Lead tracks on EPs and singles tagged on to Best Of compilations can be selected, the main criteria is that they aren’t on an artist’s studio album.

#Top30FirstAlbumFirstTrack 6 Definitive Gaze | Magazine Real Life | 1978 I only knew a few Magazine singles but heard this track on BBC6Music and was hooked instantly. And as with all of my new musical obsessions, every studio album and compilation was purchased and devoured. youtu.be/8wTW3MBdjF4

#RadioheadTop30 6 Black Star | 1995 I purchased The Bends after hearing Fake Plastic Trees and although I still have one more track to feature, Black Star was my initial favourite. I love what Radiohead became but when they do those melodic guitars there aren’t many finer. youtu.be/d7lbzUUXj0k

#70sTop30 6 Are ‘Friends’ Electric? | Tubeway Army | 1979 Occasionally the right songs do get to number one in the charts. Of course Gary Numan managed it twice in 1979, his first effort (with Tubeway Army) still sounds amazing today (as does Cars) but AFE is still my go to. youtu.be/1snv-0jCiWY

#OrchestralManoeuvres Starts 1st February. Select your 28 favourite string arrangements in songs. Solo, full orchestra, electric, synthetic or sampled. Singles, b-sides, album tracks, live versions and remixes can all be included. Post one song per day throughout February, ranked or unranked.

As perfect as perfect can be. If you don’t know it, give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed. #Longwave

#Top30FirstAlbumFirstTrack 7 Like Eating Glass | Bloc Party Silent Alarm | 2005 This is how you open up your debut album. I loved their early singles and was really looking forward to the albums release. Needless to say it didn’t disappoint. youtu.be/1QDE8iom6gU

#70sTop30 7 Being Boiled | The Human League | 1978 One of the seminal electronic releases of the decade. This incarnation of THL never achieved the success of the MK 2 line-up but they more than deserved it with this. For me it’s still arguably the best thing they’ve done. youtu.be/kQvVVkzU_7U

#RadioheadTop30 7 Jigsaw Falling Into Place | 2007 My penultimate selection from In Rainbows. Jigsaw was a welcome return to a Bends-era sound. youtu.be/LY42nUEHQMk

Honestly why did no one tell me #Daughter were back. This is wonderful (obvs). Not Enough youtu.be/Wg_EP8Sicwo

My final music challenge for the foreseeable future will be #ExitMusic starting on 1st March. It’s about that part in a song where the end begins. If you can find thirty examples / songs that you love, please feel free to join in.

#Top30FirstAlbumFirstTrack 8 10:15 Saturday Night | The Cure Three Imaginary Boys | 1979 The b-side of Killing An Arab but 10:15 Saturday Night made the album, KAA didn’t. I love both tunes and would have been more than happy with either opening Three Imaginary Boys. youtu.be/9saQnQQApVM

#RadioheadTop30 8 Airbag | 1997 I had such high hopes for OK Computer after the notably massive step up in quality on The Bends. Needless to say it didn’t disappoint and the opening track Airbag set the tone for what was to come perfectly. youtu.be/jNY_wLukVW0

#70sTop30 8 Life On Mars? | David Bowie | 1971 Along with Sound & Vision, Life On Mars? is my favourite (70s) Bowie single. When you talk about all-time classics and decade defining songs, they don’t come much better than this. A masterpiece in every possible way. youtu.be/AZKcl4-tcuo

So pleased to finally get the 1986 vocal version of Boys Don’t Cry on cd. I know remakes are very rarely (if ever) better than the original but as a completist it’s always bugged me that the single version of this hasn’t been issued since 1986. #TheCure 😁💿