#REMTop30 Number 4: Nightswimming “I'm not sure all these people understand” I know everyone will share this, but what’s one more. Just beautiful. youtu.be/KVT0S0j7F9Y?...

#REMTop30 Number 5: What’s the Frequency Kenneth? “You said that irony was the shackles of youth” Visceral first single from the criminally underrated Monster. Fantastic bass line from Mike too. youtu.be/jWkMhCLkVOg?...

#REMTop30 Number 6: Don’t Go Back to Rockville “At night I drink myself to sleep Pretend I don't care if you're not here with me” I nearly missed this today. Glorious and so very, very REM. youtu.be/rvE1lkLfpnc?...

#REMTop30 Number 7: I Believe “You're on your honor not to tell” The best melody Michael Stipe ever wrote and R.E.M’s best pop song. youtu.be/8ftacKGmn6Q?...

#REMTop30 8. It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine) “Leonard Bernstein” One of the great concert closers of all time. youtu.be/Z0GFRcFm-aY?...

#REMTop30 9. Man on the Moon “Then nothing is cool” Automatic… has one of the strongest 3 track finishes to an album I’ve ever heard. The other 2 are still to come. youtu.be/dLxpNiF0YKs?...

#REMTop30 10. The One I Love “A simple prop to occupy my time” Truth. youtu.be/j7oQEPfe-O8?...

#REMTop30 11. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite “And little need to sleep but to dream” Automatic…is one of the greatest albums of all time and 10 of its songs were in contention for my list youtu.be/mgiCechWNCo?...

#REMTop30 12. Radio Free Europe “Push that, push that, push that to the floor” Going right back to the start with a song that sounds as vital now as it ever did. open.spotify.com/track/0f0U6i...

#REMTop30 Number 13: Orange Crush “I've had my fun and now it's time to serve” Another R.E.M that truly comes into its own when played Live. open.spotify.com/track/1nzMRc...

#REMTop30 Number 14: Fall On Me “Feathers hit the ground before the weight can leave the air” In the earlier days of online polls this would frequently win best R.E.M song. It’s easy to see why. open.spotify.com/track/3xPKSM...

#REMTop30 15. Finest Worksong “The time to rise has been engaged You're better best to rearrange” The first song they’d play on stage in the highly unlikely event that they returned and agreed to perform my fantasy Setlist. open.spotify.com/track/0XJlM0...

#REMTop30 Number 16: Begin the Begin “Silence means security, silence means approval” Let’s begin again… open.spotify.com/track/3E5sxg...

#REMTop30 Number 17: Lotus “Wash away my ugly sins Opposing thumb, dorsal fin” The best song they released in the “post Bill” era from the best album of that period. It’s brilliant live as well. open.spotify.com/track/4awrus...

#REMTop30 Number 18: Gardening at Night “The yard is nothing but a fence” Right back to the early days with this gem from Chronic Town. Here is the blistering live version from Dublin in 2007. open.spotify.com/track/4yLuKm...

Hi folks, we’ve made it to the final of our 50’s and 60’s music poll, let’s play #5albums50s60sfinal A list of 100 albums follows, your challenge is to select your top 5 in order of preference (no easy task given the quality on the final). Here’s my choices to kick us off…

#REMTop30 Number 19: Leave “I suffer the dreams of a world gone mad I like it like that and I know it” The best song on New Adventures… IMO. A superb lyric and vocal from Michael and that divisive “siren” guitar that had caused so much debate at the time. open.spotify.com/track/3wrUeU...

#REMTop30 Number 20: So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry) “These rivers of suggestion are driving me away” The first single from Reckoning really shows the sense of longing and regret that would become a staple of Michael’s lyrics open.spotify.com/track/2nwkpj...

#REMTop30 Number 21: Near Wild Heaven “And I don't know how much longer I can take it House made of heart, break it” I toiled with this one. Sometimes it’s a really syrupy arrangement, sometimes one of their best pop songs. Fuck it, it’s in. open.spotify.com/track/378HOo...

#REMTop30 Number 22: Half a World Away “I didn't think and I I didn't think of you” Deceptively simple but brilliantly put together, with a fantastic understated vocal from Michael. R.E.M do these folksy numbers so, so well. open.spotify.com/track/0mglqL...

#REMTop30 Number 23: Can’t get there from here “Throw your trolls out the door” Back to the I.R.S years again. Some very cryptic lyrics but another devilishly catchy tune. open.spotify.com/track/5dbP6E...

#REMTop30 Number 24: Crush with Eyeliner “It's all too much, the pressure She's all that I can take” My second last pick from the criminally underrated Monster. open.spotify.com/track/6ouKLO...

#REMTop30 Number 25: Sitting Still “We could gather, throw a fit” One of the earliest R.E.M songs that was originally the B-Side to Radio Free Europe. Scary that it was written 45 years ago, as it still sounds so fresh. open.spotify.com/track/0Fo1e7...

#REMTop30 Number 26: Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars) “Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage” Deceptively simple but devilishly catchy track from the fantastic Chronic Town E.P. open.spotify.com/track/1opmm9...

#REMTop30 27. Strange Currencies “fool might be my middle name” Monster is better than New Adventures and is their third best Warner Bros album. This is a hill I’m willing to die on. This song is just beautiful. open.spotify.com/track/4ymd3i...

#REMTop30 Number 28: Living Well is the Best Revenge “Unbelievable, the gospel according to who?” Accelerate is the best of their last 4 albums IMO & it’s the only song I’ve chosen from them. R.E.M can rock with the best of them, & this was a real return to form. open.spotify.com/track/4DOHgQ...

#REMTop30 Number 29: Wendell Gee “So whistle as the wind blows” Peter Buck may have hated it, but I don’t! Only R.E.M could write a song like this. open.spotify.com/track/5L8DSE...

#REMTop30 Number 30: Cuyahoga “Bury, burn the waste behind you” It begins! I swapped this in at the last minute and dropped “I’ll take the rain”. Primarily a Mike and Bill song apparently, but song writing credits shared between all of them as always. open.spotify.com/track/2Sw1lJ...

#REMtop30 Starts 1st September.

Right, I FINALLY think I have my #REMTop30 selection chosen. I haven’t gotten near to ranking them yet. What a ridiculously strong discography they have. In no particular order, here are my numbers 31-45. Still can’t believe some of these didn’t make it. open.spotify.com/playlist/39w...

archive.is/8Wd3e Really interesting article!

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 1: There is a light that never goes out “To die by your side, is such a heavenly way to die ” One of the greatest songs written by anyone, ever. Practically perfect and one of my favourite songs of all time. open.spotify.com/track/0WQiDw...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 2: This Charming Man “I would go out tonight But I haven't got a stitch to wear” The Smiths truly did come out of the womb fully formed. An absolutely flawless second single and one of the greatest pop songs (yes I said it!) ever written. open.spotify.com/track/1oDpnY...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 3: Bigmouth Strikes Again “Now I know how Joan of Arc felt” It rocks, it swings, it sounds like nobody but the Smiths. An absolute 10/10 classic. open.spotify.com/track/2OErSh...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 4: How Soon is Now? “I am human and I need to be loved Just like everybody else does” One of the greatest guitar parts of all time. Morrissey wisely interjects only sparingly. Somehow throw out initially as a B-Side open.spotify.com/track/1YrnDT...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 5: I Know it’s Over “Still I cling, I don't know where else I can go” One of the most heartbreaking songs I’ve ever heard. Morrissey’s delivery here is simply incredible. open.spotify.com/track/3M2bD9...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 6: Hand in Glove “So stay on my arm, you little charmer” One of the greatest debut singles of all time. 1982 was a wasteland for music. In 1983, this must have sounded like the cavalry coming over the hill. open.spotify.com/track/2C21E1...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 7: I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish “And now eighteen months' hard labor Seems fair enough” The most underrated Smiths song in my opinion. I’m always surprised this doesn’t feature more in “best of” lists open.spotify.com/track/3PVVql...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 8: Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me “I No hope, no harm Just another false alarm” Just heartbreaking. Possibly the Smiths most epic tune, combined with a flawless “less is more” vocal and lyric. open.spotify.com/track/17zN52...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 9: The Queen is Dead “I know and you cannot sing! I said: "That's nothing, you should hear me play piano” One of the great opening tracks to any album. A massive leap forward for the band. open.spotify.com/track/03ZwNF...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 11: What Difference Does it Make? “But still I'd leap in front of a flying bullet for you” The Commercial breakthrough! Just missed the top ten and their debut album hit number 2 a month later. The world WAS listening after all. open.spotify.com/track/3rzYUf...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 11: A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours “Oh, but don't mention love I'd hate the pain of the strain all over again” No guitars on a Smiths song? Sacrilege I tell you! open.spotify.com/track/6Ps04N...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 12: Ask “Then it's the bomb That will bring us together” The Ying to Panic’s Yang. Another jaunty tune, but a far more light hearted lyric with that famous pen pal related bridge. open.spotify.com/track/2AdRSH...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 13: Panic “The music that they constantly play It says nothing to me about my life” A standalone single which was supposedly written after a DJ followed up an announcement of the Chernobyl disaster, by playing “I’m Your Man”’by Wham. open.spotify.com/track/64D3dz...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 14: Handsome Devil “There's more to life than books you know, but not much more” Absolute filth from Moz on this rollocking b-side. I rarely feel sorry for younger music fans, but the lost joy of the b-side is a tragedy of modern music. open.spotify.com/track/0NFYBi...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 15: The Boy with the Thorn in His Side “Will they ever believe us?” More autobiographical mournfulness from Morrissey, crooned over one of Andy’s best bass lines. open.spotify.com/track/6s1lXo...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 16: Sheila Take a Bow “Boot the grime of this world in the crotch dear” Has that effortless Smiths swing and deservedly cracked the top ten. How Sandie Shaw didn’t like this is beyond me. open.spotify.com/track/6Te9dW...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 17: Reel Around the Fountain “People see no worth in you I do” The production and some of the playing on the first album is too stiff for me. The melody and lyric here are just gorgeous though. open.spotify.com/track/5bSASu...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 18: Sweet and Tender Hooligan “He’ll never, never, never do it again Not until the next time” Another of my selections, another B-side! A rollicking peel session with an absolutely cutting lyric and delivery from Morrissey open.spotify.com/track/4o1DKi...

#TheSmithsTop30 Number 19: Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want “Haven't had a dream in a long time” Not even two minutes this time! One of The Smiths most covered songs and it is as gloriously simple now as it has ever been. Yet another B-Side too. open.spotify.com/track/6BrMEb...