THIS IS THE COMPLETE LIST OF THE BALLARD FIFTY AT FIFTY...

50 TUNES OUT OF THOUSANDS THAT WOULD FEATURE IN AN IMAGINARY TRIPLE C.D. SET...

THE RULES, SUCH AS THEY WERE, NO EXTREMES OF MUSICAL TASTE, NO CLASSICAL, SHOWTUNES ETC.

JUST ONE SONG PER ARTIST..AND THEY ARE IN A RANDOM ORDER UNTIL WE GET TO NUMBER ONE...

50......SUCH A SHAME - TALK, TALK

One of the great Mark Hollis' tunes, this band should have been huge.

49.....IS THAT LOVE - SQUEEZE

Not their biggest hit, by a long chalk, but an indication of how good the Difford/Tilbrook partnership was.

48...THE POWER OF LOVE - FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

  Only gets played at Christmas - which is a shame for such a fine song.

47...STOP - SAM BROWN

  Great voice, fantastically perfomed song, keeping the Brown family tradition going.

46...mother and child reunion - paul simon

 Paul Simon goes reggae, long before the African rhythms of Graceland. 

45...GET IT ON (BANG A GONG) - t. rEX

There has to be a place in your heart for the bopping Elf..ahead of his time, as usual.

44....RAT RACE - THE SPECIALS

Infinitely superior to Ghost Town or Too Much, Too Young in my opinion.

43...NEVER TOO MUCH - LUTHER VANDROSS

The much missed soulman with a song I never tire of hearing

42....CRITICIZE - ALEXANDER O'NEAL

  Likewise Alex, Alex baby..though, fortunately, he is STILL with us.

41...in the air tonight - phil collins

  Drummers can come to the front you know, and this man did it to great effect.

40... WISHING WELL - FREE

  Toss up here, could have been 'My Brother Jake' but I opted for this instead.

39...SOMETHING'S GOTTEN HOLD OF MY HEART - GENE PITNEY

  The distinctive male voice of the sixties and the original, and best, version of this song.

38...TELSTAR - THE TORNADOES

A tribute to the flawed genius that was Joe Meek - the first true indie producer.

37....BRILLIANT MIND - FURNITURE

 Should have been a much, much bigger hit, still sounds great 23 years on.

36....THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL - ABBA

  Difficult choice, but the combination of music and lyrics steered me towards this.

35...BOOGIE WONDERLAND - EARTH, WI ND AND FIRE with THE EMOTIONS

  A great show opener, and still a floor filler three decades on - inspired combination.

34. LISTEN TO THE MUSIC - THE DOOBIE BROTHERS

A fantastic seventies memory and not as big a hit as you might imagine, despite radio play.

33....SUCH A GOOD FEELING - BROTHERS IN RHYTHM

A bit left-field I know, but a great nineties dance track, I can't think of many better.

32....CALIFORNIA DREAMING - MAMAS AND PAPAS

  Put this on during the autumn or winter and it transports you to a better place.

31....HOW DOES IT FEEL - SLADE

Seventies musical heroes of mine, and so quintessentially British too.

30....STRANGE TOWN - THE JAM

Another tough call, but this beat of all comers as the Jam's finest 3 minutes for me.

29....I WANT YOU BACK - THE JACKSON FIVE

  One of the greatest intros of all time and a fantastic memory of Radio St Mary's Bay!

28....suspicious minds - elvis presley

Elvis made this song his own, and it has one of the best false endings of all time.

27.....YOU CAME - KIM WILDE

  The gorgeous Kim Wilde with a classic piece of Eighties pop, love it!

26...BACK FOR GOOD - TAKE THAT

   The song that proved what a great song-writer Gary Barlow is..never bettered.

25...ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS - KYLIE MINOGUE

  Sydney 2000 rekindled...it's another song that evokes great memories of the Olympics.

24...WORD UP - CAMEO

  Cod pieces ahoy...would come close to my favourite record of all time.

23....SWEET TALKING WOMAN - ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

  Another British genius derided by some, appreciated by many more, Jeff Lynne.

22. THE LOOK OF LOVE - ABC

  The fine combination of Trevor Horn and Martin Fry turned this into a classic.

21.... DON'T YOU WANT ME - THE HUMAN LEAGUE

One of the pioneers of electronic music in the 80's the ground breaking Phil Oakey.

20...A LITTLE BIT MORE - DR. HOOK

Still a gorgeous song and what a great live act they were too.

19...GLAD ALL OVER - DAVE CLARK FIVE

Giving those skins some hammer, for all budding drummers everywhere...this was a must.

18...GO YOUR OWN WAY - FLEETWOOD MAC

  The stand out track from the brilliant 'Rumours' album - great driving music.

17.....CLOUDBUSTING - KATE BUSH

  Unpredictable, edgy, challenging but brilliant and with a great video to match.

16...THE EDGE OF HEAVEN - WHAM

 That George Michael could write some fine tunes - and here's another example.

15....SUPERSTITION - STEVIE WONDER

Could have been 'I Was Made To Love Her' but this 1972 hit just shaded it.

14....I'M STILL STANDING - ELTON JOHN

Out of a huge catalogue it was a tough cull, but this emerged as the victor, just.

13...HUNTING HIGH AND LOW - AHA

  Norway's finest exports with a song that really stands the test of time.

12...DRIVER'S SEAT - SNIFF 'N' THE TEARS

  Turntable hit - bigger in the US than here, but it is such a great, great record.

11...I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU - DOLLY PARTON

The definitive version of this song, don't accept any poor imitations, got that Whitney?

10....WALK AWAY - MATT MONRO

 The greatest male crooner we have ever produced, not bad for an East London bus driver.

  9. GET DOWN TONIGHT - KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND  

  The Rainbow in Finsbury Park autumn of 1974 - my first ever gig - they were 2nd on the bill.

8.....THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US - SPARKS

  Another single that was so far ahead of its time, the slightly unhinged Mael Brothers.

7...... WATERLOO SUNSET - THE KINKS

  The definitive London song - captures the mood without being overly sentimental.

6....VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR - THE BUGGLES

  Island Records' first ever number one, a great memory of gatecrashing an EMI board meeting.

5....PRIVATE UNIVERSE - CROWDED HOUSE

  The ultimate reflective song, where you can float away on your own cloud.

4....i only want to be with you - dusty springfield

   The greatest female vocalist this country has ever produced..no competition.

3....UP THE LADDER TO THE ROOF - THE SUPREMES

  The first Supremes song after Ms Ross, showing they didn't need her after all.

2... A GIRL LIKE YOU - EDWYN COLLINS

 Taking elements of the sixties and making it sound 90's..brilliantly done by Ed.

so here it is - the number one...

some of you predicted the group -

i wonder if you anticipated the song...

1.....strawberry fields forever - the beatles (of course)

  Lennon at his finest, even if might have been inspired by a strong Woodbine!

see you in 2019 for the 60 at 60..if we're spared....