this is the start of my top 5

like phil said its bloody hard to choose

so i shortlisted my top 20 and eventually chose my top five from them

here goes

midnight oil - river runs red tubes - my head is my house unless it rains therapy - dianne ben folds - the luckiest don henley - heart of the matter queen - millionare waltz neil sedaka - the hungry years prince - sometimes it snows in april greg lake - i believe in father christmas steve earl - billy austin temptations - ball of confusion eels - susans house twisted sister - we're not gonna take it martyn joseph -please sir sir cliff - miss you nights faith no more -the gentle art of making enemies stevie wonder - living for the city peter gabriel - family snapshot elvis - guitar man marillion - forgotten sons

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so

to start with

number 5

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martyn joseph - please sir

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I love songs that make me cry

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The first time I heard this guy was at a tom robinson fan club gig in an old theatre in (I think) camden. just him and an acoustic guitar.This was the second song he played and was about a little boy in the welsh valleys asking his teacher why his dad was so sad. I sat and listened gobsmacked and by the end of the song both me and sam were in tears
He has and is still producing some of the best music I have heard And i could have chosen loads by him (dolphins-the good in me is dead-cardiff bay)

if you get a chance he is well worth seeing live. The best version of this track is on the don’t talk about love live cd
Some may say its a bit cheesy
Bollox
Its beautiful

number 4

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midnight oil - one country

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my fave band of all time

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they actually started life way back in '73 but are best known for their 1988 top 10 hit Beds Are Burning from the start the main focus of the band was Peter Garret,the seven foot tall bald singer who dances a bit like me.The first time their manager-to-be saw them live the roadie was soundchecking the vocal mike while standig on a beer crate and securing amps and monitors to the stage with six inch nails. a punk band at the start and even thought the sound matured and mellowed to a certain extent they were still punk right up to them splitting (Garrett has been a australian labour party member of the house of representatives since 2004) i could have chosen five of their songs for this list (truganini - beds are burning - forgotten years - one country) but went for this 'un

a bit of a slowy but it has all the oils trademarks , the slighly dodgy lead vocal ,the battling guitars , the enviromental/social message........and those bloody backing vocals

the one band for who i would have paid anything to see live

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continued on main erics site