My top 50 (times 3) of the last 50 years
We couldn’t agree on just one song, so we chose the top three ‘meaningful’ ones. There are some horrendous omissions: where is Pink Floyd, for instance. Any, good for listening and discussing.
| Number 1 | Band | Number 2 | Band | Number 3 | Band | |
| 1960 | Peter Gunn Theme | Blues Brothers | Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport | Rolf Harris | California dreaming | The Mamas and The Papas |
| 1961 | Stand By Me | Ben E. King | Hit the Road Jack | Ray Charles | Let’s Twist again | Chubby Checker |
| 1962 | I’ve been everywhere | Lucky Starr | Working for the Man | Roy Orbison | Sherry | Four seasons |
| 1963 | She Loves You | The Beatles | Return to Sender | Elvis Presley | I want to hold your hand | Beatles |
| 1964 | You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ | Righteous Brothers | Under the Boardwalk | The Drifters | Hard Days Night | Beatles |
| 1965 | Nowhere to Run | Martha & the Vandellas | Satisfaction | The Rolling Stones | She’s so Fine | Easybeats |
| 1966 | God Only Knows | Beach Boys | Friday on my Mind | Easybeats | Spicks and Specks | Bee Gees |
| 1967 | Light My Fire | The Doors | Respect | Aretha Franklin | Brown Eyed girl | Van Morrison |
| 1968 | Revolution | The Beatles | I Heard It Through the Grapevine | Marvin Gaye | Bad Moon Rising | Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| 1969 | Feelin’ Alright | Joe Cocker | Suite Judy Blue Eyes | Crosby, Stills and Nash | Venus | Shocking Blue |
| 1970 | Layla | Derek and the Dominos | Moondance | Van Morrison | Love the one you’re with | Steven Stills |
| 1971 | Stairway to Heaven | Led Zeppelin | Tupelo Honey | Van Morrison | Eagle Rock | Daddy Cool |
| 1972 | Superstition | Stevie Wonder | Dirty Work | Steely Dan | American Pie | Don McLean |
| 1973 | Bennie and the Jets | Elton John | Time Warp | Rocky Horror Picture Show | Rubber Bullets | 10CC |
| 1974 | Sweet Home Alabama | Lynyrd Skynyrd | Living in the Seventies | Skyhooks | Free Man in Paris | Joni Mitchell |
| 1975 | Born to Run | Bruce Springsteen | Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen | Mamma Mia | ABBA |
| 1976 | More Than a Feeling | Boston | Dancing Queen | Abba | Hotel California | Eagles |
| 1977 | April Sun in Cuba | Dragon | Only the Good Die Young | Billy Joel | Se and Drugs and Rock and Roll | Ian Dury |
| 1978 | Sultans of Swing | Dire Straits | Oliver’s Army | Elvis Costello | Khe Sanh | Cold Chisel |
| 1979 | London Calling | London Calling | My Sharona | The Knack | Shape I’m In | Jo Jo Zep |
| 1980 | Don’t Stand So Close to Me | Police | You Shook Me All Night Long | AC/DC | Boys light up | Australian Crawl |
| 1981 | Talk of the Town | Pretenders | Shake it Up | Cars | Shake a Tail Feather | Blues Brothers |
| 1982 | Town Called Malice | The Jam | Rock the Casbah | The Clash | Down Under | Men At Work |
| 1983 | Every Breath You Take | Police | Sweet Dreams | Eurythmics | You Can’t hurry love | Phil Collins |
| 1984 | Boys of Summer/Dancing in the dark | Don Henley | Science Fiction | Divinyls | Throw your arms around me | Hunters and Collectors |
| 1985 | Walking on Sunshine | Katrina and Waves | Fortress Round Your Heart | Sting | Out of Mind, out of sight | Models |
| 1986 | Don’t Dream it’s Over | Crowded House | You can leave your hat on | Joe Cocker | Addicted to Love | Robert Palmer |
| 1987 | Walk Like an Egyptian | The Bangles | Beds are Burning | Midnight oil | To her door | Paul Kelly |
| 1988 | Your Town | Go-Betweens | Better Be Home Soon | Crowded House | Run to Paradise | Choirboys |
| 1989 | I want to be seduced | Leon Redbone | Love Shack | B52s | End of the line | Travelling wilburys |
| 1990 | Forgotten Years | Midnight Oil | I go to extremes | Billy Joel | I Don’t Wanna Be With Nobody But You | Absent Friends |
| 1991 | Losing My Religion | R.E.M. | One | U2 | Mustang Sally | The Commitments |
| 1992 | Holy Grail | Hunters and Collectors | Friday Im in love | The Cure | Hold on my heart | Genesis |
| 1993 | Afternoons and Coffeespoons | Crash Test Dummies | The Last Word | Billy Joel | Cats in the Cradle | Ugly Kid joe |
| 1994 | Last Goodbye | Jeff Buckley | Cornflake Girl | Tori Amos | All About Soul | Billy Joel |
| 1995 | In the Valley | Midnight Oil | Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman | Bryan Adams | Kiss from a Rose | Seal |
| 1996 | Back 2 Good | Matchbox Twenty | Ironic | Alanis Morissette | Right Hand Man | Joan Osborne |
| 1997 | Selfless, Cold and Composed | Ben Folds Five | Building a Mystery | Sarah McLachlan | Bitter Sweet Symphony | Verve |
| 1998 | Aida | Sarah McLachlan | Semi-charmed life | Third Eye Blind | Iris | Goo Goo Dolls |
| 1999 | Here with me | Dido | Can’t get enough of you baby | Smash Mouth | Smooth | Santana |
| 2000 | Teenage dirtbag | Wheatus | Beautiful Day | U2 | These days | Powderfinger |
| 2001 | Cherry Lips | Garbage | Drive/With arms wide open- creed | Incubus | What took you so long | Emma Bunton |
| 2002 | The Rising | Bruce Springsteen | I’m a believer | Smash Mouth | Not pretty enough | Kasey Chambers |
| 2003 | Crazy in Love | Beyonce | Zebra | John Butler Trio | Are You Gonna Be My Girl? | Jet |
| 2004 | White Flag | Dido | Fell in love with a boy | Joss Stone | World on Fire | Sarah McLachlan |
| 2005 | Wish You Well | Bernard Fanning | Photograph | Nickelback | Wisemen | James Blunt |
| 2006 | We’re all in this together | Ben Lee | One Crowded Hour | Augie March | Stupid Girls | Pink |
| 2007 | 20 Good Reasons | Thirsty Merc | The Albatross | Sarah Blasko | Suddenly I see | KT Tunstall |
| 2008 | Viva la Vida | Coldplay | Opportunity | Pete Murray | How far w’ever come | Matchbox 20 |
| 2009 | Single Ladies | Beyonce | Im Yours | Jason Mraz | ||
| 2010 | Both Sides Now | Joni Mitchell | Soldier of Love | Sade |
