The World Won't Listen

Drivetime

Last year I watched the Top Gear survey to find out the best driving songs of all time.Well, 'disappointed' was one way of describing my reaction to the results, 'abject misery' is another way. And I suppose a third way is to say that I was resigned to the fact that the majority of the listening public have what can only be described as 'modest' ambitions to broaden their tastes. The eventual selection (not that I can remember the exact detail) was a cliche ridden list that reflects most catalogues of this type. We are talking the likes of Golden Earring with 'Radar Love', Steppenwolf and 'Born to be wild', Mr Mister and 'Broken Wings' - well you get the idea I'm sure.

Anyhow I thought it would be a nice idea to come up with an alternative list and so put my mind to the solution. It was not as easy a process, however, as I first thought it would be. There was a friend of mine who always thought he had the perfect tracks for a flawless mix tape for the car. Now the art of the mix tape is another subject altogether, and a topic for a future blog entry, but his choices did reveal a central conundrum i.e. should the songs be good to drive to, or good songs about driving? I dont think there is a straightforward answer, so therefore I have decided that my next few blog entries will be my selection for the first 10 driving songs on a car tape/CD/MP3 playlist etc. Note that they will not be in any particular order, and nor will they be a complete pick. They will, however, be a mixture of both driving songs and tracks to drive to. So here goes:

1. The Smiths - There is a light that never goes out (mp3)

A strange choice for a driving selection you might think - and you're probably right. Meeting your demise by a 'double decker bus' or 'ten tonne truck' is plainly rather gratuitous, but the implied romance of the song is heartwarming. The fact that it has been covered so many times gives further credence to its greatness.

2. Eurythmics - This is the House (mp3)

This was a favourite of the friend I mentioned before and I concede that it is rather good on a car mix. I think it was the twangy bass played by Andy Brown that does it for me. It was released by Eurythmics in 1982 but didn't do very well - a fact I fail to understand. If anybody out there has the 12" version that they could convert to mp3 and let me have I would be eternally grateful.

Buy The Smiths or Eurythmics or preferably both here and here