Soft Cell - Say Hello Wave Goodbye

Soft Cell's wonderful ballad "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" appeared on their 1981 debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret along with their smash version of Gloria Jones' Northern Soul classic "Tainted Love". It's a song about a love that can't be, a fantastic ballad that's also been covered to great effect by David Grey.

Watch and listen

Massive Attack with Tracey Thorn - Protection

"Protection", the title track off Massive Attack's second album from 1994, is a wonderful collaboration with Everything But The Girl singer Tracey Thorn. Theirs is a perfect match, combining Massive Attack's trademark chilling synthesized inner city soundscape and Thorn's distant yet warm and emphatic voice.

Watch and listen

David Sylvian & Riuichi Sakamoto - Forbidden Colours

I don't know if any one song in all the history of music is as beautiful as "Forbidden Colours", the 1983 theme song for the film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. It was written and recorded by Riuichi Sakamoto of Yellow Magic Orchestra fame (music) and former Japan singer David Sylvian (lyrics) and is a song so hauntingly pretty that it's almost impossible to comprehend. This song is in many ways the best definition of the word "art" I can come up with. It encompasses every aspect of what it should be.

Watch and listen

Vanessa Paradis - Marilyn & John

The French singer Vanessa Paradis was only 14 years old when she became an overnight sensation with the single "Joe Le Taxi" that reached the number one spot in several countries. However, it was the song "Marilyn & John", a beautiful tribute to Marilyn Monroe, that made her a darling with the critics. Both songs appeared on her first album, 1988's M & J, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Watch and listen

Duran Duran - Save A Prayer

One of the prettiest songs by all of the synth-pop groups of the early 1980's, Duran Duran's "Save A Prayer" remains a classic to this day. In only a few weeks it's 30 years since it first appeared on the band's second album Rio, and when it was released as the album's third single in August 1982, it quickly became their biggest hit to date. It was held off the UK number one spot by Survivor's Rocky III theme song "Eye Of The Tiger". It should have been the other way around. "Save A Prayer" is just a fantastic song, incredibly beautiful, and that goes for the video too!

Watch and listen

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Get Up, Stand Up

"Get Up, Stand Up" first appeared on the 1973 Wailers album Burnin', and quickly became one of Bob Marley's signature songs. Boasting the line "You can fool some people sometimes, but you can't fool all the people all the time" it's a call to oppressed people around the world to stand up and fight for their rights. A timeless and absolutely fantastic song! Here's a live clip from Dortmund.

Watch and listen

Dawes - A Little Bit Of Everything

Los Angeles folk-rock outfit Dawes released their fabulous second album Nothing Is Wrong last year, produced by Jonathan Wilson who also released a fab album last year, Gentle Spirit. Dawes (and Wilson) are indebted to the Laurel Canyon scene cirka 1970, and the closing track "A Little Bit Of Everything" owes an especially huge debt to Jackson Browne. He's also a guest on the record, but not on this song. "A Little Bit Of Everything" is just a beautiful ballad of the kind Browne is so good at writing. It would have fit perfectly into classic Browne albums like For Everyman or Late For The Sky.

Listen

Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure

What a star meeting! When Queen and David Bowie met up to write and record "Under Pressure" in 1981, the result was - and still is - incredible. It's hard to say which entity brought most of themselves to the proceedings, Bowie or Queen. The final result doesn't really sound like any of them, and at the same time it couldn't have been made by anyone else. 31 years on, I still love this song immensely!

Watch and listen

Lipps Inc. - Funkytown

Lipps Inc. was an American studio band who owned the world very briefly when they hit the number one spot around the globe with the disco single "Funkytown" in 1980. It couldn't be more cheesy if you drained it in a cloth, but it's a seriously catchy song, so no wonder it became so popular. There was even a successful cover version six years later by the Australian band Pseudo Echo. That's less disco and more rock, and thus totally inferior to the original.

Watch and listen

T. Rex - Children Of The Revolution

The 1972 T. Rex single "Children Of The Revolution" is one of extremely few things in the world that makes me want to become a teenager again. It's just an amazing song about teenage rebellion and having lots of exciting, unlived life in front of you. Then, when the song is over, a reality check kicks in and everything's back to normal.

Watch and listen