Top Ten Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune & Pluto Songs

OK, following Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury, I struggled to make a decent Top Ten with any of the other planets in our solar system. So here's the best of the rest, with two caveats...

i) There are no decent Uranus songs. For obvious reasons. And yes, I do include 'Rocket To Uranus' by The Vengaboys when I make that statement.

ii) I know Pluto isn't considered a planet anymore by those who know far better than me. But it's still better than Uranus.



10. Grandchildren - Saturn Returns

More interesting than the R.E.M. song of (almost) the same title. I know very little about this band other than they're from Philadelphia and don't appear to be any relation to Grandaddy.

9. Stevie Wonder - Saturn

Stevie's had enough of all the bad stuff - y'know, wars, murders, people nicking your trolley when you pop to the toilet in Tesco - so he's packing his bags and moving to Saturn, the planet where people live to be 205.

8. Tori Amos - Hey Jupiter

I'm not even going to attempt to tell you what this song is about. It's far too deep for a dumb-head like me.

7. The B-52s - Hallucinating Pluto

Because I have an extremely juvenile sense of humour, I love the fact that the only things written on the youtube page for this song are...

All rights and ownership go to The B-52's.

...and...

penises

6. Train - Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)

Come on, you'd almost written Train off as a one-hit wonder, hadn't you? I quite liked their new MONSTER HIT, Drive-By, until Louise asked me, "What are you listening to - is that the Jonas Brothers?"

5. The Futureheads - Jupiter

When your life fills you with despair,
You have to believe that there’s good out there
No enemies anywhere
Then you are free

If you're quick, lads, you can share a rocket with Stevie Wonder. He's going in vaguely the same direction.

4. Super Furry Animals - (Drawing) Rings Around The World

A little bit of a cheat, but worth it. A Saturn song in all but name.

3. The Divine Comedy - Neptune's Daughter

When the last course has been consumed
They withdraw to the drawing room
Where the Schubert she plays with style
Keeps her friends happy for the while
But the memories are a burden,
So she draws back both the curtains
Stepping out into the night...

Neil Hannon: the Noel Coward of indie-pop.

2. Donovan - Jennifer Jupiter

What's that, you say? "Juniper"? Don't be daft...

1. The Inspiral Carpets - Saturn 5

Dig that funky Clint Boon organ!

An Eagle lands, and a planet full of people raises its hands
All hail the men who will walk up in heaven today

So, that's the rest of my musical solar system... which would you land on? (Uranus, anybody?)

Top Ten Man On The Moon Songs

OK, let's get back into space after last week's unrelated diversion... and where's the first stop on our journey?

There are far too many songs about the big blue cheese button to narrow down a Top Ten Moon Songs... so instead, here's 10 solely about taking a trip there.

10. Radiohead - Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky.)

See, I might consider that bracketed subtitle pretentious... had Thom Yorke not stolen it from Bagpuss.

9. Super Furry Animals - Colonise The Moon

I vomited throughout your saxophone solo, sings Gruff Rhys, to whom I'm not sure. It's enough to make him want to leave the planet and set up his home Space 1999 style on Moonbase Alpha.

8. Love & Rockets - Holiday On The Moon

You can't get a suntan on the moon, reckon the band named after the comic.

7. Grinderman - Man In The Moon

Nick Cave's daddy was an astronaut. Now he's living on the moon...

6. Drive-By Truckers - Puttin' People on the Moon

The Truckers sing the working man's blues: while they're struggling to scrape by, another joker in the White House is puttin' people on the moon.

5. Eels - Climbing To The Moon

Got a sky that looks like heaven
Got an earth that looks like shit
It's getting hard to tell where
What I am ends
And what they're making me begins

No wonder E's got his foot on the ladder...

4. The Police - Walking On The Moon

I believe giant steps are in order.

3. ELO - Ticket To The Moon

Remember the good old 1980s?
When things were so uncomplicated?
I wish I could go back there again
And everything could be the same.

2. Frank Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon

What's Spring like on Jupiter and Mars? Patience, Frank, we'll get to that in coming weeks.

1. REM - Man On The Moon

Oh, look, I found a version where Stipey duets with Bruce. That'll do nicely.



Got a favourite Man On The Moon song? Don't be shy about it...

Title Fight - Drive - And the winner is...

Thanks to everybody who voted in last week's inaugural Title Fight post to find your favourite 'Drive' song. There were six very different songs to choose from, all with the exact same title - by The Cars, REM, Incubus, Rialto, Alan Jackson and The Gaslight Anthem.

As expected, it was a tightly fought battle between the first two artists, with some support for Incubus and token votes for Rialto and The Gaslight Anthem. Sadly, poor old Alan Jackson was left out in the cold... though Mark did ask me if he was married to Carol in Eastenders.

REM led the way most of the week before a sudden surge of Cars fans closed the gap at the last minute... leading to a steward's enquiry... before the result was finally declared.

The Cars & REM - joint winners.

It was a fun little exercise and I hope to bring it back soon as part of my new Music Blog 'The Mixtape Lives On'. More on that soon. Bet you can hardly wait.

Top 40 Radio Songs

After last week's DJ Top Ten, and in celebration of today's announcement that 6 Music lives, here's a countdown of my favourite radio songs. Turned out when I checked my library there were so many great songs with radio in the title, I had enough for a whole Top 40 - with some left over! Seemed an appropriate enough way of celebrating the evil industry...


40. Roxy Music - Oh Yeah (On The Radio)

39. The Ataris - The Radio Still Sucks

38. Hefner - The Greater London Radio

37. Jane Bond & The UndercoverMen - Radio Moscow

36. Edwin Starr - H.A.P.P.Y Radio

35. Nirvana - Radio Friendly Unit Shifter

34. Robbie Williams - Radio

33. The Vines - Don't Listen To The Radio

32. Black Box Recorder - Factory Radio

31. Everclear - AM Radio

30. George Harrison - Devil's Radio

29. Talking Heads - Radio Head

28. Helen Love - Summer Pop Radio

27. Elvis Costello - Radio Sweetheart

26. The Ataris - Radio #2

25. Jesse Malin - Broken Radio

24. Teenage Fanclub - Radio

23. The Ramones - Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?

22. Donna Summer - On The Radio

21. Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere

20. Dead 60s - Riot Radio

19. Jim White - Static On The Radio

18. The Selecter - On My Radio

17. The Clash - This Is Radio Clash

16. Latin Quarter - Radio Africa

15. The Concretes - On The Radio

14. Steve Earle - Satellite Radio

13. Rush - Spirit Of Radio

12. Scissor Sisters - Tits On The Radio

11. Regina Spektor - On The Radio

10. The Wonder Stuff - Radio Ass Kiss

Radio Ass Kiss on the air
Say what you like now no one cares

9. Queen - Radio Gaga

I'd sit alone and watch your light
My only friend through teenage nights

Truer words never sung...

8. Ricky Ross - Radio On

A haunting rarity from Ricky's first solo album.

7. REM - Radio Song

I remember REM purists getting all up in arms about the fact that this song featured a rap by KRS-One. Still, probably better than a rap by Michael Stipe. Unfortunately, 20+ years on, Radio Song has dated rather more than the rest of the album.

6. Tom Robinson - Listen To The Radio / Atmospherics

Tom Robinson was eight years old when he recorded this song. Seriously - just watch the video!

5. Kathleen Edwards - One More Song The Radio Won't Like

Ironically, I discovered Kathleen Edwards through hearing this record on Bob Harris's radio show.

4. Slade - Radio Wall Of Sound

In the early 90's, Slade decided they fancied a crack at the Def Leppard market stateside. They had to sideline Noddy a bit to do though...

3. Ballboy - All The Records On The Radio Are Shite

(Except Mine) sings Ballboy.

Except having the word 'Shite' in your title would probably rule out your chances of getting much airplay... although I did hear someone use the word "shitlist" in a news bulletin on Radio 2 this lunchtime, so anything's possible.

2. Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

A timeless classic from Trevor Horn and co... whatever happened to him?

The Presidents Of The United States Of America cover version from The Wedding Singer is always worth a listen too.

As is this rather cool live version by The Wrong Trousers.

1. Elvis Costello - Radio Radio

I've featured this song here before, and I'll probably feature it again...

And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools
Trying to anaesthetise the way that you feel...

With forty songs to choose from, I must have included your favourite radio song... mustn't I?