56 Singles

I spend most of my time in a music-less world—I wake up to the BBC on the radio, drive practically everywhere with the radio and stereo off, and almost never think to play my CDs unless I’m entertaining guests. I had an iPod, and I gave it away to a good home. My tastes in music are dismissible as “pop”—at heart I’m neither an opera queen nor a rock-n-roller—guiltily I am all but innocent of jazz and rap, unless I can dance to it or it makes me cry—I like alternative music but fail to keep up with the trends—I’m no good as a hipster or a slavering fan.

So here’s my list of singles—a virtual playlist—music that resonates with me, much of it, like me, fairly old. I’ve picked 56 because I turn 56 next month, but I’ve made no attempt to track the development of my musical tastes, such as they are; if I have given some sense of it, I’ve done so entirely by accident. And I have no doubt that clever psychologists could easily wrap me up in a neat package of some sort based on my picks—or at least identify my niche for advertisers.


1. “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones
2. “Golden Years” by David Bowie
3. “Heaven” by Talking Heads
4. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA
5. “Strange Angels” by Laurie Anderson
6. “Whatever Gets U Thru the Night” by John Lennon
7. “Dreaming” by Blondie
8. “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
9. “Atomic” by Blondie
10. “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” by Melanie
11. “Imagine” by John Lennon
12. “Shock the Monkey” by Peter Gabriel
13. “Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart” by the Supremes
14. “Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones
15. “Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield
16. “One of These Days” by Emmylou Harris
17. “Is That All There Is?” by Peggy Lee
18. “Here Comes Your Man” by the Pixies
19. “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty
20. “Road to Nowhere” by Talking Heads
21. “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” by The Smiths
22. “You Are My Sister” by Antony and the Johnsons
23. “Promised Land” by the Style Council
24. “Daniel” by Elton John
25. “Mother and Child Reunion” by Paul Simon
26. “Bohemian Like You” by the Dandy Warhols
27. “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse
28. “Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares
29. “Wheels” by Emmylou Harris
30. “To Sir with Love” by Lulu
31. “Knife” by Grizzly Bear
32. “Go West” by Pet Shop Boys
33. “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me” by The Smiths
34. “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat
35. “Union City Blue” by Blondie
36. “Every Day Is Like Sunday” by Morrissey
37. “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads
38. “Somebody Loves You” by the Eels
39. “Your Woman” by White Town
40. “We Have All the Time in the World” by Louis Armstrong
41. “Heart of Glass” by Blondie
42. “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones
43. “Take Me to the River” by Talking Heads
44. “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie
45. “Slave to Love” by Bryan Ferry
46. “Island Girl” by Elton John
47. “Where Did Our Love Go?” by the Supremes
48. “Wolf Like Me” by TV on the Radio
49. “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones
50. “Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed
51. “Mr E’s Beautiful Blues” by the Eels
52. “This is the Day” by The The
53. “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen
54. “Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)” by the Bee Gees
55. “Dog Faced Boy” by the Eels
56. “Fame” by David Bowie, Carlos Alomar, and John Lennon