as with the favourite tracks, i did this before on my old site, so there are now two very different version...

old site:

3 'Classical'

grieg
airy and light... always happily majestic, i love his stuff it's just happy, and i enjoy being happy!

chopin
the piano is my favourite instrument and chopin is by far the best 'pianist' i've ever had the pleasure to listen to... it can lead to mental overload, so be careful.

gregorian chant
pure vocals... the way the different voices blend into each other is calm, tranquil and soothing... and it does this in a totally undistracting way, which unusual and very helpful when you want get some work done.

10 'Pop'

marvin gaye
one of motown records' biggest successes.... however he apparently wasn't too happy, considering the material he was give too commercial... towards the end of the 60s he started to get more artistic freedom and started doing songs of a more social and political nature, including a war protest, an environmentalist song and a lament for the violent deaths of abraham lincoln, jfk and martin luther king. he also wrote many songs of a blatently sexual nature, which just wasn't done. by the end of the 70s he was dead... shot by his father, a baptist minister who apparently didn't take kindly to the nature of his songs. he has a large catalogue of great songs, probably the most famous of which is 'i heard it through the grapevine'... apparent this was one of his least favourite songs.

the temptations
a while back i knew this band for only one song: 'my girl', and that song is still one of my favourites... however i recently started collecting a series of motown cds and many a time i have been pleasantly surprised by a new direction in their music... their variety and quality despite it is phenomenal... in particular their work in the early 70s including 'ball of confusion' and 'psychedelic shack' showed wonderful control of beat, making theirs some the most 'danceable' music around.

dire straits
guitars... some people have the knack some don't... dire straits have that knack... from the song that started mtv ('money for nothing') to the classic love song ('romeo and juliet') to the soft spoken attack on society's endless desire to poke its nose where it doesn't belong ('private investigations') to the many just fine tunes in between ('telegraph road', 'walk of life',.....), dire straits seems to have to ability play the 'air guitar' with style.

elo
most of their songs have this weird special effect, which i haven't the foggiest what is.... it gives their music a wonderful haunted quality, that combined with the wonderful tunes and lyrics, and sometimes the silky voice of olivia newton-john, combine to give some great songs.... 'the diary of horace wimp', 'turn to stone', 'i'm alive', 'xanadu', 'blue sky', 'all over the world' and 'roll over beethoven'.

billy joel
this guy has quite a life... screwed by the record company from the start... when that was finally sorted out: a divorce... years later he finds the person he'd trusted to run his finances had been quite literally robbing him blind, at which point his second wife gets a divorce... he played the first foreign rock concert in the ussr... and through this all he has managed to be content with his lot... venting his spleen with some wonderful music... apparently he's now decided to stop writing lyrics and instead write full orchestra pieces... in some ways a shame i think, but i haven't heard the new stuff yet.
his repertoire includes 'the piano man', 'scenes from an italian restaurant', 'she's always a woman', 'my life', 'honesty' (this song describes perfectly my problems with finding 'the' right girl), 'uptown girl', 'an innocent man', 'a matter of trust', 'we didn't start the fire' (the history of the 20th century in 4.40), 'it's still rock and roll to me' and 'leningrad'.

elton john
another great piano playing singer... loads of good songs... he recently got loads of publicity for wrecking one of his best songs, 'candle in the wind'... a sweet idea, but not good for the ears! (it was originally a tribute to marilyn monroe not diana spenser).
his hits include 'your song', 'rocket man', 'crocodile rock', 'goodbye yellow brick road', 'candle in the wind', 'don't let the sun go down on me', 'don't go breaking my heart', 'part time love', 'i guess that's why they call it the blues', 'kiss the bride', 'sacrifice' and 'you gotta love someone'.

the beach boys
these guys were instrumental in moving rock and roll onto the next stages... widely attributed during the 60s and later as a major influence, their music were well crafted gems reflecting a much relaxed attitude to life than was possible in the repression of the 50s and before. they are also the only major band i know of that has theromins in their songs (good vibrations and a couple of others)... and boy does it sound good.
if i listed their good songs i'm afraid i'd go on all night, so i won't... surfice it to say there were a few.

tom lehrer
my favourite comic singer songwriter... as a 'kid' he worked on 'the bomb' at los alamos... he later became a maths professor at harvard, and for a short 3 albums worth wrote very funny songs, and then suddenly stopped. his subject matter ranged from parodies of various music forms to comment on current news events such as 'vatigan 2' and 'the bomb'. i can't think of a song of his i don't like so i'll forget the shortlist.

savage garden
only one album so far if you don't count the remix (which i don't because it is such rubbish... it's so bad that i think all copies should be burnt for the good of the world population and my sensitive ears). my introduction was 'truly madly deeply' a great outdoors feel good song... 'carry on dancing' and 'break me shake me' are very good for setting a light ball rotating... 'a thousand words' is well, i don't have that much room!!... 'violet' is my favourite, mellow and chilled to -4... the rest is pretty good too.

janis joplin
one of the best blues singers i've ever heard... the only person in that woodstock film that i liked, she has a voice that really does those songs justice... shame she lacked the judgement/will necessary to keep going.

new site:

The Temptations
one of the original motown bands and my favourite... their best stuff was done in the early 70s, but i'd be hard put to find a song i didn't like... favourites: Ball Of Confusion, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, It's Growing, My Girl and Psychedelic Shack.

Billy Joel
piano pop with lyrics that make more sense to me than most do... favourite three: My Life, Honesty and It's Still Rock And Roll To Me.

Tom Lehrer
comic songs played to the strains of an 88 string guitar... favourites: The Irish Maid, The Vatigan Rag and It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier.

Hazel O'Connor
a sort of light punk with barbed lyrics, as well as my favourite love song (Will You?)... other favourites: Blackman, Eighth Day and Come Into The Air.

ELO
haunting vocals with music which mixes the best of classical and rock... favourites: The Diary Of Horace Wimp, Turn To Stone, I'm Alive and Mr. Blue Sky.

Janis Joplin
raw blues at its best... favourites: One Night Stand, Cry Baby and Ball And Chain.

The Ronettes
the original and best 'wall of sound' band... favourites: Be My Baby, Walking In The Rain and So Young.

Savage Garden
great 'chill' music with many happy memories... favourites: "Truely, Madly, Deeply", Violet and A Thousand Words.