Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

When you talk about the great lost talents, Kate Bush has to be top of the list, granted she's not dead, I think, yes Wikipedia tells me she's alive. Anyway she really dropped off the radar after 1989, which is a tragedy as she was one of the music's most unique and innovative artists of her generation. Her is a classic slice of her art pop. (Look I didn't mention Futureheads once).

It's the second and final entry from The Cult in our top 250, built on the back on a monsterously retro riff, She Sells Sanctuary remains one of the ultimate guitar anthems, shame its been played to absolute death.

Bowie absolutely owned the seventies in almost everyway imaginable, and trust me when I get round to those lists, that will come over loud and clear. The eighties would be more hit and miss but he started with a bang, Ashes to Ashes is arguably his most memorable and certainly his most quotable single.

Ah while there's only a certain number of times I can tolerate listening to this track, when it comes on out of the blue it's an utter delight. Simply, poignant pop at its best.

Okay I've always wanted to know whether "Fried Chicken" are the last words of this track (consults wiki); ah so it was a joke that Freddie threw in for fun. So you write a mamoth epic guitar anthem, about changing the world, building and building to this pivitol conclusion and it's Fried Chicken, what a dude.

As single, basic and as pure a pop single as you'll ever hear. Obviously and cliche, well yes but is there are more awesome line in all of existance than "Your Always Tease, Tease, Tease / Your Only Happy When I'm On My Knees"?

Do I need to explain this song? Hell can I even explain this song? Just thinking about it everything I'd say would make it sound lame, yet that's what makes Queen so much fun, proof it's cool to be silly and lame.

So it's the twentieth anniversary of one of the most complete and revolutionary debut albums in the history of rock and roll The Stone Roses. She Bangs The Drum is one of those glorious rousing singles that made us think ever so fleetingly that rock and roll had its new saviours.

Ah Off The Wall when it comes to remembering Michael Jackson this is the album that I always think back to, and it always makes me smile, it's the moment the world realized the next big thing, the next evolution in pop music had arrived. The last hoorah for the seventies.

Wow we got through ten whole eighties tracks without a single cheese laden guilty pleasure, but fear not everyone's favorite mild mannered Canadian "sex symbol" is here. Wow I never thought I'd type those words, say what you will, this is Bryan's finest song and a irresistable tune. (And another song so simple that I can play on guitar)

Okay so after Straight Out Of Compton and Fuck The Police we were starting to wonder if all the goodwill had been beaten out of the N.W.A, well Express Yourself proved they had a positive message to go along with their incendary bomb blasts.

While I still find Madonna the most overated artist in human history, there is no denying that if you can put the pomp to one side, she has left a grand old legacy of classic pop songs. Material Girl remains one of my favorites, I think it's her knowingly inane candence.

Punk would soon be on its last legs before comming a bland directionless shadow of its former sense, but in 1980 it was still going strong and the Dead Kennedys decided to stick the knife in to Pol Pot and Henry Kissenger with this delicious slice of punk fury.

Could there be a more parodied video that Here I Go Again? It's still being copied to this day whether its American dad or Bowling for Soup, but why has it remained so iconic? Because the song is so fucking irresistably eighties, that's why. God there still touring and selling out arenas, I never saw that coming!

So the two hair metal monster stand back to back, so why's Crue one place ahead? Because Here I Go Again gets old real quick where as it's insanely fun to do your best Nikki Sixx impression and scream "Shout At The Devil!", it just doesn't get old. Plus beefy guitars beat cheesey synths any day.

Okay so the metal was getting a bit too hairy and involved far too much cock for my tastes, now it's time for some blood, sweat and...erh....more blood? Ridiculously lyrics, killer guitar, a combination that I can never get enough of. I can't tell you how awesome this is live, oh wait you can see for yourselves.

While I like to pretend that everything after Thriller didn't happen when it comes to MJ, there are the odd execptions, he was still the King of Pop after all and this was as good as his post-Thriller work got. (I warn you don't have your headphones up too loud the scream before this track is deathening).