Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Okay putting Papa Don't Preach this high in my list is a sure fire way to destroy my credibility, but honestly who cares. This is a pure pop song, it's short, sharp, fun and spunky. It also has a really nice subtle arrangement and a funky arse baseline that's oft overlooked. Whenever I've seen Madonna perform it on TV she always turns it into a horror show but as a single, it's one of her most immediate and her best. It's nice to remember back to a time when Madonna was just a straight pop star not some kind of pretentious super being.

This has to be in my top ten live moments, I think along with 75, 000 people I involentarily ejaculated when we heard that opening riff. A stone cold trash classic, as awesome as it is silly.

When it comes to signature tunes they don't come much bigger than I Wanna Be Adored, when the Stone Roses arrived fully formed with there earth shattering debut album, I Wanna Be Adored was a desperate cry for help that everyone could relate to. While Ian Brown is awful live and so were the Stone Roses, this is one track that could never fail.

From one heart wrenching anthem to another, although this track has a delightfully ironic melodramatic quality to it. This remains one of my favourite music videos of all time I just find it hysterical, Morrissey is at his love him or hate him best. Joyous and beautiful.

It took me along while to come around to Thriller as a stand alone single, I always considered it overrated, but I've now come round to its genius beat and Michaels smooth vocal performance. Even if I didn't like this track it's too important to leave off this list, whether it was the ground breaking video, the ultra slick dancemoves or the sheer number of records this track shifted, this song made a mark on music history like no other.

"Hand In Glove, The Sun Shines Out Of Our Behinds" it's has to be one of the best and most unique opening cuplets in pop history. Morrissey described this song as "a bleak proclaimation of doomed happiness". It's certainly one of the most fanscinating of the Smiths tracks to decifer lyrically, and it also has ome of Morrissey's most quoteable lines, what is it all really about "Well I Really Don't Know, And I Really Don't Care".

So when it comes to the most covered tracks of all time it has to be a close run race been Gloria Jones' Tainted Love and Handbags and The Gladrags. Soft Cell's version of this track would go down as the definitive although Marilyn Manson may well want to stake a claim to the thrown.

Another one of those tracks that will absolutely blow your mind live. Huge in scope, epic in sound, the riff from this track punches you in the face until you are helpless to resist it's sheer genius.

I'm sure you starting to release just how big a of a purple patch the Smiths hit during the 80s. Everything they released was utterly awesome, and the singles just kept coming, they simple wouldn't wait between albums they just kept serving aces, and I Started Something is my personal favourite.

Graceland was a brave and brilliant album, Paul Simon decided to ignore the embargo on South Africa and flew out getting the inspiration for his greatest ever work. While I'm saddened that the brilliant I Know What I Know was never released as a single, instead we got the Graceland. A gorgeous soft little pop song, that couldn't have been made by anyone other than the great Paul Simon.

*Correction: I have to apologise at this stage for leave You Can Call Me Al off the list, this is completely inexcusable, it certainly deserved to make the 250 and would have been a certainty for the top 100, it simply slipped my mind but I included this fantastic performance from Zimbabwe, the way the African crowd response is a joy to behold.