Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Kicking off the top 50 is The Cars self titled debut LP. It's hard to think of a more perfect new wave statement. Ric Ocasek perfectly captured the sound and the mood of an entire scene on one thirty five minute slice of new wave, but essentially, pop brilliance. There was no filler to be found. Across these nine tracks Ocasek forged his own mini greatest hits collection. Every tracks hook is somehow more memorable than the last and the guitar work is simple but irresistible. It's all short sharp infectious stuff. The album really kicks into overdrive when Ocasek unleashes the irresistible"Just What A I Needed" a track that captured both a moment in time and the sound of the decade to come. The Cars were ahead of the time, positioned somewhere between Blondie's pop rock dominance and Gary Numan's synth-pop eccentricity they found the perfect marriage of synths, power chords and immediate choruses; that would form the template for a thousand imitators. Far from just out right hit makers when the time came to take things down a notch The Cars proved they could write intriguing atmospheric numbers too with the divine closers "Moving In Stereo" and "All Mixed Up". The Cars was the official transition, this was the beginning of the end for the seventies and the slow dawn of the nineteen eighties.

The Talking Heads could have easily named their debut record "Tentative Decisions" and perfectly encapsulated their entire bands sound and ethos in one fell swoop. Sure the Talking Heads made great revolutionary pop music, but they never sounded settled and they certainly never felt comfortable. They sounded tentative, full of nervous energy; just as you think you've settled into a comfortable groove, the guitars with suddenly spike, the tempo suddenly changes and David Byrne's vocal suddenly spikes. "Happy Day" for example, could have been a charming ballad but it's constantly on edge thanks to Byrne pitchy vocal, and that's why that track, and this record as a whole, is so damn exciting. It combined sharp jagged new wave punk with high end intellectual pop music; Talking Heads; 77 was art rock before people were ever pedantic enough to come up with such labels. The guitar work, the bass grooves and the song structures still thrill, "Who Is It?" is an absolute riot, it still feels unpredictable and frenzied three decades on.

The Talking Heads laid the ground work for the avante guard pop and indie that was to dominate the charts in the noughties (and still does in many respects).This was the forebare of the indie disco record; Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem still worship at the alter ofTalking Heads: 77. By sounding uneasy, unsettled and uncomfortable the Talking Heads managed to make mainstream music that appealed to outsiders, scenesters and the art house all at once. Their unconventional songs about love ("No Compassion") and society ("Don't Worry About The Government") tip toed the line between irony and sincerity creating a delicious sense of intrigue providing the perfect counter balance to those inescapable unsettled grooves...Ai Yi Yi Yi Yah!

Some records are woven together with certain periods in history, they become documents of our time, and genuinely sound track societal movements. The Specials remains one of the most poignant and emotional reminders of Britain's past. Whatever your view on Margret Thatcher or the 1980s, The Specials captured a moment in time, a moment of great social tension. Unemployment was rampant and racial tensions were at an all time high; town's like Coventry weren't fun places to be, but out of these unsettled times came and band and album that transcended the tension and squalor that surrounded it. It's actually the humanity and feel good energy of The Specials that makes it so endearing all these years later. You just can't dislike The Specials, they seemed morally above their times, and seemed capable of documenting without patronizing their surroundings. "A Message To You Rudy" and "Do The Dog" feel like pleas and reasoned arguments to the rude boys and enraged fascists. The Specials turned aggression and depression into shimmering pop music. The message was simple and heartbreaking "Just Because You're Nobody, It Doesn't Make You No Good".

This was smart, emotional, intellectual and most of all irresistible pop music. By blending punk, pop, new-wave, West Indian Dance hall together the Specials crystallized a new sound in ska. This sound and more importantly their lyrical style is still changing the face of pop music today; if it wasn't for The Specials who knows where pop would have ended up? You can hear their sound and lyrical style in Lily Allen and their soul in Amy Winehouse the 21st Centuries great pop revolutionaries. It wasn't always complex or poetic but it was simple, direct and honest (sound familar?) and that made them more relatable and more loveable than a million imitators. Yet before we get too carried away with overly verbose vitriol; we have to remember that behind all the histrionics laid layers and layers of timeless hits: "Too Much To Young", "A Message To You Rudy", "Concrete Jungle", "Do The Dog", "Monkey", "Blank Expression" and "Doesn't Make It All Right".

If the late sixties saw Bowie treading the water of pop domination and creative experimentation, then Hunky Dory was the moment when he unleashed all his initial potential in one concentrated blast. Of course there was more to come but Hunky Dory was the warning shot across the bough. This was smart, well constructed pop of the highest order; the opening salvo made that very clear with the irresistibly vibrant "Changes" and "Oh! Pretty Things" grabbing the listeners attention. From then on in Bowie set about re-imagining the pop landscape. He gave widescreen country guitar work a sexy outer spacial flavour on "Eight Line Poem", while giving dance hall music a make over on "Kooks". In this way Hunky Dory feels like one of the great transitional records as the sounds of the sixties evolved into the glam rock and electro experimentation of the 70s. Hunky Dory highlighted Bowie's great talent for taking established sounds and expanding them, giving them a broader more cinematic and sexy scope. The best results can be seen of the awe inspiring "Life On Mars?" and the tragically under appreciate brilliance of "Quicksand". It's these mid album works that have aged the best; "Quicksand" sounds fresh, exciting and vibrant but most of all, thanks to some truly brilliant production, it still sounds thoroughly contemporary. On Hunky Dory Bowie's palate was broader, more well realized, and ultimately more interesting than his pop peers. After all no one else was making anything as cool as "Andy Warhol" or as snappy as "Queen Bitch". This was high IQ, highly varied pop music, and despite the odd misfire (see "Song For Pop Dylan"), ultimately Hunky Dory was the sound of pop to come.

Kraftwerk's second entry on the countdown comes in the form of their most underrated work; The Man-Machine. While no one actually considers this record to be anything less than excellent it's position among music's elite is often downplayed. Normally the argument goes along these lines; "The Man-Machine is too obvious" which is a fair case to make. Kraftwerk declaring them "The Robots" is hardly complex or subtle, but then neither was Computer Love and that album has never been so readily discarded. Conceptual simplicity to one side, you can't help but feel that people are missing the point of this record entirely. The Man-Machine was designed to be immediate, rather than focusing on capturing a certain idea in sound, Kraftwerk just made the music that came naturally to them, and they were all the better for it. It is the sound of the The Man-Machine that continues to influence contemporary heavy weights like Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem. You can hear Daft Punk grooves and loops on almost every track, you can even notice the subtle synth evolution from "The Robots" to "You Wanted A Hit" as you listen to the stainless steel grooves. "Spacelab" by contrast seemingly inspired the Legend Of Zelda soundtrack and still looms heavy over today's 8-bit scene. In between the moments of inspiration Kraftwerk assembled their most direct and filler free LP; stacked to the brim with not just great creativity but legitimate hits. "The Model" stands proud as the records centrepiece, breaking from the album's core concept it remains a stand out moment of pop brilliance, while "The Man Machine" endures as Kraftwerk's fan's favourite hit. Kraftwerk were never supposed to sound this good, and this accessible, it just doesn't compute. The Man-Machine may not have been the initial revolution but it's the record that above all others continues to influence, inspire and drive 21st Century Electronica.