Best Songs of 2022

There have been some cracking songs out in 2022. I have narrowed a list down to my favourite 20. It’s a random selection, so sorry.

20 David Guetta & Bebe Rexa – I’m Good (Blue)
I have always been a fan of Blue – the Ice Pop Instrumental version, specifically. It was great to see the song getting another chance to take on the charts in a new version by David Guetta. I have had to download the clean version so that I can play it in the car with the kids.

19 Tenchi, Shaggy & Embody & Moss Kena – It Wasn’t Me
Such a brilliant fun remix of a silly song that came out 21 years ago! This is fab.

18 Harry Styles – Late Night Talking
A great some from Harry. What a year he has had!

17 Lewis Capaldi – Forget Me
Lewis Capaldi songs are always brilliant. He didn’t fail with this one.

16 Nathan Dawe & Ella Henderson – 21 Reasons
Such a good dance track.

15 Topic, Robin Schulz, Nico Santos & Paul van Dyk – In Your Arms (For An Angel)
For An Angel is one of the most underrated dance songs ever. So it was a delight to get a reworking of a classic.

14 LF System – Afraid To Feel
It has been brilliant to get dance songs back at the top of the charts again. This is an instant classic.

13 Lizzo – 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)
Much was made of Lizzo’s other tune About Damn Time. That was fab, but I love this one. It’s fun and underrated.

12 Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal – B.O.T.A (Baddest Of Them All)
Another dance chart topper. This one is great. I haven’t been fortunate enough to hear this on a night out, but I bet it goes down a strom!

11 Shouse – Won’t Forget You
Such an earworm. And with loads of remixes it was hard to escape this from my playlist.

10 Sam Smith – Love Me More
A Sam Smith classic. Somehow they release mellow, easy to listen to songs that are brilliant.

9 Sam Ryder – Spaceman
After Sam’s performance on New Year’s Eve, I have to include a couple of songs from him on the best of list. He is awesome.

8 Mimi Webb – House On Fire
I thought it was funny how she was able to sing this outside the Queen’s house in June.

7 Sam Ryder – Somebody
Somehow this was even catchier than Spaceman.

6 Purple Disco Machine & Sophie and the Giants – In The Dark
I love Purple Disco Machine. This is one of his absolute finest.

5 Harry Styles – As It Was
As soon as it was released it was clear that this was going to be a phenomenon. Brilliant!

4 George Ezra – Anyone For You (Tiger Lily)
Oh my word this was a classic. It is up there with George Ezra’s best.

3 Latto & Mariah Carey & DJ Khaled – Big Energy (Remix)
How this was no a bigger hit is beyond me. This is a fricking awesome tune. Although DJ Khaled’s new watch that he mentions at the end annoys me, thankfully it doesn’t detract from the awesomeness that is this song. Amazing!

2 Joel Corry & Tom Grennan – Lionheart (Fearless)
I could have flipped a coin to decide between 1 and 2. Lionheart is just awesome. It wasn’t a smash hit but I think there’s still time for it to experience success. It is one of the best dance tunes of the 2020s so far.

1 George Ezra – Green Green Grass
How could it be anything else. I love this song. It gave us a funny moment at Buckingham Palace and it has had our family singing along every time we’ve heard it. A perfect pop song.

The Ultimate High – The Time Frequency

The lost classic, The Ultimate High, was first released in 1993. It has stood the test of time.

The Ultimate High is a song by The Time Frequency, a Scottish group. A couple of minor hits in 1992 set the group up for bigger success with The Power Zone EP which included a couple of other songs that I am not very aware of, and, most importantly, The Ultimate High. The EP peaked at Number 17 in the charts.

I don’t know exactly when I first heard TUH but it must have made an impression on me. I remember hearing it played by Stu Allan on the radio. It was in 1997 when I went to a student night at Valentino’s in Stoke-on-Trent that I properly began to love the song. I remember the moment it was played and everyone singing and dancing to such a euphoric song.

Maybe this was the first time I heard it – TOTP?

Unfortunately, that was the one and only time I ever heard the song out in a club. In truth, it was probably the last time I ever heard the song played by anyone but me.

Checking WhoSampled, I can see that the song was sampled on a few hardcore dance hits. But for some reason, this absolute classic tune has never taken off.

The Time Frequency had a few other hits and I really liked much of their music, but nothing ever beat The Ultimate High.

Set You Free

One of my favourite dance tunes is N-Trance’s Set You Free!

Set You Free was originally released in 1994, peaking at Number 39. Back then I would pride myself on finding little known dance tracks in Sphere, the local music shop. But I’ll be honest, I don’t think I had found Set You Free until it was re-released in 1995.

It feels like such a strange concept in 2022 – re-releasing songs. Songs don’t get re-released any more, they just get released and at some point hopefully they get discovered. But back in 1995, Set You Free kind of actually followed this sort of pattern, taking three years to make it big.

Set You Free was recorded in 1992 with vocals from the amazing Kelly Llorena. According to Wikipedia, she and the members of N-Trance drove all around the country performing the song. Clearly there was an appetitite for it as it was released in 1994. Popularity seemed to grow and the record label re-issued it again in 1995 just after Christmas.

It entered the chart at Number Six and then seemed to hover round the charts for months. That moment when the Rain and Thunder sounds at the start of the song is so instantly recognisable. Kelly belts the vocals out like this is her one chance to sing on a hit record (to be fair, this was her biggest chance, but not her only one!)

The remixes were strong and I particularly loved the TTF Edit (The Time Frequency, a Scottish group who produced one of the most underrated songs ever, The Ultimate High).

A remember discussing with friends about there existing a rap version of the song. Every so often it was on the radio. On the CD this is known as the Pop Edit and the rap is performed by Ricardo Da Force. I always wondered how N-Trance went from this to Stayin’ Alive, but actually the Pop Edit bridges that gap. Da Force is brilliant on both records – I’m serious as cancer.

Set You Free was remixed in 2001 by Rob Searle, peaking at Number Four. It was a delight to see the song back in the charts. This version was great but not quite as strong as the original version.

Set You Free was recently covered by Sam Ryder and his version is brilliant. I can’t believe that no one has tried to blend this into a dance version.

Set You Free is the song that convinced me of my love for dance music. Released at the start of 1995, the truth is that my love of the genre began that year and Set You Free was the first huge dance hit of a vintage year of dance songs. It is one of my favourite songs ever and is rightly thought of as a classic.

Best Robbie Williams Songs

As Robbie Williams releases his XXV album, full of orchestral versions of his greatest hits, I thought I’d share my favourite Robbie songs.

I have also read this with a list of Take That and Robbie Williams songs, which seems not quite right to me. So I’ve included Take That songs where Robbie takes the lead.

21. Everything Changes
Robbie’s best song as lead vocal for Take That.

20. My Culture (1 Giant Leap featuring Maxi Jazz and Robbie Williams
This is such a great song. Robbie repurposes his poem, Hello Sir, from Life Thru A Lens to create a verse in My Culture. It’s such a great song. Hello Sir is such a great poem – it is one of the most impactful messages in my teaching career – recognising how destroying the negative effect a teacher could have on a person. In My Culture it is repurposed and uses ‘Dad’ instead of ‘Sir’ which is a bit strange. I’m reading too much into this. My Culture is just a great song!

19. Heaven From Here
Such a beautiful song. It never fails to make me think.

18. Karma Killer
Such energy. Absolutely brilliant!

17. Rock DJ
Just edging past Karma Killer, Rock DJ was such a massive song when it came out. It was everywhere and became such an earworm as a result. It’s a song that everyone knows.

16. Advertising Space
An anthemic effort from Robbie. His vocals are so powerful here. 2005 wasn’t a vintage year for music, so this stands out.

15. Better Man
I always got the sense that Robbie wrote songs whilst wearing his heart on his sleeve. I felt that he was genuinely wanting to become a better man. A great song.

14. Eight Letters
Originally released by Take That on their Progress album, Robbie recorded his own version of Eight Letters a couple of years later for his Take The Crown album. It’s hard to comprehend that this wasn’t a hit because it is a brilliant song and should have been a hit for one of them. (I think Robbie’s version is the best.)

13. You Know Me
Robbie can quickly go from loud rocky bangers to softer ballads. You Know Me falls somewhere in between. What a great song!

12. Something Beautiful
Another classic Robbie song. When that chorus kicks in: ‘Something beautiful will come your way’, you cannot help but sing along

11. Old Before I Die
I loved this when it was first released. I don’t think that it’s probably passed the test of time, and is not considered a classic. But at the time, it was such a statement from Robbie: I am no longer in Take That. It was so different to what we were used to. I remember when he performed it on TFI Friday, he changed one of the lyrics to say, ‘I hope I live to receive Channel 5,’ which is a reminder that 1997 was the year the channel that eventually cancelled Neighbours was launched.

10. Hey Tiger!
A throwaway song for the soundtrack of The Tiger Came To Tea, Hey Tiger! became so popular in our house, it is one of my most played Robbie tracks. It is fun and happy and I love it!

9. Millennium
Those strings from James Bond are so striking. Millennium was an instant classic on release. Brilliant.

8. Bodies
Bodies is probably not considered a classic Robbie song, but it is catchy and great to sing along to. I love it!

7. No Regrets
A Robbie classic. For me, No Regrets has improved with age.

6. Let Me Entertain You
At the time, LMEY was so different. It was another bold statement from Robbie and it is his signature track.

5. Angels
Quite possibly Robbie’s most famous song, Angels was the song that sent his career stratospheric. I remember it being sung by choirs, being used as the last song in nightclubs, soundtracking sad moments on TV and being sang really badly on karaoke – it was everywhere. Angels is a gorgeous song and the world is a better place because of it.

4. Candy
Robbie’s last ever Number 1 in 2012, Candy was famously ignored by Radio One because he was too old. Because of this, stubbornly, I listened to it more. It gradually became stuck in my head. It is catchy and fun and a great, great song.

3. Hot Fudge
Another album track, Hot Fudge is the hit song that never was. I don’t know why it was never released as a single. If you haven’t heard it before then you are missing out.

2. Strong
One of my favourite Robbie lyrics is ‘Is this real, ‘cos I feel fake, Oprah Winfrey, Ricky Lake… teach me things I don’t need to know.’ It always made me laugh. A an upbeat song about Robbie’s miserableness. It is brilliant!

  1. Feel
    Oh wow. Feel is such a classic. I love that piano line. I love Robbie’s vocal. It has everything. It wasn’t one of his bigger hits, but for me this is my favourite!

I actually found it really hard to limit myself to 20 songs (that’s why I had to go up to 21!). So, for reference, here are the songs that didn’t quite make the list:

Supreme. Lovelight, Won’t Do That, Do You Mind, Morning Sun, South Of The Border, Ego A Go Go, Sin Sin Sin, Me and My Monkey, She’s The One, Win Some, Lose Some, Come Undone, Sexed Up, Kids, Life Thru A Lens, I Found Heaven, The Flood, Freedom, Could It Be Magic and Beyond The Sea.

Best Oasis Songs

A list of my favourite Oasis songs

After reading a couple of articles online recently (this and this), I thought I would list my favourite twenty Oasis songs.

(If I was including their covers on the list, I’d probably go for I Am The Walrus, Cum On Feel the Noize and Hide Your Love Away).

20 Half The World Away
Such a great song. It would probably be higher up the list but it’s possibly overplayed due to The Royle Family and lost its edge due to John Lewis.

19 Live Forever
Such a classic Oasis song. This was the second ever song that I heard by the band (after hearing Cigarettes & Alcohol). This is the sound that they are most famous for. Widely regard as a classic, I agree!

18 It’s Better People
Ok, so I am going to include quite a few of Noel’s acoustic songs on this list. This is the first. Another classic Oasis B-side.

17 Round Are Way
Say what you like about Oasis and they won’t care. They’ll take your grammar rules and do what they like. Luckily this is a great song as their bad grammar would make me hate it otherwise.

16 Sunday Morning Call
Noel performing at his best here. Class.

15 All Around The World
Yes, it is ridiculously long. But I have managed to find a radio edit of All Around The World. It strips out the five minutes of instrumental and focuses on the classic song. When this was released, this was the windows down, radio on full blast kind of song.

14 Rock ‘n’ Roll Star
It’s hard to pick the best song from Definitely Maybe, but this one is a favourite. Best played loud.

13 (It’s Good) To Be Free
The first ever Oasis single that I bought was Whatever. (It’s Good) To Be Free was on the B-side and I played it to death. It’s superb.

12 Talk Tonight
One of my favourite acoustic songs, this time appearing on Some Might Say. The lyrics of Talk Tonight feel more meaningful than most.

11 Supersonic
Just a classic, nonsensely-lyriced Oasis song. Classic. The lyrics make no sense and they don’t give a shit about it.

10 Let There Be Love
Right towards the end, Oasis released this classic. Both versions of it are incredible, but Noel’s version is my favourite.

9 Cigarettes & Alcohol
I remember feeling quite shocked when it was mentioned on Granada News or BBC North West or something that a band had released a song celebrating cigarettes and alcohol. It didn’t sound like a good idea. But then I heard the song and it was amazing. It somehow felt naughty playing this at home where my parents were not keen on cigarettes, alcohol or rock music. I think this was its early appeal. This was the first Oasis song I’d ever heard – I didn’t know it at the time but this was the start of my love for probably the best band ever.

8 Step Out
B-side to Don’t Look Back In Anger, Step Out is a brilliantly uplifting song that is massively underrated.

7 Little By Little
2002’s Little By Little is a proper Noel-sang banger. Not acoustic, just a banger!

6 Champagne Supernova
I could never understand who Champagne Supernova was not released as a single as it is absolutely class. Genius Oasis at their very best.

5 Slide Away
The best song on Definitely Maybe, at least in my opinion. Right from the intro, Slide Away is captivating, uplifting, air guitar inducing, singalong creating and much more. Just the perfect rock song.

4 Some Might Say
Oasis’s first Number One, Some Might Say is the only song I know of that mentions dirty dishes and for that reason alone it should be celebrated. The lyrics are total nonsense, yet brilliant. You simply have to play this loudly and proudly and it demands that you sing along.

3 Don’t Look Back In Anger
An absolute classic monster of a song. It’s a song that everyone knows. Always popular, the song found new meaning after the 2017 Manchester Arena bomb incident and it helped to bring people in the city together after the atrocity. One of the best songs ever written. It probably should be top of this list, but I’ve tried to go a bit niche…

2 The Masterplan
Oasis’ most beautiful song. It was a B-side to Wonderwall. I missed Wonderwall off the list as I don’t feel it’s held up as well over the years. Wonderwall is probably a bit of a gimmicky song. The Masterplan, however, has endured. Noel’s vocals are phenomenal and the orchestral backing lifts the song to another level. Quite simply brilliant. On reflection, Oasis also felt it was a classic and they named their collection of B-sides after it!

1 Whatever
Whenever I feel down, Whatever is my go to song. It brings me back. Whatever is empowering and fulfilling. One of the reasons Whatever is so memorable is that the single included some of the best B-sides ever: Half The Wold Away, (It’s Good) To Be Free and Slide Away. What a collection. Some of Oasis’s instrumental sections go on too long, but Whatever’s just feels right. Whatever has stayed with me, so for for 26 years and I just love it.

In conclusion, there is not a band like Oasis. The strength of their B-sides, the audacity of their cover songs, the way their albums contain no filler songs whatsoever, the sheer power and don’t-give-a-shit-ness of their songs make them the complete package. I never want them to get back together because I know that they can never live up to the unreachable standard they met back in their hey day. Noel Gallagher is a genius.

Favourite Tunes of 2020

2020 hasn’t been a vintage year for music but were are a few gems.

The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
Ok, so this was technically released in 2019 but it enjoyed most of its success this year. The song is, excuse the pub, an absolute blinder! It sounds fresh every time you hear it, yet also sounds it was released years ago. I’ve not really enjoyed much of The Weeknd’s music before – part of this was stubbornness not to engage because I hate the way he is too lazy to spell his name properly. But between Blinding Lights and In Your Eyes, 2020 has been a vintage year for him. Both tunes are amazing, but Blinding Lights is phenomenal!

Ella Henderson & Roger Sanchez – Dream On Me (Roger Sanchez Remix)
Ella is such an amazing singer. She has released so much good music but has never really followed up on her initial success with Ghost. However, in 2020 she released some crackers and it was hard to choose my favourite. I have gone with Dream On Me as it samples one of my favourite songs, Another Chance. However, I could have chosen Take Care Of You as that is fantastic too!

Purple Disco Machine & Sophie and the Giants – Hypnotized
Before streaming became the thing, the hype around Purple Disco Machine would have been huge. His Nineties-revival remixes are amazing and this remix of what I assume is a Sophie and the Giants song deserved to be massive, like the Robin Schulz remix of Prayer in C was in 2014. Hyponotized is brilliant and is well worth a listen!

McFly – Tonight Is The Night
I love McFly. I really enjoyed the documentary All About Us in November. Tonight Is The Night is such a good tune, I listened to it on repeat after watching it!

BTS – Dynamite
All I know about BTS is that they are Korean, they usually don’t sing in English and that girls love them apparently. Yet, somehow this year they released Dynamite – one of the best pop songs of the year by a mile. I don’t know how they managed it, but fair play.

Favourite Cover Songs

Here are my six favourite covers of all time. I’ve tried to choose covers that are completely different to the original, not just a good vocal performance.

Here are my six favourite covers of all time. I’ve tried to choose covers that are completely different to the original, not just a good vocal performance.

The Fugees – Killing Me Softly
This song brings back so many memories. People of a certain age will know exactly what you mean when you go, “One Time!” I wasn’t really aware of the original version by Roberta Flack back in 1996. When I later heard it I could barely believe it was the same song. The Fugees version is awesome.

Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse – Valerie
The original, by The Zutons, was great. But Amy Winehouse’s performance of it took on a life of its own. It’s impossible to hear it without singing along. An absolute classic!

Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules – Mad World
Originally by Tears For Fears, the Gary Jules version is so different that it’s hard to believe that they are the same! This version is the only good thing to come out of the overrated crap movie, Donnie Darko. Mad World is the standard for stripped back acoustic covers which became all the range after this!

DJ Sammy & Yanou featuring Do – Heaven
On hearing Heaven for the first time, it was just a brilliant dance single. But it was only later that I released that Bryan Adams had originally recorded it. DJ Sammy’s version is brilliantly uplifting, cheesy, but respectable. It was great in a club and is great turned up loud in the car. Bryan Adams’ version is more melancholic.

Disturbed – Sound of Silence
This is such a powerful cover. In my opinion it totally eclipses the original. This is a song that makes you sit up and listen. Just brilliant!
(I did once try to listen to something else by Disturbed and immediately regretted it.)

Pet Shop Boys – Always On My Mind
What an awesome song! To take such a sweet Elvis Presley love song and transform it into a pop banger is no easy feat. The Pet Shop Boys’ version is sublime!