1969: You Got Soul - Johnny Nash. (video)
1979: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury & the Blockheads. (video)
1989: Last Of The Famous International Playboys - Morrissey. (video)
1999: When You're Gone - Bryan Adams featuring Melanie C. (video)
2009: Omen - The Prodigy. (video)
Listen to a short medley of all five songs.

Running totals so far - Number Eights.

1979: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury & the Blockheads. (188)

This would get five points against just about anything, there is absolute nothing about this song that isn't great. A brilliant fusion of pub rock and punk rock, Tom Waits-ish lyrical dexterity over a bass-line that could kill from fifty paces. (Alan)

A classic. Their best song. (Geoff Mild Peril)

This is one of the greatest songs ever written. (Sue Bailey)

I'm glad this has been in my life the last 30 years. A Classic. (Hedgie)

The only one of the 5 which you can really get lost in. (Billy Smart)

The only tune on the list that half of Britain can sing. (diamond geezer)

It's a classic. I know we are not supposed to let nostalgia cloud our objective judgement, but honestly, who could record a song like this now, what market research focus group boxes would it tick? (Gert)

Superb record. I was lucky enough to see Dury live with the Blockheads shortly before he died, and they were aces, of course. A real one-off. Lily Allen, Kate Nash and the Streets can all try to inject as much character into their songs as they like, but none of them are within a million miles of Dury. So, so talented. (SwissToni)

Just a fantastic record (as we all discussed at great length on Popular), and the Blockheads are still a great live act without their late leader. (Erithian)

Singularly excellent song. Interestingly, I first heard it as covered by Nina Hagen & Freaky Fukin Weirdoz, and while the laid back style of the original has something to it, I do think it deserves a slightly harder treatment. More staccato and tighter. My dream cover version would be by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, produced by Rick Rubin for the Suck My Kiss sound. Then I could die happy. (Simon C)

Uber-suggestive as was "I Wanna be Straight", but it was just double entendres I think... he has a famous son? Stunning disco/funk record and one of the best no 1s ever. 1979 was such a banner year, please let there be some Chic! (John)

Much as I would love to mark this down (everybody else will vote it top; much of his other stuff isn't actually very good; it is obligatory to cite him as a genius; I was born and grew up in Billericay), let's face it - killer hook, one of the best pop songs ever recorded. (JonnyB)

In my old vinyl singles collection which is in the back of a cupboard, this is the one I know the best. I'm kind of tempted to give the top position to Morrissey which I don't know so well and therefore has got more ability to surprise me. In the end sense prevails. (Amanda)

The actual chorus is the weakest part of this otherwise fantabulous song. (asta)

Musically mesmerising, but slim lyrical pickings. I suspect that I don't "get" it. (Hg)

Energetic and fun, but I find Dury's vocals a bit, er, annoying. (Will)

I'm actually programmed not to like this, as one of my school so-called friends sat behind me during lessons hitting me with something hard, singing it (surely I should have been hitting him - why did I only think of this now?). (Stereoboard)

1989: Last Of The Famous International Playboys - Morrissey. (127)

Inventive and twisted, which has got to be the hallmark of greatness. (diamond geezer)

The tune might not be that astonishing, but the cautionary tale lyrics are still diverting, even after twenty years of familiarity. 2 good B-sides, too. (Billy Smart)

Musically it's a decent Moz single, nothing special - lyrically it's actually quite important if yr a Mozologist (and there's no reason you should be! Lord knows I am reluctantly). It's the single where his fascination with rough boys and the dynamics of crime first crystallised, which became an ever-increasing part of his lyrical makeup. (Tom)

His 3rd best single and the ultimate karaoke Moz "ooh, I can't help quoting you". (John)

I like this better than when it came out. We do take Mozzer for granted, don't we? (Dymbel)

If only he was this good all the time. Heck, I bought the album at the time because of this! (Lena)

One of the good ones. Rollicks along quite nicely, even without Johnny Marr's contribution. The first danger signs of the Morrissey obsession with gangsters and east end n'er do wells though, but at least the song is good, unlike some of his later work. It's Moz though, innit? He changed my life, and if it wasn't for the genius of Dury, this would be top. (SwissToni)

I am a Morrissey fan, but this was never his best (Every Day is Like Sunday) then and it doesn't benefit from the passage of time. (Gert)

Thought I'd have rated it higher. But at the end of the day it's half of a good chorus and an average song. (JonnyB)

Thought this a bit limp at the time – he should have tried harder to hang onto Vini Reilly, really – and it’s remained as such; Morrissey-by-numbers, as with most of his stand-alone singles of this period. (Marcello Carlin)

I loved The Smiths, but I've never been able to take his solo career seriously. (Hg)

I probably haven't given him enough of a chance; I loved the Smiths but have been pretty non-plussed by any of his solo stuff. (Sarah)

"Ronnie Kray do you know my name?" Probably not, and if he did he probably wanted to punch you in the face as much as I usually do. The Krays would have hated a pompous pretentious prat like Morrissey, and he'd have wet his pants if he'd ever actually met them. Never bought into the Morrissey hype, never will. (Alan)

2009: Omen - The Prodigy. (123)

Inventive and twisted, which in this case is the hallmark of near-greatness. (diamond geezer)

Against anyone other than Ian Dury this would have been one of the few times I'd given top marks to the current track. Undoubtedly one of the most exciting live bands in the world, Prodigy are one of the few that manage to transmit that excitement to their studio output. Not quite up to Firestarter or Charlie standards, but not far off. (Alan)

A rather wonderful unholy racket. If not a return to top form it's still obviously the Prodigy which, is a good thing. (NiC)

"Stunning return to form." (Sue Bailey)

Irresistible rhythm. Bass, Bass, BAASSS. (Stereoboard)

No longer innovative, but still unique. This sounds like the band that made "Charly". (Hg)

I may tire of this one day, but not yet. (Lena)

I surprised myself by liking a lot of “The Fat Of The Land”, though this is a little too similar considering it’s 12 years on. An unholy racket in a good way, and a memorable riff. (Erithian)

This no doubt is nowhere near Johnny Nash and I don't subscribe the reggae (especially dub like King Tubby) is vile theory - and nor does Moz if you check Under The Influence, but I love how they'e gone back to their rave roots and the amazing title and Kubrick(?)/Addams Family referencing video. (John)

They're good, int they? Only not really my cup of tea. It's a bit more old school for them, isn't it? I love all that shouting though. (SwissToni)

Certainly wouldn't have given it four points had I not just listened to it, but seconded what both Nic and your good self said. It just rollicks along, and I quite like the karaoke element of it. (JonnyB)

There's quite a bit of retro-early-rave stuff around at the minute, but I'm not it's right for a band to do retro-stuff that references their own work... but I was a Prodigy fan back then, and this is still a likeable track. (Adrian)

I was so ready to dump Prodigy at the bottom of the list - scary/aggressive music scares me these days - but it sort of dug in. (Andy)

They've been reasonably enertaining since Keith turned into a funnier version of Ade Edmondson. Punk's not dead! (Geoff Mild Peril)

I have to be in the right mood to really enjoy this kind of thing these days. But anyway some seriously bleepy goodness here. (Amanda)

Not really my sort of thing, but it's bloody exciting, isn't it? (JonnyB)

I was never a fan in the old days, but this has the merit of being relatively original compared to much of modern pop music. (Gert)

It does sound a bit dated, but it works. (Simon C)

It is a bit Prodigy-by-numbers and perhaps more than a little Prodigy-do-Pendulum by numbers – my recommendation/response is: check out the Qemists album – but, as you say, good to hear middle-aged chaps making a racket and not being all Jeremy Clarkson about it. (Marcello Carlin)

Well, its okay, but it does sound like one of Jeremy's demos in Peepshow. (Billy Smart)

1999: When You're Gone - Bryan Adams featuring Melanie C. (82)

Under-rated rock-pop hybrid. I've had a soft spot for this ever since I first heard it. (Hg)

Mel C had always been known as “Talented Spice” and this is real feelgood territory for me. I saw her play live to one of the happiest crowds you’re ever likely to see… mainly because it was in Trafalgar Square on 6 July 2005 and we’d just found out London had been awarded the 2012 Olympics. (Erithian)

Ahem. I quite like this. Adams is like the musical embodiment of Canada - he's rocking in a nice, polite kind of way. He's like vanilla ice cream. Nice enough, but nothing exciting. (SwissToni)

Not sure it's true to say there are no harmonies, Mike? Anyhoo, it's infuriatingly likeable. (Will)

I'm definitely not in the large camp of Bryan Adams fans out there but this has three things going for it. Mel C, a rather catchy rocking romp and most importantly it's not that bleeding Robin Hood song that was number one for ever. (NiC)

BA doesn't take his music very seriously, he just churns out acceptable easy listening. Little known fact: he's a big friend of my heroine Aimee Mann. (Dymbel)

Sporty Spice tries to position herself as a bone-fide rock chick but sadly chooses to do it by duetting with a guy who has built an entire stadium rock career on having once recorded a half-way decent album and then riding the coattails of Kevin Costner back when he was popular. As AOR goes, it isn't bad. (Alan)

I wouldn't so much as cross the street for Bryan Adams, the person, but he knew what he was doing with this song. Mel C is a welcome addition. Redoing it years later with Pam Anderson only reinforces the point. (asta)

My love of Ryan Adams and the need to clarify whenever i say his name, "without the B" causes me to wish his existence were relegated to his one hit and then a quiet disappearance. Quiet being the operative word. (jo)

I could think of better ways to spend my time, like watching paint dry, but collectively this is one of the most monstrous duets this side of Tom Jones meets Lulu or Heather Small. At least 1984-era scarface was good, but as for fierecely heterosexual Melanie - oh dear, voice of an angle indeed. Still one of her better songs though. (John)

Bryan "Bryan" Adams is a much better photographer than singer, and he drags poor Mel C in with him, though she as usual shines in comparison with him. But then who doesn't? (Lena)

Qualitatively this should probably have gone in the 2 points category, largely for Mel C waking the song up towards its end, but Bryan “Real Talents Don’t Need Can Con/Buy The Local Pub And Close It So I Can Hear Myself Rock/Vote Stephen Harper” Adams is a sucker of Satan’s cock of the lowest order and gets the wooden spoon by default. With an axe attached. Good electric rock track. (Marcello Carlin)

Rock by numbers. In this case the number is rather low. (diamond geezer)

Music for people who only like music because it's better than silence. Seal for the working classes. (Simon C)

Utter, utter crap. That is all. (Sue Bailey)

1969: You Got Soul - Johnny Nash. (80)

Surprisingly it’s less reggae-lite than his later bigger hits, a nice groove and full sound. (Erithian)

I've never heard, or heard of, this before. I am surprised. Or maybe that's a statement on the inherent racism of 80s Golden Oldies Radio. It's a good song and he has a nice voice. (Gert)

This might not be the strongest example of either Johnny Nash or reggae in general, but it's pure. (Hg)

Not a memorable record, but pleasant enough as it goes along. (Alan)

Even though I expect Cupid to draw back his bow at any second, the smooth sound still reels me in. (jo)

Beautifully sung but very slight. (Hedgie)

Nothing wrong with it. Nothing that specially right with it either. (Sue Bailey)

Good if slightly boring. He's got soul for sure, shines through in the delivery of the verses. (Simon C)

Alarmingly, I remembered every word, though I didn't own the record even at the time. Nostalgia still has its pull, but it's the weakest of the five by some way. (Z)

The first ten seconds promised more than the next few minutes delivered. (diamond geezer)

Dated awfully. Shit recording and weedy sounding vocals. I wonder what this would be like if it had been recorded better? It's not irredeemable, I don't think. (SwissToni)

Had to strain to remember this one and the strain wasn’t worth it; Johnny Nash-by-numbers. Spotted the theme here yet? (Marcello Carlin)

There's something about the production on this that lets it down. The song's OK. The main vocal and the interplay with the backing vocals is good. It's just not very memorable. (Amanda)

If Eric B. and Rakim knew this then I'm surprised they got into music. I don't know it and am quite glad. (Adrian)

Did he do a bad Kylie cover? (John)

1969: The Way It Used To Be - Engelbert Humperdinck. (video)
1979: Milk & Alcohol - Dr. Feelgood. (video)
1989: Fine Time - Yazz. (video)
1999: Changes - 2Pac. (video)
2009: Day 'n' Nite - Kid Cudi vs. Crookers. (video)
Listen to a short medley of all five songs.

Running totals so far - Number Nines.

1979: Milk & Alcohol - Dr. Feelgood. (158 points)

5 points. I'm sorry, I'm just a sad old rock chick. (Sue Bailey)

A great, stomping slice of late seventies rock, this song would without doubt feature heavily on the soundtrack of my youth. (Alan)

I loved this then, love it now, and not just because my baby brother* did a brilliant impression on air guitar. It's passionate and entirely meaningless. (Gert)

Bouncy and energetic; a very efficient pop song. (Hedgie)

It was out of place in the top ten in 1979 and still sounds rough and refreshing now. I should point out that I had an evening paper round at this time in 1979 and to keep myself entertained, I would memorise the chart and sing the songs to myself, from #1 down to #10 or as far as I could go. This week has some corkers in it! I've wondered this for 30 years, but can anyone tell me what alcohol you would mix with milk and why? I've never understood the song, much as I like it. (Chig)

Chig - you'd make a White Russian with milk, and it's jolly delicious too. Sort of like an alcoholic milkshake, which can't be a bad thing can it? Though most probably the lowest of the low in the cool stakes... (LIzzy)

Nowt wrong with 70s pub-rock, especially when it’s got this much energy and a great snarling vocal. (Erithian)

Brilliant record. Bounces along nicely. A touch punk-by-numbers, but a killer chorus and a elegantly ravaged voice. (SwissToni)

Well, it's not what I remember the Feelgoods for, that will always the excellent "Stupidity" but against this opposition even this one stands out. (NiC)

Is it me or is this crying out to be covered by Joan Jett? OK, just me then. (Will)

A bit silly, but highly coverable and/or mash-upable. (Simon C)

Wow, this sounds far rougher than I remember. It's been a while. (Matthew)

It sounds authentically agressive and dangerous to these (perhaps timid) ears. (Billy Smart)

A catchy riff, not sure I'd go as far as buying a copy, but it's fun listening. (Adrian)

Promised more, but paled through over-repetition after the first chorus. (diamond geezer)

Loved this one at the time. In retrospect it's a pale copy of early Beefheart and loses my interest fairly quickly. (Hg)

"Smokin in the boys room" in another guise. (jo)

Not nearly as good as their most memorable song "Back In The Night". (Amanda)

It's not as if it's actually lasted well, but listening to it straight after Engelbert boosted its appeal. (Z)

I can watch Dr Feelgood on OGWT reruns and instantly understand why people like David Byrne would be inspired to follow their example (visually, if not musically) – in the young Wilco I even see Ian Curtis – and in my number one albums blog I will eventually have to write about them. Moreover they released an album in 1977 inspired by The Prisoner (Be Seeing You). Maybe when assessing them as recorded live I can come to a more reasonable conclusion about them but their studio work sounded parched and reactionary – punk for people who didn’t want punk – and “Milk And Alcohol” is a wearisome, hackneyed trudge which sounded in the way in 1979 and even more so now; its chart status, incidentally, is probably ascribable to the fact that the single came in tricoloured vinyl; black, brown and white. See what they did there? (Marcello Carlin)

Didn't rate them at the time, see no reason to change my mind. (Dymbel)

Look, British pub bands trying to pretend they're American blues/rock bands might be convincing on home turf but they're like George Bush trying on a Cockney accent. The song is fine. The band is like fingernails on a blackboard. No really. It just GRATES. (asta)

2009: Day 'n' Nite - Kid Cudi vs. Crookers. (145 points)

It's all in the hook, and this chugs with the hookiest. (diamond geezer)

One of the key singles this past year and if he is good enough for Kanye, he is good enough for you. (Lena)

5 points. Has to be really; as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the lonely stoner (as evolution of the Greil Marcus/Robbie Robertson Worried Man) is likely to be an apt signifier for 2009 and this is his reluctant anthem – the languid abandon of East River Pipe meets Motorbass corridors, hurtling shafts of mirror at the unwary waver. (Marcello Carlin)

Yay for modernity! This is a much squelchier version in the medley than the one played a million times on Radio 1 (which isn't the original, it's just that there are many remixes available). I like it even more now. My colleagues probably like it less, given that I do sing "uh uh uh uh uh, at night" (and only that bit) out loud when this is on the office radio, which is a lot. (Chig)

Once again, the only song with some life gets my top vote. (Geoff Mild Peril)

It's a long long way from Welcome to the Heartbreak, but there's something in there that works for me. (asta)

Good stuff, although I'm mildly opposed to wonky parping. (Simon C)

Been enjoying this the past few weeks, and the video has me laughing. Flat as a pancake, in honour of the other day, natch. (Matthew)

Blippy and dislocated. (Billy Smart)

Not my sort of music AT ALL but I really like this. (Lizzy)

A very easy 5 points. Love it - although I agree its freshness might be giving it an unfair advantage. What's his beef with the video?? - He ACTED in it, for goodness sake! I loved the self-deprecatory humour of it; not necessarily a quality one associates with this genre. (Hedgie)

Yes, I also wondered how Kid Cudi could mither about the video that HE ACTED IN. However, I'm with him - the humour detracts hugely from the lyric. (mike)

Loving the track. Wishing I hadn't clicked the link to the video. (Sarah)

Does little for me and is actively irritating me and bringing on a migraine.... but still better than Yazz. (SwissToni)

Not bad, but a little bit pointless, the original is marginally better but only marginally. The sort of thing I would probably earworm for a day and then not be able to remember what it sounded like the next. (Alan)

The video's lifted my libido this morning and the song's sort of OK but I have no desire to hear it again... (Dymbel)

A bit like Shontelle; it sounds like bog-standard R&B to me. His comments on the video are VERY rude and well worth a read. (Erithian)

Preferred the unremixed version, which I would have put top. (Will)

The original is OK but I can't find any coherence in the remix. (Amanda)

I love the original, hate this. (Z)

Complete shit. C'mon, even So Solid Crew were better than this, and how long ago was that? (Hg)

No way near as good as 2Pac, but still way better than the others. Original much better than the remix though. (oh - and Hg, of course So Solid Crew are better than this. 21 seconds is still one of the most exciting number ones of the decade) (Geoff Itinerant Londoner)

I'm sorry, I'm just a sad old rock chick, and I don't get it. (Sue Bailey)

1999: Changes - 2Pac. (135 points)

I'm surprising myself here, dead-gangsta rap not generally being amongst my preferred genres, but this is pure class. (Hg)

Yeah, much of this is thanks to the sample. But what a great use of a sample, and the rap fits perfectly. Easy winner. (Geoff Itinerant Londoner)

I like to believe there's a special corner of hell reserved for Bruce Hornsby, Christopher Cross, Kenny G and Rupurt Holmes. But this song works because of the milquetoast melody. The matter-of-fact spoken delivery of "That's just the way it is" is heartbreaking. Great song from a less-than-his-press rapper. (asta)

Some things about it are great, others disappointingly weak, but it all adds up to a genuinely excellent whole! (Simon C)

Bored after a couple of minutes, but then it grew on me. (Z)

The various elements are brought together quite well. (Amanda)

I thought it was quite witty at the time, and I still do, a bit. (Sue Bailey)

I hate rap generally, and 2-pac in particular...although mostly this is because of his posthumous career, and that's hardly his fault. The choice of sample makes this, obviously, but at least you can see the boy's talent too. Actually really good, although he can keep his Thug Life, thanks. (SwissToni)

This is teetering on crossing into the overly-soulful Notorious BIG territory that I can't stand, but manages to avoid going too far. (Adrian)

A non-committal mid-table position for the Jim Reeves of hip hop (stretch a case for Biggie as Sam Cooke); worthy and undoubtedly prescient but slightly ploddy and as far as Bruce Hornsby samples are concerned nothing can touch MC Buzz B’s immaculate and flawless “Never Change.” (Marcello Carlin)

In my head this was much better, I remember really liking it at the time, but listening back now it seems to lack something. Still head and shoulders above the average "Gangsta" tune though. (Alan)

I don't hate this, which is pretty positive from me for a rap tune, but it's mainly Bruce Hornsby's contribution which I like. (Chig)

Somehow the rap just seems too fast. (The Lurker)

Nothing original in this song whatsoever. (Geoff Mild Peril)

Never understood the fuss, and I’m repulsed by gangsta as a genre and a notion. (Erithian)

What is it with dead rappers and snoozeable backing tracks? No, no, no. Thank you. (Sarah)

Dear god, not another one. I have never yet used this expression on the internet "I'm not a racist but..." My single biggest problem is that these male vocalists all sound over-earnest and yet as if they have no emotional involvement in the lyrics. (Gert)

1989: Fine Time - Yazz. (114 points)

Strangely I like this better than the hits that made her famous. I never was one for the hi-energi disco stuff, but this is nice, smooth and soulful. Yazz was the entertainment at a corporate Christmas party I went to about three years ago. She's aged well! (Alan)

For some unaccountable reason this passed me by at the time, so I’ve just heard it on YouTube (first thing I’ve ever YouTubed, how last century am I?!) – anyway, sumptuous sound, likeable personality, lovely vocal, would have been one of my highlights of 1989 if I’d heard it!! (Erithian)

I can see its flaws, but I still think this is pretty good. Must listen to some Lisa Stansfield again. (Hg)

I was horrified when this came out. I adored her first three singles came out, and then THIS. Ugh. Her voice is way to weak to carry this...and yet, perhaps because my expectations were so low, hearing it again isn't quite as bad as I remember. (Geoff Itinerant Londoner)

Must admit to a soft spot for this soft, skanky and slightly troubled ballad; her shaky treadmill delivery works on a flotation truck level and any video from the late eighties featuring cameos from Big Ben (see also the hallucinatory promo for Rick Astley’s “Hold Me In Your Arms”) is more than fine by me. (Marcello Carlin)

It's a nostalgia thing, but I do like the laid back rhythm, and the voice isn't bad. (Clare)

Not so much my favourite as the one that I dislike the least. I'm most interested in the Marleyesque backing track. (Amanda)

*yawn* What? oh, right. It's fine. I've never hear of this singer or this song before. It get a pass for the harmony in the chorus. (asta)

I was never a fan of Sade, and this is second-rate Sade, but it's still not that bad. (The Lurker)

Yikes. This hasn't worn very well, has it? Definitely pre-Autotune. It would sound so different if it were recorded now. (Chig)

Not only the weak voice, the whole arrangement is a bit all over the place. (Simon C)

This was the same person who did the iconic 'The Only Way Is Up'? I'm sorry I don't do bland. And it's only by sheer fluke and matter of elimination that she gets 4 points. (Gert)

A bit more pace might have made it less tedious. (Z)

Rather dull. Ersatz classiness. (Billy Smart)

Still disappointing after all these years. (Sue Bailey)

Yazz did more than one record? How have I never heard of this before? Ah, because it's shit. (SwissToni)

I love you Yazz, you know I do, but you don't have the range. (Unlike Bruce Hornsby, obv.) (Will)

1969: The Way It Used To Be - Engelbert Humperdinck. (93 points)

The joy of this whole exercise every year is discovering songs I don't know and this is the first one this time round. (I'll hazard a guess that the 1969 #4 will be fulfilling that role for nearly all of us!) This was clearly designed for single saddoes like me and consequently I love it. I used to think Engelbert was a ridiculous caricature, but if you don't have to look at him and his mutton chops, his voice is wonderful, as it starts off in his boots, then soars and then goes back down again. Marvellous. (Chig)

5 points. I CAN'T HELP IT. Mom played it, I still like the voice. The song she is schmaltz, but the voice is good. (jo)

Almost sumptuous and lovelorn - almost. (Billy Smart)

This is what a Las Vegas version of Lawrence Welk would be like. It's got crescendos, a key change, Oo-La-la-Ah choruses and Strings! Oh, and he sings. (asta)

There's some drama, even if it barely rescues a non-tune. (Matthew)

Hmmm, soundtracky. I'm a sucker for big strings. It's all going quite well until the chorus. (Stereoboard)

Starts off well with a great sense of drama but tapers off quickly. (Amanda)

I was enjoying the verse, but then the chorus went all Delilah on us. Shame, it started so well. (Hg)

The overblown (yet simultaneously underpowered) chorus kills this. (Hedgie)

He takes a long time about it, doesn't he? I don't remember this, it passed by my teenage ear. I agree with the others, good verse, bad chorus. (Z)

Felt like a last, slightly desperate wave of the Old School in its February ’69 company when last I heard it in that context; Scott’s “Two Weeks Since You’ve Gone” steadily decaffeinated, let’s wither slowly in the present and pretend it’s still the past. Heavy handed in the sense that it knows it’s suffocating itself. (Marcello Carlin)

See what you mean about Scott Walker, despite which: mush. (Will)

Goodness, what a multi-faceted talent our Hump is. Not. Tom Jones, without the voice. Standard 60s plinky-plonky crooning with not enough of a chorus to rescue it. (SwissToni)

Oh dear, this sort of thing gives The Sixties a bad name. Bad backing track, bad doo wop girls. It has a not unpleasant tune, and his voice is rich and expressive. I think it helps if you listen to this while wearing a cheap perm and an even cheaper nylon dress. (Gert)

An overlong stretch of aural tedium. (diamond geezer)

I nearly fell asleep half way through. (Alan)

1969: For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder (video)
1979: Car 67 - Driver 67 (video)
1989: Wait - Robert Howard & Kym Mazelle (video)
1999: Westside - TQ (video)
2009: T-Shirt - Shontelle (video)
Listen to a short medley of all five songs.
UK readers only: Listen to four of these songs on Spotify.

Running totals so far - Number Tens.

1969: For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder. (190 points)

This is just magnificent. (Sue Bailey)

Feels like entering a groove of joy. (Billy Smart)

I hear joy in this song. I can't think of many songs where joy plays any significant part. Even the harmonica is happy. This is the exact opposite of Frank Sinatra's interpretation which is angry and defiant. These days, I vote for joy. (asta)

You cannot fuck with late 60s Stevie. A criminally underrated phase of his career. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

Will outlive every other song on the list by about five centuries. (diamond geezer)

Simply a classic. I have no idea when I first heard it,and no idea when it seeped under my skin. I don't think I have ever consciously played it, but I know it so well. (Gert)

Catchy, soulful and sounding more modern than the year suggests. And got to love the harmonica. (Will)

I like the way he jumps up and down enthusiastically, and only bothers miming on occasions. A class act. Oh, the song? It's Motown. The '60s Motown house band could have played the work of Dave, Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch and made it sound divine. (An Unreliable Witness)

I find myself revisiting Mowtown and Brill and finding them better than ever. Time away, as you said, is good. (jo)

The only one of the five I recognised, unsurprisingly. Pity - wouldn't it be great to come upon that for the first time, rather than for the thousandth? (Z)

Hard to go wrong with a solid gold classic like this isn't it? The kind of song that makes you realise just what a crime "I just called..." is. Genius era Stevie Wonder. (SwissToni)

I'm not a huge Motown fan, but when they got it right, they really got it right. Strong song, great voice, and the harmonica really pulls everything together. (Alan)

4 points, because he is Stevie Wonder, although for me the chicken-in-a-basket covers have killed this dead dead dead dead dead. (Hedgie)

Yes, Dorothy Squires, bless her flooded basement of a Welsh heart, made this song her own (very loudly) not long after Stevie had the big hit and all detours to seventies TV showbiz opened up their groaning gates, but Stevie’s lightness wins out; a triumph (is the harmonica more androgynous than his voice? Where does his voice end?) of delayed liberation, the sun which can never set. That scurrying flute chart in the middle eight like February butterflies sent to banish the ice. (Marcello Carlin)

Was just waiting for the brass to kick in and it cut to the next track :-( The version on the compilation mp3 has more bass than the one I ripped from my CD of his too. Am now wondering if I need to embark on the great re-ripping-at-higher-quality project that I've been dreading for years... Easily the best here. (Adrian)

Not my favourite Stevie Wonder song. It's too jazzy for my taste. Still a proper song from a proper singer. (Amanda)

Far too happy-clappy for my tastes. (Hg)

I want to vote for whatever you put from the 60's in first place in all rounds, and you can randomize the other four places. Will you do that for me? I will keep in touch and see if I recognise any of the tunes that come from later than 1969, but I won't pay too much attention to your dissertations on obscure 1990's singers, any more than I read in detail your interviews with the lead singer of the Rusting Gonads. (Vicus Scurra)

1989: Wait - Robert Howard & Kym Mazelle. (134 points)

The unacknowledged brilliance of early ’89 chartpop – as the decade drew to a seemingly inglorious close, back comes New Pop to slap complacency up a big bit – has to be illuminated wherever and whenever possible; see Telstar’s Greatest Hits Of 1989 double for a peerless portrait of how good those times were. The last big chart flourish for the Blow Monkey (and they have now reconvened with a rather fine new album), flourishing fluorescently through the ghost conduits of Detroit Fairlight hushes and determinedly ticking beats with the considerable aid of Kym Mazelle (what a perfect name for the spring charts/spring clean of 1989!). (Marcello Carlin)

One of my favourite records of the year I first became properly obsessed about music, so it perhaps as a slight headstart for me. Sounds great though. (Geoff Itinerant Londoner)

House and pop and soul and really works on all 3 levels. Tremendous TOTP appearance, too. (Billy Smart)

I probably haven't heard this for 20 years either, so it's a nice reminder how good it is. Two people I saw in the flesh at the time. Bonus points for Kym Mazelle's magnificent breasts, pushed up before me when I was in the audience on The Word. She's great fun. (Chig)

4 points, mainly because it reminds me of coming home from some rubbish night at Rock Citeh with my mate to have a good sneer at Hitman and Her. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

First time I thought the splashes of cymbal were dated, second time I thought they were bewitching. (Tom)

Not really my style, with that computer generated disco beat. But it's intelligently constructively, and I like her voice. And the tune. (Gert)

This song needs a much better chorus. For some reason I kept singing "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" over the existing chorus. Despite this, Kym Mazelle lifts this above the generic 80s dance tune. (asta)

I would have hated this at the time. I'd quite like to like it now, but it sounds dated and formulaic. Historically interesting, I suppose, as a demonstration of where Living In A Box met Ride On Time. (Hg)

Very much of it's time, a bit of an identikit of a lot of disco-ey music being released in the late eighties. Not distinctive, eminently forgettable, but pleasant enough on the ears. (Alan)

Can't stand his voice but this has the most life of all these songs. (Geoff Mild Peril)

I loved this era, but this one didn't really stand out for me. Mind you, could that video *be* more 80s? (Sarah)

That instrumentation just says late 80s doesn't it? Didn't think I remembered this until it got to the chorus. That's not a good sign is it? (Adrian)

No. I'm not having it. Dated production and overwrought and under-thought-through vocal performances. (SwissToni)

They may have been Socialists, but I loathed and despised the Blow Monkeys with a passion. Plus, he had stupid hair, even by 80s standards. (An Unreliable Witness)

Laboured vocal performances and faux funk backing. (Amanda)

2009: T-Shirt - Shontelle. (109 points)

Not unpleasant. Not a capped sleeve t-shirt, I presume? (Geoff Mild Peril)

Not sure why but I just like this the best. (Amanda)

Gosh, there still is decent music outside of my narrow ouevre. (NiC)

It's debatable whether or not the world needs Rihanna 2.0, as version 1.0 seems capable of hoovering up the music-buying public's money all on her own, thank you very much, but I quite like this. (Chig)

I'm so out of touch with the charts these days. This sounds vaguely familiar, but I've never sat down and listened to it properly. I love the chord progression in the chorus, it has an anthemic quality that reminds me obscurely of U2's With Or Without You. (Hg)

Would probably have scored higher if it was one of the various records it sounds like it's ripping off rather blatantly. (Geoff Itinerant Londoner)

The album’s decent enough without being startlingly brilliant but “T-Shirt” is a good medium strength post-Rihanna ballad; more winking than worried. (Marcello Carlin)

Passable but you’ve heard this kind of thing hundreds of times before – granted, the lyric has an original twist. (Erithian)

Like the phased backing: this is mid-ranking current R&B lifted by a strong chorus. (Tom)

Not too sure about the lyrics, but a reasonably pleasant pop track gives it the nod over the other also-rans. (Adrian)

Also quite good. It doesn't induce any sense of fondness in me, really. Maybe if I come back to it in 2029 it will feel out of time and its stranger qualities will become more apparent. (Billy Smart)

It's like watered down Rihanna, sort of decent but too pointless. (Simon C)

I could do without the vocal effect. There is a vocal effect right? Still bland and missing an umbrella. (Will)

Really? I have to vote this in as second? It's vapid shite, isn't it? Dear oh dear. Nice rhyming of "witchoo" with "Jimmy Choos" though, eh? (SwissToni)

A local radio station had fun one day playing this song cut with bits of Natasha Bedingfield. Listeners couldn't tell the difference. Nuff said. (asta)

I literally cannot listen to this: there is a weird production effect that hurts my ears. (Sue Bailey)

Tries to be sexy, fails miserably, really quite bland. (Alan)

Anonymously dreary R&B. I would have been more impressed if her boyfriend's t-shirt had said 'I'm With Stupid'. It didn't. I lost interest about 2 seconds into the R&B drum machine regulation pattern kicking in. (An Unreliable Witness)

If this were one of my 8 Desert Island Discs, I'd smash the gramophone. (diamond geezer)

1979: Car 67 - Driver 67. (104 points)

Strip away the novelty trappings and this gentle, melancholic song expresses a sparse heartache that (wing-)mirrors the best of country & western. Within the first minute I was thinking someone could do a great cover version (Bonnie Prince Billy?), then the TOTP2 video tells us it's already been done by Belle & Sebastian. I'm no fan of B&S, but I feel validated. (Hg)

Oh, this has worn much better than I might have expected. I must be getting old to be almost giving a novelty single top spot. (NiC)

I dont know why, but I have always had an affection for cheap novelty songs and the 70's had PLENTY of them. (jo)

Entirely unfamiliar, highly intriguing, I enjoy those broad brummie vowels. (Tom)

If it's good enough for the Queen Mum, it's good enough for me. (diamond geezer)

Although I voted it my least favourite, I've become borderline-obsessed with "Car 67" over the last 24 hours. For a supposed novelty song, there's something unexpectedly lugubrious about its delivery; something recognisably late-70s ramshackle about its arrangement and execution (it somehow captures the spirit of dowdy, prosaic everyday existence most effectively), and something unexpectedly heart-warming about the cheerful Brummie guy back at base, burbling away in an essentially well-meaning and sympathetic fashion. So I might have underestimated it! (mike)

Initially you want to dismiss it. Then it becomes rather compelling. Certainly presents the listener with a fully realised world. (Billy Smart)

Never heard it before, and although it is clearly the most dated of all the contenders, and a novelty record to boot, it's actually quite interesting. (Hedgie)

I was quite fond of this one back in the day. Yay for the Brummie accent. (Wasn’t The Streets’ dad was he??) (Erithian)

3 points. This might just be a bit nostalgia for things Brummy on my part. I'd completely forgotten it so it evidently didn't make much impression the first time round. (Amanda)

3 points. But only, and I repeat ONLY, for the accents, and the fact that the driver looks like a younger, thinner Timothy Spall. (An Unreliable Witness)

Ah, Paul Phillips, erstwhile boss of Logo Records and sometime producer of John Howard, with a disc best described as R Dean Taylor does Crossroads and which I routinely got mixed up at the time with Paul Evans’ contemporaneous (but rather creepier) “Hello This Is Joannie.” Probably a far more accurate reflection of the Winter of Discontent than most of its illustrious chartmates (do I even see Numan hovering in the faraway distance?) but not really worth regular revisits. I presume it’s Phillips’ great personal mate Pete Zorn on accordion duties. (Marcello Carlin)

I cannot believe I've never heard this before, as it coincided with my obsession with the charts and going to Spend-It in Top Valley on Tuesday dinnertimes. I can't believe someone would even consider releasing the follow-up in the era of the Yorkshire Ripper - it sounds like a darker Yorkie advert. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

Haven't heard this before, is this from a little-known Brummie version of Convoy? (Adrian)

Like Convoy all over again. Quite enjoyed it but found the Brummie inserts distracting - and yet did want to go back and listen all over again. Rubbernecking. (Will)

I'm loving the regional accent, but not really finding terribly much else to enjoy about this record. The Brummie is the best part of this by bloody miles. (SwissToni)

Point of information. That's no Brummy accent in Car 67; that's a Black Country accent. It's more Dudley/West Bromwich than Birmingham. Believe me, these things matter up here. I live in one and work in the other! (Chig)

It's not terrible, but it somehow lacks a climax - the reveal in the song is all too obvious. Also, the back at base voice adds very little value. (The Lurker)

Brings back memories,and not in a good way. One of those songs that is quite interesting on one hearing, but has nothing to justify a repeat heating. (Gert)

Gimmicky and derivative. (Sue Bailey)

Thank heavens Taxi-pop never caught on. Uggh, and a lilting accordion to boot. (Stereoboard)

I never liked novelty songs. I am fast approaching the point where I actively despise them. (asta)

I think I must have repressed this song from my memory, and I'm not going to thank you for reminding me of it. Nauseating sentimental shite recorded to give mums and dads something to listen to because punk made their ears bleed. (Alan)

1999: Westside - TQ. (93 points)

A classic which you converted me to back when you did best of year cds (remember cds, readers?) (Dymbel)

A fine, dark night of a gangsta ballad and something of a signpost of the duality to come in the succeeding millennium (David Banner in particular) but as with yourself I don’t think he quite got the thuggery/wistful balance right on the album. (Marcello Carlin)

The gangster balladeer balance is always quite interesting to follow. (Billy Smart)

Atmospheric and with some nice lyrical touches, evocative of life on the streets without too much of the over-the-top Gangsta bravado. (Alan)

This probably sounds lovely on a hazy summer's day, but I can't do mellow at this time of the year. (Objectivity? What's that?) (Hg)

Pleasant enough but I can't identify the special qualities that Mike does. (Amanda)

I should pay more attention to the names really. As it kicked off I thought to myself, this doesn't sound like Westlife... Thank god for that. Not that this is a lot better, but it's fairly harmless listening. (Adrian)

Couldn't muster much enthusiasm for this but it grew on me as it went on and on. S'all right I s'pose. (Will)

I don't know this singer at all. I have no desire to learn anything about him. It's all a bit too Boyz 2 Men for my likeing, so the reference at the end to Tupac threw me a bit. My first thought was he was looking for validation in name-dropping. (asta)

Oh good grief, did he just do the old "waving their hands in the air like they just don't care"? Maybe that wasn't a cliche at the time... (Sarah)

Rap and nostalgia don't mix. (Sue Bailey)

Smug cliquey geographical tosh. (diamond geezer)

Am I the only commenter who is filled with a burning desire to hear Blue's "Fly By II" listening to this? (Tom)

Not great. Name-checking greater rappers does not a great rapper make. Well, sometimes it does, but not in TQ's case. Oddly reminds me of Blue. (SwissToni)

I approached this with an open mind, having not heard it for ten years and reading your fulsome praise, but sorry, it was crap then and it's crap now. Boring cocktail music for Independent readers who think rap's a bit 'edgy'. And no song that mentions gunshots gets airtime in my house; we have some standards. Zzzzzz. (The bit about gunshots was a hypocritical lie, I have suddenly realised, as MIA's Paper Planes is rarely off my playlist. Damn my inconsistent moral standards!) (Chig)

What does TQ stand for, anyway? Tangy Quail? Terrible Quality? Tight Queen? I don't know. I don't want to know. I skipped through the song and alighted on a bit where he said 'Break it down, yeah'. Then I had to stab myself. (An Unreliable Witness)