Top tracks from our wonderful supporters - edition #5 - Ross Muir

This regular feature explores the music tastes of our friends, colleagues and supporters. Let’s see what floats Ross' boat.

Greetings

Our new regular feature explores the music tastes of our friends, colleagues and supporters. To see them all, click the red button below.

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Music is our life, and we are really interested in the songs you love. If you'd like to contribute, just mail us!

Without further ado, let’s see what floats Ross’ boat.

Much love

Suzy & Simon

P.S. You can find his cool music journalism at Fabrications HQ.

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Ross’ picks

The interesting thing about this list is that I actually have a “six of the best”: a sextet of songs that go beyond any other pieces of music.

So a Top Ten, as presented here (and thank you, Simon and Suzy, for the opportunity), was extremely difficult and would, frankly, be subject to change every day, as once beyond that Top Six I’d really need a Top 100.

However, here we are, with no mention of what those “six of the best” are, other than to say the 10^th track on this list is my favourite ever piece of music.

#1 | For the Want of a Nail | Todd Rundgren (1989)

“I’ve been wrong, I had plans so big... But the devil’s in the details, I left out one thing… No one to love me… no one to - love.”

As an opening, impacting statement, ‘For the Want of a Nail’ by Todd Rundgren is hard to beat, right from the initial, emotive vocalisations—backed by the powerful voice of Bobby Womack in a guest vocalist spot.

The song then hits its stride with an uplifting tempo before swinging towards its sing-along finale.

The premise of the song is the old adage of the message being lost because something first seen as inconsequential was ignored.

But ignore the details at your peril, because you will miss out on the prize.

#2 | Pirates | Emerson Lake & Palmer (1977)

The title says it all. ‘Pirates’—featuring the Paris Opera Orchestra, no less—is the musical soundtrack to all the swashbuckling tales you have read – or watched in classic Skull & Crossbones movies starring the likes of Errol Flynn.

Composed by Keith Emerson, Pirates is a sweeping, superbly arranged and beautifully orchestrated piece of music, with the colourful and evocative lyrics supplied by Greg Lake and co-lyricist Peter Sinfield.

“Who’ll drink a toast with me... to the Devil, and the deep blue sea... gold drives a man... to dream!”

ALTERNATIVE – Fan-made ‘pirate movie’ video:

#3 | Dust in the Wind | Kansas (1998 Orchestrated version)

Written by Kerry Livgren, the original power behind the American rock group Kansas, this re-recorded version from 1998 with the London Symphony Orchestra is, for me, even more beautiful and poignant than the original 1977 version.

This is also one of the songs that lyrically defines a part of me, or part of my life philosophy. Simple enough in premise, but too often taken for granted…

“Now, don’t hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky... when it slips away, all your money won’t another minute buy.”

Don’t waste so much as one of those minutes, folks.

“Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind…”

#4 | Salisbury | Uriah Heep (1971)

Uriah Heep’s take on the orchestrated (Brass & Woodwind ensemble) rock epic is far baser in lyrical concept than ELP’s Pirates.

Salisbury is themed around the emotions of union, lust, and the reality that what might seem like forever is more akin to the moment. And while David Byron brings a strong voice to lyrical proceedings, it’s the rise and fall of the musical score that delivers the emotions described.

Fun fact: Heep guitarist Mick Box wasn’t getting the feel or inspiration he wanted for his big solo moment on Salisbury, so he retired to the local pub for a couple of pints.
Upon return, he asked for the lights to be dimmed, cranked the Marshall stack and wah-wah pedal to full and nailed it in one take (true story, as later confirmed by Sound Engineer Peter Gallen).

#5 | Goodbye To Love | The Carpenters (1972)

Goodbye To Love might well be the first power ballad (cue the debates…), but for me it’s certainly the ultimate power ballad, not least because it features the gorgeous, contralto voice and unparalleled phrasing of Karen Carpenter, one of the greatest ever female vocalists.

That it also carries beautiful melancholy, a heartbreaking lyric, and a fully fuzzed fadeout from guitarist Tony Peluso (the solo that launched a thousand air guitars) makes it even more impacting.

#6 | Steve Perry | One More Time (1994)

From one of the great female voices to one of the great male voices, certainly in the annals of high-tenor rock.

Steve Perry will forever be heard as the voice of American rock band Journey in their late 70s to mid-80s heyday and later, short-lived classic line-up reunion; Perry shone and soared on classic Journey cuts such as Lights, Open Arms, Don’t Stop Believing, Faithfully, Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), and the Grammy-nominated When You Love a Woman.

But it wasn’t all about the vocal highs and that fuller-bodied rock sound. Indeed, in more intimate musical settings, Steve Perry was arguably even more captivating, as heard on the solo track One More Time.

Incredibly, this particular song was originally an outtake (B-side), as it didn’t make the final track listing for his 1994 solo album For The Love Of Strange Medicine.

Musically/ vocally, the phrase “beautiful in its simplicity” may never have been more accurate.

#7 | Rhapsody in Blue | George Gershwin (1924)

Music historians will tell you that George Gershwin’s classically influenced piano and jazz orchestra piece, Rhapsody in Blue, isn’t a definitive example of the American jazz age of the early 20^th century.

Perhaps not, but it is unarguably a superbly composed piece that captures the spirit, and the hustle and bustle, of jazz age New York (as later emphasised by the Al Hirschfeld styled caricatures that accompanied Gershwin’s glorious jazz concerto in Disney’s Fantasia 2000).

Actually, I disagree with the historians, for me it is a defining statement of popular, big band jazz of early 20^th century America – a cinematic rhapsody in blues, in rhythm, in rag-time, in jazz, and in orchestration.

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#8 | Felix Mendelssohn | Hebrides Overture/ Fingal’s Cave (1833)

From New York to the wild, rugged and windswept Hebrides of the Scottish west coast, and Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa.

As a proud Scot, it’s perhaps no surprise that this is my favourite classical composition (the Overture title is misleading as it’s a full, standalone work) but Mendelssohn was greatly affected by his visit to the Hebrides, and that comes through on this stirring and striking piece which, much like Rhapsody in Blue, creates visual imagery of the subject matter in the listener’s mind.

#9 | Just One Victory | Todd Rundgren’s Utopia (1975 live version)

Just One Victory first saw the light of day as the closing statement on Todd Rundgren’s seminal and critically acclaimed 1973 album A Wizard, A True Star.

Arguably more message than musical, it became a live staple of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia by the next year; the official live version (as presented here) is from the band’s 1975 Another Live album.

JOV was also a highlight moment for the audiences of Todd Rundgren’s 2004 live shows when, after nearly twenty years of retirement, the song was performed to close the shows – it was quite a sight to see fans of all ages (including yours truly), singing, grinning, and hugging like loons, still in search of “just one victory.” Not a dry eye in the house, as they say.

#10 | Dedication | Pat Travers (1977)

And this one’s dedicated to the people who help you make a stand, who help you make it through.

My all-time favourite piece of music.

This eight-minute number by Canadian rock and blues musician Pat Travers begins with an extensive instrumental section before going into a more traditional rock ballad piece (which also includes a saxophone solo—perfect).

Lyrically, it’s the very words I would express when discussing one of the most important things in life – friendship, trust and the bond that can be struck between people who may be next door neighbours or at opposite ends of the world. Those who can be relied upon to be there when called.

“Teach yourself to be a kind person, when a friend is really down, you can send them back up to the top... now I hope you understand.”

Starlite & Campbell

STARLITE.ONE is such a highly creative work of art-rock, with deeper themes and concepts, that I couldn’t really have gone anywhere else…

The Coat

Accompanied by delicate Waldorf STVC and Prophet-5’s projected atmospheres, Suzy’s beautifully phrased vocal on a lyric about the horrible and torturous disease that is Dementia only increases the poignancy of what is unquestionably one of Suzy’s most heartfelt vocal performances.

A Part of Me is Broken, Part Two

A six-and-a-half-minute cry for humanity, the song flits from rock soundscapes to dreamier passages (think Stoner space-rock meets classic era Moody Blues) before reshaping itself around the concluding monologue from Suzy, which is philosophical, reflective and future-questioning.