Top ten track for me...

This song was written for me. From the first seconds of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", the striking sound of piano chords causes me to envision a tear-streaked face overcoming a lifetime of struggle.
My attention was first brought to this beautiful song when I saw the preview trailer for the movie "Moonlight Mile" (Jake Gylenhaal, Susan Sarandon, Dustin Hoffman). Don't bother to rent the movie, it's not that great, but if you're like me, you saw the movie simply because you felt the sweet sounds of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" move you towards a movie theater or a Blockbuster. I didn't even know that Elton performed this song until I heard it on a CD of my mother's! I fell in love with it immediately - one of my favorite songs ever!

Cassidy recorded this track as part of a suite of songs for his new record label in 1975. Attempting to redefine his image from teen idol to serious artist, this song was David's first new single. It is a perfect example of the west coast R&B sound popular at the time. A brilliant recording, the song was banned from radio airplay by the BBC as the title was too shocking. More likely was the fact that no-one understood who this "new" David Cassidy was. The banning of the song was solved by flipping the b-side to the a-side with the result that Cassidy's version of "I Write The Songs" became a huge hit for him internationally and later inspired the less sensitive and more commercial rendition of the song produced by Barry Manilow. David Cassidy at his best!

This is a children's song, giving instructions to a game, the catch is that the rhyme is spilled over a great drum backing. Yes, it's a bit corny and high on kitsch-value, but the pairing of such funky, stiff drumming with a children's rhyme makes it a real gem. The brevity of this track insures that it won't grate on anyone too heavily. It's a 7-inch Stones Throw release, with three other songs. Of other note is her husband's Pease Porridge Hot rhyme, sampled by De La Soul.

Beautiful slow jazz funk. Funky bass, floating flutes, trombone, rhodes piano. This entire album is a classic. You've probably heard some of it somewhere before, it's been sampled by lots of people from DJ Vadim to Buck 65. Originally recorded as library music and then used in the British TV series the Hanged Man, this record is one of my favorites.