XFM London Names Its Top 100 Best British Songs Of All Time

This past Monday, May 25th, was a Bank Holiday in the UK, and London’s alternative rock radio station, XFM, used the occassion to name its Top 100 Best British Songs of All Time. The list will certainly trigger some arguments. Led Zeppelin’s overplayed ”Stairway To Heaven,” which still tops the polls of American radio best of lists, did not even make the cut. In fact, only one Led Zep song, “Whole Lotta Love,” made the XFM list. And not until number 51.

I like this list much more than usual suspects that American radio stations play in their holiday weekend Best ofs. The XFM list is, as one would guess, very heavy on Mod and alternative bands and very light on classic-rock dinosaurs. In addition, bands like The Jam, Oasis, and The Verve appear much more often on this list than they would on a list compiled by an American radio station. There isn’t a bad song on the list, IMHO, and the XFM list would make for a great iPod playlist.

I am somewhat surprised that The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me,” a seminal and influential song to be sure, finished at number 100 in the list. Surely, it should be higher up? Perhaps because it has been played so often on the air that the voters have grown weary of it? But that’s a minor quibble. I think that this list is one of the finest Best of lists I’ve ever seen.

The Top 100 were voted on by XFM London listeners and the station’s DJs. Here is the list:

1. Oasis – Live Forever
2. Oasis – Don’t Look Back In Anger
3. Oasis – Wonderwall
4. The Stone Roses - I Am The Resurrection
5. Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
6. The Verve – Bitter Sweet Symphony
7. The Who – My Generation
8. Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
9. The Clash – London Calling
10. Oasis – Champagne Supernova
11. The Smiths – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
12. Muse – Knights Of Cydonia
13. Pulp – Common People
14. The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter
15. Blur – Song 2
16. The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
17. The Jam – A Town Called Malice
18. The Beatles – Hey Jude
19. The Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil
20. The Stone Roses – Fool’s Gold
21. Blur – Parklife
22. David Bowie – Life On Mars
23. The Smiths – This Charming Man
24. The Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored
25. Radiohead – Paranoid Android
26. The Jam – Going Underground
27. Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot
28. Radiohead – Creep
29. Muse – Plug In Baby
30. Elbow – One Day Like This
31. The Beatles – Come Together
32. The Rolling Stones – Paint It, Black
33. The Who – Baba O’Riley
34. Manic Street Preachers – Motorcycle Emptiness
35. Muse – Time Is Running Out
36. Coldplay – Yellow
37. Manic Street Preachers – A Design For Life
38. New Order – Blue Monday
39.  John Lennon – Instant Karma!
40. Muse – Hysteria
41. Oasis – Supersonic
42. The Libertines – Can’t Stand Me Now
43. Snow Patrol – Run
44. The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again
45. David Bowie – “Heroes”
46. Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
47. Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen
48. The Undertones – Teenage Kicks
49. David Bowie – Jean Genie
50. The Libertines – Don’t Look Back Into The Sun
51. Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love
52. Stereophonics – Dakota
53. The Jam – That’s Entertainment
54. Oasis – Cigarettes And Alcohol
55. Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees
56. Muse – Supermassive Black Hole
57. The Beatles – All You Need Is Love
58. Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The UK
59. Muse – Starlight
60. Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars
61. Oasis – The Masterplan
62. Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy
63. Muse – Feeling Good
64. The Specials – Ghost Town
65. Ash – Girl From Mars
66. The Stone Roses – She Bangs The Drums
67. The Who – Who Are You
68. Oasis – Slide Away
69. The Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
70. Coldplay – Viva La Vida
71. Arctic Monkeys – When The Sun Goes Down
72. Oasis – Rock ‘N’ Roll Star
73. The Jam – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
74. Primal Scream – Rocks
75. Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love With Someone…
76. Ocean Colour Scene – The Riverboat Song
77. Primal Scream – Loaded
78. The Beatles – Revolution
79. The Cure – Close To Me
80. The Kinks – Lola
81. Feeder – Just A Day
82. Coldplay – Clocks
83. David Bowie – Space Oddity
84. The Verve – The Drugs Don’t Work
85. Blur – The Universal
86. Feeder – Buck Rogers
87. The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
88. The Beatles – Strawberry Fields Forever
89. Radiohead – Karma Police
90. Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall Part 2
91. The Stone Roses - Made Of Stone
92. Blur – Country House
93. Stereophonics – Pick A Part That’s New
94. The Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar
95. Radiohead – High And Dry
96. The Jam – Eton Rifles
97. The Rolling Stones – Ruby Tuesday
98. The Stone Roses – Waterfall
99. Paul Weller – You Do Something To Me
100. The Kinks – You Really Got Me

For more on this, see the article on the XFM London Web site.

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