Poptime
Herein, I collect and count down my favorite pop, rock, r&b and hip hop singles released between the time I was born (1/74) and right this minute. Ordering is pretty loose and arbitrary until I reach the top 10 or so, when rankings will really mean something.I'm limiting myself to things that have actually charted in the Billboard Hot 100 (or Billboard subcharts or foreign equivalents when applicable). Otherwise, trying to narrow a list down to 101 songs would be border on impossible.
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Artist: Thompson Twins
Song: Lay Your Hands on Me
Year: 1984
Highest Chart Position: #13 (UK Singles Chart)There are two different versions of this song, and the one I’m writing about is the single version released only in the UK in late 1984. The one that appears on the album Here’s to Future Days and was released as a single worldwide in 1985 takes the skeleton of the original and unnecessarily piles on a bunch of guitars and choral voices, all at the clumsy hands of Nile Rodgers.
The original is a really compressed, much more synth-heavy song that operates in a space that’s almost too small to contain it. That adds a great deal to its perceived volatility, as though it could erupt at any moment but holds back just enough for the entire four minutes. The redone version is a total mess from nearly the first note.
