Your top 10 Elbow songs?

Hi,

I'm a DJ on a community radio station in Essex (Phoenix 98FM), and we do top 20 shows, when we ask people to vote for their favourite songs from certain artists. When I was asked what band I'd like to do a show about, I obviously went for Elbow, and now I'm on the hunt for votes!

If you'd like to take part, visit www.phoenixfm.com/the-top-20-show-elbow/ and pick your top 10 songs. The votes will then be collated into a top 20, which will be broadcast on Friday 27th May from 10pm to midnight. Imagine; 2 hours of pure Elbow - it's going to be blissful radio. You can listen on 98.0FM if you happen to be in the Brentwood/Billericay area of Essex, or online in the chatroom.

Votes can be cast right up to the day before the show, so if you want to digest BARB for a little longer, no problem! If you also want to vote for any of the other Top 20 shows we're doing, see them here: www.phoenixfm.com/the-top-20-show/.

I'm really looking forward to finding out the fans' number one song from all five albums, I hope you can help decide what it is.

Cheers,
Dan

Just been having a browse of the forum, and see that some people don't even like Newborn, so it throws open the possibility (to me) that some of the songs I consider to be Elbow's best, might not even make the top 20. What do you consider 'essential' Elbow?

Dan

Well, my own personal favourite is 'Weather to Fly' but I think a lot of the fans would agree when I say I reckon 'Scattered Black and Whites' is the 'essence' of Elbow.
I know I'm wildly generalising of course but over the years that's the impression I got...

all of them !
Trying to narrow down to 10 would be a nightmare lol !

Fugitive Motel, Switching Off, Station Approach, The Birds,
Forget Myself, My Very Best, Lippy Kids, Powder Blue, The Bones of You,
Ribcage,

crap thats ten already and i have hardly started yet... could give you another ten..

This is uncanny because I was considering starting this very same thread myself!

Given its novelty, I will exclude BARB from this top 10, though were I to include any of it, Lippy Kids and The Birds would be up there among the greats!

So...

1. Scattered Black and Whites
2. Friend of Ours
3. Great Expectations
4. Weather to Fly
5. The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
6. Fugitive Motel
7. Mirrorball
8. Powder Blue
9. Switching Off
10. Ribcage

At the moment, anyway! This is the cream of the crop IMO.

I'd agree that 'Scattered...' should be right near the top, but looking at the votes cast so far, it's not even in the top 20!

I haven't voted myself yet, I've got a seven week old daughter and haven't found the time yet to listen to BARB all the way through, let alone several times. She's currently screaming in my ear, so not much point putting it on now... She's given Mirrorball a whole new meaning for me though.

Have to say though, picking a top ten is going to be incredibly hard. I can honestly say there's not one Elbow song I don't like, or occassionally skip when listening to an album.

Dan

I've just voted and i've already got pangs of guilt from those not on the list - bloody impossible !

I'm still somewhat of an Elbow noob, so it's really hard for me to pick like this. I will say, however, that "Switching Off" is my absolute favorite.

You can only pick the songs you know and love - don't worry about it! Thanks for the votes so far, really appreciated.

Dan (who's now off out to get a curry )

Voted for...

1) Newborn
2) Powder Blue
3) Great Expectations
4) Scattered Black and Whites
5) Forget Myself
6) Switching Off
7) The Stops
8) Red
9) Grounds For Divorce
10) The Birds

Top seven was easy. There are a few that could have occupied the other three places.

The show goes out on my birthday so I expect a 'shoutout'!

No particular order:

Presuming Ed
Scattered
The Birds
Ribcage
Mirrorball
ODLT
Lippy Kids
My Very Best
Great Expectations
Some Riot

Aye, your top 10 must surely vary on a day-to-day basis, but here goes anyway:

1 - Fugitive Motel
2 - George Lassoes The Moon
3 - Switching Off
4 - Open Arms
5 - Puncture Repair
6 - Leaders
7 - Not A Job
8 - McGreggor
9 - Powder Blue
10 - Scattered Black & Whites

Dan Bridge wrote:

You can only pick the songs you know and love - don't worry about it! Thanks for the votes so far, really appreciated.

Dan (who's now off out to get a curry )

Well, it's not like I don't know the songs. I just feel like I don't know them like the other people on the forum do. I'd like to submerge myself into their discography for a bit before I make such an important decision, you know? I don't want to cast votes for certain songs, then realize that I like some of the others way better.

My definitive, all-time top ten favourites are as follows:

1. Fugitive Motel
2. Powder Blue
3. Great Expectations
4. Switching Off
5. Scattered Black and Whites
6. Leaders Of The Free World
7. The Birds
8. Not A Job
9. Station Approach
10. Friend of Ours

Please note, my definitive, all-time top ten favourites are subject to change, without notice, according to whim, at any particular moment.

It will be interesting to see what the final ten will look like, though I would imagine 'Audience With The Pope' will probably not figure.

Misspelt Yoof wrote:

The show goes out on my birthday so I expect a 'shoutout'!

I shall make sure I do.

Dan

Mr Woman wrote:

It will be interesting to see what the final ten will look like, though I would imagine 'Audience With The Pope' will probably not figure.

Which is a shame, because I personally love that song.

NeonChoir wrote:

Dan Bridge wrote:

You can only pick the songs you know and love - don't worry about it! Thanks for the votes so far, really appreciated.

Dan (who's now off out to get a curry )

Well, it's not like I don't know the songs. I just feel like I don't know them like the other people on the forum do. I'd like to submerge myself into their discography for a bit before I make such an important decision, you know? I don't want to cast votes for certain songs, then realize that I like some of the others way better.

Fair do's.

I was wary of posting this so soon after BARB was released, I think people's views may change over the next few weeks, but I needed to start sooner rather than later I think, to get a decent number of votes.

Just had another look at the voting so far, and a quick listen to some of the ones in the top ten, and I'm just going to love doing this show! From a practical point of view though, I'm wondering if I'm going to have trouble fitting all 20 songs into 2 hours...

Dan

NeonChoir wrote:

Mr Woman wrote:

It will be interesting to see what the final ten will look like, though I would imagine 'Audience With The Pope' will probably not figure.

Which is a shame, because I personally love that song.

Me too, and don't forget it's your top ten, but the show will be the top 20, so it may creep in there. It's lurking at the moment.

Dan

If b-sides were an option, this list would have been vastly different.

1. Fugitive Motel
2. The Loneliness of the Tower Crane Driver
3. Scattered Blacks and Whites
4. The Stops
5. Open Arms
6. Mirrorball
7. Leaders of the Free World
8. Great Expectations
9. Not a Job
10. Newborn

^ Actually, if I read the options in the voting thing correctly, B-sides are indeed included.

NeonChoir wrote:

^ Actually, if I read the options in the voting thing correctly, B-sides are indeed included.

Some, but not all. I'd have had "About Time" and "Theme From Munro Kelly" in my top ten, and possibly "Our Little Boat" as well.

allyngibson wrote:

NeonChoir wrote:

^ Actually, if I read the options in the voting thing correctly, B-sides are indeed included.

Some, but not all. I'd have had "About Time" and "Theme From Munro Kelly" in my top ten, and possibly "Our Little Boat" as well.

and 'working class hero' is a john lennon cover

I wanted 'About time' too

no particular order:

Asleep in the back
Whispergrass
Everthere
Picky bugger
Ribcage
Newborn
Scattered B & whites
Presuming Ed (rest easy)
The Birds
George lassoos the moon

Ticker tape (not on list)

lucky with disease wrote:

and 'working class hero' is a john lennon cover

I quite love Elbow's cover of "Working Class Hero." It does what a good cover should do -- it brings something new to the song. Elbow's "Working Class Hero" sounds like an Elbow song, it doesn't sound like Elbow doing a John Lennon song.

However, I like Green Day's "Working Class Hero" just a little bit more than Elbow's.

But I like them both more than Lennon's. A heretical viewpoint, I know.

On a different note, I took my top ten list and wrote a blog post that explains the reasoning on some of my choices and what the songs mean to me.

Nice blog, Allyn!

I actually love Elbow's cover of "Teardrop." It's so beautiful.

1. One Day Like This
2. Scattered black and Whites
3. Station approach
4. Mexican Standoff
5. Forgot Myself
6. Fallen Angel
7. Open Arms
8. Grace Under Pressure
9. Bitten by the Tailfly
10. Some Riot

I think!!!!