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100 SONGS THAT IMPACTED MY LIFE

One hundred records chosen not because they are the best but because they mattered — which makes this the most revealing playlist on the site.

rockerz

 

This playlist represents some of the songs that shaped me from a child all the way to today. These songs are the ones that resonate the most & will never grow old.

100 Songs That Impacted My Life

Every serious listener eventually attempts this list, and almost everyone fails in the same way: they produce a list of great records instead of a list of consequential ones. This set avoids that trap, and you can tell because of what is on it.

There is no attempt at balance, no defensive inclusion of critically respected albums, and no shame about soft rock, adult contemporary or the songs that were simply playing at a particular moment. That honesty is what makes it worth hearing rather than merely worth scrolling.

What to listen for

Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" opens, which places the whole list: What's Going On is the record that taught a generation that soul music could carry any subject at all.

The Family Stand's "In Summer I Fall" at number two is the tell. That is not a famous record; it is a personal one, and its presence so early signals that the rest of the list is honest.

Bread's "Aubrey", Steve Perry's "Foolish Heart", Phil Collins' "A Groovy Kind of Love" and Eagles' "The Last Resort" are the soft-rock selections, and they are here without apology, which is exactly right.

Prince's "For You" — the title track of the first album, not one of the hits — is a considered choice, and so is Stevie Wonder's "Black Orchid" over any of the obvious candidates.

The Jacksons' "Blues Away" and The Sylvers' "That's What Love Is Made Of" are family-group deep cuts from the same mid-seventies moment.

Al Jarreau's "Aladdin's Lamp", Ronnie Dyson's "Give in to Love" and O'Bryan's "Still Water (Love)" are the selections that reward the most specialist knowledge.

Yusuf's "Morning Has Broken" and Aaron Neville's "Ave Maria" point at something the rest of the list leaves mostly unsaid.

Lianne La Havas, Fink, Morcheeba and Son Little keep the list from being purely retrospective.

Go deeper

The exercise is worth doing yourself, with one rule: no record goes on the list to impress anybody. The result will be more interesting than any critical canon.

The Family Stand are the name most people here will not know, and Chain (1990) is where to start.

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