Simon Sweetman: music critic, blogger and author

just a year after the original. I love Prince. I own everything he’s released – but Cyndi’s version of this song is better. 7 Drive By, The Necks (2003) Most of the albums by Australian trio The Necks feature just one hour-long song. So Drive By is the whole album – as well as just one 5 Concierto de Aranjuez, Miles Davis (1960) I used to play this in a record store when I worked late nights as a student. It was probably the wrong thing to play in-store but it always seemed like the right time for it. 6 Midnight in a Perfect World, DJ Shadow (1996) Some songs just haunt you in the best kind of way. Loved this from the time I first heard it. You lose a lot of your wages back to your employer when you work in a record store. track. A mix of Brian Eno and Steve Reich minimalism, trio jazz, ambient and dub washes – this is my favourite from The Necks. 9 Gloria, Patti Smith (1975) ‘‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins/But not mine.’’ 8 Anything Could Happen, The Clean (1981) Most often I’m in the car when I hear this – driving around New Zealand. Somewhere. Anywhere. And when I’m not, I imagine I am. 10 Ashes to Ashes, David Bowie (1980) Sometimes I think this is the perfect pop song. It’s an example of pop-song perfection. Listened to this album after school, with a guy I no longer talk to. All the stupid memories of the silly things we did. ‘‘I’ve never done bad things/ I’ve never done anything out of the blue.’’