My Top Ten Rave Songs

Regular readers will know that I'm no great fan of music that's made purely for shaking your bits to, especially if it's made purely for shaking your bits to whilst off your heads on E. Still, while I can't claim to be a raver, I can still spot a top rave tune... (sort of).


10. Plain White T's - Rave

Remember these guys? The Hey There, Delilah bunch? Not just one hit wonders.

9. The Wonder Stuff - A Rave From The Grave

Pretty obscure Stuffies b-side from the excellent Love Bites & Bruises collection.

8. John Moore - Ave The Rave 

Stealing the guitar riff from Elvis Costello's Pump It Up, the third member of Black Box Recorder sends mum and daddy to and early grave on this lost track from his only solo album. Lost, because I can't find a decent link to it online.

7. Cults - Rave On

You've got to be secure in your own abilities when you give your band a name that's a typing mistake waiting to happen.

6. The Courteeners - Welcome To The Rave

From their latest album, Anna, which didn't stay with me as long as I'd expected it to.

5. Jeff Buckley - Witches' Rave

A taste of what might have been from Jeff's never-completed second album, eventually released in demo form as Sketches For My Sweetheart, The Drunk.

4. The Arctic Monkeys - Ravey Ravey Ravey Club

Now, if the rave clubs of my youth had sounded like this, I'd have been there every weekend.

3. The Raveonettes - Let's Rave On

The sonic explosion caused by a collision between Buddy Holly and The Jesus & Mary Chain.

2. Jim Steinman - Stark Raving Love

Mad Jim McMad's first stab at writing Holding Out For A Hero, released on his long forgotten (but epically unforgettable) solo album, Bad For Good. I do probably overuse the word "genius" on this blog, but in Jim Steinman's case, I can never use it enough.

"Too much is never enough..." is pretty much Jim's mantra.

1. Buddy Holly - Rave On

Had to be. One minute 51 seconds of pure pop bliss. 

John Cougar Mellencamp's version is damned fine too. As is the cover by M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel.



Which one gets you raving?