The guilty undertaker sighs, the lonesome organ grinder cries, the silver saxophones say I should refuse you

So Young Ben and I were listening to Smooth radio last week, as we do, and John McCauley was asking listeners to call in with their favourite ever albums. Ben couldn't decide between Adele and The Wiggles. My choice was somewhat more difficult, so I decided to make a list.

There were so many that I divided them by decade and put in the proviso that I was only allowed one album per artist and no Greatest Hits albums. With this restriction Mr Springsteen has been omitted entirely from my list as between the 70s and the 00s I would have at least two of his albums in every decade. I have limited my list to 5 albums per decade apart from the 70s as that was when I bought most of my albums. I have struggled to curtail that decade to 20

60s

1. Blonde on Blonde...Bob Dylan I used to listen to Mr Dylan through the wall in Ayr as my eldest brother played his albums. When he left home he took his albums with him, so I had to start buying them for myself and I have 19 Dylan albums right up to Slow Train Coming in 1979 when Bobby found God and lost me. Springsteen apart this is probably my favourite ever album
2. Songs of Leonard Cohen I owe this choice to my other brother. Whenever you feel down just listen to Lenny, that will cheer you up
3. A Hard Day's Night..The Beatles...not Revolver, not Rubber Soul, not Sgt Pepper but I just love this album
4. Bookends...Simon and Garfunkel...in my opinion a far superior album to the vastly over-rated Bridge Over Troubled Water
5. Tommy...The Who..in its day this was epic

No room for The Beach Boys or The Moody Blues

70s

1. Innervisions...Stevie Wonder...just brilliant
2. What's Going On..Marvin Gaye..the move from Motown pop to global commentary
3. Hunky Dory..David Bowie...just edges Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane as it contains Life On Mars
4. Transformer...Lou Reed...Walk On The Wild Side, Perfect Day, Satellite Of Love..enough said
5. Blue...Joni Mitchell ....teenage angst and Joni..the perfect combination
6. Tea For The Tillerman..Cat Stevens..I have every Cat Stevens album but this one has Father and Son
7. Off The Wall....Michael Jackson...not the biggest Jacko fan but this album was sheer class
8. A Trick Of The Tail...Genesis....always liked their albums and this one has Ripples
9. Parallel Lines..Blondie....Debbie Harry...just Wow!..and their music was good
10. Can't Buy A Thrill...Steely Dan..could just as easy have been Countdown To Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic or Katy Lied but this one has Reelin' In The Years and Do It Again
11. After The Goldrush...Neil Young...see comments for Blue
12. Sweet Baby James..James Taylor...see comments for After The Goldrush
13. The Kick Inside..Kate Bush...she was crazy but she sure could sing
14. Exodus...Bob Marley..not a big Reggae fan but this is a great album and has the wonderful Waiting In Vain
15. Tapestry..Carole King..the master songwriter showed that she could also sing
16. For Your Pleasure...Roxy Music...Roxy albums were worth buying for their covers alone but the music did not disappoint
17. Out Of The Blue...ELO...sorry Kev but I had to find room for one of my ELO albums (Mr Blue Sky et al).
18. Tubular Bells..Mike Oldfield...this is why they made stereo headphones
19. Rumours..Fleetwood Mac...everyone of a certain age who likes music will have this in their collection
20. Dark Side Of The Moon...Pink Floyd..see comments for Rumours

So 20 albums and still no place for Squeeze, 10CC, The Clash, The Jam, The Eagles or Led Zep. I could have done with 30 for the 70s

80s

1. A Walk Across The Rooftops...The Blue Nile...The 80s were not a great time for me music wise but this album was a standout
2. Purple Rain...Prince...One of the few notable talents of the 80s
3. Raintown...Deacon Blue...my town... and despite being played to death Dignity is still one of the great songs
4. Tracy Chapman.....Fast Car is depressingly wonderful and Ronan should listen to Baby Can I Hold You to hear how it should be sung
5. Brothers In Arms..Dire Straits..despite their fall from grace I thought Dire Straits were excellent and this album produced 5 hit singles

Yeah that's about it for the 80s

90s

1. Jagged Little Pill..Alanis Morissette...just an album of great songs including the brilliant Ironic
2. Different Class..Pulp...I always preferred Pulp to Oasis or Blur and I have danced embarrassingly many a time to Disco 2000
3. Automatic For The People...REM...this was REM at their peak
4. Twisted...Del Amitri..only gets the nod over Change Everything and Waking Hours because it contains Driving With The Brakes On..my favourite Del Amitri song
5. The Man Who...Travis....remember when Travis were good?

Not much fighting for places here although Texas, Oasis and Blur deserve a mention

00s

1. O...Damien Rice..one of the few current artists that I would make the effort to go and see live(and have done twice). This album is just brilliant
2. Hot Fuss...The Killers...When I went to see them I think I was the oldest person there but I still gave it laldy to Mr Brightside
3. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not...Arctic Monkeys...my youngest son told me to listen to this and I was pleasantly surprised
4. A Grand Don't Come For Free...The Streets..the talented Mr Skinner knows how to write a good song...Dry Your Eyes and Could Well Be In are better than good
5. Glasvegas...a powerful collection of songs including Geraldine, Daddy's Gone and It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry..and they are Weegies

Only Keane with Hopes And Fears came close to making it into 00s list

My family bought me a record player for Christmas so my vinyl collection has been dusted down and a lot of the above list are being played once again in their original format. What's with this having to turn the album over half way through though? That will never catch on and I need to convince Ben that they are not Frisbees. After all this is his inheritance, whether he likes it or not