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Top Ten
Spanning thirty music genres from teen idols to progressive rock, one-hit wonders to sixties soul, eurovision to punk, and more, Top Ten presents the ultimate in music trivia from the tongue-in-cheek Channel 4 series. Packed with trivia facts and quotes from the all-time to the one-time greats, Top Ten showcases both the music we have loved, and loved to hate.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 28, 2026
A fair book of trivia and mildly diverting accounts, organised into lists, of songs, singers and bands and genres, loosely organised by chart success. I wouldn't really say Alex Ogg's approach is especially irreverent. There's occasionally a salient focus on politics, especially in brief asides on Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, Sylvia and Queen, though Ogg overlooks Eric Clapton's racist Powellite outburst on stage in Birmingham in 1976, being more keen to praise "slowhand". He does emphasise gradual progress against homophobia as in the Boyzone and Shabba Ranks entries.
In terms of the limitations... There's far too little on All Saints and The Shangri Las under girl groups. The word 'combo' is used unironically. There are occasional errors - Jeff Lynne as David Essex's Seventies producer when it was of course the great Jeff Wayne. Progressive Rock is subject to a very tellingly partial introduction which, whole not entirely without truth, is a caricature born of inverted snobbery.
There are, however, respectful if not especially incisive entries on groups like Earth, Wind & Fire and Odyssey. You can perceive the writer's enthusiasm for soul, even if the Barry White entry is a tad cliched, and punk, with an appreciative piece on The Undertones. Ogg is perhaps a little condescending towards Nick Heyward and Haircut 100, but actually his entry lends itself to be a very positive interpretation.
I was amused by the link between The Clash and The Tweets and the Keith Harris and Orville entry, with its conclusion about a rave sampling controversy leading to a banning in the Potteries. Also, Yes and the Tales from Topographic Oceans tour and Rick Wakeman himself being so bored he ordered a curry and enjoyed an in-performance poppadom. I loved the nugget about how David Essex claimed to have learned from Stardust (1974), the film he appeared in, presumably as an utterly cautionary tale which steered him in a better direction!
There are also unarguably true sentences, like this understated gem on Morrissey's solo career being 'the story of a man at sea without the right musical collaborator', all contained within an entry which is an ode to Johnny Marr. And I loved the bathos of The Thompson Twins' entry, which reveals their wonderfully self-deprecating outlook, the absolute opposite of the old Mozzer! Willie Nelson is said to increasingly resemble Albert Steptoe: Ogg has a reasonably sure grasp of British popular culture, and grasps how It Ain't Half Hot, Mum could fuel certain playground bullying incidents.
It's prompted me to note down a list of albums to check out, top of which is Camel's album STATIONARY TRAVELLER (1984), an unlikely combination of themes: 'the Cold War and transsexuality'. A comment that Stevie Wonder's SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (1976) is regarded by 'many commentators as the greatest album of all time' has prompted me to listen properly and concertedly to this album: revealing this as utterly fair comment. It's magnificent music.
While I would say this book is inferior to Justin Lewis's two recent books, Ogg does manage to work in the same terrain with, fairly often, fairly engrossing results.
In terms of the limitations... There's far too little on All Saints and The Shangri Las under girl groups. The word 'combo' is used unironically. There are occasional errors - Jeff Lynne as David Essex's Seventies producer when it was of course the great Jeff Wayne. Progressive Rock is subject to a very tellingly partial introduction which, whole not entirely without truth, is a caricature born of inverted snobbery.
There are, however, respectful if not especially incisive entries on groups like Earth, Wind & Fire and Odyssey. You can perceive the writer's enthusiasm for soul, even if the Barry White entry is a tad cliched, and punk, with an appreciative piece on The Undertones. Ogg is perhaps a little condescending towards Nick Heyward and Haircut 100, but actually his entry lends itself to be a very positive interpretation.
I was amused by the link between The Clash and The Tweets and the Keith Harris and Orville entry, with its conclusion about a rave sampling controversy leading to a banning in the Potteries. Also, Yes and the Tales from Topographic Oceans tour and Rick Wakeman himself being so bored he ordered a curry and enjoyed an in-performance poppadom. I loved the nugget about how David Essex claimed to have learned from Stardust (1974), the film he appeared in, presumably as an utterly cautionary tale which steered him in a better direction!
There are also unarguably true sentences, like this understated gem on Morrissey's solo career being 'the story of a man at sea without the right musical collaborator', all contained within an entry which is an ode to Johnny Marr. And I loved the bathos of The Thompson Twins' entry, which reveals their wonderfully self-deprecating outlook, the absolute opposite of the old Mozzer! Willie Nelson is said to increasingly resemble Albert Steptoe: Ogg has a reasonably sure grasp of British popular culture, and grasps how It Ain't Half Hot, Mum could fuel certain playground bullying incidents.
It's prompted me to note down a list of albums to check out, top of which is Camel's album STATIONARY TRAVELLER (1984), an unlikely combination of themes: 'the Cold War and transsexuality'. A comment that Stevie Wonder's SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (1976) is regarded by 'many commentators as the greatest album of all time' has prompted me to listen properly and concertedly to this album: revealing this as utterly fair comment. It's magnificent music.
While I would say this book is inferior to Justin Lewis's two recent books, Ogg does manage to work in the same terrain with, fairly often, fairly engrossing results.
November 24, 2014
I bought this from a used book store in England to read on the flight back. It's what we in the States would call a "bathroom book," i.e., a collection of short entries that can be read on an intermittent basis, depending on one's available time and inclination, as opposed to a normal book that you give your full attention too. Typically I'll read the latter on an airplane, but my attention span's been a bit short recently, so I thought this would fill in the gaps when I wanted it to. Turns out that I read it pretty much straight through, instead, although I'm not sure my attention was totally focused on it at times.
This is basically a book of lists that Ogg annotates with some facts and even more anecdotes. The mp3 revolution has totally revitalized my interest in music, both new and old, and this book helped me to fill in some gaps on my musical education of some of the more popular (at least in the U.K., as determined by the listeners of BBC Radio). It's a bit like reading the transcripts of a VH1 show, like Living in the 80s, as the lists are grouped by music style (Boy Bands, Eighties Soul, Punk) or format (Duets, One-Hit Wonders). I was only familiar with 25 percent or so of what's in the book. The other three-quarters was about bands I had never heard of or little details of obscure bands that I might have heard a song or two by.
It's probably better as a bathroom book, but it was interesting enough to lead me with a few notes about some music artists to look out for.
This is basically a book of lists that Ogg annotates with some facts and even more anecdotes. The mp3 revolution has totally revitalized my interest in music, both new and old, and this book helped me to fill in some gaps on my musical education of some of the more popular (at least in the U.K., as determined by the listeners of BBC Radio). It's a bit like reading the transcripts of a VH1 show, like Living in the 80s, as the lists are grouped by music style (Boy Bands, Eighties Soul, Punk) or format (Duets, One-Hit Wonders). I was only familiar with 25 percent or so of what's in the book. The other three-quarters was about bands I had never heard of or little details of obscure bands that I might have heard a song or two by.
It's probably better as a bathroom book, but it was interesting enough to lead me with a few notes about some music artists to look out for.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews