My list would include:

Amii Stewart - Knock On Wood
Abba - S.O.S.
Jona Lewie - Louise (my favourite song of the early 80s, and still much fun)
Spandau Ballet - True (and to a lesser extent, Through The Barricades)
An extensive bunch of Beatles songs, especially the run from Help! to Sgt Pepper.

Six Months In A Leaky Boat - Split Enz

I only put this on my iPhone a couple of months ago. Odd, since I'm hardly short of Split Enz tracks.

On the New Zealand theme, I would like to call attention to the musical stylings of one Gin Wigmore, for example:

>[link] >[link] [link]

(The last song has been used in a Heineken commercial tie-in to Skyfall. Another of her songs, Kill Of tThe Night, was used for Alfa Romeo in Australia.)

In terms of "hey, these songs have been out for decades and decades and they still rock" and not "I could listen to these songs that just came out yesterday/the week before and they don't get old" would be many songs by The Police, Led Zep's "When the Levy Breaks" ( I want to have baby's with the base line/drum beat).

I've found, once I got into it, that Alt-J can bear repeated listening for hours a day and weeks on end. I think I listened to it solely for months without boredom, and still find myself enraptured. Except for My Matilda. That one drags and earworms me horrifically.

For my childhood first loves, Sting/The Police and Marc Cohn still hold strong. I'm actually curious to find out more about Sting's musical (Broadway show?). He put me off when he went classical, but Soul Cages haunts me to this day as an album and a piece of storytelling and pseudo biography. Which may be more of a Natter topic?

I also listened to the Grease soundtrack last week for the first time in a long time, and it holds up beautifully. When the movie came out, I thought of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" as a fine song but not one of my favorites. Now, it's amazing. I think it's one of those songs that you can only appreciate after getting some life experience.

And "Summer Nights" is another one for the "never gets old" list.

I would include Abba's "Waterloo," and "Brown-eyed Girl," by Van Morrison, just to start with.

"Fernando" is my goto ABBA song. Though my interpretation is different than the one ABBA gives it in interviews.

"Little Green Bag" comes to mind immediately.

The first song that comes to mind is "Fall At Your Feet" by Crowded House. I don't know why, but that song in particular has always struck me as a perfect pop song. It's melancholy and romantic; it's restrained but still soars. I just love it.

The first song that comes to mind is "Fall At Your Feet" by Crowded House. I don't know why, but that song in particular has always struck me as a perfect pop song. It's melancholy and romantic; it's restrained but still soars. I just love it.

Ooh, my favourite Crowded House song. Which also reminded me, U2's "All I Want Is You" and "One" are also songs I find to be enduring in their appeal.

"This Corrosion" by Sisters of Mercy, "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus, "Last of the Famous International Playboys" by Morrissey, and "Me and My Arrow" and "Think About Your Troubles" by Harry Nilsson are the ones that jumped to mind for me.

"Little Green Bag" comes to mind immediately.

George Baker Selection! I was about 12 or 13 when "Paloma Blanca" came out. Between the flute on the melody and the lyrics of freedom, I was hooked on that one. Still love it, although I only hear it once in a blue moon.

Speaking of flute melodies in '70s pop songs, I heard "The Hustle" this morning. Textbook example of radio-friendly dance music.