Instrumentals

It's time for the unsung bandsmen of pop — the drummers, guitarists, keyboard wizards, and arrangers — to take centre stage in our all-time classic Instrumentals playlist. Who needs singers, with their golden tonsils, when you've got a band, a hook, and the occasional rallying cry of "Tequila!" (the Champs) or "Wipe Out!" (the Surfaris).

Instrumentals help answer some of the great questions of the modern era: Would rap have crossed over into the mainstream without Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks"? What self-respecting roller-disco could function without Meco's version of the Star Wars theme? And where would exhibitionism be without "The Stripper" (done here by David Rose)?

Here, in the far-flung corners of the Planet Instrumentalia, our playlist veers wildly from Ace Cannon's easy-on-the-ears "Alley Cat" to Queen's royally overblown version of "God Save the Queen" to the precision rock of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Free Wheelin." Guy Lombardo strolls nonchalantly through "The Third Man Theme."

Unobscured by vocals, the great instrumentals of pop allow us to fully appreciate the quality of the musicianship and the subtleties of the arrangement. Some of the tracks on our playlist have such a strong cultural identity that they seem to adopt a personality of their own: Few of us could pick out Mike Oldfield in a crowd, but his Tubular Bells is an instantly recognizable classic; and the peerless ivory tickling "Music Box Dancer" still turns heads, despite the relative anonymity of its author, Frank Mills. These tracks need words like a trout needs a Harley.