MANILA, Philippines?Inquirer Entertainment asked five of the country?s top contemporary musicians to pick their five all-time favorite songs:

Raimund Marasigan

1) ?Reptilia? ? The Strokes. It?s my favorite arrangement, simple and brilliant.

2) ?This Charming Man? ? The Smiths. I love the bass and guitar parts.

3) ?In Between Days? ? The Cure. I lifted that drum fill and played it on every album by the Eraserheads and Cambio.

4) ?Feels So Good? ? Chuck Mangione. It reminds me of my dad. I used to play it for him on the organ when he got off from work. I miss him so much.

5) ?Shake Your Rump ? The Beastie Boys. Dusty beats, samples, old school rhymes and nasty bass hooks.

Arnel Pineda

1) ?Bohemian Rhapsody? ? Queen. One of the best songs ever written, it brings out the good and the bad in me, a very compelling song.

2) ?For No One? ? Beatles. For personal reasons, I can really relate to this song, most especially on an emotional level.

3) ?Masdan ang Kapaligiran? ? Asin. For the simple reason that I?m an environmentalist.

4) ?Stairway to Heaven? ? Led Zeppelin. Rock poetry at its best.

5) ?Golden Slumbers? ? Beatles. I?m a hardcore Beatles fanatic. This is one of their best.

Armi Millare (Up Dharma Down)

1) ?Kinky Love? ? Pale Saints. I was in the cab one time, it was raining and I put this on. I like it so much because its elegantly put together, and for a cover, it didn?t sound anything like the original.

2) ?Metropolis? ? Steven Lindsay. I?m a big fan of his. I don?t think there?s anyone who can sing and write quite like him. It?s a crime that nobody knows him that much.

3) ?Seven A.M.? ? The Blue Nile. My favorite TBN song. Reminds me of our recent trip to Hong Kong (which I think tops all other trips), and it?s got a David Sylvian feel to it, specifically the keyboard parts.

4) ?Winter Spring Summer Fall? ? The Postmarks. Something that is tastefully done in 6/8 time and what a soothing voice. I also like the abrupt ending.

5) ?We Let The Stars Go? ? Prefab Sprout. There are a million other great songs by Prefab Sprout, but I feel the truth in this song. I know Paddy McAloon wrote it from experience. In particular it?s the expression of regret that I like a lot. Some things mean so much more after the fact, and that?s something I fervently believe in, despite what other people seem to think.

FrancisM
(In no particular order)

? ?Come Together? ? Beatles. I was 5 or 6 when I heard this track for the first time. The ssshsh sound, plus bass, drums and semi-spoken/shouted words was, for me, the prototype of alternative, hybrid rock ?n? roll music.

? ?I?ve Got You under My Skin? ? Francis Albert Sinatra. I love Ol? Blue Eyes like I love Pancho Magalona. My dad?s influence in shaping my musical taste was and is still very strong to this day. I have quite a number of Sinatra albums in vinyl, CD, DVD and iTunes. He was the embodiment of cool. This song, I perceive, represents that swinging, snappy, big-band music ? a true classic.

? ?Anak? ? Freddie Aguilar. This was the very first 45 rpm record I bought. Haunting guitar picking plus the emotional narrative poetry of Ka Freddie tells a story so real, it could be in today?s news. Plus, how many translations? 30 plus and counting? This is folk music for the world, a timeless classic, and the clincher? It?s OPM! It helped me believe in our music, and brought out the urban patriot in me.

? ?The Way I Am? ? Eminem. The lyrics are honest and brilliant ? a mix of painful truths, at times self-deprecating, dark and funny, which then switches to unsparing anger. This is a work of genius. When done with his patented staccato-syllable rhyming, he is every lyricist?s dream and every rapper?s nightmare. This track is the anti-thesis of hip hop: hard-core, take-no-prisoners delivery and done by a white dude with blond hair. I wish I had written this song.

? ?Planet Rock? ? Afrika Baambata and the Soul Sonic Force. I danced to this record when I competed in the ?Dance 10? TV show in 1982; won in the daily and lost in the weekly to Darwin Tuason. I always tell my wife Pia that she should play this at my wake. Sample Kraftwerk?s ?Trans-Europe Epress,? mix it with Afrika?s 120 bpm and what do you get? Electro-funk that I love to this day.

Joey Ayala

1) ?Yesterday? ? Beatles. At the Ateneo grade school Mass, everyone would be singing ?Dominus Fobiscum? and ?Lamb of God,? but I?d be singing ?Yesterday? in my head ? I never confessed this to the priests!

2) ?Samba Pa Ti? ? Carlos Santana. Made me want to be a guitar god like him.

3) ?Fire and Rain? ? James Taylor. The very first JT song I ever heard ? made me want to be a sensitive singer-songwriter.

4) ?Just You? ? Sonny & Cher. Omigosh, it?s the first song I learned on guitar.

5) ?Mr. Dieingly Sad? ? The Critters. Friggin? bar chords toughened up my left hand. Interviews by Pocholo Concepcion