Who are your most under-Rated Song Writers?.

I have been looking through my CD collection recently and it occured to me how many good song writers are not really reconoised as so, I wondered who do you think is or was underrated?.

For me i would go for,

Jeff Lynne-He knows how to craft a pop record that is lyrically very catchy and has a good tune.

Kirsty MacColl-For me she was one of the best song writers we ever had in the UK,Able to write funny Lyrics that make you smile,But equally able to make you think and be moved, Look at songs like Soho Square, In these Shoe’s and England2 Columbia 0 for example.

Tom Petty-Never gets the credit or reconition that Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel get but always manages to write a great song with a smart lyric, Look at “Free Fallin”, “Square one”,”I won’t Back down” and “Breakdown” for example.

Ian Dury-More of a poet in some ways and was always able to write a funny lyric, be and like Kirsty MacColl able to write poignant lyrics Look at “My old Man” “What a Waste” ,”Sweet Gene Vincent” and “There ain’t half been some Clever B*st*rds”.

Ray Davies- I would argue he was a better song writer than Lennon and McCartney and even now writes very strong lyrics, Just if you mention a Band from the 60s Beatles and the Stones will spring to mind and not the Kinks.

Shane MacGowen-Sadly often seen as a drunk singer from the Pogues but there is much more than that to him, Songs like “Rainy Night in Soho” and “A pair of Brown Eyes” are good examples and of course he co-wrote one of he best Christmas songs ever “Fairytale of New York”.

Who do you think is Under-Rated?.