Favorite.  Not best.   Got it?  :)

Here's a random list, INPO -- very far from comprehensive -- you don't have to make a selection from it by any means.   It's simply a starting point, comprised of names of some of the most obvious well-known song-writers.   May or not stray from your personal top choices, some of whom may be from a more contemporary era.  

Your choices / (and mileage) may vary:

Roger Waters
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
David Bowie
Kate Bush
Eric Clapton
Nick Drake
Nick Lowe
Elton John
Paul Weller
Ray Davies 
Pete Townshend
Chris Martin 
Shane MacGowan *
Morrissey
Peter Gabriel
Peter Green
PJ Harvey
Van Morrison **
Mick Jagger 
Syd Barrett
Robert Plant
Adele

*Born in England.   Thank you.
**Irish lad; but that's Brit family of origin.   Edited twice.  :D

 

Any number, really -- but try to limit to the very top of your fave list.   What songwriters are tops with you?

Lennon & McCartney    

Jagger & Richards

Ray Davies

Pete Townshend

Van Morrison

Elvis Costello

Graham Parker

Nick Lowe

Joe Jackson

Difford & Tillbrook

Ian Dury

Strummer & Jones

 

I can narrow my list down to four names without a great deal of thought.

Lennon

McCartney

Townshend

Davies

If forced to choose just one I would have to go with Townshend, because of the epic scale of his best work.

One name that you didn't list was Jimmy Page, presumably because he didn't write lyrics.  But he was a formidable writer and arranger of the music.

In response to devildavid's comment:

Very similar to mine.  I note the top two and bottom one;  in all three cases the whole vastly exceeds the sum of the parts, esp. the top one.

Sweet list, yogs...

Costello is a big one for me.  One of the most literate writers ever.  His words can be kisses or daggers. 

Paul Weller, too...damm near a genius.  Nick Lowe is up there.  

Ray Davies is a god.  Probably my favorite 60s-era writer.

Harrison should be up there, too.

 

Add:

Ian Curtis and Bernard Sumner

Johnny Marr/Morrissey

Robert Smith

Roland Orzabal/Smith

Matt Johnson

Tennant/Lowe

Richard Thompson

 

Shane McGowan and Van Morrison are irish, not british.  

And Chris Martin belongs nowhere near this list, IMO.

 

 

Shane was actually born in Enlgand but moved to Tiperrary Ireland at about one years old.

To me there has never been a better songwriter than Shane

 

I got Difford/Tillbrook (when they were drinking they were amazing)

Elvis Costello (early years)

Strumer/Jones

Paul Weller

Ian McCulloch

Ian Curtis

John Lennon

Morrissey

Nick Lowe

Robert Smith

Matt Johnson

Patt Fish (the Jazz Butcher)

Joe Jackson

 

 

Lennon

McCartney

Pete Townsend

Jagger/Richards

Strummer/Jones

In response to MattyScornD's comment:

How could I forget Richard Thompson? Thanks for the reminder.

Damon Albarn

Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien

Noel Gallagher

PJ Harvey

Marr, Morrissey

 

 

Add: 

Ian Anderson

Ben Ottewell

 

In response to MattyScornD's comment:

 

Sweet list, yogs...

Costello is a big one for me.  One of the most literate writers ever.  His words can be kisses or daggers. 

Paul Weller, too...damm near a genius.  Nick Lowe is up there.  

Ray Davies is a god.  Probably my favorite 60s-era writer.

Harrison should be up there, too.

 

Add:

Ian Curtis and Bernard Sumner

Johnny Marr/Morrissey

Robert Smith

Roland Orzabal/Smith

Matt Johnson

Tennant/Lowe

Richard Thompson

 

Shane McGowan and Van Morrison are irish, not british.  

And Chris Martin belongs nowhere near this list, IMO.

 

 

 

Actually Van is from Belfast so he is British as well as Irish. {edit} Technically he's from the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", but Northern Irish are considered British

 

Add:

Cat Stevens

George Harrison

and Queen as a group  

In response to polar123's comment:

 

I'm waiting for Florence Welch.   Probably doesn't have the creds just yet,  to be in the top tier.   I can understand that.  :)   

 

NOTE: FATM (edited) has grown on me quite a bit.  

In response to MattyScornD's comment:

Thanks.  :)  I wish I could have thought of more women, but I was stalled mentally b/c I realized that many of my personal favorites are Canadian, Irish, and American, even though I know there are many Brit female songwriters held in high regard, high profile or not.   Even Annie Lennox is Scottish.  

RE: Chris Martin.  Hahahaha!   I was almost going to ask if there was anyone on my "starter list" who didn't belong there, but you seemed to have caught that without my having to ask. 

Pete Shelley

The Stranglers (most songs joint composing credits)

John Lydon

 

In response to yogafriend's comment:

Scots are British, even if most don't want to be!

A few of mine:

Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane)  
Neil Tennant / Chris Lowe
Elton John / Bernie Taupin (early)
Joe Jackson
Christine McVie (early FWM) 

How about Sting?   Not top tier?  I heard he did a yoga dvd.  (just kidding -- but maybe he did for all I know).  :)

In response to yogafriend's comment:

Not quite, but in time.

FMM...?

 

In response to SonicsMonksLyresVicars' comment:

Well, thanks for the clarification; while I am sorry for my own confusion and ignorance on who's who and their origin, I do feel somewhat vindicated, b/c I had always thought some of the names I've mentioned (including Lennox) were British.     Funny ... Scots don't wish to be British?   Most Americans don't wish to be American, either.  :)

In response to MattyScornD's comment:

Florence and the Machine --- except I can see now that I meant FATM (ditz moment), and just edited Polar's post.   If there's anyone that has the initials FMM, I don't know who it is.  :D     Forum discussions were so positive, I decided to keep an open mind, and the result of that has been a positive for me, too.  

 

In response to yogafriend's comment:

*******************************************************

Yes yoga! Elton John & Bernie Taupin, Joe Jackson, Edwin Collins, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze and as stated in another post all four members of Queen - they all wrote a number of top 10 hit's individually!

In response to yogafriend's comment:

Sting definitely has to be on the list.  He seems to irritate a lot of people but I don't think his talent is in question.  Especially as a writer.

In response to SonicsMonksLyresVicars's comment:

good call..

In response to RogerTaylor's comment:

Great call on the songwriters for Squeeze (and from those who mentioned them earlier in the thread) -- everyone loves Squeeze.    This is fun.  :)

I probably should add Peter Towshend for my own fave list while I'm at it.  

In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

 

In response to yogafriend's comment:

 

 Thanks re: Sting.   And fully agree re: Sting's propensity to irritate and alienate people over the years.  I can't add him to my own personal favorite list, but his song-writing talent does speak for itself -- he's an acclaimed musician / songwriter.  

As for the manner he's fallen out of favor ... maybe he went the way of Bono re: social activism, humanitarian causes and philanthropy.   It's astonishing how bitterly critical people can be when a celebrity, let alone a rock musician, donates time, energy and money, to social causes; wait for the backlash to ensue.  ;-)

 

OH, I just have to mention this, and am sure you (and maybe others) will appreciate it, in light of this thread:

Last night, on the radio (not a classic rock station, but an excellent local Boston station that plays all manner of current / alt - indie / as well as classic gems mixed in) -- I heard the song, "Right Down the Line" by Gerry Rafferty.   Not sure why, but I really *listened* to the song, and was dumbfounded not only how gorgeous Rafferty's voice was, but also, what a beautiful song it is, and how close it sounded to a Beatles song; this, after hearing that song, countless times.  

It took me aback so much that I looked Rafftery up later on, and in reading a mini-bio, was stunned.   Firstly, he died an untimely death 2 years ago, in January 2011; sadly, he self-destructed as a result of alcholism, and died of liver failure, even though he was sober at the time of his death.   He never could recover from the damage of years of drinking.   Also, he's Scottish -- so he belongs in this thread. 

He's an intense example of a musician who did not feel comfortable with fame, and did not want to submit to the cult of personality motives of the record industry; he disliked the entire notion of being a celebrity and was ill-suited to it.  He wanted his artistic integrity to stay intact, he wanted success, but he did not want to submit to being fake in any way in order to sell records.  He was filled with disdain for the record industry.   

Sorry for the long-winded appendix re: Rafferty, and if anyone is interested, you can google and read up yourselves.   When Raffterty died, his death was truly mourned.  They even named a street after him in his hometown of Paisley last year.  

"Newspapers printed lengthy obituaries for the singer ... a full-page obituary in The Times summarized his career...  "As well as being a singer of considerable talent who at one time had the pop world at his feet, Gerry Rafferty was also a consummate songwriter, blessed with sensitivity and an enviable melodic flair that at its best recalled Paul McCartney ..."