stop, collaborate and listen: the 500 songs, my edition
I told you. It's not even the end of November and the end-of-year lists are coming at us like gunfire.
Rolling Stone once again subjects us to an all-time album list, this time going for 500. Not content with just making the a pretentious list of complete albums, they've also compiled the 500 greatest songs of all time.
bq. ROLLING STONE called on rock stars and leading authorities to list their fifty favorite songs, in order of preference
Like I've said before, people lie when they make these lists. No one is going to admit to the editors of RS magazine that they really, really liked Who Let the Dawgs Out. Instead, they'll replace it with some incomprehensible Bob Dylan song that they know they are supposed to like.
Maybe I'm just hopelessly clueless as to what makes a great song. One of my most hated songs of all time, Hotel California pops up at number 49. It's long, boring and filled with nonsense. If that's the criteria then why didn't MacArthur Park make the list?
Honestly, I prefer a 500 songs list that has Jay Z's Big Pimpin as number four. Now there's a song.
I was going to do a long rant here about how much I hate Rolling Stone and their lists. Instead, I'll just go ahead and make my own to prove how much better my list is. Or something like that.
So, just for the hell of it, I give you my personal list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Feel free to discuss, diss, make fun or add on your own.
(Half hour later) Ok, I'm only at 52 77 here. It's taking a while. So I'll put them up a little at a time and I'll use your suggestions to possibly add onto the list. Maybe we can make a list of our own to rival/compare to Bubba's. I'll also put up a radio later on with some of the songs.
Update - Made it 100 so far! I think I'll stop there for now, as those leaves aren't going to rake themselves.
Update 2: The list was getting too long, so I made a separate page for it. I'm up to 140. This is hard, man. I don't think I can make it to 500.
500 (maybe) favorite songs of ASV
In no particular order, except in the order that they came into my head, my (eventual) 500 favorite songs. Starting with the obvious, to people who know me.
1. Night Ranger - Sister Christian
2. Nine Inch Nails - Something I Can Never Have
3. Faith No More - A Small Victory
4. Cheap Trick - Surrender
5. Toadies - Tyler
6. Tom Robinson Band - 2-4-6-8 Motorway
7. Brand New - I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light
8. Tool - Jimmy
9. Type O Negative - Black No. 1
10. Mr. Bungle - Retrovertigo
11. Stabbing Westward - I Don’t Believe
12. Wu-Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck
13. Far - Waiting for Sunday
14. Led Zeppelin - Trampled Under Foot
15. Nick Cave - Straight to You
16. U2 - Out of Control
17. Anthrax - I’m the Man
18. Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonnaise
19. John Williams - Imperial Death March
20. Beastie Boys - Paul Revere
21. Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
22. Penguins - Earth Angel
23. Alice in Chains - Would
24. Incubus - Certain Shade of Green
25. Cream - Sunshine of Your Love
26. David Bowie - Space Oddity
27. Foo Fighters - Hey, Johnny Park!
28. Kiss - Rock and Roll All Night
29. Van Halen - Running With the Devil
30. The Who - A Quick One While He’s Away
31. Iron Maiden - Two Minutes to Midnight
32. Faith No More - RV
33. Metallica - Battery
34. Misfits - Last Caress
35. Deep Purple - Highway Star
36. Slayer - Angel of Death
37. Pantera - Five Minutes Alone
38. Byrds - Eight Miles High
39. Black Flag - TV Party Tonight
40. Godfathers - Birth School Work Death
41. Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
42. Split Enz - I Got You
43. Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin’ On
44. Weezer - Only in Dreams
45. Pink Floyd - See Emily Play
46. Foghat - Slow Ride
47. Ice Cube - We Be Clubbin’
48. Clutch - Spacegrass
49. Yardbirds - Train Kept a’ Rollin’
50. Count Five - Psychotic Reaction
51. The Jam - Down in the Tube Statio at Midnight (I can’t believe that’s on the above linked list - it’s possibly one of the greatest songs ever recorded and I don’t know many people who know it)
52. Butthole Surfers - I Had a Dream Last Night
53. Scorpions - No One Like You
54. Def Leppard - Bringing on the Heartbreak
55. Twisted Sister - Burn in Hell
56. Neil Young - Like a Hurricane
57. Fugazi - Waiting Room
58. Graham Parker - You Can’t Be Too Strong
59. Dead Milkmen - Watching Scotty Die
60. NRBQ - Me and the Boys (I have the sudden urge to launch into a “stories from my youth”thing every time I think of this song)
61. Down - Stone the Crow
62. Mad Season - River of Deceit
63. Candlebox - Left Behind
64. Sarah McLachlan - Possession (the whole album should be on this list)
65. Aphex Twin - Come to Daddy
66. Ministry - Stigmata
67. Vision of Disorder - Jada Bloom
68. Marilyn Manson - Dope Hat
69. 10cc - I’m Not in Love
70. Miracles - Love Machine
71. Commodores - Brick House
72. Brothers Johnson - Strawberry Letter 23
73. The Manhattans - Kiss and Say Goodbye
74. Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
75. Beck - Soul Suckin’ Jerk
76. Grateful Dead - Box of Rain
77. Jimi Hendrix - If 6 was 9
78. Elton John - Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
79. Howard DeVoto - Rainy Season
80. Freur - Doot Doot
81. King Diamond - One Down Two To Go
82. Nsync - It’s Gonna Be Me (shut up. Just shut up)
83. Oasis - Champagne Supernova
84. Green Day - Hitchin’ a Ride
85. Slipknot - Wait and Bleed
86. Machine Head - Old
87. Soundgarden - Drawing Flies
88. Quicksand - Thorn in my Side
89. Helmet - Unsung
90. The Clash - Radio Clash
91. Buzzcocks - What Do I Get
92. Husker Du - New Day Rising
93. The Specials - Gangsters
94. INXS - Need You Tonight
95. Propagandhi - Middle Finger Response
96. Lagwagon - Know it All
97. NOFX - Freedom Like a Shopping Cart
98. Johnny Cash - 13
99. Danzig - Going Down To Die
100. Todd Rundgren - Hello, It’s Me
The rest are here
Comments
I nominate Elton John's All The Girls Love Alice.
Posted by: dave | November 21, 2004 11:21 AM
I love The Jam! Tube Station is great, as is David Watts, Start!, Goin' Underground, Eton Rifles, Bitterest Pill, Absolute Beginners, Beat Surrender, Town Called Malice, etc, etc.
I also love Style Council's Every Changing Moods. Damn, Paul is a great songwriter.
Posted by: Ratan | November 21, 2004 11:23 AM
I like RS's invocation of "leading authorities." This is a list of favorites. It's not "The 500 best examples of musicianship" or "The 500 best produced tracks." So how does one become an authority on likin' stuff?
I got my B.S. in Likin' Stuff from I Like U.! And a Masters in Making Lists About It.
Posted by: Joe Geoghegan | November 21, 2004 11:41 AM
Nominating Beck's "Where its at." Original sound, top forty hit, and it never gets old. oh yeah...
Posted by: Hollywood_Freaks | November 21, 2004 11:42 AM
HF- I opted for Soul Suckin Jerk instead. But I have no steadfast rule about including artists more than once.
Posted by: michele | November 21, 2004 11:47 AM
Duran Duran, "Rio". That has to be pretty hard for some folks to admit!
Posted by: Ghost of a flea | November 21, 2004 12:14 PM
I love the toadies. everytime I put their cd in the player, it stays there for weeks on end. it's effing awesome.
Posted by: shank | November 21, 2004 12:14 PM
well damn. I really have nothing to add, 'cept "Flood of Sunshine" by the Posies and maybe "Mother Messiah" by Bullet LaVolta and a couple of others, because you've already got a shitload of the ones that i would add. "12 Days of Wind", Mind Over Four, and i couldn't say my favorite Toadies song... maybe "heel". Throw in "All your fault" and "Do for Me" by the Burden Brothers. "Out the Window" by the Violent Femmes. That's all I can think of. Ooh.. "Gypsy Rose" by Ratt. "Boogie Shoes" by KC and the Sunshine Band. :P
Posted by: pril | November 21, 2004 12:20 PM
So I open up my Real Player and dontcha know that Rolling Stone 500 is sitting on the front page along with, gack, cough, jeez-oh-pete, Rolling Stone 500 RING TONES. The "Best 500" of all time converted and diluted to Ring Tones? Which came first I wonder and who's funding this promotion?
Anyway, here are some of my picks, just off the top of my head, in no particular order:
UK Squeeze - Annie Get Your Gun
Nick Lowe - Crackin' Up
Elvis Costello - Radio Radio
Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army
Queen - Radio GaGa
Meatloaf - Paradise By the Dashboard Light
Joe Jackson - Is She Really Goin' Out With Him?
Bruce Springsteen - It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City
The Beatles - Rocky Racoon
Bob Seger - Night Moves
John Mellancamp - Cherry Bomb
The Runaways - Cherry Bomb
Patti Smith Group - Dancin' Barefoot
Lou Reed - Berlin
Horselips - Phasers on Stun
Billy Thorpe - Children of the Sun
Walter Carlos - Sonic Seasonings
The Doors - Riders on The Storm
OMD - Electricity
Depeche Mode - Somebody
Neal Young - Cortez the Killer
Neal Young - Sugar Mountain
Nils Lofgren - Walkin' Nerve
Nils Lofgren - No Mercy
Guns n Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
Fleetwood Mac - Sara
Fleetwood Mac - Big Love
Santana - Supernatural
Bonnie Raitt - Love Me Like a Man
REO Speedwagon - In My Dreams
Roxy Music - Over You
Roxy Music - Angel Eyes
Supertramp - Logical Song
Blondie - Rip Her to Shreds
Blondie - Atomic
Posted by: Timmre | November 21, 2004 01:10 PM
Heh, "Hello It's Me" sorta stands out on that list. If you get a chance, check out the original version from the first Nazz album--sounds like HIM on quaaludes.
I do think this is more of a "personal favorites" list, which is somewhat disguised by the 100 different bands (I think) listed. You'd have to poll an awful lot of Pink Floyd fans to find anybody else who thought "See Emily Play" was their greatest tune. ;)
Posted by: Brainster | November 21, 2004 02:47 PM
I could never make it to 500. I have something like 60 songs on my 5-star list on iTunes and about 300 rated 4-stars and above. A lot of them aren't even rock songs. I have Patti Lupone singing Cole Porter's "I Get A Kick Out of You" rated 4 stars.
Song I'd be most unlikely to admit to Rolling Stone that I have on my top list: "Mockingbird" by Carly Simon and James Taylor.
Posted by: Lesley | November 21, 2004 02:48 PM
Loving the Radiohead on the list. I think that Ben Folds is sorely missing, some of his songs are awesome; brilliant lyrics, catchy tunes, and all around great musicianship.
And I know it's kind of pop-y, but try Come On Eileen by Save Ferris.
lastly, Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen.
No other suggestions I can think of.
Posted by: Winston | November 21, 2004 02:50 PM
Frankly, I'm surprised you even let me into your house. ;)
1. Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters
2. How can you have overlooked Billy Squier?! Everybody Wants You would be my choice.
3. Dishwalla's version of It's Going To Take Some Time
4. Golden Earring - Twlight Zone
Better stop before I say something about NSYNC. Oops, I did it again.
Posted by: Faith | November 21, 2004 03:27 PM
Um... I guess there's no room on this list for Charles Mingus here, is there? Such a pity.
Haitian Fight Song - Charles Mingus (f**k ya!)
Sweet Jane - Lou Reed
Rock and Roll - Lou Reed
Let's Go - Ramones
Brand New Cadillac - Clash
Velouria - Pixies
Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
Moonlight Mile - Stones
Jackie Wilson Said- Van Morrison
Glad Tidings - Van Morrison
Big Mouth - Smiths
Screamers - Ian Drury
Blank Generation - Romeo Hell
Liar - Henry Rollins
Oh crap.
This could go on forever.
Posted by: spd rdr | November 21, 2004 03:42 PM
I think there is a big generation gap going on since a lot of the songs on your list I have never heard of. I will admit to being more aware of the music of the 60's,70's and early 80's since that was my era but it looks like your list is slanted to your era. I will however use your list to add to my collection and that way I can better appreciate some of the music I missed as I was aging.
Posted by: Starhawk | November 21, 2004 04:16 PM
I did however notice you put Earth Angel and some older songs on the list which I actually have 45's of.
Great songs but you list does seem to be weighted to more recent stuff.
Posted by: Starhawk | November 21, 2004 04:19 PM
T.Rex - I Love to Boogie (I just get happy whenever I hear it)
And for a completely different genre ...
Alison Krause's version of I'll Fly Away.
Posted by: Sunidesus | November 21, 2004 04:27 PM
What!!?? No Stone Temple Pilots ?? Interstate Love Song or Vaseline will surely get consideration, no?
Timmre, exxxcelllent list, IMO.
Posted by: syd | November 21, 2004 04:42 PM
the 'greatest' song of all time is that which affects the most people the most.
Obviously, that song is 'Walking on Sunshine'
... it been on television and/or radio damn near continuously since it wormed its way into the collective consciousness.
Other than that, there are no '500 greatest songs' everybody has 8-10 songs that they would inflict on other people if asked to ... the rest are songs they tolerate.
(Was) Not Was - having four of the songs I would inflict on other people.
Posted by: BumperStickerist | November 21, 2004 05:08 PM
No Beatles. This is some kind of sick joke, right?
Posted by: jb | November 21, 2004 05:31 PM
I actually did something even crazier: I made a list of my favourite 2,003 songs of all time...and counted them all down on my local radio station, 40 songs a week, all year long in 2003. (Yes, I'm nuts. Yes, the man who owns the station is nuts, too.)
The list used to be available on-line; I'll put it back up if anyone really wants to see it...
Posted by: RMc | November 21, 2004 07:59 PM
Whoa! SOD ? Is that the same Stormtroopers that I'm thinking of ?
Posted by: Sherard | November 21, 2004 08:30 PM
One of the most under-rated songs is "Tempted" by Squeeze. Don't laugh, just listen to it.
Posted by: Rox | November 21, 2004 09:54 PM
Piffle. What does Rolling Stone know about anything anyway? Virginia Plain by Roxy Music is the best song ever.
Posted by: Chris Valentine | November 21, 2004 11:05 PM
I subcribed to Rolling Stone for a single year when I was in high school. I think I actually read the first three or four - who needs some pompous twit in LA telling you what music is good?
Posted by: Rich | November 22, 2004 12:56 AM
They still print Rolling Stone?
Posted by: Laurence Simon | November 22, 2004 11:18 AM
Anything by the Violent Femmes? Blister in the Sun? Add it Up??? American Music??
Blue by The Jayhawks
Run away Train by Soul Asylum
Ohio by The Pretenders
Posted by: Master of None | November 22, 2004 01:48 PM