Isn’t it Iconic, Take 2
Posted: January 25th, 2009 | Filed under: Pop Culture | 208 Comments »
OK, you can read all about this in the previous post … but for those of you just tuning in, we are trying to pick the 10 most iconic songs of the rock and roll era. What do I mean by iconic? That’s up to you, the voter.
In the first couple of hours after I put up the original poll and post, I have received, well, a LOT of response — friends, strangers, friendly strangers, strange friends — who had very strong feelings about the songs I (and my nominating voter friends*) had put up for the much-acclaimed title of most iconic songs of the rock era. Frankly they thought that my list was, er, um, let’s call it incomplete.
*My nominating friends include:
– Baseball guru and Johnny Cash fan Bill James.
– Author and former music critic Michael MacCambridge.
– Writer, critic, genius and author of a whole essay just on â€Chevy Van“ Tommy Tomlinson
– Springsteen fan and man about town, Vahe Gregorian
– Dancing Queen and sports editor deluxe, Holly Lawton
– The smartest baseball writer I know, Ed Price.
– Billy Joel’s alter ego Mike Vaccaro
– Women’s basketball guru, Twilight Zone savant and the sixth Beatle, Mechelle Voepel
– The highest ranking music executive I know, Brian Hay
– The first family of the Motor City Michael and Erin Rosenberg.
So I made a few alterations. Added a few songs, took out a few songs, put them all in alphabetical order, and reset the poll. So, even if you are one of the 500 or so people who voted Sunday afternoon, well, you can vote again with the full list.
I realize that this list is about as incomplete as the last one. But I’m not making any more changes. The rules again:
1. We are looking for the most â€iconic“ songs — that is the songs that represent our time and place. One brilliant reader wrote in to say these should be the songs you would play for an alien coming down to Earth to explain our brilliant 20th-21st Century experience. Another said that if you were making a movie about America (or North America, or England, or wherever) that these are the 10 songs you would put on the soundtrack. Another way to look at it would be to think of songs that you know thoroughly and completely, songs that when you hear the opening or the chorus or the closing, it feels utterly and complete familiar.
2. These do not have to be songs you LIKE. In fact, I would imagine some you don’t like. That doesn’t matter. As long as the song is, however you define it, iconic.*
*The only exception to this would be The Doors (see Hotel California).
3. These are songs from the rock era but, as you can see, they do not have to be rock and roll songs.
4. There are many great songs that people have recommended that I do not think come close to â€Iconic“ songs. Take my good friends Scott’s recommendation of R.E.M.’s â€Radio Free Europe.“ Now this happens to be one of my favorite songs, and R.E.M. happens to be one of my favorite bands. But I would imagine that three-fourths of America and Canada and England has never even HEARD Radio Free Europe, not even once. So, that has to be part of the consideration too … the song, in my humble opinion, has to be extremely famous to be iconic.
* * *
Now, here is a full list of the songs:
Alive, Pearl Jam — I remember reading an article once, in Rolling Stone maybe, where Eddie Vedder explained the lyrics of â€Alive.“ And, frankly, I didn’t need to know that.
American Pie, Don McLean — ‘Cause the players tried to take the field/The marching band refused to yield.
Another Brick in the Wall, Pink Floyd — The question is so real: How CAN you have any pudding if you don’t eat yer meat?
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen — In my original list, the one I sent off to the nominating voters, I choice We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions as my Queen song. Nobody nominated it, so Queen did not make the original list. But the Brilliatnt Readers have spoken.
Born to be Wild, Steppenwolf — You know, for a long time — and this might still be true — whenever movie directors decided to show a bunch of Hell’s Angels type people riding along on motorcycles, they would play this song. I always expected that if I ever got on a motorcycle, this song would just automatically play in the background. It might for all I know.
Born to Run — Various people have put up their odds for the songs Springsteen will play at Super Bowl halftime. Here are mine. Please, no wagering:
Born to Run: 2/5
Glory Days: 2/1
The Rising: 2/1
Working on a Dream: 4/1
Hungry Heart: 4/1
Dancing in the Dark: 5/1
The Wrestler: 5/1
Something else off the new album: 6/1
Cadillac Ranch: 6/1
Badlands: 8/1
Born in the U.S.A.: 15/1
Rosalita: 15/1
Darkness on the Edge of Town: 75/1
Balboa vs. the Earth Slay: No Line
The Field: 4/1
Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel — More iconic than Mrs. Robinson? Tough call.
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley — Who do you, who do you, who do you think you are/Ha ha ha, bless your soul.
Crazy, Patsy Cline — Mechelle: “Representing how the sound of Nashville could have universal appeal.â€
Georgia On My Mind, Ray Charles — My favorite Ray Charles song is, “You Don’t Know Me.†The Ray Charles song that gives me goose bumps is his version of “America the Beautiful.†The best Ray Charles song in my mind is, â€What’d I Say (Parts 1 & 2).“ And I still picked Georgia as his most iconic — have no idea why.
God Save the Queen, Sex Pistols — God save the queen she ain’t no human being/There is not for in england’s dreaming.
Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys — I remember first hearing that it took Brian Wilson, like, six months to record this song, 90 hours of tape and some ungodly amount of money and thinking: Really? Then I heard the song again, and yeah, there’s a lot of stuff in it.
Fight the Power, Public Enemy — Elvis was a hero to some, you know. … â€Do the Right Thing“ is one of my all-time favorite movie lead-ins. And the Barenaked Ladies version of it is, you know, hilarious.
Fortunate Son, Credence Clearwater Revival — I was once at a party where I watched Chardon Jimmy try to defend the premise that Credence Clearwater Revival sucks. I watched from a distance.
Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd — And this bird you’ll never change. And this bird you can not cha-a-a-a-a-ange.
Friends in Low Places, Garth Brooks — Where the whiskey drowns/and the beer chases my blues away. All I have to say about this whole genre of music is that I talked a bit with Garth Brooks when he was working out with the Royals at spring training. He seems like a really great guy.
Hey Ya, Outkast — My youngest daughter, all of 3 years old, will sometimes say that she’s shaking it like a polaroid picture. Of course, the way she says it is a lot funnier than I am making it sound here.
Hotel California, The Eagles — My own personal distaste for the Eagles should not in any way prevent you from voting for this very iconic song. However, there will be no Doors on the list … I apologize, but I simply hate the Doors and I have to draw the line somewhere.
Hound Dog, Elvis Presley — I originally had â€Heartbreak Hotel“ as my Elvis entry, simply because I think the lead-in — â€Well, since my baby left me/I found a new place to dwell/it’s down on the end of lonely street/At Heartbreak Hotel“ is to me the very essence of Elvis. But I was outvoted, and Hound Dog is probably his most famous song. Michael quoting Lester Bangs: â€We will never agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis.“
I Feel Good, James Brown — Here is a breakdown of words in the song:
I — 27 times (not including the phrase â€I got you“ which is separate.
You — 6 times
Feel — 10 times
Good — 12 times
Love — 2 times
Like — 6 times
Wrong — 2 times
No — 4 times
Can’t — 3 times
Harm — 2 times
Sugar — 6 times
Spice — 6 times
Whoa — 3 times
Hold — 4 times
Arms — 4 times
I got you — 7 times.
That’s a Rock and Roll song.
I Love Rock and Roll, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts — Michael: â€Because this monster guitar riff has aged as well, if not better, than any other monster guitar riff I can think of.“
I Walk The Line, Johnny Cash — My original choice for the Johnny Cash song was â€Ring of Fire,“ and I was taken to task by Bill James, who says he listens to Johnny Cash at least twice a week. So, I switched it to â€I Walk The Line.“ Could have been â€Folsom Prison Blues,“ I guess.
I Want To Hold Your Hand, The Beatles — Yikes. Let this out in the original version. So it will be on the bottom of the poll. I’m sure you will find it.
Imagine, John Lennon — You can say I a dreamer/But I’m not the only one.
Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry — â€Chuck? This is Marvin. Marvin BERRY. Your cousin.“
Layla, Derek ad the Dominos — Does ANYONE hear the piano from Layla without thinking about dead bodies and â€Goodfellas?“ I think that’s the test of a great director, when he can take a song — typically a famous song — and make it feel like it belongs to a movie. Obviously, Martin Scorsese is a genius at it. The other movie that does that is â€Forest Gump,“ — there are a handful of songs (Freebird, Fortunate Son, Running on Empty) that, for me, now belong to the movie.
Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan — Could have been a dozen other Dylan songs. Michael, per Springsteen: â€If Elvis freed your body, Dylan freed your mind.“
Like a Virgin, Madonna — They had a great Office episode last week and one of the major plot points was an office argument about whether or not Hillary Swank is hot. That’s a classic (I say yes). But it’s just a continuation of the argument in the 1990s about Madonna. And the 1980s about Meryl Streep or Erin Moran.
London Calling, The Clash — London calling, not don’t look to us/Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust.
Louie Louie, The Kingsmen — To steal Dave Barry’s line about the “Gloria†— if you throw a guitar on the ground, it plays Louie Louie.
Mack the Knife, Bobby Darin — The song was written in 1928 as part of â€The Beggar’s Opera,“ but Darin gave it power. And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor/Could it be our boy’s done something rash.
Melt With You, Modern English — Dream of better lives, the kind which never hate/Dropped in the state of imaginary grace.
My Generation, The Who — There would be those who would tell you that the quintessential rock lyric are those seven words: â€I hope I die before I get old.“ Those people, generally speaking, are not old.
My Way, Frank Sinatra — You hate to reduce the brilliance of Sinatra down to this shlock — he has 200 songs better than My Way — but hey, we’re talking iconic, and so it’s probably this or â€New York, New York.“ This is the choice.
Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang, Dr. Dre — A brilliant readers write-in vote.
Oh Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison — Instead of putting Pretty Woman lyrics here: Roy Orbison singing for the lonely/hey that’s me and I want you only.
Peggy Sue, Buddy Holly — Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Peggy Sue.
Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix — Scuze me while I kiss this guy.
Purple Rain, Prince — Still once of the great musical moments of my life, seeing Prince perform Purple Rain in the Miami rain at halftime of the 2007 Super Bowl.
Rapper’s Delight, Sugar Hill Gang — Rapped over the breakdown section of Chic’s â€Good Times,“ — I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, you don’t stop the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie.
Redemption Song, Bob Marley — Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery/None but ourselves can free our minds.
Respect, Aretha Franklin — This is actually the song that set in motion this absurd quest. Tommy Tomlinson — who is currently doing a fellowship at Harvard because, as mentioned, he’s a genius — was talking with a Russian guy in the program, who said that he was glad, very glad, that he had watched the early part of the inauguration because he had, get this, never heard of Aretha Franklin. I’ll repeat that: He had NEVER HEARD OF ARETHA FRANKLIN.
We talked about how this proves that, despite the cliche, it’s really not a small world, it’s a very big world. Remember when Reggie Jackson was talking about a â€big“ moment in a game, and he said: â€Are you aware that one billion Chinese people don’t care?“ The idea that there are billions of people out there who have never heard of someone as American fundamental as the Queen of Soul is, in many ways, fascinating.
And then we started to argue whether or not Respect is the most iconic song in Rock and Roll history. And here we are.
Rock Around The Clock, Bill Haley and the Comets — When the chimes ring five, six and seven/we’ll be right in seventh heaven. I’ve got to think Bill Haley was the first to rhyme seven and heaven in a rock and roll song, but not exactly the last.
â€Come on seven/in this fool’s heaven“ — Bruce Springsteen, Roll of the Dice
â€If I see eleven, you can say it’s seven/Still I wish u heaven“ — Prince, I Wish U Heaven
â€One two three four five six seven/All good children go to heaven“ — Beatles, You Never Give Me Your Money
â€Cause God is comin’ on day number seven/And they won’t call me N–/When I get to heaven“ — Ice Cube
And so on.
Satisfaction, Rolling Stones — One voter wanted “Gimme Shelter.†Another wanted “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.†I was surprised. Isn’t Satisfaction the only obvious choice?
Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana — With the lights out it’s less dangerous/Here we are now, entertain us.
Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin — Robert Plant called it â€that bloody wedding song.“ Only rock and roll song with hedgerow in it, right?
Staying Alive, Bee Gees — My wife found a pile of Dynamites — the old kids magazine of my childhood — and my favorite issue was the one that debated which band was better, the Bee Gees or the Beatles. Well you can tell by the way I use my walk/I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk.
Sunday Bloody Sunday, U2 — Here’s a fun game: Anytime you meet someone with a really cool Irish accent, ask them to say: â€This song is not a rebel song, this song is Sunday Bloody Sunday.“ Well, I always get a kick out of it.
Thriller, Michael Jackson — The video might be what’s iconic about Thriller, but there are no rules in voting.
Welcome to the Jungle, Guns N’ Roses — Even though when you hear the beginning now you expect an NFL kickoff or Jim Rome to talk, it’s still one of the most famous lead-ins in rock and roll.
The Weight, The Band — I love the fact that The Band had the guts or arrogance or modesty or whatever to call themselves â€The Band.“
Promoter: Who are you guys?
Robbie Robertson: We are The Band.
Promoter: Oh good, the band, it’s about time you got here.
RR: No, uh, we’re The Band. You know, with capital letters.
Y.M.C.A., The Village People — I’ve always thought that one of the most remarkable things in our country today is that you could play â€Y.M.C.A.“ at a Pat Robertson rally, and people would do the dance. Not too many people really spending too much time wondering why it’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A., I guess.
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Hate the… I’m sorry, this is difficult. Hate the Doors??
I don’t even know who you ARE anymore, Joe Posnanski!
Actually, I feel that way about several bands. I want to like them. I feel like I SHOULD like them and yet, I don’t. Rush, for example. Jethro Tull or Boston.
Hmm, no more Beatles at all?
GREAT POLL
I voted my 10 and right after realized I left Stairway to Heaven off my ballot when I definitely wanted it on there. Oops.
Johnny B. Goode is criminally undervoted at 22 right now (the lowest ranked song I voted for).
Marvin Berry? Earth Angel… Earth Angel….
The fact that the Gnarls Barkley song has but one vote has encouraged my faith in humanity. The fact that Smells Like Teen Spirit is the top vote-getter discourages it.
I was there in 1992, I was in middle school, and I remember it well. It was just another song – one of the top albums for kids, but nothing like it’s remembered.
I was in high school when Cobain died. If he didn’t kill himself, Nirvana would have been just another Green Day (which is still pretty impressive), or some band like Green Day that didn’t last as long. If it wasn’t for Nirvana, we’d still have had Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Alice in Chains, and a hundred other grunge bands back then. We’d still have had flannel shirts, and we’d still have felt better about our insecure selves from listening to other music.
I can’t think of any popular culture nugget in my life that had so little impact on people at the time, and yet somehow convinced people in hindsight that it was important. They were just another band, with nonsensical lyrics, a couple chords, and members who weren’t ready to hit the big time.
Good call adding Redemption Song (you really need to travel around the world to discover the ubiquity of Bob Marley).
Bad call substituting for Hey Jude. IWHYH may have been what launched the Beatles, but that’s like saying Blood Simple is the iconic Coen brothers movie because it was their first.
Also, if you are going to have a Clash song, and I think you should – it’s gotta be Should I Stay or Should I Go.
Agreed about the sentiment re Eagles and Doors.
My god a lot of you guys have horrible taste in music. American Pie in the top 5? Bohemian Rhapsody? Iconically lame.
Every 10 must include either YMCA or Stayin Alive. If the goal is “iconic,” then either one totally does the trick for a decade of music.
1. I’m surprised ‘Stairway to Heaven’ isn’t running away with this thing.
2. I had ‘Teen Spirit’ on my 10, but I’d consider it 7th or 8th best on my list.
3. Surprised at the lack of love for Patsy Cline’s ‘Crazy’ and ‘Purple Rain.’
–had a rough night, and I hate the fucking Eagles, man–
The Dude Abides
Sorry, Mike, you are TOTALLY wrong about Nirvana. Apparently you weren’t quite old enough to appreciate the sharp division of style and sound that the song encapsulates. Before Nirvana, R&R was Poison, GNR, and Warrant. Grunge would have been just another MTV hour when they still played videos. That band (and specifically that album) became the icon for the revamping of american musical culture. “Rock” for the last 18 years has been formulated around Nirvana, like it or not.
Case in point: Pre ‘92, anyone who had even seen a guitar could play the opening bars to Stairway. Now, Every schmo knows those 4 power chords. EVERY schmo.
There’s a lot of historical revisionism about Nirvana now — that they didn’t impact people at the time (they did), or that they were to blame for all the humorless sludge that followed, which is kind of like blaming the Beatles for the Moody Blues. They were a great band. Really, they were.
Now, on the other hand if an alien landed on Earth and wanted to know about our 20th-21st century experience, “American Pie” would be the LAST song I’d play for him/her/it. Feel free to argue, but isn’t it basically Don McLean’s attempt to write rock and roll’s obituary? It’s catchier than “I Dig Rock and Roll Music,” but it’s just about as cynical and stupid.
Joe! You are from Cleveland but still no Michael Stanley Band?! This was fun — thanks. Go Tribe. Modell: with two Ls…as in hell.
Where’s the Sabbath?
Mike (#6):
Regarding “Teen Spirit”, I can’t disagree more. In 1992, I graduated high school from a small town in Wisconsin. Needless to say, this song was ubiquitous at that time even there — enjoyed by both the kids listening to “Top 40″ radio and those with a more discerning taste.
Looking deeper, it was undoubtedly the touchpoint of the 1990s rock era, and certainly the most iconic rock song of the decade. Fittingly, it knocked a Michael Jackson song from the top of the charts as it redefined what “rock” music would be in the 1990s.
You are correct in that Pearl Jam and Soundgarden would still have been popular without “Teen Spirit”. That said, I hazard a guess that they would be much LESS famous, and that we would have not have seen the “grunge” movement become as huge as you claim was inevitable.
You can argue about whether it should be #1 (my vote would likely be “Like a Rolling Stone” or “I Want to Hold Your Hand”). But I do not think you can argue that is isn’t one of the 10 most iconic (i.e. representative of its time) songs of all time.
RIP, Kurt (and the other great deceased artists who populate this list of iconic songs).
Great list Joe, there are so many that could be added, and some that could come off. Kind of like a certain Hall of Fame discussion.
Just want to say thanks and it is amazing the quantity and quality you produce. SI, the Star, a book, and this, I am definately getting a great value for the price.
This “Smells Like Teen Spirit” debate got me thinking – has Nirvana officially moved into the realm of the so-overrated-they’re-underrated? I was always on the overrated side of the Nirvana debate, but they were a very good, if not great, band, and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is undoubtedly an iconic song. This isn’t the first time in the past few years I’ve found myself semi-defending a band I used to denounce…I smell a backlash.
Hate the Doors? I don’t know Joe. This may be the end of ‘us’. I’ll think about it awhile and let you know.
I have to nominate ‘Pour some sugar on me’ by Def Leopard. That song was huge and the ablum had tons of hits that dominated the airwaves. PSSOM had a good half decade of as being the top song- probably until Nirvana came along.
Adding to my thoughts on the post by Mike (#6)…
Nothing against Green Day — in fact, I’m a fan. But I can assure you that, at the height of the band’s popularity*, Billy Joe Armstrong would NOT have seen the same amount of press coverage and (more importantly) public mourning had he been the one to die prematurely rather than Kurt Cobain.
* 1994’s “Dookie”? 1997’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”? 2004’s “American Idiot”? Interesting career arc for the boys of Green Day, eh?.
Metallica has sold the 4th most albums of any artist, in any genre, since 1991 — and the eponymous one, second most — and doesn’t get even a nod? And 1991 was after their three musically best albums had been published. I don’t even like the song Enter Sandman, but I’d guess most people have heard it.
Also, no Van Halen? Even a bit before my time, but I would know the first few bars of Volcano anywhere. I love your work, but this list strikes me as odd. I wouldn’t pick most of these songs to be iconic; some of them I haven’t even heard before, much less know the chorus of.
Frank Sinatra? My grandfather loves Frank Sinatra.
Amen on the pro-Nirvana comments. You didn’t have to like them, but you’ve got to respect their impact both musically and culturally. Nevermind was an enormously impactful album. Interestingly, the thing that solidified Nirvana for me was the release of You Know You’re Right — recorded 4 days before Kurt’s death and release ~8 years after his death — just the fact that an 8 year old song was easily better than anything on the radio at that time or recently before was astonishing. It didn’t sound old or out of place one bit.
As to the voting, I messed up in a rush re-voting and missed both The Beatles and Elvis… I am a bad man.
I’m only sad that I couldn’t vote for “Clocks”.
Also, I feel a void in this list, the post-grunge void; no song captures accurately the crappy rock music of the late 90s and early 00s. I nominate “How You Remind Me” (Nickelback) or “Kryptonite” (3 Doors Down). Consider the era — 1998-2000; you have to have a terrible song playing in this documentary of America when you roll the footage of three straight Yankee World Series.
No van morrison? tsk tsk. Domino, Browned Eye Girl or Jackie Wilson Said.
Decent enough list, but where is Fight for Your Right by the Beastie Boys.
Seriously people, only 19 votes so far for YMCA? I consider this a travesty of epic proportions.
Mr. Posnanski,
I am not sure I can any longer respect your opinion on anything after reading your comments about The Doors. Please have your ears cleaned.
http://theunpeople.blogspot.com/
I know it’s not changing anymore, but I really, really, REALLY think the omission of:
“House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals
is a Romeo Crennel level mistake.
What about “Yeah” by Usher? Definitely not a rock song, but I would say that is one of the most iconic songs of the 2000s… It’s the ubiquitous club song, the mainstream version of a growing Hip-Hop/R&B audience after the turn of the century… Of course, I can’t stand the song, either… but iconic, sure
I know that a lot of people too young to have experienced Modern English think that “Melt With You” deserves to go into the hall, but hey, I’m old enough to remember Modern English and the Sex Pistols, and I’m telling you that nobody who actually paid attention thought that Modern English was a hall of fame band back in the day. The pistol’s songs may have all sucked but they were definitely more feared than Modern English, which is why they have my vote for the hall.
Definitely 2nd the Sabbath nomination. They have 2 of the most iconic songs of the 70’s, but If a gun was held to my head, I’d choose Paranoid.
Crazy Train by Ozzy could always be in there as well.
And I’m a big Beatles fan, but can’t stand I want to hold your hand, and I’m sure I’m not alone. All you need is Love seems to me to be more iconic, as well as more representative of their better work.
Also, the Stones song should be Sympathy for the Devil. I’m not a big stones fan, but that’s one of the best rock songs ever. I’m not taking no for an answer on this one. (Also, Scorsese not only stole the Piano from Layla from Derek and the Dominoes, but he has stolen Gimme Shelter from the Stones, can’t blame him though).
Metallica has sold the 4th most albums of any artist, in any genre, since 1991
Dude, Jack Morris won the *most* games of the 1980s and that doesn’t buy him a ticket (thankfully). How do you figure the *4th* best guy rates?
~
And I generally use the Doors as guide to one’s level of music sophistication, much like you’d use Olive Garden as a stand in for Italian food. If you like’m, you basically have no idea what you’re talking about, and essentially forfeit your right to be taken seriously in all other matters…
I just wanted to tell Mike at #6 that he is absolutely, utterly wrong, quite possibly as wrong as anybody has ever been in a comment box….
This poll is an excellent instrument for determining the average age of your readership, Joe.
Mike @ 6?
Cobain’s suicide was no big deal and Nirvana was small potatoes until he killed himself? What? That’s gonna go down as one of the craziest things I’ve read on this blog.
It’s right up there with how all the textbooks have always said FDR was a terrible socialist President that prolonged the Great Depression. LOL.
* NOTHING by Elton John? You could make a case for ‘Your Song,’ but ‘Candle In The Wind’ probably has to be Sir Elton’s most iconic piece due to the Diana memorial.
* Piano Man deserved at least a mention.
* Superstition
* Brown-Eyed Girl
* Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World
* Wonderwall’s omission is inexplicable to me, but it may be due to the fact that Posnanski is American, and Wonderwall didn’t have the same long-lasting impact in the USA that it did in Canada and in Europe.
* Freefallin’
* I feel like something by the Velvet Underground should be on the list, but I don’t think they had one truly iconic song
* Same goes for David Bowie
* Same goes for AC/DC
* Blitzkrieg Bop
* ABC
* Enter Sandman
* Lose Yourself or Stan
* Every Breath You Take
* Any number of country, rap or adult contemporary-ish pop/rock songs I’m forgetting since I don’t know the genres as well.
Among your actual nominees, Billie Jean absolutely is MJ’s iconic song over Thriller. Not even close. Billie Jean gets a no-brainer vote from me had it been included.
Smells Like Teen Spirit was definitely the song that broke the grunge movement wide open. It might’ve been inevitable, but Nirvana beat everyone else to it. Remember that Pearl Jam’s Ten was released at the same time as Nevermind but Ten didn’t become popular until after Teen Spirit exploded. Alice in Chains was the only semi-popular Seattle band before Nirvana and their pre-Nirvana stuff was way more metal than grunge.
I think it’s a lot harder to have an iconic song now with so many different ways to access music. Radio and MTV can’t create hits like they used to. I’m 29, listen to music constantly, and haven’t turned on a radio for music in a few years.
Hey Joe,
“Mack The Knife” was written by Brecht & Weill for The Threepenny Opera (1928), which was adapted from The Beggar’s Opera (1728) but distinct from it. The character of Macheath was introduced in The Beggar’s Opera, but Brecht and Weill are the ones who made him really nasty. Darin’s version is definitely the most upbeat song about a degenerate criminal ever (well, at least until NWA came along).
Oh, and I’m not much of a fan of The Doors either, but did you know that Alabama Song (you know, “Show me the way to the next whiskey bar…”) was also from a Brecht/Weill musical?
Not that I’m partial to I Love Rock’n Roll, but I did gain a new appreciation for it (as iconic) a few years ago when I was walking through downtown Kyiv in the dead of winter. It was the kind of cold* that hurts, and yet there was a group of maybe 30 late teen/early 20s standing around in a circle singing that song as a group – in English (you should understand that *nobody* in Ukraine speaks English).
*At this point, there are roughly 52% of people in the other poll who are certifiably insane, or who simply live too far south to understand what cold is. Coming into a warm house out of the cold is infinitely better than the alternatives. I’ve lived in Ottawa, so I think I’m superbly qualified to answer this (and which means that when I’ve traveled through SE Asia, where it happens to get pretty damn hot, I *still* don’t care if I have AC – maybe I’m still thawing out…)
To McKingford for knocking Metallica’s 4th most achievement:
Ummm… that’s kind of a big deal considering people’s tastes in music for the last 10 years have been pretty suspect. Here’s the top 10 I found, where Metallica is at #5.
GARTH BROOKS: 67,774,000 02. THE BEATLES: 56,110,000 03. MARIAH CAREY: 50,004,000 04. CELINE DION: 49,951,000 05. METALLICA: 48,867,000 06. GEORGE STRAIT: 39,403,000 07. TIM MCGRAW: 36,657,000 08. ALAN JACKSON: 35,654,000
09. PINK FLOYD: 34,665,000 10. SHANIA TWAIN: 33,591,000
If The Beatles and Pink Floyd can rank top 10 after 1991, they both should have iconic songs inducted now because apparently thier music transcends time and is iconic to newer generations of music listeners. We just have to agree on the 2 songs.
I think it’s funny that George Strait, Tim McGraw, and Alan Jackson are so tightly grouped. How much you wanna bet that if you own at least 1 album by 1 of these “artists”, that there is greater than a 75% probability that you own another album by 1 of the other 2 guys?
I certainly have minor quibbles with some of these selections but I have one MAJOR issue with it: How is the Beach Boys’ selection not “God Only Knows”, which is regarded by many as the greatest pop song of all-time. I realize this list is about iconic(icity?/ism?) but it’s not like “Good Vibrations” is a particularly iconic song.
Although, one could also make a case for “Surfin’ USA”
I dislike the word “iconic” … so I will vote for the songs I like, at this time. It might be a different list tomorrow or the next day.
Got to find a reason, reason things went wrong. Got to find a reason why Sublime has been completely snubbed by all but one commenter.
Why do you drink? Why do you roll smoke? Why must you live without understanding that “Family Tradition” has been like the “My Generation” of at least 2 generations of rural America.
I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees. Asked the lord above, “How can Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, et al. be ignored?” The blues had a baby…
Even 3 billion Chinese know the words to this one. I can’t believe Wayne’s World beat it out …
Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise
Playin’ in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo’ face
You big disgrace
Kickin’ your can all over the place
Singin’
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Buddy you’re a young man hard man
Shoutin’ in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on yo’ face
You big disgrace
Wavin’ your banner all over the place
Singin’
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Buddy you’re an old man poor man
Pleadin’ with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Somebody better put you back in your place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Suggestion: keep doing this poll once a month, or at whatever interval you choose, and allow 1 song/artist/poll – so if, for example I Want to Hold Your Hand gets inducted, another Beatles song is allowed next time. Also, it should be like the Baseball HOF voting whereby < x% and you’re off the list, or after x elections without induction you’re out.
It’s so tough to just pick 10!
I find it pretty telling that even after a restructuring of the poll and additions and subtractions, that there are still some pretty heated arguments about what song is or isn’t iconic. I guess it all comes down to generation and/or how and when you were introduced to certain songs.
For example: Being only 21, I wasn’t even a blip on the radar screen when Johnny B. Goode was a hit, but I voted for it nonetheless. Marty McFly doing his best Chuck Berry at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance will forever be ingrained into my mind and therefore is deserving of my vote.
On the other hand, I’ve never been a fan of rap or hip-hop so – although it definitely falls into my generation – I wouldn’t recognize Nuthin But a ‘G’ Thang if you hit me over the head with it.
Also… I’d argue that the lack of recent iconic songs is because most mainstream music today is trash. And the rare piece of music that does have the faint glimmer of becoming iconic gets played to death within two weeks of its release.
Great Post, Awesome Idea! I think it’d be equally interesting to name the five albums that shaped music/culture during a decade…
e.g. The 90s (the only decade I can legitimately argue for)
Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)
Sublime – 40 Oz. to Freedom (1992)
Weezer – Weezer (1994)
Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
(My apologies to Oasis. While the stats tell me that ‘Definitely Maybe’ and ‘What’s the Story, Morning Glory?’ were huge successes, I remember Third Eye Blind having much more of effect on my childhood musical tastes. And being assholes really doesn’t help the case either.)
I’ve never seen Joe mention Neil Young on this site. A shame. Are you familiar with his work? So much Springsteen mentioned, some Dylan, but nothing from the other member of the greatest North American songwriter trinity? “Heart of Gold” is probably his most “iconic”–the one that Dylan was angry at him for writing: “If it sounds like me, it might as well be me.” “Rockin’ in the Free World” could also be a consideration.
I like Bruce fine, but, personally, I think he’s a sentimental, faux-working-class hack compared to Neil. He strikes me as someone who never quite made it through the book _The Grapes of Wrath_ and saw the movie instead.
By the way, Springsteen’s most iconic song, like it or not, is Born in the USA. Yeah, the meaning is lost to most people, but it’s the one the average doofus knows.
i once started a list of my top 10 alltime songs…when i stopped working on it, i had it narrowed down to about 150 ‘absolute must includes’…you make this very very tough…and even more so, because i cannot fathom how
STAND BY ME and WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN…are not included. that is horrendous.
you could make this easier if you made it iconic artists…too many greats are not represented this way…examples…bing crosby WHITE CHRISTMAS…what could be MORE iconic…billy joel…john cougar…elton john…meat loaf BAT OUT OF HELL…perry como…abba DANCING QUEEN…woody guthrie THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND…i gotta stop…i am driving me crazy.
Wouldn’t mind seeing “Sweet Home Alabama” as an option. “We Are the Champions” tops “Bohemian Rhapsody” in recognition.
Also, if Bruce doesn’t do “Thunder Road” next Sunday, I will be sorely disappointed.
Finally, about the Band…..
Went into a Tucson music store a few years ago and asked the 20-something guy behind the counter if they had any CDs by the Band. He said: What band? I said: THE Band. Him: What Band?
Resisted temptation to tell him: What’s on second.
“I want to die before I get old”? Too late.
Two, no three things:
1) I haven’t read all the comments.
2) Top 10 now? That would be like starting a Baseball HOF today and limiting to top 10 – how do you do that? I chose 15 and thought I was being conservative and never mind the songs I felt were unfairly left off.
3) I’ve met Hilary Swank. In person on a bright sunny New York spring day. She is hot. There can be no debate. She’s also incredibly nice and unpretentious.
“…Consider the era — 1998-2000; you have to have a terrible song playing in this documentary of America when you roll the footage of three straight Yankee World Series.”
Actually, I remember seeing a Yankee highlight reel from that time period. Creed’s “Higher” was the background music. Seems to fit the terrible song bill quite nicely, so there you go.
this is an amazing challenge and wicked fun…
things that i think are missing -
dream on by aerosmith. – i’m not a fan but it’s iconic.
enter sandman by metallica – again, not a fan but…
blitzkrieg bop by the ramones. genius.
rock and roll all nite – kiss. my least favorite song by my alltime favorite band.
its the end of the world as we know it – REM
i would also take off the frank sinatra song. not rock and roll.
Folks, as Joe said, it ain’t about what you like. I haven’t voted yet, but I’m sure my top 10 iconic songs will include a bunch of songs I despise. I haven’t heard “Stairway to Heaven” in its entirety since I had control over the issue, but I still will have it on my list.
“Melt With You”? Really? Just ‘cuz it’s in a Burger King ad don’t make it iconic.
So anyway, now that I’ve voted, let me gripe: “Born to Run” is currently #9, and that is the song that immediately popped into my head as I began reading the post.
“Anarchy in the U.K.” probably would have been a more apt Sex Pistols song than “God Save the Queen”.
Love the BNL reference under “Fight the Power”. It is a great cover of a great “song”.
It kills me that “Hotel California” is being viewed as more iconic than “Johnny B. Goode”. Think about the guitar riff in EVERY Chuck Berry song: isn’t it the definition of rock ‘n roll?
I’ll stop now.
Will Nirvana go down as the most overrated band in the history of music? YES. Oh man, how does *that* song end up being second in this poll? An absolute travesty. That would be like putting Dave Kingman into the hall of fame unanimously because he hit the occasional loud and long home run.
Iconic my ass, more like basic and garbled. Dave Grohl himself will tell you Nirvana was a two bit band and that he’s made a million better songs with the Foo Fighters than he did with Nirvana.
Cobain killed himself and made himself an icon in martyrdom. At least Jimi, John Lennon, and Jim Morrison made good music before they died young.
Pearl Jam’s Ten came out in 1991, BEFORE Nevermind. Alice in Chains already had a gold record by 1990.
In 1993, before Cobain killed himself, Ten had outsold Nevermind.
If this was such a movement, why were people buying more Pearl Jam CDs?
12/ Boy are we on separate pages. Before Nirvana, there was still Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. Poison, Warrant, and the rest, were already on the way out the door. And, I’m a schmoe who knows a little Stairway, but has no clue which 4 power chords make up Teen Spirit.
16/ Again… in 1993, if Pearl Jam is outselling Nirvana… how is Nirvana more responsible for the grunge movement? Pearl Jam arrived first, sold more albums, probably sold more concert tickets…
I thought this was a good idea until I tried to pick 10. Picking only 10 is like a dis-service to music. I then decided, no offense, this was a stupid idea. It’s like electing a baseball player’s statistical year instead of the player. The many artists with intense arguments about their iconic song attests to this. I will vote (hey, I’m here), but really wish we could pick 20 instead.
Love your work, BTW.
Got to have a Velvet Undderground song, although there could be much debate whether it would be “Heroin” or ” Sweet Jane” – or even the iconic Sister Ray (which Lou and the boys were once told by a club owner to never play again if they wanted to keep their gig, so after the break they played the “all-time” version of Sister Ray, packed their stuff and left … rock-n-roll doesn’t get much better than that.
Really? No AC/DC, Shook Me All Night Long, Hells Bells, Highway to Hell? Are those three not iconic enough?
ah,that would be Velvet Underground
I’ve seen the word “ubiquitous” more times today than I have in years.
Oh, and Sgt. Pepper was the iconic Beatles album, with “A day in the Life” the iconic song from that album.
I have always thought the Beatles Revolution was one of the first true modern rock songs with that powerful opening riff by Harrison. Led Zepplin’s “Rock N’ Roll” belongs on the list too as far as a quinticential rocker. Finally, I would throw in Ike Turner’s Rocket 88, wich is widely considered the first rock song ever.
I only voted for 9, because there has to be a Ramones song, dammit! I guess by these standards it would have to be “I Wanna Be Sedated”, although the one I think of first is “Rock & Roll High School”.
And while I’m on the subject, if you’ve never heard it, track down Joey Ramone’s version of “What a Wonderful World”. Completely awesome.
“I love the fact that The Band had the guts or arrogance or modesty or whatever to call themselves â€The Band.“ ”
Supposedly, this name grew from the time they spent as the backing band for Bob Dylan on tour when he went electric. They talk about the origin of the name in “The Last Waltz” – the members of The Band didn’t come up with the name, and were actually fairly hesitant to go with it. Per Wikipedia:
“They wanted to call themselves either “The Honkies” or “The Crackers”, but these names were vetoed by their record label, who dubbed them “The Band” on the first pressings of Big Pink. Initially, they disliked the moniker, but eventually grew to like it, thinking it both humble and presumptuous.”
Check out the version of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by Billy Bob Thornton’s band The Boxtops. Rollicking good fun.
I applaud you for attempting this impossible task.
- Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” speaks to themes that are universal–trying to be happy with what you’ve got.
- Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” is not on the list, and again is a universal anthem.
- Pearl Jam: You’ve got to be kidding.
See Joe? You’ve opened Pandora’s Box. There’s no honest way to have this discussion without angering the lot out there. Personally, I think anything that was done by The Smiths is more influential on todays Alternative Music than any other band, and that’s how I rate iconic-ness; via influence.
Also, the other glaring omission that I see is the absence of “Somebody to Love,” but not the Jefferson Airplane version, the kareoke version done by Jim Carrey in The Cable Guy…that changed my whole perspective on S—.
Edit to post #67. The band name is The Boxmasters.
So aside from Outkast, the rock and roll era ended in 1993?
“I Will Survive” should be on the list.
“Alive” is iconic PJ. Anyone who’s saying “no” is still stuck in 1992 and doesn’t realize that they’re one of the best live bands left on the planet (and I’m not enamored of their recent material at all). Like the Grateful Dead, they’re not just the best at what they do, they’re the only ones doing what they do.
Messing with everyone’s Superbowl odds, I can tell you that it’s 12 minutes and that the horns will be there. If 8 of those 12 minutes turn out to be “Cowboy Pete” I will throw a fit.
I also hate the Doors and think they are tremendously overrated.
Where for the love of God is Otis Redding?
And if you were going to take a R.E.M. song, it would have to be “Losing My Religion” which was a HUGE hit internationally as well as nationally.
And for all of you arguing about grunge, let’s remember that Soundgarden existed before PJ and Nirvana and AIC, and that the almighty MUDHONEY existed before all of them. Mudhoney invented grunge. Every single member of every single one of those bands would tell you that themselves. Get a freaking history book.
I stand by my previous comment: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the Kirby Puckett of songs. It’s so overrated that I start feeling sorry for other overrated songs (like, say, “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” by Bad Company. Seriously, what’s up with that?).
The rock and roll era ended before the Beatles. Then you had some “rock”ing singles, then albums, then the various hypenates applied to “rock”. What gets me is the song leading the poll is nostalgic for an iconic era that happens to have no representatives in the top 10. Always looking backward, that’s our culture now. We even have cranky young codgers decrying the way things were so much better when the samples were mostly soul. Samples!
Mike:
You’re confusing release dates with sales data. True, “Ten” came out before “Nevermind.” So did “Temple of the Dog.” But “Nevermind” was the first album (and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the first song) to break through into the mainstream, after which Pearl Jam and AiC and Soundgarden could all find commercial success.
Don’t believe me? AllMusic Guide says, “Nirvana’s Nevermind may have been the album that broke grunge and alternative rock into the mainstream, but there’s no underestimating the role that Pearl Jam’s Ten played in keeping them there.” Nevermind broke open the door for overtly commercial bands like Pearl Jam and Candlebox (with whom Pearl Jam has a lot more in common than they do with Nirvana, AiC, or Soundgarden) to walk through.
Overall, I think you’re extrapolating your own disinterest in Nirvana into a broader lack of interest in them, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Joe,
Ask that weather question about which is better in late July. I’ll bet the voting is reversed.
I nominate “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request” by Steve Goodman because it is the coolest baseball tune ever.
I hate the Red Sox, but my favorite baseball rock song is The Baseball Project’s “Ted F’n Williams.”
Black Eyed Peas’ Let’s Get It Started, or Retarded if you will, from a few years ago could be iconic.
Two more suggestions, in case anyone is still reading this:
1. “Wake Up Little Susie” by The Everly Brothers.
2. “Bizarre Love Triangle” by New Order. I think “Blue Monday” better represents the band and the whole Manchester / Factory Records movement, but when I think of college, I think of dancing to “Bizarre Love Triangle”.
Caryn beat me to the Mudhoney reference. I’m a huge, huge fan of Mudhoney and I will argue ’til I’m blue in the face that “Touch Me I’m Sick” is the song that started grunge. That said, I know most people haven’t heard of Mudhoney or any of their songs, and Nirvana is the band that reached iconic status.
I don’t see how anyone can dispute the influence of Nirvana. And yes, Smells Like Teen Spirit is a blatant rip of the Pixies. Even the band admits it. But the Pixies never hit #1. The Pixies were the influence, but not the iconic band, as most people couldn’t pick Black Francis out of a police lineup. I’d love to bitch and moan that “Waiting Room” by Fugazi isn’t on this list because its probably the most iconic song in my life, but that’s a selfish thought and I know it’s not iconic for 99.9% of the population. Which is a shame, becauase Fugazi is terrific.
And I second whoever was talking about Neil Young. Just a gifted songwriter, though it is hard to narrow him down to one song.
Friends in Low Places is an extremeley iconic song by Hank Williams Jr.
Jesus, why is everyone so angry? You all sound like fans in a Keith Law chat accusing him of biases because he doesn’t think the exact same way you did. Let’s enjoy this blog post for its originality and come up with our own songs we love and would like to nominate without calling everyone else stupid for not agreeing.
And come on, Hilary Swank is not hot. In Kevin Malone’s words, “A painting can be beautiful, but I don’t want to bang a painting.”
No Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross?
No Nina Simone?
No Van Morrison?
No Coltrane?
No Miles?
No Wu Li?
This list is awful! I won’t vote until I see the following songs added:
“Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer – still great
“I Wanna Sex You Up” by Color Me Badd
“Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice – of course
“Can’t Fight This Feeling” REO Speeadwagon – Classic
“Hotel California” by The Eagles – I LOVE those guys, I want to vote twice for the Eagles!!!
Hi, Keith. Glad to see you agree with me regarding “Smell Like Teen Spirit.”
That said, grouping Pearl Jam with Candlebox is a low blow.
True, Pearl Jam is more accessible than the other “grunge” acts you mention…and that they paved the way for disposable bands like Candlebox to (briefly) emerge.
However, Pearl Jam’s relevance and influence is also undeniable. In fact, Soundgarden (“Superunknown”, “Down on the Upside”) and Alice in Chains (“Jar of Flies”, “Alice In Chains”) almost certainly followed Pearl Jam’s lead in crafting their later (and much more popular) albums.
My criteria: will I sing along with it when it plays (radio, TV, iPod)? If I can, it went on my short list, and I decided from there. Unfortunately, I’m a 50-something chick so that skews my selections, as some of these songs I have no clue about/don’t care for. (For example: I don’t sing along with Purple Rain, although that is Prince’s “most famous” song; I much prefer “1999″ or “Raspberry Beret” as singalongs.) [I wonder if we'll ever get a Prince version of Guitar Hero/Rock Band?][Or maybe it does exist and I don't know, being as I am a 50-something....] Anyway…. great poll.
Caryn:
Nobody is saying that Nirvana was the first “grunge” act. Or the most influential. Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, Tad and the Pixies (and even Neil Young) would dominate that line of discussion.
That said, none of those bands crafted a song more “iconic” than “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
The Eagles suck. That’s all I have to say about that. Secondly, I live in Minnesota. It was -6 this morning when I had to walk half a mile from the bus stop to work. But I will say it’s better to walk into an air-conditioned room in the summer than a heated room in the winter. To me, it ain’t even close. I think it’s because we can warm ourselves relatively easily with jackets and gloves and hats and scarves, but sweating doesn’t cut it on a day when it’s 90 degrees and humid.
Cancel my subscription to the resurrection. Send my creditials to the house of detention. I’ve got some friends inside…
I have not heard anybody say that the Doors are the best band of all time, but I have read plenty of Doors bashing. If you don’t think that the Doors music and lyrics wasn’t intelligent and interesting, then I don’t think you understand the point of this whole exercise. I am 35 and Jim was dead before I was born and yet I have several cds and am a fan. A bunch of their songs could be labeled iconic- Break on Through, Light my Fire, The End (which was then used brilliantly by Coppala in Apocalypse Now) and these three songs are from the Doors first album. Touch me, When the music over, People are strange, LA Woman, Riders on the Storm, Crystal Ship…
This exercise is not about music we love necessarily, but music that is Iconic.
After finishing Joe’s post I thought this was a pretty good list. Then upon reading the comments I realized just how much was left off. I propose a “Top 10 Iconic Songs” per decade voting.
Thin Lizzy – The Boys are Back in Town
R.E.M. should be Its the End of the World (And I Feel Fine)
Gotta have the Ramones included, I would say Blitzkreig Bop
Van Halen – Jump (maybe, I’m not a fan but its pretty iconic)
Beck – Loser
Iggy Pop – Lust for Life
Blur – Song 2
Too many more to name…
To Harry @ 63: How many people you stopped in the street would even know how “A Day in the Life” goes? I say it’s less than 20%, maybe less than 10%. If you’re choosing one song to be the iconic Beatles song, there’s no way it could be “A Day in the Life.”
To whoever claimed “God Only Knows” is “regarded by many as the greatest pop song of all time.” It’s not regarded that way by anyone who thinks seriously about music. Anyone who thinks seriously about music would tell you there’s no such thing as “the greatest pop song of all time.” Such a thing just doesn’t exist. And for the record, I love “God Only Knows.” Great song. Fantastic song. My 2nd-favorit Beach Boys song after Sloop Jophn B. But it’s maybe the 10th most-famous Beach Boys song though. Personally, I don’t see how any BB song is more iconic than Surfin USA (which I hate). But that’s the iconic BB song, to me.
Perusing the comments generally, I see a lot of arguments about quality when this exercise is only tangentially related to quality. So, stop arguing about quality. YMCA is horrendous, but there’s no doubt it’s iconic. Whether it is one of the top 10 iconic songs is highly debatable, (and that’s precisely what this poll is for) but there’s no doubt it’s iconic. And awful.
Secondly, we’re reducing the entire R&R era to 10 iconic songs. Of course there are more than 10 iconic songs. Far more. Of course there are far more than 50 iconic songs (or however many are in the final version of the poll). A song being left out of the poll does not imply that it’s not iconic.
My poll would have looked significantly different, but on this poll I voted for: Hound Dog; Like a Rolling Stone; Another Brick in the Wall; Johnny B. Good (a contender for most iconic R&R song of all time…should be polling much higher); Fortunate Son; Stairway to Heaven; I Want to Hold Your Hand; Welcome to the Jungle; Purple Haze; and Mac the Knife.
The Nirvana/Pearl Jam debate is like Willie or Mickey. John or Paul, Pepsi or Coke. it’s unsettleable. But I think part of the problem in this particular discussion is we’re not dealing with the most iconic song of either band. Nirvana’s most iconic song is probably “All Apologies.” And I think Pearl Jam’s is actually “Daughter” even though it’s not on their most iconic album. If you had to pick a song off of Ten I would still say it’s not “Alive.” I’d probably go with “Jeremy.”
‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is iconic for the simple reasons that a) it absolutely dominated the airwaves upon its release and b) the success of ‘Nevermind’ altered the landscape of popular music at the time. Without that album’s success, bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Meat Puppets, Butthole Surfers etc. etc. aren’t getting signed to major lables and actually getting airplay. There was a veritable feeding frenzy for signing ‘underground’ bands in the immediate wake of Nirvana’s success. Unfortunately, this also subjected us to grunge-lite bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Candlebox and their ilk, but that’s another story. Even if there are better so-called ‘grunge’ bands (Mudhoney, Melvins etc.), Nirvana deserves their rightful place as an icon.
I think this list should include a couple of additions if we want it to provide a complete picture of ‘iconic’ tunes. The Ramones ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, for instance. There’s probably not a better snapshot of the whole ‘77 CBGB punk rock era than that.
The Beatles should probably get 2 slots – 1 for the Beatlemania era (represented here by ‘Hold Your Hand’) and a second for the post-Rubber Soul hippie era (I’d vote ‘Revolution’). They were essentially 2 different bands.
As much as I absolutely despise the genre, 80’s power ballads were a big thing in their time, and no song better exemplifies that than ‘Every Rose Has it’s Thorn’. Other than that, no major qualms with what Joe came up with.
This is like conducting a poll to determine the ten prettiest girls of all time. Everyone has their own criteria and nobody’s wrong, although some are better informed than others.
By the way, I think we should conduct a poll to determine the ten prettiest girls of all time.
Without putting too much into it, I guess my standards are that a song must be a)immensely, unbelievably well-known and loved or b)a peak achievment by a hugely significant artist or c)a lesser-known song that acted as a catalyst for a very important movement in pop music
Top Ten: Imagine, Sympathy For The Devil, Like a Rolling Stone, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Dancing In The Street, Anarchy In The UK, Stairway to Heaven, Hey Ya, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, I Feel Good
Ten More: The Message, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Stayin Alive, Born In The USA, Pride (In The Name of Love), I Want You Back, Won’t Get Fooled Again, Respect, Fight The Power, Wouldn’t It Be Nice
These aren’t all songs I love, or are even my favorite songs by these artists, but they’re all songs I at least like a lot. I don’t have the stomach to include songs that, while iconic, I can’t bear to hear ever again (Freebird, Blitzkrieg Bop, Piano Man, Hotel California, many others).
shock of shocks, the ramones are the most underrated band of all time. i concur that blitzkrieg bop is their most iconic song.
I’m coming to this a bit late, but I love the idea. In coming to the voting, the questions I asked myself (somewhat like the baseball HOF) were, “is the song exemplar of an era?” and “does the song hold up over time?” I guess the third question I asked myself was “without the song, is the evolution of music less complete?” I will admit that with the 3rd queestion, I found it hard to separate the song from the band.
One song I was surprised not to see on the list was Turn Turn Turn from The Byrds/Pete Seeger. I have always felt that song perhaps best desribed the mid to late 60’s, drawing the folk influences of the early 60’s into the more “rock-” based late 60’s. (Perhaps I am more colored by after the fact recitations, than what actually occurred). I was also curious about the omission of White Rabbit, being an excellent example of the late 60’s SF/psychedelic movement.
In the present polling, I think you have to start with Chuck Berry, Bill Haley & Elvis. Without those (and some others), I don’t think you even get to some of the later songs on the list. I think those songs give a sense of the era yet do not sound peculiar and of only one unique time.
While The Eagles have sold a bunch of records and still draw crowds, I don’t know how Hotel California elevates the overall genre, would leave history somewhat incomplete or provides a stellar example of music at the time.
Please stop comparing Alice in Chains with Pearl Jam and Nirvana, they are more metal and were around before them. They compare more to Soungarden. Their sound become more mellow in later years with the success of the MTV Unplugged performance. And I agree that “Jeremy” would be my pick off the Ten album.
I would like to see Tool on the list, but I understanf they are not “iconic” in this respect. I also agree that Sublime sould be represented for the same reason Nirvana is, they opened doors for many bands that would not have had a chance before them. Sadly Nowell lost his fight with addiction as well.
How about the fact that all of these musician (Cobain, Morrison, Hoplin, Hendrix)lost their lives at age 27? Strange.
I think I have a different definition of “iconic” than a lot of people here. I don’t think “iconic” goes hand in hand with “influential.” Those two aren’t mutually exclusive, necessarily, but I think that the truly influential songs wind up getting passed in popularity, image, legendariness, whatever by songs that come after.
The “Smells Like Teen Spirit” debate is an excellent example. It’s not my favorite Nervana song, much less my favorite early ’90’s grunge song. Objectively, it’s not the best grunge song either. PJ, Soundgarden, etc. all came first and made arguably better/more influential music. But when I think of the grunge movement and the development of rock and roll in the ’90’s, “Teen Spirit” is the song associated with it. It doesn’t have to be fair or right, that’s just the way it is. “Iconic,” IMO, is something that is retroactively applied.
Conversely, I love U2 and would have loved to vote for “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” but I’m just not sure it’s iconic. U2 is a great band, but they were always so much different than all their contemporaries that nothing they did was ever really close to being the defining song of a particular rock era.
*Joplin – sorry
Heh – the thought of the actual, factual Jason Whitlock having that precise playlist is a riot.
Face it, Joe, this is going to cause a worse fight than whether Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, and Bert Blyleven belong in the Hall of Fame. I see what you’re trying to get – “iconic” as opposed to merely “greatest” – but there are just so many, that people are gonna get upset if their own icons are left out. This isn’t something that can be limited to ten songs.
For me, the iconic songs are all the big classics that helped define the genre: I went with a lot of your older tunes (I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Rock Around the Clock, Johnny B Goode).
If anyone owns the Pre-History of the Far Side collection, perhaps you could refresh my memory on this very topic. There’s a panel of a bunch of scientists trying to record whale songs – a whale swims up to their microphone and sings “Louie Louie.” Larson shows that panel next to the version printed for the international collection, and they changed the song to something more recognizable overseas – but I can’t remember what they changed it to. Whatever they picked, however, seems to me to be the kind of song Joe’s talking about here. (And you thought I had no point, like usual.)
You definitely got what you wanted, Joe, tons of discussion. It’s a tough question and means so much to so many people. It’s probably because of when I grew up, but the easiest one for me to select was “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Anyhow, I have a bone to pick with your write up of “Mack the Knife.” As originally written, it is vicious (Mackie’s exploits include murder, kidnapping, rape, and arson). Bobby Darin stripped out the nasty lyrics and made it schlocky. Rather than give it power, I think he stripped it of it’s original power.
No Michael Jackson, wasnt he the most famous peron in the world for about 10 years? Billie Jean????
I think of ‘iconic’ (as it relates to music) as the best representation of a particular style or time period. To use the Nirvana example – if an alien landed and you wanted to show them what the whole ‘grunge’ thing was all about, you’d have to go with ‘Teen Spirit’, wouldn’t you? Or if you wanted to explain Vietnam Era protest music, you’d almost have to go with ‘For What It’s Worth’ by Buffalo Springfield. These may not be the ‘best’ songs of their ilk (that’s a matter of personal preference), but they would be the songs most associated with a particular genre.
Please cancel my vote for “Good Vibrations”. I thought I was voting for the Marky Mark version.
i’d like to add I Want You to Want Me by cheap trick.
but seriously, no ramones? no kiss?
These are iconic songs, and Teen Spirit is absolutly iconic no matter what you think of the music. I was in middle school at the height of Nirvana. Other Mike, I don’t know what rock you were living under but they were very popular at my school.
I don’t know how God Save the Queen is so low on the list. The Sex Pisols define the punk movement.
I don’t really get The Doors reference. Last I checked Hotel California was by The Eagles.
1) I don’t care what you think of The Doors. “Light My Fire” must be on the list.
2) The Who song should have been “Baba O’Reilly.”
3) No Neil Young? INCONCEIVABLE!!!
Aaron – #41: Let me understand this – you want to use a list of record sales to justify Metallica (and in fairness, I’m not really knocking Metallica, I just don’t think listing a dubious “4th since 1991″ as a selling point) that *also* includes – Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, George Strait, Alan Jackson and Shania Twain?
Yeah – good luck with that…
NPR made a list of the Top 100 songs of the 20th Century a few years ago. I always like the NPR list because only 30-35 are rock songs. It makes it seem more serious and intellectual that the list is so well-rounded with music from the 1910s, but that pretty much describes NPR in a way.
These are the songs that are on both the JoeBlog and NPR lists:
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
Hound Dog & Don’t Be Cruel – Elvis Presley
Mack the Knife – Bobby Darin
Peggy Sue – Buddy Holly
Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
Rapper’s Delight – Sugar Hill Gang
Respect – Aretha Franklin
Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley & the Comets
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
These are the rock singles that were on the NPR list. A lot of these are “Oh yeah, totally need that one!”-worthy.
Ain’t That a Shame – Fats Domino
Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan
Dream a Little Dream of Me – Mamas & the Papas
Fire and Rain – James Taylor
Graceland – Paul Simon
Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis
The Great Pretender – The Platters
I Wanna Be Sedated – The Ramones
La Bamba – Ritchie Valens
Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
Light My Fire – The Doors
Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan
Maybellene – Chuck Berry
My Girl – The Temptations
Once in a Lifetime – Talking Heads
Oye Como Va – Santana
Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag – James Brown
Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding
Theme from Shaft – Isaac Hayes
What’d I Say – Ray Charles
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
Not sure which is worse, hating the Doors (their first album sounds like nothing else) or thinking that a song that effectively just came out belongs anywhere near this list. “Hey Ya” I can maybe stomach (though I’d never vote for it), but “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley? I have no problem with the song but it’s insane that it’s anywhere in this discussion. Don’t you need to stand some sort of test of time to be iconic? Congratulations, “Crazy,” people still like you two years after you came out. Quite the accomplishment.
“What’s Going On”…wow, perhaps that should have made the ballot.
Regardless, here are my votes and rationale for each:
In alphabetical order…
“Good Vibrations” – Beach Boys: Represented not just “surf music”, but 1960s American pop/rock in general.
“Hotel California” – The Eagles: Perhaps the one vote I would (should?) rethink, but I believe it’s the most iconic “corporate rock” song from the 1970s, and also represents the large “country rock” genre.
“Hound Dog” – Elvis – Brought rock’s R&B and blues roots to the masses; 1950s rock icon to the extreme.
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” – The Beatles: The essense of the British Invasion, and the lead hit in The Beatles string of world domination.
“Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry: Pure 1950s rock ‘n roll, and the perfect song to play to someone who doesn’t know what “rock music” is.
“Like a Rolling Stone” – Bob Dylan: Symbolizes the counter-culture revolution of the 1960s; amazing songwriting skill…and, incidently, inspired the names of perhaps the most iconic rock magaine and rock band.
“Satisfaction” – Rolling Stones: Took the relatively “safe” rock of the 1950s and 1960s and began turning it on its head; how many hits of the time got away with mentioning the singer’s lack of “girly action”?!
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Nirvana: Already discussed a lot here. Long story short, it redefined what “rock” music would (or could) be from 1992 until the present.
“Thriller” – Michael Jackson: Pure 1980s pop. Knew no cultural bounds. I would have preferred “Beat It” (which I think needs to take precedent over any Prince song) or “Billie Jean”, but “Thriller” will do too.
“Welcome to the Jungle” – Guns ‘n Roses: Perhaps the best example of 1980s metal. Unlike “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, it better represents the aggression of the band, and of the genre in general.
When you’re the 113th comment, you’re definitely late to the party.
Nonetheless, here’s my ode to the one person who is bored enough to get this far in the comments (maybe Joe himelf?)
I think there’s a fundamental dilemma with the list. There are several BANDS who are iconic, but it’s a much tougher and more contested question to choose which song is most iconic of a given iconic band.
The Who is a classic example. Talkin’ ‘Bout my Geeeneration, is, to my mid-thirties ears, not even close to Teenage Wasteland as far as songs-that-represent-The-Who. Or Whooooo Are You? I could see a good argument over the latter two songs, but the first is just as omnipresent. Now, is that because CSI inexplicably uses Who Are You in their opening credits and thus makes it suddenly more famous? No. Or has it? It might well be that in the 70’s, My Generation was THE song.
Welcome to the Jungle or Sweet Child O’ Mine? (I say Sweet Child–but it’s not a clear no-brainer…although I think it’s easily the case that Sweet Child appeals to a broader audience. Lutheran Youth Group members, for example, might have a tough time with Welcome to the Jungle, but probably know all the words to Sweet Child…).
C’mon peeps, where’s the love for ‘Night Moves’ by Bob Seger???
the reason they were called the Band, at least according to The Last Waltz, is because that’s just what everyone called them when they backed up Dylan (“Hey, I’m Bobby, this here’s the band”)
But I think there’s a distinction to be made between “best” song and “most iconic” song. Notorious BIG’s “Juicy” was the best hip-hop song I’ve ever heard. But when you think of rap in the 90’s, you think of Nothin But a G Thang.
One Sweet Day was probably the best song over the last 20 years – it spent 16 weeks as the #1 song on the Billboard top 100, an all-time record – but it’s not iconic. It doesn’t represent anything, it doesn’t stand for anything. It was just well liked by a lot of people, for a long time.
and one thing about Respect that’s always amazed me – it was written for (and originally sung by) Otis Redding, and it was about a man asking his woman to start respecting him when he gets home. Aretha changed maybe three words and boom – feminist anthem
and for iconic Clash songs, I would probably put(White Man In) Hammersmith Palais over London Calling, but that’s just me
oh, and I recalled hearing once that a study found that the song most frequently sung in the shower is Roxanne by the Police. That has to be included, right?
A comment on the Barenaked Ladies version of FIght the Power – it isn’t so much hilarious as “heartfelt”. Us white kids from the suburbs of Toronto and mired in gifted/alternative highschools in the 80s-90s had more than a soft-spot for Rap. The BNL were born of this scene.
As for Alive – I’d definitely say Jeremy was/is more iconic than Alive. I’m no fan of the band but I think if you’re to pick a Pearl Jam song, Jeremy ought to be the one.
I am going to get killed for this, but if iconic is supposed to be an instantly familiar song that represents the musical moment in our country, isn’t the late ’90s, early ’00s boyband/Spice Girls/Britney Spears set a little under represented. This stuff dominated the charts long enough that it seems like, while terrible, it has to be iconic. Is this just the voters showing their age? (and me showing mine)
oh, and I would argue that it is iconic because it does represent the vacuous nature of the era.
Don’t think I’ve seen any of these mentioned:
Blue Suede Shoes, Carl Perkins
I left my heart in san francisco, tony bennett
What’s goin’ on, Marvin Gaye
Stand by your man, Tammy Wynette
The Twist, Chubby Checker
60 Minute Man, The Dominos
Bo Diddley, by Bo Diddley !
Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett
I Only Want to be with you, Dusty Springfield
Born in Chicago, Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Wanderer, Dion
Okie from Muskogee, Merle Haggard
You’re so Vain, Carly Simon
When You’re Hot, You’re Hot, Jerry Reed
Will You Love me Tomorrow, Shirelles
You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling, Righteous Bros
Why Do fools fall in love, frankie lymon
Got My Mojo Workin, Muddy Waters
I Don’t wanna go home, Southside Johnny and Asbury Jukes
Be My Baby, Ronettes
Excitable Boy, Warren Zevon
Love is Strange, Mickey and Sylvia
Can I take a coffee break now? I’m a first time poster, and I’ve tried to stick with Joe’s original criteria, i.e. iconic, not personal faves.
Try putting on “Sweet Caroline” in a room of more than 1 person without hearing someone yell “Buh buh buh” during the chorus. If that’s not iconic, I’m not sure what would be.
Alright, I see the Metallica 4th since 1991 stat is getting knocked. I didn’t say that in order to prove that album sales make a band iconic; I’m saying that they have a broad enough audience to be considered for iconic status. Couple that with pretty much everyone (under 50) at least knowing “Enter Sandman,” and, well, that’s the sum of my argument.
–
The more I read the list, the more I think my rejection of it is due to the fact that it in no way represents how I think of rock and roll, either the genre or the era. To me, it is a list made by and for old people.
The “sabermetric” way to do it would be to have a council of 5 people whose prime listening years occurred during a pre-defined period or genre (or both; you could have a grunge council, a hair metal council, a terrible oldies music council, etc, if year boundaries were too arbitrary); each of them nominate 10. From that, you can pick the top 10 overall.
For instance, I’ve never actually listened to a Bob Dylan song; wasn’t on the radio, and I didn’t really care. I couldn’t ever vote for the Beatles; I feel for them how Joe feels for the Doors. However, I could probably fairly quickly nominate 10 decent songs between the late 80s and late 90s, from rock, grunge, and hip-hop, because that’s where my tastes were formed. Yeah, that’s the steroid era of rock, but what would the baseball hall of fame be if it was just deadball era?
Adam:
Of course, it is unrealistic to have a list of the most iconic songs and not include anything from two of rock’s most iconic artists: Bob Dylan and the Beatles. As we all know, this isn’t about the best songs…and there’s no debating personal preference.
I’d love to see your list of potential iconic songs from the 1980s and 1990s (and even 2000s). Perhaps you can share them for discussion.
My issue with Metallica is that they (despite being wildly popular, and a band that I like & respect) don’t seem to have enough widespread appeal to warrant inclusion on this list. Despite having beaten Nirvana to the punch as a band, it seems “Smells Like Teen Spirit” better symbolizes the angst-riden music of the 1990s than anything from Metallica’s impressive oeuvre.
1)Imagine is the worst song ever written.
2)Nothing by The Smiths? This Charming Man for iconic, I suppose, although it’s far from my favourite.
3)”There is no future in England’s dreaming” are the correct lyrics.
Jamie,
Toxic, Crazy In Love, Wannabe, Angels, Rock Your Body, Hangin’ Tough or Relight My Fire are all possibles for a more pop angle.
No Bowie!!?
Did some searching of my hard drive and CD collection before posting this. I think iconic absences: “Eve of Destruction” (Barry McGuire) was huge in the Vietnam War protest era. Crosby, Stills, and Nash have several candidates but I’d pick “Teach Your Children Well” as most iconic, ahead of “Carry On”, “Our House”, “Marrakesh”, etc. “Can’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” has been the theme of so many politicians, I’m shocked that Fleetwood Mac has no presence. Sure, it’s pop, but “We’ve Only Just Begun” with the incredibly rich vocals of that poor tortured soul Karen Carpenter may be the most beautiful song ever sung, and becomes even more iconic considering how she died. “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Peter Paul and Mary was as iconic as it gets for anybody who remembers the 60’s (I know, if you remember the 60’s, you weren’t doing them right). Shel Silverstein deserves a place on this list, even though the biggest hits he wrote were hits for somebody else (“A Boy Named Sue”, “I Got Stoned and I Missed It”, “The Cover of the Rolling Stone”). I think Bob Seger deserves consideration, although choosing (I pick “Night Moves” over “Like a Rock, “Jack and Diane”, or “Old Time Rock and Roll”) could be tough. I mean, Guitar Hero is showing Kobe Bryant and Heidi Klum imitating Tom Cruise (“Risky Business”) to that song. Blondie was at the forefront of two genres (techno and rap; “Rapture” was the first modern rap song, a genre that dates back to Gilbert and Sullivan) and I’d pick “Call Me” as most iconic. Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle” was an anthem for why the Baby Boomers were not going to be like their fathers (even though it’s far from my favorite Chapin song). Hell, man, how can a list be considered iconic without having “Macarena” on it?
The problem is that one fan’s icon is another fan’s whycon. There’s no Carol King (“Tapestry” was the best selling album of all time for a while) or Judy Collins. I think this list *need* a “Coal Miner’s Daughter” even though I don’t own or much care for it. There’s plenty of guys who have been doing this for a decade or less and plenty of absences of guys who have proven their staying power (Elton John, Paul Simon as a solist, Billy Joel, to avoid rementioning guys I named above). I mean, you call one of your experts “Dancing Queen” but the ABBA song gets no mention! How’s that for an iconic snub!
And are there any songs more iconic, more immediately recognizable, than these three by the great John Williams: “Jaws”, “Star Wars March”, “Darth Vader’s Theme”. What about Danny Elfman, who gave us the music for Beetelgeuse, Batman, Nightmare Before Christmas, Spiderman, and The Simpsons?
So if you’re going to do this properly, I think you need to segment and differentiate. Pick songs by decades, by song type. Let folks argue in the areas they know. How could anybody who didn’t live through disco have any idea just how iconic was “Saturday Night Fever”?
Or, if you prefer, we just go to the master. Any song by an artist who has not had a song done over by “Weird” Al Yankovic, or at least included in one of his polka medleys, is not iconic. It cannot be.
Joal: Then we go back to the heart of my terrible 4th-best selling artist argument. I’m a Metallica fan myself, and my first impression was yours: they probably aren’t liked by enough people. Yet they sell a metric ton of albums; are these conflicting points?
I unfortunately have to pretend to work for a bit, but if I was going to name a list of iconic songs from “my” portion of the rock n roll era, I’d have to scratch down: Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit, Metallica – Enter Sandman, Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Stealing, Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under The Bridge, Green Day – When I Come Around, Creed – Higher, Three Doors Down – Kryptonite, Nickelback – How You Remind Me, Eminem – My Name Is, The Offspring – Come Out and Play
I know I overlooked a few; I don’t even like most of the songs, but they are ones I remember hearing far too much for comfort. They are all also songs I can still hum, even if I hated them. I figure that’s decent enough for criteria.
Can I just say that I remember, very distinctly, that issue of Dynamite magazine in which they debated who was bigger – the Bee Gees or the Beatles. And I, in my 8 year old (or whatever) wisdom, showed the issue to my dad and said, “Duh, it’s the Bee Gees.” And my dad just laughed. And eventually, thank goodness, I learned why.
For the grunge argument, every single one of you needs to go find the documentary “Hype”. That will explain, in short order, how “grunge” happened, down to Megan Jasper (who answered the phones at Sub Pop) making up “Grunge slang” for a reporter at the New York Times. Then, go find “Loser” by Clark Humphreys. Finally, go read Jack Endino’s website and his Nirvana FAQ.
Unless you were there at the time (which I wasn’t, I didn’t get there until 95), those are all required reading before you start arguing over who started a fictional musical movement which was created to call attention to a tiny indie label in what was at the time the middle of nowhere. (God bless Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman.)
Pearl Jam were in their own sphere. Let’s remember that they got signed to a major label without gigging around for years or doing the things a normal band does, based on Stone and Jeff’s work with Mother Love Bone and their association with Michael Goldberg. Then Soundgarden had been signed to A&M since 88 or 89, and playing to more of a SST type crowd. AIC was in their own sphere as well. PJ opened up the door to Candlebox and Stone Temple Pilots (known in Seattle as the “Stone Gossard Pirates”) but the paths were completely divergent.
You’re thinking of “Jeremy” as more iconic because everyone remembers that video. Musically, “Alive” outranks “Jeremy” by a hundred miles.
And the true originators of “Grunge” are the Sonics. If you really want to go back that far.
That said, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is undeniably IMPORTANT because it kicked the goddamn door open (whether or not you think Nirvana were overrated, there is no denying the impact that they had), but I’m not sure it’s the most ICONIC “grunge” song.
I get the impression a lot of Alice in Chains fans here either don’t remember the Sap EP, or assume it was new when it was re-released in ‘95. The EP was recorded in 1991 before grunge really broke through to the mainstream, and presaged a lot of AiC’s later, more commercial work, including Jar of Flies.
Any list like this that does not include “Rock And Roll All Night” is not to be taken seriously.
Does anyone else hear a death rattle when people start trying to define “origins” or “realness” in relation to music?
Any list like this that does not include “Rock And Roll All Night†is not to be taken seriously.
Uh, the term was iconic, not ironic…
Joal in #112,
I bow to no man in my love for Bob Dylan and “Like a Rolling Stone,” but the band didn’t get their name from the song, they were around quite a while by the time the song came out. They took their name from a Muddy Waters song.
Hi, Caryn. I don’t think anyone on the board has claimed that Nirvana nor “Smells Like Teen Spirit” represent the origin of “grunge” music. Rather, via that song, the band (as you said) “kicked the door open” on the alternative rock scene in the Pacific Northwest and sparked the rock revolution of the 1990s.
If we want to list the most INFLUENTIAL or even the most IMPORTANT songs of the genre, we could go back and discuss Sub Pop in general, or the Pixies, or the Sonics, or Neil Young’s “Rust Never Sleeps.” After all, these works led to the “grunge” scene and (eventually) to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
But, without a doubt, the most ICONIC song — the one song that best represents the genre’s appeal and popularity — belongs to Kurt Cobain.
Hi, Perry. You are absolutely correct regarding the Stones and the origin of their name. I should have written that the song gets extra credit for — like the magazine — being a part of that phrase’s Waters-inspired rock ‘n roll history.
Jerry Lee Lewis and his Whole Lotta Shakin and Great Balls of Fire had an impact not only on music but on a whole way of life. If he and those songs ain’t iconic, then nothin is.
A lot of people have been railing on the pre-1993 nature of these selections.
In Joe’s defense, think about the world post “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. There are only a handful of songs since then that have been shared experiences. Maybe only one, “Hey Ya”. The internet has allowed us to retreat further and further into our own smaller worlds individually. As we get more and more varied technological avenues to travel down to search out our music, the less and less we will turn to the radio or MTV or VH1 for music. The internet killed iconic music, just like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” killed glam metal.
P.S. Joe’s right. Fuck The Doors. They were a good organist with a bunch of tools surrounding him.
McKingford at 33: Leaving aside whether or not The Doors are any good, the issue is “iconic.” Lack of popularity is antithetical to “iconic”. McDonald’s (which I think we can all agree sucks as food) is iconic. Golden Arches, clown, two all beef patties, etc.
If your song wasn’t picked up as the music to a commercial (save the Beatles’, who won’t go there) or a movie, it probably isn’t iconic.
I know I voted for several songs (like American Pie) I didn’t particularly like, but they’re in the zeitgeist, I can’t imagine leaving it off. Micheal Jackson’s the King of Pop(TM), how can leave off Thriller? Can you even imagine MTV (which didn’t want to play vids by black artists — MJ was thought to be black at the time) without MJ? Much as I love Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash (they’ll play Cry, Cry, Cry at my funeral, it’s in my will), I left ‘em off. It’s not about the artist(s) and their songs are not as iconic.
Again, it’s not about quality.
I’ve never even HEARD of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Seriously? I Feel Good is that far down the list? That song–and James Brown in general–CREATED funk and hip-hop. Millions of recordings would not exist were it not for James Brown, and I Feel Good is his most iconic song. The voters appear to have a very narrow view of pop music!
Until today I had never heard of Smells Like Teen Spirit — that’s not only never heard it, never heard OF it. Iconic, huh?
On one hand, I love the exercise of this. But you just cannot do justice by trying to define our era with 10 songs. Every one of these songs and hundreds more DO qualify – based on your rules. The sheer volume of songs unleashed into the world by artists of every culture and creed is overwhelming – to narrow it down to 10 choices is futile. The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame HAS recognized songs as iconic. The list is on their site, titled “500 Songs that Shaped Rock N Roll”.
Like it has been mentioned, everyone’s experience in life is different – and as such, everyone’s idea of ICONIC is different when it comes to art. You can dissect the numbers for second basemen because it is entirely objective, but art in all its forms is judged subjectively.
This discussion began, I think, by trying to argue the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame should change its procedure to induct songs instead of artists. But, unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame DOES recognize the songs . . . and the performers, the songwriters, the producers, the executives, and everyone else that creates a hit record. Its just you only hear about the five performers that are inducted every year.
A few thoughts:
*The comparison to the BBWAA is spot-on. We’ve got people that refuse to vote for a song that come out after 1980 and vice versa. Whether you like rap or not, “Nothin’ but a “G” Thang” was an EASY selection as top 5…think about rap/hip-hop culture…this is the song that blew it up. Every bit the impact of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
*I think its great that we can all have our own definition of iconic. I liked the tapestry approach of telling the story of music for the past 50 years, so I voted across eras and genres. I just don’t see how you can tell that story without including “iconic” songs from disco, grunge, hip-hop, hippie/Vietnam, 80s pop, etc. I voted for songs that were far from favorites and omitted other songs/artists that I like.
*This absolutely needs to be redone by genre and/or era. Like other posters, would have loved to vote for top 10 alternative rock songs, top 10 hard rock songs, top 10 Beatles songs, etc…
Ok, that’s just silly that y’all don’t have Roy Orbison ranked higher…
Re: Two of Graphite’s recent posts (one above, one on the original entry’s comment board)…
1) If you were 19 when “The Twist” came out in 1960, that would have made you 51 when “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came out in 1992. I think you were a bit removed from its angst-riden teenage demographic by then.
2) Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” is an interesting song to consider given its huge popularity and accessibility. That said, I think it (along with songs like “The Hustle”, “The Locomotion”, “Macarena”, etc.) are more iconic DANCES (or iconic FADS) than iconic SONGS.
Smells Like Teen Spirit was one of my first choices, along with Rapper’s Delight. To me, at least, they each kicked off a remarkable genre of pop music.
Never heard of Aretha Franklin? Wow!
Fun list, Joe, and lots of great comments. In the next few days I’m gonna be hunting a lot of songs that I remember ondly, but haven’t heard in years.
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Joal
I was 15 when The Twist came out in 1960. Which would make me 47 in 1992. Teenage angst, eh? Mmmmm. I take your point. I was well outta that group. Would’ve been arrested, and rightly so, if I’d tried to rejoin.
I stick by the twist, the dance, though. Up till then, dancers had had to maintain contact, even if only briefly in what we called jive or rock n roll. With the twist it was just up on your feet and move. And it’s lasted until today. The locomotion &c were just attempts to cash in. Nobody then knew what the locomotion was; nobody tried to do it.
I did have plenty more to say (the lack of truck drivers, people whose work causes them to sweat, &c, on the selection panel . . . c’mon, that lot aren’t rockers, they’re academics; not one of them would’ve had a fight with a cop, drained a bottle of Scotch in a single sitting, cheated on his wife), but I’ll let it go — except to wonder why Janis Joplin’s Me and Bobby McGee didn’t make it.
how dud EVE IF DESTRUCTION get left out of the loop? personally, i think if you want an icon, there are 2 songs that gotta be listed…HOUND DOG by elvis, because it was THE turning point between the end of ’swing’ and the start of rocknroll…and i REALLY dislike that song…and the other is I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND by the beatles, because it was THE turning point between rocknroll and ‘modern music’…and why isn’t ‘when you come to san francisco be sure to wear some flowers in your hair’ on the list…it marked the beginning of the ‘hippie’ era….and ‘flight of the valkyries’ from apocolypse now…and ‘mrs robinson’ which i despise, from the graduate…and, really, ‘candle in the wind’ has to be included…and a thousand others…oh, my…and no ‘dock of the bay’…’boby mcgee’…’take me out to the ballgame’…?
bmorten is a sloppy typer, and a worse proofreader.
i am going to define iconic as widely ,quickly, easily, recognized, and signicant to many people over long periods for various reasons, regardless of quality or style…kinda like, say, paris hilton is an icon…so, here are my 10 icons, because your rule is 10 in your poll…
white christmas…bing crosby
frosty the snowman…gene autry
rudolph the red nosed reindeer…gene autry
this land is your land…woody guthrie
the ninth symphony…ludwig von beethoven
hound dog…elvis presley
hey jude…beatles
america the beautiful…mormon tabernacle choir
the star spangled banner…francis scott keys
take me out to the ballgame…some guy
…and, that is 10…so i gotta stop now, by the joerule…so, here are some honorable mentions…
candle in the wind…elton john
stand by me…very good singer
bobby mcgee…janis joplin
bolero…ravel
when a man loves a woman…percy sledge
looie looie…the ultimate college party song
eve of destruction…barry mcguire
satisfaction…the stones
little piece of my heart…joplin
carpal tunnel syndrome alert…my left wrist
stop stop stop now!
I’m way late to the party, and short on time and coherence, but here’s what I think. Smells Like Teen Spirit is not close to my favorite Nirvana song, or the best representation of “grunge”, or first, but it changed everything. As a 12 year old growing up in suburban Pennsylvania without any older siblings or great musical influence outside of MTV I owe Kurt Cobain a debt of gratitude for busting the door down and opening my eyes to a whole world of music.
Omissions:
You Shook Me All Night Long
Iron Man or Paranoid
Rockin’ in the Free World
Light My Fire (sorry Joe you’re wrong)
Creep (need something from Radiohead and this is the most “iconic” that I can think of right now)
Roxanne
American Girl
Brown Eyed Girl
Piano Man
Fire and Rain
One (Metallica)
Sweet Home Alabama
What’s Going On
It is simply insane that Bohemian Rhapsody is being considered as more iconic than either We Will Rock You *or* We Are The Champions. If the voting is not about favorites (Bohemian Rhapsody is my favorite Queen song), there is simply no reason for Rhapsody to be the Queen song to be voted on.
“dany boy’
‘happy birthday to you’
‘row row row your boat’
‘99 bottles of beer’
all of these MUST be classified as ‘iconic’
and isn’t it ironic that none of them are listed…on the other hand…it looks like jopos may have broken whitlocks record for responses to a post…and that is something special.
Alright, I know this thread is dying down, but I find it amazing that only seen seen one other person suggest that an AC/DC song should have a place on the list. C’mon, is “Crazy” more iconic than Shook me all night long? If measured by seppage into the culture, “Shook me” has been covered by Celine Dion, for chrissakes, and a half dozen AC/DC songs get played in sports stadiums every night. If measured by sales, AC/DC’s Back in Black has sold more than 20 million records in the US alone (top-five of all time) and more than 40 million worldwide. All told, AC/DC has outsold the Rolling Stones, Bruce Sprinsteen, Michael Jackson, Madonna, U2, and a ton of other bands. If measured by instant recognizability, is anyone going to tell me that they can’t name the song about 3 seconds into any of Highway to Hell, Hells Bells, Shook me, Back in Black, or heck, even, Dirty Deeds, Thunderstruck, For Those About to Rock or Who Made Who?
I just want to add that my favorite band isn’t getting enough consideration here. Where you consider all their great songs and the number of records they’ve sold, you have to admit that they’re really great. For example, they’re clearly better than that other band which isn’t nearly as good or as important. No one can say that they don’t immediately recognize their big hit, whether they like it or not.
Josh in DC’s post sounds like an Onion T-shirt.
Nobody mentioned the Stooges yet as far as I can tell. “Search and Destroy” was even on a Nike (or Gatorate – I can’t remember) commercial at some point, and they were highly influential on many of the future ‘grunge’ bands that would so dominate the airwaves two decades later.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit”. I thought that was a Michael J. Fox movie. I’m sure I’ve heard the song, but the title, not so much.
So people are saying that if you had 1 song to explain the 20-21st Century, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by a rocker who overdosed on drugs, would be the song you choose. I really do not understand this.
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock – It Takes 2? (semi serious)
I’m glad PE was included. This is a tough task. Much tougher than electing baseball HOFers due to the sheer number of songs. At least with baseball you can use stats, with music using stats(i.e. sales) isn’t terribly helpful in determining “iconic” status.
Personally I’d have following in the running
Joy Divison – Love will Tear Us Apart
Radiohead – Paranoid Android (tough to pick one)
The Cure – Love Song
De La Soul – Eye Know
Stone Roses – I Am the Resurrection
T. Rex – Bang a Gong
Underworld – Born Slippy
The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony
Zombies – Time of the Season
Tears for Fears – Head Over Heels
Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes
Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead
this could go on forever.
I would have picked “Sympathy for the Devil” in stead of “Satisfaction” as the most iconic Stones song–after all, in the 60’s a lot of people thought that Mick Jagger was Satan personified.
And more songs that should have been in the poll:
“Highway to Hell” by AC/DC
“My Generation” by The Who
“Lola” by The Kinks
“You Are My Sunshine” by Jimmie Davis
“Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis (though you could argue for “Whole Lotta Shakin’” instead)
Late to the discussion, but I think Enya’s “Sail Away” is pretty damned iconic even if I don’t like it.
I think ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is the top vote-getter merely because it was the biggest hit that occurred in the lifetimes of nearly all the readers of this blog. Kind of like how there was a poll several years ago in which people ranked Reagan as the best president of all-time. He was merely the most popular, well-regarded president in recent history (though I’d probably argue that point – but let’s not get into it).
People in their 20s and even 30s may not recall the big hits of the 60s, or “Johnny B. Goode” or “Stairway to Heaven” but almost everyone reading this has at least some vague recollection of Nirvana, Kurt and “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I’d venture a guess that very few who voted in the poll would call it THE iconic song of the rock era, but because it occurred in our lifetimes, a very large number of people saw fit to put it somewhere in the top ten. Which makes sense to me – I voted for it, though if I were to rank my choices I’d probably place it 6th or 7th.
Also, I know I said this in the other post, but I sadly do not think Radiohead has a song that’s big enough to make the list. “Creep,” maybe “Karma Police” and “Paranoid Android”, come close, but I don’t think they quite achieved iconic status (there’s A LOT of people who do not know those songs, or at least do not recognize “Creep,” the most famous of them, as Radiohead). I love Radiohead, and it’s not as though they’re not popular, but for such a big band they haven’t had many HUGE radio hits.
And I’d probably draw the line at “Hotel California.” To each his own…
#131: Adam astutely points out one significant omission, in my opinion. I’d be hard pressed to find someone between 25 and 35 that couldn’t immediately recognize and sing along to “Under the Bridge”.
In fact, it seems to me that the years between (approx.) 1992 and 2002 are underrepresented or perhaps not represented at all. This is the age group that came of age listening to many of the following: Metallica, Sublime, Snoop, Rage Against the Machine, Everclear, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Live, Weezer, Oasis, No Doubt, NineInchNails, Third Eye Blind, Alanis Morissette, Soundgarden, Radiohead, Stone Temple Pilots, Soul Asylum, The Black Crowes, Blind Melon, Smashing Pumpkins, The Roots, Tool, Ace of Base, Blues Traveler, Blur, The Verve, Wu Tang Clan, Barenaked Ladies, Hootie and the Blowfish, Collective Soul, Boyz II Men, Violent Femmes, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Sheryl Crow, 2Pac, Ben Folds Five, Cypress Hill, Smashmouth, Silverchair, Green Day, Jay Z, Fuel, Fastball, Cake, Goo Goo Dolls, Toadies, Matchbox 20, and Beck. (Some of those artists do overlap with earlier and/or later periods.)
I compiled this ridiculously long, yet not remotely comprehensive list in order to roughly define a demographic that seems to have been ignored. Surely there are a few sufficiently iconic songs from our adolescence and young adulthood that warrant inclusion on the ballot. Along with “Under the Bridge”, I’d nominate: “Plush”, “Santa Monica”, “Creep”, “Loser”, “Santeria”, “Gin and Juice”, and “Closer”, to name several.
After 10 to 15 years, a song gains a measure of historical perspective. Is under 10 years long enough to properly judge a song’s iconic status? I’d say no, which makes Outkast (Hey Ya, 2003) and Gnarls Barkley (Crazy, 2006) stick out like sore thumbs. We can’t be expected to accurately judge their iconic merits until ~2015. But if you’re gonna nominate those 2 songs, then I want a few from the aforementioned decade.
If I can’t do a write-in for the Run-DMC/Aerosmith jam version of “Walk This Way,” I’m not sure I want to vote. Or maybe I’m just irked that the wise and sage-like Joe Posnanski dissed Run-DMC’s Hall of Fame election in the same way that people like Bert Blyleven and Tim Raines get dismissed as serious baseball HOF candidates.
I LOVE the poll, though I probably would have voted differently had I read this post first, since some of the song titles didn’t immediately resonate in my head until I read which particular version you were talking about.
I fail to see why Nirvana gets top billing, since nobody who wasn’t a teenager in the 90s even knows who the hell Nirvana is. But whatever.
One thing though, from the post.
Is Hillary Swank hot? (my DirecTV DVR again did not record that Office episode. BLEEP DIRECTV!!!!)
But no. No she is not. She has a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp, the body of a twelve year old boy and a voice like Jack Nicholson after four bottles of bourbon and six cartons of cigarettes. Hmmmmm, yummy.
Now MADONNA (in her glory days, not the decayed corpse that A-Rod is shagging), however. Yes. Three times yes. You probably would have had to have been in your early teenage years during her mid to late 80s concert stage to agree though.
come on joe, no tull? i hear tull and I feel like an american. rocking out to some tull in the car might be the best thing one can do. im a 22 year old college student, im rocking out to some tull at a stop light, not too loud but my windows are down. a 45 year old man pulls up next to me, nods his head and says “tull, didn’t know you guys liked him”. whats more iconic than crossing generations?
I think this election needs a “runoff”. Too many options. After a week, take the top 12 and run it again.
iconic: 1. Pertaining to or having the character of an icon. 2. Smoke On The Water.
Grunge-argue-rs:
Grunge, and Sports.
that is all.
Where is “Gloria” by Van Morrison?
Great voting, everyone. “Louie Louie” at #30 and “Rock Around the Clock” at #31 is the equivalent of Barry Bonds’ and Rickey Henderson’s finishes on the All-Century Team.
OK… Here is where the debate on S.L.T.S. ends. (as much as I like the song) If Weird Al’s version is better, you’re done. If you’ve never you-tubed it, and don’t know the song, listen to the real thing first, and then listen to Al’s version.
Second, I know they’re not “iconic” but my personal favorite, YES, was able to sell out staduims (drew 100K to old JFK stadium in Phila in 76) but hasn’t been mentioned. And on a personal soapbox, how are they NOT in the R-N-R HOF??? WTF???
I think an argument could also be made for:
The Ramones – “Blitzkrieg Bop”
Gary Glitter – “Rock & Roll Part 2″
Black Sabbath – “Iron Man”
Survivor – “Eye Of The Tiger”
Gloria Gaynor – “I Will Survive”
Whitney Houston – “I Will Always Love You”
Righteous Brothers – “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”
Smokey Robinson (or the Temptations) – “My Girl”
Mike, just because Pearl Jam sold more records than Nirvana at one point doesn’t make them better. Alive is good but most of the rest of their music is douchebag frat boy rock. Their most famous song, “Jeremy” is really awful and I am continually baffled that people like it so much. SLTS is just a straight-forward good rock song.
Yes are fucking awesome. Well, real Yes. Not “Owner of a Lonely Heart” Yes. But Fragile should be owned by all.
speaking of iconic, maybe meaning songs so commonly familiar that virtually everyone in america knows them, but few would be able to say when where or by whom they were written or first performed…examples…
here comes the bride
when you wish upon a star …note,jiminy cricket is not a real person…
jingle bells
taps
revellie
rudolph the rednosed reindeer
amazing grace
oh when the saints go marchin in
happy birthday to you
don’t worry, be happy
she’ll be comin’ round the mountain
row row row your boat
theme from gone with the wind
overture 2001 the space odyssey
memories
camelot
somewhere, a place for us/west side story
…if youcon, icon, and we allcon go on forever with this…but, in the end, i think that i can agree with me that one of the best songs so far left out is actually an album…BAT OUT OF HELL…by MEATLOAF.
Creston–Hulu.com
You can see any missed episode of The Office on hulu.com along with tons of other shows. They do expire eventually, however. I don’t even worry about DVR’ing many of my favorite shows because I can see them for free, with minimal commercial interruption any time I like.
Oh, and Hillary Swank is dead sexy. She’s just not “movie star” hot in the traditional Hollywood sense. I think that is really the crux of the debate.
“i hear tull and I feel like an american.”
Isn’t Jethro Tull from Britain?
Hmm…the leading songs only have 50%, well short of the 75% benchmark. Does that mean we don’t have an iconic song?
I kid. XD
Ajnrules (#188): It means the Veterans Committee will be voting in Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie” to fill the void.
My 2 cents – have to agree with a lot of the comments/omissions/suggestions from #130 as “rock era” (not necessarily rock ‘n roll y’all) iconic music – for instance Carol King’s ‘You’ve got Friend’, Peter, Paul and Mary (or Dylan)’s Blowin in the Wind. CSNY’s “Ohio”, Joni Mitchell (or CSNY)’s Woodstock.
And given the connection to American Pie, wouldn’t Buddy Holly’s iconic song be “That’ll be the Day (that I die)” rather than Peggy Sue?
I am a bit late to this, but I find it interesting that someone characterizes pearl jam as douchebag fratboy rock while trumpeting smells like teen spirit. Sounds like someone has been drinking the Kurt Cobain kool-aid. Hopefully, it’s not poisonous. I like both bands very much, but think that Pearl Jam is better.
I do not think Alive should be the Pearl Jam song. It should be Jeremy, which unfortunately, is not even in the top-25 of Pearl Jam songs. You could throw Porch in there due to the Unplugged version. That is often overlooked.
I think that “Last Goodbye” for Jeff Buckley is a good choice as an iconic song. It is not his best, but it is the most popular. He was a very unique musician.
I feel like people who like Pearl Jam over Nirvana also:
-like Coldplay over Radiohead
-like Method Man over Ghostface Killah
-like Jay Leno over Letterman and Conan
-like Dane Cook
-read Maxim, FHM, and Stuff
-watch the show Survivor
-always buy 30s of Beast, and think you’re a beer snob if you buy anything else
-love the movie American Pie
-play Guitar Hero or Rockband on Medium
-recently told their friends to check out Kings of Leon
I’m sorry but it really baffles me that this is even a debate.
I can’t believe that Video Killed the Radio Star isn’t on the list. It heralded in the MTV era, and that sure as Hell is iconic, no?
Ryan #192,
I like Pearl Jam over Nirvana and I:
-love Radiohead and own 4 of their albums, starting with The Bends. I have never listened to a Coldplay album. Never. Not once.
-don’t like Method Man or Ghostface Killah enough to prefer one to the other.
-love Conan, wish Leno would retire, and think Letterman is past his prime but still generally enjoyable.
-despise Dane Cook. I even hate typing his name.
-Stop. Wait a second here–Maxim, FHM, Stuff?–this is just getting absurd. Guys that love Dane Cook read that crap.
-can only think of one contestant in the history of Survivor, the dude (Richard something?) that was convicted of tax evasion after winning the first season. Scratch that, there was that poker pro with a french name also, so that’s 2 contestants.
-don’t buy “The Beast”, but 10 years ago in college I recall buying 30 ‘Stones for 10 bones.
-think American Pie was decent, but everyone knows that the real magnum opus of the series was #3…or #5. How many are there again?
-have never played guitar hero. The last video game system I owned was the original Nintendo. (up, up, down, down, etc.)
-have a friend that told me to check out Kings of Leon just last week, so I used them as a starting point for a Pandora station and the succeeding selections of the “human genome” were OK.
i have never heard, to my knowledge, many o the songs being touted hereon…and i have never before heard of many of these groups…and many of them, pearl jam for example, i do not care much for, as i prefer lyrics sung in the english language, and without a tennis ball in the singers mouth…a couple of them i do recall, because they sounded like cats on fire while 3 people tried to see how offensive a guitar could be made to sound…but, tastes vary, and i have no desire to push my choices on others…but i think, all in all, many, if not most of us are in agreement on one thing…jopos list of finalists is wretchedly incomplete, at best, and indicates a distinct lack of taste and a dearth of good music appreciation among joes nominaters…having said that, i am pretty sure that in the end virtually none of the ‘winners’ are going to be songs i like or admire.
Hah, just as I suspected. An overwhelming majority of Pearl Jam fans know the Contra cheat code but not the superior Sonic the Hedgehog one (up, down, left, right, hold A, start).
Sonic the Hedgehog?
You mean the pretentious prick with ruby red shoes?
I guess it is the Pearl Jam fans that are the snobs here, even though people who prefer Nirvana need to make derogatory comments about the Pearl Jam fans for preferring their music. I agree that there is no debate as to who is the better band, I just happen to see it the other way. However, I enjoy Nirvana’s music immensely. I do not know why you need to put down one to enjoy the other. Why not carry on more of Kurt’s insecurities as to his place in music in comparison with Pearl Jam?
By the way, if you cannot understand Eddie Vedder when he sings, then you haven’t listened to Pearl Jam since Vs.
Ryan #192
You nailed a couple of my friends that like both Pearl Jam and Nirvana but prefer Pearl Jam.
It was almost scary.
I’d add that they more often than not like the Dave Matthews Band.
Can somebody please explain how “Candle in the Wind ‘97″ – the highest-selling single of ALL TIME – is not on this list and there is no Elton John in general – the artist whose had more top 40 hits than ANYBODY?
I’m not a big Elton John fan, but I at least have a rudimentary understanding of popular music.
I guess this is what happens when sportswriters try to make music lists.
Also, I’m glad that Johnny Ballgame is such a big Who expert that he doesn’t know that Teenage Wasteland is actually called “Baba O’Riley”.
I’m very surprised that David Bowie doesn’t make it in there. He was 1000x cooler than Freddie Mercury (factually supported, of course). And he has a laundry list of iconic songs to choose from – like the sex pistols and op ivy, he helped to launch a genre. No room for Rebel Rebel or Young Americans on the list? Or Space Oddity? Or Rock and Roll Suicide? Or even more, Under Pressure?
bmorten #195-
Vedder’s vocals are even MORE amazing when you take the tennis ball into account.
Quite a listing. Here’s a few more for fun:
All by myself – Eric Carmen (possibly a blogging song?)
We’re an American Band – Grand Funk Railroad
One or Jeremiah was a bullfrog – Three Dog Night
Monday, Monday – Mamas & Papas
Those Were the Days, my friend – ?
Wild Thing – Tone Locque or Donovan
Killing me softly – Roberta Flack or Johnny Cash
Africa – Toto
well, it looks like the thread is dead…long live the thread…tho jopo seems to be paying absolutely no attention to us…in closing i would like to say that this has been one of the most interesting, most enjoyable, most intelligent and well-typed threads i have seen, ever, and with very minimal, and mostly amiable riposting…and overall, i think comment number 204 was one of my favorites…succint, fun, and precise…nicely done, even by those of you who have less wonderful taste in music than i…i cannot believe y’all are spending so much time listening to and admiring songs i never heard of…guess i’ll have to check ‘em out…y’all have a good day.
Ohio by CSNY should probably be on the list.
Probably the definition of being iconic of its time and place,
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