Best 100 Songs of the Rock Era

"Best Of" lists aren't.  They're impossibly limiting & usually poorly defined, but it's the journey, not the destination, that is worthwhile. They lead to interesting explorations & fun arguments.  They're also a great way to make a book memorable.

In "Broken Prey", the 16th of the Lucas Davenport Prey series by John Sandford, Lucas gets an iPod & a gift card for 100 songs.  He takes this as a challenge to make a list for the "Best 100 Songs of the Rock Era".  Go ahead & look at the list.  Who is missing? Jot down a few.

The list gets mentioned a dozen or more times.  There's no long recitation, just various characters mentioning songs that need to be included, arguments over them or versions, & fun remarks.  My youngest kids (late 20s) had fun arguing the list with me & Sandford is in his mid 70s, so it engages a wide age range.  I certainly paid attention every time the subject came up because of my own tastes.  ("We Will Rock You" instead of "Bohemian Rhapsody"?  Please!) 

The list is terribly flawed, of course.  It's far too broad & yet a few artists are on the list multiple times.  It even has one song on it twice.  Some of the missing ones are practically criminal, but it's still a great device & got me thinking...

Rock has been around since the 50s & is still going strong almost 70 years later.  I can't pick just 1 or 2 top songs per year, especially not in the 60s & 70s.  I'm not sure I could limit my picks to 100 for some years around 1970 much less those decades.  Expanding to cover other genres is just crazy.

Have you written down the missing bands yet?  If not, do it now.

I'm a Stones guy, but leaving out The Beatles entirely is wrong.  There's nothing by Alice Cooper, America, Allman Brothers, Badfinger, The Band, Beach Boys, Bon Jovi, Booker T, Blondie, Blind Faith, Box Tops, Bread, BTO, or Buffalo Springfield?  Sheesh!  I'm sure I missed some & I didn't even get to the Cars.  I'll get carpal tunnel before I make it to The Zombies & I'm sticking to pure rock. 

It's obvious that we can't make even a top 100 rock songs without limiting it a lot more.  What about 1 song each by the top 100 rock bands?

I immediately got sidetracked by Eric Clapton.  He's been inducted into the Music Hall of Fame three times as part of Cream, the Yardbirds, & as a solo artist.  He had some fantastic short stints playing with other super groups like Blind Faith & Dirty Mac, although Wikipedia considers the latter a project. That's OK, even though it means I don't even know what constitutes a band.  I might be able to make a list of Clapton's best 100 songs.

Looking through the Wikipedia entry for musical super groups is an education.  They list each band & the band members with the other bands they've played in.  I haven't heard of a lot of them & every time I look at the list I wind up spending too long listening to YouTube.  My list is growing!

Musicians always seem to be teaming up with others for projects & great one-off songs. David Bowie singing "Under Pressure" with Queen or "All The Young Dudes" with Mott the Hoople are two of my favorites.  He sange "Dancing In The Street" with Mick Jagger, too.  Drat, I can't leave off Martha Reeves & the Vandellas version!  It's practically impossible not to duplicate a few songs.  Years ago, I collected as many versions of "Louie, Louie" as I could find quickly.  I have over 60 & apparently there are hundreds.

What about rock muscials?  "Hair", "Jesus Christ Superstar", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Tommy", & "Another Brick In The Wall".  I could easily make a great 100 top songs list just out of them.

How about one-hit wonders?  I noticed only one of those in Lucas' list - "Rock On" by David Essex.  It definitely belongs on the list, but so does "Bang A Gong" by T. Rex, "Couldn't Get It Right" by the Climax Blues Band, "Play That Funky Music White Boy" by Wild Cherry, "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, & "Porn Star Dancing" by My Darkest Days.  "Signs" by Five Man Electrical Band, Dokken's "Alone Again", Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" & "Wildflower" by Skylark... Yes, I could make a top one-hit wonder list easily, although we'll argue who belongs on it.  Nazareth is NOT a one-hit wonder no matter what Wikipedia says.  They did "Black Betty" & that's a hit no matter what some stupid list says.

I might cheat with Donovan since I like both "Sunshine Superman" & "Mellow Yellow", but they could also go on a list with other quirky, fun songs like "Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road" by Loudon Wainwright III.  I wonder if I could make a top 100 of them?  "In The Summertime" by Mungo Jerry, "Ding-A-Ling" by Chuck Berry, & "A Brand New Key" by Melanie are great & they're guaranteed to bring a smile to my face every time. 

Some songs are great, but I only want to listen to them once a year.  I don't just mean Christmas carols by rock artists, either.  Thanksgiving demands the original rendition of "Alice's Restaurant" at our house.  (We used to get on the radio by calling in to request it.)  "American Pie" & "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" are great songs, but once a year is plenty.  Is that a list even worth making?

Our Internet connection at home is feeble, so I don't stream Pandora or anything.  Instead, I listen to a about 1000 songs regularly.  It's a limit set by my shop stereo system which consists of one of my early MP3 players played through a cheap amp & speakers that are as old as I am.  What it lacks in quality, it makes up for in volume.  (I can still hear it through ear protectors over the power tools & dust collection system.)  I change a few songs occasionally, but keep about the same list playing randomly on my PCs at home & work as well as on my phone.  It's as close to a 'best of' list as I can get.  The songs are pretty much limited to the rock era, although not just to rock. Bing Crosby, John Prine, Brad Paisley, Charlie Pride, Johnny Cash, Billy Holiday & others are on it.  A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.