The 50 Greatest Singles in Rock and Roll

[melon1]

Awrighty then, let me be the first to submit a list. Ken, since I'm going to the trouble to score this one for you, hopefully you don't mind going to the trouble to inform me which ones of these aren't singles. Since I made a long list of my favorite songs a while back and posted it over on the Rolling Stone Project, all I had to do was go back and pick out the ones that were singles. Here goes:

1. With Or Without You - U2
2. The Unforgettable Fire - U2
3. Us and Them - Pink Floyd
4. All I Want Is You - U2
5. Time - Pink Floyd
6. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
7. Sara - Fleetwood Mac
8. Pyramid Song - Radiohead
9. All My Love - Led Zeppelin
10. One - U2
11. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
12. Clocks - Coldplay
13. Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
14. Brain Damage/Eclipse - Pink Floyd
15. Warped - Red Hot Chili Peppers
16. Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
17. Dirty Boots - Sonic Youth
18. Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies
19. Dust In the Wind - Kansas
20. Never Tear Us Apart - INXS
21. Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones
22. Dream On - Aerosmith
23. Breaking the Girl - Red Hot Chili Peppers
24. Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
25. Change Your Mind - Neil Young
26. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
27. De'j'a Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
28. Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
29. Fall On Me - R.E.M.
30. Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
31. Paranoid Android - Radiohead
32. New Slang - The Shins
33. Blue - The Jayhawks
34. Change - Blind Melon (I know for a fact that this is a single)
35. The Wind - Cat Stevens
36. Silent Lucidity - Queensryche (don't laugh)
37. Jeremy - Pearl Jam
38. Light My Fire - The Doors
39. Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin
40. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
41. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
42. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police
43. Bulls On Parade - Rage Against the Machine
44. Just Like A Woman - Bob Dylan
45. Lay, Lady, Lay - Bob Dylan
46. Daughter - Pearl Jam
47. L. A. Woman - The Doors
48. Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
49. Mr. Tambourine Man - Bob Dylan
50. Dreams - Fleetwood Mac

The bubbling unders:

Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of - U2
The Boy With the Thorn In His Side - The Smiths
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Space Oddity - David Bowie
Jane Says - Jane's Addiction
Sabotage - The Beastie Boys
Better Man - Pearl Jam
Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
Drive - R.E.M.
Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
Lithium - Nirvana
Heartbreaker(do do do) - The Rolling Stones
Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground
Last Night - The Strokes
Love Song - The Cure
New Years Day - U2
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits


and many, MANY more

[Galactus]

I'm close to narrowing down my 50...now putting them in some sort of order will be the hard part...

[JesusLooksLikeMe]

Melon's list reminded me - we played this before (but not limited to singles) back at RS.com and somehow it was decided in our collective wisdom that Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" was the greatest song ever written!

I pledged from that day on never to take part in one of these surveys ever again. There's too many songs and too few of us.

I will point out, however, that the top single of all time is "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out".

[Rit]

Mantis/DED's list will be the best thing here. I have great expectations.

[phil]

I could do a Top 100 just for the 60's alone ...

50) These Boots Are Made for Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra
49) Hawaii Five-0 - The Ventures
48) Albatross - Fleetwood Mac
47) Chelsea - Elvis Costello
46) Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
45) African Reggae - Nina Hagen
44) I'm a Believer - The Monkees
43) The Letter - The Box Tops
42) You Keep Me Hangin' On - Vanilla Fudge
41) Keep on Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young
40) Sultan of Swing - Dire Strait
39) Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
38) California Dreamin' - The Mamas & the Papas
37) House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
36) Cathy's Clown - The Everly Brothers
35) Get Off My Cloud - The Rolling Stones
34) Incense & Peppermints - Strawberry Alarm Clock
33) Leader of the Pack - The Shangri-La
32) Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
31) Bobby Brown - Frank Zappa ...
30) For What it's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
29) Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly
28) No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley/Wailers
27) Middle of the Road - The Pretenders
26) Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
25) Light My Fire - The Doors
24) The Weight - The Band
23) In The Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
22) Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
21) Wild Thing - The Troggs
20) Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonful
19) Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
18) Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
17) Ohio - CSNY
16) So You Wanna Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star - The Byrds
15) Whole Lotta Shakin' - Jerry Lee Lewis
14) Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
13) Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison
12) Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
11) White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
10) Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys
09) Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
08) Stand By Me - Ben E. King
07) Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival
06) Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix Experience
05) Sugar Sugar - The Archies
04) Hey Jude - The Beatles
03) Imagine - John Lennon
02) Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan


01) LOUIE LOUIE - THE KINGSMEN

[Galactus]

Here it is I guess...I'm still not completely happy with but I also don't know what I'd change about it.

1. Louie Louie- The Kingsmen
2. God Only Knows- The Beach Boys
3. Maybellene- Chuck Berry
4. Blue Suede Shoes- Elvis Presely
5. Born To Run- Bruce Springsteen
6. Good Golly Miss Molly- Little Richard
7. Like A Rolling Stone- Bob Dylan
8. I Want To Hold Your Hand- The Beatles
9. Time Of The Season- The Zombies
10. Billy Jean- Michael Jackson
11. Everyday- Buddy Holly
12. Rock Around The Clock- Bill Haley & His Comets
13. Imagine- John Lennon
14. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction- The Rolling Stones
15. You Really Got Me- The Kinks
16. My Generation- The Who
17. Layla- Derek & The Dominoes
18. Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On- Jerry Lee Lewis
19. Paranoid- Black Sabbath
20. Heartbreaker- Led Zeppelin
21. What’d I Say Pt 1&2- Ray Charles
22. Back In Black- AC/DC
23. Smells Like Teen Spirit- Nirvana
24. For What It’s Worth- Buffalo Springfield
25. Everybody Hurts- REM
26. Baby Please Don’t Go- Them
27. Sweet Child O’ Mine- Guns N’ Roses
28. One- U2
29. Rio- Duran Duran
30. Under Pressure- Queen
31. Here Comes Your Man- The Pixies
32. The Weight- The Band
33. No Surprises- Radiohead
34. Bastards Of Young- The Replacements
35. Black Magic Woman- Santana
36. American Girl- Tom Petty & The HeartBreakers
37. Life During Wartime- Talking Heads
38. Radio Radio- Elvis Costello
39. Running With The Devil- Van Halen
40. I Want You To Want Me- Cheap Trick
41. Cult Of Personality- Living Colour
42. Ace Of Spades- Motorhead
43. Superstitious- Stevie Wonder
44. I Wanna Be Sedated- The Ramones
45. Seven Nation Army- The White Stripes
46. How Soon Is Now?- The Smiths
47. Cherub Rock- Smashing Pumpkins
48. Even Flow- Pearl Jam
49. Just What I Needed- The Cars
50. Song 2- Blur

[Paul]

Mantis, & PHil, I think we may have the same #1.....

I'm still working on my list, I'm trying to think of some songs from the 80's and 90s to include. I am going to include "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC. Now, this is VERY far from my favorite AC/DC song, but fact is, almost everyone in the entire world knows this tune, and it's probably on every jukebox in every bar, in every country + it's on one of the best selling albums of all time (largely due to this song). I'm a Powerage kinda guy myself, but I think this song should be included in the top 50.

Another one that I think is a must, but no one has used it yet is "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins. I mean everone from Lennon to Hendrix to Elvis covered this one, and it's at the very foundation of rock n' roll. This one may make my top 5, don't know.

[Paul]

I'm also trying to figure out how many Kinks songs to include. I don't want my love for them to blind my decision, but I really do think "Lola", "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All Of the Night" should be included. The problem is they have many other singles, but I don't know if they would make the top 50 cut..."Sunny Afternoon" "Victoria" and "Waterloo Sunset" are easy contenders IMO as well.

[melon1]

Can't wait to get that Kinks mix, pcook. I see that you sent it out. Thanx.

[Paul]

Hope you like it! Let me know, or the boards know what you think. If you like, spread the word....The Kinks deserve more respect.

[phil]

I went outta my way to include only one entry per band/artist ...

Otherwise, the result would have been a whole different !!

[phil]

12. Rock Around The Clock- Bill Haley & His Comets

Missed that one ...

Definitely Top 20 material !!

[Galactus]

phil said:

I went outta my way to include only one entry per band/artist ...

Otherwise, the result would have been a whole different !!

The only band that got two on my list was The Who...I just couldn't choose between WGFA and My Generation...

I also debated for quite awhile whether to use You Shook Me or Back In Black...In the end I went with BIB...

[phil]

The only band that got two on my list was The Who...
I just couldn't choose between WGFA and My Generation...


THat's all right ...

I didn't include any ...

A glaring omission ...

[Paul]

this list is taking some serious time; I'm not only thinking of what I like, but how popular it was, and perhaps IMO the most important factor, the impact. That's why I have the feeling 85% of my list will be from the 50's and 60's....I've already written one draft, but I think it's about time to revise.

I don't think there is any way possible to limit the list to one song per artist...The Beatles had 27 number one hits for example, and a few of them should be top 50 of all time IMO...."She Loves You", "Paperback Writer", "Lady Madonna", "Hard Days Night" just to name a few....