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Legalize the Constitution
Picture of TMats
posted
I believe there are songs in the relatively short history of Rock music that are important. They often signify a watershed moment where the direction of Rock changed, or they are simply so recognizable that you can't think about Rock without thinking of that song.

Here are 10 that I think are important for those reasons described above. What are yours?

1. Hound Dog. Elvis Presley's version;

2. Not Fade Away. Buddy Holly

3. Whiter Shade of Pale. Procol Harem;

4. House of the Rising Sun. The Animals;

5. Purple Haze. Jimi Hendrix;

6. Sunshine of Your Love. Cream;

7. Satisfaction. The Rolling Stones;

8. White Rabbit. The Jefferson Airplane;

9. For What It's Worth. Buffalo Springfield;

10. Whole Lotta Love. Led Zeppelin

I've got a handful of others, but I wanted to leave some room for others. Hated to leave "Sultans" off.


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Posts: 14813 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get Off My Lawn
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Ten songs, that is tough.

These are not necessarily my "favorite" or what I consider the best songs, but milestones and influential rock n roll songs.

1- Hound Dog- Elvis Presley

2. Johnny B. Goode- Chuck Berry

3. I Wanna Hold Your Hand- The Beatles

4. You Really Got Me- The Kinks

5. Satisfaction- The Rolling Stones

6. Like A Rolling Stone- Bob Dylan

7. Day in The Life- The Beatles

8. God Save The Queen.- The Sex Pistols

9. Good Vibrations- The Beach Boys

10. Eruption- Van Halen



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Posts: 19500 | Location: Texas | Registered: May 13, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Caribou gorn
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1. Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
2. The Everly Brothers - Bye Bye Love (big influence on Beatles and Beach Boys and S&G)
3. The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand (first big American song for the greatest band of all time)
4. The Rolling Stones - Satisfaction
5. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone (Dylan going electric)
6. The Beatles - A Day in the Life (really, the whole Sgt Peppers record what could be achieved in a studio)
7. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze (showed what might be possible on a guitar)
8. The Ramones - Blietzkrieg Bop (biggest stylistic impact of the late 70s)
9. Beatie Boys - Fight for Your Right (hugely influential for hip-hop melding into rock/pop music
10. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (perhaps the last great spike on the curve of rock n roll music)



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Posts: 10992 | Location: Marietta, GA | Registered: February 10, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Partial dichotomy
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This is really tough. I tried not to use songs other members mentioned, but that's hard. A very good list of songs mentioned so far!

I thought of big songs that got tons of airplay and still do. Some changed The direction of music...or were on the cusp of it. This list could easily be 20 or 30.

I didn't mention very early rock as it did not click with me. and I know I'm omitting a LOT of great artists.

In no particular order:



Stairway to Heaven

Free Bird

Hotel California

Good Vibrations

Turn Turn Turn

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Bohemian Rhapsody

Roundabout

Satisfaction

Jeremy


ETA, I didn't include artist names as you all know them anyway. Wink




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Posts: 41864 | Location: SC Lowcountry/Cape Cod | Registered: November 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Thank you
Very little
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All good songs....

Rocket 88 - Jackie Robinson and his Delta Cats

Like a Rolling Stone - Dylan

Purple Haze - Hendrix

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

House of the Rising Sun -The Animals

Crossroads - originally a Robert Johnson blues song from 1936, arguably the first Rock and Roll song before RNR was a thing, but in reality it was pure blues, and we all know Gospel begat the Blues, Blues begat RNR, it survived into several others doing recordings including Clapton

Gimme Shelter -The Stones

LA Woman -The Doors

Baba O'Riley - The Who

I could name several AC/DC songs Thunderstruck, You Shook Me all Night Long, Highway to Hell, Back in Black, It's a long way to the top, Dirty Deeds, ok yeah I'm a fan of that kind of RNR!
 
Posts: 27968 | Location: Gunshine State | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Legalize the Constitution
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I left off some really important ones, didn’t I. Chuck Berry needs to be there, Beatles, sure. Dylan, no doubt. The Everlys, the Beach Boys…others mentioned. One thing I never claimed is that there are only 10 important songs, I just stopped at 10 to leave some room. Maybe “Sweet Jane” goes in there somewhere.


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Posts: 14813 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Spirit in the Sky : Norman Greenbaum
Long Cool Woman , hollies

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,





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Posts: 56457 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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No particular order or the "best", but when I hear these songs I know all of the lyrics

1: Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
2: Everly Brothers - Wake Up Little Suzy
3: Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
4: Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode
5: Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
6: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
7: Stevie Wonder - Superstition
8: Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You
9: AC/DC - Back In Black
10: Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
 
Posts: 99 | Location: Crawfordville | Registered: October 31, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I gotta add Stranglehold by Ted Nugent.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: heydrich,


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Posts: 696 | Location: The Other Side of Morning  | Registered: December 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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We seem to have forgotten the early 80s?

And for me, it is as mysterious as what happened to Amelia Earhart to list "rock" songs of 2000 - 2026. I am tired of listening to songs of my youth, and proclaiming them as excellent. Has anyone or any group made a Bohemian Rhapsody or More Than A Feeling in this century?

There is a song "Video Killed The Radio Star." Another is "Murder On Music Row." Both bemoan the lack of respect for an era of music. Did rap kill rock?


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Posts: 6175 | Location: Commonwealth of Virginia | Registered: January 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Walk on the wild side. Lou Reed

Sweet Home Alabama. Lynyrd Skynyrd

Ohio CSN&Y

Rumble Link Wray

Fortunate Son CCR
 
Posts: 674 | Location: Kansas | Registered: August 28, 2020Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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No mention of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets; until now.
 
Posts: 4068 | Location: Fairfax Co. VA | Registered: August 03, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
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Proud Mary



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 33516 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Legalize the Constitution
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quote:
Originally posted by rat2306:
No mention of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets; until now.

Or “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” Gene Vincent, or “Summertime Blues,” Eddie Cochran.

I’ll add “Jingo,” Santana. Nothing quite like it.


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Posts: 14813 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Partial dichotomy
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^^^ I think Santana in general brought in a whole new genre to rock and roll.




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Posts: 41864 | Location: SC Lowcountry/Cape Cod | Registered: November 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Slayer of Agapanthus


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quote:
Originally posted by rat2306:
No mention of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets; until now.


Probably #1, excepting maybe some early Sister Rosette Tharpe.


"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, pilot and author, lost on mission, July 1944, Med Theatre.
 
Posts: 6195 | Location: Central Texas | Registered: September 14, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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^^Was just watching a YouTube about the 15 songs that gave us the genre...this guy says "Razzle Dazzle" by Bill Haley and His Comets should have gotten the attention.

I love that he gave Ricky Nelson some credit for being the guy that helped win over the parents of the teens, and named "Stood Up" as his #6.
 
Posts: 4068 | Location: Fairfax Co. VA | Registered: August 03, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Legalize the Constitution
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I just went back through the posts in this thread and realized how important the first 4 songs 6guns posted were. “Stairway” may well be the most recognized song in Rock history. Skynyrd has to be here, and if not “Free Bird,” then “Simple Man.” “Hotel Californis,” fer shur. If you read about “Good Vibrations” in Wiki, you’ll understand what a landmark song it was; how else would we know what a theremin is?

quote:
Originally posted by 6guns:
Stairway to Heaven

Free Bird

Hotel California

Good Vibrations


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Posts: 14813 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Seeker of Clarity
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quote:
Originally posted by TMats:
I believe there are songs in the relatively short history of Rock music that are important. They often signify a watershed moment where the direction of Rock changed, or they are simply so recognizable that you can't think about Rock without thinking of that song.

Here are 10 that I think are important for those reasons described above. What are yours?

1. Hound Dog. Elvis Presley's version;

2. Not Fade Away. Buddy Holly

3. Whiter Shade of Pale. Procol Harem;

4. House of the Rising Sun. The Animals;

5. Purple Haze. Jimi Hendrix;

6. Sunshine of Your Love. Cream;

7. Satisfaction. The Rolling Stones;

8. White Rabbit. The Jefferson Airplane;

9. For What It's Worth. Buffalo Springfield;

10. Whole Lotta Love. Led Zeppelin

I've got a handful of others, but I wanted to leave some room for others. Hated to leave "Sultans" off.


So rock history ends in 1980 then, for the purposes of this exercise (or in the last 40 years, nothing was important enough to displace those you've listed)? Serious question. Like, are we saying all of the newer stuff is like, pop and metal and thrash and blah blah sub-categories?
 
Posts: 11808 | Registered: August 02, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Legalize the Constitution
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quote:
So rock history ends in 1980 then, for the purposes of this exercise (or in the last 40 years, nothing was important enough to displace those you've listed)? Serious question. Like, are we saying all of the newer stuff is like, pop and metal and thrash and blah blah sub-categories?

Rogue, I didn’t put a timeline on this exercise. If you grew up in the 60s and 70s though, these recordings listed by myself and others were innovative, either something not heard before, or something hard to ignore.

I have no doubt that all of us who posted in this thread could add music that can be described as “important” from the 80s on. Michael Jackson, Grunge, etc. Go for it.


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Posts: 14813 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: January 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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