Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of Alltime"

[markydefad]

No, don't worry...I ain't typing the whole list. :lol: In fact, I hesitated to even bring the damn magazine to work, lest I feel compelled to attempt it. :oops: Maybe it's printed somewhere on the web.

I'll do the TOP 10:

1) LIKE A ROLLING STONE - Bob Dylan
2) (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION - Rolling Stone
3) IMAGINE - John Lennon
4) WHAT'S GOING ON - Marvin Gaye
5) RESPECT - Aretha Franklin
6) GOOD VIBRATIONS - Beach Boys
7) JOHNNY B. GOODE - Chuck Berry
8. HEY JUDE - Beatles
9) SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT - Nirvana
10) WHAT'D I SAY - Ray Charles

Most entries:
The Beatles: 23
The Rolling Stones: 12
Elvis Presley: 11
Beach Boys: 7
Jimi Hendrix: 7
U2: 7
Chuck Berry: 6
James Brown: 6
Prince: 6
Led Zeppelin: 6
Sly & the Family Stone: 6

Scoring by the Decades:
1940-49: 1
1950-59: 71
1960-69: 202
1970-79: 144
1980-89: 55
1990-99: 24
2000-04: 3

The bonafide Disco records mnentioned:
#103) HOT STUFF - Donna Summer
#171) DANCING QUEEN - ABBA (well, it's pop, but it's become symbolic of disco with the passing years, hasn't it?)
#189) STAYIN' ALIVE - The Bee Gees
#224) GOOD TIMES - Chic
#255) HEART OF GLASS - Blondie
#283) CALL ME - Blondie (just for Nicky, baby!!)
#301) DA YA THINK I'M SEXY - Rod Stewart (my how opinions have changed on this one!!! this was demonized as "disco dreck" when first released!!) :roll:
#411) I FEEL LOVE - Donna Summer (When Brian Eno first heard this record, he told David Bowie.."I've heard the sound of the future.")
#479) LADY MARMALADE - Labelle
#489) I WILL SURVIVE - Gloria Gaynor
#496) MISS YOU - Rolling Stones

This was the "disco legacy"!!! OK , let the ranting begin!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:




Of interest to the disco/dance crowd:

#51) THE MESSAGE - Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (HIP/HOP but a BIG CLUB RECORD in 1982)
#52) WHEN DOVES CRY - Prince
#58. BILLIE JEAN - Michael Jackson
#74) SUPERSTITION - Stevie Wonder
#108. LITTLE RED CORVETTE - Prince
#146) ROCK LOBSTER - The B-52's
#180) HEY YA! - Outkast
#201) BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE - New Order
#212) 1999 - Prince
#231) SEXUAL HEALING - Marvin Gaye
#237) PLANET ROCK - Afrika Bambaata & the Soul Sonic Force
#243) LOVE SHACK - The B-52's (just for Graham!!!) :P
#248. RAPPERS DELIGHT - Sugarhill Gang
#261) HIGHER GROUND - Stevie Wonder
#287) WALK THIS WAY - Run-DMC
#300) LIKE A PRAYER - Madonna
#324) BABY LOVE - The Supremes (their highest ranking!!) :evil:
#337) BEAT IT - Michael Jackson
#339) YOU KEEP ME HANGIN' ON - The Supremes
#368. PERSONAL JESUS - Depeche Mode
#461) KISS - Prince
#472) WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO - The Supremes (3rd & final listing; first thing I checked, of course) :lol:
#477) SUPER FREAK - Rick James
#481) YOUNG AMERICANS - David Bowie

Among those voting,

Vince Aletti (editor at Village Voice, author of the Record World Disco column in the 70s)
Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane)
Kurtis Blow
Jack Bruce (Cream)
Solomon Burke
T-Bone Burnett
Jerry Butler
David Byrne
Rosanne Cash
Marshall Crenshaw
George Clinton
Elvis Costello
Cameron Crowe
Melissa Etheridge
Phil Everly
Larry Flick (former Billboard Disco Columnist; now of Sirius Radio)
Art Garfunkel
Gerry Goffin
Berry Gordy
Ellie Greenwich
Robert Hlburn (music critic -LA Times)
k.d. lang
Loretta Lynn
Ray Manzarek (A Door)
Roger McGuinn (A Byrd)
Joni Mitchell
Willie Mitchell (Al Green's producer)
Ozzy Osbourne)
Kate Pierson (The B-52's!!; ah, this explains it!!!)
Lisa Marie Presley!!!
Robbie Robertson
Boz Scaggs
John Sebastian (Lovin' Sponful)
Paul Shaffer
Slash
Jerry Wexler (Aretha's producer)
Joel Whitburn!!! (President of Record Research and author of all those Billboard chart books)
Mary Wilson (a Supreme)
Brian Wilson (THE Beach Boy)
Peter Wolf (J. Geils Band)
and once upon a time, our very own Barry Walters (sfbeary), a contributing editor at "Rolling Stone."

Barry Come Back!!! :D :D :D

[QUINNY]

Marky: You should have typed the whole 500, it would have taken up less space. :lol: :lol: :lol:

So ABBA is disco and MJ's Billie Jean, Prince 1999 or Rick James' Superfreak isn't? :o ? I shall assume that all your future posts are as economical with the truth.

[Nano]

The top ten reads more like a "most historically important songs". Too R'N'R Hall of Fame serious.
The only two songs I would keep are "Hey Jude" and "What's going on". Jagger-Richards have much better songs than "Satisfaction"!
Where are the Kinks? XTC? Gerry Rafferty? OK, maybe I'm askin' too much.
About the disco tracks... you could guess they would pick the "greatest disco classics" compilation stuff. Same with soul and hip hop.
Are there some personal lists published? Like, Joni Mitchell's Top 10? I would like to read that one.

[DiscoMan]

As far as Rolling Stoned is concerned; if it ain't rock it ain't music. The Boston Phoenix is just as biased if not more so.

Bob Dylan!? Good song writer but he couldn't carry a tune in a bushel basket. :P His "singin'" sounds like a cat gettin' his nuts squashed in a vice.

"Imagine" and "Hey Jude" in the "Top Ten"!? I don't think so. Any of 500 other songs were far better.

[efunk_adelic]

Nothing by the OHIO PLAYERS?


:cry:

[DiscoMan]

Look at who put the list together. :P

I like The Ohio PLayers. :D

Certainly, any of the innovative R&B and Soul tracks from the early '70s should have been on that list!

[markydefad]

In retrospect, the most disappointing ommissions to me were the Philly Soul records from Gamble-Huff and Thom Bell. Nothing on the list--not even "Backstabbers" or "Love Train"!!! :o

As far as "Disco"--I tried to list just the 70s stuff separately from the latter 1980s "DANCE" product. (OK, "Call Me", was from 1980!!) :lol:

There was a mention of Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" that I missed in my hasty typing. That was "sweet."

Almost all their "DISCO" listings were ROCK-inflected DISCO--but that's waht you'd expect, I guess.

[Jeff H]

"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"? And no Cole Porter? No Sondheim? No, uh... Mozart??!

The title alone is completely false ("of ALL TIME??!), so it shouldn't be surprising that disco, R&B, country, Broadway, etc., etc. are underrepresented or completely forgotten. But as DiscoMan noted, as far as Rolling Stone is concerned, if it ain't rock, it ain't music.

Lists like this--and the endless list shows on VH1, Bravo, etc.--always show the bias of the source and/or their target audience (just look at the differences between the Top 500 and Top 700 lists at this site) and are meant to inspire debate. But they sure are entertaining, huh?

[paul]

Rolling Stone is truly fish wrap. I would buy the National Enquirer before I buy that toilet paper!

[efunk_adelic]

"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"? And no Cole Porter? No Sondheim? No, uh... Mozart??!

The title alone is completely false ("of ALL TIME??!), so it shouldn't be surprising that disco, R&B, country, Broadway, etc., etc. are underrepresented or completely forgotten. But as DiscoMan noted, as far as Rolling Stone is concerned, if it ain't rock, it ain't music.

Lists like this--and the endless list shows on VH1, Bravo, etc.--always show the bias of the source and/or their target audience (just look at the differences between the Top 500 and Top 700 lists at this site) and are meant to inspire debate. But they sure are entertaining, huh?

I look at it this way.... it's a small group of people guessing what's the greatest songs of all time (rock era '55). Which explains why songs from before hand are excluded and for the fact the any of these songs charted on the pop/LP charts.

besides, can you imagine if they put one of us on there... we'd be the only one's voting for songs by VOYAGE, CERRONE, SYLVESTER, etc. etc. etc. and they wouldn't make the list anyways.

[usagi-san]

I also think Gerry Rafferty was one of the important nondisco artists who should have been included. And yes, I would have put Philadelphia International-Thom Bell sound on there, and many of my other choices would have been different, too.

[Jeff H]

As I was flipping through this issue again yesterday, I also noticed that the "Holiday Gift Guide" (a.k.a. paid ad placements), included an album by teen queen Lindsay Lohan (complete with her first name misspelled in big red letters! :roll: ). But what really caught my eye was that the ad includes the Casablanca logo! (It's on page 186 for anyone who cares to check.)

It appears that it might be a very slightly revised version of the logo we all know and love, but I'll confess to a momentary thrill at seeing it again--followed by disappointment over what the label represents (or, worse, doesn't represent) these days.

[Bernie]

Jeff,
Someone posted a while back here the story of Casablanca Records being reactivated, but I can't remember who or when this was. Try searching the forums to see if it comes up.

[Jeff H]

Yes, Bernie, I do remember reading that someone bought and planned to revive the Casablanca label--am I correct in thinking it is the former Mr. Mariah Carey, Tommy Mottola?

I was just trying to express my disappointment that the label that once embodied disco music (even if some of it now seems like schlock) no longer does.

Of course, Mr. Mottola could always make it up to us by digging deep into those vaults and reissuing some of those lost treasures on CD. (Assuming he owns the rights to the Casablanca catalog...?)

[efunk_adelic]

I also think Gerry Rafferty was one of the important nondisco artists who should have been included.

explain.... why does he deserve mention...

[usagi-san]

efunk_adelic, well, I like a lot of other types of music in addition to a lot of disco, and I think Gerry Rafferty was and is as good as they get in the singer songwriter styles that people tend to classify with names such as pop-folk-rock and such. There was a lot more to his output then "Baker Street", and he is still active, as one can see from an internet search.

[efunk_adelic]

efunk_adelic, well, I like a lot of other types of music in addition to a lot of disco, and I think Gerry Rafferty was and is as good as they get in the singer songwriter styles that people tend to classify with names such as pop-folk-rock and such. There was a lot more to his output then "Baker Street", and he is still active, as one can see from an internet search.

I also like BAKER STREET.... however, I thought he died out after the first 2 hit singles...

[Nano]

"Right down the line" is one of the best pop recordings ever, IMHO. 8)

[superfly]

Where is The Man, Barry White ? :evil:



He's still gettin no respect. :(