Let's Talk Music meme

[ericadawn16]

azewewish posted an excellent question on her journal so I asked permission to make it a meme and post it on mine.

If you were going to make up a list of the 20 most important songs in rock history - and it can be funk, rock, pop, country, rap, punk, New Wave, EDM, etc - what would be on your list?

This was too hard for me, I had to bump it up to 30 and still had some hard decisions, like not including "American Pie" by Don McLean. I also did it in chronological order so I wouldn't have to pick favorites.

1. "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" By Gilbert and Sullivan (1879)
2. Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (1924)
3. "Let's Misbehave" by Cole Porter (1927)
4. "Kaw-Liga" by Hank Williams (1952)
5. "Don't Be Cruel" by Elvis Presley (1956)
6. "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
7. "Wake Up Little Susie" by The Everly Brothers (1957)
8. "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry (1958)
9. "Love Me Do" by The Beatles (1962)
10. "Space Oddity) by David Bowie (1969)
11. "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Jimi Hendrix (1969)
12. "ABC" by The Jackson 5 (1970)
13. "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson (1970)
14. "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell (1970)
15. "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath (1971)
16. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan (1973)
17. "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones (1976)
18. "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways (1976)
19. "One Love/People Get Ready" by Bob Marley & The Wailers (1977)
20. "Geometry of Circles" by Philip Glass (1979)
21. "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd (1979)
22. "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang (1979)
23. "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis (1981)
24. "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock (1983)
25. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2 (1983)
26. "Holiday" by Madonna (1983)
27. "Thriller" by Michael Jackson (1983)
28. "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" by The Beastie Boys (1987)
29. "Pump Up the Volume" by MARRS (1987)
30. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana (1991)

So, what's your list?

Comments

[maynardsong.livejournal.com]

Ah I don't like this question only because I don't particularly like "seminal" songs. I like "You" by Candlebox, "Fell on Black Days" by Soundgarden, "Them Bones" by Alice in Chains, "Dead and Bloated" by Stone Temple Pilots, "Part Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder, "Because the Night" by Patti Smith and by 10000 Maniacs, "Angry Johnny" by Poe, "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" by Tori Amos, "Hooker with a Penis" by Tool, Tool's covers of "No Quarter" and "Stranglehold", "Judith" by A Perfect Circle"...well I expect people to look at me funny with the songs I've given for historical titles.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

So, are these songs that you feel are important to music or songs that have been important to you?

What's your exact problem with "seminal"? Is it just that the songs listed as important aren't songs you particularly like?

I know I've found in any medium that a piece can be important to the history of the medium and I'll agree with that while still admitting that I totally hate that particular piece.

[maynardsong.livejournal.com]

Exactly what you said. I'm just not that fond of the songs I recognize as historical.

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

That is a cool meme :D