10??

Out of the hundreds of thousands?

Alright...I'll play along...but keep in mind that if you ask me to give you a list of 10 an hour from now...it may very well be different. Also keep in mind that the thread is the Top 10 >greatest<, not my personal favorite top 10. There may be some crossover...but very little.

I will also endeavor to explain why I think each of these deserves to be Top 10...and NONE OF THESE SONGS IS BY NIRVANA. Get over it. They sucked. I don't give a shit what VH1 says. (ok...not really >sucked<...but nowhere near as good as they are being made out to be)

Enough preaching.

These 10 are not in bottom to top (or vice versa) order...

Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor) - Robert Palmer
This might be on every list that I would give. Simple reason really. Now that I've mentioned it the chorus is going through your head, isn't it? Don't lie to me now. You know it is. The blind squirrel found his nut here...

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
I could go for the rest of my life without ever hearing it again...but it broke the 4 minute barrier on radio playlists and opened up the world for groups like Yes and other art rockers to get their music heard. 1971 saw alot of very good music come out...but this one made sure it all made the airwaves. Still probably the most requested song ever at radio stations. Plus...it is one of the first songs in the "I'm learning guitar" series. (Hey dude...can you play Stairway???)

(I Can't get no) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
He can't be a man cause he doesn't smoke...the same cigarettes as me! Personally I like the Devo version. Britney's version makes me wanna puke. Seeing Angelina J sing it in the movies makes me hot. Its pervasive. Its everywhere. It deserves top 10.

Aqualung - Jethro Tull
The best guitar solo ever laid on a track. Its not lightning fast or overly technical...but its perfect. Don't believe me...listen to it again.

Cocaine - Eric Clapton (live version)
She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie. Again, my personal favorite version is not this one...but rather a reggae-fied acoustic version done by Nazareth on their live album...but there's no sense denying that this should be high on everyones list (pun intended).

Tush - ZZTOP
Just give me some of that Texas boogie woogie!

Hey Jude - Beatles
Ok...this really should be an >insert your favorite Beatles tune here< category. This could easily have been Lucy in the Sky or any one of the early number ones. The fab four brought the revolution to the doorstep...and we let them in. This track, though...seems to have the biggest response...cause everyone loves to sing along at the end.

My Generation - The Who
Why don't you all f f f f fade away. I hope I die before I get old...how much more Rock and Roll can you get than that?

Orange Crush - REM
Could easily substitute "Stand" from the same disk. Reason I find this top ten material is simple...it was the breakout song in the 80s that took "Alternative" music mainstream. It rescued music in the 80's from being consumed by Duran Duran, a Flock of Hairdos and the like and brought good music back to radio. Led the way for Midnight Oil, INXS and a host of other bands that had been relegated to "college music"

Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
There would be no context to discuss Rock and Roll without Jimi Hendrix. Theres to much groundbreaking work in his catelog to pick the most influential piece...after all he did Dylan better than Dylan with Watchtower, he influenced perhaps the greatest guitarist of all time (SRV) with Little Wing and Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)...he incited Woodstock to all salute our fine nation with his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner...his is perhaps the best version of Sunshine of Your Love...and who doesn't know his version of Wild Thing...but Purple Haze seems to roll all of that influence into one track.


Ones that got cut from the list...

Space Oddity - David Bowie
Even had an 80s pop record done in its likeness. Ground Control to Major Tom...you're on my top ten list tonight. Again..not my personal favorite Bowie track...but probably his best known work.

Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
Pick up an electric guitar. Play Smoke on the Water. Of course...its never the right way...but its close. Its the urge...one of the most memorable classic rock tunes of the 70s.

Roundabout - Yes
In the end, this just seemed to be more of a "my favorite" than a 10 greatest pick. Maybe I'm being too hard on Yes for being one of my Top 5 favorite bands of all time.

Surprisingly, a couple of my favorite bands did not make this list. The number one being Pink Floyd. While Another Brick Part 2 and Money are both top 50 material...it was hard for me to rate them in the Top 10.

I'll look this over tomorrow and kick myself for forgetting something. And I'm certain to like and respect other lists. And I'm notorious for not being able to make up my mind regarding music choice...which is how you end up with 115 gig of music on your computer.

Huey's "Drug" simply isn't as pervasive as "Doctor Doctor". Dr fits in any rotation. You can put it in the middle of a hard rock set..it fits. You can play on "oldies"...it fits...its a brilliantly crafted Rock and Roll song.

I would rank the "Sports" lp from Huey pretty high on an all time album list though. The individual songs aren't top 10 material on their own.

While I like some of Palmer's other stuff quite a bit, Clues being my favorite album...the later stuff (Simply Irrisistable or Addicted to Love) is completely forgettable. Hence the reason for the "blind squirrel" comment.

...a top 10 of the origination...influences of the influences as it were.

On that list would be items like Louie Louie - Kingsmen, Thats Alright - Elvis, At the hop, Lucille, La Bamba, Peggy Sue...

These were the songs that had the term Rock and Roll pegged. The first couple of MoTown recordings are also huge because of the recording methods, use of (or abuse of if you read the stories) studio musicians.

Half of Peter's list wouldn't have been possible without Black Sabbath creating the path for "dark rock"...soon to become the heavy metal genre...and even Judas Priest went very early into that presentation. Kiss was hugely influential because of the live aspects of the show...turning concerts into spectacles.

You've given me the opportunity to exercise my radio muscles with this topic. Don't get to do that very often anymore.