Mag all-time hit list has '60s-'70s groove
By JONATHAN LEMIRE
Bob Dylan, whose 'Like a Rolling Stone' nabbed the No. 1 slot, also placed 11 other songs on Rolling Stone's list.
Aretha Franklin got plenty of 'Respect,' too, charting at No. 5.
Bob Dylan over John Lennon? The Stones over the Beatles? And Abba over, well, anybody?
Sure to spark heated debates around the jukebox - or maybe the iPod - Rolling Stone magazine has just published a collection of what its panel of experts deem the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
But younger folks may be left wondering whether these critics turned off their radios for good when disco hit. And older folks might wonder why there's very little before Elvis started wiggling his hips.
Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" sits atop the chart - (hmm, why do they like that one so much?) - followed by the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and Lennon's "Imagine."
Lennon's old band - what was their name again? - notched its first song, "Hey Jude," at No. 8, two ahead of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say," which rounded out a top 10 that has just one song, Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (No. 9), that was written after 1971.
Indeed, of the 500 songs, a staggering 202 were written in the 1960s, and another 144 were penned a decade later. Meanwhile, only 55 songs from the 1980s were selected. Okay, maybe they got that right.
But just three songs from the current decade were chosen: Eminem's "Lose Yourself" (No. 166) and "Stan" (No. 290), and last year's ubiquitous hit, OutKast's "Hey Ya" (No. 180).
Not surprisingly, the Beatles placed the most songs on the list with an astounding 23. Their ancient rivals, the Stones, took second with 14, two ahead of Dylan and three in front of Elvis.
These totals, once again, show the list's generational bias: Of the acts that place at least seven songs on the countdown, only one - U2, with a new album out next week - can still be seen as being at the top of its game.
Ultimately, however, the list acts as the ultimate conversation starter for anybody who has plugged in an electric guitar - or, for that matter, a turntable - and dreamed of cutting the perfect album, or for someone who simply gets a thrill out of opening a new CD.
The potential for argument is endless: is Roy Orbison's "Crying," (No. 69) really 100 songs better than R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" (No. 169)?
In a battle of guitar heroes, shouldn't Bruce Springsteen, whose top song, "Born to Run," clocks in at No. 21, be ahead of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze," which slides in at #17?
And how did the celebrity panel - which included Joni Mitchell, "David Letterman" bandleader Paul Shaffer and Daily News critic-at-large David Hinckley - decide a Sonny and Cher song, "I Got You Babe" (No. 444), was worthy of the list?
So, let the debates begin. But go easy on the air guitar.
The top 20 songs from Rolling Stone Magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time":
"Like a Rolling Stone" Bob Dylan
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" The Rolling Stones
"Imagine" John Lennon
"What's Going On" Marvin Gaye
"Respect" Aretha Franklin
"Good Vibrations" The Beach Boys
"Johnny B. Goode" Chuck Berry
"Hey Jude" The Beatles
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" Nirvana
"What'd I Say" Ray Charles
"My Generation" The Who
"A Change is Gonna Come" Sam Cooke
"Yesterday" The Beatles
"Blowin' in the Wind" Bob Dylan
"London Calling" The Clash
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" The Beatles
"Purple Haze" The Jimi Hendrix Experience
"Maybellene" Chuck Berry
"Hound Dog" Elvis Presley
"Let It Be" The Beatles
like always, Nirvana overrated
