Bruce, the idea of assimilating with the lists of decades seems more fair, although the list of 80s seems to have a different criteria.

My first suggestion would be to choose which songs can be part of a possible top 300 - can then expand to 500, of course - and then put in order according to the criterion.

Possibility, yes, we will need at least 67 more songs than the ones I mentioned. I also purposely only listed the later version of "Walk The Way" but I would list both versions in the same slot when we got to it, like this...

000 - Walk This Way - Aerosmith / Run-DMC

So if we ever get around to reworking this list, here are a few songs that I think are essential for the top 10:

Jailhouse Rock
What'd I Say
Like A Rolling Stone
Satisfaction
A Day In The Life
Tutti Frutti/Long Tall Sally
Johnny B. Goode

.. or Arthur Smith from 1945 with Guitar Boogie ... Take care

I'd say 'no way' for ADitL and LTS and 'maybe' at best for Tutti Frutti. Agree with the others though.

Why dont you and Clash think ADitL is top 10? That song was a huge influence on progressive rock in general, probably as much as I Wanna Hold Your Hand was on "power pop".

We're talking top ten of all time here. The fact that songs were influences on sub-genres that never really got all that big with the general public (prog, power pop) isn't enough to get you into the top ten of all time.

Here's what I would go with:

1. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
2. Respect - Aretha Franklin
3. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
4. Louie Louie - Kingsmen
5. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
6. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
7. Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
8. Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets
9. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
10. Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

The Beatles would likely have the most songs on the list, but I don't see any one of those songs as viable for the top ten. Perhaps because none of them stands out as far above the others.

I see all of these as being in the top 300. Maybe a couple of others too.

Hey Jude - Beatles
She Loves You - Beatles
A Day In The Life - Beatles
I Want To Hold Your Hand - Beatles
Yesterday - Beatles
I Saw Her Standing There - Beatles
Ticket To Ride - Beatles
Strawberry Fields Forever - Beatles
Let It Be - The Beatles
Revolution - Beatles
A Hard Day's Night - Beatles
I Feel Fine - Beatles
Twist And Shout - Beatles

Nice list, I like it.

One issue, however:
A Change Is Gonna Come > Billie Jean.

"A Change Is Gonna Come" was a B side that barely cracked the top 40 when it was current. It was never played as an oldie on oldies radio and has only become well known to the mainstream in the past 5 years or so, partially due to being played a lot during Obama's 2008 campaign. I don't see it as anywhere near the top 50 rock songs of all time.

"Billie Jean" is one tjhe best known songs around the world, was #1 for a bunch of weeks in numerous countries, and was the record that got MTV to start playing black music, and you know where that eventually led to. It's still probably the best record to play to get a crowd dancing. It's the lead song on the greatest album in world history.

I can't see puttting a song in the top 10 that will have some people wandering what it is. I don't even see "Change" as Cooke's top record. I would go with "Bring It On Home To Me."

I would have said "You Send Me".

Anyway I like your Top 10, Bruce. I still think Stairway's too high, Louie Louie too, and RAtC too low, but that Top 10 you posted is so much better than Lew's current version it's not even funny, and I would like to see you become editor of this list.

Not too many songs have had an album of all different versions of the same song.

And it even says "Rock's #1 All Time Song" on the cover. That should be considered, too.

Nice top 10, Bruce.
All these songs score very well in the criteria and a few other songs too.

I'd put "What's Goin' On" ahead of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". But, the second is a top 30, for sure.

What do you think about Gaye's led record?

I don't understand the question, but I see "What's Goin' On" as much more famous as an album than as the one song. "Grapevine" is the much bigger "song," with many times as many remakes as "What's Goin' On." Even though Gaye did not do "Grapevine" first, most of the remakes are done in the style that he did it in.

Even little kids know "Grapevine" from commercials with dancing grapes and raisins, shit like that. The musical intro to Gaye's version is iconic.

"What's Goin' On," on the other hand, does not sound all that different than "Mercy Mercy Me."

I would say that "Let's Get It On" as a song might beat "What's Goin' On" as a song. It certainly sold a lot more copies as a single in the years I worked in the record business. Everybody wanted "Let's Get It On" to play during sex. And people have sex a lot more often than they contemplate what's going on in the world.

I think "What's Goin' On" deserves to be one of the top ten albums of all time, but not the song.

Um, what? This doesnt even make sense. Anyone who has bothered to study oldies rock beyond the typical "Beatles are cool" mentality can surely recognize the huge impact and influence of Change. Billie Jean may take popularity, but that's it. I'd like to know what kind of significance the song has, besides being a hugely popular smash.
Shit, even Otis Redding covered Change (though his version sucked, imo), as did Adam Lambert, which goes to show you the lasting impact of the song.



Then why did you agree with me a while back when I said Change is top 10?