And they have voted with their wallets. They have voted overwhelmingly for McDonald's hamburgers. And when the public makes a single #1 on the charts, they have similarly voted for that song with their wallets. But if that's what "The Best" is, well... I'm not sure "initial impact" ought to be the weightiest part of the criteria.



Yeah, but does that make it an inherrently greater song? I suppose it depends on one's definition of great. Pat Boone's "Tutti Frutti" outsold Little Richard's. Hootie and the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View has outsold every Bob Dylan album. By a lot.

There's a difference with the hamburgers, people would buy better burgers if they could afford them. Most people who eat at McDonalds would prefer a steak if they could afford it. McDonalds is just a convenient and affordable place to eat.

Boone's "Tutti Frutti" was the flip side of an even bigger hit, his version of the Flamingos "I'll Be Home," so it's not really fair to compare its sales head to head with Richard's "TF" which did not have a popular flip side. We don;t really know what percentage of the single's sales were for "I'll Be Home," which were for "TF" and which sales may have been for both sides.

As for popular music, who are we to tell the general public that we know better than they do as do which music is good?

The ONLY part of the criteria of any of these lists that is truly objective is the "initial popularity" part. Everything else is subjective.

If a record was number one for 4 weeks, that is totally objective. That will not change from editor to editor.

But influence, impact, even lasting popularity to a degree, are subjective. If influence was truly objective than you wouldn't have different editors disagreeing on which artists were more influential. The top editors on the site can't even agree if Elvis or the Beatles were more influential, let alone all kinds of other pairings.

Can't argue with that.

If anyone suggested that "My Generation" should be placed on a list of the 100 Most Valuable Copyrights, they were wrong. B^)

Yes, popularity is objective, but it's only part of the story.

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notices the number of songs by Zeppelin in the top 50 .....damn.....

Suspicious Minds in 212#?

Louie Louie being that high is laughable, imo....
Cool little radio sing-along tune and whatnot, but it wasn't a landmark for rock music at all.

You're wrong. It's an all time classic known by people of all ages, transcending rock and roll. The first modern hit rock record in the US, before any of the British stuff made it here. It's one of the best known songs of all time. There was even an FBI investigation into the lyrics at the time.

Dave Marsh ranks it as the #11 single of all time in his "1,001 Greatest Rock and Soul Singles" book.

It's also the #11 most critically acclaimed song of the 1960s, on acclaimedmusic.net.

1 Bob Dylan Like a Rolling Stone 1965
2 The Rolling Stones (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 1965
3 The Beach Boys Good Vibrations 1966
4 Aretha Franklin Respect 1967
5 Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through the Grapevine 1968
6 Otis Redding (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay 1968
7 The Ronettes Be My Baby 1963
8 The Who My Generation 1965
9 The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever 1967
10 The Beatles A Day in the Life 1967
11 The Kingsmen Louie Louie

How many other songs have had an album of various versions of the song?

Lmao, I cant see the "transcendence" there...
I'm not saying it wasn't a huge song, but to have it above the likes of Good Vibrations and Like A Rolling Stone?

The transendence is things like that you'll even here college bands play the song sometimes in the halftime show. They certainly are not playing "Good Vibrations" or "Like A Rolling Stone."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP-3FgHcTYY

There have been plenty of non rock versions of "Louie Louie."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ToFSOi8pnY

You wanna talk about songs that were covered A LOT? You have Yesterday all the way down at #28....

I agree, My Generation was a forerunner to punk and hard rock.

It was REMADE a lot, yes.

"Yesterday" is not really rock. It's on the list because it was orignated by a rock artist and was played on rock stations, but it has to be penalized some on a ROCK list.

I have it much higher on the "500 Greatest Popular Recordings" list.

http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_ ... pular.html

Actually....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B72ZJbRQYJk

(University of Michigan marching band does "Good Vibrations" and "Fun Fun Fun".)