Awhile back, I did a series of Friday Random Ten posts based on this Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. I had thought it was from 2008, but upon closer inspection it’s actually from 2004, it was just archived at that link in 2008. Recently, I came across this apparently updated list from 2011 and figured hey, there’s new songs on that list and new songs in my collection since I did the original series (which ran from November 2010 to March 2011. Why not take another crack at it? And this time, just to be different, I’ll start at the bottom and work my way up.
1. Shop Around – Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (#500)
2. The Rising – Bruce Springsteen (#497)
3. Running On Empty – The MOB (#496, orig. Jackson Browne)
4. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor (#492)
5. I Love Rock and Roll – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (#491)
6. Under The Boardwalk – The Drifters (#489)
7. I’m Eighteen – Alice Cooper (#487)
8. White Rabbit – Austin Lounge Lizards & Karen Abrahams (#483, orig. Jefferson Airplane)
9. Super Freak – Big Daddy (#481, orig. Rick James)
10. I Want To Know What Love Is – Big Daddy (#479, orig. Foreigner)
As before, if I have the original I’ll cite it regardless of what cover versions I have (and as we know, I love the CAKE cover of “I Will Survive”), but if I on;y have covers I’ll cite them all. One reason why I went looking for this list again was as inspiration for tunes to add to my library – I add plenty of music for the girls, so I wanted to make sure I got some new songs as well. I’ll add in a bit of commentary about the ones I don’t have as well, to wit:
Song I don’t have but should: “Young Americans”, David Bowie, #486. Always liked it when I heard it on the radio.
Song I don’t have and have no intention of having: “Ignition”, R Kelly, #494. Because screw R Kelly.
Songs the girls might like if I played them for them: “Lady Marmalade”, LaBelle (#485) and “Since U Been Gone”, Kelly Clarkson. They like modern pop and generally danceable stuff, so why not?
Settle in, this is going to take awhile. Feel free to chime in with tunes from this range that you have, especially if I don’t have it.