Greatest Rock Songs 1970s (Revision Version)

[ManPerson]

What's the justification for 25 or 6 to 4 > If You Leave Me Now. I'm guessing you don't consider IYLMN to be rock?

[Brian]

Yes, or at best, borderline rock. I thought it best to represent Chicago with a song that's definitely rock.

[ManPerson]

- I could see Mamma Mia being added to the list since it has strong streaming numbers, as well as inspiring a hugely successful musical and movie, so it's likely that Spotify numbers alone would actually underestimate the song's popularity.

- I'd also have Take it Easy higher, strong streaming numbers, as well as being the most popular song off of a huge selling greatest hits album, two facts that indicate really strong lasting popularity. I'd also give it a lot of credit for the Eagles influence on soft rock since it was their debut and breakthrough single.

- I'd have Paranoid a bit higher. I think when compared with Sex Machine, both songs are very influential while Paranoid's win in lasting popularity trumps Sex Machine's win in acclaim. I think it's win in acclaim and influence should also put it above Free Bird, Smoke On the Water and Ain't No Sunshine, though I guess in SOtW's case influence is somewhat comparable, since it has huge lasting popularity in its own right.

- Blitzkrieg Bop seems low. I think the only part of the criteria that Kashmir or Won't Get Fooled Again, for example clearly beat the song is initial popularity. I also think it's comparable with Walk on the Wild Side with acclaim being close, Walk on the Wild Side taking popularity and Blitzkrieg Bop clearly taking influence.

- I feel like Somebody to Love's popularity should bring it on here, but I assume that you consider 5 Queen songs to be a bit much. Similar situation for Beast of Burden or Wild Horses.

[Brian]

I don't weigh influence much for this list, mainly because I usually find it hard to credit influence to an individual song. I think influence indirectly affects the list anyway, because I think it affects acclaimmusic.net rankings. For example, I doubt that "Rapper's Delight" would rank as highly there if not for its influence.

"Take It Easy" does have strong streaming numbers, but the greatest hits album is filled with popular songs, so I don't think we can conclude much from that. The song could be a little higher though. I'm thinking 6 positions, so that it's in between "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and "I Wanna Be Sedated". That would also move it 2 positions higher on the 1972 list, from #15 to #13.

I think that I'll stop work on this list for today, but if you want to comment more, that's fine. I'll see it tomorrow.

[ManPerson]

Ok, all the comments I leave will be edited into two posts above this one.

[Fido]

Good update!

[Brian]

Thanks, Fido!

[Brian]

- I could see Mamma Mia being added to the list since it has strong streaming numbers, as well as inspiring a hugely successful musical and movie, so it's likely that Spotify numbers alone would actually underestimate the song's popularity.

- I'd also have Take it Easy higher, strong streaming numbers, as well as being the most popular song off of a huge selling greatest hits album, two facts that indicate really strong lasting popularity. I'd also give it a lot of credit for the Eagles influence on soft rock since it was their debut and breakthrough single.

- I'd have Paranoid a bit higher. I think when compared with Sex Machine, both songs are very influential while Paranoid's win in lasting popularity trumps Sex Machine's win in acclaim. I think it's win in acclaim and influence should also put it above Free Bird, Smoke On the Water and Ain't No Sunshine, though I guess in SOtW's case influence is somewhat comparable, since it has huge lasting popularity in its own right.

- Blitzkrieg Bop seems low. I think the only part of the criteria that Kashmir or Won't Get Fooled Again, for example clearly beat the song is initial popularity. I also think it's comparable with Walk on the Wild Side with acclaim being close, Walk on the Wild Side taking popularity and Blitzkrieg Bop clearly taking influence.

- I feel like Somebody to Love's popularity should bring it on here, but I assume that you consider 5 Queen songs to be a bit much. Similar situation for Beast of Burden or Wild Horses.

"Mamma Mia" could be added, but since it wasn't a very big hit in the US, isn't especially acclaimed, its Spotify numbers are very good but not huge, and ABBA already has 2 songs on the list, I don't think it's a must. I'm running low on songs that I don't mind dropping from the list, since most near the bottom of the list are there to represent a particular artist or subgenre. I suppose I could drop "Takin' Care of Business" to make room for it, unless you propose another song to add that I think is more worthy than "Mamma Mia".

I talked about "Take It Easy" in a previous post.

I'll move "Paranoid" up a bit, but on it and "Blitzkrieg Bop", note what I said before about influence. That being the case, I'll put BB 2 positions higher, but I think that's enough.

I do think there's enough Queen and Stones on the list, especially Queen, considering that "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" comprise one entry, so while they have 4 entries, they really already have 5 songs.

[ManPerson]

I suppose I could drop "Takin' Care of Business" to make room for it, unless you propose another song to add that I think is more worthy than "Mamma Mia".

"The Passenger" was an omission that came to mind, strong acclaim and lasting popularity. I think it takes popularity by more than Lust for Life takes acclaim.

[Brian]

I replaced "Lust for Life" with "The Passenger", and substituted "Is This Love" for "Jamming".

In the process of looking into and making these changes, "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac came to my attention. It probably got left out before because Fleetwood Mac already have 3 songs, but still, that's 3 songs, not 4, and "The Chain" is pretty huge. I think it should have priority over "Mamma Mia". "The Chain" pretty much beats "Mamma Mia" in everything, except that it wasn't a single at the time. Of course, it was on a huge album, so it was never an obscurity.

[ManPerson]

I'd have A Horse with No Name higher. #1 hit in the US, over 1 billion streams on Spotify and it's also been shazamed over 8 million times, indicating it's played in public quite a bit as well. I think it's clearly a lot more popular, at least in recent years, than You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, with similar acclaim. Looking higher than that, it seems very comparable with The Joker.

I'd have YMCA a lot higher. Obviously a huge hit on release and while its Spotify numbers aren't huge, this definitely seems like a case where Spotify doesn't quite capture a song's popularity, since it's been a mainstay at sporting events and parties for decades and, tbf this is just from my experience, it seems like pretty much everyone knows the song at least somewhat. Based on this it's the 5th most played song of the 1970s at parties. I see it as being very comparable with Funkytown.

Also, in terms of ABBA songs, I'd say Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) should be added since its lasting popularity is quite huge with over 1.2 billion streams, over 900 million views on Youtube (across a couple videos) and over 11 million shazams. According to that link I mentioned earlier it also seems to be played a ton at parties. It seems to blow pretty much every song in the 200-250 range out of the water in lasting popularity. Also, personally, I don't think 3 ABBA songs would be excessive at all considering how successful they were from 1974-1981.

[Brian]

I think that the question of "A Horse with No Name" vs. "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" is more a matter of the latter being a little high than the former being a little low. "Black Magic Woman" is a similar case to YASNY. So I'll move those 2 songs below AHwNN. "The Joker" is 7x platinum in the US, which is part of the reason for its high placement.

I'll promote YMCA 6 positions (131-125).

I think "The Chain" beats Gimme!, but Gimme! probably does beat "Mamma Mia". I had mentioned "Takin' Care of Business" as a possible song to drop, and now looking for a second one, I suppose "Alone Again (Naturally)" could be dropped on the grounds that it's questionable as a rock song, even if it is popular and acclaimed. So I think Gimme! can be added as long as another doesn't come up that I think is more deserving.

I'm not familiar with shazams.

[ManPerson]

Shazam is an app used to find the name of songs you hear in public so if a song is shazamed a lot, it's likely that it's played a lot in either restaurants, department store, parties, festivals, or something like that.

[Fido]

I'll add that even if I think it's a good idea to use Shazam, it also shows that people are not that familiar with the song. A song that is played all the time but everybody knows already doesn't need to be shazamed.

[Brian]

Agreed, and if the purpose is to find the names of songs that one hears in public, I'd think that a song would be more likely to be looked up if the name of the song isn't obvious from hearing the song. For instance, if one were to hear "That's the Way (I Like It)" in public, one could probably guess what the title is even if he didn't know.

[Brian]

I rearranged the 37-51 part of the revision and added "The Chain" and "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"

[ManPerson]

Looks good.

[Brian]

Thanks, ManPerson.

Today I will ask Lew to update this list on the main site, and also the top 10s for each year. As soon as possible, I'll send him the updated long lists for each year of the '70s. I've done most of the work on that, so I hope to make that happen within the next few days.

Below is the old list, which I am posting so there will be a record of it. I'll post the new list in the first post of this thread.

1. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
2. Hotel California - The Eagles
3. Imagine - John Lennon
4. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
5. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
6. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
7. Layla - Derek and the Dominos
8. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
9. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
10. Let's Stay Together - Al Green
11. Let It Be - The Beatles
12. Maggie May - Rod Stewart
13. American Pie - Don McLean
14. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
15. Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees
16. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
17. Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones
18. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
19. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
20. Papa Was a Rollin' Stone - The Temptations
21. Your Song - Elton John
22. Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight and the Pips
23. More Than a Feeling - Boston
24. Just My Imagination - The Temptations
25. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
26. Roxanne - The Police
27. Dream On - Aerosmith
28. Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 - Pink Floyd
29. No Woman, No Cry - Bob Marley and the Wailers
30. London Calling - The Clash
31. Family Affair - Sly and the Family Stone
32. Anarchy in the UK - The Sex Pistols
33. Dancing Queen - ABBA
34. We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions - Queen
35. Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine - James Brown
36. Living for the City - Stevie Wonder
37. Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
38. Lola - The Kinks
39. Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
40. Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
41. Walk This Way - Aerosmith
42. Lean on Me - Bill Withers
43. Who'll Stop the Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival
44. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
45. Rapper's Delight - The Sugarhill Gang
46. Heart of Glass - Blondie
47. Theme from "Shaft" - Isaac Hayes
48. Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
49. Fire and Rain - James Taylor
50. Baba O'Riley - The Who
51. Paranoid - Black Sabbath
52. Heart of Gold - Neil Young
53. Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
54. It's Too Late - Carole King
55. You Are the Sunshine of My Life - Stevie Wonder
56. All Right Now - Free
57. Good Times - Chic
58. (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
59. If You Don't Know Me by Now - Harold Melvin & Blue Notes
60. Riders On the Storm - The Doors
61. My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
62. Bang a Gong (Get It On) - T. Rex
63. Black Magic Woman - Santana
64. Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan
65. One Nation Under a Groove - Funkadelic
66. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
67. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
68. We Are Family - Sister Sledge
69. Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin
70. I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
71. Money - Pink Floyd
72. Miss You - The Rolling Stones
73. Piano Man - Billy Joel
74. Tired of Being Alone - Al Green
75. Killing Me Softly with His Song - Roberta Flack
76. Changes - David Bowie
77. Le Freak - Chic
78. Band of Gold - Freda Payne
79. Maybe I'm Amazed (studio version) - Paul McCartney
80. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
81. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
82. Heroes - David Bowie
83. Hot Stuff - Donna Summer
84. War - Edwin Starr
85. Night Moves - Bob Seger
86. Black Dog - Led Zeppelin
87. Brass in Pocket - The Pretenders
88. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
89. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
90. I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers
91. Tumbling Dice - The Rolling Stones
92. Love Train - The O'Jays
93. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
94. Best of My Love - The Emotions
95. God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols
96. Old Time Rock 'n' Roll - Bob Seger & Silver Bullet Band
97. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
98. Message in a Bottle - The Police
99. Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye
100. One of These Nights - The Eagles

101. Oh Girl - The Chi-Lites
102. Train in Vain - The Clash
103. Take It Easy - The Eagles
104. I'll Be Around - The Spinners
105. American Woman - The Guess Who
106. Roundabout - Yes
107. That Lady - The Isley Brothers
108. Angie - The Rolling Stones
109. Rock Lobster - The B-52's
110. Have You Seen Her - The Chi-Lites
111. Reeling in the Years - Steely Dan
112. Bennie and the Jets - Elton John
113. Aqualung - Jethro Tull
114. Low Rider - War
115. I'm Not in Love - 10cc
116. Brick House - Commodores
117. Y.M.C.A. - Village People
118. The Boys Are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy
119. Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
120. Rocket Man - Elton John
121. The Joker - The Steve Miller Band
122. Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
123. Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR
124. Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf
125. School's Out - Alice Cooper
126. Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
127. Highway to Hell - AC/DC
128. Tear the Roof off the Sucker - Parliament
129. Radar Love - Golden Earring
130. The Long and Winding Road - The Beatles
131. I Feel Love - Donna Summer
132. I'll Be There - The Jackson 5
133. Oye Como Va - Santana
134. Jamming - Bob Marley and the Wailers
135. All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople
136. Ohio - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
137. Moondance - Van Morrison
138. Drift Away - Dobie Gray
139. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
140. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan
141. Rock Your Baby - George McCrae
142. Instant Karma - John Lennon
143. Child in Time - Deep Purple
144. Get Up, Stand Up - The Wailers
145. Lady Marmalade - LaBelle
146. Flash Light - Parliament
147. Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac
148. Long Cool Woman - The Hollies
149. Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers
150. Respect Yourself - The Staple Singers
151. Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith
152. Cars - Gary Numan
153. Takin' Care of Business - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
154. Just What I Needed - The Cars
155. Funkytown - Lipps, Inc.
156. My Sharona - The Knack
157. Rock with You - Michael Jackson
158. The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff
159. Back Stabbers - The O-Jays
160. I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash
161. Without You - Nilsson
162. Tiny Dancer - Elton John
163. Because the Night - Patti Smith
164. Ramblin' Man - The Allman Brothers
165. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
166. Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel
167. Rock and Roll All Nite - KISS
168. That's the Way (I Like It) - KC & the Sunshine Band
169. Autobahn - Kraftwerk
170. Help Me - Joni Mitchell
171. Fame - David Bowie
172. Love to Love You Baby - Donna Summer
173. Kiss and Say Goodbye - The Manhattans
174. Time - Pink Floyd
175. Burning Love - Elvis Presley
176. I'm Still in Love with You - Al Green
177. Lust for Life - Iggy Pop
178. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
179. Disco Inferno - The Trammps
180. Cruisin' - Smokey Robinson
181. Refugee - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
182. Tonight's the Night - Rod Stewart
183. Smiling Faces Sometimes - The Undisputed Truth
184. Behind Blue Eyes - The Who
185. Always and Forever - Heatwave
186. We're an American Band - Grand Funk
187. Band on the Run - Paul McCartney and Wings
188. Listen to the Music - The Doobie Brothers
189. September - Earth, Wind and Fire
190. Runnin' with the Devil - Van Halen
191. Who Are You - The Who
192. Waterloo - ABBA
193. Got to Give It Up - Marvin Gaye
194. Fly Like an Eagle - The Steve Miller Band
195. I Wish - Stevie Wonder
196. Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe - Barry White
197. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
198. Surrender - Cheap Trick
199. Ball of Confusion - The Temptations
200. Cocaine - Eric Clapton

201. Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan
202. Crocodile Rock - Elton John
203. Love Is the Drug - Roxy Music
204. LA Woman - The Doors
205. Stuck in the Middle with You - Stealers Wheel
206. Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight
207. The Logical Song - Supertramp
208. Tell Me Something Good - Rufus
209. Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
210. 25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago
211. What I Like About You - The Romantics
212. Shame - Evelyn "Champagne" King
213. Inner City Blues - Marvin Gaye
214. Life in the Fast Lane - The Eagles
215. A Horse with No Name - America
216. Hey Hey My My (Into the Black) - Neil Young
217. Natural High - Bloodstone
218. One Way or Another - Blondie
219. O-o-h Child - The Five Stairsteps
220. I Saw the Light - Todd Rundgren
221. Night Fever - The Bee Gees
222. Truckin' - The Grateful Dead
223. Rock and Roll, Part 2 - Gary Glitter
224. Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
225. Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
226. What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
227. Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett
228. Dust in the Wind - Kansas
229. When Will I See You Again - The Three Degrees
230. Black Water - The Doobie Brothers
231. Me and Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul
232. Running on Empty - Jackson Browne
233. Turn the Page - Bob Seger
234. Roadhouse Blues - The Doors
235. The Payback - James Brown
236. Rebel Rebel - David Bowie
237. Killer Queen - Queen
238. Pick Up the Pieces - Average White Band
239. Can't Get Enough - Bad Company
240. Fantasy - Earth, Wind and Fire
241. Long Time - Boston
242. Until You Come Back to Me - Aretha Franklin
243. Long Train Running - The Doobie Brothers
244. Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin
245. Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull
246. That's the Way of the World - Earth, Wind and Fire
247. December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) - The Four Seasons
248. Question - The Moody Blues
249. Go All the Way - The Raspberries
250. You Make Me Feel Brand New - The Stylistics